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 Theological Seminary, 
 
 PRINCETON, N J. 
 Case, sII)C__^<r___ p.. . . 
 
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THE AGE OF REVELATION. 
 
 nicKiNs's ■) 
 
 EDITION. 5 
 
THE AGE OF REVELATION. 
 
 OR 
 
 THE AGE OF REASON 
 
 SHEWN TO BE 
 
 AN AGE OF INFIDELITT. 
 
 BY ELIAS BOUDINOT, L. L. D. 
 
 AND Director of the mixt of the united siates. 
 
 " Christian Is the highest style of man, 
 
 " And is there, who the blessed cross wipes off, 
 
 " As a foul blot, from his dishonoured brow? 
 
 " If angles tremble, 'tis at such a sight. 
 
 " Wrong not the Christian ; think not reason yours; 
 
 " 'Tis reason our great Master holds so dear ; 
 
 '• Believe, and shew the reason of a man: 
 
 " Believe, and taste the pleasure of a God; 
 
 " Believe, and look with triumph on the tomb." 
 
 youNG. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY ASBURY DICKINS, OPPOSITE CHRIST-CHUHCH. 
 
 HUGH MAXWELL, PRINTER, COLUMBIA-HOUSE. 
 
 1801. 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 To Mrs. SUSAN V. BRADFORD, 
 
 WIDOW AND RELICT OF WILLIAM BRADFORD, ZSQ^. LATE ATTORMEY 
 GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 VV HEN the warm and sincere afFection, of a fond 
 and anxious parent, is strongly manifested, by the in- 
 terest he takes in the improvement and \\ elfai-e of a 
 beloved child; when it appears that, to promote her 
 best interests, neither cai'es nor labour, even in an ad- 
 vanced and infirm age, will be spared; it may be 
 hoped, that a corresponding temper of mind, may lead 
 her to see the truth in a more clear and convincing 
 light, especially when urged and inculcated by exer- 
 tions of so tender a nature. 
 
 It was not from a doubt, of your principles be- 
 ing yet unsettled; or from an apprehension, that the 
 extravagant and ludicrous ideas, of the vain and infidel 
 author of a late publication, entitled, the Ace of 
 Reason, would, at present, in any respect, per\^ert 
 your mind, that I have been led to spend so much of 
 
[ iv ] 
 
 the precious remnant of time yet allotted me, in look- 
 ing into his work, and cndea-souring to shew aou its^ 
 futility and weakness, in the follo\\ing sheets: But, 
 knowing tlie importance of }our being able to give a 
 ready answer for the hope tliat is in you, and seeing 
 the melancholy prcsalence of a spirit of infidelity, 
 founded on a ''pretended philosophy, and a \ain deceit, 
 after tlie ti'adition of men, after the rudiments of the 
 world, and not after Christ," I thought myself, with 
 regard to you, in the situation of the apostle Jude, 
 with regard to the chm-ch of his day, tliat '-'- 1 should 
 give all diligence to ^\Tite unto you of the common 
 sal^■ation, and exhort you, tliat you should earnestly 
 contend for tlie faith which was once delivered to the 
 saints ; for there are certain men, wha were before of 
 old ordained to this condemnation ; ungodl}' men, turn- 
 ing the gTace of ©ur God into lasciviousness, and de 
 nying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ: 
 w herefore, I ought not to be negligent, to put you in re- 
 membrance of these things, though yod knowtheni,and 
 ai^e established in the present ti'uth."* '-'• Yea, I think 
 it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you 
 up, by putting you in remembrance of these things; 
 knowing, that shortly, I must put off this m}- taberna- 
 cle : moreoAcr, I will endeavour, that you may be able, 
 after my decease, to ha^■e these things always in remem- 
 brance, for we have not follo^1"ed cunningly devised 
 fables, when we made known unto you, the power and 
 coming of our Lord Jesus;" r " that the tiyal of your 
 faith, being much more precious than gold that perish- 
 eth, though it be tryed with fire, might be found unto 
 
 * jiide, 4-h ir.d ^tfe ver. f ;d Peier, istchsp 12— 1«. 
 
L V ] 
 
 praise and honor, and gIor}% at the appearing of Jesus 
 Christ, whom having not seen, you love; in whom, 
 though now you see him not, yet believing, you rejoice 
 with joy unspeakable and full of glorj% receiving the 
 end of your faith, even the salvation of your soul."* 
 
 The whole tribe of unbelievers, object to the sys- 
 tem of the gospel; that, although there arc mysteries 
 in it, above the comprehension of human reason, yet it 
 requireth, and that indispensably, the firm and unwa- 
 vering faith of its professors ; it being one of its funda- 
 mental prmciples, that without faith, you camiot please 
 God. 
 
 This is a certain fact, and not only reasonable in 
 itself, but consistent with the nature of the subject. No 
 man believes, that credit Ts given to the veracity of 
 another who reports a fact, by firmly believing it, on 
 perfect demonstration, or the fullest evidence. If a 
 person of the most infamous character for falshood and 
 deceit, should assert, that the three sides of an equila- 
 teral triangle, were equal to each other, CAery man who 
 heard and understood him, would immediately give 
 the most hearty assent to the truth of it, ^\ithout put- 
 ting the least confidence in the character or vcracitv of 
 the assertor. If one should inform you, that the sun 
 was shining, and at the same time should point to the 
 meridian sun, appearing in his full splendour within 
 your view, you could not but belie\ c the fact, the 
 truth would force your assent; though without put- 
 ting the least confidence in the informer. But if such 
 a person were to tell you, of a fact that had come to 
 his knowledge, of which you could have no other cvi- 
 
 • J St Peter, is: chip. 7— 8— J. 
 
[ vi ] 
 
 dence, and you were to give full credit to it, then you 
 would do honour to the veracity, and revere the cha- 
 racter of the informant. So it is with revealed religion. 
 God, in his infinite wisdom, has given us sufficient 
 evidence, that the revelation of the gospel is from him. 
 This is the subject of rational inquiry, and of convic- 
 tion, from the conclusive nature of the evidence : but 
 when that fact is established, you are bound, as a ra- 
 tional creature, to show your full confidence in his un- 
 changeable veracity, and infinite wisdom, by firmly 
 believing the great truths so revealed; although he has 
 wisely kept fi*om your knowledge, some things which 
 may be mysterious in their nature. In this, his de- 
 sign, amongst others, may be, that thereby the pride 
 of the human heart might be subdued; the human will 
 brought to submit to the will of God; the character of 
 Jehovah magnified and honoured; and his unstained 
 veracity perfectly confided in, and trusted to, while at 
 the same time, the amiable humility of the Christian 
 character, is promoted in the firm believer of his 
 word. 
 
 These objectors find it difficult to submit to the 
 faith of the gospel, because many things are above 
 their reason; while they continually exercise the same 
 principle in temporal things, which are subject, in one 
 respect or another, to the like predication, in almost 
 every action of their lives. In ti'avelling, by sea and 
 land — in eating and drinking — in ploughing and sow- 
 ing; do they all, with one accord, exercise this virtue 
 in its full extent: no mysteries — no want of under- 
 standing principles or consequences, are opposed as 
 sufficient to prevent their unfeigned faith in their 
 fellow men: but in revealed religion, nothing is to be 
 
[ vii ] 
 
 believed, even on the veracity of God himself, if they 
 cannot fully comprehend and understand, every prin- 
 ciple and mode of the truth, proffered as an object of 
 their faith. They will trust themselves, their families, 
 and their property, to a frail ship, and launch into the 
 boisterous ocean, without a thought of examining the 
 captain as to his theoretic or practical knowledge in 
 navigation ; or inquiring into the abilities of the sea- 
 men, with regard to the management of a ship in a 
 storm. They exercise, without hesitation, an un- 
 feigned faith in the general character of the one ; and 
 trust wholly to the owner and master, for the abilities 
 of the others. 
 
 If they travel by land, they will mount the horse, 
 recommended by its owner ; or enter a public carriage 
 provided for passengers, without doubting of their 
 safety in the one case, or examining the workman- 
 ship and construction of either carriage or harness, in 
 the other. They trust to the care of the master and 
 driver, and implicitly commit themselves to their 
 knowledge and good conduct. 
 
 Men sit do\Mi to their usual meals, without ever 
 inquiring, whether the meat they ai'e to eat, is not 
 part of a beast that died a natural death, or by some 
 dangerous disease; neither is the cook ever called 
 upon, as to the wholesomeness of the various ad- 
 ditions made use of in dressing the food — all is pre- 
 A cnted, by a firm faith in the butcher who sells the 
 meat, and the host who employs the cook. 
 
 Does any person refuse to swallow his victuals, 
 before he fully understands the method of digestion, 
 or the manner in whicji the food will turn to his nou- 
 rishment? 
 
[ ^i" J 
 
 No man refuses to plough or sow, because lie can- 
 not comprehend, how the grain he casts into the earth, 
 can take root, shoot up, and produce a much larger 
 quantity than that which he sows->— however inexpli- 
 cable all this is to his finite nature, he exercises 
 a lively vigorous faith in the consequences of his 
 labours, and, without hesitation, acts accordingly. 
 Will any man refuse to listen to the voice of his 
 friend, because, with the utmost stretch of all his 
 powers, he cannot comprehend how the motion of the 
 air, can convey different articulate sounds to his ears ; 
 or how any sounds, however formed, can produce 
 ideas in his soul, corresponding to the will of the 
 mover. In short, innumerable important facts, the 
 causes of which, \^4th their modes of operation, we 
 cannot comprehend, being perfectly mysterious and 
 unaccountable, are yet firmly believed; and, in the 
 course of life, acted upon by us. We hear the blow- 
 ing of the wind, and feel its power; but we know not 
 what produces it — why it is now mild and refreshing, 
 and now violent and destructive — " We know not 
 whence it comes, or whither it goeth" — we daily see 
 and put the utmost confidence in the good effects of 
 the load- stone, both as it regards our persons ^nd pro- 
 perty, by sea and land; and yet no one will pretend to 
 understand, whence this peculiar virtue is derived, by 
 which these effects are produced : our faith is firm and 
 immoveable, and no one objects its mysterious 
 nature. 
 
 No body doubts of the motion of the heart, the 
 circulation of the blood, or the action of the stomach 
 and bowels ; in all which the pian exercises no act of 
 his will wliatever, neither can any one define or coiji? 
 
C ix ] 
 
 prehend the original cause or power by which these 
 are accomphshed : yet every one beUeves the facts, 
 notwithstanding their mysterious nature is far above 
 his reasc'i; and they risque their lives on the issue. 
 
 All then that revealed religion asks of men, is, that 
 they would act in like manner, with regard to her requi- 
 sitions — instead of rejecting all belief, till they fully 
 understand every mystery of revealed religion, (and 
 which is as applicable to natural religion) let their first 
 inquiry be, is this the word of God, or not? If they 
 find rational evidence, to prove that it is so, (which 
 will most certainly be the case with every ingenuous 
 mind) let them treat her great principles and doctrines, 
 as they do the revelation of God in the natural vvorld, 
 and they will assuredly find additional and conclusive 
 evidence arising from experience, and their faith will 
 soon become to them tlie substance of the things ho- 
 ped for, fi-om the promises of the Gospel, and the evi- 
 dence of the things there revealed as unseen. In 
 submitting to the great mysteries of the Gospel, we 
 believe, because God has said it — here then we rely 
 on the divine veracity alone, and show our confidence 
 in, and pay due honour to, his chai'acter and attri- 
 butes; Mhich is the life and soul of a true faith. But 
 how does the unbeliever better himself, by the denial 
 of revelation, and flying to his religion of nature ? Is 
 there not as strong faith required here, as in revealed 
 religion ? How does he know, that there is a God, 
 who regards the afiliirs of men, or concerns himself 
 with their well being? He tells you that he firmly be- 
 lieves that therQ is an eternal almighty first cause, and 
 that this is full}' proved by all tlie ^vorks of creation 
 
ami Proviclence, around him. But why does he be- 
 lieve it ? Certainly, by a strong faith in tlie declarations 
 and assertions of those on whose sleeve he pins his 
 faith, and on ai"guinents drawn principally fron^ that 
 revelation he affects to despise. To judge aright in 
 this matter, let us inquire into the opinions and belief 
 of the wise and the learned, previous to the coming of 
 Christ, and who had no aid from the lyuowledge com,- 
 municated by the Saviour, to a guilty world; though 
 drawing much assistance, (unknowingly) from tradi- 
 tion, founded on revelation, to Adam, Enoch, Seth, 
 and Noah. Hearken then to the language of Cicero, — 
 that oracle of antiquity, whose religious knowledge 
 was superior to any of his cotemporaries, in his trea- 
 tise, written expressly on the nature of the Gods ; 
 *' As many things in philosophy are not sufficiently 
 clear, so the question concerning the nature of the 
 Gods, which is in itself the most interesting and ne- 
 cessary for the regulation of religion, is attended w ith- 
 peculiar difficulty. Among those who supposed that 
 there are Gods, their opinions are so various, that it 
 is difficult to enumerate them. Much has been ad- 
 vanced concerning the form of the Gods; the place of 
 their habitation, and their employment ; and on these 
 subjects there has been much disputation among the 
 philosophers. But the principal difference among 
 them, and a subject on which every thing depends, is, 
 whether the Gods undertake to do nothing in the go- 
 vernment of the world ; or whether every thing were 
 originally constituted, and is still directed by them, 
 and will be so forever. Till this be decided, mei\ 
 must be in much error about things of the greatest 
 importance. For there are, and have been philcso- 
 
C >^i ] 
 
 phers, who have maintained, that the Gods take no 
 care of human affairs; and if this doctrine be true, 
 what foundation can thel^e be for piety and religion. 
 This will be due to them, if we be noticed by them, 
 and if in return they render any services to men ; but 
 if the Gods neither can, nor will do any thing for us, 
 and give no attention to our conduct, why should we 
 render them any kind of worship, or pray to them ? 
 Then will piety be mere hypocrisy, and all religion be 
 at an end ; and this will be attended with the greatest 
 confusion in the business of life. Nay, I do not 
 know, but that with the loss of religion, the founda- 
 tion of all confidence of men in society, and even of 
 justice, the most important of the virtues, would be 
 taken away. But there are other philosophers, and 
 those of the first distinction, who think that the ^^^orld 
 is governed by the mind and will of the Gods; that 
 by thelti every thing in the course of nature is provi- 
 ded for the use of man ; and they express themselves 
 in such a manner, as if they thought the Gods them- 
 selves were made for the use of man. Against these, 
 Carneades has advanced so much, as to excite persons 
 of any curiosity, to investigate the tiiith. For there 
 is iio subject, about which not only the unlearned, but 
 even the learned, differ so much ; and their opinions 
 are so various and discordant, that only one of them 
 can be true, though all may be erroneous." So confu- 
 sedly and absurdly did Cicero write, with all the 
 boasted light of nature, and human wisdom, without 
 revelation. 
 
 If the Son of God has appeared in this our ^^•o^ld, 
 and has proved his mission by miracles and prophe- 
 cies ; in a word, by doing works, that no other man 
 
[ xii ] 
 
 ever did, and that in proof of doctrines the most pure, 
 moral, religious and benevolent ; honourable to God, 
 and beneficial to man ; do they not demand, at least, 
 as much respect, as men pay every day to their fellow 
 creatures, whom they know to be fallible and imper- 
 fect ; sometimes immoral, dissolute, and profane. In 
 fine, is there any propriety in these objections to the 
 firm faith of the gospel ; w'hile men so universally ex- 
 ercise a greater degree of faith, toM'^ards each other 
 every day, in the common business of life ? Let rea- 
 son and conscience judge. 
 
 When I first took up this treatise, I considered it 
 as one of those vicious and absurd publications, filled 
 with ignorant declamation and ridiculous representa- 
 tions of simple facts, the reading of which, with at- 
 tention, would be an undue waste of time ; but after- 
 wards, finding it often the subject of conversaticHi, in 
 all ranks of society ; and knowing the author to be ge- 
 nerally plausible in his language, and very artful in 
 turning the clearest truths into ridicule, I determined 
 to read it, with an honest design of impartially ex- 
 amining into its real merits. 
 
 I confess, that I was much mortified to find, the 
 \\ hole force of this vain man's genius and art, pointed 
 at the youth of America, and her unlearned citizens, 
 (for I have no doubt, but that it was originally intended 
 for them) in hopes of raising a sceptical temper and 
 disposition in their minds, well knowing that this 
 was the best inlet to infidelity, and the most effectual 
 way of serving its cause, thereby sapping the foun- 
 dation of our holy religion in their minds. 
 
 To Christians, who ai'e ^^ ell instructed in the Gos- 
 pel of the Son of God, such expedients rather add 
 
[ >^iii ] 
 
 confirmation to their faith. They were forewarned 
 near two thousand years ago, of tliesc things, by their 
 great Lord and Master ; '' that when the time should 
 eome, they might remember, that he had told them 
 of them." They indeed rest in this strong confidence, 
 " that when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from 
 heaven, with his mighty angels in flaming fire, he will 
 take vengeance on them, w^ho know not God, and who 
 obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; who 
 shall be punished with everlasting destruction from 
 the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his 
 power, when he shall come to be glorified in his 
 saints, and to be admired in all them who believe in 
 that day." 
 
 This awful consequence, created some alarm in 
 my mind, lest at any future day, you, my beloved 
 child, might take up this plausible address of infidel- 
 ity ; and, for want of an answer at hand to his subtle 
 insinuations, might suifer even a doubt of the truth, as 
 it is in Jesus, to penetrate into your mind. 
 
 You might then, perhaps, be alone, or without a 
 friend near you, whom you might be willing to con- 
 sult without delay ; And my mind could not, with pa- 
 tience, endure the idea of your doubting, on such 
 important points, though it were but for a moment. 
 
 I therefore determined, as God should give mc 
 health and leisure, were it only by improving a few 
 moments at a time, to put my thoughts on the subject 
 of this pamphlet, on paper, for your edification and 
 information, when I shall be no more. 
 
 I chose to confine myself to the leading and essen- 
 tial facts of the Gospel, which arc contradicted, or at- 
 tempted to be turned into ridicule, by this writer. I 
 
[ xiv ] 
 
 have endea^'oured to detect his falsehoods and tnisft- 
 presentations, and to show his extreme ignorance of 
 the divine scriptures, Avhich he makes the subject of 
 his animadversions — not knowing that " they are the 
 pov^er of God unto salvation, to every one that be- 
 lieveth."* 
 
 It is by their divine instructions, that, in the lan- 
 guage of the elegant Hunter, the true Christian learns 
 ** what is the commanding object in the eye of eternal 
 Providence, the salvation of a lost world, by Jesus 
 Christ. Do you adopt the same object ? Cleave unto 
 it ; keep it continually in view ; all things else are vain 
 and worthless ; for they are passing quickly away. 
 Our interest in, and hold of the world, is diminishing 
 every hour. Our consequence, as candidates for im- 
 mortal bliss, as heirs of glory, is rising in proportion. 
 When we cease from importance as the citizens of this 
 world, our real importance begins to be felt and un- 
 derstood. I recommend no sullen distance from your 
 fellow-creatures, nor peevish discontent. Live in the 
 world. Associate \^ ith mankind. Enjoy the portion 
 ivhich God allotteth to you. But use the ^\'Orld, so as 
 not to abuse it. While you are cumbered about many 
 things, never forget, that one thing is needful, and 
 choose that good part, which shall not be taken from 
 you."t 
 
 The experience of forty years, arid upwards, has 
 confirmed the conclusions I have drawn from the doc- 
 trines of the Gospel ; and be assured, my dear child, 
 that this author's whole work, is made up of old ob- 
 jections, answered, and that conclusively, a thousand 
 
 • Romans, i — 16. •}■ Hunt. Sacred Biog. id vol. 24. 
 
[ XV ] 
 
 times over, by the advocates for our holy religion* 
 Some of them he has endeavoured to clothe with new 
 language, and put into a more ridiculous form; but 
 many of them he has collected almost word for word, 
 from the writings of the deists of the last and present 
 century. 
 
 May that God, who dtlighteth in the meek and 
 humble temper, which trembleth at his ^^'ord, lead you 
 to tlie cross of Christ; and there, by his holy spirit, 
 direct you into all truth. May he instruct you in his 
 holy word, which is able to make } ou wise unto sal- 
 vation. Let that word abide in you richly — become 
 your daily companion, under every circumstance of 
 life ; " the man of your council, a lamp to } our paths, 
 and a light to your feet." 
 
 For near half a century, have I anxiously and cri- 
 tically studied that invaluable treasure; and I still 
 scarcely ever take it up, that I do not find something 
 new — that I do not receive some valuable addition to 
 my stock of knowledge; or perceive some instructive 
 fact, never observed before. In short, were you to 
 ask me to recommend the most valuable book in the 
 world, I should fix on the Bible as tlie most instruc- 
 tive, both to the wise and ignorant. Were you to ask 
 me for one, affording the most rational and pleasing 
 entertainment to the inquiring mind, I should repeat, 
 it is the Bible : and should you renew the inquirj% 
 for the best philosophy, or the most interesting his- 
 tor)% I should still urge you to look into your Bible. 
 I would make it, in short, the Alpha and Omega of 
 knowledge; and be assured, that it is for want of un- 
 derstanding the scriptures, both of the Old and New 
 Testament, that sq little value is set upon them by the 
 
[ ^v, ] 
 
 M orld at large. The time, however, is not far off, 
 whtn they will command a very different reception, 
 among the sons of men. 
 
 One thing I beg you would attend to, as a guard 
 against the designs of infidels, to wit, that the Gospel 
 revelation is a complete system of salvation, suited to 
 our fallen nature, and should be taken altogether. Be 
 cautious, then, how you ever hearken to objections 
 levelled against detached principles, separated from 
 the system, which are too often made use of, with 
 success, by those who wish to weaken the force of 
 revelation upon the mind of its professors, and by 
 slow, if not imperceptible advances, to sap the foun- 
 dation of their hope. It is not unusual to hear the 
 punishment of sin, stated as incompatible with the 
 perfections and attributes of Almighty God : that he 
 cannot delight in the sufferings of the creatures that he 
 has made, as he has no passions to gratify, and he de- 
 lighteth not in cruelty — but the gospel reveals the 
 great Jehovah, as the governor of all ranks of being in 
 the universe. That it is necessary to keep all intelli- 
 gences in the love of order, and obedience to his 
 righteous laws. That the breach of them, necessarily 
 induces a separation from him, who is the fountain 
 and source of all happiness and enjoyment; and, of 
 course, necessarily induces misery in the extreme. 
 Iliis becomes a warning to all intelligences, to avoid 
 the evil of sin ; and therefore it is for the good of the 
 whole, and founded in benevolence to l^ngs in gene- 
 ral, that the obstinate and unbelieving sinner is pu- 
 nished. But if the advocates for infidelity, can once 
 weaken your faith, by the disbelief of future punish- 
 ment, he finds you then ready for a new attack, by 
 
[ xvli ] 
 
 the denial of some other detached principle, till thus 
 by degrees, your faith is undermined and destroyed, 
 before you are aware of it. 
 
 For you I have written. To you I commit this 
 labour of my old age, hoping that, as it is designed 
 for your own private instruction, you will receive it, 
 as in the fear of the Lord, without a criticizing eye, 
 or opposing heart ; and that you will be persuaded by 
 it, to search the Scriptures, '* knowing that they cony- 
 tain the words of eternal life," thereby you will gra- 
 tify the most fervent desire of 
 
 An AFrECTioNATE Parent. 
 Rosehilly December ^ 1795, 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 1 HE ushering into the world, an investigation 
 of the nature of the following answer to the Age of 
 Reason, at this late period, after so many conclusive 
 answers have been given to it, and particularly that of 
 the learned, pious, and excellent bishop of Landaif, 
 certainly requires some apology. 
 
 The substance of the following sheets, were writ- 
 ten soon after the first appearance of the Age of 
 Reason, in this country. The original design, was 
 merely to guard a beloved child and intimate friend, 
 against any sceptical doubts that might have been 
 produced, by the many conversations that daily took 
 place, when tliat ai-tful book was first handed about in 
 this city. 
 
 It was, at first, designed to be confined within the 
 limits of a few sheets. 
 
 Soon after, having occasion to review the subject, 
 it opened itself in such a manner, that before I was 
 aware of it, the bulk increased to a manuscript of a 
 considerable size. 
 
[ XX ] 
 
 Wlien, in my opinion, it had answered the origi- 
 nal design, I desisted from any farther pursuit of the 
 subject, till a short time since, when, being credibly 
 informed, that thousands of copies of the Age of 
 Reason, had been sold at public auction, in this 
 city, at a cent and an half each, whereby children, 
 servants, and the lowest people, had been tempted 
 to purchase, from the novelty of buying a book at so 
 low a rate ; my attention was excited, to find out what 
 fund could afford so heavy an expence, for so unwor- 
 thy an object. 
 
 I was soon convinced, that a principle of the illu- 
 minati in Europe, had been adopted by some unkno\vn 
 persons in this countr}^, viz. — that of fixing on the ri- 
 sing generation, and the lower orders of the people, a^ 
 the chief objects of an attack, for spreading the princi- 
 ples of infidelity ; finding, from long experience, that 
 the arts of deception must ever fail, where sound 
 kai'ning and pure science prevail. 
 
 This became the subject of much conversation 
 among men of sober principles, with whom I was in- 
 timate ; during which, two or three learned friends 
 became acquainted with my attempt to answer that 
 dangerous pamphlet. They assured me of their opi- 
 nion, that although it was a repetition of reasoning, 
 ai-guments, and facts, that had been published over 
 and over again ; yet, under present circumstances, it 
 might be of real service to the young and unlearned, 
 as the subject was placed in a light more adapted to 
 their capacities and memories, than in those publica- 
 tions that had preceded me ; and many facts enume- 
 rated, that were not easily attainable by them ; that, at 
 all events, it would be casting in my mite, towards 
 
[ xxi ] 
 
 opposing the flood of infidelity that was dekiging our 
 land ; and coming from a layman, engaged in avoca- 
 tions foreign from the study of divinity, it might en- ' 
 courage others, under like circumstances, to devote 
 their leisure hours to investigate so important a sub- 
 ject, as the religion on which their hopes of happiness 
 hereafter, must depend. 
 
 It must be acknowledged, that however pleased I 
 have been with Bishop Watson's very learned, able, 
 and judicious " Apology for the Bible," I do 
 not think it altogether calculated for young people, 
 and the lower ranks of the community; and it is 
 really to be wished, that the title had been better 
 adapted to the work. 
 
 Several other valuable answers have appeared, each 
 containing many important arguments on the subject; 
 and as many of them as have come to my hands, have 
 been perused, and though much pleased and edified 
 with most of them, I have not been entirely satisfied 
 with them, as applicable to the youth of our country, 
 and those whose opportunities have not been so advan- 
 tageous, as to guard them against the sophistry of art, 
 cunning, and an inbred hatred of every thing sacred 
 and holy. The boldness of impiety is often mistaken 
 for knowledge, founded on an independent spirit, and 
 thereby saps the necessary defence of simple inno- 
 cence and unsuspecting modesty. 
 
 For a considerable time past, I have ardently wished 
 to see some more able hand, meet Mr. Paine more on 
 his o^vn ground, in a plain and simple manner — but 
 after waiting several years, I have lost all hopes of 
 being giatified; and therefore have been more easily 
 persuaded to undergo, amidst a varietj- of other busi- 
 
[ xxii ] 
 
 ness, the labour of copying once more, what was de- 
 signed for a particular and special purpose ; and alter- 
 ing the address, by applying it more directly to the 
 author of the Age of Reason, and tlirough him to all 
 his brethren in scepticism. 
 
 I am averse to increasing the number of books, 
 imless it be on important occasions, or for useful pur- 
 poses ; but an anxious desire that our country should 
 be preserved from the dreadful evil of becoming ene- 
 mies to the religion of the Gospel, which I have no 
 doubt, but would be introductive of the dissolution 
 of government and the bonds of civil society ; my 
 compliance with the wishes of a few select friends, to 
 make this work public, has been more easily ob- 
 tained. 
 
 However, I am not sanguine of great success, 
 knowing my own insufficiency for the task ; neither 
 do I expect to carry much conviction to the nr/mds of 
 those, who have been long engaged in the vices of 
 infidelity ; what I principally look for, is, to persuade 
 the rising generation, and those who ai'e but begin- 
 ning to doubt or waver, to make the divine Scrip- 
 tures their serious and attentive study ; and seek to 
 understand the principles of the Gospel, before they 
 pretend to judge of them, or to renounce them as 
 untrue, or of but trifling importance. Thus they 
 would do in any other science, and they cannot rea- 
 sonably adopt a difi'erent practice in religion. 
 
 Few know to what lengths, conscious ignorance 
 of a subject that every man ought to know, will lead a 
 person to go, in order to cover the knowledge of it 
 from the world. 
 
[ xxiii ] 
 
 If this attempt shall become the means of direct- 
 ing one solitary individual from the path of error, into 
 that of truth, I shall consider myself richly paid for all 
 my trouble, in altering and preparing the following 
 sheets for the press. 
 
 Most willingly do I commit them, to the over- 
 ruling direction of Sovereign Wisdom, who has 
 heretofore made use of clay and spittle, to open the 
 eyes of the blind ; and do most devoutly pray, that in 
 his own way, and by his own means, and in his own 
 time, he will accomplish tlie promised kingdom of 
 his beloved son. 
 
AGE OF REVELATION, &c. 
 
 " Oh that my head were waters, and mine ayes, 
 '• Were fountains flowing, like the liquid skies; 
 " Then would I give the mighty flood release, 
 " And weep a, deluge for the human race." 
 
 Pains. 
 
 xtE AR O heavens ! and give ear O earth | 
 for the Lord hath spoken : I have nourished and 
 brought up children, and they have rebelled against 
 me," was the pathetic and affecting language of the 
 elegant and truly evangelical prophet Isaiah, when ad- 
 dressing an highly favoured, though obstinate and sinful 
 nation — " a people loaded with iniquity — a seed of 
 evil doers — children who were corrupted." 
 
 And can there be a more pertinent address, in any 
 other form of words, put into the English language, 
 which would better suit an introduction to a review 
 of a late work, made famous, from no other cause, but ' 
 liaving been written by the author of Common Sense, 
 and which is absurdly entitled " The Age of Reason." 
 
 There is no intrinsic merit in this work, which 
 might entitle it to an answer ; and it would undoubt- 
 edly have been consigned to perpetual oblivion, with 
 
C 26 ] 
 
 a thousand other profane and impious performances, 
 had it not been from a conviction, that many young 
 and uninformed people, wholly unacquainted with the 
 genuine principles of our holy religion, and the subtly 
 and dishonest practices of her apostate adversaries, had 
 with avidity engaged in reading it. From the repu- 
 tation the author had gained, by his former political 
 writings, in this country ; writings, which, from local 
 circumstances, and the stale of men's minds at the 
 moment of an important revolution, gave celebrity to 
 their author, the production before us has met with a 
 more general approbation, than could otherwise have 
 been expecied.* 
 
 It is in this manner, that these inefficient fragments 
 of the writings of the last century, repeated by the late 
 king of Prussia, Voltaire, and otliers, now new vamp- 
 ed Up, with the aid of ridicule, under the title of " The 
 Age of Reason," and this addition, " By the Author 
 of Common Sense," though so often fully answered 
 by learned men, are again inti*oduced into the world, 
 as new matter, in hopes of deceiving the ignorant and 
 unwary, by the influence of a name. 
 
 It is no new thing, for the enemies of truth and 
 godliness, thus to descend to the meanest aiis, in order 
 
 * " The general opinion (speaking of the influence that the pamphlet 
 entitled " Common Sense," had among certain classes of the people), and 
 the unanimous testimony of all the known writers upon American aff"airs, 
 leave scarce room for a doubt of the fact, though for the honour of the 
 Americans, I would most willingly call it in question. — Thomas Paine's 
 " Common Sente," is a pamphlet just as contemptible almost throughout, 
 just as remote from sound human sense, as all the others, by which, in 
 later times, he has made himself a name." — Gentz's Origin and Princip. 56. 
 
 The great effect which this pamphlet had on the revolution, (and U 
 was certainly great^ arose from its being written at the moment when the 
 pviblic mind was in a great alarm, and totally at a loss hov^ to determine. 
 
[ 27 ] 
 
 to accomplish the horrid purpose of ruining the soul^ 
 of men. 
 
 As to the serious and devout Christian, Mho has 
 felt the transforming power of the religion of Jesus 
 Christ, and has experienced the internal and convin- 
 cing evidence of the truth of the Divine Scriptures, the 
 treatise referred to, will rather have a tendency to in- 
 crease his faith, and inflame his fervent zeal in 
 his master's cause, while he beholds this vain attempt, 
 to ridicule and set at nought, the great objects of his 
 hope and joy, by one who plainly discovers a total ig- 
 norance of every principle of true Christianity, as re-, 
 vealed in the Scriptures. 
 
 The vanity and confidence often produced by an, 
 appearance of superior knowledge and laborious in- 
 vestigation, will sometimes lead even wise men, 
 undesignedly, into a supercilious and dogmatical 
 mode of argumentation, on subjects, which they per- 
 suade themselves they fully comprehend : hence some 
 apology may be made for their errors; and even the 
 faulty manner of managing the argument may be for- 
 given. But, as to the performance before us, the 
 author has proved himself to be totally ignorant of the 
 subject he has undertaken to elucidate, not only as to 
 the intrinsic merit of the question, but also the ideas 
 and terms, M'hich its advocates have been known always 
 to hold up and use, as expressive of their sense and 
 meaning of it. He has undertaken to explain, what 
 he does not appear to have endeavoured, by proper in- 
 vestigation and consideration, to understand; and at 
 the same time he has reviled and abused a sul^ject of 
 serious and solemn importance, in the estimation- 
 
[ 28 ] 
 
 of maiiy of the most learned and best men, that ever 
 lived. 
 
 This shews not only a wicked and perverse tem- 
 per of mind, but a degree of forward and indecorous 
 pertinacity, that ought not to be countenanced by any 
 lover of mankind. 
 
 Argumentative investigation is one thing ; but ig- 
 norant declamation^and ridicule is another. 
 
 The miraculous facts of revelation, one might 
 suppose, would have led every serious mind to be- 
 lieve, that human wisdom could not have devised the 
 plan of the Gospel ; and that the prudent and cautious 
 mind, however darkened by the doubts and objections 
 of men of the world, would at least have waited with 
 some degree of patience, till the understanding should 
 be farther opened, by the fulfilment, or failure, of the 
 facts foretold, as taking place before, and preparatory 
 to, the second coming of Christ. That awful and im- 
 portant period is approaching. The express declara- 
 tions of Omniscience, as contended by the friends of 
 prophecy, are fast fulfilling. In the mean time, as has 
 been observed by an able writer, " let critics and 
 learned men of all kinds, have full liberty to examine 
 the sacred books, and let us be sparing in our censures 
 of each other — ^let us judge nothing (rashly) before the 
 time, until the Lord come, and then shall every man 
 have praise of God. Sobriety of mind, humility and 
 piety, are requisite in the pursuit of knowledge of 
 every kind, and much more in that which is sacred."* 
 But this rational principle, ought not to lead us to 
 
 * Hartley. 
 
[ 29 ] 
 
 countenance any person in abusing sacred things, and 
 misrepresenting important facts, whereby the ignorant 
 may be deceived, and the searchers after truth be led 
 out of the way. However, it may justify critical ex- 
 amination and free inquiry, it cannot support the 
 vicious mind in reviling serious things, ridiculing as 
 visionary, facts and principles established by the expe- 
 rience of ages, or palming on us dogmatical assertions 
 for serious truths. 
 
 ' To enter into a minute and candid disquisition of 
 any and every subject, which interests the welfare of 
 our fellow men, as rational and accountable creatures, 
 and that Math boldness and decency, is the part of a 
 noble mind ; but to treat those things as jests and 
 fables of children, which, in the contemplation of his 
 opponents, are considered as involving infinite and 
 eternal consequences, is inexcusable, and will admit of 
 no palliation. 
 
 If the most important communication should be 
 made to an unlettered Englishman, in the Greek lan- 
 guage, it would not be thought harsh to say, that he 
 did not understand it, though he had been in the habit 
 of hearing Greek spoken ever so long ; and an attempt 
 by him to explain the communication, without having 
 endeavoured to learn the language, would be thought 
 little short of idiotism. Why then should a man be 
 countenanced by the public attention, in his animad- 
 versions on any subject of which it does not appear, 
 that he has ever entertained one just idea ; not even of 
 the language of its authors ? How comes it to pass, 
 that in every other science, except that of religion, it 
 is necessary to become a learner, before it is expected 
 to be understood. Principles, axioms, and definitions, 
 
[ 30 ] 
 
 must be settled and established, before men will fonrt 
 conclusions, or adopt decided sentiments on important 
 subjects of civil or moral obligation : but, as to re- 
 vealed religion, every vain sophist and pretender, not 
 only undertakes to give an opinion on its all interest- 
 ing doctrines, but even dogmatically to deny and con- 
 temn its essential, well attested facts and historical 
 occurrences, which have stood the test of the severest 
 and most critical examination. At the same time, 
 these pretenders to knowledge, have never given 
 themselves the trouble of inquiring into the A. B. C^ 
 of religion, the alphabet of the Divine Scriptures. 
 
 What is there in the nature of revealed religion, 
 when compared with other sciences, and the present 
 degraded state of human nature, that a man should 
 comprehend all its great and important truths, without 
 labour and investigation, whilst most subjects, even of 
 human knowledge, are not to be obtahied but by in- 
 dustrious application, with all the aids of learning and 
 experiment ? 
 
 It is my present design then, to make a few ob- 
 servations on the work before us, in a manner that 
 may serve as a trial of its merits by the rules of com- 
 mon sense ^ and to this the author ought not to have 
 any reasonable objection, as all his pretensions to ce- 
 lebrity are founded on the assumption of that title.* 
 
 In doing this, I shall confine myself to a few essen- 
 tial facts of the Gospel, on v/hich all the rest depend, 
 and which are denied and ridiculed in this pamphlet. 
 I- shall examine the arguments attempted therein, (if 
 
 * Referring to a well known publication of his, previous to the decta- 
 ration of our independence, entitled, " Common Seme." 
 
[ 31 ] 
 
 aiiy of them can deserve so respectable a name) inde- 
 pendent of the artful language in which they are 
 dressed ; and endeavour to expose the falsehoods made 
 use of to give a sanction to impious and delusive 
 sophistry. 
 
 The object being to convey rational and honest in- 
 formation, on a subject all- important to the everlasting 
 interests of my fellow-men, and not personal fame or 
 reputation — to guard the young and uninformed from 
 the dangerous vortex of infidelity, I shall feel myself at 
 perfect liberty, in the prosecution of this design, to 
 draw knowledge from every source — to borrow from 
 any treasury, that I shall consider more productive 
 than my own ; and where I find superior abilities and 
 greater extent of information than I can pretend to, I 
 shall not only use the ideas of such authors, but their 
 language, if thereby the great end of my undertaking 
 may be promoted ; I mean a conviction of the truth, 
 in the minds of those, into whose hands it may fall. 
 
THE AUTHOR 
 
 OF THE 
 
 AGE OF REASON'S 
 INTRODUCTION TO HIS WORK; 
 
 SHEWN TO BE WITHOUT 
 
 PROOF OR ARGUMENT. 
 
 1 HE author of the Age of Reason, in all the 
 pride and obstinacy of infidelity, introduces his objec- 
 tions to the Christian system, by an exhibition of his 
 o\Mi creed, both affirmatively and negatively, as if his 
 established character for sobriety, integrity, and ex- 
 emplary moral conduct, entitled him to the respect and 
 veneration of his fello^v^- citizens, and the world at 
 large. In an authoritative manner, he declares, that 
 he does not believe in the creed of the Jewish church, 
 the Roman church, the Greek church, nor of any 
 church he knows of. From this declaration, or rather 
 from this his disbelief, it would seem, as though he 
 intended, we should infer, that the benevolent author 
 of our being, hath left mankind in total ignorance of 
 the nature of the worship he requires from them ; and 
 tliat till the worship that has prevailed in the world 
 
 E 
 
[ 3* ] 
 
 since the creation, till the present time, has been 
 founded in error and deception. But the concluding 
 part of this his extraordinary creed, is as, if not more 
 extraordinary J " that his own mind is his own 
 church."* 
 
 Among all nations, the idea of a church, imports 
 a society or body of rational beings united together for 
 the pui-pose of ^vorshiping God, agreeably to some es- 
 tablished rule or system, agreed upon by them as most 
 acceptable to the Deity. What then are we to un- 
 derstand by this profound casuist's assertion, that "his 
 ov.n mind is his own church?'^ — A man so well ver- 
 sed in the language necessary to communicate distinct 
 ideas of his subject, must be an able interpreter of reli- 
 gious doctrines. 
 
 Another position of his introduction is as void of 
 principle, as that abo\'e mentioned. He asserts "that 
 infidelity does not consist in believing or disbelieving; 
 but in professing to believe, what he does not believe." 
 What jargon is this, to substitute hypocrisy for infide- 
 lity ! Thus a man really and professedly denying the 
 being of a God, and the obligations of revealed reli- 
 gion, is not guilty of infidelity: but if a man profess- 
 es to disbelieve a system, for special purposes of his 
 own, though really and truly in his conscience, he does 
 fully believe the truth of such system, he is an un- 
 believer in tliat system, an infidel and does not be- 
 lieve it. 
 
 * One of the principles of the illuminati in France, at the head of which 
 among others, was Talleyrand Perigovd, bishop of Autun, was " That 
 every man was his own God — his own lawgiver — and amenable only to 
 himself." — Vide Smit/Zs letter to tie editor of Dr. Robertson on the illuminati. 
 
[ 35 ] 
 
 I know of no way of accounting for this absurdity^ 
 but by supposing that our author has a secret wish, 
 hereafter to be reckoned among the believers in the 
 Christian system, though he now openly denies every 
 word of it. From this creed of our author, some pro- 
 per expectations may be formed of the residue of this 
 curious performance. 
 
 His observation on revealed religion, in this part 
 of his work, is also false in fact, viz. ''That every re- 
 ligion has established itself by pretending to some spe- 
 cial mission from God, communicated to certain in- 
 dividuals, as Moses, Christ and Mahomet, as if the 
 way io God was not open to every man aVikey 
 
 This conclusion, unfounded in truth, seems parti- 
 cularly designed to prepare the way, as an excuse for 
 his ignorance of the Christian system, and to counte- 
 nance his animadversions on religion, \\ ithout being 
 at the trouble of investigating its nature and tendency. \ 
 But facts are asserted in this whole work, with an un- 
 common defect of modesty, under the apparent ex- 
 pectation that the world will take them as established 
 upon the bare assertion of the author. 
 
 It is true that Moses, Christ and Mahomet, ail 
 claimed the authority of a divine mission : but is it 
 supposable that our author has ever read with atten- 
 tion the respective histories of these celebrated cha- 
 racters, and yet, that he could allow himself to make 
 the abo\c obser\ation to the Christian world with a 
 view of placing them all on a footing. Docs it follow 
 that, because wicked men will be u:uiltv of counter i 
 feiting the most valuable paper, that therefore the ori- 
 ginal and the counterfeit are to be considered as equal- 
 ly genuine? Or docs not rather the existence of the 
 
[ 36 ] 
 
 counterfeit, prove the reality of the original ? Did not 
 Moses and Christ show their divine mission, not only 
 by the nature and effects of their doctrines and pre- 
 cepts, with unblemished purity of life and manners ; 
 but also by doing, iii the presence of all the people, 
 works, that no other men ever did ; and by appealing 
 to them as the visible manifestations of Heaven, in 
 confirmation of their claim, in which the multitudes 
 could not be deceived ? But Mahomet aimed to esta- 
 blish his pretensions to divine authority, by the pow- 
 er of the sword and the terrors of his government ; 
 while he carefully avoided any attempts at miracles in 
 the presence of his followers, and all pretences to fore- 
 tell things to come. His acknowledging the divine 
 mission of Moses and Christ confirms their authority 
 as far as his influence will go, while their doctruies 
 entirely destroy all his pretensions to the like autho- 
 rity. His doctrines and precepts, are calculated to 
 gratify the prejudices of every party, and to confirm 
 them in the established principles of a fanciful reli- 
 gion. To the Jews he was a disciple of Moses, — to 
 Christians, he was a believer in the prophetic charac- 
 ter of Jesus Christ, while he indulged the heathen 
 inhabitant of Arabia in sensual ideas, that were most 
 captivating and pleasing to the human heart. Instead 
 ot doctrines and precepts inculcating the entire reno- 
 vation of our natures — the becoming a new creature 
 and overcoming the world: — Instead of a felicity con- 
 sisting of pure and spiritual pleasures, "did he not 
 establish a system of carnal indulgences, ever grateful 
 to the natural man, founded in the fascinating allure- 
 pients of its promised rewards ? — In their agreeable- 
 liess to the propensities of corrupt nature in general, 
 
[ 37 3 
 
 and to those of the inhabitants of warm climates in 
 pai'ticular, — in the artful accommodation of its doc- 
 trines and its rites to the preconceived opinions, the 
 favourite passions, and the deep rooted prejudices of 
 those to whom it was addressed."* 
 
 Mahomet's pretensions to inspiration and the sub- 
 mission of the people to his authority, in the degree 
 in which they are found, as has been observed by Mr. 
 Hartley, may be accounted for, from the then circum- 
 stances of things, vvdthout having recourse to real in- 
 spiration, and particularly if we admit (as Mahomet 
 did) the revelations related and intimated by Moses, 
 with his own divine legation. It will appear that 
 Mahomet copied much of his scheme from them, to 
 make it palatable to those he meant to attach to his 
 interests, which is a strong argument in favour of the 
 Mosaic and Christian systems. There is no other 
 instance (than that of the Mosaic code) of a body of 
 laws being produced at once, and remaining without 
 addition afterwards ; — but those of Mahomet and 
 other impostors have generally been compiled by de- 
 grees, according to the exigencies of the states, — 
 the prevalence of particular flictions ; or the authori- 
 ty who governed the people at his own will. 
 
 Mahomet made his laws, not to curb, but humor 
 the genius of the people ; they were therefore altered 
 and repealed from the same causes. Whereas the 
 body politic of the Israelites took upon itself a complete 
 form at once, conformable not only to its then present 
 necessities in a wilderness, but to all its future cir- 
 cumstances, when settled in a regular government, 
 
 • White, 
 
[ 38 ] 
 
 surrounded by neighbouring nations, in the land of 
 Canaan; and has preserved the same form, in a great 
 measure to the present time, and that under the high- 
 est external disadvantages, which is an instance witli- 
 out a pai'allel. 
 
 The doctrines, and Avhole system of the Gospel, 
 breathe also a quite different spirit, from those changes 
 and accommodations to human passions, which have 
 been always calculated to answer the end of merely 
 temporal governments : its language has ever been, 
 " if any man shall add unto these things, God shall 
 add unto him the plagues that are written in this 
 book; and if any man shall take away from the words 
 of this book, God shall take away his part out of the 
 book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the 
 things which are written in this book."* 
 
 Moses appealed to the miracles done in Eg}^pt, be- 
 fore Pharaoh, his court, the Avise men, and the whole 
 congi-egation of the children of Israel — to their pas- 
 sage through the Red Sea — to the pillar of fire by 
 night, and the cloud by day, attending them, not once 
 or tu-ice, but through their whole journeyings in the 
 wilderness — to the thunders and lightnings, and the 
 voice of God speaking from the mount — to forty 
 years experience of miracles and prophecies — while 
 Christ raises the dead — heals the sick — feeds the 
 hungTy — makes the lame to walk, and the blind to 
 see — commands the winds and the waves, and they 
 obey him — foretells the events that shall happen to 
 his church for 2000 years to come, in proof and con- 
 fb'mation of his having come from God, and possess- 
 
 * lid Rev. 18 and ly. 
 
C 39 ] 
 
 ino" divine authority. And now, where is the compa. 
 rison between the supposed prophet of Mecca, and the 
 Son of God ; or with what propriety ought they to be 
 named together? " The men of Nineveh shall rise up 
 in the judgment with this generation, and shall con- 
 demn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; 
 and behold a greater than Jonah is here."* The dif- 
 ference betAveen these characters is so great, that the 
 facts need not be further applied. 
 
 The conclusion of our author's observation, " that 
 the way to God, is open to every man alike," is 
 equally unfounded, on his own principles and repre- 
 sentation. Such are his vanity and confidence, that 
 he does not even pretend to cover his presumption, 
 by an attempt to produce proof of his position, either 
 from facts or argument ; or to show from whence he 
 gets his information, or to assign reasons for his 
 assertions ; but he proceeds at once, to build his sys- 
 tem of objections upon them, as undisputed data ; and 
 concludes his readers must receive conviction, on the 
 first blush of the argument. The fact asserted is, 
 *' that the way to God, is open to every man alike." 
 This assertion has been heretofore often made by in- 
 fidels, and as often answered : it is contradicted by 
 every man's daily experience, as well as by a diou- 
 sand fatal and melancholy examples. 
 
 If mankind were found in a state of perfect recti- 
 tude and innocence, free from all the dreadful conse- 
 quences of sin and iniquity, such an assertion might 
 be made with more propriety. But, not to mention 
 the fatal apostacy of man from the original purity of 
 his nature, which, although proved by all his actions, 
 
 • Luke, II — 32. 
 
[ 40 ] 
 
 yet I well know is denied by infidels in general, and 
 by some who call themselves Christians ; * I appeal to 
 every man's observation, as convictive, that our au- 
 thor's position, on his own principles, is false in fact. 
 He himself allows, in page 35 of his pamphlet, 
 " that there is a revelation, the word of God, in the 
 creation we behold." And again, in page 36, " It is 
 only in the creation, that all our ideas and conceptions 
 of a word of God, can unite." 
 
 Every man must and will acknowledge, the various 
 and differing powers of the human mind, in different 
 persons, from the idiot, to the philosopher, most fa- 
 mous for his wisdom and application. And can any 
 man of reflection, be ignorant, that the way to God, 
 
 * The radical corruption of human nature, is one of those truths, 
 which their very plainness i-enders it the less easy to support by formal 
 proofs. If a person be unmoved by the decisive arguments which press 
 upon him every moment, at every turn, you can scarcely know in what 
 
 manner to address him on the subject. Let any one look diligently 
 
 into their own minds, and they will be convinced, that the continual in- 
 disposition to righteousness, and proHeness to transgression, which 
 they will discover there, can be ascribed to no other cause. Let 
 them behold what passes in the world around them, and they will be sa- 
 tisfied, that the prevailing wickedness of mankind, can be traced to no 
 other source. They will perceive, that in this, as in every other instance, 
 reason and experience unite in bearing testimony to the truth of the word 
 of God. — Gisborne's Familiar Survey of the Christian Religion — 14. 
 
 The late discoveries in the Eastern World, greatly add to the testi- 
 mony relative to this subject. Mr. Maurice says, " From the whole of the 
 preceding statement, it must be evident to every reader, that the Br<ihmins 
 are no strangers to the doctrine esteemed absurd in some Christian couH' 
 tries, but admitted by the Brahmins from time immemorial, that of original 
 tin. It is their invariable belief, that man is a fallen creature. — The doc- 
 trine is universally prevalent in Asia, and originally gave birth to the 
 persuasion, that by severe sufferings, and a long series of probationary 
 discipline, the soul might be restored to its primitive purity. — They had 
 even sacrifices denominated those of regeneration, and those sacrifices were 
 alnaays profusely itai:ied with blood. — 5 vol. Ind. Antiq. 956 — 7. 
 
[ 41 ] 
 
 in our author's sense of it, is not alike open to him, 
 Avho never raised his thoughts to the great Author of 
 universal nature, or contemplated his power, wisdom, 
 and goodness, in his works of creation and provi- 
 dence ? and to the studious, contemplative philoso- 
 pher, who, pursuing the plastic hand of nature 
 through all the streams of pure benevolence and love, 
 hath been led, with astonishment and surprize, to the 
 inexhaustible ocean there, in holy rapture, to love and 
 to adore ? 
 
 Can it be possible, that any man in his senses, 
 should suppose this way to God, is alike open to the 
 wretch, who, destroying all the powers of nature in 
 debauchery and wickedness, never mentions the name 
 or attributes of the great, self-existing First Cause of 
 all things, but to deny his being, or to blaspheme his 
 sacred and venerable name ; and to the devout and 
 obedient soul, who, sensible of his own natural weak- 
 ness and insufficiency, is continually casting himself 
 at the feet of Divine Mercy, and humbly supplicating 
 for grace to illumine his darkened understanding, and 
 wisdom to direct his researches into the things of 
 God ? — Is this way open alike to the man who is blind 
 and deaf, and so incapable of improving the revelation 
 of our Author, in the works of creation ; and to him^ 
 who, enjoying every assistance, both physical, moral, 
 and artificial, sees deeply into the mysteries of nature ? 
 Are the enlightened, philosophic Newton, or Ritten- 
 house, and the wandering savage of the Missisippi, 
 on equal terms, with regard to this way to God ? Or 
 the poor labourer, confined during his whole life, to 
 some mechanical business, for the bai'e support of his 
 nature ; and the rich, affluent citizen, who can devote 
 
[ 42 ] 
 
 both time and fortune to the investigation of nature, 
 and " nature^s God, seen through all his works ?'* 
 
 These observations, not only teach the falsity of 
 the position, in our author's sense, but fully prove the 
 certainty of some great and essential change \\Tought 
 in the nature and state of man, since he was originally 
 formed by his merciful Creator ; and show, in glowing 
 colours, the ignorance of our author in the first prin- 
 ciple necessary for his investigating the truths of the 
 Christian religion: I mean his omu nature, as well as 
 the sublime doctrines of salvation by a Redeemer, 
 founded upon it. 
 
 The way to God, even under the express and po- 
 sitive revelation of his will, manifested in the life, cha- 
 racter, and doctrines of Jesus Christ, requires study, 
 application, instruction, divine grace, and continual 
 improvement, before it can be properly sought out, 
 even with the aid of the sacred Scriptures. Do the ad- 
 vocates of the Christian system, at this day expect to 
 know the great truths of their holy religion, by imme- 
 diate inspiration, while they acquire the knowledge ol' 
 every art and science, relative to human things, by la- 
 borious investigation? Even in the natural \^ orkl, God, 
 who created man, hath made him a dependent crea- 
 ture, so that it is necessary for his support, from day 
 to day, that he should be fed, cloathed and covered 
 irom the inclemency of the weather; but does any man 
 pretend to disbelicv^e the goodness and mercy of God 
 towards him, because he cannot exist, without cai'C, 
 labour, and active attention to his various wants? 
 Must he not plough, and sow, and reap, and defend 
 himself from his known enemies, or perish ? Is this 
 ever thought a solid argument against the superin- 
 
C 43 ] 
 
 tendant Providence of God, or his abundant goodness 
 to the children of men? 
 
 In the rehgion of the Gospel, the Spirit of God has 
 been promised by Jesus Chi'ist, to lead his people into 
 all truth ; but it is the diligent, the active, the perse- 
 vering and sincere inquirer, who is encouraged to 
 depend upon this heavenly gift; and therefore the 
 apostle exhorts his fellow Christians " to work out 
 their own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is 
 God," saith he, " who worketh in you, both to will 
 and to do, of his good pleasure." 
 
 Nothing short of consummate vanity, or the gross- 
 est ignorance, therefore, could lead to the unfounded 
 conclusion, " that the way to God," in our author's 
 sense, " is open to every man alike." 
 
 The author of the Age of Reason, having thus 
 introduced himself to the attention of his readers, and, 
 as he supposed, paved the way to a sceptical temper 
 of mind, proceeds to his objections to the leading facts 
 of revealed religion. 
 
THE VIRGIN MARY. 
 
 " When lam told,^^ says our author, " that a woman, called 
 the Virgin Mary, said, or gave out, that she was with-child, 
 •without any cohabitation with a man ; and that her betrothed 
 husband, Joseph, said that an Angel told him so, I have a 
 right to believe them or not ; such a circumstance required 
 a much stronger evidence, than their bare ivordfor it ; hut 
 we have not even this; for neither Joseph nor Mary 
 wrote any such matter themselves. It is only reported by 
 others, that they said so. It is hearsay upon hearsay. ^^ 
 
 1 HIS gross misrepresentation, however plausi- 
 bly cloathed in artful language, is unworthy of a man, 
 who pretends to integrity of character, and to write for 
 the edification of mankind. He surely has never taken 
 the pains to read, with attention, the narration which 
 he thus attempts to contradict ; and thereby he is de- 
 ceiving the young and unlearned reader, in matters of 
 serious importance to his best interests. 
 
 The sacred writings of the Jews, many hundred 
 years before Joseph or Mary were bom, predicted, in 
 positive terms, tlie extraordinary event, that a virgin, 
 of the tribe of Judah, should conceive and bear a son, 
 and tliat in the town of Bethlehem, in Judea. It was 
 
[ 4^ 3 
 
 not only thus early promulgated, but became a prin-. 
 ciple firmly believed and relied upon by the M^hole 
 people of the Je^vs, for many generations; and was the 
 great object to which most of their inspired prophets 
 directed their public labours. " The ancient Jewish 
 doctors expected their Messiah to be born of a virgin ; 
 therefore it was, that Simon Magus, who set hi mself 
 up for the Messiah, pretended that his mother Rachel, 
 bore him without tlie loss of her virginity."* 
 
 Previous to this mysterious phenomenon, the time 
 foretold by the prophets for its completion, expired ; 
 and many other circumstances that were to attend it, 
 actually came to pass. The expectation of the Jews, 
 as a people, and the learned men of the neighbouring 
 nations, who were acquainted with their Scriptures, 
 was raised to the highest pitch, by the fulfilment of the 
 previous events foretold, as the signs of the approach- 
 ing glory. 
 
 Daniel had very early, and while he was a resident 
 in Babylon, by his prophetic declaration, foretold the 
 coming of the Messiah among the Jews, at the end 
 of seventy weeks, or four hundi'ed and ninety years> 
 which must have been well known to all the nations 
 of the east— add to this, that the Jews were then scat- 
 tered over all Asia, Africa, and I^urope. Tacitus, the 
 Roman historian, who lived in the first century, says,^ 
 " Many of the Jews were persuaded, fi^om the con- 
 tents of their sacred -writings, tliat the eastern country 
 would prevail, and that from Judea would come those, 
 who were to have the sovereignty of the whole 
 world."t Suetonius, another famous historian of the 
 
 * Ruct. Qiiestio«g Almat. lib. ii. ch. x^, f LiU.v-. cap. xiii, fol 56^. 
 
t 47 ] 
 
 same century, says, "An ancient and unifonn opinion 
 had prevailed all over the east, that it was destined 
 for the people of Judea, about this time, to rule over 
 the world."* Josephiis, the Jewish historian, men- 
 tions the same thing; and further says, ** That what 
 principally excited the Jewish people, the wise juen 
 as well as others, to the war with the Romans, was the 
 expectation of a great deliverer to arise among them, 
 who should obtain the empire of the world." He also 
 says, " That when Alexander the Great was at Jeru- 
 salem, the prophecies of Daniel were pointed out to 
 him, by Jaddus, the high priest."!" Dr. Sykes says, 
 " It is evident that this opinion was fixed and settled; 
 was generally received among the Jews, that some one 
 of their nation was to eet universal dominion. It is 
 testified on all hands, by heathens and by Jews, as weU 
 as Christians, and consequently cannot be denied." 
 
 The miraculous event is made known to the sub- 
 ject of this divine grace by an angel from Heaven. 
 She is not found among the nobles of her country, or 
 the princes of her tribe. — She is an obscure virgin 
 ^f the tribe oS Judah, dwelling in die despised city of 
 Nazareth. Her betrothed husband receives equal 
 proof of the awful truth. — They make it known to 
 their friends. — It is confirmed to them by her cou- 
 sin Elizabeth, who had previous notice from the same 
 heavenly messenger, of the mercy of God to her na- 
 tion. They are necessarily, tho' undesignedly, brought 
 to the village of Bethlehem by the public authority o4' 
 the government, that no part of the ancient prediction 
 should be unfulfilled. 
 
 * Da Vh*, Veep: cli. i^. 'f Josephas, vol. 
 
[ 48 ] 
 
 At the birth of this v/ondrous child, certain simple 
 and unsuspecthig shepherds, engaged in their lawful 
 and innocent occupations, but wholly ignorant of any 
 extraordinary occurrence, are surprized with a visit 
 from a heavenly choir, and informed, in the most sub- 
 lime language and harmonious strains, of the love of 
 God to man. 
 
 The shepherds, with astonishment, visit the stable 
 and the manger by direction of the messengers of 
 Heaven, and find the more than royal babe, agreeably 
 to their information. — They publicly announce the 
 glad tidings, and publish abroad the fulfilment of an- 
 cient prophecy. 
 
 The wise men from a distant and eastern country, 
 under the influence of tradition, added to a divine re- 
 velation, and the supernatural appearance and direc- 
 tion of a new star in the Heavens, attend the new born 
 babe with magnificent presents, and hail him king 
 of the Jews.* 
 
 Chalirdius the Platonist, a pagan historian who 
 wrote, soon after the coming of Christ, his Commen- 
 tary on Timaeus, says, "There is another more holy 
 and more venerable history, which relates the appear- 
 
 • Abiil-Pharaglus, an Arab writer mentioned in the Historia Dynasta- 
 rium, page 54, tells us, that " Zoroaster, the head of the Persian magians, 
 (or clergy) foretold to his noagians the coming of Christ, and that at the 
 time of his birth there should appear a wonderful star, which should shine 
 by day as well as by night, and therefore left it in command with them, 
 that when that star should appear, they should follow the directions of it, 
 and go to the place where he should be born, and there offer gifts and pay 
 their adoration unto him : And that it was by this command that the three 
 wise men came out of the east — that is, out of Persia, to worship Christ in 
 Bethlehem." Dean Prideaux says, this author, though an Arab, professed 
 the Christian religion, and supposes it as most likely, that hc took this idea 
 from them, though he assigns no reasons fof his belief. 
 
[ 49 ] 
 
 ance of a new star, not to foretel diseases and death, 
 but the descent of a venerable God, wlio was to pre- 
 serve mankind, and to shov/ favour to the affairs of 
 mortals ; which star the wise men of Chaldasa observ- 
 ing as they travelled in the night, and being very 
 well skilled in viewing the heavenly bodies, they are 
 said to have sought after the nev/ birth of this God; 
 and having found that majesty in a child, they paid 
 him worship, and made such \'0v,'s as v/cre agreeable 
 to so great a God." 
 
 Baalam, on the arrival of the Israelites from Egypt 
 into the wilderness, had prophesied of the coming 
 Messiah, by declaring, that "a star should come out of 
 Jacob, and a sceptre rise out of Israel;" and no doubt 
 but the knowledge of this prophecy was preserved in 
 the east, and, with other historical facts, handed down 
 by tradition. The people of the east had also the ad- 
 vantage of the knowledge and piety of Melchizedeck, 
 Abraham, Lot, Isaac, Jacob and Job, and his friends ; 
 the worship and example of the Hebrews in Egypt— 
 the account of all the miracles performed by Moses — - 
 their supernatural deliverance from that house of bon- 
 dage — the remarkable destruction of the Egyptians in 
 the sea — the miraculous support, in the wilderness, of 
 three millions of souls for forty years, with their un* 
 exampled success, against all the united force of the 
 kings of Canaan, with their numerous hosts, accord* 
 ing to the express predictions of Moses — the final 
 settlement of the Hebrews in the promised land — the 
 celebrity of David, Solomon, and the kings of Judah 
 and Israel — the conduct and prophecies of Daniel, 
 Isaiali, Jeremiah, and other prophets — v.ith all the va- 
 rious decrees of the kings of Babylon, acknowledging 
 
 G 
 
C 50 ] 
 
 the God of Israel, to be the God of all the earth, ast 
 did many of the neighbouring nations from time to 
 time. All these extraordinary means of knowledge, 
 and tlic occurrences consequent thereon, must have 
 turned the attention of the wise men of every nation, 
 to the history and religion of a people thus favoured of 
 God; and hereby it is reasonable to suppose they be- 
 came acquainted with the leading facts of revelation. 
 
 Strabo, another heathen historian, in his 16th 
 book, mentions Moses and the ancient Jews ^ with 
 commendation. He says, " That many, in honour to 
 the divine majesty, went out of Egypt ^\'ith Moses, 
 rejecting the worship of the Egyptians and other na- 
 tions, inasmuch as Moses had instructed them that 
 God Avas not to be worshipped by any image, and that 
 he ^^ ould re^'eal himself only to the pure and vir- 
 tuous." He observes, *' That Moses had great suc- 
 cess in the establishment of his government, and the 
 reception of his laws, among the neighbouring na- 
 tions; and that his successors, for some ages pursued 
 the same methods, being just, and truly religious." 
 
 Varro, the most learned Romai? historian, though 
 a heathen, much approved of tlie Jewish worship, as 
 being free from that idolatry, which he could not but 
 dislike, in the heathen religion.* 
 
 Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, were mention- 
 ed of old in Philo Biblyus, out of Sanchionathan, who 
 wrote 4ibout 200 years after Moses — in Berosus, a 
 priest of Bclus, who lived about 300 years before 
 Christ — Hecataius — NicolausDamascenus — Artipa- 
 nus — Eupolemus — Demetrius — tlie Orphic verses— f 
 
 • St. Aug. in Civ. Dei, lib. iv. ch. xv\i. 
 
[ SI ] 
 
 and in Justin, out of Trogus Pompaeius ; all of whom 
 relate the history of Moses, and his principal acts.* 
 
 This fact is also confirmed by the language of Ru- 
 hab, the harlot of the city of Jericho, to die spies. 
 *' And she said unto the men, I know that the Lord 
 hath given you the land, and that your teiTor has 
 fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land 
 faint because of you: for ive have heard how the Lord 
 dried up the water of the Red-Sea for you, when ye 
 came out of Egypt; and what ye did to the two kings 
 of the Amorites, that were over the other side of Jor- 
 dan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed, for 
 the Lord your God, he is God in Heaven abo\e, and 
 on earth beneath."t The learned bishop Tillotson 
 says, " The gentiles had, from the prophecies of the 
 Sybils, an expectation of a great king, that was to 
 aj)pear in the world." So Virgil says, '* that the time 
 of Augustus was the utmost date of tliat prophec}', 
 ultima cuincei vcnit jam carminis JEias.'* 
 
 These \\ ise men then, imder all these advantages, 
 might, on the appearance of this star, about the time 
 of the completion of Daniel's four hundred and ninety 
 years, have been fully convinced of the truth of the 
 prediction, and the certainty of his being born, who 
 should literally become the king of all the earth. 
 They therefore did not enter Judea in a secret man- 
 ner, or make a mystery of their mission. Their 
 application is not to the paii:ies concerned, or friends 
 engaged to make out the trudi of the fact; but as am- 
 bassadors from a foreign prince, they with confidence 
 apply to Herod, the king of the country, and under a 
 
 • Grot, de Vcit. I Joih.ia, chap. ii. 9th, 10th and 11th ver. 
 
[ 52 ] 
 
 convjction of the certainty of their mission, with an 
 air of authority demand to know, *' Where is he thai 
 is born king of the yews ? for we have seen his star in 
 the east, and are come to worship him.'''' This was 
 unwelcome and alarming news, to the ciiiel, jealous, 
 and tyrannical Herod. He did not rejoice in the glo- 
 rious confirmation of all their hopes, founded on 
 ancient prophecy, and endeavour to countenance the 
 idea, and the general expectation of the people, but 
 *"' he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him." 
 The people had often experienced the dreadful effects 
 of revolts, and therefore, without considering the dif- 
 ference between these times and events, trembled at 
 the extraordinary tidings, The chief priests and 
 scribes, ai-e all solemnly convened by the king's 
 order, that he might know from them, with precision, 
 the place pointed out by the inspired penmen of their 
 sacred ^\^ritings, where Christ, or their e:j^pected Mes-^ 
 siah, should be born. They do not hesitate about, ov 
 deny the facts, but unanimously answer, "In Beth- 
 lehem of Judea." The wise men no sooner receive 
 the answer, than they repair to that place, and lo ! the 
 star, which they had seen in the east, again appears to 
 them, and directs to the most unlikely place in the 
 >vorld, in hum^in apprehension, (a stable and a man^ 
 ger) to look for a royal infant, the expectation of a 
 great nation, and the hope of the world. 
 
 As soon as this e:j£traordinary child is brought 
 ipto the temple, (most likely with many others, with- 
 out distinction) Simeon the priest, an order of men 
 among the Jev/s, not famous for countenancing the, 
 humble Jesus, and Anna, a prophetess, under the in- 
 pucnce of a prophetic spirit, single out the blessed 
 
C S3 ] 
 
 child, and unite their testimony in ciDnfirmation of 
 tliis supernatural event. 
 
 But it will be asked, how are these things known, 
 but by bare " hearsay upon hear say V 
 
 I answer, these are facts related by the chosen dis- 
 ciples of this same child, who was thus born king of 
 the Jews. They accompanied him, during his mi- 
 nistry, and received their knowledge from his own 
 information, as well as that of Joseph and Mar)*, and 
 by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. These are facts 
 related by them, not in a secret history, or in a cor- 
 ner; not for their private or personal advantage in this 
 life, but at the risk of their reputation, peace, com- 
 fort, and even of their lives. Arnobius, as early as 
 the third century, says, " that it is extremely impro- 
 bable that men should be so absurd and infatuated, as 
 to agree together to pretend that they had seen things, 
 which they had not seen; especially if w^e consider, 
 that the}^ were so far from making any advantage of 
 such an imposture, that they exposed themselves to 
 the hatred of the world in general." — Not hundreds 
 of years after the events, but during the life of their 
 master, and immediately on his death — in the life time 
 of Mary, if not of Joseph too ; and most likely of the 
 shepherds and other witnesses of these extraordinary 
 circumstances, which they relate — of numbers who 
 must ha^'e been privy to the visit of the wise men, 
 priests, scribes, and pharisees — to the cruel slaugh- 
 ter of the innocent children by the relentless Herod — 
 many an inconsolable mother, and weeping father, 
 must have been living witnesses of these important 
 facts, when first published by the disciples of the cru- 
 cified Jesus, to an astonished world. On no other 
 
[ 54 ] 
 
 natural principle, can you account for the amazing 
 success, that attended the preaching of a poor ilUte- 
 rate fisherman, when three thousand men were 
 brought over to the faith, at one sermon. It is most 
 likely, that not only these, but thousands more, did 
 then testify to their truth, otherwise the apostles must 
 have been detected in the most shameful imposition 
 on mankind, if they had been false. But so far from 
 this, neither scribes, nor pharisees, with other learn- 
 ed Jews, who always discovered so much inveteracy 
 to the Christian faith, ever pretended to controvert, in 
 that day, the great leading facts of the Gospel 
 history. 
 
 These opposers of the Chiistian church, had the 
 most urgent reasons for using every means in their 
 power, to expose the falsehood or forgery of the apos- 
 tles, ifsuchhadbeenthecase. The aposdes condemned 
 both scribe and pharisee for their unbelief, hypocrisy 
 and formality — the whole body of the Jews, for their 
 darling partiality to their own nation, and ceremonial 
 law; and threatened the most dreadful punishment in a 
 future state, upon all. Dr. Priestley very properly 
 observes, that " We believe the facts recorded in 
 the New-Testament, not on the evidence of four per- 
 sons, but on that of thousands, who were well ac- 
 quainted with the facts, and by whom it cannot be 
 denied, the contents of these books were credited. 
 The books called the Gospels, were not the cause^ but 
 the effects of the belief of Christianity in the first ages: 
 and these were received by the primitive Christians, 
 because they knew beforehand, that the contents of 
 them were true ; consequently the leading facts of 
 Christianity will always remain deserving credit, 
 
L 55 J 
 
 whatever may be found to be the truth concerning the 
 authenticity of particular books. The circumstances 
 of the Christian church, which received these books 
 and transmitted them to us, were such, as there cannot 
 be a doubt with respect to the competency of their 
 evidence; because they were published in the life 
 time of thousands and myriads, who were as compe- 
 tent witnesses of the facts y as the writers themselves ; 
 and there cannot be any question of their veracity, 
 unless we suppose they all combined to tell and to 
 propagate a falsehood, to their own prejudice, and 
 merely to impose on all posterity — which would be a 
 greater miracle, as being more contrary to what we 
 know of human nature, than any thing recorded in 
 these books."* 
 
 But what can our author say to the confirmation 
 of all these great events, by the after life and conduct 
 of Chi'ist himself, who is acknowledged to be " a vir- 
 tuous and amiable man, and a preacher of the most 
 excellent morality."! He acknowledged his mother 
 on the cross, and declared his supernatural birth and 
 high original, publicly and openly, before friends 
 and enemies. 
 
 Let any candid man, with a mind open to convic- 
 tion on rational evidence, take up the account of this 
 transaction, as related by the apostle, and confirmed 
 by all the attendant and concurring circumstances 
 contained in the sacred writings, and let him say, if 
 he could then presume to assert, without a shadow 
 of truth, that the birth of Jesus Christ of the Virgin 
 Mar}'", as related by the evangelists, is mere hearsay ^ 
 
 * Letters to a young; man. t Paine. 
 
C 56 J 
 
 or rather hearsay upon hearsay. Did not the writers 
 of the Gospels testify, by their whole conduct, that 
 they were men of integrity, impartiality and virtue ? 
 Did they not teach and inculcate the most pure and 
 strict morality ever taught to man, and that on pain 
 of the utmost displeasure of Almighty God ? Christ's 
 disciples, says the learned Jortin, were examples of 
 fervent zeal for the welfare of mankind — of an inof- 
 fensive behaviour — of disinterestedness and self-de- 
 nial — of indefatigable industry — of the most exten- 
 sive charity — of patience, courage and constancy — 
 and of a regular practice of all they taught. The first 
 Christians resembled their teachers in their good qua- 
 lities, and it was no small advantage to them, in their 
 apologies for themselves and their religion, to be able 
 to appeal boldly to their innocence and integrity. — 
 That we may have a right sense of this, we should 
 consider what it was to be a Cliristian in that day, 
 lest we be deceived by the vulgar use of the word, 
 and by the notion which we at present entertain about 
 it. To be a Christian at that time, was to be an ex- 
 ample of well-tried virtue — of true wisdom and con- 
 summate fortitude; for he surely deserves the name 
 of a gi'eat and good man, who serves God, and is a 
 friend to mankind ; and receives the most ungrateful 
 returns from the world ; and endures them with a 
 calm and composed mind ; who dares to look scorn, 
 infamy and death in the face. Whoever stands forth 
 unmoved, and patiently bears to be derided as a fool 
 and an ideot — to be pointed out as a madman and an 
 enthusiast ; to be reviled as an atheist, and an ene- 
 my to all righteousness ; to be punished as a robber 
 and a murderer — He who can press through these 
 
[ " ] 
 
 trials, is a conqueror indeed; and what the world calls 
 courage, scarce deserves that name when compared to 
 this behaviour.* 
 
 Some of these disciples who afterwards -wrote the 
 Gospels, were personally acquainted with Jesus 
 Christ, attended him during his life, and were actual- 
 ly concerned in many of the events they relate. They 
 were intimately acquainted with Joseph and Mary ; 
 and one of them took Mary to his own house after the 
 crucifixion, at the request of his dying Lord, and 
 she dwelt with him for fifteen years. The brothers 
 and sisters of Jesus Christ after the flesh, were among 
 his disciples, and several of them sealed their faith 
 with their blood. If these circumstances did not con- 
 stitute the Apostles the most proper historians to re- 
 cord the life, actions and doctrines of their master, 
 and do not operate as a strong confirmation of the 
 facts they relate, I know not what human testimon}', 
 can amount to proof: neither can I see, what reason 
 there can be, for giving credit to the most approved 
 testimonies either of nations or individuals. 
 
 Our author, with all his infidelity, A\'ill allow in 
 page 8, " that no one will deny or dispute the jwwer 
 of the Almighty, to give such a revelation, if he plea- 
 ses." He acknowledges that there was such a man 
 as Jesus Christ; and that he was a virtuous and amia- 
 ble man. " That the morality he preached and prac- 
 tised was of the most benevolent kind." These are 
 concessions, more than sufllicicnt to overthrow our 
 author's whole system of objections, and his infideli- 
 ty founded thereon. 
 
 • Discourse on tie trials of the Christian T^clijion, 11 j. 
 H 
 
[ 58 ] 
 
 That Jesus Christ lived in the reign of Tiberius 
 Ceesar and suffered death under the Roman governor 
 Pontius Pilate, is acknowledged — that he appointed 
 during his life a set of men, who had been with him, 
 during his ministry, to publish and propagate through- 
 out the M'orld, to Jew and Gentile, the doctrines he 
 had tauglit- — the miracles he had performed ; and the 
 predictions he had declared, as consequences of his 
 death and resurrection, is scarcely doubted ; he plain- 
 ly and explicitly foretold to them, the success they 
 should meet with in executing their commission, 
 and the state of the Jewish and Christian churches 
 till his second coming in glory, which he assured 
 them should take place — these are all facts too notori- 
 ous at this day to require proof. 
 
 That this same Jesus Christ did also, during his 
 life, promise to his followers, that after his death and 
 resurrection, he would send his holy spirit into the 
 hearts of his disciples and followers; whereby they 
 would be enabled to remember whatever he had told 
 them while with them in the flesh ; and by whom 
 they should receive the further knowledge of those 
 things, which they were not then prepared to bear, is 
 also recorded by these same apostles. Now the e- 
 \ ent has happened, as it was foretold, in full confir- 
 mation of the truth. That this promise was fulfilled 
 in the presence of thousands of witnesses of all nations, 
 providentially assembled at Jerusalem at the feast of 
 Pentecost, for the puq^ose of public worship, is not 
 only recorded by them as historians, but the after suc- 
 cess of the preached Gospel, in all the neighbouring 
 nations, and the miraculous powers and knowledge 
 ol' so many different languages, remaining in the a- 
 
[ 59 ] 
 
 postles, and many of the first converts to Christianity 
 for more than one hundred years, were evident de- 
 monstrations of the truth of the event. By this 
 means churches were founded in the most famous ci- 
 ties then in the world, and men of all ranks, stations 
 and characters, were brought by the force of these 
 facts, to acknowledge the faith as it was in Je- 
 sus. So public and notorious was the descent 
 of the spirit on the Apostles, that three thousand 
 souls were added to the church in one day. This 
 happened immediately after the event took place ; 
 and many of them must have had a previous know- 
 ledge of the facts published by the Apostles; and their 
 belief, at that time, is a strong confirmation of the 
 veracity of those facts. The descent of the spirit, 
 must have been early contradicted, if it had not been 
 founded in truth, as so many witnesses were appealed 
 to ; but even the high priest himself, was forced to 
 acknowledge, " that unless they did something, all 
 men would believe on him." 
 
 It ought not to be omitted here, that the whole 
 plan of the Gospel, as delivered by these historians, 
 is far superior to the natural abilities, of men so 
 ignorant and unlettered, as were the planners and 
 preachers of it — at the same time, they boldly declare, 
 that every real professor shall experience in himself 
 such powerful effects from a conformity to its doc- 
 trines and precepts, as that they should become un- 
 controvertible evidence to him, that God is their au- 
 thor. This has been verified in the lives and conduct 
 of thousands, and thousands in every age of the 
 church. 
 
[ 60 ] 
 
 These historians have given us the account of th^ . 
 birth of their Lord and master, not only as they re- 
 ceived it from Joseph and Mary, but as they had it 
 from him in his hfe time, as well as from the influence . 
 and direction of the holy spirit, with which they were 
 so openly and publicly filled, in presence of s^o many 
 witnesses. Besides it is acknowledged, that the mo- 
 rality they inculcate, is of the most pure and benevo- 
 lent kind : and that to mislead their adherents and fol- 
 loAA'ers, by publishing untruths to ruin and deceive 
 them, would have been contrary to every principle of 
 nioralit)^ and benevolence. 
 
 If you look through their whole history, every 
 part of it bears the mark of truth and credibility. 
 They urge in all their teachings, the strictest atten- 
 tion to truth, and threaten the severest displeasure of 
 Almighty God against falsehood, dissimulation and 
 hypocrisy. 
 
 While they declare in plain but sublime language, 
 the dignity and glory of their master's real character, 
 they do not attempt to cover his actual state of humi- 
 lity, in not even having a place to lay his head. And 
 though they claim for themselves the rank of ambas- 
 sadors of the Son of God, and the representatives of a 
 King and Sovereign, they fail not to record their own 
 shameful misconduct, and the many mistakes and fai- 
 lures they had been guilty of, during their misappre- 
 hension of his true chai'acter ; having been deceived 
 with the rest of their nation, in looking to their Mes- 
 siah as a temporal Prince and Saviour. 
 
 Add to this, that most of the great leading facts 
 they relate, are confirmed by prophane historians of 
 
[ 61 ] 
 
 good character, though known enemies to the Chris- 
 tian name ; and then let it be asked, who can point 
 out even equal human authority for any ancient his- 
 tory, with Avhich the world is acquainted. 
 
 The universal expectation of the Messiah, or some 
 divine person, about this time, is a fact generally ac- 
 knowledged. Nebuchadnezzar, in his time, speaks of 
 one of the persons who appeared in the fiery furnace, 
 being like unto the Son of God; and Haggai* the pro- 
 phet, expressly says, that be, i. e. the Messiah, was 
 to be the desire of all nations. If so, mankind must 
 have had tradition from the ancient patriarchs of the ^ 
 character of the expected Saviour. Suetonius refers 
 to this expectation in his life of Vespasian, as has 
 been already mentioned. Virgil's PoUio is an unan- 
 swerable argument in favour of the same e\'ent. The 
 sacred books of the Jews foretold it, with the time 
 and many circumstances preparatory to and attending 
 it ; . and they were well known to the then learned 
 world, and for a long time before, as has been shewn. 
 The conduct of the wise men prove it. 
 
 There were three celebrated universities of the 
 Jews in the provinces of Babylon, viz. Narbardia — 
 Pompedithe and Seria, besides several other places 
 famous for learning, f The Jews relate that the ten 
 tribes were carried away not only into Media and 
 Persia, but into the Northern countries, beyond the 
 Bosphorus. Ortelius finds them in Tartary.|| In E- 
 gypt the Jews had a temple, like that of Jerusalem, 
 
 • Haggai, ii. 7. 
 
 t Buxtorf, Tib. Cxs. 6. Lightfoot's Harmony, X. T. 535, Reasons 
 of Christianity i5. 
 
 i Hiaer in Zech. x. Reasons of Christianity, 85. 
 
[ 62 ] 
 
 built by Onias and continued for the space of 343 
 years, till the reduction of Jerusalem by Titus. The 
 Jews at that time, says the Talmud, were double the 
 number in Egypt, of those who left it under Moses, 
 tliat is, six millions.* 
 
 The reign of Augustus and the government of 
 Pilate are established facts. Dion in his life of Oc- 
 tavius Ccesar, mentions the murder of the Babes 
 of Bethlehem ; and Macrobius, another historian of 
 early date and a heathen, says that " Herod the king 
 ordered to be slain in Syria, (by which the Romans 
 often meant Judea) some children that were under 
 two years old. Among whom he included his own 
 son, which made Augustus pleasantly say, it was bet- 
 ter to be Herods hog, than his son."f 
 
 The appearance of a wonderful star at the time of 
 Christ's nativity is mentioned by Pliny | in his natural 
 history, under the name of a bright comet. II 
 
 Celsus, Julian and Porphyry, all mortal enemies 
 to the religion of Jesus, acknowledge the miracles 
 and doctrines of Christ, at the same time that they as- 
 cribe them to the power of magic. It is a great com- 
 plaint of Porphyry (a famous heathen Philosopher of 
 
 * Josephus Antiq. 
 
 t Matrob. Satunial. Lib. 3. c. 4. folio, 279, cited by Cave, 1 vol. In- 
 troduction 2. X Lib. 2. c. 25. 
 
 jl Hue:ius says, Scribit Plinius, exortum fuisse aliquando comoetam, 
 candidum, ai-gentes crine ita fulgentem, ut vix contueri possit quisqiiam, 
 specieque humana Dei effigiem in se ostendentem. Quest, alnct. lib. 2. 
 ch. 16. 
 
 The same author in his demonstration, proposition 3d, says, " that a 
 new star or body of light seen by the wise men, is acknowledged by Ju- 
 lian, though he ascribes it to natural causes " And it is set off with great 
 eloquence by Chalcidius, in his comment upon Plato's Timsus. Hamin- 
 Annot. in Matth. 2. ch. 2. 
 
C 63 ] 
 
 the third century who wrote against the Christian re- 
 ligion) that our blessed Lord had the power of curing 
 the possessed with devils and destroying their domini- 
 on, wherever he came. He makes it no wonder, that 
 their cities should be overrun with sickness, since 
 Esculapius and the rest of the gods, ever since the 
 admission of the Christian religion, have withdrawn 
 their converse with men. For since Jesus began to 
 be worshipped no man hath received any public help 
 or benefit by the gods.* 
 
 Tacitus and Lucian both mention the crucifixion 
 under Pontius Pilate. Hear the first in his own 
 w ords, when speaking of the Christians, " They had 
 this denomination from Christus^ who, in the reign of 
 Tiberius, was put to death as a criminal, by the pro- 
 curator Pontius Pilate. This pernicious superstition, 
 though checked for a while, broke out again and spread 
 not only over "Judea^ but reached this city (meaning 
 Rome) also." 
 
 The darkness at that time is taken notice of by 
 Dion, Thallus,f Phlegon| and Suetonius, but by 
 
 • Euseb. ch. 1. 179. 1 Cave, Lives Introduction 10. 
 
 •}■ Thallus li Greek historian in his 3d Briok, speaks of the darkness 
 at our Saviour's death, which he calls an eclipse. 
 
 f Phlegon who was the Emperor Adrian's freed man, in his 13tli 
 Book of Chronicles, acknowledges that our Lord was a Prophet ; and in 
 his history relates several events which he had foretold. Phlegon com- 
 posed a history digested by Olympiads as far as the year of Christ 140. — 
 In this he takes notice, that in the 4th year of the CCIId, Olympiad 
 vhich determines about the middle of the Sod year of our common sera, 
 there happened the greatest eclipse of the sun, that had ever been seen, in- 
 somuch that the stars were visible at noon day: and that afterwards 
 there was a great earthquake in I'lithynia. This is quoted by Eusebius, 
 Hyeronimus m hisChronicon and origen against CeUus. Stack, i. N.T. 14^. 
 
 The Christian authors for the first si.v centuries constantly appealed 
 to the testimony of Phlegon, Thallus and the Roman records without he- 
 sitation. Whiston Test, of Phlegon, vindicated— »-(Jalmcts dispu'.ation 
 8ur lestcnebres. 
 
[ 64 ] 
 
 TertuUian in a particulai' manner, when he appeals in 
 his apology to the Roman Archives, then in existence, 
 for the particular accomit of it, given by Pontius Pi- 
 late to Tiberius Caesar; and the rending of the vail of 
 the temple is mentioned by Josephus. 
 
 Thus, when actuated by a firm and lively faith in 
 the truth and certainty of the Gospel, the Christian 
 beholds the actions of even the enemies of the cross, 
 (in the words of a w^orthy Dignitary of the church of 
 England) " insensibly ministering to those sublime 
 intentions of Providence; and ignorantly concurring 
 to advance the triumphs of the cross ; his thoughts 
 ai'e relieved and enlarged amidst the amplitude of such 
 conceptions : inferior considerations pass away and 
 no aifection remains to the overwhelmed and enrap- 
 tured mind, but that of holy joy and gratitvide, in 
 return for such exuberant goodness, w^hich hath 
 thus amply provided for the present and future hap- 
 piness of his creature man."* 
 
 As a confinTiation of the history thus written by 
 the apostles, may here he added, the amazing progress 
 made by the religion of Jesus Christ, on the preach- 
 ing of a few illiterate fishermen, in opposition to the 
 religion of Jew and Gentile, and to the entire subver- 
 sion of both, as then practised, as is ably observed by 
 an eminent writer at the beginning of the second cen- 
 tury, during the lives of many of the eye witnesses to 
 some of those important facts. " The Cliiistian reli- 
 gion," says he, " is spread through the greatest part 
 of Europe, Asia, and Africa. It extends from the 
 British islands, to the farthest India; and is established 
 
 • Hurd. 3d Sermon, TO— "1. 
 
[ 65 ] 
 
 liot only in cities aiid populous places, but in towns 
 and country villages, as Pliny testifies. 
 
 The metropolitan cities are all under bishops of the 
 greatest eminence and piety. Rome, Alexandria, Anti- 
 och,and Jerusalem, are governed by apostolical men — 
 Publius is at Athens — Poly carp at Smyrna — Onesimus 
 at Ephesus — and Papias at Hierapolis." And Tertul- 
 lian addressing himself to the Roman governors, in 
 behalf of the Christians, assures them, *' that although 
 tliey were of no long standing, yet that they had filled 
 all places of their dominions; their cities, islands, cas- 
 tles, corporations, councils, armies, tribes, compa- 
 nies; the palace, senate, and courts of judicature; that 
 if they had a mind to revenge themselves, they need 
 not betake themselves to secret and skulking arts; 
 their numbers were great enough to appear in open 
 arms, having a party, not in this or that province, but 
 in all quarters of the world; nay that, naked as they 
 were, they could be sufficiently revenged upon them; 
 for should they but all agree to retire out of the Ro- 
 man empire, the w^orld would stand amazed at that so- 
 litude and desolation, that would ensue upon it; and 
 they (the Romans) would have more enemies than 
 friends or citizens left among them."* 
 
 Among these converts, a great proportion were 
 Jews, not only in Jerusalem, but in every town and 
 village in Judea,as well as in the cities of the Gentiles. 
 Even the persecuting Saul, who thought he did God 
 service by his great zeal in bringing the best Chrisr 
 tians to judgment and to death, is made himself to cry 
 out, " Who art thou Lord? what wouldst thouhavis 
 
 * Apol. ch- xxxvii. fol. oO. 
 I 
 
C 66 ] 
 
 mc to do:'^ and afterwards to seal with his blood the 
 truth of that Gospel which he had so furiously perr 
 secuted. 
 
 Permit me now to address myself to every reason- 
 able man, and ask, if facts thus related, attended with 
 so strong corroborating circumstances, by men of 
 unblemished characters, with such advantages, and 
 "w^hose general statement is thus supported, can with 
 justice be charged with wanting even " the authority 
 of the persons from whom the facts came, and with 
 being mere hearsay, if not hearsay upon hearsay^ and 
 ivhich no one is bound to believe." Am I at liberty 
 to believe or disbelieve, that there is such a city as 
 London, or such a republic as France, because I have 
 not seen them ; but draw my knowledge from the tes- 
 timony of others ? Am I not bound to give credit to 
 facts related to me, on rational evidence, though hu- 
 man and fallible? — Is there a sensible man in the 
 United- States, v\ho doubts whether Thomas Paine 
 wrote the pamphlet, called the Age of Reason, where 
 every page is characteristic of the man, and unites to 
 confirm the testimony of others, that he is the author^ 
 although perhaps there may not be a man in America 
 who saw him write it — and if any one should have 
 seen him write it, or should have heard him acknow- 
 ledge it, yet, on the principles of the author of the Age 
 of Reason, I am not bound to believe it, unkss I had 
 seen him write it, or heard him acknowledge it, my- 
 self. 
 
 Am I to believe this world existed from all eter- 
 nity, and will continue to eternity, because I was UQt 
 present at its creation? Nor can I have personal de- 
 monstration of its end, although I enjoy the concur- 
 
C 67 ] 
 
 rent testimony of reason and revelation, to convince 
 me both of its beginning and end. 
 
 It is a very strange doctrine that I am not to be- 
 lieve a fact, though it comes from God himself, and is 
 authenticated in the fullest manner by the person 
 to whom it is first communicated, because it was not 
 srtso made to me in person. If one is bound to believe 
 human testimony, relative to human transactions, 
 when gi\-en by men of veracity, having the means of 
 knowledge, is the weight of the evidence lessened ? 
 or is the obligations to believe, weakened, when the 
 testimony relates to the acts and declarations of God 
 himself, which in his infinite wisdom and condescen- 
 sion, he has thought proper to make known to any of 
 his servants, for the general benefit of mankind? If it 
 should please God to make a special revelation of his 
 will to an individual, with regard to any rule of con- 
 duct which he chose should influence those who 
 wished to serve and obey him, and that individual is 
 authorized to communicate it to me, attended with full 
 and convincing evidence of its truth and certainty, am 
 I nevertheless at liberty to disbelieve and reject such 
 revelation with impunity ? What would have been said 
 of the primitive church in Jerusalem, if, after knowing 
 fiom others, the command of their Lord and master 
 while in the flesh, '' that on seeing the approach of the 
 Roman armies, they should lea^e the city and fly for 
 tlieir lives," if they had reasoned with our author, and 
 refused to believe, because they had no know ledge of 
 the injunction, but from the testimony of others? But, 
 blessed be God ! they believed, and were preserved 
 from the exemplary fate of that unhappy city. 
 
[ 68 ] 
 
 In human knoM ledge, it is generally thought that 
 tlic mind naturally assents to a fact fully proved by 
 such testimony as the nature of the case will admit. 
 Now it is directly opposed to the whole nature of man, 
 and every principle of responsibility in him for his 
 moral conduct, to suppose an immediate personal re- 
 velation from God, to every individual of the human 
 race, before he is bound to believe. — This would ren- 
 der it necessary for God, either to affect the mind of 
 man so irresistably by the influence of his spirit, as to 
 destroy all free agency in him, and thereby do vio- 
 lence to his nature ; or else, being thus convinced by 
 tiie kaovk ledge of the facts revealed, and knowing the 
 will of his master, he might have gone on in disobe- 
 dience, having his natural heart still unsubdued and 
 impenitent, and increased his condemnation more and 
 more, by acting contrary to so much light and know- 
 ledge. St. Paul testifies this perverse bias of human 
 nature, and opposition of the heart of man to the con- 
 viction of his understanding, when he says, though 
 " they knew God, yet they did not glorify him 
 as God." 
 
 Could our author have, by an immediate revela- 
 tion from Heaven, better evidence of the factsrevealed 
 in the Scriptures, than he has of the being and attri- 
 butes of that God, in whom he lives and moves, and 
 has his existence ? And yet, if we were to examine 
 into the effects of this knowledge on his daily practice, 
 we should have reason to fear, that an express and in- 
 dividual revelation to him, v\ ithout a thorough change 
 of heart and mind, would meet with much the same 
 reception as the Scriptures. If he can act against the 
 conviction of a fact, so clearly revealed to every 
 
[ 69 ] 
 
 rational and reflecting mind, as the eternal power and 
 godhead of the one great and glorious Jehovah, with 
 the consequent duties and obligations ; it is not irra- 
 tional or unjust, to suppose a similar conduct, in op- 
 position to the most personal revelation of God to his 
 own mind. This is the idea suggested by St, Paul, 
 that great judge of human nature, hinted at before: — 
 '* For what can be known of God," says he, " was 
 manifested to the Gentiles by God himself, who en- 
 lightened them. His invisible perfections are already 
 geen by the visible creation; yea, his eternal power 
 and godhead, by the things that are made ; wherefore 
 they are inexcusable, because having known God, 
 tliey did not glorify him, nor were they thankful, but 
 became vain in their imaghiations, and their foolish 
 hearts were darkened; and fancying themselves ivise^ 
 they became so stupid, as to change the glory of the 
 incorruptible God into an image made like to cor- 
 ruptible man."* I have not followed the common 
 translation, but one that better agrees widi the spirit 
 of the original. 
 
 It is time now to di'aw this conclusion from what 
 has been said — that the facts, relating to the miracu- 
 lous conception and birth of Christ of the Virgin 
 Mary, are established by evidence and proof far supe- 
 rior to her word, and are of that nature, which one 
 would imagine must command the assent of every 
 honest, ingenuous mind, till the truth and rectitude of 
 the characters of Christ himself, and the sacred histo- 
 rians, can be impeached, and their veracity doubted. 
 And although we have not the writings of Joseph and 
 
 • R»«j. chap i. 19th to 22d ver. 
 
[ 70 ] 
 
 Mary for vouchers, we have the authenticated testi- 
 mony of those, who had it from them, with the addi- 
 tional evidence of miracles, prophecy, and the expe- 
 rience of thousands and thousands of the subjects of 
 this divine grace, from the first promulgation of the 
 Gospel, to tliis day. 
 
THE DIVINE MISSION 
 
 OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 The Age of Reason, not content with ridiculing the lyiiracu- 
 lous conception of the Saviour of the world, calls in question 
 his divine mission also, by asserting, *' that it is not dijffi- 
 cult to account for the credit that was given to the story of 
 yesus Christ being the Son of God. He was born at a 
 time when the heathen mythology had prepared the people 
 for the belief of such a story — almost all the extraordinary 
 men, who lived under the heatbenmythology, were reputed 
 to be the sons of some of their Gods. The story, therefore, 
 had nothing in it either new, wonderful or obscene: it was 
 conformable to the opinions that then prevailed among the 
 Gentiles, or mythologists, and it was those people only, 
 that believed it. The Jews, who had kept strictly to the 
 belief of one God, and no more, and who had ahvays re- 
 jected the heathen mythology, never credited the story. ''^ 
 
 i HIS is something worse than bare misrepre- 
 sentation. — It must be admitted to arise, either from 
 a total want of knowledge of the subject, or a w ilful 
 perversion of the truth. 
 
 The assertion is, that " the heathen mythology 
 had prepared the minds of the people, about the time 
 of the birth of Jesus Christ, for the belief of such ^ 
 story, as that of his being the Son of God; and that 
 the Gentiles only believed jt, but the Jews had nev^r 
 cre(Jit€d the story." 
 
[ T2 ] 
 
 Our author seems to have collected together a few 
 technical expressions, belonging to particular subjects, 
 and with which he seems much pleased, in hopes, that 
 by repeating them over and over, he might persuade 
 himself, and perhaps his readers too, that he was ac- 
 quainted M ith the doctrines to which they were at- 
 tached. This appears to be the case with regard to 
 the heathen mythology ; but from his application of 
 them to the subject before him, he appears to know 
 as little of the Pagan principles of worship, as he does 
 of the Christian system. 
 
 To e^ery person, versed in the history of the na- 
 tions of the world, at the time of the publication of 
 the Gospel of Jesus Christ, nothing can be more evi- 
 dent, than the contrariety of its doctrines and precepts 
 to the mythology of the Gentiles. So far, indeed, 
 were their minds from being prepared, by their reli- 
 gious principles and practices, to admit the doctrines 
 of the Son of God, that perhaps no two things in na- 
 ture could be more opposite, or better calculated to 
 destroy each other. 
 
 The religion of the gentiles, was the then religion 
 of all the nations of the earth, the Jewish nation ex- 
 cepted, which was execrated by them all, as barbar- 
 ous and savage, on acount of the exclusive nature of 
 its v/orship ; not admitting communion with any other 
 religion, known or practised in the world, but repro- 
 bating them all, as the doctrine of devils. Jesus Christ 
 was professedly a Jew, and therefore was despised by 
 the Gentiles; during his m hole life he addressed him- 
 self only to the Jews; after his death, his apostles con- 
 fined their preaching, for many years, to the same 
 people, till taught to do otherwise by divine revela- 
 
[ '3 ] 
 
 tioii. They did not consider the Gentiles as subjects 
 of the grace of the Gospel, if we except the distant 
 hope held out to tiiem by Christ, in his parables and 
 jirophetic declarations, grounded on the rejection cf 
 his Gospel by the Jews, and which were not under- 
 stood by his apostles till after his resurrection. 
 
 The whole genius of the Pagan religion, consisted 
 in the occasional worship of a multitude of Gods, of 
 their own making, for the attainment of mere tempo- 
 ral good, or the indulgence of their passions, without 
 having an idea of the spiritual nature of the great seif>- 
 existent First Cause of all things; or the least expec^ 
 tation of the resurrection of the dead. Their hints of 
 an immortality after death, were very obscure and im- 
 perfect. Cicero, in his Tusculan Questions, says, 
 " Show me first if you can, and it be not too trouble- 
 some, that souls remain afier death; and if you cannot 
 prove this, for it is difficult, declare how there is no 
 evil in death?" Again — '' I know not Avhat mighty 
 things they have got by it, who teach, that when the 
 time of death comes, they shall entirely perish; which 
 if it should he, (for I do not see any thing to the con- 
 trary) what ground of joy or glorying does it afford:" 
 Hence, an admission of any new God, or tlifferent 
 mode of worship, was easily assented to by tliem.; so 
 that it did not derogate from the established principles 
 of intercommunity of divine homage to their various 
 deities, agreeably to their national institutions. 
 
 The Christian system, grounded on the religion of 
 the Jews, so odious to the Vvhole v/orld of Gentiles-, 
 opened a new scene to mankind. Jesus Christ com- 
 menced his prophetic office, by preaching repentance 
 and forgiveness of sins, through his name alone, in 
 
 K 
 
[ 74 ] 
 
 oppcsitiori to all the Gods of tlie nations ; declaring 
 their worship to be that of demons and devils — that 
 no salvation could be procured by any of them to their 
 votaries, and that there was but one only living and 
 true God — that life and immortality A\'as now brought 
 to light by his Gospel, in which, for the first time, was 
 clearly rcAcaled the resurrection of the body— that 
 every man, every where^ was now commanded to re- 
 pent and believe his Gospel, as by no other name un- 
 der Heaven, but that of his o'vvn, could eternal life be 
 obtained — that whoever believed on him, should be 
 saved; but all who refused, and would not believe, 
 should be damned — that no man could come to God, 
 but by him — that he was, emphatically the resurrec- 
 tion and the life — that there could be no communion 
 in the worship of the heathen deities, even their most 
 supreme, no not so much as to eat or drink with them 
 at their festivals and solemnities, their being no pos- 
 sible connection between the cup of the Lord, and of 
 devils. 
 
 The heathen world -was now in an awfid stale of 
 darkness and vice. It will therefore throw some light 
 on the necessity mankind were in at this time, of great 
 reformation, to attend to the nature and practice of the 
 heathen mythology. A respectable author, has given 
 an epitome of it in the following words — " The chief 
 oracles among the heathens, appointed himian sacri- 
 fices; that of Delphi, of Dodona, and of Jupiter Saotes. 
 It was the custom of all the Greeks, to sacrifice a man, 
 before they went out to war. It was a custom among 
 the Phcenicians and Canaanites, for their kings, in the 
 times of great calamity, to sacrifice one of their sons, 
 whorr. they loved best ; and it was common both v.ith 
 
[ 75 ] 
 
 them, the Moabites, and Ammonites, to sacrifice their 
 children. Herodotus says, " That in the expedition of 
 Xerxes into Greece, arriving in the coimtr}^ of the 
 Edonians, in Persia, the magi took nine of the sons 
 and daughters of the inhabitants, and buried them 
 alive — and that vihen Amestris, wife of Xerxes, had. 
 happily attained to mature age with confirmed health, 
 she ordered fourteen children of the noblest families 
 of Persia, to be buried alive, in grateful sacrifice to the 
 subterraneous deity."* The Eg}'ptians, the Athenians 
 and Lacedemonians, and generally all the Grecians, 
 Romans and Carthagenians— the Germans, Gauls and 
 Britons— and indeed almost all the heathen nations 
 throughout the v\'orld, offered human sacrifices upon 
 their altars; and this, not on certain emergencies, and 
 in imminent dangers only, but constantly, and in somx 
 places, every day; but on extraordinary accidents, 
 multitudes were sacrificed at once to their bloody 
 deities. 
 
 Diodorus Siculus and others, relate, that in 
 Africa, two hundred children, of the principal nobility, 
 were sacrificed to Saturn at one time ; and Aristo- 
 menes sacrificed three hundred men together to Jupi- 
 ter Ithometcs, one of whom was Theopompus, king 
 of the Lacedemonians. 
 
 Plutarch, in his Tract on Superstition, says, *' Had 
 it not been much better for the so much famed Gauls 
 and Scj'thians, that they had neither thought nor ima- 
 gined, nor heard any thing of their Gods, than to 
 have believed them such as would be pleased with 
 the blood of human sacrifices, and who accounted 
 
 • lhj. vii. p. .\rr. 
 
[ 7« ] 
 
 siicli for the most complete and meritorious of expia* 
 tioiis. How much better had it been for the Cartha- 
 genians, if they had had either Critias, or a Diagoras, 
 for theix first law-sriver, that so thev mif^cht have be- 
 hcved neither God nor Spirits, than to make such of- 
 ferings to Saturn, as they made. But they knowingly 
 end willingly devoted their own children; and they 
 vAio had none of their ovra, bought of some poor peo- 
 ple, and then sacrificed them, like lambs or pidgeons; 
 the poor mothers standing by, v/ithout either a sigh or 
 a tear — or if by chance she fetched a sigh, or let fall a 
 tear, she lc?.t the price of her child, and it was never- 
 theless sacrificed. All the places round the image, were 
 in the mean time filled with the noise of hautboys and 
 tabors, to drown the poor infants' crying.'* 
 
 Let those who are instrumental, with so much in- 
 dustr}?-, to destroy our holy religion, and bring us back 
 to this awful state of things, seriously reflect on the 
 just deserts of so aggravated a crime, and fear the tre- 
 mendous punishment that awaits their absurd con- 
 duct, 
 
 Livy makes mention of human sacrifices at 
 5-i.ome-— Dion Cassius relates that two men were sa- 
 crificed in the Campus INlartius, under Julius Csesar. 
 He says it was a custom, begun under Augustus, for 
 men to be devoted to death for the safety of the 
 emperor, 
 
 Suetonius mentions, that some writers affirmed, 
 that Augustus oifered a great number of enemies, 
 who had surrendered themselves, to be slain on the 
 ides of March, in devotion to the manes of Julius 
 Caesar, We are informed by Pliny, that in the year 
 of the city 658, a decree of the senate passed, that no 
 
[ 77 ] 
 
 man should be sacrificed, and that, till then, such sa- 
 crifices were public. This prohibition seemed to 
 concern only the common and frequent use of them ; 
 for besides what has been already observed, Plutarch 
 says, '' They continued in his time; and i. was not 
 till about the time of Constantine's reign, that a final 
 stop was put to so strange and abominable a practice; 
 for though it was forbidden by Adrian, and very much 
 abated in his reign, yet Antinous was made a sacri- 
 fice by Adrian himself." Tatian declares, "• Thc^.t the 
 human sacrifices offered to Jupiter at Rome, and to 
 Diana, not far from thence, were the chief cause of his 
 leaving the heathen religion, and turning Christian." 
 
 Pliny acquaints us, that they were practised in 
 the age in which he lived; and Minutlus Felix, 
 that they were used Vvhen he wrote. Porphyry men- 
 tions them as notoriously practised at Rome, in his 
 time; and Lactantius speaks of them, as not laid 
 aside in his.* 
 
 Did not this degenerate and cruel state of things 
 loudly call for a speedy and effectual remedy? The 
 Jews, as a people, had lost every sense of the spirit- 
 uality of their divine religion, and had settled down 
 into mere form and hypocrisy. Their example no 
 longer edified and instructed the neighbouring na- 
 tions, to forsake their vain idols and turn to the living 
 God. Among the heathens, their diabolical sacrifi- 
 ces, with other as impure practices, made up so great 
 a part of their worship, and were become so habitual 
 and fashionable, that arguments and reasonings 
 drawn from the nature of God, and the preof of his 
 
 • Ilcaa. of Christi&nitr, 362, 
 
C 78 ] 
 
 perfections in the works of creation and Providence, 
 liad lost all their convictive force and energy. In this 
 gloom x>f more than midnight darkness, the sun of 
 righteousness arose on a benighted world, with me- 
 ridian splendour. 
 
 When Jesus Clirist began his ministry, he courted 
 neither Jew nor Gentile — declaring the Jewish oecono- 
 my at at end, and fully completed in him; and 
 showing, that all the other nations " had changed the 
 glory of the incorruptible God, into images made like 
 corruptible man, and to birds and four footed beasts, 
 and creeping things ; wherefore God hath given them 
 up to uncleanness, through the lusts of their own 
 hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between them- 
 seh'es — being filled with all unrighteousness, fornica- 
 tion, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full 
 of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whisper- 
 ers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, 
 boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to pa- 
 rents, without understanding, covenant-breakers, 
 without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful." 
 
 . Does this black catalogue contain a picture, likely 
 to attract the friendship of those, who were said to be 
 the originals ? Had it a tendency to prepare the minds 
 of the Gentiles to belie^'e the author to be a Son of 
 God? 
 
 The author of the Age of Reason must have well 
 known, if he had given himself time to reflect, 
 that there was a Y^dde difference, in the estimation of 
 the Gentiles, between their ideas of deifying a man, 
 who had pretended to have been begotten by some 
 imaginary God, and who would claim divine honours 
 jointly with a thousand other Gods of the like origin, 
 
[ 79 ] 
 
 and the claim of Jesus Christ to an exclusive wor- 
 ship. He not only severely, and with sovereign 
 power, reproved their abominable practices, as a 
 moral teacher, but he declared himself in an exclusive 
 sense, (though apparently the son of Joseph and 
 Mary, and confessedly incarnate and the son of man) 
 the only begotten Son of God, begotten before all 
 worlds, even from eternity — ^the Creator of all things 
 — one with the Father, the sole object of all true wor- 
 ship in Heaven and earth — who was, and is, and is to 
 come — the first and the last — the be^innino- and the 
 end — and besides whom there was no God. 
 
 Is there any thing in all the mythology of the an- 
 cients, that tended to prepare the minds of the people, 
 for such a story as this? Or is not every word and 
 every idea totally repugnant to all the notions ever 
 formed by the ^visest among the Gentile nations of 
 the earth, on the subject of religious worship? 
 
 Add to all this, that Jesus Christ not only thus de- 
 clared himself to be the Son of God with power, in 
 his preaching, and proved the claim by doing the 
 works that no man before him ever did; but that the 
 crime for which he was crucified, v/as, that '' being a 
 man, he had made himself equal with God;" and this 
 imputed crime he confessed at the bars, both of the 
 high priest of the Jews, and of the Roman governor. 
 Yet Jesus Christ is acknowledged by this author, 
 *' to have been a virtuous and amiable man; and the 
 excellent morality he preached and practised, to have 
 been of the most benevolent kind, and not exceeded 
 by any who had gone before, or succeeded him." 
 
 How a man, pluming himself on the title Common 
 Sense, can reconcile Jesus Christ having been a 
 
C 80 ■] 
 
 preacher of such excellent morality, ^vitli h'ls own 
 principles detailed in this extraordinary treatise, I 
 leave others to determine. 
 
 Is it possible that this writer could have seriously 
 believed, *■'■ that Jesus Christ, or the Messiah of the 
 Jews, being the Son of God, was a doctrine of no 
 higher a date, than the birth of Christ; and that there- 
 fore it Vk^as a wretched stor}-, formed for the critical 
 moment, when the peoples minds were prepared for 
 the belief of it, by the peculiar complexion of the hea- 
 then mythology ?" 
 
 Nothing could have convinced a reader of this 
 fact, but the author's apparent want of knowledge, in 
 both the Jewish and Cliristian histories, M^hen he as- 
 serts, " That the Jews who had kept strictly to the 
 belief of one God and no more, and who had always 
 rejected the heathen mythology, never credited the 
 story." 
 
 It is almost incredible, that any man, however ab- 
 surd his conduct might have been in some other res- 
 pects, should have attempted so important a subject, 
 without reading the sacred writings of the Jews, v/ith 
 the opinions of their chief authors. To these I appeal 
 for a conclusive answer. 
 
 Their prophetical books expressly foretold, (be- 
 sides the declaration to Adam, that the seed of the 
 woman should bruise the serpent's head) many hun- 
 dred yeai's before the event, that in the fulness of 
 time, God would send his prophet (so termed by 
 way of eminence) to whom the people should heark- 
 en, and that in the seed of Abraham, all the nations of 
 the earth should be blessed. The prophecies rela- 
 ting to the promised Messiah, were delivered at dif- 
 
C 81 J 
 
 fercnt times, and under very differing circumstances, 
 To Adam and Eve he was promised, in general, as a 
 man, the seed of the woman. It is somewhat re- 
 markable, that we never read of the seed of the wo- 
 man but in the instance of the promised Saviour: We 
 hear of the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob — of 
 Aaron and of David, but never of the seed of any wo- 
 man, but that of the Virgin Mary, the mother of our 
 Lord according to the flesh. To Abraham he is 
 promised as his seed, or the seed of his posterity. 
 Thus (in the words of the sacred Biographer*) " He 
 who was promised to Adam, immediately on the fall, 
 under the obscure description of the seed of the wo- 
 man, who should bruise the head of the serpent, was 
 now announced to the world as the seed of Abraham, 
 in whom all the families of the earth should be bles- 
 sed. And hence-forward, we have prediction upon 
 prediction — ordinance upon ordinance — promise up- 
 on promise — event upon event, leading to, rising a- 
 bove, improving, enlarging upon each other, like the 
 gradual light of the ascending sun, from the early 
 da^v^ to the perfect day : we perceive types, shadows, 
 ceremonies, sacrifices disappearing little by little : 
 patriarchs, priests, prophets, lawgivers and kings, 
 retiring one after another, and giving place to the 
 Lord our Judge, our Lawgiver, our King to save us, 
 as the twinkling fires of the night hide their diminish- 
 ed heads ; and as the vapours disperse before the 
 glorious orb of day." 
 
 To Jacob, the Messiah is promised as one de- 
 scending from the tribe of Judah. To Da^id, that he 
 
 » Vol, ii. 17. 
 L 
 
[ 82 3 
 
 should be of his family, and of the fruit of his body. 
 That he was to be a great King forever and ever — 
 the anointed of the Eord — his only begotten Son, 
 who should have the heathen for his inheritance, and 
 the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession.— ' 
 Yet he v/as to be forsaken of his God ; to be despised 
 and laughed to scorn ; his garments were to be part- 
 ed among his persecutors, and they were to cast lots 
 for his vesture. He was to be betrayed by his own 
 familiar friend, who eat of his bread. To Isaiah it 
 was foretold, that the spirit of the Lord should be up- 
 on him, that his birth should be miraculous, and 
 his mother a virgin : — that he should be a man of 
 sorrows and acquainted with grief; and that the chas- 
 tisement, by Mhich our peace is to be effected, should 
 be laid upon him, his death being for the redemption 
 of mankind ; yet the government should be upon his 
 shoulders, and his name should be called. Wonderful 
 Counsellor — the Mighty God — the Father of the 
 Everlasting Ages— the Prince of Peace. 
 
 To Micali, he was to be bom in Bethlehem. To 
 Daniel was made known the precise time of his suf- 
 fering. To Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, that 
 all these events should be accomplished before the 
 destruction of the second Temple. The not break- 
 ing a bone of the paschal Lamb — the rending the 
 garment and casting lots for his vesture — the offer- 
 ing gall and vinegar- — ^the looking on him whom they 
 have pierced — the prophecies relating to the humilia- 
 tion and death of the Messiah, and the spirituality of 
 his office, all tend to elucidate and show the establish- 
 ed doctrines of the Jews with regard to their expect* 
 xd Messiah. 
 
[ 83 ] 
 
 Agreeably to this view of the prophetical declara- 
 tions relating to our Saviour's incarnation, the gene- 
 ral prediction was 2000 years, before the promise 
 made to Abraham. From that, to the pointing out 
 the particular tribe from which he was to descend, 
 was 280 years. From thence to the designation of 
 the family in which he was to be born, was 600 years. 
 It was above 300 years from thence to the prophecy 
 of his miraculous nativity : and from thence to his 
 public appearance as a preacher of righteousness, was 
 S50 years. 
 
 This is a very concise view of the expectations of 
 the Jews, relative to Messiah their King's coming in 
 the flesh. They believed that he should be the Son 
 of God, yet, emphatically speaking, the Son of Man 
 —exalted and debased — master and servant — priest 
 and victim — king and subject — clothed with mortali- 
 ty, yet the conqueror of death — rich and poor — glo- 
 rious in holiness, yet a man acquainted with grief. 
 He was the Father of the everlasting ages, yet involv- 
 ed in our infirmities, and reduced to a state of extreme 
 humiliation. All these seeming contradictions were 
 to be reconciled in the person of their expected Mes- 
 siah; and they centered, as in a point, in the man 
 Christ Jesus, the only begotten Son of God. 
 
 The Jews as a people, then professed firmly to be- 
 lieve, that their king Messiah, though the Word and 
 eternal Son of God, was to be born of a Virgin — of 
 the tribe of Judah— of the family of David — in the 
 village of Bethlehem : that he was to continue for 
 ever and ever, and his name as long as the sun and 
 moon should endure : that he was to be both son and 
 Lord of David: tliat he should die an ignominious 
 
I 84 J 
 
 death and rise again : that he should have a fore- 
 runner in the power and spirit of EHas. That, as a 
 proof of his mission, he should heal the broken 
 hearted, preach deliverance to captives, raise the 
 dead, and preach the Gospel to the poor. That he 
 should perfect and fulfil the law- --be a stone of stum- 
 blins: and rock of offence to manv ; and that the Gen- 
 tiles should submit to his government* In full prdof 
 of these facts, the whole book of Psalms, with the pro- 
 phets Isaiah, Jeremiiili, Ezekiel, Daniel, Zechai'iah, 
 Haggai, and INIalachi bear witness. 
 
 Yet, notwithstanding tliis explicit declaration of 
 the person and character of this glorious personage, 
 the Talmud of the Jews informs us, " Tliat, when the 
 Messiah shall appear, he shall be acknowledged only 
 by a small number of the Jews (in comparison M^th 
 the v, hole people), and shall be rejected by the bulk of 
 the nation : that the Messiah shall be a rock of offence 
 to the two houses of Israel, and an occasion of falling 
 to the inhabitants of Jerusalem : that the Jews shall 
 then be overwhelmed with evils."*" 
 
 When Christ appeared and began his ministry, he 
 did not go to the Gentiles, but confined himself ex- 
 lilusively " to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,'* 
 to the Jews alone, as the immediate object of his mis- 
 sion. From these he first chose twelve disciples^ 
 who remained v/ith him, the constant witnesses of his 
 life and doctrines, to the end. After some time, his 
 followers greatly increasing, he chose seventy disci- 
 ples more, and sent them to the various cities of Judea, 
 
 * Rab. Talm. Tract. Sanhedrim C. Halies in Galatin. lib. ix. ch. ii.T*- 
 
 lli:-.tc!y, Estab. Christianity, by Bullet, ix. 
 
still confining his mission to the Jews. At one time 
 he had attendant, on his personal ministiy, four thou- 
 sand, and at another five thousand followers, besides 
 women and childi*en; these were all Jews. His popu- 
 larity became so very conspicuous among th.e Jews, 
 and his friends and followers so greatly inci-eased, that, 
 in the Sanhedrim, the chief priest declared, that all 
 men were running after him; and among his warm 
 friends and disciples, we find Nicodemus, a ruler of the 
 Jews; Joseph of Arimathea, a counsellor; and Matthew 
 and Zacheus, noted Jewish publicans, or tax-gather- 
 ers, officers under the Roman government ; these 
 were all Jews; and to these, with the whole city of 
 Jerusalem, and the country round about, did he pub- 
 lish the glad tidings of salvation, declaring himself to 
 be the Son of God, and the appointed Messiah, and 
 they believed on his name : and after his death, even 
 the persecuting Saul, a pharisee of the strictest sect, 
 was added to the number. But never, in any one in- 
 stance during his life, did he address himself to the 
 Gentiles. 
 
 His being the Son of God, was so remarkably and 
 emphatically the burden of his doctrines while on 
 earth, that his inveterate enemies confined their charge 
 against him, wYitw arraigned on the trial for his life, 
 to this important fact; and, as they were employed and 
 bribed to make this accusation, by the chief priest 
 and pharisees, it is pretty conclusive evidence of their 
 opinion of the true character of the expected Mes- 
 siah. 
 
 The testimony given against him on his trial, be- 
 fore the Jewish Sanhedrim, wasi that he should ha^e 
 said, " If they should destj-oy the temple, he would 
 
C 86 ] 
 
 rebuild It in three days," as a proof of his Almighty- 
 power, otherwise there could not have been any pre- 
 tence of blasphemy in the charge; but even in this, 
 the witnesses could not agree so as to make their tes- 
 timony amount to legal proof; and the innocent Jesus 
 remaining silent, nothing could be obtained from his 
 confession — on which the chief priest, in order to aid 
 the defective testimony, adjured him, by the living 
 God, to answer, if it was true, " That he was the 
 Christ or Messiah, or not?'* This was putting the 
 accused to his oath, after the manner of the Jews, or 
 examining him on interrogatories. Silence was now 
 no longer allowable. Without hesitation, therefore, 
 lie fully confessed it; and as a further acknowledg- 
 ment of his divine mission, added, " Hereafter you 
 sliall see the Heavens opened, and the son of man 
 standing at the right hand of God.'* Hereupon the 
 chief priest, considering this as an unequivocal decla- 
 ration of his claim to the character of the Messiah, 
 rent his cloaths, and passed sentence of condemnation 
 against him, " not as guilty of falsehood^ deceit, or i?npo^ 
 siiion upon the people, but o{ blasphemy ; and therefore 
 pronounced him worthy of death; and afterwta-ds, to 
 put the idea they formed of the true character of their 
 expected king Messiah out of question, he refused his 
 assent to Jesus being released by Pilate, because he 
 had made himself the Son of God; that is, by claiming 
 the character of their Messiah. 
 
 The like consequence was drav/n by the people at 
 large from his preaching long before, when he charged 
 them with attempting to stone him for his good works 
 —they denied the fact, but said, that it was '"'' for his 
 being only a man^ yet making himself equal with God.** 
 
[ 87 ] 
 
 After his resurrection, and the descent of the Holy 
 Spirit on the day of Pentecost, the apostles began to 
 preach in his name; and, at one of their first sermons, 
 converted tliree diousand souls ; and soon after, we 
 are informed, that the number of the brethren were 
 about five thousand; and, a little afterwards, that " a 
 great company of the priests were obedient to the 
 faith." Here then were numerous converts, who 
 must have been as well acquainted with the general 
 statement of facts relative to the life and actions of 
 the Saviour, as the apostles themselves; and, by 
 their conversion, under the dangers to which they ex- 
 posed themselves by their adherence to the cause of 
 a persecuted and crucified master, they became as 
 good and sufficient witnesses of the facts on which 
 the Christian doctrines are founded, as if they had 
 been of his family in his life-time. These were all 
 Jews ; and they were at Jerusalem, the seat of all the 
 great occurrences of his life and death, where a 
 church was immediately established, and from 
 w^hence their doctrines spread throughout all Judea, 
 so as to raise a persecution against the whole pro- 
 fession. Hereby these followers of the despised 
 Nazarene, were scattered throughout the country, 
 and finally forced among the Gentiles, whom they 
 were taught of God, by a revelation of his will, to 
 admit also to fellowship ; the Jews as a nation hav- 
 ing rejected the Messiah their king; and not till then 
 did they turn to the Gentiles. 
 
 Thus it is plain to demonstration, tliat, before the 
 crucifixion of Christ, and for a considerable time af- 
 ter the resurrection, so far from the Jews " never ere- 
 cUting the story, and the Gentiles being the only peo- 
 
> [ 88 ] 
 
 pie that believed," it was the direct reverse. The 
 Je^^'s were tlie cnly people who did believe the Gos- 
 pel, it never having yet been preached or oiFered to 
 any other nation. 
 
 Indeed, whoever is the least acquainted with ec- 
 clesiastical history, and the hic>tory of the Jewish na- 
 tion, must be surprized at the boldness of this adven- 
 turous author, in asserting, " that the story of Jesus 
 Christ being the Son of God, was introduced under 
 coA er of the heathen mythology, and that the Gen- 
 tiles only received it;" when it is so apparent, both 
 from sacred and profane history, that the church of 
 Christ consisted of thousands of Jews, before a single 
 Gentile convert w^as known to the church. And 
 when it did first happen, a special revelation from 
 Heaven became necessar}'^, to reconcile the minds of 
 the apostles to it. And, after the calling of the Gen- 
 tiles, about fourteen years from the crucifixion, we 
 are told, that on the preaching of Paul, ^' A great mul- 
 titude of both Jews and Greeks believed." About 
 thirty years after the death of our Lord, the doctrines 
 of the Gospel had spread throughout J udea, Gallilec 
 and Samaria ; so that, on Paul's arrival at Jerusalem, 
 the apostles inform him, that many thousands, (lite- 
 rally myriads or tens of thousands) were in Jerusa- 
 lem, who believed. 
 
 Thus is the wisdom and foreknowledge of the 
 glorious Redeemer manifest, in his having ordered 
 an exclusive application to the Jews, till, as a nation, 
 they should reject him, not only in fulfilment of an- 
 cient prophecy, but in full contradiction to the spirit 
 of infidelity, which he foresaw would arise in tliese 
 latter days, charging him with introducing tlie doc- 
 
[ 89 3 
 
 tiine of his divinity under cover of the heathen my- 
 tholog\^ 
 
 The devils themselves will rise in judgment 
 against this pretended philosopher; for although he 
 knows not Jesus, nor who he is, and will not believe 
 in his being the Son of God; those unhappy spirits, 
 even in the days of his flesh, could cry out in the 
 bitter anguish of despair, " IVe know thee, who thou 
 art, Jesus thou Son of God; art tliou come to tor- 
 ment us before the time?" 
 
 M 
 
THE CHRISTIAN THEORY 
 MISREPRESENTED, &c. 
 
 In the like spirit of jnisrepresentatio7i, and utter aversion to 
 the pure system of the Gospel, does this xvriter assert, 
 " That the theory of the Christian church, sprung out of 
 the tail of the heathen mythology, A direct incorporation 
 took place in the first instance, by making the reputed 
 founder, celestially begotten. The trinity of Gods that 
 then followed, was no other than a reduction of the former 
 plurality, which was twenty or thirty thousand. The 
 statue of Mary, succeeded the statue of Diana of Ephesus, 
 £lfc. 8?c. The Christian theory is little else, than the ido- 
 latry of the ancient mythologists, accommodated to the 
 purposes ofpoxver and revenue, and it yet remains to rea- 
 son and philosophy to abolish the amphibious fraud*"* 
 
 IT is an old observation, take any thing for 
 granted, and any thing will follow. Should not 
 every reader expect, after these round assertions, 
 that some proof of this extraordinary position would 
 have been adduced; especially as the whole system 
 of the Gospel is declared by its advocates, to be a 
 direct attack on every principle and species of ido- 
 latry, and wholly designed to estabUsh the worship 
 
C 92 ] 
 
 ©f on* only living and true God through j€3iis Christ 
 whom he hath sent. But this writer appears to have 
 supposed, that the knowledge of the Gospel might be 
 gained by intuition ; and of course is wholly unac- 
 quainted with the nature of its doctrines, and seems 
 to suppose his readers equally ignorant, or he would 
 have seen the necessity of some kind of proof or ar- 
 gument to support his bold and unsupported charges a- 
 gainst the Christian church as founded in the Gospel 
 of tlie Son of God. 
 
 Whatever plausible pretexts he might have had, 
 from a cursory view of the unchristian practices of 
 the church, v/hen degenerated and apostatised under 
 darkness and declension, as foretold by the author of 
 our holy religion and his apostles, that it would be 
 under the reign of Antichrist ; yet surely he must 
 have been beside himself to assert, " that the Chris' 
 iian Theory is little else than the idolatry of the ancient 
 mythologists, accommodated to pailicular purposes." 
 
 If ever a system of pure doctrine, or holy practice, 
 founded on the belief and worship of one God, has 
 been inculcated and urged on the consciences of men, 
 surely it is to be found in the Christian Theory. — 
 Hear our author himself; '' Jesus Christ was a vir- 
 tuous and am.iable man ; the morality that he preached 
 and practised, was of the most benevolent kind." 
 
 The Decalogue, which is the epitome of all its 
 preecepts, begins by the express commandment, 
 "' that thou shalt not have more Gods than one." — 
 And the New Testament, opens with a rebuke, that 
 may well be applied here, " get behind me Satan, for 
 it is written thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, 
 and him only shalt thou serve." 
 
C 93 3 
 
 When die great author of our holy rehgion addres- 
 ses himself to God the Father, he says, " I thank 
 thee O Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, because 
 thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, 
 and hast revealed them to babes and sucklings, for so 
 it seemed good in thy sight :" and the substance of 
 many of his instructions were, "that no man can serve 
 two masters — ^ye cannot serve God and mammon." 
 
 "The law and the prophets were until John ; since 
 that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every 
 man presseth into it. For God so loved the world, 
 that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever 
 believeth on him should not perish but have everlast- 
 ing life. God is a spirit and they who worship him 
 must worship him in spirit and in truth." And his 
 disciples after his resurrection, who established all 
 the primitive churches, and taught them both their 
 theory and practice, set out by declaring, " that th& 
 God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of their 
 Fathers had glorified his Son Jesus Christ." And 
 when the people of Lystra, who were both heathen 
 and idolaters, but much more excusable than the au- 
 thor of the Age of Reason, had mistaken the apostles 
 for their gods in the likeness of men ; and would have 
 offered sacrifice to them ; instead of justifying the 
 conclusion or assertions of our pretender to reason, 
 " they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, 
 saying why do ye these things ? we preach unto you, 
 that ye should turn from these vanities unto the li\ ing 
 God, who made heaven and earth, the sea and all 
 things that are therein." &c. 
 
 When the Gentile converts, in the beginning of 
 their church, were trammelled with the false reason- 
 
[ 94 ] 
 
 ings of some weaker brethren, who would have obli- 
 ged them to be circumcised, according to the law of 
 Moses ; they made application to the church under 
 the apostles at Jerusalem, for their instructions on this 
 head. In their answer, the apostles appear to aim at 
 summing up their duty according to the Christian 
 theory in as few words as possible. These were 
 *' that they should abstain/row pollutions of idols ^ from 
 fornication and from blood." 
 
 When Paul^, the great apostle of the Gentiles, was 
 preaching at Athens, he assures his hearers, " that, 
 as they worshipped the unknown God; therefore, 
 whom they ignorantly worshipped, Him he declared 
 unto them ; that is, God who made the world, and 
 all things that are therein, seeing that He is Lord of 
 heaven and earth, and dwelleth not in temples made 
 with hands." 
 
 The doctrine of the gospel, which Jesus Christ 
 and his apostles taught throughout the world was the 
 worsliip of one only true God, in spirit and in truth, 
 through Jesus Christ his beloved Son , and all their 
 instructions, relative to practical religion, do indeed 
 breathe a spirit of the purest morality ever taught to 
 man. In addition to the incomparable sermon on the 
 mount, and the whole strain of our Lord's teachings, 
 hear the apostle Paul in his address to the Romans. 
 *' I beseech you brethren, by the mercy of God, that 
 ye give up your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, ac- 
 ceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 
 — Let your love be without dissimulation; abhor 
 that which is evil; cleave to that which is good; be 
 kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love, 
 in honour preferring one another; not slothftil in bu- 
 
[ 95 ] 
 
 siness; fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing 
 in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing instant in 
 prayer; distributing to the necessity of saints, given 
 to hospitality ; bless them who persecute you; bless, 
 and curse not. Rejoice with them who rejoice, and 
 weep with them who weep. Be of the same mind 
 one towards another; mind not high things, but con- 
 descend to men of low estate; be not wise in your 
 own conceit ; recompence no man evil for evil ; pro- 
 vide things honest in the sight of all men ; if it be 
 possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably 
 with all men; avenge not yourselves, but give place 
 unto wrath. If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he 
 thirst, give him drink ; be not overcome of evil, but 
 overcome evil with g;ood." And as^ain, the same 
 apostle, when addressing the Thessalonians — '* For 
 this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that 
 ye should abstain from fornication; that no man 
 should defraud his brother in any thing, but encou- 
 rage and promote brotherly love; that they should 
 study to be quiet^ and do their own business, and 
 work with their 'own hands, walking honestly to 
 them that are without, that they should have lack of 
 nothing; that they should be sober, and at peace 
 among themselves." He exhorts them " to warn 
 the unruly; comfort the feeble minded; support the 
 weak; be patient to all men; rejoice for evermore; 
 pray without ceasing ; in every thing give thanks ; 
 prove all things ; hold fast that which is good, and 
 abstain from all appearance of evil." And when he 
 speaks of the fruits and effects of these doctrines, as 
 he does to the Galatiuns, " They are, love, joy. 
 
[ 95 ] 
 
 peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faitli^ 
 meekness, temperance." 
 
 This was the sum of the essential doctrines of the 
 church for the first tliree hundred years of the Chris- 
 tian [era, connected widi an unremitted attention to 
 tliem in all their theory and practice. The asser- 
 tion, therefore, '' That the Christian tlieory is little 
 else than the idolatry of the ancient mythologists," 
 may, without die just charge of uncharitableness, be 
 termed a perversion of the ti*uth, when made by a 
 man, who had the means of knowledge in his power," 
 but who has neglected to make use of them. 
 
 What could the Age of Reason mean by theory ? 
 Surely that of the Christian church is only to be 
 found in tlie New-Testament. It would be even too 
 absurd for our author, who seems, however, capable 
 of almost any attempt, to charge tlie Gospel, or the 
 Christian church, witli the errors and abominable 
 practices, of many of its mistaken, or disingenuous 
 professors, v» lien manifestly opposed by eveiy pre- 
 cept and instruction of its system. As well might 
 he say, tliat the theory of the Christian chtu-ch, was- 
 that of the Gnostics, Manicheans, or Nicolaitans, 
 because they once professed to belong to tliat 
 church. 
 
 The Gospel is the only test of all the theory and 
 allowed practices of the Christian church; and when- 
 ever that is swerved from in either, its emphatical 
 language is, '' Remember therefore from whence 
 thou art fallen, and repent, and do thy first works, or 
 else I will come quickly, and remo^•e thy candlestick 
 out of its place, except thou repent." 
 
[ 97 ] 
 
 The writer of the Age of Reason, may think it 
 harsh to be charged with falsehood in every page of 
 his work ; but it would ill become an advocate for the 
 Oospel, not to declare it boldly, and Vvould be doing 
 l^reat injustice to the cause of truth, when the ever- 
 jasting interests of his fellow men are at stake; and 
 the guilty person has no one but himself to blame for 
 this severity, having presumed to enter on a subject 
 with which he had not taken pains to make himself 
 acquainted; no, not with its alphabet. 
 
 Had he thought proper to have used reasoning and 
 argument, founded on proof, to enforce his observa- 
 tions, he might have expected a suitable reply; but 
 when he contents himself with advancing the most 
 palpable falsehoods and misrepresentations as facts, 
 from M hich to di'aw the most important conclusions, 
 and these so enveloped in sophistry, and tainted u ich 
 ludicrous insinuations, as seem only calculated to im- 
 pose on the young and unwary mind in matters of 
 infinite importance, he has no right to expect any- 
 thing farther, than a positive denial of the gross mis- 
 representation of facts he has imposed on the public. 
 The language of Justin Martyr, in the first ages 
 of the church, to Crescens the philosopher, who had 
 ungenerously, as wickedly, traduced the then Cliris- 
 tians as atheistical and irreligious, is ver\^ applicable 
 to our autlior. He says, " That Crescens talked 
 about things which he did not understand — feigning 
 things of his own head, only to comply v ith the hu- 
 mour of his seduced disciples and followers — tliat, in 
 reproaching the doctrines of Christ, when he did not 
 understand them, he discovered a most v.icked and 
 malignant temper, and showed himself far worse tlian 
 
 N 
 
[ 93 ] 
 
 the most simple and unlearned, who are not wont 
 rashly to bear witness and determine on things not 
 sufficiently known to them; or if he did understand 
 their greatness and excellency, then he showed him- 
 self much more base and disingenuous, in charging 
 upon them what he knew to be false, and concealing 
 his inward sentiments and convictions, for fear lest 
 he should be suspected of being a Christian."* 
 
 Neither can our author complain with justice, 
 that our Scriptures, the authority of which he denies, 
 are made the test of truth on this occasion, as it is 
 the theory established therein, which he charges with 
 idolatiy and falsehood. There can be, therefore, no 
 other criterion or evidence of the truth or falsehood 
 of the assertion, but from those Scriptures, let them 
 be true or false. They must afford the exclusive 
 testimony of what is contained in them, and to which 
 alone we can appeal; and they contradict the charge 
 in eveiy page. 
 
 Our author indeed seems to plume himself on his 
 imaginary idolatry of the Christian church, " in sub- 
 stituting a trinity of Gods, as a reduction of the 
 twenty or thirty thousand of the heathen mythology." 
 Could he have shown a single instance of a Christian 
 church acknovvledging a trinity of Gods in their 
 worship, it would then have been necessary for him 
 to have shown, that this was countenanced by the 
 Gospel of Jesus Christ. But, while that teaches the 
 mysterious doctrine of the Father, Son, and Holy 
 Spirit, it never fails to inculcate as a truth, essential 
 to his religion, that these three are but one inconceiv- 
 able Jehovah. 
 
 • Cave's Prim. Christianity, vol. i, fiel. 7. 
 
L 99 ] 
 Can our author be so ignorant as to suppose, that 
 the doctrine of the Trinity is pecuhar to, and the in- 
 vention of, the Gospel ? Had he read the Jewish Scrip. 
 tiu*es, or the heathen mytliology in its first principles, 
 with care; or attended to the known doctrines and 
 principles of the Jews as a religious people, and the 
 primitive religion of many of the heathen nations, he 
 would have known, that a trinity in unity, was a doc- 
 trine taught many hundreds of years before the birth 
 of Christ, and indeed from the beginning of the 
 world. 
 
 As to the doctrine of the Trinity, it is not my de- 
 sign to enter into a dispute of so important a nature. 
 It will suffice to show, as well his ignorance as his 
 malice, in the charge, " That the theory of the Chris' 
 tian church sprang out of the tail of the heathe?i mythology 
 — and that the trinity of Gods that thenfcllowed, was no 
 other than a reduction of the former plurality, which was 
 twenty or thirty thousand.''* 
 
 This may be done by barely evincing it, whether 
 true or false, to have been the doctrine of the earliest 
 heathen mythology, derived by tradition from the first 
 patriarchs; and also that of the Jews, before the 
 coming of Christ. 
 
 If the Christian religion is true, and was really a 
 revelation from God, by Jesus Christ, then it must 
 always have been essentially the same, from the be- 
 ginning of the Avorld. 
 
 God having formed man out of the dust of the 
 earth, and breathed into him a rational soul, it was 
 impossible on his first starting into existence, that he 
 should, by his natural powers, ever have attained to 
 the true knowledge of his Maker, or become ac- 
 quainted with his will, othenvisc than by an exprcs? 
 
[ 100 ] 
 
 revelation from Heaven; for as Tertullian justly ob- 
 serves, " What is infinite, can only be known of it- 
 self." God, as a wise and good Creator, could not 
 have left his creature under this incapacity of render- 
 ing him the homage due to his name. All the attri- 
 butes of the Divine Majesty required that this should 
 be done; and there can be no doubt, but that the be- 
 neficent Creator did instruct Adam in that knowledge 
 of his will, which Vv-as necessary to his weU-being, 
 by the revelation of the divine nature and attributes, 
 and the mode of worship he required of him. 
 
 It clearly appears from the Mosaic history, that 
 the Messiah, who was to come, the second person in 
 the Christian Trinity, was early made known to 
 Adam, by God himself, as the seed of the ivoman. The 
 Spirit of God, the third person in the same trinity, 
 is expressly said to have moved upon the face of the 
 ■ waters, at the creation; and the language made use 
 of on that great occasion, is there said to be, " Let 
 us make man in our image''''- — from which short ac- 
 count we may safely conclude, that Adam was not left 
 v/ithout divine instruction. 
 
 Hence also, in the Mosaic account of the crea- 
 tion before the fall, we find God frequently and perso- 
 nally communing with Adam, whose mind, in that 
 pure and sinless state, was better calculated to re- 
 ceive the communication of spiritual and divine 
 kno^\ ledge, and to bear a constant contemplation of 
 the perfect attributes of the Divinity, than any of his 
 fallen race. And after the fall, we are told of Cain 
 and Abel, worshiping the God of Heaven; one in 
 an acceptable manner, by offering his devotions 
 through victims slain on the altar, before man fed on 
 the flesh of beasts; thus pre-figuring >6/>«whowas to 
 
[ 101 ] 
 
 come, as the great propitiary sacrifice. The other, 
 in a very unacceptable manner, by refusing obedi- 
 ence to the revealed will of his Maker, and preferring, 
 the bloodless productions of the earth, raised by his 
 own labour, as at least equal in the sight of God. 
 The issue was answerable to the tempers and con-^ 
 duct of the men, and one sinful act begat another j 
 impiety in principle, soon producing extreme cruelty 
 in action; a brother was found shedding a brother's 
 blood. 
 
 Adam then, being instructed in the will of his 
 Creator, in a much higher and more spiritual manner 
 than any of his descendants, must have taught his 
 children, and his childi-ens' children, for many genera- 
 tions, with anxious solicitude, the words and ex- 
 pectations of eternal life. 
 
 If we proceed a step farther, we shall find Enoch 
 walking with God — the children of Seth distin- 
 guished from the children of Cain, by the appellation 
 of the sons of Cod. 
 
 Noah receives an express revelation from God, 
 relating to the flood, when he complains that his Spi- 
 rit should not always strive with men. 
 
 As a good man, Noah must have carefully in- 
 structed his children in the principles and knowledge 
 of the true worship of their Maker; and at the dis- 
 persion of Babel, this knowledge must have been 
 carried by every separate party to the several nations 
 of the earth, which were founded by them, especially 
 in the line of Shem.* 
 
 • Sanchionathan calls Shcm, by the name of Ma^us, as the prince of the 
 order of the Magi, or wise men, who were the first, and patriarchal priests 
 after the flood. 
 
 ^/' 
 
[ 102 ] 
 
 Hence if we examine into the first principles of 
 every religion in the world, before they were deba- 
 sed and profaned by the ignorance, arts or designs 
 of those men who were intrusted with the public in- 
 struction, we shall discover evident traits of the true 
 religion as revealed to Adam, Enoch, Seth, and 
 Noah. 
 
 Their posterity did certainly receive by tradition 
 and hieroglyphics, (the only modes of perpetuating 
 facts and events known to the world before the in- 
 vention of letters) many of the essential truths of re- 
 velation.* Abraham is agreed by all parties, both 
 sacred and profane, to have been a holy man, and 
 taught the worship of the only one living and true God. 
 He lived early enough to converse with Shem, the 
 son of Noah, who lived in Methuselah's day. Abra- 
 ham's children, with their posterity, preserved this 
 knowledge and worship, and instructed all the neigh- 
 bouring nations in it, both by precept and example, 
 till the coming of the Saviour. + 
 
 • Mr. Henry, in his History of Great-Britain, speaking of the ancient 
 Druids, says, " The first and purest principles of their religion, at least 
 descended to them, together with their language, and many other things, 
 from Gomer, the eldest son of Japhet, from whom the Gauls, Britons, and 
 all the other Celtic nations, derived their origin. For It is not to be ima- 
 gined that this renowned parent of so many nations, who was only tl\e 
 grandson of Noah, could be unacquainted with the knowledge of the true 
 God, and of the most essential principles of religion ; or that he neglected 
 to communicate this knowledge lo his immediate descendants, and they to 
 their posterity, from age to age. But unhappily, the method by which this 
 religious knowledge was handed down from Gomer to his numerous pos- 
 terity in succeeding ages, was not well calculated to preserve it pure and 
 oncorrupted. This was by tradition, which however limpid it may be 
 «ear its fountain head, is, like other streams, very apt to swell and become 
 turbid in its progress." Vol. i. fol. 92. 
 
 t The name of Abraham hath, for many ages past, been had in great 
 veneration all over the east, and among all sects, so that every or.e of 
 
[ 103 ] 
 
 Abraham was so remarkable for his purity and 
 zeal in the service of God, and for his faith and con- 
 fidence in his promises, that he refused not, at the 
 divine command, to sacrifice his only son, who thus 
 was held up as a striking figure of him who was to 
 bruise the serpent's head. As a reward for Abra- 
 ham's piety, God revealed to him, that all the earth 
 should be blessed in his seed; or in other words, that 
 the promised Messiah, known by the epithet, the seed 
 of the woman^ should spring from his loins. 
 
 Thus we have very strong evidence from the histo- 
 ry" of Moses, that the religion of Adam, Enoch, Seth, 
 Noah, Shem, Abraham, and his children Isaac and 
 Jacob, led them to look to the Messiah that was to 
 come, the promised seed of the woman, pre-figured in 
 all their sacrifices and oblations of blood shed upon 
 their altars. 
 
 This is the only rational account of the prevalence 
 of so strange a mode of worshipping the beneficent 
 Creator of the Heavens and the earth, unaccountable 
 in any other view than as it was designed to show 
 forth the great sacrifice of the Messiah, in offering 
 himself up for tlie sins of his people. 
 
 Now with what propriety could these eminent 
 servants of God have miiformly continued ir^ tliis 
 
 them have thought it would give reputation to them, could they entitle 
 themselves to him. For not only the Jews, the Maglans, and the Maho- 
 metans, but the Sablans and the East-Indians, all challenge him to them- 
 selves, as the g^eat patriarch and founder of their several stcts, every one 
 pretending their religion is the same that Abraham pVofessed. T^(e vene- 
 ration for Abraham in those parts, proceeded from the gi-eat fame ttf his 
 piety, which was (it is supposed) there spread among them, by the IsratT- 
 ites in their dispersion all over theeaat, first on the Assyrian, and afcer oa 
 th« Biib/loni&h captivity. Pridcaux'i Connet, vol. i. 2;2J. 
 
I 104 ^ 
 
 mode of worship, as evidencing their faith and hope 
 in him that was thus to come; or have any confidence 
 in his sufficiency for their redemption, unless they 
 had been instructed by a divine revelation in this 
 mysterious doctrine, which, from all their conduct, 
 it appears they were. 
 
 Abraham retained the knowledge and worship of 
 the true God, amidst all the idolatry of his country, 
 and at last separated himself and family from the con- 
 tagion of their example, by removing into a distant 
 land, not before inhabited. 
 
 In the process of time, Joseph, his great grand- 
 son, by the special providence of God, became gover- 
 nor and lord of all Egypt; and from the purity and 
 holiness of his character, must have made use of his 
 grandeur, power, and influence, to spread the truth 
 throughout that populous country; and this must have 
 had great v/eight, not only from his example, but 
 from the truth of his predictions, and the distress that 
 afterwards came upon that people from the severity of 
 a seven years famine. 
 
 These doctrines must have greatly prevailed, by 
 the addition of Jacob and his family to the inhabitants 
 of Egypt. Hence, upon a careful examination into 
 antiquity, we shall find, that Egypt afterwards became 
 the divinity school of all the surrounding nations, and 
 especially the Greeks. Into their religions, however 
 different from each other in detail, the great princi- 
 ples of revelation must originally have been ingraft- 
 ed, though afterwards greatly darkened and debased 
 by the inventions of philosophers and the superstition 
 of priests, to make them acceptable to the mass of 
 
t 105 ] 
 
 the common people, who were extremely ignorant 
 and perverse. 
 
 If this reasoning be just, history and the works of 
 of the ancients must throw some light on this subject; 
 and considering the tempers of the autlior of the Age 
 of Reason and his disciples, it may be prudent, in 
 the first place, to trace the necessary facts from hea- 
 then antiquity, as they may have more influence than 
 any thing from a purer source, and as at the same time 
 they will greatly corroborate the Mosaic history. 
 
 We are informed by the earliest Egyptian histO' 
 fies, that about the time of Abraham, the Egyptians 
 had their first king, who was called Zoroaster Mis- 
 raim, by some Misra, and by others Osiris. He is 
 said to have reigned about two thousand years before 
 tlie Christian sera. 
 
 Afterwards came the famous Hermes-trismegis- 
 tus, or Taut, or Thoth, by whom the first Egyptian 
 pyramids were raised. Many authors have supposed 
 this Hermes to have been Moses, but the late Mr. 
 Bryant (as we are informed by an elegant, learned and 
 able writer) very satisfactorily contends, *' that he 
 was no other than the patriarch Joseph. He is per- 
 suaded that the Osarsiph of the Egyptians, one of the 
 names by which Hermes was called, if Manctho, their 
 earliest historian may be credited, is nothing else but 
 a mistake in arrangement, for Sar — Oseph^ or Lord 
 Joseph of the bible. And if another name by which 
 Hermes was known, as some ancient authors have 
 asserted, was Siphoas^ Mr. Bryant thinks it a similar 
 confusion of the letters ; for what saith he, is Siphoas^ 
 but Aosiph misplaced, which is the Egyptian name 
 of Joseph." But, however the truth may be, the ar- 
 
 o 
 
[ 106 ] 
 
 gument is strong, that the Egyptians derived several 
 important branches of divine revelation from the pa-, 
 ti'iarchs, as will now appear from the character of Her- 
 mes. 
 
 Diodorus Siculiis bestows the highest encomiums 
 on Hermes-trismegistus as the founder of all the 
 Egyptian learning, and it is said that he received his 
 name from his teaching the explicit doctrine of the 
 Trinity.* 
 
 The Chronicum Alexandrinum, quoted by Kir- 
 cher^ relates, that there lived among the Egyptians, 
 the fust of the family of Chaan Sesostris, that is a 
 branch of Osiris, a man venerable for his wisdom and 
 admiral^le learning, who held that there were three 
 principal powers, virtues, or forms in God — that tlie 
 name of the ineffable Creator, implied one Deity, for 
 which reason, this wise man was called Hermes-tris- 
 megistus. f 
 
 Suidas, another profane historian, in his historical 
 Greek Lexicon, says, " that Hermes-trismegistus the 
 wise Egyptian, flourished before Pharaoh (supposed 
 to be the oppressor of the Israelites) and that he was 
 so named, because he asserted, that there was a Tri- 
 nity, and that in the Trinitythere was but one Deity. J 
 
 * The Cadnceus of Hermes, is adorned v^ith the old Egyptian svmbol 
 vf Deity, the globe, wings, and serpent ; and is described by the ancients 
 •AS, producing three leaes together, a sacred trefoil, intimating the three- 
 fold distinction in the Deity, for wliich he was so strenuous an advocate. 
 Thus Homer, in the Hymn to Mercury, calls it the golden three leafed 
 'mand.~ — -Ind. Ant. 811. 
 
 ^ Kircher also informs us, that the Egyptians actually made use of 
 the equilateral triangle, as a symbol to describe the Dritv in iis threefold. 
 
 capacity. in Oedip. Egypt, vol. 2. page 24. 
 
 X Suidas. in Verb. EJ^tr,;, 
 
[ 107 ] 
 
 Wc are told by Tertullian and Lactantius, that Tris- 
 megistus and the Sybils had obtained a tradition, that 
 God created all things by his Co-omnipotent Son : 
 and the Christian Greeks emphatically call Christ the 
 Logosj meaning both speech and reason, because he 
 is the voice and wisdom of God. Lactantius particu- 
 larly observes, that the philosophers had some idea of 
 this grand truth ; and that Zeno, the father of the 
 porch, calls the creator of the world Logos ^ which he 
 also terms Fate and God and the Mi7id of Jove. 
 
 In short, all the very ancient accounts of the 
 Egj'ptians confirm this fact ; that they were acquaint- 
 ed with the doctrine of a trinity in the divine Being. 
 
 So in the first chapter of Hermes Paemander,he re- 
 presents God as saying, " I am Light and I am Mind, 
 even thy God — older than moist or fruitful nature, 
 which he created from darkness ; and the Son of God 
 is that glorious Word, which came forth from the 
 Mind. The Word of God, sees and hears whatever 
 is in thee : but the Mind is God the Father. These 
 however do not diifer between themselves or in es- 
 sence ; and the union of both is the union of hfe." 
 He further treats of the Word, which he uniformly 
 calls, /Z?^ Son of God, ^s co-essential and co-eternal with 
 the Father, and as the creator of all things — and he 
 speaks of the Divine Spirit, as the nourisher and im- 
 parter of life; and the supporter and ruler of all other 
 spirits. He addresses the three persons together, 
 and concludes his address with this remarkable ex- 
 pression, which gives the reason of it, " O Lord thou 
 art one God.''^ 
 
 The learned Mornaeus observes, that Hcrmcs-tris- 
 megistus uses the same words, in explaining the tri- 
 nity, as were afterwards used by the apostie John. 
 
[ 108 ] 
 
 If wc examine the most ancient heathen historian 
 Sanchoniathan, who flourished near thirteen hundred 
 years before Christ, we shall find him confirming this 
 truth, that the neighbouring nations, had the same 
 principles of religion. 
 
 In Ms Phoerician history, in explaining the hiero- 
 glyphics of tlieir worship, he says, " Jove is a 
 winged sphere, out of which a serpent is brought 
 forth. The circle implies the divine nature, without 
 beginning or end. The Serpent shows his Word 
 which animates and fructifies the world ; and the 
 wings refer to tbe Spirit of God^ which vivifies the 
 world by his motion." This fact is confirmed by 
 Dr. Stukely, a British author, who wrote about seven- 
 ty years ago. 
 
 In that part of his work stiled Aubury^ he says, 
 " v/e learn repeatedly from Sanchoniathan, Porphy- 
 ry, and other ancient authors quoted by Eusebi- 
 us in the Przeparatio Evangelica, that the first sa- 
 ges of tlie world had just and true notions of the na- 
 ture of tlie Deity, conformable to those of the Cliris- 
 tians ; that in their hieroglyphic way of writing, 
 they designated the Deity and his mysterious nature 
 by the sacred figure of the circle, serpent and wings. 
 Of these the circle meant the fountain of all Being ; 
 for this being the most perfect and comprehensive of 
 all geometrical figures, they designed it for the sym- 
 bol of the First and Supreme Being ; whose resem- 
 blance we cannot find ; whose centre is every where, 
 and whose circumference is no where. The serpent 
 symbolized the Son, or first divine emanation from 
 the Supreme, This they called by the name of 
 Ptha^v^Kich is derived from the Hebrew, meaning the 
 Word, The wings symbolized that divine person 
 
[ 109 ] 
 
 or emanation from the former, commonly called 
 Anima Mundi ; but the Egyptians called him 
 Knepth^ which in Hebrew signifies winged." He 
 further says, " This symbol of the snake and circle, 
 which is the picture on the temple at Abury, we see on 
 innumerable Egyptian monuments — always it holds 
 the uppermost, the first and chief place; which 
 shows its high dignity." 
 
 He can by no means admit this to be an Eg}^p- 
 tian invention. "The Egyptians took this, and hie- 
 roglyphic writing, in general, from the common an- 
 cestors of mankind. This is sufficiently proved from 
 the universality of the thing, reaching from China in 
 the East to Britain in the West, and into America 
 too."* 
 
 Aristotle in his first Book, De C^elo et Mundo, 
 oh. 2d. s. 2d. numb. 10, says, " That he, together 
 with others, offered a threefold sacrifice to the gods, 
 in ackno\\'ledgment of the threefold perfection disco- 
 vered in them." And again speaking of the num- 
 ber three, '' therefore we make use of this number, 
 in celebrating the sacrifices of the gods : nature it- 
 self seeming to have pointed it out, as the most per- 
 fect of all." 
 
 That the later philosophers received the first prin- 
 ciples of their mythology from the Egyptians, is 
 proved from lamblichus another heathen author, who 
 was a Syrian, and a disciple of Poiphyry the great 
 enemy of Christianity, and Praeceptor to Julian the 
 apostate. In his book of the Egyptian mysteries he 
 says, " if you would propose any difficulty in pliiloso- 
 
 * Stnkely's Abury, page 56, 
 
[ no J 
 
 phy (which then principally meant religion) we will 
 decide the matter by those ancient columns of Her- 
 mes, upon which Plato, and before him Pythagoras, 
 formed the principles of their philosophy." And 
 Justin Martyr, who was not only a zealous Christian, 
 but a learned philosopher of near the apostolic age, 
 deeply skilled in the mythology of heathen antiquit}'-, 
 asserts that the doctrine of the Trinity was known to 
 Plato and the other philosophers.* 
 
 Procleus, an heathen philosopher, asserts of the 
 Trinity as contained inthe Chaldaic Oracles., that it 
 was at first a theology of Divine revelation, or a Di- 
 vine cabala (tradition) ; to wit, among the Hebrews 
 Jirst and from them afterwards communicated to the 
 Eg}q3tians and other nations. f 
 
 Plotinus, another heathen philosopher, asserts, 
 *' that the doctrine of a Trinity was an ancient opini- 
 on before Plato*s time, and delivered down by the 
 Pythagoreans to the Platonists — and Josephus, in his 
 tract against Apion, says, that Pythagoras was well 
 acquainted with the Jewish rites and introduced many 
 of them into his philosophy. J 
 
 Chalcidius, the disciple of Plato, distinguished the 
 divine nature into the Father — the Son and Creator 
 of the world — the Spirit which enlivens. The first 
 arranging — the second commanding — and the third 
 actuating all things. || 
 
 Thus stands the testimony from antiquity, which 
 5s here adduced, not to show the correctness of their 
 knowledge of the divine nature, but that they received 
 
 * 3d. Apol. 7S. t Cudworth, Intel. Syst. lib. 1, ch. 4, 
 
 t Lib. 1. li C«dworth, Lib. 1, ch. 1. page 22, 
 
[ 111 ] 
 
 the general doctrine from the Egyptians ; who recei- 
 ved it from the Hebrews, who originally recieved it 
 from Abraham, who received it from Shem, who re- 
 ceived it from Noah, or rather perhaps Methuselah, 
 who received it from Adam, who must have received it 
 by divine revelation from God himself. Let us now 
 look into more modern histories, and see if we can- 
 not find these facts confirmed by their authority also. 
 Persia being the country from which the Magi or 
 wise men, who visited our Saviour at his birth, arc 
 supposed to have come, and in which Daniel, with 
 others of the Hebrew prophets, had been resident,* 
 we will look into their history, as published by the 
 learned Dr. Hyde, Hebrew and Arabic professor in 
 the University of Oxford, in his Historia religionis ve- 
 terum Persarum^ cerumque Magorum. Here we find 
 that there still exists in that ancient country, a sect of 
 the Persians, who strictly adhere to their original 
 principles in tlie midst of established Mahometism^ 
 and live separately from the rest of the inhabitants, as 
 much as possible, in order to preserve their purity. 
 They worship one only God, of whom they seem to 
 entertain ver)'^ just notions, although some mix with 
 them, too great a reverence for the stars and planets, 
 bordering on Sabaism. It seems that they received 
 the principles of their religion from Shem and Elam, 
 who were their great ancestors. That in process of 
 
 • From the time of the Babylonish captivity we find the Jews dispersed 
 through ;ill the provinces of the Persian monarchy, and that in great r.iini- 
 bers; and many people of the land becoming Jews: and after their return 
 they were scattered through Africa, Asia and many Cities and Islands of 
 Europe. Josephus tells us, that wherever they dwelt they made many- 
 proselytes See Esther 3d. ch. 8. — 13. 9'.h di. 2i v. Jos. Antiq. Ub 14. 
 
 ch. 12. Stacthouse, vol. i. N. T. 196. 
 
 / 
 
L 112 ] 
 
 time, having degenerated into Sabaism, Abraham re- 
 covered them from their errors, and restored the wor- 
 ship of the true God. They greatly boast of Abraham, 
 and call their religion, the religion of Abraham. Wc 
 know that Abraham conquered Cherdelaomer, king 
 of Persia. It is probable, therefore, that he, with his 
 allies, embraced the religion of the conqueror, which 
 was common in former days, and that their example 
 was followed by his people. 
 
 Dr. Hyde found it very difficult to obtain a cor* 
 rect knowledge of the present principles of their reli- 
 gion, as their great prophet Zoroaster, (of which name 
 there are many in different nations) had expressly pro- 
 hibited the instruction of strangers in their language 
 or religion. Dr. Hyde, however, interested a friend 
 who lived in Persia, to gain information on this head 
 from their priests, if possible, and particularly as to 
 the v/orship they pay to Mithra, (Avhom they term the 
 Triplasian^ or three-fold Mythras.)-^ He was answer- 
 ed, that the Persian priests positively denied, that they 
 paid any divine worship to the Sun, Moon, or Stars. 
 That they only turned to them when they prayed, be- 
 cause they resembled fire, which they consider as an 
 emblem of the Deity, but that they do not w^orship 
 them. They regard the Sun as the image of God; 
 and some suppose it to be the place of his more im- 
 mediate residence; others, that it was the seat of the 
 blessed; but tfiey insist that they worship God alone. 
 They are acquainted with the history of the creation 
 "^-Adam and Eve — tlie deluge — Moses and Solomon. 
 
 * Dionysius, the Pseuda-areopagite, says, " The Persian Magi to this 
 very day celebrate a festival solemnity, in honour of the Tr/plasietn. or 
 three-fold Mythras. Cudw. Intel. Syst. ch. iv. page 288. 
 
[ 113 ] 
 
 They style Moses *' the ruddy shepherd, who holds a 
 staff or rod." In short, Dr. Hyde clearly shows, that 
 they have continually believed in one God, almighty 
 and eternal, possessed of all those perfections which 
 Christians ascribe to him. They believe in an uni- 
 versal resurrection, both of the good and bad, and a 
 last judgment, in which every one will receive accord- 
 ing to his works. They believe that they offend God 
 every day ; but they protest that they repent of all their 
 sins, both of mind and body, in thought, w ord and 
 action. They do not fast, alledging, that true fasting 
 consists in an abstinence from all sin. Some fix the 
 state of happiness in the sun ; but others suppose that, 
 after the resurrection, the blessed will live on thh 
 earth, which shall be renewed after a general conflag" 
 ration. Dr. Hyde, with other learned writers, believe 
 that the birth of Clirist was made known to the Per- 
 sians, they having persevered in the worship of the 
 one true God.* Daniel and other prophets had been 
 
 • Arnobiiis, who wrole in the third century, says, that the name of 
 Christ reigns among the Indians, the Persians, the Serx, (or the Chinese) 
 and all the islands and provinces, which are visited by the rising or setting 
 sun; yea, and in Rome itself, the empress of all. Lib. ii. fol. 23. 
 
 Since the late discoveries in the East-InJies, which Mr. Maurice, whose 
 invaluable work I am reading while this is printing, has so advantageously 
 set before the public view, it appears that even the Cross has been had in 
 great reverence from time immemorial, among the nations of the east, 
 though they have not preserved the original design of it. He says, " Even 
 the form of the Cross, as allusive to the four elements, was no unusual 
 symbol in the Pagan world," and indeed Taveriiier describes two of the 
 principal pagodas of India, Benares and Matbttra, as erected in the form 
 of vast croites, of which each wing is equal in extent. Let not the piety 
 of the Catholic Christian be ofTended at this assertion, that the Cross waS 
 one of the most usuil symbols among the hieroglyphics of Kgypt and India. 
 Equally honored in the Gentile and the Christian world, this emblem of 
 u'.iiversal :iaturc — of that world, to whose four quarters it« diverging radii 
 
 P 
 
[ 11-1 ] 
 
 in their country, and might have left the knoM ledge of 
 the expected Messiah. The prophecies of the Old- 
 Testament was not unknown to them; and Zoroaster, 
 who assumed the title of their great prophet, and lived 
 in the time of Darius Hystaspes, though a Persian by- 
 birth, yet, from the poverty of his father, is said to 
 have become a servant to Esdrass, the great Hebrew 
 prophet, from whom he got many principles of the 
 Jewish religion, and particularly the plan of reforming 
 the religion of his country. The Persians have also 
 a very ancient book still extant among them, older 
 than Zoroaster, entitled. The Eternal Wisdom^ which 
 shows their original worship to have been that of the 
 true God. And a Chaldean or Persian oracle, quo- 
 ted from Damascius, by Patritius, shows that they 
 
 pointed, decorated the hatids of most of the sculplui-ed images in the for- 
 mer country: and in the latter, stamped its form upon the most majestic 
 of the shrines of their deities. It repeatedly occurs on the pamphilian and 
 other obelisks ; and the antiquarians, Kircher and Montfaucon, have both 
 honoured it with particular notice. 
 
 The Crux-ansata of Kermes, is represented by the former as a most 
 sublime hieroglyphic, as a most mysterious and powerful amulet, endowed 
 with an astonishing virtue, and as exhibiting one of the most complete 
 mathematical figures, " hahentem lojxgitudinem atque Intitudinrm, et quar- 
 tuor angulos rectos, i. e. possessing at once both length and breadth, and ha- 
 ving four right angles," at once allusive to the four cardinal points of the 
 ■world, and typical of the four elements." And again, after stating a num- 
 ber of symbolical representations of the four elements, he adds, " All 
 these figures thus emblematical of the elements, which are highly worthy 
 a minute examination, bear the haUmved Cross, by which they were col- 
 lectively and strikingly represented." Indian Antiquities, page 359, 360, 
 361. 
 
 If the Cross, thus inscribed on these ancient hieroglyphics, appropria- 
 ted to the Gentile worship, should only be allowed to be descriptive of the 
 four elements and four quarters of the world, what a noble idea does it 
 give us of the universality of that salvation which was wrought out for 
 guilty man by Christ Jesus expiring upon it. 
 
C 115 ] 
 
 bielleved a Trinity in the godhead. It is in these 
 words — " In the whole world shine th forth a Triad, 
 or Trinity, which is a perfect monad or unity."* 
 
 A vohime might be filled with proofs of this kind, 
 but I shall conclude the testimony on this head, witli 
 but one instance more, and proceed to the Chinese, 
 whose mythology, though very old, has been known 
 but a short time to the inhabitants of Europe. 
 
 Dr. Parsons, in his Remains of Japhet, has given 
 a curious explanation of a Siberian medal, in the ca- 
 binet of the late empress of all the Russias, found in 
 an old ruined chapel, near the river Kemptschyk, con- 
 tained in a memoir of Col. Grant. *' The design of 
 this medal, exhibits the idea, which the lamas^ or 
 liigh priests of the country called Tibet, have beyond 
 all memorial, entertained among themselves, concern- 
 ing the godhead. On one side of this extraordinary 
 medal is a representation of the Deity, with three 
 heads and one body, evidently designed to convey the 
 notion of a Trinity in unity. On the reverse is an 
 inscription in the Magogian language, and translated 
 by the colonel into Latin, thus : " Ahna imago sancta 
 Dei in Tribus imaginibus bisce; colligite sanctam Volun- 
 iatetn Dei ex illis ; diligite eum" — that is, '' The pure 
 holy image of the Deity is under these three forms ; 
 gather ye the holy will of God from them; and love 
 him." They hereby acknowledge one Divinity, 
 which consists of three persons, equal among thcm^ 
 selves; each of infinite wisdom and power; all three 
 of a beneficent nature; inseparable in one spiiit- cqn- 
 
 * VjI. ii. Philos. Princio. 12$. 
 
[ 116 3 
 
 stitnting but one Being, infinitely wise and powerfiiU 
 the Creator and Ordainer of all things."* 
 
 It is a fact very remarkable, and not easily to be^ 
 accounted for by infidels, that all the heathen writers, 
 who have mentioned the subject, unanimously concuj' 
 in imputing the creation of the world to the word of 
 the Deity, which so closely corresponds with the lan- 
 guage of the Scriptures. This is an argument of its 
 original derivation from those who knew the truths of 
 God by his own revelation. Hence the apostle^ 
 speaking of the heathen, says, " Because that which 
 may be known of God, was manifested to them, (as in 
 the margin of the Bible) for God hath shewed it unto 
 them — when they knew God, they glorified him not as 
 
 God."t 
 
 The Chinese are the most ancient people we know 
 of unmixed with other nations. They have a sacred 
 
 * Ch, vii. page 18^. 
 
 JMr. Maurice on this medal says, " From India, if v.'c direct our eye« 
 northward to the great empires of Tangut and Thibet, and over the vast 
 Tartarian desarts to Siberia itself, we shall find the same sentiments (re- 
 lating to the Trinity) predominate. In the former country, if the authors 
 quoted in Parson's Remains of Japhet may be credited, medals, baring the 
 figure of the Tri-iine Deity stamped upon them, are given to the people hy 
 ihe Zielai-La?na, who unites in his own person the hierarchal and regal 
 character, to be suspended as a holy object around their necks, or con- 
 spicuously elevated in the chapels where they perform their devotion." 
 With respect to the Tartars and Siberians, Van Strahlenburgh, after re- 
 marking how universal a veneration prevails through all Northei-n Tav- 
 lary for the sacred number ti>ree, acquaints us, " That a race of Tartars, 
 called Jakathi, who are idolaters, and the most numerous people of all Si- 
 beria, adore, in fact, only one indivisible God, under three different deno- 
 minations, Artugon, Scbugo-Tugon, Tan^ara ; the first of which Col. Grant 
 translates. Creator qJ all things; the second, the God of armie* ; and the 
 third he renders, Amor ab v.troque procsdem, the Spirit of Heavenly Love, 
 proceeding from the two former." Ind, Am iq. page rr-5. 
 
 t Romans, ch. i. 19,20. 
 
t 117 ] 
 
 book called King^ in which, if we may trust the trans- 
 lations from their language, "God is named Changti^^'* 
 or the Sovereign Emperor; and Tien^ the supreme 
 Heaven, the self-existent Unity, who is present every 
 where, and who produced all things by his power. 
 Tehu-hi, in commenting upon these expressions, 
 says, " The Supreme Unity is most simple and 
 without composition — He lasts fi'om all eternity 
 without interruption — He is ancient and new — He is 
 the source of all motion and the root of ail action."* 
 In the book Tonchu we read, " The source and root 
 of all is one. This self-existent Unity produces ne- 
 cessarily a second; the first and second, by their 
 union, produces a third; in fine, these three produce 
 all." One of their commentators, called Lofi^ says, 
 ** That the Unity is triple, and this triplicity, one.'* 
 Laosteey another commentator, in his fourteenth chap- 
 ter, called Tsanhuen^ or the Eulogium of Hidden 
 Wisdom, says, *' He that produced all, and is him- 
 self unproduced, is what we call Hi. He that gives 
 light and knowledge to all things, and is himself invi- 
 sible, is what we call 27. He that is present every 
 where, and animates all things, though we do not feel 
 him, is called Ouei. Thou wilt in vain interrogate 
 sense and imagination about these three, for they can 
 make thee no answer — contemplate by the pure Spirit 
 alone, and thou wilt comprehend that these three aie 
 but one." Li-yong, in commenting upon this passage 
 of Laos tee, says, H/, Ti, Ouei, have no name, colour, 
 nor figure. They are united in the same spiritual 
 abyss, and by a borrowed name they are called U?uty ; 
 
 • Philos. Prin. vol. ii. AQ. 
 
[ H8 ] 
 
 this Unity, however, is not a bare Unity, but an 
 Unity that is triple, and a triplicity that is one."* 
 
 If we pass to the East-Indies, there we find from 
 the latest discoA^eries, by the learned Sir William 
 Jones, that the Hindoos have alv/ays had a sacred tri- 
 literal name, as only applicable to the Supreme Be- 
 ing, which must have been the consequence of tra- 
 ditions handed down from Noah. The name is 
 O, U, M.^ 
 
 These few instances, out of a thousand that 
 might have been adduced, may suffice to shew our 
 
 * fhil. Princip. vol. ii. 120. 
 
 f Since this wor.k has been prepared for the press, the author has acci- 
 dentally met with the first volume of Mr. Maurice's Indian Antiquities, 
 wherein to his great surprize, and greater pleasure, he finds Mr. Maurice 
 ably supporting the same doctrines from the latest discoveries in the East- 
 Indies, since Sir William Jones's observations above quoted. His words 
 are — " A species of Trinity forms a constant and prominent feature in 
 nearly all the systems of Oriental theology." 
 
 " This extensive and interesting subject engrosses a considerable portion 
 of this work, and my anxiety to prepare the public mind to receive with 
 indulgence, my efforts to elucidate so mysterious a point of theology, indu- 
 ces me to remind the candid reader, that visible traces of this doctrine are 
 discovered, not only in the three principles of the Chaldaic theology ; in 
 the triplasian Mitlira of Persia ; in the triad Bhrahma, Veshnu and Sceva 
 of India, where it evidently was promulged in the Geeta fifteen hundred 
 years before the birth of Plato ; but in the Numen triplex of Japan j in tise 
 inscription upon the famous medal found in the deserts of Siberia, " to tbe 
 Triune God," to be seen at this day in the invaluable cabinet of the em- 
 press at Petersburgh ; in the Tanga-Tanga, or three in one, of the South- 
 Americans; and finally, without mentioning the vestiges of it in Greece, in 
 the symbol of the wing, tbe globe, and the serpent, conspicuous on most of 
 the ancient temples in Upper Egypt." And again in his 6th vol. p. 65, he 
 observes, '* That the Druids represented him (their Hermes or Taut or 
 Theutates) and the peculiar allegorical delineation of the doctrines whick 
 -ije taught the Oriental world, in the figure of the orb, serpent and wings, 
 •yvbich is engraved in not less conspicuous characters on the extensive 
 plains of Abury, in Wiltshire, (Great-Biitain) than the Thebais of ancient 
 Egypt." 
 
[ 119 ] 
 
 author's incorrectness, though it may not be amiss, 
 for general information, to add, in confirmation, some 
 quotations, as cited by the excellent and learned 
 author of the Horse Solitarise. 
 
 Augustine Philastrus says, '*■ That the doctrine 
 of the Trinity was esteemed as ancient as the world, 
 and reputed an heresy to think the contrary." Au- 
 gustine positively declares, " That the substance 
 of what is now called the Christian religion, was 
 maintained by the ancient believers, and existed from 
 the very beginning of human nature." God's people 
 were Christians, even in the time of the Patriarchs, 
 and so denominated by God himself, in Psalms, 5th 
 chap. 5th ver. " Touch not my anointed," or Chris- 
 tians, (both words having one meaning) " and do my 
 prophets no harm." And Philastrus, bishop of Brix- 
 cn, says, " That the Trinity of Christianity was as- 
 serted from the foundation of the world." 
 
 Thus stands the testimony, taken very briefly 
 from the principles of the heathen mythology handed 
 down by tradition from Noah. We will now pro- 
 ceed to the Jewish tenets on this subject, as they 
 are contained in their sacred books, and their 
 best writers, before Christianity generally pre- 
 vailed in the world. They had this doctrine, as has 
 already appeared, regularly handed down to them, 
 from the same source of Divine revelation. Their 
 Scriptures are full of it; otherwise with what propri- 
 ety could John the Baptist, our Lord himself, and his 
 apostles a{\cr his resurrection, so freely use the 
 terms Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in their instruc- 
 tions of tlic people, without any previous introduc- 
 tion, explanation, or comment, to reconcile their 
 
[ 120 ] 
 
 hearers to so new and alarming a doctrine, if it had 
 not been familiar to them in their own system of re- 
 ligion. The Jews were so jealous of their religious 
 principles, that they did not suffer any one to use the 
 ineffable name of Jehovah, but on the most solemn 
 and awful occasions. 
 
 There are thirty different places in the book of 
 Genesis— one hundred in the law, and five hundred 
 throughout the Old-Testament, where tlie words 
 Elohim or Alehim, Eloheka and Adonai, (Gods, the 
 Lord thy Gods) are made use of. All three of the 
 Trinity are equally called Jehovah, the self-existent 
 or the eternal Being, ^vith the difference of a termi- 
 nation — as Jehovah-ab — Jehovah-el — Jehovah-ruach 
 although our translators have not tliought proper to 
 make the necessary distinction. The sacred Scrip- 
 tures of the Jews contain many other instances to our 
 purpose on this subject. Abraham calls one of the 
 three Beings, who came to him before the destruc- 
 tion of Sodom, " The Almighty God, the judge of 
 all the earth." Jacob, in his journey to Canaan, at 
 Mahanaim, called the place Penlel, because he had 
 seen God face to face. Moses beheld the Lord in the 
 burning bush. The wliole process at Mount Sinai., 
 shows tliat it was Jehovah-el, who met Moses there. 
 *' Then went up Moses and. Aaron, Nadab and 
 Abihu, and seventy of the ciders of Israel — and they 
 saw the God of Israel, and there was under his feet, 
 as it w^ere, a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as 
 it were the body of Heaven in its clearness — ^also 
 tliey saw God, and did eat and drink." 
 
 Now no reasonable man will assert, that the es- 
 sential, infinite, unveiled essence of the Deity, was 
 
C 121 ] 
 
 seen by these holy men of old, or that any created 
 being ever conversed with the pure and spiritual na- 
 ture of God, or beheld him face to face. But all 
 these glorious displays of Jehovah-el, in his com- 
 munication with his ancient people, were that of the 
 Word or Logos, in his glorified body, before his 
 incarnation; for Christ himself expressly prays, 
 *' That he may be glorified with the glory Mhich he 
 had before the world was ;"* and the apostles declare, 
 that " They beheld his glory as that of the only be- 
 gotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. | In 
 the 2d Psalm, David says, " That the kings of the 
 earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel to- 
 gether against the Lord and his Christ, or anointed. 
 The Lord hath said unto me, thou art my son, this 
 day have I begotten thee. Kiss the Son, lest he be an- 
 gry — blessed are all they that put their trust in him." 
 Again, " The Lord said unto my Lord^ sit thou at my 
 right hand, until I makethine enemies thy footstool. ")| 
 This is translated in the Targum, " The Lord said 
 unto his word." So in Proverbs, xxx. 4. '' What is 
 God's name, and what is his son'« name, if thou canst 
 tell." To the like purpose is Isaiah, xi. 1. 2. — 
 *' And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem 
 of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots, 
 and the Spirit of the Zor^ shall rest upon him, the Spi- 
 rit of Wisdom and Understanding." And again, "Thus 
 saith Jehovah the Redeemer^ the Lord of hosts; I am 
 the first and I am the last, and beside me there is no 
 God;" and in chap, xlviii. 16, 17, " And now 
 the Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me." And 
 
 • John, x\Ji. 5. f John, i. 14. (j Psalm ex. 1. 
 
 f' 
 
[ 122 ] 
 
 in chap. xliv. 24, " Thus saith the Lord thy Re* 
 deemer, the holy one of Israel, I am the Lord thy 
 God." Isaiah, Iv. 5. " Thy Makers are thy Hus- 
 bands, the Lord of Hosts is his name." And in 
 chap. lix. 19, " When the enemy shall come in like 
 a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard 
 against him." In chap. Ixi. 1. " The Spirit of the 
 Lord God is upon me." In the 2d book of Esdras, 
 chap. xiii. 32, '^ And then shall my Son be revealed, 
 whom thou sawest go up as a man." Ibid, 37. 
 " And thisy my Son^ shall rebuke the wicked inven- 
 tions of the nations." Wisdom, chap. ix. 1, " O 
 God of my fathers, and Lord of mercy ^ who hath 
 made all things by thy Word.'''' So, in Ecclesiasticus» 
 chap. xxiv. 3, 9, speaking of Wisdom, " I am come; 
 out of the mouth of the Most High; he created mc 
 from the beginning, before the world was." Again, 
 chap. li. 10, "I called upon the Lord, the father of 
 my Lord." Wisdom of Solomon, chap, xviii. 15, 
 " Thine Ahnighty Word leaped down from Heaven, 
 out of thy royal throne." In chap. vii. 25, 26, 
 speaking of Wisdom, " For she is the breath of the 
 power of God, and a pure influence flowing from the 
 glory of the Almighty — for she is the brightness of 
 the everlasting light, the unspotted mirror of the 
 power of God, and the image of his goodness ; and 
 being but one, she can do all things." Judith, chap, 
 xvi. 14. " Thou didst send forth thy Spirit ^ and it 
 created them." 
 
 And to those who may not be inclined to credit 
 the assertion that this doctrine was known in Pales- 
 tine, a learned author already quoted, " Begs leave to 
 propose the following Symbol, by which the ancient 
 
t 123 ] 
 
 Jews were accustomed to designate the ineffable name 
 Jehovah, in manuscripts of the most venerable anti- 
 quity, for their serious reflection. , -^^ This sym- 
 bol is a character istical represen- V ^ / tation of a 
 
 Trinity in unity. The former represented by three 
 Jods, denoting the three hypostases or persons in the 
 Divine essence; the Jod being the known character 
 of that Jehovah, of whose name, in Hebrew, it con- 
 stitutes the first sacred letter. The latter is shadowed 
 out by the circle that surrounds them, as well as by 
 the point Kametz, T, subjoined to the three Jods, 
 which denotes the essential unity, common to the 
 three hypostases. This symbol is to be found in the 
 WTitings of the younger Buxtorf, one of the pro- 
 foundest critics in Hebrew literature, that ever flou- 
 rished out of the Jewish church, and it is likewise 
 preserved in that curious repository of Oriental anti- 
 quities, the Oedipus Egyptianus of Athanasius Kir- 
 cher. The first asserts, that in the ancient Chaldee 
 paraphrases, kept sacred from the vulgar by the Jew- 
 ish doctors, the name Jehovah is thus designated. 
 And the second declares, that he himself has seen that 
 name thus invariably characterized in all the ancient 
 Hebrew manascripts pf the Old-Testament in the 
 Vatican." 
 
 But the Jewish writers themselves confirm this 
 idea, when they are considering this very subject, 
 Philo, one of their most learned men, (as Dr. AUix 
 asserts) acknowledges a generation in God from eter- 
 nity. He says, in many different places, " That God 
 begets the Word in himself — that this Word is JVis- 
 dom^ and that this Wisdom is the eternal Son of God 
 
[ 124 J 
 
 That God is called the God of Gods, not with relation 
 to created intelligences, whether hfuman, angelical, 
 or seraphical, but in relation to his two consubstan- 
 tial powers, which are not simple attributes, but 
 eternal, uncreated, infinite principles of action, repre- 
 sented by the two wings of the cherubim that cover- 
 ed the Tabernacle." He further sa5"s, in his Trea- 
 tise de Somniis, " That the Supreme Ens («,•») 
 whom he terms Logos or the Word^ sometimes put 
 on the appearance of an angel to mankind, but that 
 his divine nature remained ever unchangeable. Philo 
 expressly calls the Logos Oioi God, and in one place 
 uses the remarkable expression hvnfoi gus, the second 
 God."* 
 
 The Targum of Jonathan affirms it was the Logos 
 who spake to Moses, the same who spake and the 
 world was rnade. This Targuni was written 30 
 years before the Christian sera. 
 
 The Chaldee Paraphrasts and Targumists, speak 
 in the same manner — they ascribe to the Word, the 
 creation of the world, the pardon of sin, and the medi- 
 ating between God the Father and the creatures. 
 The Cabalistical Jews, of a still later date, and who 
 Jiave recorded all the traditions of the patriarchs, &c. 
 hold the same doctrine. ^' They fix the number of 
 three persons in the Divine essence— ^they speak of 
 the emanation of the two last from the first ; and say 
 that the third proceeds fronj the first, by the second. 
 They call the first Eusoph and Kather ; the second, 
 Memra or Cbocbbma; the third Binah, 
 
 The learned Kircher gives niany reasons to show, 
 fhatthe ancient Jews, and the later Cabalists, derived 
 
 • PhiSo. Judai apud £u:eb. 190. 
 
C 125 ] 
 
 their knowledge of the Trinity, by a continued tra- 
 dition from the first patriarchs, and he cites the Jet- 
 zirah, (a book which the Jews ascribe to Abraham 
 himself, but which is said to have been written by a 
 fabbi of the name of Abraham, a very ancient Caba- 
 list) where the first person is described as Kather the 
 crown, or profound intelligence — the second person, 
 as Cbocbbma or Wisdom, or the intelligence illu- 
 minating— -and the third person, as Binah, or the 
 sanctifying intelligence; the builder of faith, and the 
 author of it. The ancient Jewish prayer, called 
 Hosarma Rahha^ or the Great Hosanna, publicly sung 
 on the last day of the feast of Tabernacles, proves 
 this — " For thy sake, O our Creator, Hosanna — for 
 thy sake, O our Redeemer, Hosanna — for thy sake, 
 O our Seeker, Hosanna." So the great benediction 
 which was pronounced under the law, by Aaron and 
 his sons — " Jehovah bless thee and keep thee — Jeho- 
 vah make his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious 
 unto thee — Jehovah lift up his countenance upon 
 thee, and give thee peace." Similar to the Christian 
 baptism — (The Father is here, the author of blessing 
 and preservation — grace and illumination are from 
 the Son, by whom we have the light of the know- 
 ledge of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ 
 — peace is the gift of the Spirit, whose name is the 
 Comforter.)* 
 
 The learned Mornaeus saj's, *' That it was once 
 the received doctrine, and the true cabala of the Jew- 
 ish schools, that the fiimous words of the 42 letters, 
 used as an expository name of the great ti iliteral 
 
 • Jones's Cath. Doct. of the Trinity, page 61, 3d edition. 
 
[ 125 ] 
 
 name, or Jehovah^ which was not allowed the Jews 
 to pronounce, was explained to have been, the Fa^ 
 ther is God — the Son is God — the Holy Spirit is 
 God — three in one, and one in three." 
 
 The Rabbi Ibba, who is said to have lived long 
 before Christ, and who is quoted in tlie book Zoder, 
 written by Simeon Ben Jochai before the Talmud, as 
 the Jews confess, if not before the Christian jera, in 
 descanting upon Deutronomy, vi. 4. " Hear, O Is- 
 rael, the Lord our God is one Lord," urges, *' That 
 the first Jehovah is God the Father — the second is 
 God the Son, for so he is called by the prophet, Im- 
 inanuel; or God with us — the third word Jehovah^ is 
 God the Holy Ghost — and the fourth word one^ is to 
 show the unity of essence in this plurality of per- 
 sons."* Many of the Cabalists used the same names 
 of Father, Son, and Spirit, for the three hypostases, 
 declaring at the same time, that the doctrine of the 
 persons in the Trinity, by no means opposed that of 
 tlie essence in unity. f 
 
 Gallatinus cites a comment of Rabbi Isaac Arama, 
 upon the 110th Psalm, which is peculiarly explicit; 
 " From the womb of tlie morning is the dew of thy 
 birth." " We do not find," says he, " any man, 
 although a prophet, whose birth is predicted before 
 the birth of his father and mother, excepting the 
 Messiah, our just one; and therefore," he says, 
 *' from the womb of the morning is the d^w of thy 
 birth;" that is, thy birth is foretold long before the 
 womb of her that bear thee was created. To this 
 agrees- what is said in Psalms Ixxii. 17 — '* His name, 
 
 • Grot, de ver Rcl. Christ, lib. v. chap. sx>. f Hor. Sol. 360. 
 
[ 127 ] 
 
 the begotten, or Son^ is before the Sun," which implies, 
 that before the Sun was created, the name (or person) 
 of our Messiah, subsisted and was estabhshed, and 
 that he sat at the right hand of God.* 
 
 The Jews, before the advent of Christ, often ex- 
 plained themselves on this subject, though the mo- 
 dern Jews since have concealed as much as possible, 
 the writings of their ancestors, or mutilated them lest 
 they should be brought in evidence against thera# 
 On this ground the learned Pocock defends Galati- 
 nus, who quoted many testimonies from the ancient 
 Jews, which cannot now be obtained. And the fa- 
 mous Picus, earl of Mirandola, whose honour and 
 integrity are not candidly to be doubted, professed to 
 have read (about 300 years ago) some very ancient 
 Jewish manuscripts, which he purchased of a Jew at 
 a veiy high rate, and in which he found the mystery 
 of the Trinity — the incarnation of the word — the di- 
 vinity of the Messiah, and many articles of our faith, f 
 There are many other proofs of this point, but the 
 following shall suffice. Rabbi Simeon Ben Jochai, 
 treating of the name Alobeim^ says, " Come and see 
 the mystery of this word. There are three degrees 
 or affinities, and each degree is to be distinguished 
 by itself; but the three are one, and united to each 
 other in one, nor is one to be divided from another.'* 
 The same Rabbi, and Jonathan, the Chaldee para- 
 phrast, who both wrote many years before Christ, 
 commenting on the 6th chap. Isaiah, 1st ver. where 
 the Lord (Adonai) is represented as sitting upon a 
 
 • Gal. de Arc. Cath. Verit. lib. iii. ch. 17. 
 
 t UusJ. rhil. Heb. Dhc. 36. Maimon. Mor« Nov. ch. 63^ 
 
C 128 ] 
 
 throne, applies the passage to the Messiah; and the 
 fc^mer of them has this remarkable exposition of the 
 thrice holy, in the 3d verse — " Holy, that is the Fa- 
 ther — Holy, that is the Son — Holy, that is the Holy- 
 Spirit.* 
 
 For most of the latter authorities, as well as those 
 of the ancients, I am indebted to the elegant, learn- 
 ed, and judicious author of Horae Solitariae, already 
 mentioned; a work worthy the attention of every 
 learned or pious man. 
 
 It is V, holly beside my purpose, to proceed further 
 in the important dispute relative to the Trinity. I ara 
 contented with knowing, that the Scriptures are the 
 word of the ever-living God; and that therein he has 
 revealed to me, that the Father, the Son, and the Holy 
 Spirit, in whose name I was baptized, bear record in 
 Heaven; and that these three are the one only infinite 
 and eternal God, whom I am to worship, love and 
 adore, in spirit and in truth. It is sufficient in the 
 present dispute, to have shown, that this doctrine 
 '{whether true or false) was the doctrine of the Jewish 
 church before the coming of the Saviour; not invented 
 first by the Christian theory, but as old as the cre- 
 ation; I believe I may add, as eternity. 
 
 Had it been consistent with my plan, I should not 
 have shrunk from a fuller inquiry into this great 
 mystery, as far as the nature of the question would 
 admit; which could be only to show, that however 
 it may exceed, yet it is not contrary to human rea- 
 son; for I think it would have puzzled my opponent 
 to have controverted a common principle, however 
 
 • Ant, Univ. HiBt. vol. ilL folio 11. 
 
[ 129 ] 
 
 far above our comprehension in its consequences, 
 that infinite power^ infinitely active^ must produce an 
 infinite effect. But such discussion, as I have said, 
 is beyond my purpose; and it well becomes me, a 
 finite creature, whose character and practice should 
 ever be expressive of deep humility, to believe every 
 report of revelation, when attended with rational evi- 
 dence of its divine authority; and believing, to adore 
 in silence what I cannot fully comprehend. I shall 
 conclude this digression in the words of a learned 
 writer, whom I have often quoted. " Equally above 
 the boldest flight of human genius to invent, as be- 
 yond the most exalted limit of human intellect fully 
 to comprehend, is the profound mystery of the ever 
 blessed trinity. — Through successive ages it has 
 remained impregnable to all the shafts of the most 
 impious ridicule, and unshaken by the bolder artil- 
 lery of blasphemous invective. — It is even in vain 
 that man essays to pierce the unfathomable arcana of 
 the skies. — By his limited faculties, and superficial 
 ken, the deep things of eternity are not to be scanned. 
 Even among Chrij^tians the sacred trinity is more 
 properly a subject of belief, than of investigation, and 
 every attempt to penetrate further into it, than God 
 in his holy word has revealed, is at best an injudici- 
 ous, and often a dangerous effect of mistaken piety. 
 — It is in vain that we make reason the umpire : that 
 finite man, however, can form no adequate concep- 
 tion of this gi'eat truth, by no means implies impossi- 
 bility or contradiction in the thing itself. — This cir- 
 cumstance arises from the limited nature of the human 
 faculties. It is mere ignorance; but it is an ignorance 
 which we can never overcome. — Let it ever be re- 
 
[ 130 ] 
 
 membered, that Christianity by no means proposes 
 to mankind a theological code, encumbered with nd 
 difficulties, involved in no perplexities. — Its great 
 mysterious truths (like most other of the waysof God) 
 are not to be solved by the light of nature, nor scan- 
 ned by the boldest flights of human intellect. — Nei- 
 ther the trinity, nor the incarnation can be proved, not 
 were intended to be proved, by philosophical argu- 
 ments. — ^The word of God is the sole basis of the 
 proofs and solutions of these stupendous doctrines. 
 They are wisely shielded from our view, the better 
 to excite in us the ardor of faith, and exercise the 
 virtues necessary to obtain the sublime rewards which 
 it proposes to persevering piety. — The Almighty has 
 been pleased to erect mounds and ramparts, as of old 
 at Sinai, around the abode of majesty, to ward off the 
 dangerous curiosity of man; he hath wrapped him* 
 self in clouds, that we might not be consumed by tht 
 full blaze of that glory which invests the eternaV 
 throne."* I would by no means be understood tO 
 disparage human reason, *' for, if rightly exercised, 
 it cannot be contrary to revelation; neither can reve» 
 lation, rightly understood, be contrary to reason, 
 though it must often exceed it; for they are both rays 
 from the same father of lights, with whom there is 
 no variableness, neither shadow of turning. "^f 
 
 I repeat it, therefore, that it is sufficient, in this 
 investigation, to have shown the opinion of both 
 Jews and heathens, before the coming of Jesus Christy 
 and of course that our author has been wholly unac- 
 quainted with his subject. 
 
 • Ind. Aiitiq. f Doyl's Scnn» 
 
[ 131 ] 
 
 Perhaps he might be content to be taught the 
 truth from so many heathen authorities. Yet, I con- 
 fess, it is to be feared, that it is too late for him to 
 liearken to the words of wisdom from any quarter 
 whatever ; because, in so doing, he must acknow- 
 ledge either his ignorance or wickedness, in assert- 
 ing with so much confidence, " That the theory of 
 the Christian church sprung out of the tail of the hea- 
 then mytholog}^, and that the Trinity of Gods that 
 then followed, was no other than a reduction of the 
 former plurality, which was twenty or thirty thou- 
 i|^an<d. 
 
 If it *' yet remains for reason and philosophy to 
 abolish the amphibious fraud," it must be a very dif- 
 ferent reason and philosophy from that of the author 
 of the Age of Reason. It must be that of truth and 
 argument, neither of which have fallen to his lot. 
 What have reason and philosophy done for near two 
 thousand years, but confirm the glorious doctrine of 
 the cross of Christ, and multiply the followers of the 
 once despised Nazarene. A nation in our day has 
 made the attempt to try, what our author calls, rea- 
 son and philosophy, will do without religion ; and let 
 me ask what has been the issue ? The Scriptures told 
 it before it came to pass. '' Adultery, fornication, 
 uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, hatred, vari. 
 ance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 
 envyings, murders, assassinations, and such like."* 
 Indeed it seems that as a nation, having forsaken and 
 cast off all dependence on, and acknowledgement of, 
 a Divine Providence, he had left them to strpng deli4. 
 
 • Galat. chap. v. 50, 
 
[ 132 3 
 
 sions, aiid to the accumulated miseries and distresses 
 incident to anarchy, confusions, insurrections, assas- 
 sinations, wars and pestilence, to convince an asto- 
 nished world what would be their portion, if once 
 they should be given up by God to believe a lie, and 
 to cast OiTall the fear and reverence of his sacred ma- 
 jesty. They seem to be set forth as full evidence to 
 all mankind, of the truth of the prophetic declaration, 
 that in the latter day *' false teachers should come 
 among them, who privily should bring in damnable 
 heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, 
 and bring upon themselves swift destruction; and 
 many should follow their pernicious ways, by reason 
 of whom the way of truth should be evil spoken of 
 — that they should despise government — be pre- 
 sumptuous, self willed; not afraid to speak evil of 
 dignities — they are spots and blemishes, sporting 
 themselves with their oviii deceivings — having eyes 
 full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin — be- 
 guiling unstable souls— having hearts exercised with 
 covetous practices — cursed children — these are wells 
 without water — clouds that are carried with a tem-' 
 pest, to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for- 
 ever — for when they speak great swelling words of 
 vanity, they allure through the lusts of the fiesh, 
 through much wantonness, those who were escaped 
 from them; who live in error; who while they pro- 
 mise thetn liberty^ they themselves are the servants of 
 corruption."^ 
 
 • 2d Pet. chap. ii. 1st to 20th ven. 
 
PARTICULAR NOTES 
 ON THIS SUBJECT. 
 
 Vv HILE this answer was striking off at the 
 psess, I have been favoured with the perusal of all 
 the volumes of that learned, laborious, and expensive 
 work, The Indian Antiquities^ by Thomas Maurice; 
 a work which has entered so fully into tliis subject, 
 as to render nugatory all I have attempted in this part 
 of my answer; and if I had seen it in time, I should 
 have contented myself with either referring to it, or 
 giving<^ few extracts from it. I attempted to add 
 some notes' from it in the margin, but found it would 
 greatly embarrass the printer; and being very desirous 
 of enriching this ansAver with many facts and useful 
 observations contained in it, and well knowing that a 
 majority of my readers were not likely to peruse so 
 lai'ge a performance, I have concluded to annex to this 
 head, a number of quotations together, leaving it to 
 my reader to apply them to this important subject as 
 he may think proper. 
 
 Being impressed with the truth of the following 
 observation, found in the preface to this admirable 
 performance, I shall begin with it. He says — " The 
 present is by no means the period fpr suppressing any 
 
C 134 ] 
 
 additional testimonies to the tnith of one of the fun- 
 damental articles of that noble system, (our holy reli- 
 gion); and the author trusts that he has brought 
 together such a body of evidence, as will decisively 
 establish the following important facts — first, that in 
 the Sephiroth, or three superior splendors of the an- 
 cient Hebrews, may be discovered the three hyposta- 
 ses of the Christian Trinity — secondly, that this doc- 
 trine flourished through nearly all the empire of Asia, 
 a thousand years before Plato was born — and thirdly, 
 that the grand cavern-pagoda of Elephanta, the oldest 
 and most magnificent temple in the world, is neither 
 more nor less than a superb temple to a Triune-God." 
 
 In this volunae, the Oriental Triads of Deity, ara 
 extensively discussed, and referred to what I cannot 
 but conceive to have been the true source of them all; 
 to certain mutilated traditions of a nobler doctrine 
 revealed to man, in a state of innocence. As we ad^ 
 vance still farther in these Indian researches, we shall 
 find many other important points of religious belief, 
 sui-prizingly elucidated; and thus, the Mosaical re.- 
 cords and Christianity, so far from being subverted 
 by the pretended antiquity of the Brahmins, will de- 
 rive a proud trophy from the corroborative testimony 
 of their genuine annals, and the congenial sentiments 
 of their primaeval creed. 
 
 When the reader is informed, that the creation of 
 the world, according to the Hindoo cosmogony, was 
 affected by an incumbent Spirit, the emanation of 
 Deity impregnating with life the primordial waters 
 of Chaos; that the fall of man from a state of primceval 
 purity and innocence in the Satya-Tug or perfect age^ 
 forms the basis of the Indian metempsychosis, that 
 
t 135 3 
 
 the Indians believe in a future state of rewards andpu* 
 nishments; that the first historj', of which they can 
 boast, has for its subject, the destruction of the hu- 
 man race, for their multiplied enormities, in a certain 
 great deluge^ from which only eight persons was saved 
 in an Ark, fabricated by the immediate command of 
 Veeshnu : that in their principal Deity, a plurality of 
 Divine persons is discovered^ since that Deity is sym-r 
 bolically designated by an image with three heads 
 affixed to one body; and that the second person in 
 tliat Trinity is, in their mythology, invested with the 
 office of a Preserver and Mediator^ and in both these 
 characters incarnate. Finally, to omit other interest- 
 ing particulars, tliat the duration of the Cali-Tug^ or 
 age immediately succeeding the great deluge, accord- 
 ing to their own calculations, does not but by a few 
 centuries, exceed the period asserted by Christian 
 chronologers, to have elapsed since the deluge of 
 Noah; and that the existing world is to be consumed by a 
 general conflagration. 
 
 When all these circumstances, to be accounted 
 for by no immediate connection or intercourse what- 
 soever with the Hebrew nation, in any period of their 
 empire, are calmly considered by an impartial and 
 unprejudiced mind, the result, I am persuaded, must 
 be an increased confidence in the great truths of reve- 
 lation — though the timid Christian may at first be 
 somewhat surprized, yet a little reflection will soon 
 convince him of the truth of what I have asserted to 
 be the genuine fact, that in the pure and primitive 
 theology, derived from the venerable patriarchs, there 
 were certain grand and mysterious truths, the objects 
 of their fixed belief, which all the depravations 
 
[ 136 ] 
 
 brought into it by succeeding superstition, were ne- 
 ver able entirely to efface from the human mind. 
 These truths, together with many of the symbols of 
 that pure theology, were propagated and diffused by 
 them in their various peregrinations through the 
 higher Asia, where they have immemorially flourish- 
 ed, affording a most sublime and honourable testi- 
 mony of such a refined and patriarchal religion having 
 actually existed in the earliest ages of the world. 
 
 Mr. Maurice asserts, that " Mattra," (the Me- 
 thora of Pliny) " is situated about 18 miles from 
 Agra, on the direct road to Delhi, and is particularly 
 celebrated for having been the birth place oiCreeshnay 
 who is esteemed in India, not so much an incarnation 
 of the Divine Veeshnu, as the Deity himself in a hu- 
 man form. The history of this personage is among 
 the most curious of all that occur in Indian my- 
 thology. 
 
 The sanscreet narrative of his extraordinary feats, 
 in some points approaches so near to the Scriptural 
 account of our Saviour, as to have afforded real 
 ground for Sir William Jones to suppose, that the 
 Brahmins had, in the early ages of Christianity, seen 
 or heard recited to them, some of the spurious Gos- 
 pels, which in those ages so numerously abounded, 
 and had ingrafted the wildest parts of them, upon the 
 old fable of the Indian Apollo. The birth of this di- 
 vine infant was predicted, and a reigning tyrant of 
 India, by name Cansa^ learning fi'om the prediction, 
 that he should be destroyed by this wonderful child, 
 ordered all the male children bom at that period, to be 
 slain ; but Creeshna was preserved by biting the breast, 
 instead of sucking the poisoned nipple of the nurse 
 
[ 137 ] 
 
 commissioned to destroy him. From the fear of this 
 tyrant, he was fostered in Mattra, by an honest 
 herdsman, and passed his innocent hours in rural di- 
 versions at his foster father's farm. Repeated mira- 
 cles, however, soon discovered his celestial origin. 
 He preached to the Brahmins, the doctrines of meek- 
 ness and benevolence. He even condescended to 
 wash their feet, as a proof of his own meekness; and 
 he raised the dead by descending, for that purpose, 
 to the lowest regions. He acted, not always indeed, 
 in the capacity of a prince or herald of peace, for he 
 was a mighty warrior; but his amazing powers were 
 principally exerted to save and to defend. 
 
 Even the great war of Ivlahabbarat, which he fo- 
 mented, was a just war, undertaken against invaders 
 and tyrants, whom he triumphantly overthrew, and 
 then returned to his seat in the Heavenly region.* 
 
 One of the most prominent features in the Indian 
 theolog)% is the doctrine of a Trinity, which it plainly 
 inculcates; a subject by no means to be passed over 
 in silence; but at the same time connected with the 
 abstrusest speculations of ancient philosophy. It has 
 been repeatedly observed, that the mythologic perso- 
 nages, Brah?na, Veeshnu^ and Seeva^ constitute the 
 grand Hindoo triad of Deity. — — That, neai'ly all the 
 Pagan nations of antiquity, in their various theologi- 
 cal systems, acknowledged a kind of Trinity in the 
 Divine Nature, has been the occasion of much need- 
 less alarm and unfounded apprehension, especially to 
 those professors of Christianity, whose religious 
 principles rest upon so slender a basis, that they 
 
 * Vol. iii. page 45. 
 S 
 
[ 138 ] 
 
 waver with cveiy wind of doctrine. The very cir- 
 cumstance which has given rise to these apprehen- 
 sions, the universal prevalence of this doctrine in the 
 Gentile kingdoms, is, in my opinion, so far from in- 
 validating the Divine authenticity of it, that it appears 
 to be an irrefragable argument in its favour. It ought 
 to confirm the piety of the wavering Christian, and 
 build up the tottering fabric of his faith. 
 
 The doctrine itself bears such striking internal 
 marks of a Divine original, and is so very unlikely to 
 have been the invention of mere human reason, that 
 there is no v/ay of accounting for the general adoption 
 of so singular a belief by most ancient nations, than by 
 supposing what I have, in pretty strong terms, inti- 
 mated at the commencement of this chapter, to be the 
 genuine fact, that the doctrine was neither the inven- 
 tion of Pythagoras, nor Plato, nor any other philoso- 
 pher in the ancient world, but a sublime mysterious 
 truths one of those stupendous arcana of the invisible 
 world, which through the condescending goodness of 
 Divine Providence, was revealed to the ancient pa- 
 triarchs of the faithful line of Shem^ by them propa- 
 gated to their Hebrew posterity; and through that 
 posterity, during their various migrations and disper- 
 sions over the east, diiTused through the Gentile na- 
 tions, among whom they sojourned. I must again 
 take permission to assert it as my solemn belief — 
 a belief founded upon long and elaborate investi- 
 gation of this important subject, that the Indian, 
 as well as all other triads of Deity, so universally 
 adored throughout the whole Asiatic world, and 
 under every denomination, whether they consist of 
 
[ 139 ] 
 
 persons, principles^ or attributes deijied^ are onh' cor- 
 ruptions of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity."^ 
 
 To Adam in a state of innocence, many parts of 
 the mysterious economy of the eternal regions were, 
 by the Divine permission, unfolded ; nor did his 
 mind, at the fall, lose all impressions of those won- 
 derful revelations, which had been gradually imparted 
 to him; for the remembrance of his past enjoyments 
 and forfeited privileges, doubtless formed one afflict- 
 ing part of his punishment. It was in that happy 
 state, when man's more refined and perfect natflre 
 could better bear the influx of great celestial truths, 
 that the awful myster}' was repealed to him, and it 
 came immediateh' from the lips of that Divine Being, 
 the mighty avto ^eo? or self-existent, who, by his holy 
 •word created all things, and animated all things which 
 he had created, by that energetic and pervading spirit 
 which emanated from himself. It was at that remote 
 period, that this holy doctrine was first propagated 
 and most vigorously flourished, not in the school of 
 Plato, not in the academic groves of Greece, but in 
 the sacred bowers of Edcn^ and in the awful school of 
 universal nature, when Jehovah himself was the in- 
 structor, and Adam the Hca\'en taught pupil. With 
 these holy personages that compose the Trinity, he 
 freely conversed during all the period that he remain- 
 ed in a state of innocence, while the refulgent glory of 
 the Divine Schechinah, darting upon him its direct, 
 but tempered ra}"s, encircled with a flood of light, the 
 enraptured protoplast, formed in the image and simi- 
 litude of his Maker. But as he saw the radiance of 
 
 • Vol. iv, 418—19. 
 
. [ 140 ] 
 
 the Divine Triad in innocence with inexpressible joy, 
 so when fallen from that state of primceval rectitude, 
 he beheld it with unutterable terror ; especially at that 
 awful moment, when the same luminous appeai'ance 
 of Deity, but arrayed in terrible majesty, and darting 
 fordi severer beams, sought the flying apostate, who 
 heard with new and agonizing sensations, the majestic 
 voice of Jehovah Elohim^ literally the Lord Godsy 
 walking in the garden in the cool of the day.^ 
 
 Dr. Allix informs us, that the Jewish cabalists 
 constantly added to the word Elohim^ the letter jod, 
 being the first letter of the name Jehovah, for the sake 
 of a mystery^ as well as according to one of the most 
 respectable commentators on the Pentateuch, the 
 Rabbi Bechai, to show that there is a divinity in each 
 person^ included in the word.f 
 
 An extended period had elapsed since Malachi 
 had sounded the prophetic trumpet. Impatient piety 
 glowed with intense fervour, and expectation was on 
 the wing to meet the promised Messiah. At length 
 the long- wished for period of his advent arrived; nor 
 was the awful event, in which were invohed the 
 eternal interests of the human race, ushered in amidst 
 darkness and silence. An angel purposely descend- 
 ing from Heaven, announced the incarnation, not of 
 another angel, for that surely were uimecessary, but 
 of the Son of the highest, of whose kingdom there 
 should be no end ; and pointed out the manner of his 
 conception, by the overshadowing of that Schec- 
 hinah, who, according to the Talmudic Jews, had 
 equally the key of the womb, of death and the grave. 
 
 • Ibid. 431. t R- Bechir, in Gen. 1—10. 
 
[ 141 ] 
 
 At the period of his birth, a bright chorus of angels 
 welcomed tliat birth in expressive hallelujahs; and 
 guided by the refulgent constellation, that now first 
 illumined the eastern hemisphere, the Chaldean Magi 
 with reverence hastened to pay homage to that Mes- 
 siah, to whom, it is said, " the kings of Tarshish and 
 the isles shall bring presents, and the kings of Sheba and 
 Seba should o^'er gifts.'"*' 
 
 Arrayed in the venerable garb of the ancient pro- 
 phets, and adhering to the same austere diet, which 
 should have roused the attention of the Jews, the mes- 
 senger John appeared his august herald, and a solemn 
 voice was heard amidst the recesses of the desert, 
 '''■prepare ye the way of the Lord^ make strait in the de- 
 serf an high way for our God.'''* He was initiated by 
 the baptizing hand of that celestial messenger, into 
 the sacred office which he condescended to assume, 
 and received the most solemn and public attestation 
 possible, of his Divine emanation from the eternal 
 fountain, as well as by the audible voice cf Jehovah, 
 giving the everlasting benediction to his beloved Son^ 
 as in the Holy Spirit visibly descending in the form of 
 that auspicious bird which brought to Noah the first 
 tidings of Almighty wrath appeased. The Jews, had 
 not their expectations been totally blinded during the 
 ceremony of this Divine unction, might there have 
 seen two notable texts relative to the Logos, in their 
 national Scriptures, strikingly fulfilled — " O God, thy 
 God hath anointed thee, with the oil of gladness above thy 
 fellows.**^ And that in Isaiah — " And the Spirit of 
 the Lord shall rest upon him.'*^\ 
 
 • Psalm, 72—10. t Psalm. ^S—7. \ Isaiah, chap. xi. 2. 
 
[ 142 ] 
 
 It was thus that the Baptist not only sa^r, but bore 
 public record that he was the Son of God — and on this 
 occasion I cannot refrain from citinsr the words of Dr. 
 Allix — " The three persons in the Godhead, did there 
 so conspicuously manifest themselves, that the an- 
 cients took thence occasion to tell the Arians, go td 
 the river "Jordan^ and there you shall see the Trinity,'^'' ^ 
 
 The Chaldee Targum, on these words of Job, 
 ^' the fp'irit of God hath made me^ and the breath of the 
 Almighty hath given me life^'^\ hath brought into the 
 text, the second person in the trinity, as well as the 
 third — his words are, spiritus Dei fecit me, et verbum 
 omnipotentis sustentavit me — that is, " the spirit of 
 God hath made me, and the word of the Almighty 
 hath sustained me." 
 
 Rabbi H. Hagaon, who lived 700 years ago, said, 
 there are three lights in God; the anevit light or kad- 
 mon, the pure light, and the purified light; and these 
 three make but one God. J 
 
 Rabbi Hakadosch, so highly celebrated for his 
 piety as to have the title of Holy conferred on him 
 by his nation, has this remarkable sentence: pater 
 Deus, filius Deus, spiritus sanctus Deus, trinus 
 in unitate, ct unus in trinitate; that is, the Father is 
 God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, 
 trinity in unity, and unity in trinity — and the He- 
 brew sentence from which this is translated, is com- 
 posed of the mysterious forty-two letters, forming 
 according to the Cabalists, another of the names of 
 God. II 
 
 • Ibid. 501. t Jol> x.xxiii. 4. J Ibid 525. 
 K Kerch. Odep. Egypt, torn iii. 245. 
 
[ 143 ] 
 
 On Gen. xviii ch. 1st, 2d and 3d v. " And the 
 Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre : and 
 he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day ; and he 
 lifted up his eyes and looked, and lo ! three men stood 
 by him; and when he saw them he ran to meet them 
 from the tent door and bowed himself toward the 
 ground, and said, my Lord if now I have found fa- 
 vour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from 
 thy servant." 
 
 Philo says, this whole passage contains a latent 
 mystical meanings not to be communicated to every 
 one, and that according to this mystical sense, here 
 was denoted o*!-, the great Jehovah, with his two 
 A'j»««s«5, of which one is called ©jo;, and the other 
 
 The same author, in his Dissertation de Che- 
 rubbim, page 86, speakmg of the eternal Em^ or «»>, 
 asserts, that " in the ' one true God there are two su- 
 preme and primary Ayv^^cji?, or powers, whom he de- 
 nominates goodness m\d authority ; that there is a third 
 and ?nediatoriaI pozver between the -two former, who 
 is the logos or luord. 
 
 The word Jehovah indicates the unity of the es- 
 sence : Elohim points out, that in this unity there is 
 a plurality existing, in a manner of which we can at 
 present have no clear conception, no more than we 
 have of other parts of the mysterious economy of 
 the invisible world. f 
 
 The letter ' or Jod, which is the first letter of 
 the sacred name, denotes the thought — the idea of 
 God. It is the ray of light, say the enraptured Ca- 
 
 * Philo judiij de lacvlficiis abelis et Caini 108. f ^'*i** ^^^- 
 
[ 144 ] 
 
 balists, which darts a histre too transcendent to be 
 contemplated by mortal eye; it is a point at which 
 thought pauses, and imagination itself grows giddy 
 and confounded.---*' Man," says Basnage citing the 
 rabbies, " may lawfully roll his thoughts from one 
 end of heaven to the other, but they cannot approach 
 that inaccessible light, that primitive existence, con- 
 tained in the letter Jod."* 
 
 From what other reason could the Gentiles have 
 given such names to their pretended Gods. Mercury 
 was called Triceps; Bacchus, Triambus; Diana, Tri- 
 formis; and Hecate, Tergimina; Jupiter had his 
 three-forked thunder; Neptune his trident, and Plu- 
 to his three-headed Cerberus. Hence the triangle 
 and the pyramid came to be numbered among the 
 most frequent and esteemed symbols of Deity. f 
 
 It is my humble, but decided opinion, that the 
 original and sublime dogma inculcated in the true re- 
 ligion, of a Trinity of hypostases in the divine na- 
 ture, delivered traditionally down from the ancestors 
 of the human race, and the Hebrew patriarchs, being 
 in time misapprehended, or gradually forgotten, is 
 the fountain of all the similar conceptions in the de- 
 based systems of theology, prevailing in every other 
 religion of the earth; of a doctrine thus extensively 
 diffused through all nations; a doctrine established at 
 once in regions distant as Japan and Peru; immemo- 
 rially acknowledged throughout the whole extent of 
 Egypt and India; and flourishing with equal vigor 
 amidst the snowy mountains of Thibet, and the vast 
 deserts of Siberia. There is no other rational mode 
 
 • Hist, of Jews, 193. f Ibid 617. 
 
[ 145 ] 
 
 of explaining the allusion, or accounting for the ori^ 
 gin.* 
 
 In the Oracles of Zoroaster the first, (supposed to 
 be the grandson of Ham and great grandson of Noah,) 
 though many of them are forgeries; yet many of 
 them bear the marks of the genuine remains of Chal- 
 daic theology ; that theology which, according to Pro- 
 clus, as cited by Mr. Stanley, was revealed to man by 
 the awful voice of the Deity himself. In these ora- 
 cles we find such singular expressions as these: 
 " Where ih^ paternal monad is, that paternal monad 
 amplifies itself, and generates a dualit}^" After de- 
 claring that the duad thus generated sits by the mo- 
 nad, and shining forth with intellectual beams, go- 
 verns all things; this remarkable passage occurs, 
 " for a triad of Deity shines forth throughout the 
 whole world, of which a monad is the head." In a 
 succeeding verse of this section we are informed, 
 *' for the mind of the Father said, that all things 
 should be divided into three^ whose will assented, 
 and all things were divided." Immediately after fol- 
 lows a passage, in which the three persons in the Di- 
 vine essence are expressly pointed out by appella- 
 tions, " and there appeared in this triad, virtue^ and 
 Wisdom, and Truths that know all things." This is 
 answerable to the Kather (virtue), the Cochma (wis- 
 dom), andBinah (intelligence, or Spirit of truth), of 
 the Hebrews. f 
 
 In the next section, under the title *' The Father 
 and the Mind,''' it is expressly said, the Father per- 
 fects all things, and delivers them over to the second 
 
 Ibid 620. t Jbld 630 ^o 654. 
 T 
 
[ 146 ] 
 
 Mind, that second Mind whom the nations of men 
 commonly take for the first. — —Under two minds is 
 contained the hfe-generating fountain of souls, and 
 the artificer who, self-operating, formed the world; 
 He who sprang first out of that mind. In order next 
 to the eternal mind, I Pysche dwell, warming and 
 animating all things.* 
 
 Kircher gives the following extract from Hermes 
 Trismegistus' books, *' There hath ever been one 
 great intellectual light, which has always illuminated 
 the mind ; and their union is nothing else but the Spi- 
 rit, which is the bond of all things." |- 
 
 Orpheus asserts, (as is abridged by Timotlieus, 
 a Christian writer) the existence of an eternal incom- 
 prehensible Being ; the Creator of all things, even of 
 the ajther itself, and of all things below that aether — 
 That this supreme Demiurgos is called Light, Counsel 
 2LndLife. 
 
 Timotheus concludes his account by affirming, 
 that Orpheus in his book declared, that all things were 
 made by one God-head in three names, and that this 
 God is all things. II 
 
 It is remarkable through all antiquity, the humor 
 of dividing every thing into three, displayed itself; 
 and whence, except from the source of revelation, 
 could this general but mutilated tradition of a triune- 
 God have originated. The Fates, those relentless 
 sisters, who weave the web of human life, and fix its 
 inevitable doom, were three — the Furies, the dire dis- 
 pensers of the vengeance of Heaven, for crimes com- 
 
 Ibid 636, 638. f Ibid. 690, and cites Oedep Egypt, torn iii. 37fi. 
 II Ibid. 701. 702. 
 
[ 147 ] 
 
 mitted upon earth, were iJjree — the Graces were three^ 
 and the celestial Muses, according to Varro, were ori- 
 ginally only three. "^ 
 
 I have not undertaken so much to account for the 
 perversion of this doctrine, as to record and ascertain 
 the fact, of this notion of a triad of Deity, being radi- 
 cally interwoven in the theological codes adopted in 
 almost every region of Asia — Asia, where the sub- 
 lime system of the true religion was first revealed; 
 where the pure precepts it inculcates were first prac- 
 tised, and where unhappily its leading principles were 
 earliest adulterated. The Almighty hath not left him- 
 self without a witness, amidst the degrading supersti- 
 tions and the false philosophy of the degenerate Asia- 
 tics. In the Persian triad, the character of Mithra, 
 the middle god, is called the mediator: Now, the idea 
 of a mediator, could alone originate in a consciousness 
 of committed crimes, as well as in a dread of merited 
 punishment. I 
 
 Plutarch, an enemy to a triad of Deity says, 
 " Zoroaster is said to have made a three-fold distri- 
 bution of things; to have assigned the first and high- 
 est rank to Oromasdes, ^a ho in the oracles, is called 
 the Father ; the lov/est to Ahrimenes, and the middle 
 to Mithras, who, in the same oracles, is called Ton 
 Deuteron Nou, the second mind."jj 
 
 Of exquisite workmanship and of stupendous anti- 
 quit}*. — Antiquity to v.hich neither the page of histo- 
 ry, nor human traditions can ascend; that magnificent 
 piece of sculpture, so often alluded to, in the cavern 
 of Elephanta^ decidedly establishes the solemn fact, 
 
 • Iblfl. n?. t Ibi.l. 713. |! Phirarcb de Iside et Osiride, page 370. 
 
[ 148 ] 
 
 that from the remotest eras, the Indian nations have 
 adored a tri-une Deity. There the travellers, with 
 awe and astonishment, behold, carved out of the so- 
 lid rock, in the most conspicuous part of the most 
 ancient and venerable temple in the world, a bust ex- 
 panding in breadth near twenty feet, and no less than 
 eighteen feet in attitude, by which amazing propor- 
 tions, as well as by its gorgeous decorations, it is 
 known to be the image of the grand presiding deity 
 of that hallowed retreat: he beholds, I say, a bust 
 composed of three heads,* united to one body, adorn- 
 ed with the oldest symbols of the Indian theology, 
 and thus expressly fabricated, according to the una- 
 nimous confession of the sacred sacerdotal tribe of 
 India, to indicate the Creator, the Preserver and the 
 Regenerator of mankind. I consider the superior an- 
 tiquity of the Elephanta temple to that of Salsette, as 
 established by the circumstance of the flat roof, prov- 
 ing it to have been excavated before mankind had dis- 
 covered the art of turning the majestic arch, and giv- 
 ing the lofty roof that concave form, \\hich adds so 
 greatly to the grandeur of the Salsette temple — and 
 as Salsette is supposed to be three thousand years 
 old, the Elephanta must have been as near the flood, 
 as the progi-ess of science will allow us with proprie- 
 ty to fix it.* 
 
 In the Bhagvat-Geeta, the most ancient and au- 
 thentic book of the Indian divinity, the supreme 
 Veeshnu tlius speaks concerning himself, " I am the 
 Holy One, v/orthy to be knovvu. I am the mystic 
 (triiiteral) figure a u m; the Rcig^ the Tajush^ and the 
 Saman Vedas^^ 
 
 * Ibid. "To^. \ Ibid. 744. 
 
L 149 ] 
 
 The Hindoos, says Mr. Sonnerat, adore three 
 principal deities, Broiuna^ Chiven and Vichemu^ who 
 are still but one. He giv€s a literal translation from 
 •the Sanscreet, of a Poiiran, thus, *' It is God alone 
 who created the universe by his productive power; 
 who maintains it by his all preserving power, and 
 who will destroy (or regenerate) it by his destructive 
 (or regenerative) power; so that it is this God who is 
 represented under the name of three Gods, who are 
 called Trimourtin.* 
 
 Mr. Foster, in his Sketches of Hindoo Mytholo- 
 gy, says, " One circumstance which forcibly struck 
 my attention, was the Hindoo belief of a Trinity— 
 These persons, are by the Hindoos supposed to be 
 wholly indivisible, the one is three^ and the Three 
 are OneA 
 
 From the previous extensive survey of the various 
 systems of Eastern theology^ it is evident, that the 
 notion of a Divine Triad governing the Universe, 
 however darkened and degraded through the preva- 
 lence of a long series of gross superstitions, was a 
 doctrine that immeraorially prevailed in the schools 
 of ^ Asia. From whatever distant source derived, 
 through successive generations, and amidst a thou- 
 sand perversions, the great truth contended for beams 
 forth, with more or less splendour, in every country 
 of the ancient world, and darts conviction upon the 
 mind not prejudiced against the reception of it, by 
 the suggestions of human pride, and the dogmas of 
 false philosophy. 
 
 To try the merits of this great cause in the court 
 of human reason, is evidently to bring it before a tri- 
 
 • Ibid. 7-17, 749, and cites Sonnerat's Voy. 1 vol. 2w9. 
 t Ibid. 750, and cites Foster, fol. 12. 
 
[ 150 ] 
 
 bunal incompetent to decide upon so important '9. 
 question; and is, in fact, to exalt a terrestrial judge, 
 before the eternal judge of all things — yet we ar6 
 justified in asserting, that this doctrine, though not 
 founded upon reason as a basis, is by no means des- 
 titute of its decided support and concurrence. The 
 basis upon which it rests, is far more^noble as well as 
 durable ; Divine revelation, strengthened by the most 
 ancient traditions, and the consenting creed of nearly 
 all the kingdoms of the greater Asia.* 
 
 In fact, the name and history of Noah and his 
 three sons, are precisely the same in the Sanscreet 
 language, as in the Hebrew bible. In the ancient 
 geographical records of India, we find the whole 
 country denominated after Cush, or Cuth, the eldest 
 son of Ham, its domestic appellation being Cusha- 
 Dweepa ; and we know that the inliabitants of the 
 northern district were anciently called Cuthai. We 
 find again Raamah, the fourth son of that Cush, in 
 the Indian Ra?iia, reno^\■ned first as a conqueror, and 
 afterwards as a God, throughout the whole extent of 
 that vast region ; and we discover his last son, Nimrod 
 or Belus, in their Bali, the Baal send 5^/ of their neigh- 
 bpurs.f 
 
 There was another very remarkable symbol of 
 Taut or Mercury, prevalent in Egypt, as well as in 
 India. It was the letter T, or in other words, the 
 Cross or Crux-Hermios ; in which form we find many 
 of the more ancient pagoda's of India, as Benares 
 and Matt r a, erecttd; and many of the old Egyp- 
 tian statues, as is well known to antiquaries, are 
 represented bearing this symbol in their hands, or on 
 
 • Vol. V. page 1. t Vol. vi. 42, 
 
[ 151 ] 
 
 their breasts. I have elsewhere observed the very 
 singular manner, after which the Latin Vulgate, and 
 according to Lowth, probably the ancient copies of 
 the Septuagint, have rendered the original of that pas- 
 sage in Ezekiel, the 9th chap, and 4th ver. — " Set a 
 mark on the foreheads of the men that sigh, and that 
 cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst 
 thereof;" rendering it in their version, " I will mark 
 them on the forehead with the letter T," which af- 
 fords room to suppose it was a symbol of a more 
 sacred import than is generally imagined, in the early 
 patriarchal ages. 
 
 Now it is a fact not less remarkable, tlian well at- 
 tested, that the druids (in Great-Britain) in their 
 groves, were accustomed to select the most stately 
 and beautiful ti'ee, as an emblem of the Deity they 
 adored; and having cut off the side branches, they af- 
 fixed two of the largest of them to the highest part of 
 the ti'unk, in such a manner, as that those branches, 
 extending on each side like the arms of a man, pre- 
 sented to the spectators the appearance of a huge 
 cross, and on the bark in various places was actually 
 inscribed the letter 7 .* 
 
 • Consult Rorlase, fol. 108, and the express autlioriiiei which he ad- 
 ducts for the truth of this curious fact. Vol. vi. 67. 
 
THE CHARACTER OF CHRIST. 
 
 Our author proceeds xvith a declaration^ " That nothing he 
 has said., can apply ^ even with the most distant disrespect, 
 to the real character of Jesus Christ. He was a virtuous 
 and amiable man. The morality he preached and practi- 
 sed, tvas of the most benevolent kind; and though similar 
 systems of morality had been preached by Confucius and 
 some of the Greek philosophers^ many years before ; by the 
 quakers since, and by many good men in all ages, it had not 
 been exceeded by any.'''* 
 
 1 O read this passage with attention, is a suffi- 
 cient refutation of his whole system; as well as an 
 evidence of our author's strange principles, to every 
 person who has read the New-Testament, and has 
 made himself acquainted with its effects. 
 
 What ? Can that man be a virtuous and amiable 
 man — a preacher and practiser of the most benevolent 
 morality, not exceeded by any — and yet in the opinion 
 of this writer, be guilty of imposing on his followers, 
 by assuring them that " He was before the founda- 
 tion of the world — that he was the first bom of every 
 creature — that he was sent of God — came down from 
 HeaA en — that he was the only begotten Son of God — 
 that God was his father — that he and the Father were 
 
 u 
 
L 154 ] 
 one — ^that he who had seen him, had seen the Fa- 
 ther — that whosoever believed on him, should have 
 everlasting life — that God had so loved the world, that 
 he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believ- 
 ed on him, should not perish, but have everlasting 
 life — that he that believeth on him is not condemned; 
 but he that believeth not, is condemned already, be- 
 cause he hath not believed on the name of the only 
 begotten Son of God— -that all judgment was commit- 
 ted to the Son— that all men should honour the Son, 
 even as they honour the Father- --he that honoureth 
 not the Son, honoureth not the Father who sent him 
 —-that the hour was coming, when the dead should 
 hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear 
 should live: for as the Father had life in himself, so 
 had he given to the Son, to have life in himself-— that 
 the works he did, bore witness of him, that the Fa- 
 ther had sent him— the Father also himself had borne 
 witness of him— -that if they believed Moses, they 
 would believe in him, for Moses had written of him.'* 
 He performed miracles- -he raised the dead- -he fore- 
 told things to come- -he commanded, and the winds 
 and waves obeyed him. All these things he did, (or 
 at least he endeavoured to persuade his followers that 
 ht did them) as an evidence of his Almighty power; 
 and that he had come down from God, and was the 
 Son of God, the Messiah who was to come. He as- 
 serted, " That he was the bread of life, that came 
 down from Heaven-— that he would raise every believ- 
 er in him, from the dead at the last day-— that no man 
 had seen the Father but himself, \vho was from God, 
 and that he had seen him— -that whoever hated him, 
 hated the Father also." He declared himself to be 
 
[ 155 ] 
 
 " The light of the world— that before Abraham, he 
 was— that as the Father knew him, so he knew the 
 Father— that the Father was in him, and he in the Fa- 
 ther—that he was the resurrection and the life— that 
 he gave to his people eternal life— that thereafter they 
 should see the Heavens opened, and the angels of 
 God ascending and descending upon the son of 
 man." 
 
 He openly declared himself to be the Messiah, 
 expected by the Jews, and spoken of by their inspired 
 prophets, as the Lord of Glory- --the Lord our Right- 
 eousness—the Father of the everlasting ages---the 
 Prince of Peace. 
 
 When John sent two of his disciples to enquire of 
 him, whether he was the Messiah or not, he answer- 
 ed, " Go and show John those things which ye do hear 
 and see; the blind receive their sight, and the lame 
 walk; the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear; the 
 dead are raised up, and the poor have the Gospel 
 preached to them."* Thus appealing to their senses, 
 for all the gi-eat essential proofs of Messiahship, as 
 foretold by the prophets in a very few words, and to 
 which they had been eye and ear witnesses. 
 
 He promised his disciples to send them the com- 
 forter, even the Holy Spirit, after his death, '' who 
 should proceed forth from the Father, and should re- 
 main with them forever, and guide them into all 
 truth, and show them things to come. He asserted 
 that he knew all things— that he had power over all 
 flesh, and would give eternal life to as many as the Fa- 
 ther had given him— that he had a glory with the Far 
 
 * Mftttbew, xi. 4, 5. 
 
C 156 ] 
 
 ther before the world was; and though he should be 
 crucified, yet he would arise again on the third day." 
 These are the doctrines, assertions, declarations, 
 instructions and precepts of Jesus Christ, as made and 
 taught in his own person, and enforced as obligatory 
 on mankind, with the authority and power of a Divine 
 messenger from God. If then he was a virtuous and 
 amiable man, in the opinion of our author, what must 
 be the consequence of his principles, as developed in 
 the Age of Reason? If the devils once believed and 
 trembled, what has our author reason to fear, when his 
 eyes shall be opened by an awful conviction of the 
 truth? He will, I fear, do more than believe and 
 tremble. 
 
 If these doctrines proceeded from a virtuous and 
 amiable man, they must be true; and all the sophis- 
 try of our author cannot avoid the conclusion; and if 
 true, where will the sinner and ungodly appear! If 
 these doctrines are virtuous and amiable, what can 
 we say to the objects aimed at in this treatise, 
 styled rather ludicrously *' the Age of Reason." Is 
 it not on the whole, a collection of the most artful 
 deceptions, hidden under a veil of ridicule; danger- 
 ous falsehoods, covered by an easy flow of lan- 
 guage; and malicious sneers, made palatable by an 
 attempt at wit and satire, that ever disgraced the pen 
 of a pretender to philosophy, and that on a subject of 
 infinite consequence to the essential interests of 
 mankind ? 
 
 True philosophy is the great supporter of the re- 
 ligion of Jesus Christ. He is represented as Wisdom 
 herself, and therefore she will always be justified by 
 her children. This idea is so well expressed by a 
 
[ 157 ] 
 
 late learned writer, that no excuse need be made for 
 the following quotation. " Philosophy, so far as the 
 term signifies a knowledge of God's wisdom and 
 power in the natural creation, which is the best sense 
 of the word, is so far from being adverse to true re- 
 lia-ion, that with all the common evidences of 
 Christianity in reserve, we may venture to meet the 
 philosopher upon his own ground. We have nothing 
 to fear from the testimony of nature ; we appeal to it; 
 we call upon every man of science to compare the 
 Gospel which God hath revealed, with the world 
 which God hath created; under an assurance that he 
 will find the latter to be a key to the former, as a no- 
 ble philosopher has well asserted ; and if nature an- 
 swers to Christianity, it contradicts Deism ; and that 
 religion cannot be called natural, ^\•hich is contra- 
 dicted by the light reflected upon our understandings 
 from natural things. The Socinian is nearly in the 
 same situation with the Deist, and they may both 
 join together in calling upon nature from morning 
 until night, as the priests of Baal called upon their 
 Deity, but there will be none to answer; and philo- 
 sophy must put out one of its eyes, before it can ad- 
 mit their doctrines. In short, take any religion but 
 the Christian, and bring it to the test, by comparing 
 it with the state of nature, and it will be found des- 
 titute and defenceless. 
 
 " The doctrines of our faith are attested by the 
 whole natural world; wherever we turn our eyes, to 
 the Heavens or to the earth; to the sea or to the land ; 
 to men or to beasts; to animals or to plants ; there we 
 are reminded of them. They are recorded in a lan- 
 guage which never hath been confounded; they are 
 
[ 158 ] 
 
 written in a text which shall never be corrupted. The 
 creation of God is the school of Christians, if they 
 use it aright." • 
 
 But if the doctrines of the Gospel are not found, 
 ed in philosophical truth, as they are not in the pro- 
 fessed opinion of our Sophist, what can he mean by 
 the acknowledgment, " That the real character of 
 Jesus, was that of a virtuous and amiable man, 
 preaching and practising the most benevolent mo- 
 rality." In truth there is no medium; he was either 
 what he declared himself to be, or he was the worst 
 of impostors and deceivers of mankind, justly deserv- 
 ing every mark of reprobation. But indeed truth and 
 consistency seem to be no part of the creed of the 
 author of the Age of Reason, and the farthest from 
 the principal object of the performance, in whatever 
 point of light you view it. 
 
 The excellent Mr. Hartley has made some just 
 observations on this subject. He says — " If we al- 
 low only the truth of the common histoiy of the 
 New- Testament, or even such a part of the character 
 of Christ, as neither the ancient or modern Jews, 
 heathens, or unbelievers seem to contest, it will be 
 difficult to reconcile so great a character, claiming 
 Pivine authority, either with the moral attributes of 
 God, or indeed with itself, upon the supposition of 
 the falsehood of that claim. One can scarcely sup- 
 pose, that God would permit a person apparently so 
 innocent and excellent, so qualified to impose upon 
 m.ankind; to make so impious and audacious a claim, 
 vvithout having some evident mark of imposture set 
 upon him; nor can it be conceived, how a person 
 fiould be apparently so innocent and so excellent, and 
 
[ 159 ] 
 
 yet really otherwise. The manner in which the 
 evangehsts speak of Christ, shows that they drew after 
 a real copy ; that is, shows the genuineness and truth 
 of the gospel history. There are no direct encomi- 
 ums upon him ; no laboured defences or recommen- 
 dations. His character arises from a careful, impar- 
 tial examination of all that he said and did ; and the 
 evangelists appear to have drawn the greatest of all 
 characters, without any direct design to do it. And 
 if we compare the transcendant greatness of this cha- 
 racter, with the indirect manner in which it is deli- 
 vered, and the illiterateness and low condition of the 
 evangelists, it will appear impossible that they should 
 have forged it, or that they should not have had a real 
 original before them; so that nothing was wanting but 
 to record simply and faithfully. How could mean and 
 illiterate persons excel the greatest geniusses, ancient 
 and modern, in drawing a character? How came they 
 to draw it in an indirect manner ? This is indeed a 
 strong evidence of genuineness and truth."* 
 
 Our author proceeds in his work, by observing, 
 " That similar systems of morality had been preach- 
 ed by Confucius, some of the Greek philosophers, 
 and lately by the quakers." 
 
 As far as Confucius had received the tradition of a 
 Saviour to come, with the blessed fruits of his grace to 
 sinners, from the revelation made to Noah and the an- 
 tidiluvian patriarchs, he may have seen some distant 
 prospect of the Divine system of the Gospel ;t but as 
 
 • Haiiley on Man. 
 
 t The patriarchal tradition had fortunately been preserved in consi- 
 derable purity in the family of Confucius ; but he perceived witli sorrow 
 the degeneracy of China. He claimed no Divir.c commission, but declared 
 
[ 160 ] 
 
 to the Greek philosophers, although some of them 
 now arid then, might have struck out some useful 
 principle of true morality, yet few of them, it is be- 
 lieved, ever before bore such glorious company: 
 there can be no more comparison between them, and 
 the benevolent Jesus, than between the wretched en- 
 joyments of a mere earthly sensual life, and the con- 
 summate and inexpressible joys of Heavenly glory. 
 Yet even some of them could see excellencies and 
 beauties in the Gospel, that have escaped the critical 
 eye of our pretender to philosophy. Amelius, the 
 master of Porphyry, that great opposer of the doctrine 
 of a crucified Saviour, on reading the beginning of St. 
 John's Gospel, swore by Jupiter, " That the barba- 
 rian" (meaning St. John) had hit upon the right 
 notion, when he affirmed that the Word which had 
 made all things, was in the beginning, in place 
 of prime dignity and authority with God; and was 
 that God who had created all things, and in whom 
 every thing that was made had, according to its na- 
 ture, its life and being. That he was incarnate and 
 
 that his doctrines were not his own, but those of the ancients, handed down 
 by tradition. 
 
 His system consisted in the simple worship of the God of Heaven, and 
 the practice of moral virtue — Dr. Hardy's sermon before the society for 
 propagating the Gospel. 
 
 Confucius, (who lived about 500 years before the Christian jcra) tha 
 noblest and most Divine philosopher of the Pagan world, was himself the 
 innocent occasion of the introduction of the numerous and monstrous idols 
 that in after ages disgraced the temples of China; having in his dying 
 moments encouraged his disconsolate disciples, by prophesying " in the 
 West, the Holy one will appear." They concluded that he meant the God 
 Bhood of India, and immediately introduced into China, the worship of 
 that Deity, with all the train of abominable images and idolatrous rights,, 
 by which that gross superstition, was in so remarkable a manner distin- 
 guished. — 5th Ind Ant. 75& 
 
[ 161 ] 
 
 clothed with a body, wherein he manifested the 
 glory and magnificence of his nature ; and that after 
 his death he returned to the repossession of his divi- 
 nity, and became the same God which he was, before 
 his assuming a body, and taking the human nature 
 and flesh upon him."* 
 
 Indeed Mr. Hartley asserts, that " The ancient 
 Pagan religions, seem evidently to be the degenera- 
 ted offspring of the patriarchal revelations; and so far 
 to have been true, as they taught a God — a Pro- 
 vidence — a future state — supernatural communica- 
 tions made to particular persons, especially in the in- 
 fancy of the world — -the present corruption of man — 
 and his deviation from a pure and perfect way — the 
 hopes of pardon — a mediatorial power — the duties of 
 sacrifice,, prayer and praise; and the virtues of pru- 
 dence, temperance, justice and fortitude. They were 
 false as they mixed and polluted these important 
 truths with numberless fables, superstitions and im- 
 pieties. That degree of truth and moral excellence, 
 which remained in them, was a principal cause of 
 their success and easy propagation among the peo- 
 ple; for their moral sense would direct them to 
 approve and receive what was fit and useful." 
 
 As to the people called quakers, they are a deno- 
 mination of devout Christians, many of whom do 
 honour to their profession, by copying the example 
 and living according to the precepts of their Divine 
 master, whom tliis ^vriter terms *' A virtuous and 
 amiable man," while he charges his doctrines and 
 pecepts with the basest imposition and deception ^ 
 
 * EuBeJ). Prxp. Evang. lib. ii. 
 
C 162 j 
 
 and it is ojily in-#ic exercise of that dignifitd hujslr 
 lity which he has taught them, th^t the quak^rs will 
 patiently bear the invidious comparison with Chinese 
 and Greek philosophers. This pretender to Common 
 Sense, seems as ignorant of the principles ^ndprofes* 
 sion of the people called quakers (though he asserts that 
 he was born in their communion, and I know that he 
 has lived among them) as he is of the Gospel, which 
 they publicly profess to be their hope and confidence. 
 How unhappy is it for a writer, not to understand 
 any part of a subject on which he attempts to ii^struet 
 his fellow men. 
 
 I am well aware tliat this writer asserts, that Jesus 
 Christ did not write any account of himself, but his 
 history is altogether the work of other people, and 
 that this history is the foundation of my answers. 
 
 But even giving a weight to this assertion, that it 
 does not merit, our author himself has given a sanc- 
 tionto this history, that must support the sufficiency of 
 testimony; since it is from this source alone, he could 
 draw the conclusion, that Jesus Christ was *' a vir- 
 tuous and amiable man, and preached and practised 
 the most benevolent morality," as it is the only one 
 that gives an original account of him or his doc- 
 trines. 
 
 Jf we are not to believe the history of any person 
 or country, except it has been written by such per- 
 son himself, or the chief of that country, our source 
 of information will be small indeed. How few per- 
 sons since the creation have written their own 
 histories. Where is the instance of a king of Eng- 
 land, or France, who have written his own history I 
 Are we yet to be supposed ignorant of the cha- 
 
[ 163 ] 
 
 racftffsf and conduct of all ths kings of those king- 
 doms, who, for a thousand years past, have figured 
 art the theatre of Europe ? If we should discredit the 
 existence or actions, recorded in the histories of 
 Alexander^ Philip, or Anthony, because they had not 
 written their own histories, I believe we should be 
 laughed at by our philosopher himself, for our folly. 
 But nothing appears too extraordinary for the author 
 of the Age of Reason to assert or attempt, if it does 
 but militate against the heart searching doctrines of 
 the Gospel, 
 
 If memoirs written by men of good characters, 
 though personally unacquainted with the transactions 
 they relate, and who did not exist till long after the 
 times of which they write, are to receive credit in the 
 world, what return ought our author to meet with, 
 for decrying those written by cotemporaries — inti- 
 mate friends^^— of the same family — parties to most 
 of the transactions^ — their eternal all risqued on the 
 truth of the facts — and under every possible advan- 
 tage to know the truth — men of established moral 
 characters — of devout lives, and who sacrifiiced their 
 ease, comfort, fortune, and even life itself, in confir- 
 mation of the facts they relate ?^Surely noihlng less 
 than at least the universal detestation of every serious 
 Christian. 
 
 The denial of the principal events and historical 
 occurrences of the life of JeSus Christ, as recorded by 
 th6 evangelists, necessarily implies a miracle, equal to 
 the affirmation of them. Is it not equally miraculous, 
 that tliousands of Jews, with Gentiles of every nation, 
 language and tongue, whose principles and practices 
 were tvhDlly repugnant to every idea held up by the 
 
[ 164 ] 
 
 Gospel, should be prevailed upon by twelve illiterate 
 fishermen, without power, riches, character, influr 
 ence or abilities, to forsake the religion of their fa- 
 thers, in which they had been bred with superstitious 
 rigiduess, and in which they had lived to advanced 
 life, under all the violent prejudices and attachments 
 peculiar to their day and nation — not only to profess 
 tliis new religion, but to do it on the express terms 
 of being despised, contemned and exposed to the loss 
 of every thing dear to them, and frequently to death 
 itself, with all the horrors that human ingenuity, whet- 
 ted by malice and superstition, could invent. 
 
 Among these were to be found men of the first 
 rank in life, famous for riches, honour, learning, and 
 every earthly comfort — emperors, consuls, senators, 
 priests, lawyers, scribes and pharisees. 
 
 Is it supposeable that men of this character, 
 should unite to hand down to posterity, with the most 
 v^crupulous and religious exactness, and from the very 
 moment of the transactions, an account of facts and 
 occurrences known even to themselves to be false, for 
 no other end than to ruin themselves, and impose 
 upon their fellow men. 
 
 About one year after the crucifixion, the Chris- 
 tian church was greatly multiplied. We read in the 
 acts of the apostles, that the original number were 
 one hundred and twenty, and that in ten days (the 
 day of Pentecost) after the ascension, there were ad- 
 ded to their society, " about 3000 souls." Soon 
 after they amounted to 5000. It was but a short time 
 after that, we again re id, that " Believers were the 
 more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and 
 v^'omcn." It is again said, that " A great company 
 
[ 165 ] 
 
 of the priests were obecTient to the faith." Thixie 
 years afterwaids, \ye are told, " That the churches 
 had rest throughout all Judea, Gallilee and Samaria, 
 and were edified, walking in the fear of the Lord, and 
 in the comfort of the Holy-Ghost, were multiplied," 
 About seven years after the crucifixion, St. Peter was 
 miraculously sent to the Gentiles. One year after 
 this, " A great number believed and turned to the 
 Lord." " Much people were added to the Lord — 
 the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, taught much peo- 
 ple." This was generally in Syria. The next year, 
 it is said, *' That the word of God grew and multi- 
 plied." Afterwards, not exceeding three years, we 
 are told, that on the preaching of Paul, " A great mul- 
 titude of both Greeks and Jev/s, believed." After- 
 wards, the apostles were charged with being persons 
 " who had turned the world upside down." In less 
 than thirty years after the crucifixion, the disciples 
 were greatly multiplied throughout all Greece, and 
 besides, we read of converts at Rome, Alexandria, 
 Athens, Cyprus, Cyrene, Macedonia, and Philippi. 
 It had also spread throughout Judea, Gallilee, Sama- 
 ria — the lesser Asia — the islands of the iEgean Sea, 
 and the coast of Africa. And about this time the 
 apostles inform Paul, " That mauy thousands (liter- 
 ally myriads) were in Jerusalem who believed." 
 Add to these, the testimony of Pliny, Tacitus, Jus- 
 tin Martyr, and TcrtuUian. 
 
 This was all done by the preaching of tweh-e illi- 
 terate fishermen, not only without the power of the 
 law or the sword, but in opposition to them botli, 
 with np other weapons but reason and argument, un- 
 
C 166 3 
 
 der the recent knowledge of the facts they related, 
 then prevalent among the people. 
 
 Surely a belief that reasonable men would act So 
 absurd a part, requires a degree o^^vidence superior 
 to that of any miraculous fact contained in the Gospel 
 history. Thus, in the words of a noted author, 
 *' The existence of the sacred volume is a miracle, 
 unless we allow the truth of the Scripture miracles."' 
 
 But more of the evidence of the truth of the sa* 
 cred writings hereafter, in its proper place. 
 
RESURRECTION AND ASCENSION 
 
 OF CHRIST. 
 
 Another important objection of the Age ofReasony to the GoS' 
 pel RevelatioHy is on aQCount of the resurrection and ascen* 
 sion ofyesus Christ, as related by the Evangelists, which 
 eur author asserts " was the necessary counterpart of the 
 story ofChrisfs birth. His historians having brought him 
 into the xvorld in a supernatural manner, were obliged to 
 take him out again, in the same manner, or the first part 
 of the story must have fallen to the ground.— The wretchf. 
 fd contrivance, with which this latter part is told, exceeds 
 every thing that went before it. — The resurrection of a 
 dead person from the grave and his ascension through the 
 Qjr, is a thing very different, as to the evidence it admits 
 of, to the invisible co7iception of a child in the womb. — The 
 resurrection and ascension, supposing them to have taken 
 place, admitted of public and occular demonstration, like 
 that of the ascension of a baloon, or the sun at noon day,, 
 to all Jerusalem at least. — A thing which every body is 
 required to believe, requires that the proof and evidence of 
 it, should be equal to all and universal : and as the public 
 visibility of this last related act, zvas the only evidence 
 that could give sanction to the former part, the whole of it 
 falls to the ground, because the evidence never was gi^ 
 ven. — Instead of this, a small ?iumber of persons, not 
 jnore than eight or nine, are introduced, as proxies for 
 the whole xvorld, to say that they saw it, and all the rest 
 of the world are called upon to believe it.''* 
 
 xlAD the o])jections to the resurrection anc\ 
 ^eension of Jesus Christ, been now first made ; or 
 had no solid an^ conclusive apsv.ers been given tc^ 
 
[ 168 ] 
 
 them when made, this reasoning of our author, with 
 the unfounded observations and objections to those 
 well established facts, might have been passed by, 
 without the imputation of rash and malicious misre- 
 presentations.. — But after the able and masterly man- 
 ner in which this subject has been investigated and 
 cleared up to every candid inquirer after truth, by 
 some of the best pens in every age of the church, 
 and lately by the famous Gilbert West ; with whose 
 writings (which do him immortal honor) the author 
 of the Age of Reason,-m^ay /'(?5,yz3/y be acquainted, nof 
 tolerable excuse can be given,TortKe obstinacy and'^'''*'''' 
 perverseness with which the charge " of the resur- 
 rection being a Wretched contrivance exceeding eve- 
 ry jhing.that went before it," is here made, with the 
 addition jof a palpable falsehood, asserted in proof of 
 the charge, viz. "that instead of public and occular 
 demonstration which" those facts admitted of, riot . 
 more than eight or nine persons are introduced aS: 
 prQxies for the whole world to say they saw it." 
 
 IJere again our author refers to the account given 
 ot these facts in the sacred History, by alledging 
 *^ that not more than eight or nine persons are intro- 
 duced to say that they had seen the transaction."- — 
 This must refer to the account given of it by the in- 
 spired penmen, and that account is capable of posi- 
 tive proof to the meanest capacity, who can read the 
 whole narrative of the resurrection of our Lord and 
 Saviour with its convincing circumstances and con- 
 firmations as there related. 
 
 For trial of our author's veracity, we mus there 
 j-efer to the sacred writings^ us deli^.^ered to us by thcj 
 Evansrelists. 
 
[ 169 ] 
 
 These give us a plain, simple, unadorned narra- 
 tive of the whole process, with its consequences. — 
 They tell us, that the subject of this extraordinary 
 and supernatural occuiTcnce, was condemned and ex- 
 ecuted as an enemy to God and man, in the most cru- 
 el manner by his inveterate enemies, who were pre- 
 viously made acquainted with his predictions, as well 
 of his death and the manner of it, as of his resurrec- 
 tion from the dead, and particularly, that it should 
 take place on tlie third day after his crucifixion. 
 
 Here then was every advantage, an enraged and 
 malicious enemy, who had the authority and power 
 of an absolute and despotic government on their side, 
 to prevent or detect imposition, could wish or desire. 
 Accordingly the chief priests and pharisees, the reli- 
 gious rulers of the country, apprehending an inten- 
 tion in his followers to promote a deception among 
 the people relative to the fulfilment of his prediction, 
 take the most proper measures that could be devised, 
 to obviate the evil and prevent the possibility of their 
 being imposed upon. And this they did, as if direct- 
 ed by the providence of God to establish and confirm 
 the evidence of the great facts, beyond contradiction, 
 which of all things these leaders of the Jews most 
 dreaded. 
 
 They not only have a ponderous stone rolled to 
 fill the door of the sepulchre, where the body of our 
 Lord was deposited, to prevent his being easily re- 
 moved, but that the event might be rendered im- 
 -practiblc, or the fact, if it should be attempted, pre- 
 vented and the authors exposed and punished; they 
 affix their own seals to the stone, so that it could not 
 be stirred by any force without breaking them. 
 
 Y 
 
[ 170 ] 
 
 And, lest all this should not be sufficient to prevent 
 eleven poor unsupported fishermen from accomplish- 
 ing their purpose, against the power of the govern- 
 ment, they obtain a guard of Roman soldiers, known 
 to be then under the best discipline in the world, to 
 watch and guard the sepulchre, thus secured, against 
 any sudden attack; for the Jcm^s tell Pilate, "that 
 they remembered that this Deceiver, while he was 
 yet alive said, that after three days I will rise again.'* 
 
 Is it reasonable to suppose, that the chief priests 
 and pharisees, after having carried their enmity so far 
 against this supposed enemy to their religious hier- 
 archy and the Roman government, for which they 
 now pretend great concern, saying to Pilate, " If thou 
 let this man go, tliou art not Caesar's friend;" and on 
 whose guilt of character they had pledged themselves 
 and their posterity, by preferring a murderer? I say, 
 is it reasonable to suppose, that tliese people, thus 
 circumstanced, would have now risqued their influ- 
 ence with the Roman governor, as well as their popu- 
 larity with the people, by suffering it to remain 
 possible to have the body of Jesus stolen away^ so as 
 to found the idea of his having known things to come, 
 as well as his power over death and the grave? In 
 that event, his party would be greatly increased, and 
 the last error become in their apprehension worse 
 than the first! The measures they took show, that they 
 acted with prudential caution, with wisdom and deci- 
 sion, like men of the world, under the influence of all 
 these motives. 
 
 And who was it that this powerful body of men 
 were afi-aid of? A set of poor, disheartened, con- 
 temptible disciples, who, at the first capture of their 
 
[ 171 ] 
 
 Master by the civil officers, afFrighted out of their rea- 
 son, and concerned alone for their own safety, fled and 
 left him in the hands of his bitterest enemies, and to 
 suffer the most ignominious death. Nay, they had 
 not even the courage to come forward, and act the 
 part of friends on his trial, (which was allowed by law 
 to the connexions of the. basest malefactor, and had 
 long been the practice in the Jewish courts of justice) 
 by declaring the manner of his life and daily conduct, 
 as testimony in his favour, to counteract the testi- 
 mony adduced against him, inconsistent with such a 
 regular habit of conduct. This indeed, however 
 criminal in the disciples, was fulfilling die ancient 
 prophesy of Isaiah, in these remarkable words: " He 
 v/as led as a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb 
 dumb before his shearers, so he opened not his 
 mouth: in his humiliation, his judgment was taken 
 away, and who shall" (or rather, there was no one to) 
 *' declare his manner of life; for his life was takei^ 
 from the earth." 
 
 Having taken all these precautions against so cow- 
 ardly a set of weak and timid disciples, with the ad- 
 vantage of knowing the day on which the predicted 
 event was to take place, the rulers of the Jews thought 
 themselves (as on their principles they certainly v.ere) 
 perfectly secure. 
 
 But it was not a sepulchre secured by stones and 
 seals, guarded by frail mortal men, or aided by death 
 »nd hell, that could detain the Lord of life and 
 glory. He burst the bands of death asunder, and 
 rose from the dead early on the third day. Tlie dis- 
 covery was first made by two or three defenceless 
 women, of the number of hia followers, v. ho coming 
 
C 172 ] 
 
 at the rising of the sim, when no suspicions of any 
 improper designs Mould take place ; and having no 
 apprehensions of his resurrection, intendedto embalm 
 his body in order to preserve it from putrefaction, 
 according to the manner of the Jews: — so little did 
 they know of the great designs of Providence, or of 
 the power of their crucified Saviour, over the bonds 
 of death. 
 
 It being now day, and their designs lawful, open, 
 and public, their only difficulty w^as the removing of 
 the stone to gain admission into the sepulchre. They 
 did not find the guard asleep, or alarmed at their thus 
 coming openly on a lawful and pious errand. There 
 was no stir — no suspicions of the body having been 
 previously stolen away — the stone was securely seal- 
 ed — the guards remained in perfect ease and security 
 at their posts, not suspecting the gi'eat event that had 
 taken place. 
 
 *' Twice had the sun gone down upon the earth, 
 and all as yet w as quiet at the sepulchre i death held 
 his sceptre over the Son of God. Still and silent the 
 hours passed on. The guards stood by their post. 
 The rays of the midnight moon gleamed on their 
 helmets and on their spears. The enemies of Christ 
 exulted in their success. The hearts of his friends 
 w£re sunk in despondency and sorrow. The Spirits 
 of Glory waited in anxious suspence to behold thp 
 event, and w^ondered at the depth of the ways of God. 
 At length, the morning* star arising in the east, an- 
 nounced the approach of light; the third day began to 
 dawn on the world ; w^hen on a sudden, the earth 
 trembled to its centre,^and the powers of Heaven were 
 i^aken; an tngel of God descended; the guard^ 
 
[ 173 ] 
 
 shrunk back from the terror of his presence, and fell 
 prostrate on the ground. His countenance was like 
 lightning, and his raiment white as snow. He rolled 
 away the stone from the door of the sepulchre, and 
 sat upon it. But, who is this that cometh forth from 
 the tomb, with dyed gai*ments from the bed of death? 
 He that is glorious in his appearance, walking in the 
 greatness of his strength? It is thy prince, O Zion! 
 Christian, it is your Lord! He hath trodden the wine 
 press alone. He hath stained his raiment with blood; 
 but now, as the first born from the womb of nature, 
 he meets the morning of the resurrection. He rises a 
 conqueror from the grave. He returns with blessings 
 from the world of spirits. He brings Salvation to 
 the sons of men. Never did the returning sun usher 
 in a day so glorious! It was the jubilee of the uni- 
 verse: the morning stars sang together, and all the 
 sons of God shouted aloud for joy."* 
 
 It was now indeed that the Roman soldiers, not- 
 withstanding all their courage and intrepidity, aston- 
 ished at so awful a sight, became as helpless as dead 
 men: they could make no opposition to the inquiries 
 of the sorrowful Mary Magdalen and her disconsolate 
 companion, to whom the angel spoke in the mildest 
 terms of complacency, requesting them not to be 
 afraid, as he knew their errand was to seek Jesus 
 of Nazareth ; and he assured them that he was sent to 
 inform them, that Jesus was not in the sepulchre, but 
 was risen from the dead; and to give them full con- 
 viction, he bade them approach and see the place 
 where the Lord had lain, for that he had been sent tq 
 roll away the stone for that purpose. 
 
 * Scots Preacher. . 
 
[ 174 ] 
 
 This is a plain simple account of this all-important 
 event; and it bears all the marks of truth, especially 
 when supported by the story told by the soldiers to the 
 high priest and pharisees, together with the sub- 
 sequent measures, which they are said, by the sacred 
 historians, to have adopted to prevent the ill effects of 
 the first impression of so remarkable a phenomenon, 
 that the soldiers should have said, " That while they 
 slept, his diciples came and took away the body." If 
 they were really asleep, how did they know that any 
 person took the body away ? Their assertion then, had 
 they made it, was nothing more than a conclusion 
 drawn by themselves, without evidence, from finding 
 the body gone v/hen they awaked from sleep. But 
 how it was removed, it was impossible for sleeping 
 men to know. Besides, the disciples, in taking away 
 the body, must have only deceived others; they could 
 not have deceived themselves; and of all men, they 
 must have acted the most absurdly, to lay down their 
 lives in support of facts they knew to be false. 
 
 Here again, it requires the belief of a miraculous 
 fact, to disbelieve the miracle of the resurrection of 
 our Lord and Saviour. — There can be no possible 
 cause assigned, w^hy men, simple in their manners, 
 honest and upright in their lives, and totally cut off 
 fi'om every temporal advantage, should voluntarily 
 bring on themselves the hatred and detestation of 
 their government and fellow-citizens, by asserting 
 and steadily professing through their whole lives a 
 fact v/hich they knew of their own knowledge to be 
 false, and finally to seal the truth of it with their 
 blood. Add to this, that they should within a few 
 days of the transaction, be able to convince thou- 
 
[ 175 ] 
 
 sands of their countrymen of all ranks and charac-- 
 ters, under every advantage of examination and de- 
 tection, of the truth of what they asserted, so as to 
 lead them, also, to forsake every personal advantage 
 and expose themselves to contumely and reproach 
 for the sake of him who was the great object of this 
 miraculous event, and that with his express declara- 
 tion before their eyes, " that they should sufler per- 
 secution for his sake." 
 
 Had the story, said to be told by the soldiers, 
 been true, or even so related by them to the chief 
 priests and pharisees, what would have been the pro- 
 bable consequences? — Indeed it is not likely that 
 disciplined soldiers, would have voluntarily acknow- 
 ledged themselves guilty of a crime, for which they 
 must according to the lavrs of war, have suffered 
 death; to wit, sleeping on their post, when having an 
 important charge. But, could it have been proved 
 upon them, is it probable, that the enraged and ex- 
 asperated priests and phaiisees, who so cruelly per- 
 secuted the man Christ Jesus to death, preferred a 
 base murderer, to one in whom the Roman gover- 
 nor could not find any fault, should pass by unpunish- 
 ed, so aggra^'ated a crime, by which all their caix and 
 foresight were wholly frustrated. — Had these sol- 
 diers been punished for this breach of duty, would 
 not the opposers of the Christian faith, immediately 
 on the promulgation of its doctrines in the fir^t age 
 of the resurrection while they were persecuting the 
 church on every side, have adduced the record of 
 such punishment in proof of the deception and fraud, 
 especially when its advocates at the moment, ex- 
 pressly charged the authors of this persecution, with 
 
[ 176 ] 
 
 , the wicked subterfuge of persuading the soldiers to 
 make this excuse, and promising to save them from 
 the punishment that would otherwise necessarily 
 have followed the confession. 
 
 We have many answers of the Jews and Hea- 
 then, controverting the principles and doctrines of 
 the Christian revelation, but never has it been yet 
 asserted, that any of these soldiers vv^ere either tried 
 or punished for this crime. When Peter was arrested 
 by Herod, and delivered into the custody of four qua- 
 ternions of soldiers, they used all possible care to se- 
 cure him, by putting him in chains, and sleeping one 
 on each side of him; yet when the angel delivered 
 him in the night from their power, and he was not to 
 be found in the morning, did the report of the fol- 
 diers, that he escaped while they slept, excuse them? 
 No ; they had not the priests and pharisees to cover 
 their negligence, and to screen them from punish- 
 ment. " When Herod had sought for Peter and 
 found him not, he examined the keepers, and com- 
 manded that they should be put to death."* This 
 was the natural consequence of military discipline, 
 and it could not on principle be forgiven. 
 
 Had the testimony of the resurrection rested here, 
 perhaps it might have been less complete — but the 
 history proceeds, and informs us, that, as the women 
 were hastening with the joyful news to the disciples, 
 behold, Jesus himself in person, meets and converses 
 with them. This information being communicated 
 to the rest of his disciples, who had yet no belief in 
 an actual and immediate resurrection of the body of 
 
 • Acts, 12, 19. 
 
[ 177 ] 
 
 their Redeemer, two of them ran off to the sepulchre 
 to examine for themselves, and not meeting with any 
 opposition, the soldiers being fled, and the stone being 
 removed, they found the gi'ave-clothes lying in the 
 sepulchre, and the body gone; they return with a 
 kind of doubting satisfaction, notwithstanding their 
 late unbelief. On the same day, Jesus appeared again 
 to two other of the disciples, as they were going to 
 Emmaus, and made himself known to them by the 
 manner of his breaking bread at supper. 
 
 Afterwards, at a meeting of the disciples, Jesus 
 personally came and stood in the midst of them, and 
 showed his hands and his side : he then ate and drank 
 with them, to prove his actual presence, that they 
 might have time to recover from any sudden sur- 
 prize occasioned by his first appearance. But not- 
 withstanding this convincing evidence of the fact. 
 Divine Providence so ordered it, to increase the tes- 
 timony to its full amount, that Thomas, one of the 
 twelve disciples, should be absent. To him the other 
 disciples, in the fulness of their joy, relate the com- 
 plete evidence afforded them of the resurrection of 
 their master ; and assure Thomas of the pleasing and 
 occular demonstration of this mvsterious fulfilment of 
 his gracious promise. 
 
 Thomas had providentially something of the in- 
 credulous temper of the author of the Age of Reason, 
 He thought that he was not bound to believe on the 
 rational testimony of another — He was so far from be- 
 ing prepared for this occurrence, by an expectation of 
 the resurrection, or by a credulous mind in favour of 
 tlie event, that he did not hesitate with \\ armth to deny 
 the fact; and supposing his brethren to have been im- 
 
 z 
 
[ 178 ] 
 
 posed upon by their too easy credulity, declared with 
 a decision of temper bordering on obstinacy, that no 
 evidence should have any effect on his mind, to con- 
 vince him of what he thought impossible, unless he 
 should have the sensible demonstration afforded him, 
 of putting his finger into the print of the nails, and 
 thrusting his hand into his side, being determined, in 
 a matter of so great consequence, not to trust his own 
 sight, which he supposed might be deceived. To 
 such obstinate incredulity, the mourning disciples 
 could only oppose a melancholy silence, pitying 
 Thomases want of faith and confidence in their united 
 testimony. 
 
 Here then was every qualification for unbelief, 
 that could be desired by the most obstinate and pro- 
 fane infidel, even though it should be our author 
 himself. And happy would it be for him, had there 
 been but one Thomas of this perverse character. 
 Here was no weak credulity, or fond acquiescence, in 
 what the mind eagerly desired. 
 
 A few days afterwards, the disciples being again 
 convened, and the unbelieving Thomas one of the 
 company, the risen Saviour, with mfinite condescen- 
 sion, not only to the obstinate Thomas, but to all who 
 should ever after imitate his unbelief and repentance, 
 surprized them a second time with his sudden ap- 
 jjearance in the midst of them ; and in testimony of 
 the reality of his resurrection and omniscience, at 
 once addresses himself to Thomas, and mildly re- 
 proves him by saying, " Reach hither thy finger, and 
 behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and 
 thrust it into my side; and be not faithless, but be- 
 lieving." 
 
[ 179 ] 
 
 Thomas, having thus received satisfaction to eVerjT 
 doubt, is not only fully convinced of the resurrection 
 of his master, but of his knowing the thoughts of his 
 heart, and the words he had spoken in secret. In ex- 
 tasy and astonishment, therefore, cries he out under 
 the deepest conviction, " My Lord and my God!" Je- 
 sus then replied, " Thomas, because thou hast had 
 this condescending evidence of my resurrection, thou 
 hast believed in, and acknowledged my divinity, bles- 
 sed shall they b^; who have not seen, and yet shaU be- 
 lieve." May God Almighty, of his infinite mercy,' 
 grant, that another unbelieving Thomas may be yet 
 added to the triumphs of the cross, though it should 
 be that despiser of the Gospel, the author of the Age 
 of Reason himself. 
 
 Jesus Christ continued to give many other evi- 
 dences of the reality of his resurrection, by repeat- 
 edly appearing to his disciples, and instructing them 
 in their all- important mission, during the space of 
 forty days. Particularly he appeared to seven of them 
 on the sea shore, as they were fishing, when he dined 
 with them again. In fine, during this period, he fre- 
 quently met with them, and freely conversed about 
 the great plan of his medixorial kingdom ; foretelling 
 Avhat should happen to the m in the world, in conse- 
 quence of their fulfilling his commandments— and, at 
 last, in presence of about five hundred brethren, he 
 ascended up tov/ards Heaven before them all, till a 
 cloud received him, and prevented their sight.* 
 
 • 2J Acts Apost. ver. M. To whom also he showed himself alive after 
 his passion, by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and 
 speaking of the things pertaining to the Rinj^dom of God. 
 
 1st Cor. ch. XV. 5th to 8th ver. And that he v/as seen of Cephas, then 
 of the twelve. After that he was seen of about 500 brethren at o»ic^, ol 
 
[ 180 ] 
 
 - Among many things which he had foretold his dis- 
 ples, and afterwards accomplished, and is still at this 
 day bringing to pass in confirmation of the faith of his 
 followers, was the promise of the Holy Spirit, who 
 should descend upon them, when Jie should return to 
 his father. Just before his ascension, he ordered them 
 to remain at Jerusalem, till this divine promise should 
 be realized. This event only remained to be fulfil- 
 led, to complete the certainty of his resurrection and 
 Divine nature, to his disciples and followers, through- 
 out the world. 
 
 They accordingly remained together till the day 
 of Pentecost, or fifty days after the passover, or ten 
 days after the ascension, when this glorious confirma- 
 tion of all their hopes was made good to them, at- 
 tended with all that evidence, that is thus arrogantly 
 demanded by the sceptical mind of our author, in- 
 cluding the public and occular demonstration, to all 
 Jerusalem at least. And as the '■'-public 'visibility of 
 
 whom the greater part remain at this present, but some are fallen asleep. 
 After that he was seen of James, then of all the aposties, and last of al\ 
 he was seen of me also, as one born out of due time. 
 And did he rise ? 
 
 Hear O ye nations ! hear it, O ye dead ! 
 
 He rose ! He rose ! He burst the bars of death ; 
 
 Lift up your heads, ye everlasting gates ! 
 
 And give the King of Glory to come in. 
 
 Who is the King of Glory ? He who left 
 
 His throne of glory for the pang of death. 
 
 Lift up your heads, ye everlasting gates ! 
 
 And give the King of Glory to come in. 
 
 Who IS the King of Glory ? He who slew 
 V The rav'nous foe that gorg'd all human race ! 
 
 The King of Glory, he, whose glory fill'd 
 
 Heaven \% ith amazement at his love lo man : 
 
 And with Divine complacency beheld 
 
 I'ow'rs most illumin'd, wilder'd in the theme. Yci'ng. 
 
E 181 ] 
 
 this last related act^ is the only evidence that could 
 give sanction to the former part, the whole is (on our 
 author's o\mi principles) fully confirmed, because of 
 the certainty cf this fact. 
 
 This happened by a sound from Heaven, as a 
 rushing mighty wind, that filled all the house where 
 they were ; and there appeared cloven tongues of fire, 
 sitting upon each of them. These unlettered and ig- 
 norant men, as to human learning, immediately gave 
 full and miraculous evidence, to all the city of Jerusa- 
 lem, of the reality of their master's resurrection, and 
 of the fulfilment of his promise in the heavenly gift, 
 by their publickly speaking before all men, with gi'eat 
 fluency, in all the different languages of the several 
 countries in the neighbourhood of Judca. 
 
 Here then^ I repeat it with confidence, " ivas evi- 
 dence equal to all — of public and sensible demonstra- 
 tion^ like that of a balooii's ascending^ or the sun at 
 noon-day ^''^ at least to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and 
 the sojourners there, and the surrounding nations. 
 This was not done in secret, or before eight or nine 
 "Svitnesses; but the apostles immediately began to 
 publish the Gospel, and this \\ondcrful work of God, 
 in confirmation of the resurrection, to the citizens of 
 Jerusalem, in presence of strangers of all the sur- 
 rounding nations ; Parthians, Medes, Eiamites, Mes- 
 sopotamians, Cappadocians — thoseof Pontus in Asia; 
 Phrygians, Pamphylians, Egyptians, Lybians, Cre- 
 tans, Romans, and Arabians; who \\cre either Jews or 
 proselytes, and happened to be at Jerusalem, attend- 
 ing on the solemn festival of Pentecost, for the pm-- 
 pose of religious worship. Everv one, in his owi^ 
 Janguagc, \\as taught, and that \^ith astonishment and 
 
[ 1S2 ] 
 
 wonder, the great things of the resurrection of Jesus 
 Christ, and bore witness to the mighty power of God, 
 which had raised him from the dead. 
 
 It is difficult for persons at this day, to form a 
 proper idea of the number of people, who usually at- 
 tended at Jerusalem at the passover, when all their 
 males were obliged to appear before the Lord. The 
 particular account of the last passover ever held in 
 that devoted city, just before the Romans besieged 
 and so completely surrounded it, according to our 
 Lord's prediction, that few or none could escape, 
 will enable the reader to form some judgment of their 
 numbers. Josephus records, that the number that 
 perished in the siege, and were taken prisoners, 
 amounted to upwards of thirteen hundred thousand 
 souls. 
 
 This notable miracle, therefore, having been per- 
 formed so soon after the passover, when it may 
 fairly be presumed, that great numbers of the people, 
 both Jews and proselytes, from every part of the 
 country and of the surrounding nations, were yet jre- 
 maining in Jerusalem, gave as full and general convic- 
 tion of its ti'uth, as the nature of the case could 
 admit.* 
 
 These strangers then, who were thus made ac- 
 quainted with the power of God, and the glad tidings 
 of the Gospel, carried the first news of these glorioiys 
 truths to all their different countries, and prepared the 
 v/ay by laying the foundation of the subsequent work 
 of the apostles. 
 
 * The strangers or proselytes in Judea, in the beginning of Solomon's 
 •reign, were 153,600 men, fit to be tmplojred in buildijpg the temple. Reasf. 
 of Christianity, 17. 
 
[ 183 ] 
 
 The evidence of the resurrection of the Son of 
 God, did not end here, however public and notorious 
 it may have been. More than has been required by 
 our author, was done by the mercy and goodness of 
 God, that no excuse or pretence for unbelief might 
 be left to those who despise the grace of the Gospel, 
 which offereth Salvation to all men. This miraculous 
 gift was not a sudden and mere temporary afflatus of 
 tlie Spirit, and so an evidence to those of Jerusalem 
 only, who were personally witnesses of the great 
 event: but it became a durable and permanent quali- 
 fication of the mind, enabling the apostles of our 
 Lord, in their subsequent progress through every 
 nation, to repeat the miracle, by preaching the Gos- 
 pel among them in their own language, that thereby 
 the reports of those, who were witnesses of the fact at 
 Jerusalem, might be confirmed, and witnesses to the 
 power of the resurrection, increased wherever they 
 went. Thus it seems, as if the condescension of a 
 merciful God, to the weakness and frailty of his of- 
 fending creatures, knew no bounds. To raise the 
 proof to demonstration, and remove every possibility 
 of doubt or cavil, from the mind of the sceptic, this 
 extraordinary and miraculous power was not only 
 continued to them during their lives, but they were 
 enabled, by the imposition of their hands, and by 
 prayer, to communicate it to thousands of others, of 
 every natiofV and language ; so that they became with 
 their disciples, a continued and miraculous proof of 
 the truth of the resurrection, throughout the then ha- 
 bitable world, that can'ied with it such conviction, as 
 could admit of no rational contradiction. 
 
[ 184 i 
 
 So far then,'from this great and all essential event, 
 the very foundation and corner-stone of the Christian 
 system, being confined to the testimony of eight or 
 nine persons, as is most falsely and maliciously char- 
 ged upon us, by the author of the Age of Reason; it 
 is supported by the testimony of hundreds, who had 
 seen and conversed with the blessed and risen Savi- 
 our,, after his resurrection, and beheld his ascension 
 to glory. Thousands and tens of thousands also, 
 who bore witness to the supernatural fulfilment of his 
 promise, as the consequence of his resurrection and 
 ascension. It is also supported by the complete 
 proof of the same event, in the sending of the Holy 
 Spirit, who should be a witness of him, in confirma- 
 tion of the glorious facts, and which, as before ob- 
 served, was continued during the lives of the 
 apostles ; and many of their converts, attended with 
 the power of working miracles in their own persons, 
 to the conviction of multitudes in tvery nation and 
 laUiCua^e in the Roman world, many of whom also 
 received the like gift of the Spirit, till the evidence 
 was full, by the completion of the sacred cannon, and 
 the well established experience of the church of 
 Christ. 
 
 This was the case, in a special manner, among the 
 Jews at Jerusalem, where thefirstChristian church was 
 established ; it being but afewdaysafterthis miraculous 
 descent of the Spirit, and at Peter's first sermon, that 
 no less than three thousand souls were converted to 
 the belief of the resurrection in one day. And, on 
 his second sermon, which was preceded by the mi- 
 raculous healing of the lame man-, who sat at the gate 
 
[ 185 ] 
 
 of the Temple begging alms, the number of men only 
 amounted to five thousand.* 
 
 These things, therefore, instead of being confined 
 to the knowledge of a few, were so public and popular, 
 that the high priest and his council, within three or 
 four days after, could say, " Did we not strictb/ com- 
 mand you, that ye should not teach in this name! and 
 behold jy^ hai^e filled Jerusalem ivith your doctrines, 
 and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. 
 
 The apostles did not confine their doctrines 
 founded on the resurrection of Jesus Christ, to a few 
 chosen fi-iends ; but immediately on the crucifixion of 
 their master, a few days after his ascension, when the 
 Holy Spu'it, as has been shown, was miraculously 
 given to them, they boldly told the chief priests^ and 
 the whole council of Jerusalem^ *' The God of our 
 fathers raised up Jesus, ivhom ye slew atid hanged on 
 a tree; him hath God exalted with his right hand, to 
 be a prince and a Saviour; to give repentance unto Is- 
 rael, and forgiveness of sins; and w^ are his ivitnesses 
 of these things, and so is also the Holy Ghost^ whom 
 God hath given to them who obey him.'''' 
 
 Did the Sanhedrim, or great council of the Jews, 
 undertake to deny these facts, and to charge the apos- 
 tles with falsehoods? No; they did not dai-e so to do 
 — the facts were fresh in the memories of all the peo- 
 ple, and the testimony of the Holy Spirit could not 
 be denied. Hear, on this occasion, Gamaliel, one 
 of their greatest lawyers, and of the chief council, 
 " Take heed to yourselves, what ye intend to do as 
 touching these men: let them alone: if this counsel or 
 
 • Acts, ch. ii. V. 14. ch. iv. v. 4. 
 
 A a 
 
[ 186 ] 
 
 this work be of men, it will come to naught; but if it 
 be of God, ye cannot overthrow it, lest haply ye be 
 found even to fight against God; and to him they all 
 agreed." This is not the language of men who knew 
 the facts declaimed by the apostles to have been founded 
 in falsehood and misrepresentation. 
 
 Add to this, the many instances of the apostles 
 foretelling the state of the church, and the effect that 
 the preaching of the Gospel would have on the hearts 
 and conduct of men, down through the several ages of 
 it to the prcsentday; which by its precise fulfilment in 
 every age, and being at this moment fulfilling before 
 our eyes, and not in a small degree by the author of 
 the Age of Reason himself; adds no inconsiderable 
 weight of testimony, both internal and external, to 
 the apostle's credibility, and the certainty of the facts 
 related by them. 
 
 Under one branch of this fulfilment, a familial' and 
 frequent instance, will give the complection of the 
 rest. The apostles minutely detail the effects which 
 the preaching of the Gospel, or rather the receiving 
 of it, would have on the sentiments and tempers of 
 men, by the effectual operation of the Spirit of God on 
 their hearts. Examine the divine work, as exhibited 
 in the lives and practices of many real converts to re- 
 ligion at this day. Behold the unhappy man, brought 
 up in vanity and folly — ^liis life a scene of drunkenness 
 and debauchery — no consideration of character — pa- 
 rents — wife — children, or the most influential con- 
 nections, can withdraw him from the infatuating 
 habits of sinful pleasure. He is proof against every 
 earthly consideration and argument. 
 
[ 187 ] 
 
 Providentially he hears the Gospel in such a man- 
 ner as to reach his heart. He is roused from his le- 
 thargy — alarmed at his awful situation, he implores 
 the mercy of Heaven — he seeks — he strives — he 
 knocks — he takes it as it were by a holy violence. 
 His heart is renewed — his life is changed — he at once 
 becomes a new man — he is sober and chaste — he is 
 prudent and industrious — a useful citizen — a good 
 father — an aJBfectionate husband — a kind and benevo- 
 lent friend. In short, he forsakes all his former fol- 
 lies, and becomes a valuable member of civil society. 
 The simple doctrines of the risen Saviour, have mi- 
 raculously wrought in him an eifectual change, which 
 all the powers and allurements of the world had failed 
 to do; and that precisely in the way and manner, and 
 with the minute circumstances foretold by Jesus 
 Christ and his apostles, 1800 years ago. And, what is 
 equally remarkable, these effects are produced on Jew 
 and gentile — bond and free — European and Ameri- 
 can — the philosopher and the savage — all — all, \\ hen 
 brought to the knowledge of the true God in Jesus 
 Christ, speak the same language — produce the same 
 fruits, and talk of the same happy effects, arising 
 from the blood of a crucified Saviour. In this way 
 alone, then, can our author's doctrine be true, that 
 '"'■ the way of God is open to all men alike." 
 
 The following quotation, from an author of cre- 
 dit, will command respect — " In the beginning of the 
 second century, the Cliristian church increased and 
 flourished in a marvellous manner; and though it 
 wanted all human help — though it had all the force 
 and policy of the \\'orld bent against it, groA\ing by 
 opposition and oppression, and overbearing all the 
 
[ 188 ] 
 
 powers of earth and hell — whereunto then shall wc 
 liken the kingdom of God and its wonderful increase, 
 or with what comparison shall we compare it? There 
 is indeed some resemblance of it, in the increase of 
 the seeds and leaden which our blessed Lord so often 
 made use of to illustrate it; but there is nothing pa- 
 rallel to it in the history of all the religions, which 
 have obtained among men, from the beginning of the 
 Avorld to this day — and, therefore, as this shows that 
 the original was fiom Heaven, and that the hand of 
 Omnipotence has all along guided and preserved it; so 
 one would imagine, at this time of day, it would have 
 prevented such absurd and ridiculous objections, 
 founded in the ignorance and obstinacy of those, who 
 are too indolent to inquire into its real merits. But 
 our . consolation is, that the wise and good receive 
 from it a full assurance of hope, that the same Divine 
 Providence will continue to protect and defend it, un- 
 til we come to Mount Zion, and to the city of the 
 living God — the heavenly Jerusalem — and to an in- 
 numerable company of angels — to the general assem- 
 bly and church of the first born, whose names are 
 written in Heaven — to God the judge of all — to Jesus 
 the mediator of the new covenant, and to the spirits 
 of just men made perfect." Even the famous Mr. 
 Gibbon, whom no one will accuse of partiality to the 
 Gospel, can testify, *' that within fourscore years after 
 the death of Christ, the humane Pliny laments the 
 magnitude of the evil, which he vainly attempted to 
 eradicate. In his curious epistle to the emperor Tra- 
 jan, he affirms, that the temples were almost deserted 
 — that the sacred victims scarcely found purchasers, 
 and that the superstition, (meaning the Christian re- 
 
[ 189 ] 
 
 ligion) had not only infected the cities, but had even 
 spread itself into the villages, and the open country of 
 Pontus and Bithynia."* Again, several Roman ci- 
 tizens were brought before the tribunal of Pliny; and 
 he soon discovered, that a great number of persons of 
 every order of men in Bithynia, had deserted the reli- 
 gion of their ancestors. His unsuspected testimony 
 may in this instance obtain more credit, than the bold 
 challenge of TertuUian, when he assures the pro-con- 
 sul of Africa, that if he persists in his cruel intentions, 
 (of persecuting the Christians) he must decimate Car- 
 thage ; and that he will find among the guilty, many 
 persons of his own rank; senators and matrons of no- 
 blest extraction, and the friends and relations of his 
 most intimate friends. And about forty years after, 
 the emperor Valerian, in one of his rescripts, evi- 
 dently supposes, that senators, knights, and ladies of 
 quality, were engaged in the Christian sect."| 
 
 It is upon the foregoing plain narrative of facts, 
 attended with this convincingtestimony of the mighty 
 power of God, that our author, pretending to the ad- 
 vantage of Reason and Common Sense, impiously and 
 blasphemously asserts, that " The story (of the resur- 
 rection) so fiir as it relates to the supernatural part, has 
 every mark of fraud and imposition stamped upon the 
 face of it; and that the Christian mythologists, calling 
 themselves the Christian church, have credited their 
 fable, which for absurdity and extravagance, is not 
 exceeded by any thing that is to be found in the my- 
 thology of the ancients." 
 
 This author, throughout his performance, seems 
 to have taken leave of all pretensions to modesty and 
 
 • 2d Vol. Gibb. 374. •}• 3d Vol. Gibb. 360 
 
[ 190 ] 
 
 decorum, or he certainly would have paid some re- 
 spect to the learning and wisdom of multitudes of 
 Christian writers and professors, who have so long 
 and so ably defended the Christian system, against 
 the many attacks of more formidable, as well as more 
 modest and decent adversaries, than our author; 
 yet he ought to have credit for the following 
 very extraordinary concessions, amidst all the puer- 
 ile objections to the Gospel history — "That no one 
 will deny or dispute the power of the Almighty, 
 to make such a communication if he pleases:" and 
 afterwards, " That such a person as Jesus Christ ex- 
 isted, and that he was crucified — that he preached 
 most excellent morality, and the equality of man, and 
 that he was a virtuous reformer and revolutionist." 
 
 Observations of this kind have added some weight 
 to the arguments in favour of revelation. " Thus 
 wisdom has not been denied the testimony even of 
 enemies : a testimony of which indeed it did not stand 
 in need: but which being extorted by the irresistible 
 force of truth, may well be esteemed as a confirma- 
 tion of its general evidence: since they, whose wish 
 and whose interest was to deny it, yet were compel- 
 led, if not to receive it wholly, yet to acknowledge it 
 in part ; and thus like Pilate, they pronounced him 
 righteous whom they condemned; and like Judas, 
 confessed him innocent whom they betrayed."* 
 
 It is an extraordinary fact, that almost every mo- 
 dem infidel writer, is forced to acknowledge and bear 
 testimony, to the virtuous character of our blessed 
 Lord, and to the excellence of that morality which 
 
 * White's Sermons, 4. 
 
[ 191 ] 
 
 he taught, while they despise his doctrines, and treat 
 all his pretensions to Deity, and his being the Son of 
 God, as the effect of the most artful deception, and 
 deliberate fraud. Thus their inconsistency with 
 themselves, shows that it is the purity of his doc- 
 trines, and the holiness of his character, to which 
 they are enemies, in contradiction to all their profes- 
 sions and practices. In addition to the example of 
 our author, I will select one othor, whose celebrity 
 among unbelievers, is well established, and to whom 
 our author may attend with more pleasure, than to a 
 Christian \vriter. I mean the famous Rousseau. 
 Heai' dien this champion of the enemies of Jesus 
 Christ crucified, when instructing his pupil Emilius, 
 and let his testimony have its due weight. 
 
 " I acknowledge to you," says Rousseau, " that the 
 majesty of the scriptures astonishes me, and the 
 sanctity of the Gospel fills me with rapture : look into 
 the writings of the philosophers, with all their pomp 
 and parade : how trivial they appear, when compared 
 to this sacred volume. Is it possible that a book so 
 simple, and yet so sublime, should be the work of 
 man? Is it possible that he, whose history it contains, 
 should himself be a mere man ? Is the style that of an 
 enthusiast, or of a sectary inflated with ambition? 
 What sweetness, what purity in his morals ? What 
 force, what persuasion in his instructions? His max- 
 ims, how sublime ! His discourses, how wise and 
 profound ! Such presence of mind, such beauty and 
 precision in his answers ! Such empire over his pas- 
 sions ! Where is the man, or the philosopher, that 
 knows how to act, to suffer and to die, without weak- 
 ness or ostentation ? Plato, in his picture of the ima- 
 
[ 192 ] 
 
 ginary just man, covered with all the opprobriousness 
 of guilt, and worthy every reward of virtue, gives us 
 an exact representation of Christ : so striking is the 
 resemblance, that all the fathers saw it ; and indeed 
 there is no possibility of mistaking it. What preju- 
 dice, what blindness, to compare the offspring of So- 
 phronisca, to the Son of Mary! how immense the 
 difference between these two ! Socrates dying without 
 pain and without ignominy, found it easy to support 
 his character to the very last; and if his life had not 
 been honoured by so gentle a death, we might have 
 doubted whether Socrates, with all his understanding, 
 was any thing more than a sophist. You will say he 
 invented a system of moral philosophy : others had 
 practised it before his time ; he only related what they 
 had performed, and drew lectures from their example. 
 Aristides had been just before Socrates told us what 
 justice was. Leonidas had sacrificed his life for his 
 country, before Socrates had made the love of our 
 country a duty. Sparta was sober, before Socrates 
 commended sobriety. Before he had given a defini- 
 tion of virtue, Greece abounded with virtuous men. 
 But of whom did Christ borrow that sublime and 
 pure morality, which he^ and he only^ taught both by 
 word and example ? From the centre of the most ex- 
 travagant fanaticism, (meaning Judea) the highest 
 Wisdom made itself heard, and the vilest of nations 
 was honoured with the simplicity of the most heroic 
 virtues. The death of Socrates, philosophizing 
 coolly with his friends, is the easiest that can be de- 
 sired : that of Christ expiring in the midst of 
 torments, abused, scorned, detested by a whole peo- 
 ple, is the moil dreadful that can be apprehended. So- 
 
[ 193 ] 
 
 erates taking the poisonous draught, returns thanks to 
 the person, who, with tears in his eyes, presents it to 
 him. Christ, in the midst of the most exquisite tor- 
 ture, prays for his bloody executioners. Yes, if So- 
 crates hved and died Uke a philosopher, Christ lived 
 and died like a God. 
 
 " Shall we say that the evangelic history was in- 
 vented at pleasure ? My friend, inventions are not 
 made after that manner; and Socrates' history, of 
 which no body entertains a doubt, is not so well at- 
 tested as that of Christ. Upon the whole, it is remov- 
 ing the difficulty further back, without solving it; for 
 it would be much harder to conceive, that a number 
 of men should have joined together to fabricate this 
 book, than that a single person should furnish out the 
 subject to its authors. 
 
 ** Jewish writers would never have fallen into that 
 style, or that system of morality ; and the gospel has 
 such strong and such inimitable marks of truth, that 
 the inventor would be more surprizing than the hero. 
 Yet notwithstanding all this, this same Gospel abounds 
 ivith things so incredible a7id so repugnant to reason^ 
 that it is impossible for any man of sense either to 
 concei've or admit them.^''^ 
 
 How literally is the Scripture fulfilled. " And 
 he said, go and tell this people, hear ye indeed, but 
 understand not ; see ye indeed, but perceive not ; make 
 gross the heart of this people; make their ears dull, 
 and close up their eyes, lest they see with their eyes, 
 and hear with their ears, and understand with their 
 hearts, and be converted, and I should heal them."!" 
 
 ♦ 2J Vol. Emilius, 8S. Lond. edit. 1763. t Isaiah, ch. vl. v. 9. 
 
 Bb 
 
[ 194 ] 
 
 However absurd the conclusion of this famous- 
 writer, and the general conduct of the opposers of re- 
 velation may be, yet their concessions certainly yield 
 the question, and give up the dispute. For if Jesus 
 Christ was the person whom they describe, then he 
 ought not to be suspected of deception and false-, 
 hood. What he said and taught concerning himself, 
 and what he endeavoured to persuade others to, must 
 have been consistent with truth, at least in his own 
 ideas. 
 
 Most of his miracles were such objects of 
 sense, that he could not have been deceit ed himself, 
 by enthusiasm or other false principle. They all 
 come within the first two rules, laid down by an ex- 
 cellent Avriter of the last century, relative to the proof 
 of ancient facts, on which he justly challenges all the 
 enemies to revelation, as to every other system but 
 that of the bible, viz. First — " That the matters of 
 fact shall be such, as the reality of them may be as- 
 certained by external evidence." Second- — " That 
 tliey shall be performed publicly." Thirdly — " That 
 not only public monuments shall be maintained in 
 memory of them, but some external deeds should be 
 performed." Fourthly — " That such monuments, 
 deeds or observances, shall be instituted and com- 
 mence from the period in which the mattei*s of fact 
 shall be transacted."* 
 
 Jesus Christ walked upon the waters — he healed 
 the sick, openly and publickly, before all the people, 
 by a word, and often at a distance — he raised the dead 
 at his first approach to them — he cast out devils, and 
 
 • Lessiie. 
 
[ 195 ] 
 
 once permitted them to enter into a he;d of 2000 
 swine, which were near at hand — ^he rebuked the 
 winds and the waves, and they obeyed him — he fed 
 multitudes with a few loaves and small fishes. He 
 therefore could not mistake these events, or be de- 
 ceived by an enthusiastic temper of mind ; but the 
 miracles he wrought, and the predictions he declared, 
 must have been honestly intended as evidences, con- 
 clusive evidences, of his divine mission, and for the 
 good of mankind; the truth of which he sealed with 
 his blood, prcmeditatedly and deliberately, with his 
 own foreknowledge, having frequently forwarned his 
 disciples, and declared to his enemies, that such would 
 be the issue of his ministry. 
 
 Yet, notwithstanding these concessions of our 
 author, and the express declarations of our di- 
 vine Redeemer, during his mission on earth, and 
 which are recognized by the chief priest in his 
 request to Pilate, for a guard of soldiers ; the author 
 of the Age of Reason, with no inconsiderable degree 
 of self-importance, adds, *' The resurrection of a 
 dead person, and his ascension through the air, is a 
 thing very different as to the evidence it admits of, to 
 the invisible conception of a child in the womb. The 
 resurrection and ascension, supposing them to have 
 taken place, admitted of public and occular demon- 
 stration, like that of the ascension of a baloon, or the 
 sun at noon-day, to all Jerusalem at least." 
 
 After attending carefully to the facts relative to 
 these extraordinary and supernatural e^'ents, can the 
 observations of our author be rendered consistent 
 with common candour, or the necessary love Oi 
 truth in a vvTiter, who presumes to set himbclf up 
 
C 196 ] 
 
 as a corrector of religious systems ? Did not the pub- 
 lic declaration of Jesus Christ, foretelling his death 
 and resurrection; did not the earth quake at his cruci- 
 fixion; the preternatural darkness — the rending of 
 the rocks, (to be seen at this day) — and that of the 
 veil of the temple — the rolling away of the stone from 
 the sepulchre, in presence of an armed band of sol- 
 diers ; and his appearance first to the women and his 
 disciples — then to five hundred brethren at once, 
 with the after descent of the Holy Spirit, agreeably to 
 his predictions while living; and the public attes- 
 tation of the whole transaction by tlie miraculous 
 gifi; of tongues — did not all these afford evident and 
 sensible demonstration of the truth of the resurrec- 
 tion ? Add to this, that these facts were immediately 
 declared, as the facts on which the advocates of a cru- 
 cified Jesus depended, as full proof of their doctrines. 
 They were then capable of immediate contradiction 
 and refutation, had they not been known to be true, 
 which the amazing progress of the Gospel in Jerusa- 
 lem itself, the theatre of all these transactions, within 
 one month of the events taking place, fully confirms. 
 Did not then all this give, with double evidence, 
 demonstration equal to that required by this incredu- 
 lous author, not only to all Jerusalem, but to the sur- 
 rounding nations before mentioned ? Was not the su- 
 pernatural evidence of the gift of tongues, being con- 
 tinued to the apostles during their lives, a standing 
 demonstration of the truth of the important facts they 
 promulgated? Was not the demonstration such as to 
 induce these strangers to say to each other, "Are not 
 all these which speak, Gallileans, and yet hear we 
 every man in his own tpngue wherein he was born, 
 
[ 1C7 ] 
 
 tlie wonderful works of God." And what rendered this 
 testimony to the resurrection of Jesus Christ, even 
 superior to that of a baloon rising in the air, and 
 must convict our author of acting contrary to every 
 rational principle, is, that the apostles not only were 
 thus endued with the gift of tongues, and of working 
 miracles themselves, but actually communicated the 
 power to others, in all the churches of their 
 planting.* 
 
 What greater evidence could have been desired? 
 Is not this evidence sufficient to convince every man, 
 of a truly humble and teachable temper of mind ? And 
 if so, who art thou, O child of the dust, that darest to 
 prescribe degrees or forms of testimony to thy Maker? 
 Does thy belief add any thing to the happiness of him 
 who made thee ? Or does thy unbelief render him less 
 supremely blessed ? Put thy hand on thy mouth, and 
 thy moutli in the deepest dust, and cry with tears of 
 penitential contrition, guilty, guilty, before the Lord 
 thy Creator ! 
 
 Would our author have had the Saviour of the 
 world to have remained on earth to this day, for the 
 purpose of convincing him of the truth, and thus 
 saving him against his will ? For although Christ had 
 appeared after his resurrection to every man in Jeru- 
 salem, nay even to all the then ^vorld, on the princi- 
 ple advanced in the Age of Reason, our author 
 would not have been obliged to believe, because he 
 himself had not seen him. But, if the divine Saviour 
 should even now appear to him, as he did to another 
 unbelieving Thomas, and show him his hands and 
 
 • Vide 1st Rom. xi — 2d Cor. cliap. xii. v. 1-3— Gal. 3d, 2d and 5th ver. 
 Qor. ch. xil. and xiv. 
 
[ 198 ] 
 
 his sides, I have as great doubts of his assent to the 
 truths of the Gospel, as the disciples had of the Jews, 
 ■\vho refused equal evidence, afforded them in infinite 
 mercy by the benevolent Jesus, before they proceeded 
 to the last awful act of deliberate iniquity, by which 
 they voluntarily entailed the vengeance of Heaven on 
 them aud on their children. Both had the same rea- 
 son for resisting the Gospel, because their deeds were 
 evil. There is indeed one solemn difference between 
 them — our author is an apostate from the truth, and 
 that after having attempted to preach this very Gospel 
 to others, as the glad tidings of Salvation. This the 
 Jews have not in the black catalogue of their sins.* 
 Did not the divine Redeemer, in the beginning of his 
 mission, yield such sensible demonstration of his Al- / 
 mighty power, as wrought conviction in devils and 
 evil spirits ? His first miracle was at a public marri- 
 age feast, where he turned water into wine. Before his 
 incomparable sermon on the Mount, he healed great 
 numbers of all manner of diseases, in presence of mul- 
 titudes. When he entered into a city or village, how 
 did the people at large flock to him " with their sick 
 and diseased, laying them in the streets, beseeching 
 him, if they might but touch the borders of his gar- 
 ment, and as many as touched him v.ere made 
 whole."" The widow's son was raised to life in the 
 presence of n^ultitudes attending him to the grave, 
 when Christ accidentally met them; and Lazarus, af- 
 ter being buried four days, was resuscitated before 
 many of the Jews, who went with his sisters to the 
 sepulchre ; this was well known to the whole body of 
 
 * It is said in the life oE Thomas Paine, that he once professed to be a 
 Methodist preacher. 
 
[ 199 ] 
 
 Jews, and for which their council was desirous of pu- 
 nishing Lazarus with death. Jesus raised the ruler's 
 daughter to hfe, before a number of people playing on 
 minstrels and making a noise, as was common in that 
 country at the death of people of note. These people 
 had very much the temper of our author ; for upon 
 Christ's assuring them of her life, they laughed him 
 to scorn. It was very common for the people at 
 large, of all characters and ranks, to bring their lame, 
 their blind, their dumb, deaf and maimed, and cast 
 them openly and publickly in presence of all the peo- 
 ple, at Jesus's feet, and he healed them before them. 
 He cast out an impure spirit in the midst of the con- 
 gregation of the Jews. At one time they brought to 
 him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed, to whom 
 Jesus, with divine authority, said, " Son, be of good 
 cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee." 
 
 This not being an object of sense, so as to be as- 
 certained by external evidence, the scribes who were 
 present charged him with blasphemy : the benevolent 
 Jesus, to leave them without excuse as to his divine 
 power, and to establish a fact not an object of sense, by 
 one that was capable of tlie testimony of their senses, 
 said to the sick man, " Arise, take up thy bed, and go 
 into thine house." This the man immediately did; 
 and the multitude convinced by so extraordinary 
 a fact done in their presence., " marvelled and glorified 
 God." After this, will any one wonder at the success 
 of the Gospel, under the preaching of the apostles, 
 among a people thus informed of the facts on which 
 their doctrines were founded? At another time 
 Jesus healed another paralytick, and commanded him 
 to walk, in presence of the pharisees and doctors of 
 
[ 200 ] 
 
 the law J the most bitter of his enemies ; as he did a 
 dumb man, possessed of an evil spirit, before the 
 scribes and pharisees. When he healed the woman 
 of her issue of blood, the multitude pressed greatly 
 upon him. Did he not feed five thousand at one time, 
 and four thousand at another, besides women and 
 children, in a miraculous manner? A great number 
 were present, when he restored sight to the two blind 
 men near Jericho. It is a remarkable confirmation 
 of the Almighty power of the blessed Jesus, thai in no 
 one instance, among the thousands that were brought 
 to him, did he ever fail in accompHshing the cure. 
 
 To prevent all suspicion of a combination between 
 him and the diseased, did he not permit the devils to 
 go into the herd of 2000 swine, by which they all 
 ran into the sea, and were destroyed? By this he gave 
 as full and notorious evidence of his absolute power 
 over those infernal spirits, as any one could have, " of 
 the ascension of a baloon, or of the sun at noon- day." 
 Was not this testimony complete, and conclusive to 
 all the inhabitants of that region, especially to those 
 who were present and those who owned the swine ? 
 and yet there is no reason to believe, that they became 
 converts to the religion of the meek and humble 
 Jesus, but rather that their opposition to him was 
 increased; for they " besought Jesus to depart from 
 them." Was not this whole territory instructed by 
 this visible operation of divine power over the spirits 
 of darkness and the rulers of the wickedness of this 
 world, whose real existence and subjection to the di- 
 vine government, were tlius undeniably taught in the 
 most convincing manner; and yet by so plain and 
 public a miracle, vrere those, vv horn we may call types 
 
C 201 ] 
 
 of our author, wrought upon to believe ? — ^No, as we 
 before have observed, they besought the Saviour of 
 mankind, " to depart from them ; " and, as a just judg- 
 ment for their unbelief, " he Vvxnt into the ship, and 
 returned back again." 
 
 An objection might have been raised by infidels, 
 that the diseased were employed to carry on an im- 
 posture; but with the swine, all objections of this kind 
 are obviated. 
 
 Even after the Jews had determined to put the 
 innocent Jesus to death, did he not heal the lame and 
 the blind in the temple, before the scribes and phari- 
 sees, his greatest enemies? At the crucifixion, w^as 
 there not darkness over the whole land for three' 
 hours, as we have before observed, ^vhen the rocks 
 were rent, and when the veil of the temple was rent 
 in twain from top to bottom. 
 
 What greater evidence of Almighty power, could 
 even the sceptical mind of our author require, than 
 these repeated acts of Omnipotence? And yet did the 
 chief priests, scribes and pharisees, believe on him? 
 Or did they, for these very acts, crucifv the Lord of 
 Glory ? Could all ^hese benevolent acts of mercy, and 
 instances of unlimited power, have been exceeded in 
 weight of evidence, by the public appearance of 
 Christ himself in the sanhedrim, after his resurrec- 
 tion ? Would not the same persons, who refused to 
 believe his miracles and his heavenly doctrines be- 
 fore his death, and who, being unable to deny them 
 because of their publicity, attributed them to the 
 power of Baalzebub, the prince of devils ? Would 
 tlity not, on such on appearance after his resurrec- 
 tion, as some unbelievers have since, have alledged 
 
 c c 
 
[ 202 ] 
 
 that this appearance was that of a phantom, and not a 
 reality? Did not his apostles publish these important 
 facts, and charge the Jewish government with their 
 unbelief and the crime of murder, immediately in 
 their presence, and before all the people, who were 
 witnesses to many of these facts ? These the rulers did 
 not attempt to deny, but charged the benevolent au- 
 thor with being possessed by an evil spirit? Pharaoh 
 hardened his heart more and more, as the demonstra- 
 tion of the Almighty power under which Moses 
 acted, increased to his view; so did the Jews; and so 
 I suspect our author, with most of his brethren in un- 
 belief of the present day, would do again, under the 
 Hke circumstances. 
 
 I have not forgotten that our author asserts, 
 *' That it is impossible for us fiow to know, who were 
 the authors of these historical facts ; or that the 
 books in which the accounts are related, were written 
 by the persons whose names they bear." What then? 
 Does the want of the knowledge of the author of a 
 history, render the facts reported doubtful, if support- 
 ed by good authority ? The conclusion is false ; but m^c 
 deny the premises from which it is drawn. The au- 
 thors are as well knowai, and better vouched, than the 
 writers of the books called Cicero's Orations, or 
 Cccsar's Commentaries.* Even our author himself, 
 undertakes to give the character of Jesus Christ — an 
 
 • Shall we say, that the evangelic history was invented at pleasure ? 
 My friend, inventions are not made after that manner ; and Socrates* his- 
 tory, of which nobody entertains a dou')t, is not so well attested as that 
 of Christ. Jewish writers would have never fallen into that style, or that 
 system of morality ; and the Gospel ha? such strong and such inimitable 
 marks of truth, that the inventor would be more surprizing than the hero. 
 Rosseau's Emilius, vol. ii. 86. 
 
[ 203 ] 
 
 account of his life, death, and doctrines ; yet it is ii^- 
 possible for him to have any other source of the 
 knowledge of these facts, but the sacred writings, 
 which he declares '* have every mark of fraud and im- 
 position." 
 
 As well might he deny the existence of such a 
 place as Rome, because he had never seen it. He 
 acknowledges the possibility of the whole system of 
 Revelation, if it had pleased the Almighty to give it; 
 yet rejects the evidence of his having given it, because 
 it was not given to him. " Divine communications, 
 miracles and prophecies, are agreeable to natural reli- 
 gion, and even seem necessary in the infancy of the 
 world. Since God is a being of infinite justice, mercy 
 and bounty, according to natural religion, it is reason- 
 able to expect, that if the deficiencies of natural reli- 
 gion, or the inattention of mankind to the footsteps of 
 his providence, were such at any time, as that the 
 world was in danger of being lost in ignorance, irre- 
 ligion and idolatry, God should interpose by extraor- 
 dinary instructions, by alarming instances of judgment 
 and mercy, and by prophetic declarations of things to 
 come, in order to teach men his power, his justice and 
 his goodness, by sensible proofs and manifestations. 
 We must not say here, that God could not sufier this, 
 but inquire from history, whether he has or not."* 
 
 Vain and arrogant mortal! examine every part of 
 thine own life, and unbeliever as thou professedst thy- 
 self to be, behold how thine existence from day 
 to day, depends on thy living by faith, even in thy 
 frail fellow-men. Arguments, such as have been 
 
 * Hartley o» Man. 
 
C 204 ] 
 
 mentioned, are too shallow and contrary to every 
 man's experience, to be admitted in things of such 
 real importance. 
 
 Our author must have been very ignorant, even 
 of the English writers on this subject, or he v/ould 
 have attempted to show, that their elaborate reason- 
 ing's and researches, were mistaken or inconclusive. 
 
 Is it possible that he could have published such a 
 parade of declamation against the writers of the sa- 
 cred history, and so solemnly denied the authenticity 
 of the books of the Old and New-Testament, had he 
 read the learned and laborious investigation, of the 
 candid and instructive Lardner, in his credibility of 
 the Gospel history ; as well as a number of other learn- 
 ed writers in the English language, who have so ac- 
 curately traced up the sacred writings to their original 
 authors, with incomparable clearness and certainty. 
 The investigations of these learned critics, cast more 
 light on and give greater evidence of the truth of 
 these books, and their undoubted authenticity, than 
 can be had of any other writings of antiquity.* Even 
 the unbelieving Thomas, and the persecuting Saul, 
 are among the proselytes to the truth, and propagators 
 of these doctrines; for the confirmation of which, they 
 also work miracles, and perform the most wondrous 
 acts, in which they themselves could not have been 
 
 . * The miracles of Christ were publickly appealed to by his apostles, a 
 few days after his ascension — they are transmitted down to us by eye-wit- 
 nesses and cotemporary writers, in well authenticated books, and they arc 
 jnpported by the most credible testimony; that of a number of plain ho- 
 r.est men, who sacriEced all v/orldly advantages, and life itself, in attesta- 
 tion of what they advanced. And we are to consider in these witnesses, 
 their competency to judre of the facts — their integrity and benevolence to 
 liiAiiklnd — not their learning, station, or opulence. — Newcomb, 320. 
 
[ 205 ] 
 
 deceived; and all this under tlie certain expectation 
 of suffering the mobi. fearful and cruel deaths on 
 account of tiiese doctrines, which finally took place. 
 
 It is ackiiowledged, that these doctrines contain the 
 purest morality ; and they universally profess the ut- 
 most detestation of falsehood, even though it should 
 be the means of saving life. 
 
 After the fatal end of others, and with their cruel 
 sufFerin<^s in full view, under the deep impression of 
 sharing the same fate, v.e find members of the Jewish 
 sanhedrim, scribes, and pharisees, giving up all the 
 temptations of the present life; and after them, sena- 
 tors, counsellors, princes, and other great men among 
 all nations, inlisting into the service of a crucified, but 
 risen Master; and th^, while the evidence was fresh 
 in every man's mind, and proofs were at hand to be re- 
 sorted to, had facts been asserted contrary to the 
 truth. 
 
 Thus we find, from the labours of twelve poor, illi- 
 terate, despised fishermen, the Gospel, contrary to all 
 human expectations and conclusions, but agreeably 
 to the positive predictions of Christ and his apostles, 
 in their lowest state of humiliation, spreading itself 
 fi'om Judea as a centre, throughout the habitable 
 world, from Britain to the farthest India. 
 
 " The reception which Christ, his fore-runners, 
 and followers, with their doctrines, have met with in all 
 
 ages, is an argument for the truth and genuineness 
 of the Scriptures. This evidence does, as it were, 
 embrace all the others, and gives a particular force to 
 tliem; for it will be a strong confirmation of all 
 the evidences for the Jewish and Christian religion, if 
 
 >ve can shpxy that die persons to ^^'hom they have been 
 
[ 206 ] 
 
 offered, have been influenced by them as much as 
 there was reason to expect, admitting them to be true, 
 and far more than could be expected, on supposition 
 they were false. The most illustrious instance of this, 
 is the victory which the Christian miracles and doc- 
 trines, with the sufferings of our Saviour and his fol- 
 lowers, gained over the Mhole powers, first of the 
 Jewish state, and then of the Roman empire, in the 
 primitive times; for here all ranks and kinds of men, 
 prmces, priests; Jewish and heathen philosophers; 
 the populace, with all their associated prejudices from 
 custom and education; with all their corrupt passions 
 and lusts ; with all external advantages of learning ; 
 power, riches, honour, and in short with every thing 
 but truth, endeavoured to suppress the progress that 
 Christ's religion made every day in the world, but 
 were unable to do it. Yet still the evidence was but 
 of a limited nature; it required to be set forth, attested 
 and explained by the preacher; and to be attended to, 
 and reflected upon, with some degree of impartiality 
 by the hearer ; and therefore, though the progress 
 of it was quick, and the effect general, yet they were 
 not instantaneous and universal. However, it is very 
 evident, that any fraud or false pretence, must soon 
 have yielded to so great an opposition, so circum? 
 stanced."* 
 
 Every profession of Christians, must indeed ac«T 
 Itnowledge, that the whole stress of the Christian 
 cause, rests on the truth of our Lord's resurrection ; 
 and that therefore, all proper methods of convincing 
 the world, was necessary upon the occason. " Thcs^ 
 
 * Hartley on Man. 
 
[ 207 ] 
 
 were certainly used," (says an eminent writer) " by 
 the good providence of God, without our Lord's ap- 
 pearing to his mortal enemies, the rulers of the Jews. 
 But allowing it had been consistent for him to have 
 done so, yet the unbelieving Jews, especially the chief 
 priests and rulers, were of all men the most unworthy 
 to have had an extraordinary mode of conviction af- 
 forded them. 
 
 They had already despised the evidence that had 
 been given them; and not only so, but maliciously im- 
 puted the plainest miracles that ever were wrought, to 
 the power and operation of the devil. They also attri- 
 buted one of the greatest of miracles, which he 
 wrought in his life time, the raising of Lazarus from 
 the dead, after he had lain in the tomb four days, to 
 an evil power, and for which they threatened to put 
 him to death." 
 
 It is ti'ue, that our author endeavours to justify his 
 imbelief, by saying more than once, " that he is not 
 obliged to believe a revelation, on the report of ano- 
 ther; and, as Thomas would not believe without 
 actual and sensible demonstration, neither will he." 
 
 The Christian system forces no man's will. The 
 consequence then is plain — it is positive — it is un- 
 avoidable in any other way. If the Gospel is true, 
 *' He that belie'ueth, shall be sa'ued ; but he that be- 
 lieveth not^ shall be dam?icd.''^ These are the words 
 of the judge of the quick and the dead. Our author has 
 made the awful choice. His eternai state depends on 
 the certainty of this revelation, which he will not be- 
 lieve on the report of others, however well vouched. 
 
 " If men will believe upon reasonable motives, 
 they have sufficient means of Salvation allowed them; 
 
[. 208 ] 
 
 but if they will not believe without an immediate 
 personal revelation, they are never like to have that 
 in this world ; but in the next, God will reveal him- 
 self with terror and vengeance upon all the workers 
 of iniquity. God doth, both by nature and revela- 
 tion, provide for the necessities, the welfare and hap- 
 piness, but never for the humours and peevishness 
 of men : and those who will not be saved but accord- 
 ing to some new way and method of their own, must 
 be miserable without remedy. 
 
 But if God should vouchsafe to make some 
 immediate revelation of himself to these insolent of- 
 fenders and blasphemers of his name and authority, 
 how can we be assured that they would be converted ? 
 Would they not rather find out some pretence 
 to persuade themselves that it was no real revelation, 
 but the effect of natural agents, or of melancholy, or 
 of a disturbed imagination ? For those who have so 
 long, not only rejected (that were a modest thing) 
 but derided and reviled Moses and the prophets, nay 
 the apostles and our Sa\ iour himself, would not be- 
 lieve, though one should arise from the dead."* 
 
 This extraordinary principle of conduct in a ra- 
 tional creature, with regard to things of eternal conse- 
 quence, and to whom life and immortality are offered 
 by one, who claims a right to ailix his own terms, is 
 not peculiar to the infidelity of our author. Neither is 
 k the first timx that this resolution has led its votaries 
 to destruction; although they have acknowledged 
 that the doctrines they are required to believe, contain 
 the purest and most benevolent morality. One at first 
 
 ♦ Reasonab of Ckiistianity, vol. i. 18. 
 
[ 209 ] 
 
 sight would imagine that the sporters of this senti- 
 ment, thought, that by their beHef, the teachers of our 
 holy religion, were to be personally gainers ; and 
 that the teachers were as ambassadors for Christ, 
 beseeching them to be reconciled to God, on account 
 of some private benefit or emolument to themseh-es; 
 and that the inestimable boon, was to be conferred 
 on the teacher instead of the pupil. 
 
 Alas ! let me ask this profound philosopher with 
 all his boasted reason, who is to be the sufferer in 
 consequence of his resolute determination, not to 
 believe any revelation from God, on the well attested 
 report of others, and not, unless it is made to him per- 
 sonally — and what is that revelation, w^hich he is 
 determined to reject with so much obstinacy ? Take 
 his own words for an answer, which I again repeat, 
 *' a morality of the most benevolent kind, ever taught 
 to man and never exceeded by any." 
 
 Can our author give any rational assurance, that 
 even if God should thus condescend, it would Avork 
 conviction in his sceptical mind and produce a firm 
 belief in the doctrines of the Gospel. For my own 
 part I must confess, that from his present temper and 
 disposition and judging from the conduct of his pre- 
 decessors in unbelief, in the time of our Lord and his 
 apostles, I am fully convinced, he would not, and 
 that the same obstinate mind would raise equal objec- 
 tions from other quarters to avoid conviction. An 
 additional reason to those already mentioned for this 
 conclusion is, that although our author has agreed, 
 that Jesus Christ was *' a virtuous character and 
 preached the purest and most benevolent morality," 
 yet let me ask, has he conformed himself in his life 
 
 D d 
 
[ 210 ] 
 
 and conduct to the moral precepts and excellent prac- 
 tices of Jesus Christ, which he thus gives credit to, 
 as pure, amiable and benevolent. If he has not, 
 which I believe, from my personal knowledge of the 
 man, he will not even pretend to, I must in my turn 
 indulge a principle of unbelief, that he would even 
 submit to a revelation from God, made personally to 
 him, if it did not fall in with his carnal ideas and worldly 
 expectations, unless it should also be attended with 
 the convicting influences of the spirit of God, to 
 whom all things ai'e possible. 
 
 Far be it from me to indulge an uncharitable tem- 
 per towards any man, however we may differ in 
 opinion; but I consider myself founded in this con- 
 clusion by the experience of ages, and particularly by 
 the conduct of many persons, under similar circum- 
 stances, recorded in sacred history for our instruc- 
 tion. Did not Nebuchadnezzar receive ocular 
 demonstration, *' equal to the ascending of a Baloon^ 
 or the sun at noon-day ^^"^ when he cast Shadrach, 
 Meshach and Abednego into a fiery furnace ? nxihen 
 beholding the contempt which was put on all the 
 effects of his rage and fury by the living God, he 
 was constrained to cry out " blessed be the God of 
 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who hath sent 
 his angel and delivered his servants that put their 
 trust in him ; and hath changed the king's command- 
 ment and yielded their bodies rather than they would 
 serve or worship any God sa^'e their own God; there- 
 fore I make a decree, that every people, nation and 
 language which shall speak any thing amiss against 
 the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, shall 
 be drawn in pieces and their houses made a dunghill : 
 
[ 2U ] 
 
 because there is no other God that can deliver after 
 this sort." — And yet notwithstanding this extraordi- 
 nary and supernatural demonstration of the power of 
 theGodof Shedrach, Meshach and Abednego,wasnot 
 the prophet afterwards sent to him, with this kind 
 exhortation, '' to break off his sins by righteousness 
 and his iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor?" 
 What was the consequence? Did he not despise all 
 these convictions arising from the long sufferintj 
 goodness of God and still boast " of his power and 
 the honour of his majesty," despising the judg- 
 ments and warning of heaven, till " being driven from 
 among men to dwell with the beasts of the field, and 
 to eat grass, as oxen, and become wet with the dew 
 of Heaven till seven years should pass over him;" 
 and till by this heavy indignation of the wrath of 
 God, he became humbled by the bitterness of con- 
 trition and repentance? and was led to declare, " now 
 (after all I have justly suffered) 1 Nebuchadnezzar 
 praise and extol and honour the king of Heaven, all 
 whose works are truth and his ways judgment, and 
 those that walk in pride he is able to abase." 
 
 Thus was Nebuchadnezzar brought to reason and 
 to act like a rational creature : and it affords a verv use- 
 ful lesson to our author, if he will but hearken to the 
 divine teachings of the spirit of God therein. But it 
 may turn out with him as it did with Nebuchadnez- 
 zar's successor, who disregarded all this ocular de- 
 monstration to all Babylon, and the thousand king- 
 doms of Nebuchadnezzar for seven years. — Hearken 
 for a moment to the language of Daniel to Nebuchad- 
 nezzar's grandson Belshazzar, an abandoned prince. 
 '' O king! hear thou! the most high God gave untc 
 
[ 212 ] 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar thy father, a kingdom, and majesty, 
 and honour, and glory : and for the majesty that he gave 
 him, all people, nations and languages, trembled and 
 feared before him: whom he would he slew, and whom 
 he would he kept alive ; and whom he would he set up, 
 and whom he would he put down ; but when his heart 
 was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was 
 deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his 
 glory from him : and he was driven from the sons of 
 men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his 
 dwelling was with the wild asses ; they fed him with 
 grass like oxen, and his body was wet widi the dew 
 of Heaven, till he knew that the most high God ruled 
 in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it 
 whomsoever he will. And thou his son, O Belshaz- 
 zar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knew- 
 est all this, but hast lifted up thyself against the Lord 
 of Heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his 
 house before thee ; and thou and thy lords ; thy wives 
 and tliy concubines, have drank wine in them; and 
 thou hast praised the Gods of silver and gold, of brass, 
 iron, wood and stone, wdiich see not, nor hear, nor 
 know ; and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and 
 whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified,"* 
 
 Happy will it be for our author, if the severest 
 judgment of God, even to eating grass like an ox, 
 should be inflicted upon him; provided it should be 
 so sanctified, as to prevent the last awful sentence, 
 " Thou art weighed in the balance, and art found 
 wanting." Alas! every day's experience proves the 
 fact, " that for spiritual truth, there must be a spi. 
 
 • 5th chap. Dan. 18th to 23d ver. 
 
[ 213 ] 
 
 ritual sense ; and the scriptures call this sense, by the 
 name of Faith; and teach that all men have it not; and 
 that where it is, it is the gift of God."* 
 
 If a gracious God, in his infinite mercy, for the 
 sake of what his only beloved Son has done and suf- 
 fered, thinks proper to place offending man in a state 
 to be saved, by making known to him his will, and 
 the terms of access to him, by wliich he shall finally 
 attain to everlasting life; and this revelation is made 
 through the mediumofchofen witnesses, whohave laid 
 down their lives in support of their mission ; and they 
 offer rational proof of these facts, such as is more than 
 sufficient to convince the mind in any human in- 
 quiry : and yet if one, who is to be solely benefitted by 
 these offers, obstinately and perversely refuses his as- 
 sent, and insists on greater or different testimony, 
 before he will accept the terms of grace and mercy ; 
 ought he not as a rational being, to consider se- 
 riously, before it is too late, what is most likely to be 
 the issue of this unreasonable conduct? Is not the 
 final destruction of such a person sure and irretriev- 
 able ? Art thou stronger than the Almighty ; or is there 
 any appeal from his righteous judgment? Can a plea of 
 the want of further or different evidence, excuse in 
 the day when thou shalt appear before his a^^'ful tri- 
 bunal, to render a reason why thou hast not believed 
 on his only begotten Son, whom he hath sent into the 
 world, with suchproofs of his divine mission, as lie has 
 thought proper as a sovereign God to give, and which 
 it became every sinner, who was earnestly seeking af- 
 ter truth, to have received with gratitude and thank- 
 fulness. 
 
 • Jones. 
 
C 214 ] 
 
 Go on, Sir, in your determination, with unbeliev- 
 ing Thomas of old, that you will not believe till you 
 receive conviction in your own way; but be not de- 
 ceived into the expectation of Thomas's gratification, 
 as you stand in a very different predicament ; but fear 
 greatly, lest all conviction be withheld, till everlasting 
 destruction shall work it in you, to your eternal shame 
 and reproach.* 
 
 In fine, " there can be no acquiescence in autho- 
 rity, by assenting to a proposition, whose truth we 
 perceive from the reason of the thing- To such a 
 proposition we should assent, though it were affirmed 
 by the most fallible man; nay, though he was not a 
 man of truth; and consequently in the case of religion, 
 it would be no manner of proof, that we acknowledg 
 ed the supreme authority and infallible veracity of 
 God. This acknowledgment can only appear, by our 
 assenting to a proposition made to us by God, whose 
 truth we do not perceive by any evidence from the 
 nature of the thing ; for then we act upon the simple 
 authority of God's affirmation; and our assent is an 
 explicit acknowledgment of his absolute veracity." 
 
 This short abstract of the resurrection and ascen- 
 sion of our divine Redeemer, as recorded by the evan- 
 gelists, and the observations that have naturally arisen 
 out of the subject, are fully sufficient to satisfy any 
 candid mind, of the imposition, in point of facts, of 
 
 * " There is a degree of evidence and of influence, to which we are 
 not entitled. When a person acts against conviction, and turns from the 
 light, God does not always leave him in that state of twilight, but adds to 
 his blindness, and brings on a tenfold darkness. When people pervert 
 their best gifts, they will be farther corrupted to their ruin'; and those who 
 are guilty of wilful and obstinate folly, will be doomed to judicial infatu- 
 ation. Bryant Obs. 379. 
 
[ 215 ] 
 
 our author's statement and inferences from the Chris- 
 tian theory, and the principal event on which it is ac- 
 knowledged to rest; and which, if the imposition has 
 any effect, involves the everlasting interests of those 
 who are thus deceived. 
 
 And now may we not, with great propriety, retort 
 on our author his own unguarded language, *' that 
 his observations have every mark of fraud and im- 
 position stamped on the face of them;" and may add, 
 that they are apparently designed to mislead the 
 young and unwary mind, into the fatal vortex of 
 scepticism and infidelity. 
 
 Had my plan and leisure permitted, it might here 
 have been shown, how fit and proper this glorious 
 scheme of Salvation, founded on the resurrection and 
 ascension of Jesus Christ, was to the distressing ne- 
 cessities of the ruined posterity of Adam. Nay we 
 might have gone farther, and proceeded to explain 
 the advantages of it, not to our race alone, but to all 
 the inhabitants of the spiritual world — that such is 
 the infinite and incomprehensible nature of the great, 
 supreme, self-existent Jehovah — the Being who ne- 
 cessarily is — that finite beings, however exalted in 
 their nature or rank, cannot bear to contemplate the 
 ineffable and unveiled glory of the divine essence, 
 but through some medium, by or in which, they 
 might behold the divine image, in a manner consist- 
 ent with their finite natures. That this was done 
 from the beginning, through or by the eternal Logos, 
 or divine Word, under a visible form, in which he 
 mediately governs and directs the whole system of 
 created intelligencies, agreeably to the rules of eternal 
 order. 
 
[ 216 ] 
 
 That angels and men having sinned, and thus in- 
 troduced a principle of disobedience into the creation 
 of God, which must have proved of the most danger- 
 ous consequence to the whole extent of being; God 
 of his infinite love and mercy, to prevent the awful 
 catastrophe, determined to show to all worlds, his in- 
 finite disapprobation and abhorrence of sin. 
 
 It might well be expected indeed, that our author, 
 with his incredulous temper, would have laughed at 
 this doctrine of original sin, and the defection of an- 
 gels; but on his own system, let him otherwise 
 account in a rational manner, for the universal preva- 
 lence of evil, both in the moral and natural world — 
 the sufferings of infants, with those of the best 
 of men — the fury of animals and their devouring 
 each other — the disregard and inattention in men to, 
 the great First Cause ; and the blasphemies of those 
 who presumptuously deny the existence of any God 
 but nature. 
 
 Speaking %vith the humility and reference which 
 becomes such imperfect creatures in pronouncing on 
 the inscrutable operations ofGod^ we have reasoti to 
 belie^e^ that the disapprobatio7i a?id abhorrence 
 which the Supreme Go'vernor of the U7iii}erse ?nust 
 necessarily entertaifi for all sifi^ could not have been 
 shown with conviction to the celestial ranks of angels 
 and archangels, and the whole universe of intelligent 
 beings, so well in any other Avay, as by the incar- 
 nation, death and resurrection of the Logos, or only 
 beo'otten Son of God. The divine nature cannot be 
 capable of anger, wrath or vengeance, which are pre- 
 dicable of it, merely in a metaphorical sense, to adapt 
 language to the finite capacities of mortal man, and 
 
[ 217 ] 
 
 therefore the effects of this unnatural breach of order, 
 or disobedience to the righteous law of a holy God, 
 were manifested in the most striking and expressive 
 manner, by the humiliation and suiferings of the sa- 
 cred humanity of the Son of God, as a voluntary sub- 
 stitute for tlie offending creature. This, though 
 apparent to man, only in their external infliction, 
 were well known to the whole intelligent world of 
 spirits, in his inward derelictions and desolations 
 when forsaken on the cross, and which are well calcu- 
 lated to affect their pure minds to all eternity. 
 
 The suffering Messiah known to the whole ange- 
 lic host, as lying in the father's bosom from eternity, 
 and as the great object of their love and adoration 
 from their first existence; and who alone was capable 
 of knowing and contemplating the Divinity in his 
 pure essence, and who had seen the Father, being the 
 express image of his person, and who thought it no 
 robbery to claim an equality with God: — this glori- 
 ous being, becoming an expiatory sacrifice and pro- 
 pitiatory victim for the sins of the world, magnified 
 the law of God; demonstrated his infinite justice and 
 love to being in general, and made it known to the 
 universe, when he declared, " That God so loved the 
 world, as to give his only begotten Son, that whoso- 
 ever should believe in him should not perish, but 
 have everlasting life." All this fully proved the in- 
 finite wisdom of the amazing plan, designed to sub- 
 due all things to, and keep them in the love of order 
 and obedience, discovering to men and angels " the 
 exceeding sinfulness of sin," and the awful conse- 
 quences of it, even when the sacred humaiiity of th^ 
 
 *e 
 
[ 218 ] 
 
 eternal Son of God was. to be the victim, as a substi- 
 tute for the aggressor. 
 
 We might liave shown further, that as far as we 
 can see, if it had not been for this divine scheme of 
 redemption, the sinless inhabitants of the numberless 
 worlds of spirits, would not ,have been made ac- 
 quainted with the horrible nature of transgression, pr 
 have been so well confirmed in an universal, invari- 
 able and absolute principle of obedience. Thus.it 
 was, " that Mercy and Truth met together, and that 
 Righteousness and Peace have kissed each other.'* 
 *' The astonishing scene, probably, remains still 
 deeply imprinted upon the minds of celestial spirits, 
 and may to all eternity be an everlasting proof of the 
 wisdom and sanctity ; the justiceandgoodnessofGpd.'* 
 
 It might have been added, that no sooner had the 
 aAvful scene of man's defection taken place, and the 
 dark cloud of destruction overwhelmed our guilty 
 parents, than the love of God, *' who delighteth not 
 in tlie death of the sinner, but would rather that he 
 should repent and live," made known this only possi- 
 ble mode of restoration to his favour; and perpetuated 
 the blessed revelation, " by typical observances 
 wherein men should kill a kid, a lamb, a dove, or an 
 unspotted male, the first bom of some animal, as an 
 emblem of the innocent, suffering Messiah — this re- 
 peated afterwards every year on a solemn day — once 
 every month on the first day — once every week on the 
 seventh day — and twice every day, morning and 
 evening, became a living memorial, and emblematic 
 record of this supernatural divine mystery."* 
 
 • Philosoph. Prin. 
 
[ 219 ] 
 
 But alas ! this would have been a dry subject, and 
 unintelligible language, illy suited to the taste or com- 
 prehension of our author, however his urgent neces- 
 sities might require the inestimable knowledge of 
 these glorious truths. 
 
 Let us, therefore, return to our answer, and again 
 take notice of an objection of our author, which has 
 been aheady mentioned, but which is deserving of a 
 more particular attention. 
 
ON THE 
 
 AUTHENTICITY OF THE BOOKS 
 
 or THE 
 
 NEW TESTAMENT. 
 
 After acknowledging the character of Jesus Christ, as al' 
 ready stated, our author thinks to strengthen his op^ 
 position to sur holy religion, and to gain credit to his 
 infidelity, among those, who are not in the habit of 
 inquiring with accuracy for themselves, by assuring the 
 world, " That it is impossible now, to know who were the 
 authors of this story of the resurrection and ascension ; 
 as it is to be assured, that the books in which it is related, 
 were xvritten by the persons zvhose names they bear. The 
 best surviving evidence is the Jews, and yet they say it is 
 not true,^^ 
 
 Our author thus discovers once more, either 
 an extieme ignorance of what the advocates for 
 Christianity have written on this subject ; or a deter- 
 mination to pass upon his unlearned readers, asser- 
 tions which he knows to be unfounded in truth. 
 
 It must again be repeated, that most of the books 
 of the New-Testament, and particularly the four 
 evangelists, are better vouched, and have greater evi- 
 
[ 222 ] 
 
 dence of their authenticity, than any ancient profane 
 history. The writers of Caesar's Commentaries, Ci- 
 cero's Orations, the iEneid, or the lUad, are not so 
 well ascertained and authenticated as those of the 
 Gospels, the acts of the apostles, and of divers other 
 books of the New-Testament. 
 
 They have been verified by the church, and its 
 learned advocates, from the times of the apostles to 
 the present day, with as much accuracy and precision 
 as the nature of the thing, and the circumstances of 
 the times, would admit of. " The absurdity of athe- 
 ism has been exposed; and the atheist driven from the 
 field he had the presumption to call his own, even by 
 the very weapons which he chose for his defence. 
 Deism in all its forms, has been examined and detect- 
 ed; all its illiberal cavils have been replied to; all its 
 haughty pretensions confounded; and even the perti- 
 nent and momentous objections, to which the best in- 
 formed and best disposed of its advocates, sometimes 
 had recourse, have been weighed with impartiality, 
 and refuted by arguiiient. Those tenets; which rash 
 aild superficial inquirers had supposed to be destitute 
 of foundation, have been expressed with greater pre- 
 cision, supported by stronger proofs, and recom- 
 mended by new illustrations. Objections, which 
 from their minuteness, might otherwise have been 
 neglected, have now received the most satisfactory 
 answers-; and doubts, which from their obscurity, and 
 from the modesty of tliose in whose minds they 
 arose, might have remained unresolved, have been 
 openly examined and fairly removed. In short, every 
 pant of the great febric of religion, has received some 
 distinct support or illustration, which has added tO' 
 
[ 223 ] 
 
 the .strength and beauty of the whole .systeii[i.".* 
 Thus where iniquity has i)iost ^bounded, grace jhajS 
 abounded also. 
 
 The excellent Dr. Lardner, to whom I am so 
 much indebted, has with, incredible labour, and the 
 sounflest judgment, given^uch a complete and candid 
 statement of the evidence on this subject, as to 
 amount to demonstration. To his invaluable work 
 on the credibility of the Gospel history, for the pur- 
 pose of shortening these observations, I refer every 
 serious inquirer after truth . He j ustly observes , that 
 from the quotations of Iraeneus, Clemens Alexandri- 
 nus, TertuUian, and other writers of the second 
 century ; of Origen in the third, and Eusebius in the 
 fourth, it appears, that the greater part of the books 
 which are now received by us, and are called canoni- 
 cal, were universally acknowledged in their times, 
 and had been so, by the elders and churches of former 
 times — and the rest now received by us, though they 
 were then doubted of or contradicted, were well 
 known and approved by many."f 
 
 It is to be suspected, I acknowledge, that our au- 
 thor has never been concerned in looking into the evi- 
 dence on which the theory of the Christian church is 
 founded, whatever he may have done with regai'd tp 
 
 • White's Serm. 15—16. 
 
 f The epistle to the Hebrews, the secotid epistle of Peter, the second 
 and third of John, those of James and Jude, and the book of the Revela- 
 lations, being published a considerable time after the greater part of the 
 other portions of the New-Testament had been written and received as au- 
 thentic histories, and inspired oraclps by all the churches, were not all 
 at once embraced throughout the whole extensive body of Christians, ^n 
 some places, therefore, they were at first received with doubt, till their 
 evidence, and the circumstances of their publication, were thoroughly ex- 
 amined, since which time they tuve become univers:.Uy adopted. 
 
[ 224 ] 
 
 the heathen mythology. To those who know him as 
 well as I do, it will arise to more than suspicion. If 
 it had been otherwise, he would hardly thus have for- 
 feited the celebrity he has obtained as a man of 
 reading and observation, by betraying to the world 
 that he had gained it, by superficial harangues on po- 
 pular topics, that required little more than the sugges- 
 tions of a knot of friends, who might easily supply his 
 indolence and inattention, for purposes they esteemed 
 of great public importance : or perhaps with great 
 truth it may be said, that he has contented himself 
 with barely copying from the Royal Infidel of Prussia, 
 the apostate of Fernay, or the more modern Boulan- 
 ger ; all of whom have done the same from Boling- 
 broke, Morgan and Tindal, of the last century, whose 
 objections to revelation were the repetitions of many 
 who had gone before them. 
 
 The assertion then of our author, is like a boiv 
 shot at a venture. He may plead that he knew no bet- 
 ter; but this is a poor excuse for misleading his read- 
 ers, who might depend on his character as an author ; 
 and shows a very daring spirit, that will measure the 
 truth by his own weak and uninformed standard. 
 
 For the information then of those who doubt of 
 this important matter, among whom our author may 
 properly be included, I will venture to collect a very 
 short abstract of the testimony on which we found our 
 belief. 
 
 The difiiculties attending the investigation of very 
 ancient books, as to their authors and authenticity, 
 might well excuse a research further than the times 
 of those historians, who have treated the subject as a 
 system ; which generally does not happen till many 
 
[ 225 ] 
 
 years after the original transactions have taken place : 
 and even then the general reputation among people of 
 information and chai'acter, and the tradition of the 
 times, in most cases are taken for the best evidence of 
 which the nature of the thing is capable. But as the 
 present dispute is of the utmost importance to the 
 souls of men, I shall ascend to the highest source from 
 whence the necessary proof proceeds. 
 
 The Bible is a word which has been in general use, 
 among Christians, as including those writings which 
 are held as of divine authority. That part of it called the 
 New-Testament, or the Gospels, which gives us the 
 history of the life and death of Jesus Christ, and 
 teaches the doctrine of Salvation as delivered by him 
 and his disciples, consists of the four evangelists, the 
 acts of the apostles, the epistles, and the revelation to 
 St. John. 
 
 It is a collection of books written by the several 
 persons, whose names they bear, as is asserted by 
 Christians in general, but denied by our adventurous 
 author, even in the eighteenth century. 
 
 In addition to the proof, we shall presentlv adduce, 
 *' the excellence of the doctrines contained in the 
 scriptures, is an evidence of their di\'ine authority. 
 This is an argument which has great force, indepen- 
 dent of other considerations. Thus let us suppose, 
 that the author of the Gospel that goes under St. Mat- 
 thew's name, was not known, and that it was unsup- 
 ported by the writers of the primitive times; yet such 
 is the unaffected simplicity of the narrations, the pu- 
 rity of the doctrines, the sincere piety and goodness 
 of the sentiments, that it carries its own authority 
 with, it. And the same thing may be said in general 
 
 F f ' 
 
[ 226 ] 
 
 of all the books of the Old and New-Testament ; so 
 that it seems evident, that if there were no other book 
 in the world besides the Bible, a man could not rea- 
 sonably doubt of the truth of revealed religion — ** the 
 mouth speaks from the abundance of the heart." 
 Mens writings and discourses must receive a tincture 
 from their real thoughts and designs. It is impossi- 
 ble to play the hypocrite in every word and expres- 
 sion. This is a matter of daily observation, that 
 cannot be called in question; and the more any one 
 thinks of it, or attends to what passes in himself or 
 others — to the history of the human thoiights, Vv'Ords 
 and actions, and their necessary mutual connections, 
 the more clearly will he see it. We may conclude, 
 therefore, even if all other arguments were set aside, 
 that the authors of the books of the Old and New- 
 Testaments, whoever they were, caimot have made a 
 false claim to divine authority. But there is also ano- 
 ther method of inferring the divine authority of the 
 Scriptures, from the excellence of the doctrines con- 
 tained therein; for they contain doctrines concerning 
 God — a Providence — a future state — the dut}- of man, 
 &c. far more pure and sublime than can any ways be 
 accounted for, from the natural powers of men, cir- 
 cumstanced as the sacred writers were. To set this 
 in a clear light, let any one compare the several books 
 of the Old and New-Testaments with the cotem- 
 porary writers amongst the Greeks and Romans, who 
 could not possess less than the natural powers of the 
 human mind; but might ha\'e had over and above 
 some traditional hints, derived ultimately from reve- 
 lation. Let him consider whether it be possible to 
 suppose, that Jewish shepherds, fishermen, Sec. should 
 
[ 227 ] 
 
 both before and after the rise of the heathen philoso- 
 phy, so far exceed the men of the greatest abilities and 
 accomplish meats in other nations, by any other means 
 than by divine communications. Nay, we may say, 
 that no writers, from the inventor of letters to the pre- 
 sent time, are equal to the penmen of the books of the 
 Old and New -Testaments, in true excellence, utility 
 and dignity; which is surely such an internal" criterion 
 of their divine authority, as ought not to be resisted. 
 And perhaps it never is resisted by any, who have duly 
 considered these books, and formed their affections 
 and actions according to the precepts therein deli- 
 vered."* 
 
 We will now proceed to the evidence afforded us 
 from the history of the first and second centuries. 
 
 The Lord Jesus Christ was crucified and rose again 
 about the year thirty-three — and the apostles conti- 
 nued in Jerusalem till about the year forty-eight. At 
 the time of Christ's death, and of the first preaching 
 of the apostles, for twenty or thirty years, there was 
 no written system of the Salvation by Jesus Christ. It 
 was preached by him personally during his life, and 
 confirmed by continual miracles, in the presence of all 
 the people, openly and publickly; and finally confirm- 
 ed by a cruel and ignominious death ; and the fulfil- 
 ment of his promise, by the descent of the Holy Spirit. 
 Afterwards his apostles, being poor and illiterate men, 
 but filled with the spirit, and endowed with the gift o. 
 tongues on the day of Pentecost, following his exam- 
 ple, taught the people in Jerusalem and the neigh- 
 bouring nations, by word of mouth, confirming their 
 doctrines by undoubted and convincing miracles. 
 
 • Han lev on Man. 
 
[ 228 ] 
 
 As yet, there was no call for written systems — 
 full evidence attended the apostles wherever they 
 went. But when they began to form and settle 
 churches in every place where they came, the persons 
 whom they appointed to govern and teach in their 
 absence, stood in need of written instructions, as well 
 as written information of the great facts of the 
 Christian history, to which they and their proselytes 
 might at all times recur; and they considered this 
 blessed system as bringing to their knowledge, life 
 and immortality. 
 
 The first fifteen years after the crucifixion, the 
 church was mostly confined to Jerusalem; but as 
 churches multiplied fast, throughout the Roman em- 
 pire, soon after this period, the apostles frequently 
 made use of writing, for the purpose of more general 
 information. 
 
 The apostle Paul, a man of learning and of consi- 
 derable natural abilities, was now added to the num- 
 ber of the apostles by a divine mission; and he first 
 set the example about the year fifty-one, or fifty-two, 
 (eighteen or twenty years after the descent of the Spi- 
 rit on the apostles) by writing an epistle to the Thes- 
 salonians, who had been instructed by him in person; 
 and who received his teachings, " not as the word of 
 man, but as it was in truth the word of God;" and he 
 exhorts them " to read it to the brethren." 
 
 In this manner he continued to write epistles to 
 the different churches under his care, till they 
 amounted to the number now extant in the New-Tes- 
 tament. 
 
 The other apostles, as Peter, James and John, 
 followed his example, and wrote the several epistles 
 
[ 229 ] 
 
 that go under their names. The Acts of the Apostles 
 were written by St. Luke, about the year sixty -two 
 or sixty-three. 
 
 The four evangelists in order, are, Matthew, 
 Mark, Luke and John. The first three wrote their 
 Gospels about the same time that the Acts of the 
 Apostles were written ; and St. John wrote his Gospel 
 about the year ninety-eight. 
 
 Clemens says, " And yet of all the disciples of our 
 Lord, only Matthew and John have left us written re- 
 cords ; who also, as report says, were necessitated to 
 write; for Matthew having preached first to the He- 
 brews, and being about going to other nations, did in 
 his own country language pen his Gospel, supplying 
 by writing the want of his presence and converse 
 among those who he was now to leave. Soon after, 
 when Mark and Luke had set forth their Gospels, 
 John, they say, spent all that time in preaching, and 
 at length came to write for this reason. The three 
 first written Gospels, having been now delivered into 
 the hands of all, and of John himself, they say that he 
 approved of them and confirmed the truth thereof by 
 his own testimony; only there was wanting in writing, 
 an account of those things done by Christ at the first 
 beginning of his preaching. And the thing is true, for 
 'tis evidently conspicuous, that the other three evan- 
 gelists have committed to writing only those things 
 which were done by our Saviour in one year's space 
 after John the Baptist being shut up in prison. There- 
 fore, they say, tliat the apostle John being for these 
 causes thereto requested, has declared a Gospel 
 according to him, die time passed over in silence by 
 the former evangelists."* 
 
 • Euselj. Lib. iii. 42. 
 
[ 230 ] 
 
 Irenaeus, who was conversant with Polycarp, a dis- 
 ciple of St. John, says, " And all the elders that were 
 conversant in Asia with John the disciple of our Lord, 
 do testify, that John delivered his Gospel to them, for 
 he continued among them till Trajan's time."* 
 
 In process of time, the primitive Christians, having 
 had these sacred books handed down to them in vari- 
 ous copies, authorized by the particular church who 
 had the original in keeping, or from men of es- 
 tablished characters among them, determined their 
 being genuine, not by any positive authority, or spe- 
 cial power universally acknowledged by them, as ge- 
 neral councils orother church assemblies ; but, as they 
 judged of any other of their religious facts, from tes- 
 timony or tradition. The first was afforded by the 
 cotemporaries of the apostles and their companions, 
 who were writers of them ; and the last, by the re- 
 cords of the several churches to whom they were res- 
 pectively written. 
 
 " The manner of handing down the Scriptures to 
 posterity, resembles that of all other genuine books, 
 and true histories. The Greeks and Romans, by tra- 
 dition, always received the principal facts of their his- 
 tories as true, and never doubted. So have Jews and 
 Christians. These evidences, though traditionary, 
 are sufficient, and afford a real argument, as well as one 
 ad hominem^ for receiving books so handed down to 
 us. For it is not to be conceived, that whole nations, 
 should either be imposed upon themselves, or join to 
 deceive others, by forgeries of books of facts. "f 
 
 • 2d Book cf Heresies, ch. 39. f Hartley on Man. 
 
[ 231 ] 
 
 The first publication after the three Gospels and 
 the epistles, which we have on record, is the epistle of 
 St. Barnabas, written about the year seventy-one, in 
 which, though he does not mention the Gospels by 
 name, he alludes to them by a number of quotations, 
 whereby it is plain, that he had seen the one written 
 by St. Matthew, and several of the epistles. 
 
 The epistles of St. Clement, (the third bishop of 
 Rome, after St. Peter) to the church of Corinth, was 
 undoubtedly written about the year ninety-six. St. 
 Paul mentions him " among his fellow labourers, 
 whose names are in the book of life." In this epistle 
 he expressly quotes the epistle to the Corinthians, and 
 says, it was written by the apostle Paul: besides 
 which, it clearly appears, that Clement had in his 
 hands, the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke; the 
 Acts of the Apostles; the epistles to the Hebrews, Ro- 
 mans, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 
 Thessalonians, Timotlw, Titus, James and Peter. 
 Clement observes also, that St. Peter's hearers at 
 Rome, were desirous of having his sermons written 
 down for their use; they therefore requested Mark to 
 leave them a written memorial of the doctrines they 
 had received from him by word of mouth, which 
 Mark did. When Peter knew what had been done, he 
 was pleased; and confinned the work by his authority, 
 that it might be read in the churches. 
 
 In the year one hundred, Hermas, who is mention- 
 ed among others, in the end of the epistle to the Ro- 
 mans, MT0te his Shepherd, or Pastor of Hermas, 
 wherein he refers to many passages from Matthew, 
 Luke and John. The Acts, the epistles to the Ro- 
 mans, Corintliians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philip- 
 
[ 232 ] 
 
 pians, Colossians, Thessaionians, Timothy, Hebrews, 
 James, Peter, John, Jude, and the Revelation. 
 
 About seven years after the Shepherd^ Ignatius, 
 who was ordained in sixty-nine, and as some have al- 
 ledged, by Peter himself; and who, as Chrysostom 
 observes, conversed familiarly with the apostles, and 
 was perfectly acquainted with their doctrines, wrote 
 seven epistles to as many churches, in which he men- 
 tions the epistle of Paul to the Ephesians. He also 
 mentions the Scriptures, as a general name. He 
 plainly alludes to the Gospels of Matthew and John, 
 and possibly to Luke — the Acts of the apostles — the 
 epistle to the Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Philip- 
 pians, Colossians, Thessalonians, Timothy, Titus, 
 Hebrews, Peter and John. 
 
 About this time, or in one hundred and eight, Po- 
 lycarp, who was also taught by the apostles, and had 
 conversed with many who had seen Jesus Christ in 
 the flesh, and who had been appointed bishop of 
 Smyrna in Asia by the apostles, in his epistles to the 
 churches, mentions the MTitings of the New-Testa- 
 ment as " the oracles of the Lord," and calls them the 
 Holy Scriptures. He has quotations from the epistles 
 to the Corinthians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Thes- 
 salenians — and also from Matthew's and Luke's Gos- 
 pels. He refers to the Acts of the apostles, the epistles 
 to the Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, 
 Thessalonians, Colossians, Timothy, Peter, John and 
 Hebrews. 
 
 In the epistle from the church of Smyrna, con- 
 cerning Polycarp's mart}Tdom, they give the title of 
 Gospel to the history of our Lord by the evangelifts. 
 
[ 233 ] 
 
 by which they seem also to intend the Ncw-Tsffta- 
 ment in general, and refer to it as a book then in ufe* 
 
 Eiisebiiis, in giving an account of the evangelists 
 in the year one hundred and twelve, says, " Among 
 those who were illustrious at that time, \vas Quadra- 
 tus, who, together with the daughters of Philip, is 
 said to have enjoyed the gift of prophecy; and be- 
 sides these, there were at that time many eminent 
 persons, who had the first rank in the succession of 
 the apostles, who being the worthy disciples of such 
 men, every where built up the churches, the founda- 
 tions of which had been laid by the apostles; extend- 
 ing likewise their preaching yet farther, and scattering 
 abroad the salutary seeds of the kingdom of Heaven, 
 all over the world. For many of the disciples at that 
 time, whose souls the dWine IVord had inspired with 
 an ardent love of philosophy, first fulfilled our Savi^ 
 our's precept, distributing of their substance to the 
 necessitous — then travelling abroad, they performed 
 the work of evangelists, being ambitious to preach 
 Christ, and deliver the Scriptures of the dhine Gos- 
 pels.'' 
 
 In the year one hundred and sixteen, Papias, who 
 had been a hearer of St. John, (and a companion of 
 Polycarp) was bishop of Hierapolis in Asia, m rote five 
 books, entitled, " An Explanation of the Oracles of 
 the Lord." He asserts, that the presbyter John told 
 him, that " Mark being the interpreter of Peter, 
 wrote exactly what he remembered," and that " ^lat- 
 thew wrote the divine Oracles in the Hebrew tongue." 
 He mentions also the epistle of John and Peter, and 
 the Acts of the aposdes, and the Revelation. 
 
 G e: 
 
[ 234 ] 
 
 In the year one hundred and forty, Justin Martyr 
 came to Rome, and presented his first apology to the 
 emperor Antoninus Pius. He also had the celebrated 
 conference with Trypho the Jew, and returned to 
 Rome again, and suffered martyrdom in one hundred 
 and sixty-four. He expressly mentions the Gospels 
 under the title of Memoirs or Commentaries of the 
 apostles and their companions — Chrisfs Memoirs. 
 He also calls them Gospels. He again mentions them 
 as the memoirs of the apostles and their companions, 
 who wrote the history of all things concerning our Sa- 
 viour Jesus Christ — as the memoirs composed by the 
 apostles, which are called Gospels. Thus he ac- 
 knowledges the four Gospels ; two written by the 
 apostles, and two by their companions, and asserts, 
 that these Gospels were publicly read in the as- 
 semblies of the Christians on the Lord^s days^ by a 
 person appointed for that purpose. 
 
 Trypho the Jew, in the conference above alluded 
 to, says to Justin, "I am sensible that the precepts in 
 your Gospels^ as they are called^ ai'e so great and won- 
 derful, that I think it impossible for any man to keep 
 them, for I ha've been at the pains to read them.'''' Jus- 
 tin also mentions the Revelation, as being written by 
 a man from among themselves, by name John, one of 
 the apostles of Christ. He quotes from the Acts of 
 the apostles — the epistles to the Romans, Corin- 
 thians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colos- 
 sians, Thessalonians, Hebrews, Peter, and the Reve- 
 lations. 
 
 In the elegant epistle of Diognetus, who wrote in 
 cue hundred and sixty-six, he has this remarkable 
 
[ 235 ] 
 
 passage — " The fear of the law is celebrated, and the 
 grace of the prophets is known; the faith of the Gos- 
 pels is established, and the tradition of the apostles is 
 kept, and the grace of the church rejoiceth exceed- 
 ingly." In this also he refers to St. Matthew, John, 
 the epistles to the Romans, Corinthians, Philippians, 
 Timothy; of Peter and John. He speaks of the law 
 and the prophets; Gospels and apostolical epistles. 
 
 In one hundred and seventy-seven, Melito, bishop 
 of Sardis in Lydia, says, " That AA'hen he went into 
 the east, he procured an accurate account of the books 
 of the Old Testament," from which we may safely 
 conclude, that there was a collection known by the 
 name of the New-Testament. One of his works, now 
 lost, was entitled, " Of the Revelation of St. John," 
 so that he might have had that book in his collection of 
 the New-Testament. 
 
 About the year one hundred and seventy-eight, 
 Iraeneus, bishop of Lyons in Gaul, and disciple of Po- 
 lycarp, wrote five books against heresies. He is very 
 full as to the truth of the Scriptures. He says, " We 
 have not received the knowledge of the way of our Sal- 
 vation, by any others than those by whom the Gospel 
 has been brought to us; which Gospel they first 
 preached, and afterw ards by the will of God commit- 
 ted to writing, that it might be, for time to come, the 
 foundation and pillar of our faith. After that our Lord 
 arose from the dead, and " the aposdes were endowed 
 from above, with the power of the Holy Ghost com- 
 ing down upon them, they received a perfect know- 
 ledge of all things." They then went forth to all the 
 ends of the earth, declaring to men, the blessings d 
 heavenly peace, having all of them, aiid^every ou" 
 
[ 236 ] 
 
 alike, the Gospel of God. Matthew, then among the 
 Jews, wrote a Gospel in their own language ; while Pe- 
 ter and Paul were preaching the Gospel at Rome, 
 and founding a church there. And after their de- 
 cease, Mark also, the disciple and interpreter of Pe- 
 ter, delivered to us in writing, the things that had 
 been preached by Peter. Luke, the companion of 
 Paul, put down in a book, the Gospel preached by- 
 Paul. Afterwards, John, the disciple of the Lord, 
 who also leaned on his bosom, likewise published ^ 
 Gospel, while he dwelt at Ephesus in Asia — and all 
 these have delivered to us, that there is one God, the 
 maker of the Heavens and the earth, declared by the 
 law and the prophets; and one Christ, the Son of 
 God. And he, who does not assent to them, despis- 
 eth indeed those who knew the mind of the Lord, but 
 he despiseth also Christ himself the Lord, and he 
 despiseth likewise the Father, and is self-condemned, 
 resisting and opposing his own Salvation, as all he- 
 retics do," 
 
 He often quotes the Acts of the apostles as writ, 
 ten by Luke, the disciple and companion of the 
 jipostles, and sums up with this observation. " Nor 
 can they," says he, " pretend that Paul is not an apos- 
 tle, when he was chosen to this end; nor can they 
 show, that Lake is not to be credited, who has rela.. 
 ted to us the truth with the greatest exactness ; and 
 possibly God has for this reason, so ordered it, that 
 many parts of the Gospel should be declared to us by 
 Luke, which all are under a necessity of receiving, 
 so that all m/ight believe his subsequent testimony, 
 which he has given concerning the acts and doctrines 
 of the apostles; and might have a sincere and uncor- 
 
[ 237 ] 
 
 rupt rule of faith, and be saved. Tlierefore his testU 
 moiiy is true, and the doctrine of the apostles is mani- 
 fest and uniform, without any deceit; hiding nothing 
 from man, nor teaching one thing in private, and ano- 
 ther in public. He expressly quotes twelve epistles 
 of Paul, and takes several verses from the He- 
 brews. The epistle of Peter, he acknowledges as 
 written by him. Also the epistles of John, the dis- 
 ciple of our Lord. He quotes the Revelations, as St. 
 John's. He generally calls them the divine Scrip- 
 tures — divine Oracles — the Scriptures of the Lord — 
 evangelic and apostolic writings — the Scriptures of 
 the Old and New-Testament — the law and the Gos- 
 pel. He says the Scriptures are perfect, being dicta- 
 ted by the ivord of God, and his Spirit. He declares 
 that there were four Gospels received by the church, 
 and no more; all which he has frequently quoted, with 
 the names of the writers; as also the book of the Acts, 
 w Inch he ascribes to Luke. 
 
 Li one hundred and eighty-one, Theophilus, a 
 learned heathen, was converted to Christianity, and 
 published several books. Pie quoted Matthew's and 
 John's Gospels, as sacred Scriptures. He alludes to 
 Luke, and refers to the epistles of Paul to the Ro- 
 mans, Corinthians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colos- 
 sians, Timothy, Titus, and the Revelations as written 
 by St, John. 
 
 In one hundred and ninety-four, Clement, a pres- 
 byter of Alexandria, said to have been a learned man, 
 and an excellent master of the Christian philosophy, 
 bore a noble testimony to the Scriptures in all his 
 WTitings. He says there were four Gospels, of Mat- 
 
[ 238 ] 
 
 thew, Mark, Luke and John, and takes notice of the 
 reason for writing of Mark's Gospel. He quotes the 
 Acts of the apostles, as MTitten by Luke. He fre- 
 quently and expressly quotes the fourteen epistles of 
 St. Paul — also the first of Peter and the first of John. 
 He received the epistle of Jude and the Revelation. 
 
 Serapion, bishop of Antioch, in the year two hun- 
 dred, in an epistle to some who had too much respect 
 for a work, entitled, the Gospel of Peter, says, *' We 
 brethren receive Peter and the other apostles as Chris- 
 tians: but as skilful men, we reject those writings 
 which are falsely ascribed to them, well knowing that 
 we have received none such. 
 
 There will be no need of an apology for inserting 
 the strong testimony of Origen, about the year 250 or 
 260, whose learning, piety, and strict attention to sa- 
 cred things, no one will dispute, however they may 
 object to particular doctrines held byhim. His tes- 
 timony is recorded by Eusebius. He says, " I have 
 understood by tradition, there are four Gospels, 
 which, and only which, are to be allowed without con- 
 tradiction by the church of God, under Heaven. As 
 to the first, it ^vas written by one Matthew, formerly a 
 publican, but afterwards an apostle of Jesus Christ ; 
 he published it written in Hebrew, for the sake 
 of those Jews who believed. The second is Mark's 
 Gospel, who wrote it as Peter expounded to him; 
 whom also he confesses to be his son, in his catholic 
 epistle, and in these words-^the church which is at 
 Babylon, (meaning Rome) elected together with you, 
 saluteth you, and so doth Marcus my son. And the 
 third is the Gospel according to St. Luke, -which i;5 
 
I 239 ] 
 
 commended by St. Paul. He wrote it for tlie sake 
 of the heathens. Lastly, St. John's Gospel." 
 
 Li€( me here add the observations of the excellent 
 Lardner, before mentioned, on this subject. "Though 
 many works of the primitive times of Christianity 
 Jiave not come down to us, we have seen and ex- 
 amined a large number of works, of learned Christian 
 writers, in Palestine, Syria, Asia Minor, Egypt, and 
 that part of Africa that used the Latin tongue ; and in 
 Crete, Greece, Italy and Gaul : all in the space of one 
 hundred and fifty years after writing the first book of 
 the New-Testament. In the remaining works of Ire- 
 nasus, Clement, of Alexandria and Tertullian, though 
 some works of each have been lost, there are perhaps 
 more and larger quotations of the small volume of the 
 New- Testament, than from all the works of Cicero, 
 (though of so uncommon excellence for thought and 
 style) in the writers of all characters for several ages, 
 — insomuch, that we have reason to think, a late 
 learned and judicious divine,* did not exaggerate be- 
 yond the truth, when he said, that the facts upon 
 which the Christian religion is founded, have a 
 stronger proof, than any facts at such a distance of 
 time ; and that the books which convey them down to 
 us, may be proved to be uncorrupted and authentic, 
 with greater strength than any other writings of equal 
 antiquity. 
 
 PLven Julian the apostate, acknowledges the Gos- 
 pels, as written by those whose names they bear. He 
 mentions the evangelists by name, and quotes many 
 passages. He particularly treats of the first chapter 
 
 • Dr. Jeremiah Hunt. 
 
[ 240 ] 
 
 of John's Gospel — of Christ being the WbrdofGody 
 and the PFord being made flesh, and of the accepta- 
 tion in which it was at that tithe received.* 
 
 He plainly confesses, " that those were Peter's, 
 Paul's, Matthew's, Mark's and Luke's works, read 
 by Christians under their names ;"f and one might 
 reasonably suppose, that Julian, in that early day, 
 knew, at least, as much of this dispute as our author ; 
 dnd be is at leasts one person who tells us who wrote 
 them. 
 
 It is not forgotten, that it has been said, that the 
 canon of Scripture was first settled in the council of 
 Laodicea — but this, as most of our author's asser- 
 tions, will not appear to be the case to any one, who 
 will read their canon for himself. It is therein de- 
 clared, " That private psalms ought not to be read in 
 the churches, nor any books not canonical, but only 
 the canonical books of the Old and New-Testament." 
 Then follows a list of those books that are canonical. 
 The same may be observed on the acts of the third 
 council of Carthage, in these words ; " Moreover it 
 is ordained, that nothing beside the canonical Scrip- 
 tures be read in the churches, under the name of the 
 divine Scriptures." 
 
 Surely there is nothing in either of these that will 
 
 any way justify our author's assertion, " That the 
 
 canon of Scripture was settled in these or any other 
 
 councils." 
 
 I will take the liberty of adding an extract from 
 
 the famous Mr. Le Clerc, as immediately applicable 
 
 to this subject. He says, " We no where read of the 
 
 • Jul. part ii. 327. lib. x. 333. f Cyril, book x. 
 
[ 241 ] 
 
 council of the apostles, nor any assembly of the go- 
 vernors of Christian churches, convened to determine 
 by their authority, that such a number of Gospels, 
 neither more or fewer, should be received. Nor was 
 there any need of it, since it is well known to all, 
 from the concurring testimony of cotemporaries, that 
 the four Gospels are the genuine M'ritings of those 
 whose names they bear: and since it is also manifest 
 there is not any thing in them unworthy of those, to 
 whom they are ascribed, nor any thing at all contrary 
 to the Revelation of the Old- Testament, nor to right 
 reason. There was no need of a fynod of gramma- 
 rians to declare magisterially, what are the works of 
 Cicero or Virgil. In like manner the authority of the 
 Gospels has been established by general and perpetual 
 consent, without any decree of the governors of the 
 church. ^Ve may say the same of the apostolical 
 epistles, which owe all their authority, not to the de- 
 cisions of any ecclesiastical assembly, but to the con- 
 curring testimony of all Christians, and the things 
 themselves which are contained in them." And ano- 
 ther from St. Augustine—" We know the writings 
 of the apostles," says he, " as v. e know the works of 
 Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Varro, and others; and as 
 we know the writings of divers ecclesiastical authors, 
 for as much as they have the testimony of contempo- 
 raries, and of those who have lived in succeeding 
 ages." 
 
 This part of the argument shall now be concluded 
 by another quotation, equally applicable, from the fa- 
 mous Dr. Hardey on Man. " The manner in which 
 the books of the Old and New-Testament have been 
 handed do>vn from age to age, proves; both their gcnu- 
 
 II h 
 
[ 242 ] 
 
 ineness, and the truth of the principal facts contained 
 in them. 1st. It resembles the manner in which all 
 other genuine books and true histories have been 
 conveyed down to posterity — as the writings of the 
 Greek and Roman poets, orators, philosophers and 
 historians, were esteemed by these nations to be 
 transmitted to them by their forefathers, in a continu- 
 ed succession, from the times in which the respective 
 authors lived; so have the books of the Old-Testa- 
 ment by the Jewish nation, and those of the New by 
 the Christians; and it is an additional evidence in the 
 last case, that the primitive Christians were not a dis- 
 tinct nation, but a great multitude of people, dispersed 
 tlirough all the nations of the Roman empire, and even 
 extending themselves beyond the bounds of that em- 
 pire. As the Greeks and Romans always believed 
 the principal facts of their historical books, so the 
 Jews and Christians did more, and never seem to 
 have doubted of the truth of any part of them. Now 
 I suppose that all sober minded men admit the books 
 usually ascribed to the Greek and Roman historians, 
 philosophers, &c. to be genuine, and the principal 
 facts related or alluded to in them, to be true ; and that 
 one chief evidence for this is, the general traditionary 
 one here recited. They ought therefore to pay the 
 same regard to the books of the Old and New-Tes- 
 tament, (independent of their divinity) since they 
 have the same, or greater reason for it. It is not to 
 be conceived that whole nations, should either be de- 
 ceived themselves, or concur to impose on others, by 
 forgeries of books or facts. These books and facts 
 must therefore be genuine and true; and it is a strong 
 additional evidence of this, that all nations must be 
 
[ 243 ] 
 
 jealous of forgeries for the same reasons that we are." 
 " Whoever received the books of the New-Testa- 
 ment in ancient times, as genuine and true, must not 
 only have forsaken all sinful pleasure, but exposed 
 themselves to various hardships, dangers, and even to 
 death itself. They had indeed a future glory pro- 
 mised; but this being future, must have been sup- 
 ported with the most incontestible evidences; also, it 
 could have no power against the opposite motives; 
 and both together must so rouse the mind, as to make 
 men exert themselves to the utmost, till they had re- 
 ceived full satisfaction — besides which, it is to be ob- 
 served, that even joy, and the greatness of an expec- 
 tation, incline men to disbelieve, and to examine with 
 a scrupulous exactness, as well as fear and dislike. — 
 As to those who did not receive them, they would 
 have sufficient motives to detect the forgery or false- 
 hood, had there been any such. They were all con- 
 demned for their unbelief; many for their gross vices; 
 the Jew for his darling partiality to his own nation and 
 Ceremonial law ; the Gentile for his idolatry and poly- 
 theism; and the most dreadful punishment threatened 
 to all in a future state. — It may be added, that the per- 
 sons reproved in the Gospels, and by the apostles, 
 (meaning the five apocalyptical churches and the Ni- 
 colaitans) could not but endeavour to vindicate them- 
 selves. The books were all of a public nature, and 
 die reproofs particularly so, as bemg intended to 
 guard others." 
 
 We now come to the last part of the assertion ol 
 our author, *' That the best surviving e\ idence is the 
 Jews, and yet they say it is not true." Now, if by thif 
 
[ 244 ] 
 
 it is designed to insinuate, that none of the Jews have 
 acknowledged the facts ©f the resurrection and ascen- 
 sion, it is not true, as we have already shown. That 
 the present Jews, as a people or nation, deny the 
 doctrines of the New- Testament, is not only a fact, 
 but is expressly foretold in those books, that they 
 should do so till the end of the Roman government — 
 Rnd they also foretel other circumstances, attending 
 this once chosen people of God, who are still to be re- 
 united to him, ftiUy convincing to many wise men of 
 the truth of their declarations; such as their dispersed 
 and humiliating state throughout the world ; their con- 
 tinuing a separate people, &:c. Yet true it is, that very 
 large numbers of Jews, in the first ages of the Chris- 
 tian church, embraced her doctrines, and gloried in 
 the cross. Nay, for many years, the whole Christian 
 church was made up entirely and exclusively of Jews; 
 and every writer, except Luke, concerned in the 
 Scriptures of the New-Testament, were Jews, and 
 none other — and at the first prosecution of Peter be- 
 fore the sanhedrim, the then representative body of 
 the Jewish nation, " they acknowledged, that indeed 
 a notable miracle had been done by the apostles, was 
 manifest to all them that dwelt at Jerusalem, and that 
 they could not deny it." And the consequence was, 
 " that the word of God increased, and the number of 
 the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a 
 great company of the priests were obedient to the 
 faith." 
 
 The Jews as a people, nevertheless, at this day, as 
 they have been since the time of Moses, are firm be- 
 lievers in revelation, and though they reject Jesus 
 
[ 245 ] 
 
 Christ as the promised Messiah, and will not at pre- 
 sent have him to reign over them, yet they fully 
 believe in one yet to come, as foretold by Moses and 
 the prophets. Let some of their late learned, judici- 
 ous, and excellent writers, speak for themselves. — 
 *' When we reflect," say they, speaking on the subject 
 of revelation, "on the baneful systems set up in ages 
 past, and in this one too by philosophers — when we 
 see the providence of God, his justice, and even his 
 existence contested — fatality mtroduced — liberty de- 
 stroyed — the land marks of right and wrong daringly 
 torn up, or placed with uncertainty, by those pretend- 
 ers to wisdom — man degraded — ailthebonds of socie- 
 ty dissolved — ^'ain imaginations and racking doubts 
 substituted in the place of the most comfortable and 
 salutary truths — when we see these things, our spirit 
 is stirred up at all these errors, and we cannot help 
 thinking ourselves happy in being preserved from 
 them by such reasonable and holy laws. O Israel ! 
 happy are v/e, for the things that are pleasing to God, 
 are made known to us; he hath not dealt so with any 
 nation."* And again, speaking of the Christian reli- 
 gion, they say, " Those Christians who persecute on 
 account of religion, either offend against truth, or are 
 illy acquainted with their religion. We Jews, can as- 
 sure them, that the Christian religion does not oblige 
 men to murder one another for paragraphs, no nor for 
 the most important doctrines. The true spirit of their 
 religion, breathes nothing but mildness — he calumni- 
 ates it, who ascribes to it the mad deeds of blind fanat- 
 ' icism, and the crimes of dark policy. It equally 
 
 • Letters of certain Jews, 310, 
 
[ 246 ] 
 
 condemns both these. Those Christians confound 
 Christianity, with the abuses made of it. When will 
 those great men deign to reason justly."* 
 
 The Jews do not even doubt, that the books of the 
 New- Testament, were written by the evangelists, 
 who were their countrymen; and Jews as well as they. 
 They do not deny the writings of Paul and Peter, 
 James and John, or any other of the authors of the 
 New-Testament; but they suppose them either to 
 have been impostors, or misled and imposed upon : 
 but these very Jews, as a people, and all their sacred 
 writings, profess the same things, in expectation of 
 their Messiah to come, with the like properties, qua- 
 lities and chai'acter. 
 
 The foundation of our author's after observations, 
 being thus answered and removed out of the wa}^ I 
 shall pass them by without, and indeed as unworthy 
 of, farther notice. I mean the ridiculous story he has 
 introduced from the poets, about the race of giants 
 making war against Jupiter, and thi'owing an hundred 
 rocks against him at once ; and afterwards being con- 
 fined under Mount Etna. From this he supposes the 
 story of Satan's making war against the Almighty, 
 took its rise — that Satan was then defeated and con- 
 fined to a pit, and afterwards let out again, to deceive 
 a woman in the garden of Eden — finally, that Satan 
 obtained a triumph over the whole creation, Jews, 
 Turks and infidels, and even the Almighty himself — 
 with a number of other as profane and blasphemous 
 accounts of the Christian system, originating in his 
 own brain, or the imaginations of heathen poets, who 
 
 • Letters of certain Jews, 172. 
 
[ 247 ] 
 
 \\ ere at a loss to account for the phenomena of nature, 
 from the mere light of nature, unassisted by revela- 
 tion. But these are not to be found, either in the 
 books of the Old or New-Testament, or in any theory 
 of a Christian church, ancient or modern. This suf- 
 ficiently proves, what was before suggested, that our 
 author has undertaken to write on a subject, the first 
 principles of which he has not troubled himself to in- 
 vestigate. He has barely vamped up, in a parade of 
 language, the well answered objections of the Deists 
 of the last, and beginning of the present century. To 
 these our author may claim the merit of adding, the 
 ludicrous and blasphemous reveries of debauchees 
 and drunkards over their cups ; thinking thereby to 
 impose on the world such stuff for argument, merely 
 because he has prefaced it with the name of " The 
 Age of Reason;" as if reason consisted in falsehood, 
 ridicule and burlesque. 
 
 I shall therefore pass by all this rhapsody of non- 
 sense, and proceed to his observations on the books 
 of the Old and New-Testament, beginning with Ge- 
 nesis, and ending with the Revelations. 
 
THE OBJECTIONS 
 
 TO THE 
 
 OLD TESTAMENT, 
 CONSIDERED. 
 
 Our author introduces his general observations on the Biblcy 
 by endeavouring to prejudice the unxuary in favour of his 
 objections^ by assuring them^ " That although the boldness 
 of his investigatio7u xooxdd alarm yyiony, yet it xvould he 
 paying too great a compliment to credulity, to forbear 
 them on that account — that the times and the subject de- 
 mand it to be done — that the suspicion, that the theory of 
 zuhat is called the Christian church is fabulous, is becomiiig 
 very extensive in all countries ; and that it xuill be a conso- 
 lation to such persons, to see the subject freely investi- 
 gated.''^ 
 
 1 T must be evident by this time, to every can- 
 did and sincere inquirer after truth, that if the facts 
 ab-eady treated of in this answer be true, there can be 
 little necessity of further argument, to show the 
 weakness as well as wickedness of the other ob- 
 servations of the Age of Reason, on the Christian 
 
 I i 
 
[ 250 ] 
 
 system ; yet, for the sake of those who have not 
 time or inclination to search into these things, we 
 will proceed, by taking previous notice of the obser- 
 ■sations above referred to, which he calls bold investi- 
 gations. 
 
 Let me ask this man, who seems so fearful of pay- 
 ing a compliment to credulity, who it is that he 
 supposes will be alarmed by the boldness of his inves- 
 tigations ? He must, I conclude, mean the weak and 
 ignorant alone. What has he done to give this 
 apprehended alarm to those who understand the sub- 
 ject? He has done very little more, than change the 
 style and language of his predecessors, though they 
 have been so fully answered. 
 
 Indeed it could scarcely have been credited, be- 
 fore son'owful conviction had prevented a doubt, that, 
 at this day of light and knowledge, a man could have 
 been found, pretending to any character in the learned 
 world, who would have ventured to talk of the free- 
 dom and boldness of investigations, that were to con- 
 sist wholly of dogmatical assertions on subjects of so 
 great importance, without attempting either argument 
 or proof — and this too, in direct opposition to the un- 
 weariedand successful labours of the most learned men 
 of which the world has ever boasted, in answering and 
 confuting the rational and learned objections of men 
 of knowledge and science, who had, (contrary to our 
 author's pretensions) made the professions and doc- 
 trines of Christians their long and serious study. 
 These have with great abilities arranged and support- 
 ed every objection, that could with any propriety be 
 urged against the Christian system, by arguments and 
 reasons founded on the nature and consequences of 
 
[ 251 ] 
 
 tliat system. Mr. Hartley justly observes, that 
 
 " the true and pure religion of Christ, alone grows 
 more evident and powerful, from every attack that has 
 been made upon it; and converts the bitterness and 
 poison of its adversaries into nourishment for itself, 
 and an universal remedy for the pains and sorrows of a 
 miserable and degenerate world." 
 
 The insuperable vanity and unconquerable pride 
 of our author, must have led him to suppose, that his 
 religious dogma's would prove as successful with the 
 ignorant and credulous multitude, as many of his po- 
 litical heresies have done, merely because they were 
 asserted with a licentious boldness, that refused the 
 aid of proof or reason. 
 
 We agree with his position, that the times and the 
 subject are very important; and, if he pleases, that in- 
 fidelity is gaining ground in every part of the Chris- 
 tian world. Is this to be wondered at, when we find 
 infidels in all corners of the land, using every mean and 
 subtle artifice to poison the minds of the young and 
 uninstructed; taking advantage of a season of political 
 disorder and confusion; and impressing them both by 
 precept and example, with an aversion to search after 
 truth, and a love for every vicious inclination.^ 
 
 But under this distressing view of the subject, we 
 would acquaint our author with one important fact; 
 
 • The observation of Mr. Gibbon, on the scepticism of the pagan 
 world, at the first propagation of Christianity, may be applicable here. — 
 " The contagion of these sceptical writings, had been diiTused far beyond 
 the Kumber of their readers. The fashion of incredulity was communica- 
 tred from the philosopher to the man of pleasure or business ; from the no- 
 ble to the plebian ; and from the master to the menial slave, who waited 
 at his table, and who eagerly listened to the freedom of hi» conversa- 
 tion." — Vol. ii. 355. 
 
[ 252 ] 
 
 that even this truth, in which he seems so confident, 
 with all its melancholy train of evils, is a confirmation 
 of the doctrines he is endeavouring to subvert, and is 
 an additional proof of the divinity of the sacred Scrip- 
 tures ; the evidence in whose favour is increased even 
 by our author himself. 
 
 Hearken to what these divine writings said on this 
 subject, under a prophetic spirit, almost two thousand 
 years ago, when th.e Christian system was in its in- 
 fancy, and under the apparent direction of a few poor, 
 despised, obscure and illiterate fishermen. " Now 
 the Spirit speaketh expressly^ that in the latter times, 
 some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seduc- 
 ing spirits and doctrines of devils, speaking lies in 
 hypocrisy, having their consciences seared as with a 
 hot iron. And there were false prophets among the 
 people; even asthere shall be false teachers among you, 
 v/ho privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even 
 denying the Lord that bought them, and bringing on 
 themselves swift destruction. And many shall fol- 
 loiv their pernicious ways^ by reason of whom the 
 way of truth shall be evil spoken of — whose judgment 
 now of a long time, lingereth not, and their damnation 
 slumbereth not — but chiefly them who walk after the 
 flesh, in the hist of iniclean7iess^ and despise goi^ern- 
 Tiient — presumptuous are they — self-willed, they are 
 not ashamed to speak evil of dignities — but these, as 
 natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, 
 speak evil of things they understand not^ and shall ut- 
 terly perish in their own corruption, and shall receive 
 the reward of unrighteousness. Spots are they, and 
 blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceiv- 
 ings, while they feast with } ou." And again : " This 
 
[ 253 ] 
 
 second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you, in both 
 which, I stir up your pure minds by way of remem- 
 brance, that ye may be mindful of the words which 
 were spoken before by the holy prophet ; and of the 
 commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Sa- 
 viour — knowing this first, that there shall come in the 
 last days, scoffers walking after their own lusts, and 
 saying, where is the promise of his coming." 
 
 As to the consolation that is to be afTorded to the 
 doubting inquirer, it can never arise from any free 
 investigation of the subject by our author ; for, so ftir 
 from attempting to examine into the books called the 
 Old and New-Testament, he acknowledges in page 
 39 of his pamphlet, that he kept no Bible, and that he 
 could not recollect enough of the passages in Job, on 
 which he was descanting, to insert them correctly. 
 
 What idea must this vain man have of his readers, 
 or could he suppose that his own character v.as as 
 great a secret to some of them, as it appears to be to 
 himself. 
 
 He seems confident that m hatever he says, how- 
 ever ridiculous or absurd, will be taken for truth; and 
 that he will be considered as an able investigator of 
 doctrines and truths, of which, in the same breath, 
 he confesses himself ignorant. Surely his advocates 
 and proselytes must have a mean opinion of their own 
 understandings, thus to become the dupes of so vain 
 an imagination. 
 
 But to proceed. He sets out according to his 
 established practice, with asserting a number of pal- 
 pable falsehoods relative to the Bible; and then, con- 
 sidering them as proved facts, he argues against the 
 authenticity of their divine origin. 
 
[ 264 ] 
 
 He declares, without hesitation, " That^ begin- 
 ning 'With Genesis^ and ending 'with the Re'uelationSy 
 ■we are told these books are the word of God ; but who 
 told lis so ; nobody can tell, except that %ve tell one 
 another ^o." 
 
 This extraordinary introduction to his immediate 
 attack on the Bible, containing the Old and New- 
 Testaments, leaves us at a loss to determine, which is 
 with him most predominant, falsehood or ignorance. 
 Conscious of my own fallibility and liableness to 
 error, I am sorry to treat any of my fellow-men, even 
 with a seeming harshness ; but in so important a con- 
 troversy, one in which the essential interests of man- 
 kind are so deeply involved, truth requires plainness 
 without abuse, and clear deductions Vt'ithout decep- 
 tion, or flattering the person of any man. I appeal 
 to the judgment of even the candid enemies of reve- 
 lation, on this charge of wilful perversion of historic 
 truth, contained in the above declaration.* 
 
 Is it not well known to our author, as it is to aU 
 the w^orld, that the Christian church and its advo- 
 cates, for near eighteen hundred years, have unequi- 
 vocally declared the w hole Bible to be the word of 
 God : and that the Jews for twice that period, have 
 published to all mankind, that they consider the Old 
 Testament in the same point of light. 
 
 And can it be possible, after the many judicious 
 and instructive works of the learned in the knowledge 
 of antiquity for so many j'^ears past, added to the in- 
 
 * " A season there is, when inactivity were a crime, and public admo- 
 nitioiv, even at the hazard of personal comforts, rises into indispensible 
 obligation ; to those at least who are desirous that their Master should not 
 be ashamed of them at his second coming." Wakefleld. 
 
[ 255 ] 
 
 variable testimony of a whole nation from its origin to 
 this time, attended with public monuments, rites, 
 feasts, and other memorials of the great events of their 
 religion, with the profession and practice of all deno- 
 minations of Christians, that any man, who calls him- 
 self a philosopher, can with the appearance of truth 
 say, " That nobody can tell who told us that the Bible 
 naas the vjord of God.'''' The charge is not a denial 
 of the Bible being the word of God, but of our know- 
 ledge of the authors who '\vrote and published it as such. 
 That this writer should not understand it — that he 
 should deny the conclutiive nature of the testimony, 
 by which it is said to be proved to be the word of 
 God; and that he should impiously reject its doctrines 
 as not coming from God, though acknowledged by 
 him to be a pure morality, is not at all surprizing 
 with his present temper of mind; but that he should, 
 against such a host of evidence, positively assert, 
 that nobody can tell who originally published the 
 Bible as the word of God ; and has since supported 
 and shown, by irrefragable and convincing arguments, 
 that it is so, is a degree of vain confidence, scarcely 
 credible to any one unacquainted with the personal 
 character and history of our author. 
 
 In stating the history of this business, he falsely 
 charges " the church mythologists, with determining 
 by vote, out of a collection made by them, which of 
 the collection should be the word of God;" and that 
 " it is a matter altogether of uncertainty to us, whe- 
 ther such of the writings as now appear under the 
 name of the Old and New-Testaments, are in the same 
 state in which those collectors say they found them, 
 or whether they added, altered, abridged, or dressed 
 
[ 256 ] 
 
 them up." We have already adduced proof of the 
 falsity of this charge, when applied to the New-Testa- 
 ment. We shall now show it is still more absurd 
 when applied to the Old. 
 
 Our author must have been wholly unacquainted 
 with the evidence adduced in support of the divine 
 authority of the Old- Testament ; and therefore cannot 
 be justified in attempting to shake the faith of the 
 unlearned, and to impose on mankind in general by 
 his presumptuous and positive declaration; for he 
 must have proceeded on principles known to him at 
 the time to be unfounded in truth. 
 
 He could not have been ignorant, that the books 
 of the Old Testament, had been the sacred books of 
 the Jews, and received by them as a divine revelation, 
 and the word of God, for some thousands of years, 
 and that without doubt or dispute. That the Jews are 
 a people more jealously scrupulous of their religious 
 principles, and the facts on which they are founded, 
 than any people on earth; even to the numbering of 
 the lines, words and letters, of the copies of their sa- 
 cred writings. 
 
 " When corruption in worship and manners, and 
 many superstitious usages grew up among the Jews, 
 they were (says Dr. Worthington) obliged to devise 
 an oral law, to be handed down by oral tradition, to 
 countenance those corruptions and innovations, which 
 law they afterwards collected into a body, and com- 
 mitted to writing. But the Misbna had been need- 
 less and superfluous, durst they have incorporated 
 their traditions with the Scriptures. As they have not 
 done this, in a case in which they were most tempted 
 to do it, there is less room to suspect their having 
 
[ 257 ] 
 
 wilfully corrupted them in other respects. So scrii 
 pulously vigilant were the Jews in presenting the 
 Scriptures, that the Masorites numliered not only the 
 sections, but even the words and letters, that no fraud 
 or inadvertency might corrupt the least jota, of wlmt 
 they esteemed so sacred. If a word happened to be al- 
 tered in any copy, it was laid aside as useless, or given 
 to a poor man to teach his children by, on condition it 
 was not brought into the synagogue. The prince was 
 obliged to copy the original exempler of the law, laid 
 up in the sanctuary, with his own hand ; and every 
 Jew was to make it his constant discourse and medi- 
 tation, to teach it to his children, and wear part of it 
 on his hands and forehead."* 
 
 Under these circumstances, there can be no hu- 
 man writings or historic facts handed down to us 
 
 from antiquity, with half the evidence of their truth 
 and certainty. Therefore, when our author asserted, 
 " When the church mythologists established their 
 system, they collected all the writings they could find, 
 and managed them as they pleased," he must have 
 known that he contradicted the clearest and most un- 
 equivocal testimony, that ever was produced in sup- 
 port of any ancient books, yet known to the world. 
 
 " The Jewish synagogues, in all countries, were 
 numerous; wherever the apostles preached they found 
 them; they were established by the directions of the 
 rabbins, in every place where there were ten persons 
 of full age and free condition. Accordingly the jealous 
 care with which the Scriptures were preserved in the 
 tabernacle, and in the temple, was not more calculated 
 
 • Vol. i. 136—1.40. 
 Kk 
 
[ 258 ] 
 
 to secure their integrity, than that reverence which af- 
 terwards displayed itself in the dispersed synagogues, 
 and in the churches consecrated to the Christian 
 faith."* 
 
 The language in which they were written, is a 
 great evidence in their favour, as has been often ob- 
 served by the best authors. It is that of an ancient 
 people, who had but little intercourse with any of their 
 neighbours; and even if they had, they generally spake 
 languages similar to their own; of course, it was not in 
 so gi'eat danger of changing, as modern languages 
 which are mingled together by so many political^ lite- 
 rary^ and commercial relations. 
 
 Yet some changes must have passed between Mo- 
 ses and Malachi, a space of many hundred years. The 
 Biblical Hebrew corresponds to this criterion. The 
 style is too greatly diversified to have been the work of 
 one jew, or any set of cotemporary Jews. If false, 
 there must have been a succession of impostors in 
 different ages, which is altogether inconceivable. The 
 Hebrew language ceased to be spoken as a living lan- 
 guage, soon after the time of the captivity, and there- 
 fore it was impossible to forge any thing in it, after 
 it became a dead language. 
 
 There was no Hebrew grammar till many ages af- 
 ter, and it is impossible to write in a dead language 
 
 • Grey's Key to the Old-Test. 13—16. 
 
 There were thi-ee celebrated universities of Jews in the provinces of 
 Babylon, viz. Nabordia, Pompeditha and Seria, besides several other places 
 famous for learning. Buxtorf's Tib. eh. vi. Ltghtfaot's Harm. 335. 
 
 In Egypt, the Jews had a temple like that of Jerusalem, built by Onias, 
 and continued 343 years, till the reduction of Jerusalem by Titus. 
 
 The Jews at that time, (says the Talmud) were double the number in 
 Egypt, that they were when they left it under Moses. Joseph Antiq. lib. xii. 
 
[ 259 ] 
 
 without a'grammar. All the Jewish Scriptures must, on 
 these principles, have been as old, at least, as the Baby- 
 lonish captivity, and as all could not have been written 
 in the same age, some must have been more ancient. 
 The simplicity of their style ; the delivery of the se- 
 veral narrations and precepts without hesitation; the 
 authority with which the writers instruct the people; 
 are all circumstances peculiar to those who have both 
 a clear knov/ledge of what they deliver, and a perfect 
 integrity of heart. These are sentiments on this sub- 
 ject, collected in substance from the Treatise on 
 Man,* but they are so forcible and conclusive as to 
 enitle them to the full consideration of every reason- 
 able mind.-j- 
 
 How carefully and designedly does our author con- 
 found Jew and Christian, under the general name of 
 church mythologists. He had objected to the Chris- 
 tian revelation, the want of the testimony of the Jews, 
 *' ivbo luere the only siirmijing witnesses of the ori- 
 ginal transactions relating to their religion:'*'' and 
 now, sensible of the weight of Jewish testimony with 
 regard to the Old- Testament, he keeps them out of 
 sight, and seems to suppose their origin to have been 
 that of the church mythologists, whom he sets to vot- 
 
 • Hartley's. 
 
 t It deserves to be remarked, that impostors would probably never 
 have ventured on the many and fearful denunciations which the prophets 
 make against the nation of Israel, for their disobedience to the institutions 
 of God. If they had not proceeded on the authority of a law already es- 
 tablished and held sacred among them, or on the clearest evidences of their 
 •wn sacred character, would not the indignant people have detected th« 
 imposture, rejected their prophetic mission, and spurned from them men 
 *hom they would have considered only as insulting them by their re- 
 proaches and threatcnings, without th« sanction of Heaven ? 
 
[ 260 ] 
 
 ing, which books of a collection made by them, 
 should be the word of God. He may indeed have 
 been so unacquainted with ecclesiastical history, as 
 to have supposed Jew and Christian to have been co- 
 temporary at their origin; or that they were the same 
 church; but if so, he should have been the last man, 
 to have undertaken to write on the subject. 
 
 No one at this day, not even our author, will deny 
 that such a man as Moses did exist; or that he was 
 the great leader and head of the Jewish common- 
 wealth, at their departure from Egypt to the land of 
 Canaan. 
 
 This great people have it among them, handed 
 down from generation to generation, as an indisputa- 
 ble fact, that this Moses was the author or writer of 
 the pentateuch, which contains the first five books of 
 the Old-Testament, and is the foundation and sum of 
 all the rest. 
 
 If by this it is understood, that Moses himself 
 wrote every word and letter, as now found in our Bi- 
 ble, it is not what is asserted. Moses, by command 
 of God, kept an exact register of all the public transac- 
 tions, " ivhich was laid up before the Lord^ under the 
 care of the priests and Lemtes ;'''' and this was con- 
 tinued throughout their generations, as appears from 
 the whole tenor of their history. From this register, 
 as the great source of all their historical facts, their 
 judges, prophets, kings and priests, were to make co- 
 pies for their instruction, to be read in their syna- 
 gogues, and to be the rules of their conduct.* 
 
 * Mr. Hartley supposes the pentaleuch consists of the writings of Moses, 
 put together by Samuel with a very few additions. Samuel also collected 
 Joshua and Judges — he wrote the book of Ruth, with the first part of the 
 
[ 261 ] 
 
 These copies were made out, generally, by the 
 priests and scribes, who were of the Levites, and 
 sometimes by their prophets, as Samuel, Nathan, 
 Gad, Ezra and Nehemiah, who had the chief hand in 
 the government of the people, and that in all ages of 
 the Jewish commonwealth; and this being always 
 done by public authority, a few notes of explanation 
 might have been added from time to time, no ways in- 
 terfering with the original text — such as, " Now the 
 man Moses was very ?neek above all the men upon the 
 face ef the earth. — Anditremaineth there to this day. 
 — ^he place was called Eshcol^ because of the cluster 
 of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from 
 thence. — And again^ the Canaanite was then in the 
 land;'''' together with the accounts of the deaths of 
 Moses and Joshua at the end of the respective books, 
 and the like. But as these were always done under 
 public authority, and by their holiest men, who were 
 prophets under divine inspiration, no injury was ever 
 considered, as done to the integrity of these books, es- 
 pecially as the original was a sacred deposit in the ark 
 of the covenant. Indeed Maimonides, the famous 
 Jewish writer says, that Moses himself wrote out 
 twelve copies of the law, with his own hand, one for 
 each tribe, besides that which was laid up in the side 
 of the ark; and the rabbins teach, that ever}' Jew was 
 obliged to have a copy of the pentateuch by him.* 
 And Ezra and Nehemiah are said to have brought 
 
 book of Samuel, The latter part, and the second hook, were written by- 
 Nathan and Gad. Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah, were collected 
 ani written by Ezra and Nehemiah. Esther by some eminent Jew, perhaps 
 Mordecai. Job is uncertain, &c. 
 
 • Maim. Pro«. in seder: Zeraim, fol.3. Reas. of Christ. 176. 
 
[ 262 ] 
 
 three hundred copies of the law into the congregation 
 assembled, at their return from captivity.* 
 
 It was from this example, perhaps, that the prac- 
 tice among the eastern nations arose, of keeping pub- 
 lic registers of all important transactions. This is 
 mentioned in 2d Esther, xxiii. when Mordecai had 
 saved the king's life: " It was written in the book of 
 the Chronicles, before the king." And in the 6th 
 chap. V. 1, it is said, " That on that night could not 
 the king sleep; and he commanded to bring the booh 
 of records of the Chronicles^ and they were read be- 
 fore the king." 
 
 God expressly enjoined it upon Moses to keep re- 
 cords of what he had commanded him, in 17th Exod. 
 14th ver. when Amalek and his people were beaten, 
 in the first battle that the Israelites had, after leaving 
 
 • Drav. de Trib. liv. iii. chap. i. Reas. of Christ. IT'S. 
 
 There is now no doubt, that Ezra, upon his return from the captivity 
 of Babylon, undertook the settlement of the canon of the Old-Testament, 
 by collecting the inspired books of their prophets into a body, and revising 
 and publishing them in one volunie, as we have them at this day. That af- 
 ter he had finished it, he had it approved by the grand sanhedrim of ths 
 Jewish nation, and published by their authority. Nehemiah, their last 
 (inspired) historian, and Malachi their last prophet, both cotemporaries 
 with Ezra, assisted him in forming this new edition of the Old-Testament. 
 Ezra went further, and compared the several copies then extant together, 
 and corrected all the errors which had crept into them thi-ough the negli- 
 gence or mistakes of transcribers. He changed the old names of severat 
 places that were grown obsolete, and instead of them inserted such nevr 
 ones, as the people were better acquainted with. He filled up the chasms 
 of history, and added in several places, what appeared to be necessary for 
 the illustration, connection and completion of the whole. And lastly, he 
 wrote every book in the Chaldee character, which since the captivity, the 
 people understood much better than the Hebrew. 1 Stack. Hist, of Bib. 
 Introd. 11, Ijfc. 
 
 Ezra was also a prophet and a scribe, ready in the law of Moses — the 
 Jews looked upon him as another Moses — they call him the second founder 
 of the law. Lewis Antiq, Heh. lib. viii 
 
[ 263 ] 
 
 Egypt. " And the Lord said unto Moses, write this 
 for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of 
 Joshua." So when Moses, with the Israehtes, had 
 encamped on Mount Horeb, and the law was given to 
 them, the ten commandments were written by God on 
 two tables of stone, and put into the ark; hence it was 
 called the ark of the covenant — the ark of testimony — 
 and which, together with the rest of the law given at 
 the same time, Moses was to teach the people 
 throughout all their generations. This could not be 
 done, but by making them matter of record, from 
 which copies might be taken, for the instruction of 
 their future generations. 
 
 When Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, with the seventy 
 elders, were ordered to go up to the mountain, Moses 
 left them at the foot of it, and went up alone to speak 
 with the Lord: he returned with the words of the Lord 
 to the people: " then Moses wrote all the words of the 
 Lord, and rose up early in the morning, and builded 
 an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according 
 to the twelve tribes of Israel; and he took the hook of 
 the covenant^ and read it in the audience of the peo- 
 ple."* And after he came down from the mountain 
 with all the commandments of the Lord, and the se- 
 cond pair of tables of stone, he was again commanded 
 to write what he had received — " And the Lord said 
 unto Moses, write thou these words, for after the tc 
 nor of these words, I have made a covenant with thee 
 and with Israel."f And afterwards it is said, " And 
 Moses wrote the law, and delivered it unto the priests 
 the sons of Levi, who bear the ark of the covenant of 
 
 • 24th Exod. 4—7. f 34th Exod. 27, 
 
[ 264 ] 
 
 the Lord, and unto all the elders of Israel."* When 
 Moses recapitulates the several journies of the people 
 in their presence, he says, " That he wrote their go- 
 ings out according to their journeys, by the command- 
 ment of the Lord."! 
 
 Moses not only wrote the book of the law, and put 
 it into the side of the ark, while the two tables of 
 stone were put into the ark itself, but he also " com- 
 manded the priests, and all the elders of Israel, saying, 
 at the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of 
 the year of release in the feast of tabernacles, when all 
 Israel is come to appear before the Lord thy God, in 
 the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this 
 law before all Israel, in their hearing — gather the peo- 
 ple together, men, women and children, and the stran- 
 ger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and 
 that they may learn and fear the Lord your God, and ob- 
 serve to do all the words of this law."J Here is every 
 mark of honest integrity that could have been expect- 
 ed, and every mode of preserving this book unadulte- 
 rated, that publicity could have suggested — and what 
 renders imposition less possible, was the command to 
 " study this book constantly — to bind it for a sign upon 
 their hands, and frontlets between their eyes ; to teach 
 it to their children, speaking of it when they sat in the 
 house, and when they walked by the way, and when 
 they lay down, and when they rose up — to write it 
 upon the door posts of their houses, and upon their 
 gates."l| 
 
 In describing the acts and duties of a king, when 
 the people should thereafter desire one, it is ordered, 
 
 • 31st Deut. 9. t 23d Numb. 2. 
 
 X 31st Deut. 10—13. || 11th Deut. 18—20. 
 
[ 265 ] 
 
 " That when he shall sit upon the throne of his king- 
 dom, he shall write a copy of this law, in a book, out 
 of that which is before the priests and Lemtes^ and 
 it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the 
 days of his life."* So necessary was the knowledge 
 of the law to good government, that it was not only to 
 be kept with religious care by the principal officers of 
 the government, and read in the ears of the people ; 
 but it was essentially necessary that it should be of 
 easy access to the people at large, that they might 
 know and understand it — copying a sufficient number 
 for three millions of people, being not an easy task. 
 Therefore God commanded, that, when the congre- 
 gation should pass over Jordan, where they were to 
 inherit the land and become a great nation; and of 
 course many must live at a great distance from the ta- 
 bernacle, where the book of the law vv^as kept, and 
 read to the people every Sabbath day, " they should 
 set up great stones, and plaster them with plaster; 
 and should write upon the stones, all the words of this 
 law, very plain. "f And afterwards it is commanded, 
 " When all Israel is come to appear before the Lord 
 thy God, in the place which he shall choose, thou 
 shalt read the law before all Israel, in their hearing;" 
 and again he is commanded to write his song and 
 teach it to the people, which he accordingly did 4 
 
 We read throughout the Old-Testament, in al- 
 most every period of the the Jewish state, *' of the law 
 of the book of Moses — the law of the Lord — the book 
 of the covenant — the book of the Cluonicles of the 
 
 • 17th Deut. 18—19. \ 27th Dcut. 2—8. 
 
 X 31st Deut. vcr. 11—19—22. 
 
 ll 
 
[ 266 ] 
 
 kings of Israel — the book of the Chronicles of the 
 kings of Israel and Judah — the book of the Acts of 
 Solomon — the Chronicles of king David — the book of 
 Samuel the Seer— the book of Shemaiah, the pro- 
 phet;" and many others. 
 
 It is expressly recorded in Joshua, that he built an 
 altar, and performed the directions and command- 
 ments as written in the hook of the law of Moses ^ af- 
 ter his passing over Jordan, and taking the cities of 
 Jericho and Ai, by writing on the plastered stones, 
 " A copy of the laiv of Moses ^ which he wrote in the 
 presence of all the people.^"* And when the elders, 
 and officers, and judges, with the people, were placed 
 half over against Mount Gerizim, and half over 
 against Mount Ebal, as had been commanded ; " Jo- 
 shua read all the words of the law^ the blessings and 
 the cursings, according to all that is written in the 
 book of the law; there was not a word of all that Mo- 
 ses commanded^ which Joshua read not before all the 
 congregation of Israel.''''^ And just before Joshua's 
 death, he made a covenant with the people, " and Jo- 
 shua wrote these words in the book of the law 
 of God."t This was all done immediately after the 
 death of Moses, while the whole congregation were 
 complete witnesses of all the transactions related to 
 them. 
 
 In a word, we find Moses commanded by the Lord, 
 to write the law and the commandments, with the go- 
 ings out of the people, and indeed all the public 
 transactions, in a book. We find him actually exe- 
 cuting this commandment, for it is written, " And it 
 
 • 8th Josh. 30. t 24th Josh. 26. 
 
[ 267 ] 
 
 came to pass, when Moses made an end of writing the 
 words of this law in a book until they were finished, 
 that Moses commanded the Levites, which bore the 
 ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying, take this book 
 of the law^ and put it in the side of the ark of the co- 
 venant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for 
 a witness against thee.^'''^ 
 
 In the time of his successor, we find him reading 
 it publickly to all the congregation. Throughout the 
 administration of the judges and reigns of their kings, 
 we find it kept in the temple, while copies are in 
 every principal man's hands, and referred to on every 
 occasion, and usually read in the ears of all the peo • 
 pie, from day to day. 
 
 The judgments of God are constantly said to be 
 inflicted on the nation for not walking after the law of 
 the Lord, as given by Moses the servant of the Lord. 
 In the reign of king Josiah, only 600 years before the 
 Christian sera, the book of the law was found in the 
 house of the Lord, and he read all the words of it to 
 the people, t This is repeated in the times of Ezra and 
 Nehemiah.J 
 
 David appointed certain of the Levites " to mi- 
 nister before the ark of the Lord, atid to record^ and 
 to thank, and to praise the Lord God of Israel." || 
 
 " Josephus asserts, that from the death of Moses to 
 the reign of Artaxerxes, the prophets, who succeeded 
 that legislator, wrote the transactions of their o\mi 
 times. This assertion is confirmed by the sacred 
 writers who mention the names of many prophets, as 
 
 • 31st Deut. 24. \ Kings, chap, xxiii. 2. 
 
 X Jcrem. chap. viii. 8. || 1st Chron. chap. xvi. 4. 
 
[ 268 ] 
 
 having recorded the affairs of the Jewish nations."* 
 It is therefore very probable, that the book of the law, 
 in Moses hand- writing, was preserved, till the return 
 of the captivity from Babylon, besides the copies that 
 were preserved by Daniel, Nehemiah, Ezra, Zecha- 
 riah, and the other prophets, whose inspiration, ability, 
 and kno\Mi integrity, have always been confidently 
 trusted in by the Jewish nation. 
 
 In fine, the Jews as a people universally acknow- 
 ledge the fact, that Moses was the writer of the penta- 
 teuch, and that from his day to the present time — 
 their fasts, feasts, and all their religious services, as 
 well as their ancient and modern historians, all agree, 
 without a dissenting voice, in this account of their sa- 
 cred books. Eben Ezra is said to be a single excep- 
 tion — he lived in the twelfth century, and supposed 
 that the pentateuch, as now in our Bible, was written 
 about the time of the Kings, but he always acknow- 
 ledged their authenticity and divine authority, and that 
 they contained faithful accounts of the transactions of 
 Moses. 
 
 This people, at the time when Moses brought 
 them out of Egjpt, consisted of near three millions of 
 souls. He writes his history, for this very people, 
 from time to time, as the facts happen. In one 
 instance, it is said that he WTOte it the next day. We 
 find him reading his works to the people, as the com^ 
 Viandraents of the Lord^ immediately after the events, 
 when they must have been fresh in every man's me- 
 jnory. His audience were those who accompanied 
 bim out of Egypt, and he relates the several extraor^ 
 
 • An attempt to a version of 12 Minn. Proph. 5 of preface. 
 
[ 269 ] 
 
 dinary and miraculous occurrences, as happening in 
 their presence, and before their eyes. Facts, for the 
 truth of which, not a few special witnesses chosen for 
 the purpose, but the whole congregation were vouch- 
 ers, and vouchers the most authentic, having them- 
 selves, either as actors or spectators, been partakers in 
 them. *' The Lord our God made a covenant witb us 
 in Horeb. — The Lord made not this covenant ivitb 
 our fathers, but witb us, eisen us, w^ho are all of us 
 here alhe this day. — The Lord talked ivitb you, 
 face to face, in the mount, out of the midst of the fire. 
 I stood between the Lord and you at tliat time, to show 
 you the word of the Lord; for ye were afraid by reason 
 of the fire, and went not up into the mount."* And 
 again, " And know ye this day ; for I speak not with 
 your children, which have not known, and which have 
 not seen the chastisement of the Lord your God — his 
 greatness — his mighty hand, and his stretched out 
 arm, and his miracles and his acts which he did in 
 Egypt unto Pharaoh the king, and unto all his land, 
 &,c. &c. 'Qui your eyes have seen all the great acts of 
 the Lord which he did."f Here could be no possible 
 means of deception, neither could any valuable end be 
 answered by it. These great miracles were done be- 
 fore the w hole congregation — every individual passed 
 through the Red Sea — every individual saw the pillar 
 of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night. So 
 many thousands could not have been slain for their 
 disobedience, and so many thousands cured by look- 
 ing to the brazen serpent, without the knowledge of 
 the whole congregation. Their clothes not wearing 
 
 • 5th Deut. 2—6. f 11th Dcut. 2—7. 
 
[ 270 ] 
 
 out, and their shoes continuing for forty years, must 
 have been facts, in which they could not have been de- 
 ceived, and which Moses dared not to have asserted, 
 if they had not been known to be true, by the whole 
 people. The manna* from heaven, and the quails 
 that served them for meat, were in their own nature 
 facts of public notoriety, " equal to the ascending of 
 a balloon^ or the sun at noon-day ^'^ and of which every 
 common man was an adequate judge; and it was impos- 
 sible tohave deceived such a body of men for the space 
 of forty years together. Could the chief priests and 
 scribes for several hundred years have been deceived, 
 respecting some of themanna of the wilderness in their 
 keeping, and laid up in the tabernacle as a standing 
 memorial to future generations of the wonderful 
 works of the Lord in their favour ? 
 
 The supplying of three millions of people in a wil- 
 derness, surrounded by the most savage and inveterate 
 foes; was a task not in the power of mortal man, in 
 Moses's circumstances, without divine and superna- 
 tural aid : yet all will allow, that the Israelites did mi- 
 grate from Egypt to Canaan, and did overcome the 
 inhabitants of the land. 
 
 Let our adversaries seriously consider the difficulty 
 modern governments experience in supplying a few 
 thousand men with food and cloathing, in a most plen- 
 
 • This was not such manna as we are now acquainted with, and is 
 only used in medicine — but it was like a very small round grain, fit for 
 nourishment, and so hard as to be ground in mills or beaten in a mortar — 
 Numb. 9 and 8. Yet it was melted by the sun, bred worms, and stunk if 
 kept over night, except the night before the Sabbath, on which day it ne- 
 ver fell at all — yet, when to be preserved as a standing memorial of the 
 divine mission of their leader, and the supernatural origin of their whole 
 system of government, to the conviction of future generations, it was du- 
 rable as marble. 
 
[ 271 ] 
 
 tiful country, with the advantage of money and friends ; 
 and then say what must have been Moses's fate, witli 
 his numerous hosts, suddenly fleeing from a tyrant, 
 through an inhospitable wilderness, surrounded with 
 warlike and implacable enemies, if he had depended 
 alone on human exertions. Had Moses been a mere 
 adventurer, would he have travelled through the wil- 
 derness, by so circuitous a route, morally certain of 
 being starved to death, and thereby risqued his own 
 life and character, as well as the lives of his people, 
 for no apparent end ; or would he not have taken the 
 shortest way possible, to a land that flowed with milk 
 and honey, and desperately invaded the nations of Ca- 
 naan, as he did after forty years wandering in a wilder- 
 ness? Would any man deserving the character of 
 being the general of so gi'eat an army, and who had 
 designed an imposition on his people, ever jealous and 
 given to insurrection, have told them soon after their 
 entering the A\'ilderness, in order to take the shortest 
 route to the elysium of their hopes, " that only t-ivo 
 of them by name^ should e'uer enter i?ito that happy 
 land^ ivhich he had so often assured them was spe- 
 cially desigfied by heavefi for them ; but that for their 
 spirit of insuiTCction against him their leader, they 
 should wander about and perish in that dismal wilder- 
 ness during a march of forty years," when the promi- 
 sed land was less than the distance of one month's 
 march by the shortest way. 
 
 Could the mountains of Horeb have appeared on 
 fire for forty days, and the people not have been sensi- 
 ble of the fact? Or could they have borne with any de- 
 gree of patience, to have heard Moses, from time to 
 
[ 272 ] 
 
 time, appealing to their personal knowledge, in proof 
 of these miraculous transactions, and upbraiding them 
 with acting contrary to the convictions that these su- 
 pernatural acts of their God should naturally produce; 
 and threatening them with the divine vengeance for 
 their unfaithfulness, if they had not been convinced 
 by their own consciences, that they were strictly true. 
 '* And all the people saw the thunder ings and light- 
 nings^ and the noise of the trumpet^ and the mountain 
 smoking; and when the people saw it, they remoijed 
 and stood afar off ; and they said unto Moses, speak 
 thou with us, and we will hear ; but let not God speak 
 with us, lest we die.^""^ 
 
 Was it possible for the people to have been impo- 
 sed upon, \ihen they were told of the cloud that co^ 
 vered them by day, and the fire that led them by night. 
 " The cloud of the Lordivas upon the tabernacle by 
 day, and fire was on it by flight, in the sight of all the 
 house of Israel, throughout all their journey ings.^^\ 
 " Whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, 
 that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle remaining 
 thereon, the children of Israel abode in their tents, 
 and journeyed not ; but when it was taken up, the)r- 
 journeyed. "J Can it be imagined that this great 
 people were deceived, when they were told that they 
 finally succeeded according to the divine predictions, 
 in conquering the kingdoms of Canaan, driving out 
 the inhabitants before them, passing over Jordan dry 
 shod, and possessing a land flowing with milk and 
 honey; and this all foretold to tlieir great ancestor, 
 hundreds of years before. 
 
 • 20th Exod. 18—19. f 40th Exod. 38. % 9th Numb. 22. 
 
[ 273 ] 
 
 If then the whole nation of the Jews, without ex- 
 ception, from their first founder to this day, received 
 the pentateuch as written by Moses — if they have 
 preserved it with the greatest care — if all the neigh- 
 bouring nations surrounding Judea, have for the same 
 length of time, assented to this fact, and indeed con- 
 firmed it by their conduct, as for instance, Ptolemaeus 
 Philadelphus, king of Egypt, sending to Jerusalem, at 
 a great expense, for a commission of seventy cf their 
 elders to interpret this important book into the Greek 
 language. If all the other books of the Old- Testa- 
 ment have been written by the greatest and best men 
 of this nation, apparently under divine inspiration, as 
 is now more fully proved by the truth of their pro- 
 phetical declarations, and all in a supernatural con- 
 formity with the books of Moses. If public and re- 
 ligious fasts and feasts, with other rites, have been 
 established in commemoration of the leading facts of 
 this history from the earliest times to the present 
 day ; then let me ask in Avhat light must our author 
 be viewed by the judicious reader — or who is he, and 
 from what source has he drawn his extraordinary 
 knowledge, that he should at this day, more than three 
 thousand years since the times of Moses, deny the 
 fact admitted by all nations acquainted ^^ ith the Jew- 
 ish histor}', that the pentateuch was written by him, 
 and published as the commandments and word of 
 God, and that without offering any reasons, but such 
 as have been often substantially and conclusively an- 
 swered and confuted ? 
 
 At this time of day, it would have been sufficient 
 
 o have held up the difficulties attending the language 
 
 in which the Old-Testament was written, as well as 
 
 M m 
 
[ 274 ] 
 
 our ignorance of the particular manners, habits and 
 customs of so ancient a people, as answers to those 
 puerile objections brought by our author; but learned 
 men, both of Jews and Chriftians, have condescended 
 to enter into the merits of the weakest objections of 
 infidel writers, and fully obviated every difficulty. Yet 
 our author, with great self-sufiiciency, and without 
 pretending to be able to read the original, so as to have 
 any knowledge of the peculiar situation of the nation 
 at the time of this history, most arrogantly pronoun- 
 ces, " That ijoe have no other external ei^idence or 
 authority for believmg those books to be the word of 
 God, than the vote of the church mythologists.^^ A 
 very modern Jewish author, of good credit, has ob- 
 served, that " Moses has been the acknowledged aur 
 thor of the pentateuch, (and his laws observed accord- 
 ingl}^) from Moses to Joshua — from him to the time 
 of the Judges — to David and Solomon, and during the 
 existence of the first temple. By those Jews carried 
 captive to Babylon — by those who returned from 
 thence with Ezra; and by those who staid behind in 
 Chaldea, Assyria, and other eastern provinces — by 
 the Jews who have resided from time immemorial in 
 Cochin, and have had no intercourse with any other 
 Jews, till the Dutch went there for trade (within two 
 centuries). By the Jews of Spain, who were carried 
 captive there at the destruction of the first and second 
 temples, and dispersed over the globe. By Josephus 
 -—by the compilers of the Mishna and the Talmud — 
 by that great luminary, Maimonides, who lived in the 
 eleventh century, and who drew up the articles of the 
 Jewish faith; the first of which is on the great degree 
 pf the prophecy of Moses ; the eighth on the belief that 
 
[ 275 ] 
 
 the law is from God; i. e. ive are to belie'ue all the laiv 
 ivbicb we noiv bave, is tbe liery same law given to 
 Moses ^ and tbat he received it all from the mouth of 
 God; the historical part as well as the preceptive; and 
 therefore he is called in Hebrew, a scribe^ because he 
 acted as one, who wrote from the mouth of another; 
 for which reason we seldom or ever find him speaking 
 in his own person, but as one who is copying from a 
 book, or from what another is rehearsing to him."^ 
 To this regular chain of testimony, may be added, 
 that of the Samaritans and Karaites, who w^ere early 
 taught the Jewish religion by priests sent to them by 
 the AlTyrian king, for that purpose. 
 
 Dr. Priestley says, " There can be no doubt but 
 that the canon of the Old-Testament, was the same 
 in the time of our Saviour, as it is now ; nor could it 
 have been corrupted materially after the return of the 
 Jews from the Babylonish captivity, on account of the 
 sect of the Samaritans, which took its rise about that 
 time; for these people professed the same regard to 
 the sacred books with the Jews themselves, and were 
 always at variance with them about the interpretation 
 of the Scriptures. The Samaritan copy of the pen- 
 tateuch is now in our hands, and excepting some 
 numbers, in which the different copies and transla- 
 tions of all ancient writings are peculiai'ly subje6l to 
 vary, and a single text in which Mount Gerizim and 
 Mount Ebal are interchanged, it is the very same with 
 the Jewish copy. Not long after this, the books of 
 the Old-Teftamcnt, beginning \\ ith the pentateuch, 
 were translated into Greek, and dispersed by means of 
 the Jews, into almost every part of the known world. 
 
 • Levi's Answer to Paine. 
 
[ 276 ] 
 
 If we go farther back into the Jewish history, wc 
 shall be unable to pitch upon any time, in which any 
 material chanare in the sacred books could have been 
 attempted with the leaft prospect of success. It was 
 one of the most earnest instructions of Moses himself, 
 that the book of the law, a copy of which was lodged 
 in the ark, should be the subject of constant reading 
 and meditation in every Israelitish family ; and it was 
 expressly appointed that it should be read publickly 
 every seven years, at the feast of tabernacles ; and the 
 Levites who were dispersed through all the twelve 
 tribes, were particularly appointed to study and ex- 
 plain it to the rest of the nation ; and notwithstanding 
 the times of defection and idolatry, they were never 
 entirely without prophets, and even many thousands 
 of others, who continued firm in the worship of the 
 true God, and therefore must have retained their re- 
 gard to the sacred books of the law. 
 
 On the whole, the Jcm s have, no doubt, acted the 
 part of most faithful, and ever scrupulous guardians of 
 their sacred books, for the use of all the world in the 
 times of Christianity. 
 
 After the last of the prophets, Malachi, they ad- 
 mitted no more books into their canon, so as to permit 
 them to be read in their synagogues, though they 
 W'cre written by the most eminent men in their 
 nation ; it being a maxim with them, that no book 
 could be entitled to a place in the canon of Scriptures, 
 unless it was written by a prophet, or a person w^ho 
 had communication with God. 
 
 That the Scriptures of the Old-Testament have 
 not been materially corrupted by the Jews since the 
 promulgation of Christianity, is evident from the 
 
[ 277 ] 
 
 many prophecies still remaining in their Scriptures, 
 concerning the humiliation and sufferings of the Mes- 
 siah, in which the Christians always triumphed, when 
 they disputed with the Jews."* 
 
 Our author proceeds to examine the internal evi- 
 dence contained in the books themselves ; though he 
 has made it pretty clear, that he is as totally un- 
 acquainted with their spirit and meaning, as the abori- 
 gines of North- America — but here, as if at a loss how 
 to begin, he starts oif from his subject, to give us his 
 ideas of revelation, that he may apply them to the 
 books in question. 
 
 He says, " Revelation is a communication of 
 something which the person, to whom that thing is 
 revealed, did not know before. For if I have done a 
 thing, or seen it done, it needs no revelation to tell 
 me I have done it, or seen it, nor to enable me to tell it 
 or to write it — revelation therefore cannot be applied 
 to any thing done upon earth, of which man is of him- 
 self the actor or the witness." This definition is ex- 
 actly characteristic of our author — suffer him to flate 
 positions at his pleasure, and consider them as proved 
 principles or axioms, and put implicit faith in his con- 
 clusions, and he is able to prove any thing, however 
 absurd, that w ill suit his purpose. 
 
 The true idea of revelation, in the scriptural sense, 
 which is the subject of consideration, is, God's mak- 
 ing known himself and his will to mankind, in a 
 special manner, besides what he has made known by 
 the light of nature or reason, from his works of crea- 
 tion and providence. Now this may be done expressly 
 
 • Instit of Nat. and Rev. Rclig 297. 
 
[ 278 ] 
 
 and /positively by an immediate divine communica- 
 tion ; or it may be done by a history of God's dealings 
 with any people, nation, or sect of men, whom he 
 chooses to set forth as a pattern or example to the rest 
 of mankind; attended with rational evidence of God's 
 being the immediate author of such revelation. 
 
 As has before been hinted, when Adam first awoke 
 into existence, and beheld " the fair creation'''* around 
 him, is it supposable that he would have been able, 
 from the powers of his reasoning faculties, to have 
 discovered his various relative duties, without any su- 
 pernatural communications. He must have been con- 
 founded by the sight of every thing around him, being 
 totally ignorant of their nature, properties, uses and 
 qualities. He must have remained ignorant of even 
 the necessities of his nature, and of the common 
 mode of supplying them for a long time, till experi- 
 ence had taught him — every beast of the field must 
 have alarmed him, and every tree of the forest put him 
 in fear — the storm and the tempest must have terrified 
 him with the expectation of immediate dissolution, 
 and the thunder and lightning must have petrified him 
 with horror. A divine communication therefore be- 
 came absolutely and essentially necessary to him; as 
 necessary as his existence, by which alone it could 
 have been supported. 
 
 Even our author admits (page 8) the power of 
 the Almighty, to make such communication if he 
 pleased. 
 
 If then it should thus please him, and he should do 
 it, attended with sufficient evidence to convince the 
 human mind of its being from him, and it should be 
 of such a nature as to relate to the whole human 
 
[ 279 ] 
 
 race, then I presume he will not deny, but acknow- 
 ledge, that every man is obliged, by the laws of his 
 nature, to obey the divine mandate. This then closes 
 the circle, and brmgs the dispute back to its true prin- 
 ciple. Has God given this evidence to mankind, or 
 has he not ? We presume, without assuming too much, 
 that this has fully appeared, so as to convince every 
 honest man. 
 
 It can hardly be imagined, that, when God had 
 tliought proper in his infinite goodness, to make man 
 a rational and immortal being, on purpose to know, 
 love and adore him, and to receive the firs t spring of all 
 his happiness from the contemplation of his being, at- 
 tributes and works, that he should then have left him, 
 in his present state of frailty^ "weakness and igno- 
 rance^ to the mere light of nature, which the experi- 
 ence of almost six thousand years has shown to be 
 wholly insufficient, to keep men even from destroying 
 each other; without affording any other visible tokens 
 of his presence, or communicating any further know- 
 ledge of himself, than might be drawn from ignorant 
 reflections on the stupendous w orks of creation. 
 
 Had tliis been the case, man in his best estate 
 would have been left imperfect indeed; and as a most 
 excellent writer has observed, before me, " without 
 such divine revelation, the case would have been with 
 him, as with one that is born blind; who, whatever 
 other evidence he may have of the being of a God, 
 wants the most convincing of all, that is, the wonders 
 of an Almighty power, and incomprehensible wisdom, 
 conspicuous in the frame of nature, and the visible 
 parts of the creation. Thus in like manner, to what- 
 ever such sense men, who have only reason for their 
 
[ 280 ] 
 
 guide, may attain of the mercy and goodness of God; 
 whatever they may observe in the course of his pro- 
 vidence to confirm them in the behef of it ; whatever 
 hopes they may entertain of it from a general notion 
 of the divine nature ; whatever desire they may have 
 of it, from a sense of their own misery ; yet they want 
 that evidence of it, which alone can satisfy and com- 
 pose their doubtful and distracted minds, and that is, 
 certainty ; or, which is the same thing, revelation ; 
 by which, and nothing less, that certainty is to be ob- 
 tained." 
 
 Without some aid of this kind, and under a full 
 view of the prevalence of natural and moral evil in the 
 world, who could determine whether this world is 
 under the immediate government of the Supreme Be- 
 ing, or not ? Or whether man shall exist after this 
 life ? It is divine revelation alone that hath brought 
 life and immortality to light, with certainty and de- 
 monstration. 
 
 Were not four thousand years of trial, sufficient 
 to convince even infidelity itself? If you look to the 
 people at large, or the common herd of mankind, you 
 behold them sunk in error and superstition — given up 
 to the most irrational and brutal conduct.* If you 
 have recourse to the higher ranks of life, let the most 
 learned and sagacious philosophers of antiquity answer 
 for themselves. 
 
 * " We ha%'e already seen, how various, how loose, and how uncer- 
 tain were the religious sentiments of Polytheists. They were abandoned 
 almost without controul to the natural workings of a superstitious fancy. 
 The accidental circumstances of their life and situation, determined the 
 object as well as the degree of their devotion ; and as long as their adora- 
 tion was successively prostituted to a thousand Deities, it was scarcely 
 possible that their hearts could be susceptible of a very sincere or lively 
 passion for any of them." Gibb. vol. ii. 355. 
 
[ 281 ] 
 
 Cicero, famous throughout the learned world for his 
 inquiries after truth and investigations intohis own na- 
 ture, moral faculties, and future expectations, gives us 
 the sum of all their knowledge, that could be acquired 
 without revelation. In his Tusculan Questions, lib. i. 
 he assures us, when speaking of the soul, " That 
 whether it was mortal or immortal, God only knew." 
 And in the same \vork, *' he devoutly wishes that the 
 immortality of the soul could be proved to him." So 
 that with all his knowledge, and after all his re- 
 searches, he was not able to determine a fact, on 
 which the whole happiness of the rational creature for 
 time and eternity, must depend. It was this uncer- 
 tainty about divine things, that led him " to allow 
 men to continue in the idolatry of their ancestors, and 
 to conform themselves to the religion of their coun- 
 try, in oifering such sacrifices to different Gods, as 
 were by law established."* 
 
 And again, in his Treatise of the nature of the 
 Gods, he says, " As many things in philosophy are 
 not sufficiently cleai', so the question concerning the 
 nature of the Gods, which is in itself the most interest- 
 ing and necessary for the regulation of religion, is at- 
 tended with peculiar difficulty. And so various and 
 discordant are the opinions of the most learned, on this 
 subject, that it affiards a good argument for the acade- 
 mies, to withhold their ^assent to propositions that 
 are uncertain, and to maintain that ignorance is the 
 
 foundation of philosophy" " with respect to the 
 
 question, the greater part held, ijohat is most probable^ 
 viz. that there are Gods. But Protagoras doubted of 
 
 • Cicero de Lag. lib. ii. 
 
 N n 
 
[ 282 ] 
 
 it, and Diagoras of Melos, and Theodorus of Cyrene, 
 held that there are none: and of those that supposed 
 there are Gods, their opinions are so various, that it is 
 difficult to enumerate them." 
 
 Plutarch, in speaking of superstition, in his tract on 
 that subject, says, " Men were not at first made athe- 
 ists, by any fault they found in the Heavens, or stars, 
 or seasons of the year, or in those revolutions or mo- 
 tions of the sun about the earth, that make the day 
 and night; nor yet by observing any mistake or dis- 
 order, either in the breeding of animals, or in the pro- 
 duction of fruits. No ; it was the uncouth actions and 
 senseless passions of superstition, her canting words, 
 her foolish gestures, her charms, her magick, her 
 freakish processions, her tabourings, her foul expia- 
 tions, her vile methods of purgation, and her barba- 
 rous and inhuman penances and bemirings at the tem- 
 ples. It was these, I say, that gave occasion to many 
 to affirm it Avould be far happier, if there were no Gods 
 at all, than such as are pleased with such fantastical 
 toys ; who thus abuse their votaries, and are incensed 
 and pacified with trifles." 
 
 Gibbon, speaking of some of the most able of the 
 heathen philosophers, having, from the nature of the 
 soul, deduced an arg-ument of its immortality, and also 
 its past eternity, says, " A doctrine thus removed 
 beyond the senses and the experience of mankind, 
 mightserve to amuse the leisure of a philosophic mind; 
 or in the silence of solitude, it might sometimes im- 
 part a ray of comfort to desponding virtue, but the 
 faint impression which had been received in the 
 schools, w^as soon obliterated by the commerce and 
 business of active life. We are sufficiently acquaint- 
 
[ 283 ] 
 
 ed with the eminent persons who flourished in the age 
 of Cicero and of the first Caesars; with their actions, 
 their characters, and their motives, to be assured that 
 their conduct in this Hfe was never regulated by any 
 serious conviction of the rewards or punishments of 
 a future state. At the bar and in the senate of Rome, 
 the ablest orators were not apprehensive of giving of- 
 fence to their hearers, by exposing that doctrine as an 
 idle and extravagant opinion, which was rejected 
 with contempt by every man of a liberal education 
 and understanding."* 
 
 Examine the laws of Lycurgus, so famous 
 throughout the heathen world. Did he not establish, 
 in some measure, a community of wives, or some- 
 thing very much like it. His practice of obhging 
 the youth of both sexes to exercise in the most active 
 and violent games, undressed and in a state of nature, 
 without regard to the natural modesty of the sex, and 
 against every principle of even natural religion, is a 
 reproach to human nature. 
 
 The best of the heathen sages knew nothing of 
 the love of God to man — of his grace to repenting 
 sinners, and the divine aid yielded to him for his at- 
 taining to and persevering in virtue and holiness of 
 life — God's hatred to sin, and the absolute necessity 
 of holiness and purity of heart, to those who are to 
 become heirs of a happy immortality, \v'ere doctrines 
 wholly unknown to the learned heathen — although 
 they had some confused notion of a future state, yet it 
 was such as consisted merely in a vain imagination 
 concerning shades and spectres; the resurrection of 
 
 ♦ VJd. Cicero dvo Cluont ch. CI — ;d Gihb. 295. 
 
[ 284 ] 
 
 the body never once entered their thoughts. It was 
 reserved for revelation alone to make knovi^n the great 
 things of another and better world, as well as to ex- 
 plain the otherwise difficult enigma of this. 
 
 The great apostle Paul takes notice of the insuffi- 
 ciency of human wisdom, when he says, " For after 
 that, (or since) in the wisdom of God, the world by 
 w isdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolish^ 
 ness (or simplicity) of preaching, to save them who 
 believe."* 
 
 Our author will, I doubt not, readily hearken to 
 Mr. Gibbon, whom we have already quoted, as a wit- 
 ness not suspected of an unfair bias towards revela- 
 tion. Speaking of the decline of the Pagan religion, 
 about the fourth century, he says, " Some Deities of 
 a more recent and fashionable cast might soon have 
 occupied the deserted temples of Jupiter and Apollo, 
 if in the decishe moment the wisdom of Providence 
 had not interposed a genuine revelation^ fitted to in- 
 spire the most rational esteem and conmction^ whilst 
 at the same time it was adorned with all that could at- 
 tract the curiosity, the wonder, and the veneration of 
 the people."! 
 
 Let our author himself become a witness of the in- 
 sufficiency of the revelation he speaks of, and confine 
 himself to " He has seen the fair creation — a "world 
 furnished to our hands ^ that cost us nothifig. He has 
 seen the sun that is lighted up by the power of the 
 Creator^ and he has been blessed by the rain poured 
 down by the same Almighty handy What, let me 
 ask him, have been the returns he has made to the 
 
 * la Cor. chap. i. 21. f Gibb. 2d Vol. ■2>T5. 
 
[ 285 ] 
 
 great author of these mercies; or how have his gross 
 feelings been exercised towards his beneficent Crea- 
 tor ? Has a hfe of forgetfulness of God, immorality 
 of conduct, an abuse of the mercies of God, and a dis- 
 regard to laws human and divine, discovered that all 
 this mighty light of nature, has led him in gratitude 
 and admiration to adore and love the great First Cause 
 of all his mercies? — Let him put his hand on his 
 heart, and answer as in the presence of God for him- 
 self. 
 
 But if we turn fi-om a few individuals, of professed 
 learning and deep investigation, to the people at large 
 of every nation and language in the heathen world, 
 who enjoyed all the benefits and advantages of our au- 
 thor's word of God in the creation, and to whom he 
 asserts, " The way to God was equally open," what 
 opinion can we form of their morals from their prac- 
 tices ? Do we not find them encouraging a spirit of re- 
 venge — commending suicide as a virtue — recom- 
 mending fornication as a proper remedy against a 
 greater evil — asserting the expediency of men having 
 their wives in common — teaching the lawfulness of 
 unnatural incest and lust. The Cynics laying aside 
 all natural restraints of shame and modesty — the 
 Stoics encouraging the most filthy and obscene lan- 
 guage, so that their own philosophers could not help 
 observing, " That the most notorious vices were 
 screened under the name of philosophy ; and that they 
 did not labour to maintain the characters of philoso- 
 phers by virtue and study, but concealed very vicious 
 lives under an austere look, and an habit different 
 from the rest of the world. "^- 
 
 • Quintil. Just. lib. i. pref. 
 
[ 286 ] 
 
 Consonant to this is the representation in the 14th 
 chap. Wisdom of Solomon, 23d ver. and onwards-«- 
 " For while they slew their children in sacrifices, or 
 used secret ceremonies, or made revellings of strange 
 lights; they kept neither lives, nor marriages unde- 
 filed any longer; but either one slew another traiter- 
 ously, or grieved him by adultery. So that there 
 reigned in all men without exception, blood, man- 
 slaughter, theft, dissimulation, corruption, unfaithful- 
 ness, tumults, perjury, disquieting of good men, for- 
 getfulness of good turns, defiling of souls, changing of 
 kind (or sex), disorder in marriages, adultery and 
 shameless uncleanness. For the worshipping of idols 
 (not to be named) is the beginning, the cause, and the 
 end of all evil." 
 
 And Dr. Priestly justly observes, " Without reve- 
 lation the degree of reason that God has thought pro- 
 per to give to man, is so far from being sufficient for 
 his moral instruction, that the most intelligent of the 
 heathens, those who thought and reflected the most, 
 as we may judge by their refinement in metaphysics, 
 mytliology and theology, as the Egyptians, Greeks, 
 and Hindoos, have erred the most widely, having 
 given into more absurd superstitions, than the most 
 stupid of mankind."* 
 
 But let us attend to the character of Moses, the 
 writer of these books, as it is acknowledged that a 
 revelation said to come from God, is a mark of favour 
 and respect to the persons who are made the instru- 
 ments of communication. Such revelation should be 
 supported — by the personal conduct or the 
 
 * Priestley's Corrupt. 272. 
 
[ 287 ] 
 
 FERSON TO WHOM MADE THE SUBJECT MATTER 
 
 OF THE REVELATION AND THE ATTESTATIONS 
 
 ATTENDING IT IN CONFIRMATION OF THE TRUTH. 
 
 As to the first, that there was such a person as 
 Moses, who was a Hebrew, brought up at Pharaoh's 
 court; a very wise man — and the great leader of the 
 people of Israel, is a fact already shown, and so well 
 established by historians of all characters, that even 
 our author condescends to acknowledge and con- 
 firm it. 
 
 Moses is also taken notice of, as the founder of 
 the Jewish nation, after leading the Hebrews, to the 
 number of near thiee millions of souls, from Egypt to 
 the land of Canaan, in a very extraordinary manner. 
 His personal character seems to answer every par- 
 ticular that might be expected from a person favoured 
 by the Supreme Being with extraordinary and super- 
 natural communications. 
 
 It is agreed on all hands, that the court at which 
 he was educated, was the most learned and polite of 
 all the then nations of the earth. That he was in- 
 structed in all the learning of the Egyptians, who 
 were then considered as the chief depositaries of all 
 religion. That he was remarkable for his meekness, 
 temperance, and justice. 
 
 He was in a special manner attached to the service 
 of one great Almighty Being, and an irreconcileable 
 enemy to every species of idolatry. He declared and 
 taught openly and explicitly, that he was sent of God; 
 and he appealed to the many miracles that he wrought 
 publickly before the whole Egyptian court, for the 
 truth of that mission. That the institutions of divine 
 worship, which he enjoined on his countrymen, were 
 
[ 288 ] 
 
 not of his own devising, but that he received them 
 from God, who had given his people visible and sen- 
 sible manifestations of his divine presence at the time. 
 Of course all his conduct was both moral and reli- 
 gious ; and during the long and severe trial of forty 
 years, he was acknowledged by that numerous and 
 discontented people, as blameless. 
 
 Neither in his doctrines or ceremonies did he aim 
 at his own aggrandisement or advantage ; but he pre- 
 ferred his brother, when singled out bimself by God, 
 as a special messenger to Pharaoh. 
 
 When establishing a permanent priesthood, the 
 chief of which was to be clothed M^ith more than 
 royal power and dignity, he prefers his brother Aaron 
 and his family, notwithstanding his unworthy beha- 
 viour in the case of the golden cslM, passing by bis own 
 family. And when declining in years, and in the 
 prospect of sudden death, though in sight of the pro- 
 mised land, he nominates as his successor, Joshua, the 
 son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim ; passing by his 
 two sons and his own tribe, for whom he makes no 
 public provision. 
 
 Throughout his whole history, he not only does 
 not hesitate to record his personal errors and mis- 
 takes, but gives a correct account even of his crimes, 
 and the divine displeasure, and the punishment of 
 them. He records the opposition of his brother — the 
 revolt of Aaron's sons, with their destruction and that 
 of their families. 
 
 His whole life manifested the most exemplary 
 piety towards God; and, though under the most trying 
 circumstances, the purest justice and strictest impar- 
 tiality to those whom he governed. 
 
[ 289 ] 
 
 2dly. The subject matter of the reiiclation. It 
 was in all respects worthy the majesty of a God to im- 
 part and the necessities of man to receive. 
 
 The state of the Avorld, by reason of the preva- 
 lence of idolatry and a total perversion of all former di- 
 vine revelations, whether immediate and personal, or 
 by the works of creation and providence, was most 
 deplorable. 
 
 The one only living and true God was not known 
 or acknowledged, except by a few individuals here 
 and there scattered through the v/orld. Mankind, to 
 speak in general terms, were overwhelmed in the 
 most superstitious idolatry, and devoted to practises 
 of the most wicked and immoral tendency. They had 
 lost sight of every true principle of conduct towards 
 their great Creator, and were at a loss how to estab- 
 lish any general rule of moral obligation, whereby 
 men might be led to perform their duty to God or 
 their neighbour. 
 
 The amazing number of gods and demi gods, who 
 were made objects of solemn worship, totally des- 
 troyed all rational ideas of the real great first cause of 
 all things, who ought to have been the sole object of 
 all divine honor. Some distant idea may be formed 
 of the awful situation to which men were reduced at 
 the time of Moses's mission, from a contemplation of 
 the character and conduct of the author of the Age of 
 Reason and his cotemporaries at this day of light and 
 knowledge, who pretend to substitute, what they call 
 the w orship of nature and reason, and other unintelli- 
 gible jargon of the like kind; instead of him who 
 liveth for ever and ever. 
 
 o 
 
[ 290 ] 
 
 In this state of the world, what could be more 
 worthy of God, than a revelation of himself — the 
 being that is — the self-existent being — I am that I 
 am? of the origin of the world in which we live, and 
 of the beginning of the creation of God ? — Of the 
 first state of man at his formation? — -his pmity, inno- 
 cence and state of perfect happiness? — of his inter- 
 course with his creator ? — Of his general knowledge 
 of, and dominion over other parts of the creation ? of 
 the obligations laid upon him, enjoining obedience to 
 the will of his creator, with the worship and homage 
 that he required from his creatures ? — Of the fall of 
 man? his penitence? expulsion from Paradise, the 
 seat of innocence and happiness ? and of the sad 
 and deplorable consequence of the first transgression, 
 all naturally and evidently flowing from so awful a 
 breach of his duty ? 
 
 Then follows what could never have entered into 
 the human mind to have conceived of, without a 
 divine revelation — an account of that door of hope, 
 opened to our despairing first parents, in the redemp- 
 tion of their otherwise hopeless race, by a saviour 
 *' who should bruise the serpent's head, while the ser- 
 pent should only bite his heel'\ 
 
 What was there in nature to have dictated a 
 scheme of this kind, or by what means should man by 
 his natural faculties, have ever conceived so wonder- 
 ful a plan for the restoration of his sinful posterity? 
 This first suggestion, was the sure foundation of a 
 glorious system, that has grown brighter and brighter 
 through every age of the world, and will so continue 
 to the end of it, or rather through the immeasurable 
 space of eternity. It was the great fact, that should 
 
[ 291 ] 
 
 run, like the web through the woof, and appear in 
 every transaction of the governor of the world tov/ards 
 his fallen creatures through every age, both in his natu- 
 ral and moral government. " This history expresses 
 an a\\4ul and amiable sense of the Divine Being, our 
 creator and judge : shows the heinousness of sin, and 
 mortifies us to this world, by declaring that our pas- 
 sage through it must be attended with labour and 
 sorrow. We find ourselves accordingly, in this state 
 — revealed religion did not bring us into it; nor is 
 this state, an objection to revealed religion, more than 
 to natural, if any such can be shown. Revealed reli- 
 gion goes a step higher than that which is termed 
 natural, and shows the immediate secondary causes, 
 viz. the sin and wilful disobedience of our first pa- 
 rents. And when the account of Paradise — -man's 
 expulsion therefrom — and of the curse passed upon 
 him in Genesis; are compared with the removal of 
 that curse, of sorrow^ crying, pain and death — with 
 the renovation of all things, and man's restoration to 
 the tree of life and the paradise of God, and his ad- 
 mission to the new Jerusalem in the last chapter of the 
 Revelation, hope and fear quicken each other, and 
 both conspire to purify the mind, and to advance the 
 great design, considered as to its unity. "^ 
 
 Here was a revelation of the divine intentions, 
 concerning the children of men during their whole 
 existence, which I muft again repeat never did or 
 could have entered into the mind of man to have con- 
 ceived of, v/ithout supernatural aid. Many have been 
 the schemes and plans of priefts and philosophers, to 
 
[ 292 ] 
 
 establish religion and government among men, but no 
 such idea had ever been formed, but what has arisen 
 from the fource declared by Moses. " He plainly di- 
 vulged the mind of God with regard to his public ser- 
 vice — all the common practises of life were consecra- 
 ted by a divine command, and so became acts of 
 religious obedience. 
 
 The external worship was loaded with a great va- 
 ri€ty of rites and ordinances, which, when practised 
 in the true spirit of their institution, became a sort of 
 continual prayer — their abstinencies a daily mortifi- 
 cation — their ablutions and purifications, symbols of 
 that perfect purity of heart, necessary to prepare us 
 for the divine union — the daily, weekly, monthly, 
 and annual feasts and sacrifices, were emblems and 
 figures, either of the great victim to be offered up for 
 the sins of the world, or of the internal sacrifice of the 
 passions, sensual desires, or spiritual vices, which 
 must be mortified and destroyed e'er we can be re- 
 united to our first principle. 
 
 In short, Moses's w^hole design, (if he is barely 
 considered as a legislator) was, to form a nation of 
 true adorers of the Supreme God, that should destroy 
 idolatry, enlighten the world, subject all nations to the 
 empire of the Most High, and to make them at once 
 happy and virtuous, wise and religious."* 
 
 To accomplish this, a divine revelation was abso- 
 lutely necessary, for the very reason that the apostle 
 John has expressly assigned. " No man hath seen 
 God at any time ; the only begotten Son, who is in 
 the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. ^^■\ 
 
 * Pliilos. Piincip. f 1st John, 18th ver. 
 
[ 293 ] 
 
 The ten commandments are worthy of God him- 
 self, and the moral precepts of the Pentateuch are 
 of the most excellent and beneficial kind: " The 
 poor, the widow and the orphan are bountifully pro- 
 vided for by a number of laws, or by counsel equivalent 
 to laws, repeated so often, and inforced with so persua- 
 sive arguments, that they could not fail of producing 
 the intended eifects; they give us a most favourable 
 idea of the benevolence and philanthropy of the 
 lawgiver. Brotherly love and good neighbourhood 
 are enjoined or recommended in the strongest terms. 
 The interest of one's neighbour must be one's own: 
 his land-marks must not be removed; his strayed 
 cattle must be kept and restored; his fallen beast of 
 burden must be helped up; his deposits must be 
 faithfully returned, and what hath been stolen from 
 him, be repaid with indemnification. To a native 
 and even a sojourner, one must lend without demand- 
 ing interest, and if a pledge be required, it must be 
 such as the borrower can give without great inconve- 
 nience. The mercenary is to receive his hire on 
 the day he earns it. Even the slave who has served 
 his time, is not to be dismissed empty handed.... No 
 one is to be oppressed, or hardly dealt with." * 
 
 We now proceed to the last test of a revelation 
 coming from God, viz. *' the attestations attending 
 ity in confirmation of its truth.'''' 
 
 As mankind were essentially interested in this all 
 important re\ elation, it was not left, for its authenti- 
 city to the moral character, religious practises, or 
 public authority of Moses. His communi'.atlons to 
 
 • CedJcS; prcf. xxi. 
 
[ 294 ] 
 
 the Jewish people were attended with such evident 
 marks of the divine power and wisdom, as convinced 
 even the hard and obstinate heart of Pharaoh, though 
 the sovereign of the most powerful and enhghtened 
 nation on earth, and that not merely as to his own 
 speculative opinion; but so as to found an important 
 act of government on it, contrary to his former most 
 solemn and resolute determinations, not to part with 
 three millions of laborious and useful subjects, on 
 whom he greatly depended, for the perfecting those 
 immense works of art and curiosity, which he had 
 contemplated as the means of handing down his cha- 
 racter, with eclat, to posterity. Moses proved his 
 supernatural mission by prodigies which surpass the 
 force and power of human nature, and were peculi- 
 arly adapted to the idolatry and prejudices of that 
 comitry. They were public, universal as to that 
 and the neighbouring nations, and of such a kind, 
 that they could not be impostures, or the delusion 
 of the senses. The consequences that attended them, 
 particularly the deliverance of so great a body of 
 defenceless people, from so mighty and powerful a 
 tyrant, without force, are convincing proofs of their 
 reality and truth. Monuments were erected and 
 feasts instituted from the time in which they were 
 wrought, to perpetuate the remembrance of them, 
 and render their veracity unsuspected to all genera- 
 tions : add to this that they were testified by millions 
 of living witnesses. 
 
 Moses's mission and character were also confirm- 
 ed by miracles and prophetic declarations to the peo- 
 ple, which were to take place after his death; and 
 accordingly some of them continued during the 
 
[ 295 ] 
 
 whole time of this people possessing a government of 
 their own, and while they conformed themselves to 
 their laws and religious polity, as standing and uncon- 
 trovertible proofs of his divine and prophetic au- 
 thority. Among an hundred, I will confine myself 
 (beside the manna in the temple) to two instances 
 only. While in the wilderness, and before they had 
 succeeded in taking possession of the promised land, 
 with all the certainty of the event as if it had already 
 happened, Moses gives them precise rules for their 
 conduct, when they should inherit the land according 
 to his words; and among others, " that thrice in the 
 year all their males should appear before the Lord, the 
 God of Israel ; for," says he, " (in the name of God) I 
 will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy 
 borders; neither shall any man desire thy land., v)hen 
 thou shalt go up to appear before the Lord thy God., 
 thrice in the year. ''''^ 
 
 Here then was a prophetic declaration, of a mira- 
 cle to exist for hundreds of years, on which no man 
 above an ideot would ever have risqued his reputa- 
 tion and the existence of his people, without the ful- 
 lest assurance of his divine authority. The issue fully 
 proved the certainty of his dependance, and for many 
 hundred years die facts turned out as he had promised 
 them; for during their continuance in a faithful sub- 
 mission to their laws and ordinances, it was never 
 known, that an enemy ever invaded their territory, 
 while their males were thus gone up to Jerusalem, to 
 appear before the Lord; yet it is as well known, that 
 they were surrounded by the most bitter, savage, and 
 
 • Exod. 34th chap. 23—24. 
 
[ 296 ] 
 
 revengeful nations, v/ho took every other opportunity 
 to destroy and oppress them. ' 
 
 The next instance is that of the seventh or sabba- 
 tical year, during which, as Moses commanded while 
 yet in the wilderness, their land was to be at rest, they 
 were neither to plough, sow nor reap: " And if ye 
 shall say what shall we eat the seventh year ? behold 
 we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase — then 
 will I command my blessing upon you in the sixth 
 year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years: and 
 yc shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit 
 until the ninth year ; until her fruits come in, ye shall 
 eat of the old store."* 
 
 Here is another prophetic declaration of a miracle, 
 which never could have been ventured upon, by any 
 rational creature, who was not a vain enthusiast, had 
 he not been certain of the promise coming from him, 
 whose Almighty power was equal to the performance 
 of whatever he promised, however difficult. The his- 
 tory of this people proves, that this was fully verified, 
 and it continued a repeated confirmation of the divine 
 origin of their national institutions, every seventh 
 year, and left this stiff-necked people without excuse, 
 in all their obstinate deviations from the path of duty, 
 and rendered them justly hable to the severe punish- 
 ment, which at the same time was threatened, and af- 
 terwards strictly executed upon them. 
 
 In this part of the proof of the divine mission of 
 Moses, deception was impossible. He was not pre • 
 sent to work upon their hopes or fears. He was dead, 
 as were the whole body of the congregation, over 
 
 * 25th Levit. 20—22. 
 
I. 297 ] 
 
 whom he had any influence, and who had been per 
 sonally acquainted with him; It was not a single event 
 in which the people might have been deceived and 
 imposed upon by their enthusiasm or credulity. It 
 was not an event, in the first instance, favourable to 
 their interest. They \vere to- risque their whole crops 
 for two years, and in that their very existence as a peo- 
 ple; for if they were deceived or mistaken, nothing 
 short of famJne stared them in the face. They were 
 very frequently engaged in wars with their neigh- 
 bours, they were therefore doubly exposed. Had 
 they doubted the truth of the prediction, they never 
 could have acted so absurd and irrational a part, as to 
 have risqued famine and pestilence on a doubtful 
 event. Yet in all their history for a thousand years, 
 there is no instance of their having reason to repent 
 their faith and confidence, in the divine mission of 
 their leader. 
 
 Our author, in the case of the resurrection, calls 
 for public, ocular and universal demonstration, or he 
 will not believe. Is there not in the case of Moses, the 
 fullest demonstration, under every idea that he de- 
 mands it, except that of the revelation being made 
 personally to himself; and yet, is he convinced of the 
 truth by this conclusive testimony ? Or do we not still 
 find him not only denying Moses to be the author or 
 writer of these invaluable books, but also ridiculing 
 every idea of their divine original? 
 
 When Moses was first honoured by the divine pre- 
 sence as a preparative to his being sent to Pharaoh, it 
 was sufficient that Moses alone should be convinced of 
 the truth of the revelation of the divine will; hence the 
 miraculous burning of the bush, without being con- 
 
 pp 
 
[ 298 ] 
 
 Slimed; and the voice of God therefrom, went no far- 
 ther than his own conviction ; and had the evidence 
 ended here, no one but Moses would have been bound 
 to beUeve. Our blessed Saviour himself confirms 
 this conclusion, by saying to the Jews, " Had I not 
 done among you, the works which no other man ever 
 did, ye had not had sin" — that is, if I had not given 
 you evidence of my coming from God, sufficient to 
 convince the human mind, you would not have been to 
 blame for not believing. But when Moses was sent, 
 first to his own people, and afterwards to Pharaoh, in 
 the name of God, the evidence was equal to the nature 
 of the mission 
 
 Moses, conscious of his own insufficiency, and the 
 difficulty of requiring thebelief of his nation, without 
 full evidence of his mission, said to God, " But behold 
 they will not believe me nor hearken unto my voice ; for 
 they will say, the Lord hath not appeared unto thee." 
 This was rational and proper — God therefore enabled 
 him to prove his mission to them, by casting his 
 rod on the ground, and it became a serpent, and by 
 taking it again, it became a rod, " that they may be- 
 lieve that the Lord God of their fathers hath appeared 
 unto thee." And if this did not work a full conviction, 
 then he was empowered to perform two other miracles, 
 that could not be doubted.* 
 
 Pharaoh being the head and governor of a nation, 
 the request to let so large a body of the people leave 
 the kingdom at once, was of a more public nature. He 
 ought not to have consented, but upon full, public and 
 convincing testimony, that the demand was made by 
 
 • 4th chap. Exod. let to 10th. 
 
[ 299 ] 
 
 divme authority. And though he received this, yet 
 he hardened his heart, and rejected the full testimony 
 at first afforded him, till by the repetition of them, they 
 became his severest punishment. The miraculous 
 plagues brought on the court and people of Egypt pre- 
 vious to their conviction, and the consequent depar- 
 ture of the Hebrews from that house of bondage, need 
 not here be repeated. No one who reads the 
 account, will doubt of the publicity, universality, and 
 unequivocal nature of the testimony. 
 
 They were at last suffered to depart for a few days 
 to worship God in the wilderness : but they were no 
 sooner gone, than the Egyptians, with Pharaoh at 
 their head, finding by their manner of going, that 
 they did not mean to return, and knowing that they 
 carried with them much property given to them, 
 under a violent paroxism of fear, repented of their con- 
 cession, and determined without delay to pursue, 
 overtake, and bring them back. 
 
 It now became necessary, that Moses should be 
 able to show more expressly to the multitude of the 
 people at large, some plain and certain evidence of his 
 divine authority, suited to their then peculiar circum- 
 stances, and which should so operate on the whole 
 congregation, as to leave no doubt, but that they were 
 acting in what they did, by the commandment of 
 heaven. 
 
 The Eg}'^ptian king was a mighty monarch, and 
 had at his command a numerous army, with which 
 the Hebrews could not pretend to combat. 
 
 Nothing short of the interposing power of Omni- 
 potence could save them. Here was no possibility of 
 deception; no eloquence, no magical art, no intrigues, 
 
[ 300 ] 
 
 could now avail against an incensed tyrant, raging with 
 malicious fury against an unarmed people, who were 
 trying to escape by flight from his power. 
 
 The Red Sea is in their front, without any artificial 
 mode of passing it; and a haughty and powerful 
 enemy in their rear — three millions of souls, men, 
 women and children — no provisions laid up for any 
 length of time — no arms in their hands, or means of 
 defence in their power, equal to their necessities. 
 To God alone, through the mediation of Moses, the 
 great type of him that was to come, could they look. 
 Now was the time to try their faith and constancy — if 
 they had been deceived by an impostor, or had they 
 too credulously believed, without a certainty of Mo- 
 ses's supernatural power, they now stood on the brink 
 of i^etrie^'able destruction. But as it is often the 
 case with the children of God, in the moment of dan- 
 ger, they found a glorious deliverance. Behold, the 
 fiery cloud changing its position from front to rear — 
 and while it affords a perfect light to the Hebrews in 
 advance, is total darkness to the Eg} ptians pursuing 
 in the rear. 
 
 At a stroke of Moses's rod, the billows cease to 
 roll — the waters separate, and a passage on dry ground 
 is opened for their escape into the wilderness; which 
 passage, whilst it proves their salvation, becomes a 
 snare and immediate destruction to Pharaoh and his 
 host. " And Moses stretched out his hand over the 
 sea, and the Lord caused the sea to go back by means 
 of a strong south wind,* (as it is in the Septuagint, 
 
 * Both the Alexandrian and the Vatican copies of thepentateuch, agree 
 that it was a south wind — this wind sweeping along the eastern coast of 
 Vfiica and Arabia foelix, and driving the waters of the ocean back from 
 
[ 301 ] 
 
 and should be rendered) all that night, and made the 
 sea dry land, and divided the waters — and the Egyp- 
 tians pursued and went after them into the midst of 
 the sea — and Moses stretched forth his hand upon the 
 sea, and the sea returned to its strength early in the 
 morning, and the Egyptians fled against it, and the 
 Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the 
 sea."* 
 
 This miraculous deliverance could not be ideal — 
 it was not done in secret — it was not done " in the 
 presence of eight or niiie witJiesses^ as proxies for the 
 ivhole worldy The facts, in Mr. Paine's own words, 
 *' admitted of public and ocular demonstration^ like 
 the sun at noon-day.'''' This demonstration was given, 
 and every individual man, woman, and child, (capable 
 of knowledge) who passed through the sea, and found 
 themselves the next morning safe on dry land, while 
 they beheld their enemies perishing in the waters, 
 now closing on all sides of them, were, with the 
 whole Egyptian people, witnesses for Moses that he 
 was sent of God. 
 
 the mouth of the Straits of Bubelmandel towards the Persian Gulph, 
 would naturally, in consequence of the projecting coast of Adel and Cape 
 Guardafuj, draw ofiF the waters of the Red Sea, and lower them greatly, 
 and especially if such wind, co-operated with a strong ebbing tide from the 
 coast of Arabia, as was most probably the case. In consequence of these 
 two circumstances conspiring together, all the shoals and banks of the Red 
 Sea would be left bare ; and any remarkable shoal running across at the 
 place of the passage, would divide the waters, causing those above to re- 
 main as a lake ; while those below were falling down towards the straits 
 of Babelmandcl. — The return of the tide from the ocean the next morning, 
 restored the waters as before. Let any curious person cast his eye on the 
 globe, and he will see that an east wind would have the direct reverse 
 effect. King's Morsels of Criticism — 2>7. 
 
 • Exod. 14th chap. 21—27'. 
 
[ 302 ] 
 
 Let me here ask, what effect this pubhc demon- 
 stration of the divine mission of Moses had on Korah, 
 Dathan, and Abiram — or, to come neaier home, what 
 effect has it had on our author, who calls for it with so 
 much confidence in the case of the resurrection and 
 ascension of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; the 
 evidence of which, take it in all its parts, though equal 
 in point of universality and certainty, yet was necessa- 
 rily different in the form and nature of the testimony. 
 
 Has it commanded his assent? Does he firmly be- 
 lieve in the divine mission of Moses, or has he 
 impiously considered it as " a history of wickedtiess^ 
 that has sei'ved to corrupt a?id brutalize mankind^ 
 and %vhich therefore he sincerely detests.'''' If this has 
 been the case with him and his brethren in unbelief, 
 when the public demonstration, which they consider as 
 necessary for the confirmation of truth, was so clearly 
 and unequivocally given, we may safely conclude, what 
 would have been their conduct and practice, with their 
 present dispositions, had they been eye witnesses of 
 the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. 
 
 The effect of this unequivocal evidence of the di- 
 vine mission of Moses, and the presence of God with 
 him, on hearts unchanged by divine grace, was very 
 manifest from the conduct of many of the Israelites 
 themselves, who but a few days after this ' ' public and 
 ocular demonstration''^ of the divine power and pre- 
 sence, murmured against Moses, and upbraided him 
 with bringing them into a wilderness to perish. Such 
 was, and still is, the nature of man in a fallen state, 
 without the knowledge of God; until by means of suf- 
 ferings and trials, and a thorough change of heart by 
 
[ 303 ] 
 
 the Spirit of God, he is brought to renounce his own 
 wisdom, and to abhor himself in dust and ashes. 
 
 It is very certain, from all the light that can be ob- 
 tained from history, that the five books of Moses were 
 written by him, in his life time; during the actual ex- 
 istence of thousands who had come with him through 
 the wilderness ; who had been eye and ear witnesses of 
 most, if not of all the miracles that he records. The 
 young people among them, afterwards actually pos- 
 sessed the land of Canaan, promised to their fathers 
 many hundred years before, viz. by God himself to 
 Abraham, and afterwards by Moses to them in the- 
 land of Egypt— their descendants enjoyed it upwards 
 of fifteen hundred years, and lost it again, according to 
 the express predictions of this same Moses, while yet 
 in the wilderness. He also foretold them of events 
 which should take place among them, especially re- 
 lative to their wickedly desiring a king to rule over 
 them, in imitation of the nations around them, hun- 
 dreds of years after his death; and also that the Lord 
 would raise up another prophet, to whom they should 
 finally hearken, which has been accordingly done — 
 and some of those events are fulfilling even at this 
 day. 
 
 To us who have seen the completion of the a^^•ful 
 prediction, one would have imagined no argument 
 would have been wanting to authenticate the divine 
 mission of the leader of the tribes of Israel, after at- 
 tending to this solemn declaration of Moses, so many 
 thousand years before it came to pass. "And the Lord 
 said unto Moses, behold thou shalt sleep with thy fa- 
 thers, and this people av ill rise up and go a whoring af- 
 ter the Gods of the strangers of the land, wliither thev 
 
[ 304 "J 
 
 go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break 
 my covenant, which I have made with them. Then 
 my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, 
 and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from 
 them, and they shall be devoured ; and many evils and 
 troubles shall befall them, so that they will say in that 
 day, are not these evils come upon us, because our 
 God is not among us — and I will surely hide my face 
 in that day, for all the evils which they shall have 
 wrought, in that they have turned unto other Gods."* 
 Let the last address of the successor of this man 
 of God, to the people whom he had conducted, from 
 the death of Moses to the complete possession of 
 the promised land, being a space of twenty-eight 
 years, have some effect in the proof of the divine 
 mission of his great predecessor, being founded on 
 the personal knowledge of every one to whom he 
 spake; " behold this day I am going the way of all 
 the earth, zndye know in all your hearts and in all 
 your souls^ that not one thing hath failed of all the 
 good things, which the Lord your God spake con- 
 cerning you; all are come to pass unto you and not 
 one thing hath failed thereof. "f This address he 
 prefaces with, " Be ye very courageous to keep and 
 to do all that is written in the book of the law of 
 Moses,":j: and then he proceeds to enumerate the 
 special miracles that had been performed in their 
 favour, repeating all the remarkable instances re- 
 corded by Moses from his first application to Pharaoh 
 to their passing over Jordan. So that if there was 
 any design in Moses to deceive the people, his suc- 
 
 « Dcut. 31st chap. 16—18. f Josh. 23—14. J Josh. 23.-6. 
 
[ 305 ] 
 
 cessor must have combined with him to carry on tlic 
 deception, and that at the moment of his dissolu- 
 tion. 
 
 It must be acknowledged that hitherto, we have 
 considered these historical facts as evidences in fa- 
 vour of Moses, principally as related by himself, and 
 extracted from his own writings: but since these 
 Avere written for the instruction of and a memorial to 
 the people themselves, among whom all the transac- 
 tions related, were performed, and who were fully 
 capable of determining on their truth or falsehood; 
 and who with their posterity to this day, set their 
 seals to the truth of them;* to which may be added, 
 the actual fulfilment of the many predictions contain- 
 ed in them, they must receive great additional weight 
 of testimony, so as to command the belief of every 
 candid inquirer after truth. " The writings of 
 the prophets bear plain signatures of their divine 
 authority. Examine the books of the Greek and 
 Roman sages, and observe what discordant opinions 
 they contain on almost every point of theology and 
 philosophy; but in the Hebrew prophets there is a 
 wonderful harmony of doctrine for above one thou- 
 sand years, unparalleled in the writings of any other 
 
 • The pentateuch is the great repository of the most remote antiqui- 
 ties, religion, polity, and literature of the Jewish nation; to which, in 
 all their posterior writers, there is a constant reference or allusion. To 
 them the righteous judge, the reforming prince, the admonishing priest, 
 the menacing prophet, perpetually and uniformly appealed: on them the 
 historiographer, the orator, the poet, and the philosopher, endeavoured 
 to form their respective styles : and to rival the language of the pentateuch 
 was, even in the most felicitous periods of their state, considered as the 
 liighcst effort of Hebrew genius. Preface to Geddes transl of the Penta- 
 teuch, foJ. t. 
 
 9.q 
 
[ 306 ] 
 
 coinitr)^ History teaches us, that a great number of 
 their prophecies have been accomplished; and we 
 know that some of them are accompUshing at this 
 day."* 
 
 But if we examine into the records of profane 
 History, we shall find much to support the faith of 
 the servant of God with regard to the leading facts 
 of the Mosaic pentateuch. 
 
 Profane historians who mention Moses, and his 
 character, seem to be in part acquainted with his edu- 
 cation, his military exploits and his miracles, espe- 
 cially those plagues he brought on Egypt, and con- 
 sider him as a famous magician. In addition to what 
 has already appeared herein, as the attestation of 
 heathen authors to the character of Moses, he is 
 universally considered by them as a great law- 
 giver, as is testified by Diodorus Siculus who 
 says, that Moses received his laws from the God 
 jfao.\ His fine form and consummate wisdom are 
 mentioned by Trogus Pompeius,± and he takes 
 notice of Moses's success against the Ethiopians, who 
 had invaded the territories of Pharaoh. Trogus was 
 the first of the Latin historians, and attributes the 
 prosperous and flourishing circumstances of the 
 Jewish state to a mixture of justice with religion in 
 their government. He gives a high character of 
 Joseph and mentions his being sold by his brethren 
 
 * An attempt towards an approved versn. of the 13 minor prophets, 
 page 5 of preface. 
 
 f Diodorus Siculus in his 1st book says "among the Jews, was Moses 
 who called God by the name of Js.o (meaning Jehovah), signifying ex- 
 
 inter.cif. 
 
 X ]u":-tin, lib, 56. chap. 2. 
 
[ 307 ] 
 
 to foreign merchants through envy, who carried him 
 into Egypt, where he soon became dear to the king. 
 That Joseph was the first who understood the inter- 
 pretation of dreams, and foretold a famine many 
 years before it happened, and preserved Egypt, by 
 advising the king to provide stores of corn against the 
 time of need; and that there had been so much expe 
 rience of the truth of his answers, that they seem to 
 be given rather by God than man.* 
 
 Artepanus says Moses was commander of the 
 Egyptian forces against the Ethiopians, during a ten 
 years warj- — yet on this subject we find Moses to- 
 tally silent, but he does not forget to record his killing 
 the Egyptian. 
 
 Numenius, the Pythagorean, says, " That Jannes 
 and lambres, the chief of the magicians of Egypt, by 
 their sorceries, withstood Moses the leader of the 
 Jews, a man most powerful in his prayers to God.":j: 
 And when speaking expressly of the Hebrew law- 
 giver, he says, "What is Plato, but Moses conversing 
 in the language of Athens. "§ 
 
 Diodorus and Herodotus, take notice of the terri- 
 ble scourges brought on the Egyptians by Moses. [| 
 The former, who lived in the time of Julius and Au- 
 gustus Csesar, and wTote the histories of Egypt, 
 Persia, Syria, &.C. also mentions, '' That the Trog- 
 lodites, the indigenous inhabitants of the place, (where 
 Moses crossed the Red Sea) had a tradition from fa- 
 ther to son, from their very early and remote ages, 
 that once a cUvision of the sea did happen there ; and 
 
 » Reas. of Christ. 99. f Kuseb. I'racp. Evang. lib. 9. ch. 27. 
 
 X Plin. Hist. lib. 30. ch. i. § Clem. Alex. Strom, lib. 1. page 411. 
 
 li Grot, de Verit. lib, 1, 
 
[ 308 ] 
 
 after leaving the bottom some time, the sea again 
 came back, and raged with gixat fury."* This is the 
 testimony of a heathen historian, not writing on the 
 subject of revelation, but merely speaking of the 
 country, the history of which he was writing, and re- 
 cording the knov^'ledge he had obtained from the 
 natives. 
 
 Artepanus mentions a tradition of the manner of 
 the passage of the Israelites through the Red Sea, 
 among the people of Heliopolisj — and Tacitus says 
 of the Jews, that they worshipped the Supreme Eter- 
 nal, immutable Being.J Dion Cassius says, that 
 many had written of the God of the Jews, and of the 
 worship that they paid to him|| — and Varro, the most 
 learned historian among the Romans, much approved 
 the Jewish way of worship, as being free from that 
 idolatry v.hich he could not but dislike in the heathen 
 religion. § 
 
 The tradition of a seventh day Sabbath among all 
 the heathen nations, could only be derived from tl\e 
 writings of Moses or the teachings of Abraham and 
 his descendants. Clement Alexandrinus, in his 
 Strom V. quotes out ofHessiod, " That the seventh 
 day was sacred." The like out of Homer and Calli- 
 machus, to which may be subjoined, what Eusebius 
 has taken out of Aristobulus, lib. 13. ch, 12. " The- 
 ophilus Antiochanus to Antelychus, concerning the 
 seventh day, which is distinguished by all men." 
 
 Suetonius, in his Tiberius 32d, says, " Diogenes 
 the grammarian, used to dispute at Rhodes on the 
 
 • Encyclop. Tit. Red Sea. f Eiiseb. Vvxp. Evang. lib. 9. ch. 27. 
 J Hist. lib. 15. II Lib. 37. 
 
 § St. August, de Civ. Dei. lib. 4. ch. 31. Reas. Christ. 100. 
 
[ 309 ] 
 
 Sabbath day." Lucian tells us in his Paralogist, 
 " that boys were used to play on the seventh day." 
 Dion Cassius, lib. 33, says, " The day called Satur- 
 nus, and the custom of computing time by weeks, 
 was derived from the Egyptians to all mankind." He- 
 rodotus, in his second book, tells us, "That the keep- 
 ing the seventh day was not a new, but a very ancient 
 custom." 
 
 Josephus against Appion, about the end of the 2d 
 book, says, " There is no city, Greek or Barbarian, 
 in which the custom of resting on the seventh day, is 
 not preserved, as it is among the Jews." And Philo 
 says, " It is a festival not only celebrated in one city 
 or country, but throughout the whole world." 
 
 That there was such a univeral destruction by wa- 
 ter, as Noah's flood, is confirmed by the concurrent 
 testimony of several of the most ancient writers and 
 nations in the world. That the Egyptians were no 
 strangers to this event, appears from the testimony of 
 Plato, who says, that a certain Egyptian priest re- 
 counted to Solon, out of their sacred books, the his- 
 tory of the universal flood, which happened long before 
 the particular inundation known to the Grecians. 
 
 The inhabitants of Heliopolis in Syria, showed a 
 chasm or cleft in the earth in the temple of Juno, which 
 they said had swallowed up the waters of that flood.* 
 Herodotus says the Egyptian priests told him, that the 
 sun had four times deviated from his course, havins: 
 twice risen when he uniformly goes do\vn, and t\vicc 
 gone down when he uniformly rises. | 
 
 • Univ. Hist. vol. i. page 55. 
 
 t Ant. Univ. Hist. vol. 18, page 307. 
 
[ 310 ] 
 
 Grotius, in his Treatise on Truth, informs us, 
 " That what Moses says of the origin of the world, 
 is recorded by the Phoenicians and Egyptians. Ovid 
 describes the creation of man and his absolute domi- 
 nion over the brute creation. Maimonides says, 
 " That the Indians in the east, formerly had the story 
 of Adam and Eve — the tree of knowledge, and the 
 temptation of the serpent; and it is said that the Brah- 
 mans and inhabitants of Siam, have them at this 
 day." 
 
 Manetho who wrote the history of the Egyptians 
 — Berosus who wrote the Chaldean History — Hesiod 
 among the Greeks; Hecateus, Hellanicus and Epho- 
 nis, all unanimously agree, that in the first ages of the 
 world, men lived one thousand years.* The account 
 of the ark, the deluge, and those who were saved 
 therein, is also mentioned by Berosus, Plutarch, and 
 Lucian. Berosus was a priest of Belus,f and a Baby- 
 lonian born, but afterwards flourished in the island of 
 Cos. He gives an account of Noah under the name of 
 Xisuthrus, to whom Saturn appeared in a dream, and 
 gave him warning, that on the 15th day of the month 
 Desius, mankind should be destroyed by a flood, and 
 therefore commanded him to build a ship, and having 
 furnished it with provisions, and taken into it fowls 
 and four-footed beasts, to go into it himself, with his 
 friends and nearest relations; this ship was five fur- 
 longs in length, and two v/ide. All this Xisuthrus did, 
 and when the flood came, and began to abate, he let 
 out some birds, which finding no food, nor place to 
 rest on, returned to the ship. After some days he let 
 
 * Burr.et's Theo. lib. 2. chap. 4. f Joseph, cont. Applon, lib. 1. 
 
[ 311 ] 
 
 out the birds again, but they came back, with their 
 feet daubed with mud. In a few days he let them go 
 again, but they did not return, whereby he understood 
 that the earth appeared again above the waters; and so 
 taking down some of the planks of the ship, he saw it 
 rested upon a mountain.* 
 
 Eusebius says, that Abydenus made mention of 
 the dove that was sent out to explore the waters. The 
 burning of Sodom is related by Diodorus, Strabo and 
 Tacitus. 
 
 The account of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jo- 
 seph, was found in many ancient historians, quoted by 
 Eusebius, and is mentioned in Justin from Trogus 
 Pompeius ; and the actions of Moses leading the Is- 
 raelites out of Egypt, and receiving the two tables of 
 stone from the hands of God, are to be found in many 
 of the same authors, but particularly in the verses 
 which are ascribed to Orpheus, and in the Egyptian 
 histories. Sanchoniathan also mentions many of the 
 facts related by Moses. | 
 
 In the reign of Darius Hystaspcs, about five hun- 
 dred years before our blessed Saviour, Zoroaster ap- 
 peared in the world, in whose books are contained 
 many things out of the Old- Testament: a great part of 
 the Psalms of David — the history of the Creation and 
 deluge. He mentions Adam and Eve — Abraham, 
 Joseph, Moses, and Solomon. Numenius the Pytha- 
 gorian, before mentioned, asserts, that the Brachmans 
 of India were not unacquainted with the religion of 
 the Hebrews ; and that the laws of the wisest of the 
 
 * Unir. Hi'.'. f Stack. Hist. Bib. Inrrod. x'ts. 
 
[ 312 ] 
 
 lieathen nations, were taken from the laws of 
 Moses.* 
 
 Strabo mentions Moses andthc ancient Jews with 
 commendation ; he says that many, in honour to the 
 divme majesty, went out of Egypt with Moses, reject- 
 ing the worship of the Egyptians and other nations, 
 inasmuch as Moses had instructed them, that God 
 was not to be worshipped by any image; and that he 
 would reveal himself only to the pure and virtuous. 
 He observes, that Moses had great success in the es- 
 tablishment of his government, and the reception of 
 his laws among the neighbouring nations — and that 
 his successors for some ages pursued the same me- 
 thods, being just and truly religious. 
 
 Philostorgis says, that the place called by the na- 
 tives, Clysma, was the place where the Israelites of 
 old, passed over to the other side, without wetting 
 their feet.f 
 
 Abulfeda, a Mahometan writer of considerable 
 antiquity, says, " Not far from Alkolsum, is the 
 place where Pharaoh and his army v/ere drowned in 
 the sea."J 
 
 Dr. Shaw says, that near Carondal, the natives 
 still preserve a tradition, that a numerous army was 
 formerly drowned near Beden, the same as Clysma. || 
 The names of places which are still preserved in 
 that country, bear some testimony to the truth of the 
 events. Etham is now called Etti, and we still find 
 
 • Reason, of Christ, vol. i. 105, 106. ' 
 AU the late discoveries by Sir William Jones, and those recorded by Mr. 
 Maurice, in his Indian Antiquities, confirm tlie idea, 
 t Lib. 3. chap.v. page 489. J Shaw's Travels, 349. || Ibid. fol. 349. 
 
[ 313 ] 
 
 the wildemess of Sdur and Sin, and the region Paran. 
 Beyond Corondel or Clysma, is a hill' called Gibel al 
 Marah.y* not far from which is a desert called Sin,| 
 and the coast downward seems to have the same name 
 as it had of old, from the bitter waters, with which it 
 still abounds. Elah and Madian also yet remain, and 
 are mentioned by Abulfeda. Below this region are 
 the palm trees, and the twelve wells of water. Dio- 
 dorus Siculus, mentions the palm grove as it was de- 
 scribed by Ariston, who was sent by Ptolemy to 
 descry the coast of Arabia upon the Red Sea. J. Here 
 also is still the desert of Faran, the Pharan of Ptolemy, 
 or Paran of the Scriptures. Diodorus further speaks 
 of some rocks or pillars here, graven with some un- 
 known characters, and he gives the reason why this 
 district is so much honored, " because all the country 
 round about was parched up with heat, being without 
 water, and without any other trees, that could afford a 
 shade. 
 
 Strabo gives a similar account of the Palm Grove 
 and the wells. || 
 
 In these names we may see the traces of the an- 
 cient Marah, as well as the other places mentioned by 
 Moses. The engravings upon the rocks seem still to 
 remain, as they were seen by Monsieur Monconys, 
 some years since, just in this part of the desert, as he 
 was returning from Mount Sinai. ^ 
 
 Ariston, Artemidorus, Agatherchides, and Dio- 
 dorus, \\\io mention these facts, all lived before the 
 Christian era. Even Strabo was but a few years after 
 
 • Pocock, 156. Shaw, 349. f Ibid. 350. 
 
 X Lib. 3. pag:e \75. \\ Lib. 16. page 1122. 
 
 fj rocock, 118 Bryatu's 1-iaguesof Kgypt, 403, 40S. 
 
 R r 
 
[ 314 J 
 
 - — and Abulfeda had no temptation to misrepresent 
 what he saw. 
 
 We will now proceed to look into other histories 
 and works of learned heathen writers, to see what 
 traces we can find of the great luminous doctrines 
 taught by Moses, as received from God. 
 
 Porphyry, the pagan philosopher already men- 
 tioned, who lived in the third century, and wrote much 
 against Christianity, as quoted by Eusebius, says, 
 *' The way of the Gods is steep and very craggy — 
 the Barbarians found out many of its paths, but the 
 Greeks wandered from them ; and those who kept 
 them, spoiled them, but God revealed those hidden 
 ways to the Egyptians, the Phoenicians, Chaldeans; 
 to the Lydians and to the Hebrews." It is well 
 known, that the three first received much of their re- 
 ligious knov> ledge from Abraham, the father of the 
 Hebrews; from Moses and the Jews. Porphyry 
 adds, " For this reason, Apollo says in an Oracle, the 
 CJoaldeans and Hebrews alone^ have got wisdom, 
 purely worshipping the self-begotten king, God." 
 
 Chalcidius, in his Tim8eus, says, " To this the 
 Hebrews agree, wlien they say, that God gave to man 
 a soul, by a divine breath, which they call reason, or 
 a rational soul; but to dumb creatures and wild beasts 
 of the forests, one void of reason : the living crea- 
 tures and beasts being, by the command of God, 
 scattered over the face of the earth, amongst which 
 was the serpent, who by his evil persuasions, deceiv- 
 ed the first of mankind." He mentions Moses by 
 
 name, and says, "He was the wisest of men, who was 
 enlivened, not by human eloquence, but by divine 
 inspiration." Dionysius Longinus, who lived in the 
 
L 315 ] 
 
 time of the emperor Aurelian, and was the great 
 favourite of Zenobia, the queen of Palmyra, in his 
 book, of the Sublime^ after saying, " That they who 
 speak of God, ought to take care to represent him as 
 great, pure, and without mixture;" adds, "Thus 
 does he who gave laws to the Jews, who was an extra- 
 ordinary man, who conceived and spoke worthily of 
 the power of God," when he writes, in the beginning 
 of his laws, *' God spake;" what? " Let there be 
 light, and there was light — let there be earth, and it 
 was so." 
 
 Among the late discoveries by Europeans, the sa- 
 cred books of the Chinese, are not the least. Many of 
 them, by the best accounts that can be obtained, were 
 written some hundred years before our Saviour. 
 These books are preserved in several great libraries 
 in Europe, and by the translation given to us by the 
 learned author of the Philosophical Principles of Na- 
 tural and Re'oealed Religion^ we are informed, that 
 the Chinese have five original or canonical books, 
 called King^ which, in their language, signifies, " a 
 sublime, sacred, immutable doctrine, founded on un- 
 shaken principles." These books were looked upon 
 as of very remote antiquity, in the time of Confucius, 
 who lived about six hundred years before our asra. 
 
 In the book called Chan-Hai-King, it is said, 
 *' That the sacred mountain Koncalun, was situated 
 in the middle of the world, and all that could be 
 desired, as wondrous trees, marvellous fountains, and 
 flowery shades, were found on that sacred hill, or hid- 
 den garden. This mountain is the inferior palace of 
 the sovereign lord, and the animal Ka'im'ing guarded 
 the entry." Another book, written by Hoi-ai-nang- 
 
[ 316 J 
 
 ivang^ in speaking of the first earth, says, " This deli- 
 cious garden, refreshed with zephyrs, and planted 
 with odoriferous trees, was situated in the middle of 
 the mountain, which was the avenue to Heaven. The 
 waters that bedewed it, flowed from a source, called 
 the fountain of immortality. He that drinks of it ne- 
 ver dies. From thence flowed four rivers — a golden 
 river betwixt the south and east — a red river betwixt 
 the north and east — a peaceful stream betwixt the 
 south and west — and the river of the Lamb betwixt 
 the north and west. These magnificent floods are the 
 spiritual fountains of the Sovereign Lord, by which 
 he heals the nations, and fi-uctifies all things." 
 
 In the book Chi-King\ it is said, " Heaven placed 
 mankind upon a high mountain, but Tai-wang 
 made it fruitless by his fault. JVenwang, or the king 
 of peace, endeavoured to render to the mountain its 
 primitive beauty; but Tai-wang contradicted and op- 
 posed his will. Why did Tai-wang plunge us into 
 so many miseries ? Our misery has lasted these many 
 ages — the world is lost — vice overflows all, as a mor- 
 tal poison — we possessed happy, fruitful fields; a 
 woman robbed us of them. All was subject to us — a 
 woman threw us into slavery — she hates innocence, 
 and loves vice — the wise husband raised up a bulwark 
 of walls ; the woman by an ambitious desire of know- 
 ledge, demolished them. Our misery did not come 
 from Heaven, but from a woman. She lost human 
 kind-— she erred first, and then sinned." 
 
 In the book T-King^ we have this account of the 
 M\. " The rebellious and perverse dragon, suflPers by 
 Iiis pride — his ambition blinded him — he would 
 mount up to Heaven, but he was thrown down upon 
 
[ 317 ] 
 
 earth — at first his abode was in the high places, but 
 he forgot himself — he hurt himself, and lost eternal 
 life." 
 
 The book Chu-King^ informs us, *' That it is evi- 
 dent, by the ancient tradition of our fathers^ that T- 
 cbi-y-couy or the Beautiful, became deformed. This 
 son of Heaven, was the first author of all revolt; but 
 his rebellion extended at lengdi to all nations, and de- 
 luged the world with crimes." 
 
 Chan-Kai-King says, *' That Hoangti, or the So- 
 vereign Lord, ordered a celestial spirit to precipitate 
 T-chi-y-cou into the black valley of misery." And 
 Lopi adds, " That T-chi-y-cou having hatched rebel- 
 lion, went out from the river of the Lamb." And 
 Koucil-sang says, " That he is the great impostor or 
 inventor of all evil. He has the face of a man, the body 
 of a serpent, and is all deceit and lies." And by the 
 most modern discoveries made in later times in the 
 East- Indies, by the famous Sir William Jones, in his 
 Asiatic Researches, it clearly appears, that the Hin- 
 doos have the tradition of the flood in the time of 
 Noah. They also assert, that the evil being, Ahri- 
 man, got upon the earth in the form of a serpent, and 
 seduced the first human pair from their allegiance to 
 Ormusd, by persuading them that he himself was the 
 author of all that existed. The man and woman both 
 believing him, became criminal, and thus sin will per- 
 petuate itself till the resurrection.* 
 
 And Mr. Halhed, who is so justly celebrated for 
 his discoveries in Indian antiquities, has published a 
 commentar)^ on the Veedas, from an old Persian au- 
 
 • Extract from the Zeiidevester Anmal Pcgis'er fcrl762, fol- 227. 
 
C 318 ] 
 
 thor, wherein it is asserted, that the Aswammedha 
 Tug, or the worship by the sacrifice of a horse, does 
 not merely consist in bringing a horse and sacrificing 
 him; but the rite is also to be taken in a mystic 
 signification: the horse so to be sacrificed, is in the 
 place of the sacrificer, and bears his sins into the wil- 
 derness, where he is turned adrift, and becomes the 
 expiatory victim of those sins." I need not attempt 
 to show the similitude between this and the scape- 
 goat of Moses, or to prove that it must have been de- 
 rived from the same source, divine revelation. 
 
 Does not all this clearly show, that the Chinese and 
 East-Indians, must have had among them, the tradi- 
 tion of those great events, related with so much preci- 
 sion by Moses, and that they considered them as 
 of divine original. 
 
 If we look to the Greeks and Romans, v/e find their 
 whole mythology founded on like traditions ; and who- 
 ever carefully and attentively considers the principles 
 that gave rise to their allegorical fables, which in time 
 became the objects of ail their religious v/orship, will 
 plainly see, that they must have taken their rise either 
 from the revelation made to Moses, or the traditions 
 handed down from Abraham, or perhaps from Noah, 
 and carried into all countries at the dispersion of 
 Babel. 
 
 This the learned and pious Justin Martyr, in his 
 second apology to the emperor Antoninus Pius, and the 
 senate of Rome, well observes. He asserts, " That 
 all the fables made of, and all the wonders attributed 
 to. Mercury, Bacchus, Hercules, Perseus, Escula- 
 pius, and Bellirophon, were only disguises of some 
 ancient traditions concerning the Messiah," As to 
 
[ 319 ] 
 
 Ovid and Virgil, it is plain, that the Mosaic' account 
 of the creation of the world, gave to the first his whole 
 plan ; and the second seems to have had even more 
 than bare tradition : he must have had an intimate 
 knowledge of the predictions contained in the Old- 
 Testament, relative to the second coming of Christ, 
 as well as his first; with the belief and expectation of 
 the Jews founded thereon. Hearken to the extraor- 
 dinary language of this heathen poet, written, just be- 
 fore the advent of the Saviour, and say what else could 
 have given rise to such noble and divine imagery. 
 "The last age sung by the Cumasan Sybil, *^ is come; 
 the great revolution orre-establishmentisat hand; jus- 
 tice is going to return upon earth, and the happy reign 
 of Saturn is to be restored — a divine child is to descend 
 from Heaven- — so soon as he is born, the iron age will 
 cease, and the golden age will be renewed over all the 
 earth — ^he \^'ill partake of the divine life — see the he- 
 roes associated with the Gods, and they shall see him 
 governing the Morld in peace, by his father's virtue. 
 Then the earth shall produce all things of its own ac- 
 cord: all wars shall cease, and every thing be restored 
 to its primitive felicity. Beloved ofispring of the 
 Gods! Great Son of Jupiter! see how the earth — the 
 seas — the Heavens — and the whole universe, rejoice 
 at thy coming." 
 
 The testimony of the Magi, inquiring where the 
 king of the Jews was to be bom, having seen his star 
 
 • The Sybils were said to be a collection of very important predictione 
 and doctrines derived from the ancients, and kept as a religious arcana hj 
 the heathen priests. It is very probable, that the original collection, was 
 the substance of traditions, handed down from the patriarchs ; and the 
 word Sybil, a corruption of, or mispronunciation of Cabal, which is the 
 Hebrew word for tradition. 
 
[ 320 ] 
 
 in the east, and tlierefore they had come to worship 
 him, adds great confirmation to the suggestion, that 
 they must have had the knowledge of, and behevcd 
 in the Mosaic account of the coming Saviour. 
 
 We might continue to enumerate many more 
 great names, both Jews and heathen, who have added 
 their testimony to the authenticity of the books of 
 Moses, with the other sacred and divine scriptures : 
 but this would swell this answer beyond its original 
 design : suffice it to add to the name of Ptolemy Phila- 
 delphus, who was a heathen prince of great learning, 
 and a remarkable encourager of tiie liberal sciences, 
 whose library at Alexandria amounted to four hundred 
 thousand volumes, those of Cyrus and Darius, who 
 desired the prayers and the sacrifices of the Jews, in 
 behalf of themselves and their kingdoms. Alexander 
 the Great, Augustus, Tiberius, and Vitellius, sent 
 victims to be sacrificed at the temple of Jerusalem, as 
 we learn from Josephus and Philo. I will also mention 
 Longinus, the most competent judge of human wri- 
 tings — TertuUian, both pagan and Christian, with a 
 thousand others well known to the learned, who 
 ought to be received as indisputable witnesses to a 
 fact of this nature. 
 
 To Christians (or even those who barely hold Je- 
 sus Christ to have been a moral teacher, of a virtuous, 
 benevolent and amiable character) it is sufficient to 
 establish their faith, and confirm their hope, that their 
 great Lord and Master, as well as his apostles, have 
 given their assent to the truth of these instructive 
 books. 
 
 On the whole, then, Moses is handed down to us 
 by antiquity, as the author of these books. The peo^ 
 
[ 321 ] 
 
 pie and nation to which he belonged, and over whom 
 he was ruler and conductor out of Egypt, and whose 
 fathers were personally witnesses of the important 
 events which he relates, have constantly, invariabl}", 
 unequivocally, and universally acknowledged and re- 
 vered him as the inspired author of them. This is 
 the testimony of Josephus, the Jewish historian of the 
 first character among them. " We have only twenty- 
 two books, (says he) which comprehend the history 
 of all ages, and merit our belief: jive belong to Moses y 
 which contain what relates to the origin of man, and 
 the tradition of the several successions and genera- 
 tions down to his death. From the death of Moses 
 to the reign of Artaxerxes, (who was king of Persia 
 after Xerxes) the prophets vrho succeeded him have, 
 in their books, written v/hat happened in their time. 
 The other books contain hymns to the praise of 
 God, and precepts for the conduct of human life. 
 What has happened since the time of Artaxerxes, 
 down to our days, has like\\ ise been recorded by the 
 writers thereof; but they have not met with the like 
 credit, because there has not been any certain succes- 
 sion of prophets during that time. And from hence, 
 (says he) it is manifest, what respect and estimation 
 have been paid to the books which complete our ca- 
 non, since in so long a tract of time, no man has ven- 
 tured, either to add any thing to them, or diminish or 
 alter any thing in them ; since the Jews from their in- 
 fancy, are accustomed to call them dhine institu- 
 tions; to believe them stedfastly, and upon occasion 
 to lay down their lives in defence of them."*^ 
 
 • Joseph, com. Applon. 
 S S 
 
[ 322 ] 
 
 The greatest men of every age and nation since, 
 whether Jews, Christians or heathens, unite their 
 testimony in favour of Moses being the writer of these 
 books, as the word of God, and coming down from 
 him; and our Lord Jesus Christ and his apostles add 
 their attestation. The reUgious jealousy, the known 
 accuracy, indefatigable care, and curious precision of 
 the Jews as a people, not to mention the separation of 
 the ten tribes, by which a violent and lasting opposi- 
 tion and hatred arose between them, so that they be- 
 came a w-atch over each other, give peculiar and 
 demonstrative weight to the evidence, as far as it re- 
 lates to these books having been preserved and hand- 
 ed down to us without impoitant adulterations : and 
 the experience of every serious and attentive believer, 
 in addition to the continued fulfilment of the predic- 
 tions contained in them even at this day; leaves no 
 reasonable doubt on their minds, with regard to their 
 ti'uth and inspiration. 
 
 It is almost four thousand years since they have 
 been written; and never have they been denied to be 
 the work of Moses, as the w^ord of God, till modern 
 times. It is true, as has been already observed, Aben 
 Ezra, a Jew of considerable note, about the year 
 1200, first supposed that these books had been written 
 in the time of the kings ; but then he considered them 
 as inspired writings, let who would be the author of 
 them, and received them as absolute verity. It never 
 entered into his head, to disbelieve the facts re- 
 corded in them, or to doubt their being the word or 
 commandments of God. 
 
 In the present century, Woolastin, Collins, Tin- 
 dal, Shaftsbury, and Bolingbroke, with a number of 
 
 V 
 
[ 323 ] 
 
 others, copied Aben Ezra's objections, and without 
 his faith endeavoured to impose them upon the pub- 
 He, as solid objections to the truth and authenticity of 
 the Old-Testament. Aben Ezra had been long since 
 fully answered; and now these champions of infidelity, 
 again brought forward a number of pious and learned 
 men, who obviated eveiy colour of argument or 
 proof, and silenced the objections by fair conviction 
 for a time. 
 
 But it was not long, before Voltaire, the late king 
 pf Prussia, Rousseau, and others, again retailed out 
 these old exceptions, new vamped up, threatening 
 destruction to all the tenets of revelation. The 
 force of truth prevailed against these adversaries, and 
 for a time the enemies to revealed religion, seemed to 
 avoid coming out to public view. Oar author has 
 now come forth with the old objections, clothed in a 
 new garb of language, though copied in substance 
 from his predecessors, with much less knowledge of 
 his subject, but more indecent boldness of manner 
 and disrespect, to those who differ from him in opi- 
 nion. 
 
 And are we now, at this period of light and know- 
 ledge, under all the advantages of the learned labours 
 of those who have gone before us, to suffer the indi- 
 gested rhapsodies and unintelligible declamation of a 
 mere pretender to philosophy — one wholly unac- 
 quainted, both with the spirit and letter of revelation, 
 to shake our faith founded on the word of God him- 
 self, by objections and reasonings that, when carefully 
 looked into, appear not to be founded either on facts or 
 principles, but look more Uke the ravings of a brain 
 disordered from intemperance or disappointment ? 
 
 y 
 
[ 324 ] 
 
 But is there any thing improbable or unnatural 
 in attributing this work to Moses, as its inspired au- 
 thor, on the evidence adduced for this purpose. From 
 the necessities of mankind, under their then known 
 circumstances, as has ah'eady been shown, it cannot 
 justly be denied, but that God must have given some 
 kind of a revelation of himself and his will, with re- 
 gard to religious worship, and other necessary know- 
 ledge, to Adam and the antediluvian patriarchs. 
 Their lives were lengthened out to a great age, per- 
 haps to answer the important purposes of tradition, 
 among others. Tradition was the most natural, pro- 
 bable, and easy mode of conveying down necessary 
 truths received from God, from generation to genera- 
 tion, before letters were known in the world. It is 
 most likely, therefore, that by this means, the few and 
 simple religious principles necessary for man in the 
 infancy of the world, with the attendant history of 
 their creation, and the divine conduct afterwards 
 towards them, were communicated from Adam to 
 Abraham, by the intervention of not more than two 
 or three other persons ; and about the same number 
 might have extended it down to Moses. 
 
 Methuselah was about 300 years old when Adam 
 died, and therefore not unlikely to be possessed of all 
 Adam's knowledge of those great and interesting 
 events, that had been communicated to him, as the 
 head of his race. 
 
 Shem was almost 100 years old when Methuselah 
 died, and therefore might well have been informed by 
 him, as he had been by Adam. Shem lived till Abra- 
 ham was above 100 years old, who undoubtedly re- 
 ceived from him, the necessary instruction in every 
 
[ 325 ] 
 
 thing that related to the worship and knowledge of the 
 one everliving and true God, and his dealings with 
 the fathers since the creation, as Abraham was "re- 
 markable from his youth, for a faithful attachment to 
 the service of God, in opposition to every species of 
 idolatry. 
 
 Abraham lived till Jacob, the son of Isaac, was 16 
 years old, and might have taught him the leading prin- 
 ciples of religion. 
 
 Jacob hved till Levi was 67 years old, and un- 
 doubtedly gave him all the instruction he could. 
 
 Levi lived till Amram, the father of Moses and 
 Aaron, was far advanced in age, and must have fur- 
 nished him with every information in his power. 
 
 It was a prominent feature in Abraham's great 
 character, that he would teach his children, and his 
 children's children after him, whatever he knew of 
 the one true God: it was therefore to be expected, that 
 not only his knowledge in essential matters should be 
 communicated, but that it should be religiously pre 
 served in his family till the time of Moses, so that he 
 might have been an inspired historian, and at the same 
 time have had a general traditional knowledge of the 
 principal truths of revelation from his ancestors. The 
 people also for whom he WTotc, must have been tolera- 
 ble good judges by this means, of the truth of his ac- 
 count of early transactions, according to the tradition 
 they had received, as well as of the evidences of his 
 special divine mission. 
 
 I shall nc^y close this part of the subject, with the 
 observations of an author famous in the religious 
 world for his knowledge and piet}-. " Whatever be- 
 felthe children of Israel, either by prophecies,miracles, 
 
[ 326 ] 
 
 or the extraordinary appointments of God, according 
 to the revelations made in the law of Moses, has be- 
 sides its own proper and intrinsic evidence, the addi- 
 tional proof of all the miracles and prophecies of 
 Moses. So that the proof of the divine authority of 
 Moses's books, is at the same time a proof of all the 
 other books of Scripture, so far as they are in the mat- 
 ter and subject of them, consequent to these. 
 
 The pentateuch, therefore, and the other books of 
 the Scriptures, reciprocally prove each other, like the 
 cause and the effect. The pentateuch being the cause 
 and foundation of them; and they are the effect and 
 consequence of the pentateuch, and the fulfilling the 
 several predictions mentioned therein."* 
 
 I have been the more particular on these first five 
 books of the Bible, because they are the foundation 
 of all the rest; and if our author has perverted the 
 truth with respect to them, and their divine original is 
 well founded, as we presume we have Ihown to the 
 plainest demonstration; then all his after subtle objec^ 
 tions fall to the ground, without further observations, 
 and render a particular answer unnecessary.! 
 
 If these books of Moses contain a genuine revelation 
 from God, and were inspired by him, together with 
 their account of the dealings of God with the people of 
 the Jews, in consequence of his promises to Abraham, 
 
 * Reason, of Christ. 188. 
 
 f If the books of Moses were no forgery, we may take it for granted, 
 that none of the other books of the Old-Testament, hislJrical or propheti- 
 cal, are so; because the former being recei\'ed, no sufficient motive can be 
 imagined for forging any of the rest, if the attempt could have been suc- 
 cessful ; nor would the supposition answer any important purpose to'>m- 
 believers at this day. Dr. Priestley's Companion, 535. 
 
[ 327 ] 
 
 Isaac and Jacob, to give them the land of Canaan as an 
 inheritance, while yet tt was in the actual possession 
 of several powerful and warlike nations ; and these ser- 
 vants of God, then but a single family of poor men, with- 
 out riches, power or influence — bringing them out of 
 the land of Egypt with so many undoubted evidences 
 of a divine power — the miraculous support of so large 
 a body of people for forty years in a wilderness — their 
 supernatural protection from the power of the sur- 
 rounding nations, all forewarned that their design was 
 to invade their country, and to extirpate their whole 
 race — the threatening so punctually executed, of their 
 wandering the space of forty years in the wilderness, 
 till the whole congregation perished there, except Jo- 
 shua and Caleb — the wonderful and godlike promul- 
 gation of the moral and cgeremonial law, so full of types 
 and shadows of the promised Saviour or Messiah — 
 and the final actual possession of this very promised 
 land, by driving out all the inhabitants. If these are 
 all of divine original, and their authenticity well esta- 
 blished, as I conceive they must be in the judgment 
 of every impartial person, who seriously considers 
 them; then it will not require much reasoning to prove 
 the divine original of the whole Bible, as far as is ne- 
 cessary and consistent with the subject matter of 
 these books.* 
 
 In a word, our author has discovered great inatten- 
 tion to the spirit, as well as language of the sacred 
 
 • Against all this concurring testimony, we find suddenly from Mr. 
 Paine, that the Bible teaches nothing but lies, obscenity, cruelty and injus- 
 tice. Had he ever read our Saviour's sermon on the mount, in which the 
 great principles of our faith and duty are summed up ? Let us all but read 
 and practise it, and lies, obscenity, cruelty and injustice, and all human 
 •wickedness , would be banished from the world. Erskine's Speech. 
 
[ 328 ] 
 
 books, as also great ignorance of their use and design. 
 It would lead me too far from my purpose, to go into 
 particular answers to all his trifling and profnne objec- 
 tions, after the very able answers already given to 
 him by many excellent and learned men, of various 
 denominations. 
 
 If satisfaction has been given as to the futility of 
 his objections, as already considered, respecting the 
 divinity of the pentateuch, or first five books of the 
 Old-Testament; his subsequent profane and idle ob- 
 servations will have no weight on the serious and ju- 
 dicious mind. The subject therefore,ybr the present, 
 will be dismissed, with the following observations, as 
 of special importance to every one who reads the sa- 
 cred volume. 
 
 1st. The promises, threat^nings, encouragements, 
 examples and prophetic declarations of the books of 
 the Old-Testament have been received, in the opinion 
 of the ablest reasoners on the subject, as substantial 
 evidence, at this late day^ of their truth and import- 
 ance to the children of men. 
 
 2d. The particularity with which these Scriptures 
 
 ^mention the times, places, persons, and other minute 
 
 circumstances of the several facts related therein, add 
 
 greatly to the force of other testimony adduced in 
 
 their favour. 
 
 3d. By these means all attentive perusers of the 
 sacred volume, have an opportunity of comparing 
 them with the works of cotemporary heathen writers, 
 whether historians, naturalists or civilians, so as to 
 furnish themselves with every kind of reasonable evi- 
 dence in support of a faith, on which their happiness 
 so essentially depends. 
 
[ 329 ] 
 
 4th. A strong and productive source of satisfactory 
 evidence, arises from their recounting so many mi- 
 mite particulars, being the usual conduct of a whole 
 people, immediately and professedly under the Divine 
 direction and protection, from which the agreement, 
 of so many histories, prophecies, commands, and 
 comfortable assurances, scattered through various 
 books, WTitten at such various times, and all under 
 such various circumstances, is preserved not only 
 with themselves, but with each other, however distant 
 in time, or differing in interesting particulars. 
 
 5th. The sameness of arrangement and uniformity 
 of system, running through the whole of the sacred 
 Scriptures, both of the Old and New- Testaments, 
 show that it is one invariable principle and unity of 
 design, that moves the whole machine of this fallen 
 world, from Adam to the present day, and adds great 
 weight to the evidence of the truth of the divine 
 Scriptures. 
 
 6th. By the manner in which the particular and 
 minute historical events of the Jewish people, as the 
 chosen nation of God, are recorded ; the evidence in 
 favour of the great truths of revelation, are daily in- 
 creasing, and will so continue till the second coming 
 of the Lord Jesus, as he has promised. © 
 
 7th. It is certain, that both Jews and Christians, 
 have undergone the severest persecutions and suffer- 
 ings, on account of their sacred books, and yet have 
 never been prevailed upon to deliver them up, which 
 shows that they thought them of the highest import- 
 ance, most genuine and true. 
 
 8th. The preservation of the law of Moses, which 
 is the first book, probably, that was ever written In 
 
 T t 
 
[ 330 ] 
 
 any language, while so many others, more modem, 
 have been lost, shows the great regard paid to it by the 
 Jews, from its first promulgation — the same holds 
 good in a less degree, of most all the other books of 
 the Old-Testament, since most of them are older than 
 the most ancient Greek historians; and as the records 
 of all. the neighbouring nations are lost, we must sup- 
 pose those of the Jews to have been preserved amidst 
 all their captivities and dispersions, from their import- 
 ance, or from other such cause, as may be an equal 
 evidence of their genuineness and truth. 
 
 9th. The great importance of all the sacred books, 
 appears from the many early translations and para- 
 phrases of them — this must have been an effectual 
 means of securing their integrity and purity, if we 
 could suppose any design to corrupt them. 
 
 10th. The great religious hatred and animosity 
 which subsistedbetween the Jews and Samaritans, and 
 between many of the ancient sects of Jews, show of 
 what importance they all thought their sacred books, 
 and led them to watch oxtr one another with a jealous 
 eye — this gives great weight to the evidence of their 
 genuineness and truth. 
 
 These indeed are observations borrowed from 
 erffinent writers, who have enlarged upon them, w ith 
 full confirmation of their force and effect, in point of 
 conclusive argument; and ought to have had convic- 
 tive influence on our author, had he possessed but a to- 
 lerable share of modesty, or if truth had been his 
 favourite pursuit. 
 
 And now, in the words of Dr. Samuel Chandler 
 to Mr. Collins, the deistical writer of the present 
 f^entury, I shall close with an address to our author — 
 
C 331 ] 
 
 ••' If he had acted the piu't of a fliir and reasonable 
 adversary, he should have proved a divhie revela- 
 tion, and the prophecies in- proof of it, an impossible 
 thing; by showing either that there is no God, or 
 that if there is, he doth not concern himself with the 
 affairs of nations, kingdoms or individuals ; or that if 
 he doth, he knows nothing before it comes to pass— 
 or that he hath no wise purposes to answer, by over- 
 ruling the affairs of the world, and executing the pur- 
 poses of his own good pleasure — or if he hath, that he 
 cannot discover those purposes to men — or that if he 
 could, there is no wise and kind purpose to be an- 
 swered by such a revelation — or that if there is, those 
 to whom he has vouchsafed a revelation, could not 
 discover it to others." But our author, by conceding 
 that there is a God, who ought to be worshipped and 
 adored by men — that he has a right, if he please, to 
 make a revelation of himself to men ; and of course in 
 such manner as he pleases, and for such purposes as 
 he pleases, has yielded the question, and given up the 
 dispute. 
 
 To the above, let me add, as necessary for our au- 
 thor to have show n, that mankind never offended their 
 Creator, by sinning against him; and therefore have 
 never stood in need of reconciliation to an offended 
 God, as the great governor and Lord of all things — 
 or that if they have, that they are able of themselves to 
 atone for such transgression, and therefore never 
 stood in need of a mediator or intercessor — or if tlicy 
 are unable, and stand in such need, that it will be ac- 
 complished for them without their own participation, 
 change of temper or disposition; and indeed against 
 their own will, and while opposing every means of it. 
 
[ 232 ] 
 
 Had our author been successful in this proof, then 
 indeed the controversy would be at an end. — But, 
 blessed be the God of Heaven, that while the divine 
 Scriptures remain, wherein life and immortality are 
 brought to light, and Salvation is proclaimed through 
 the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, all this is 
 as impossible as to unite sin and holiness. 
 
 THE END. 
 
THE reader is desired to correct luith his pen, the folloioing errors 
 of the presS) ivhichy from circumstances., became unavoidable* 
 
 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 
 In page I, line 
 
 12, for 
 
 "unsettled," read settled. 
 
 48, 
 
 20, 
 
 « Chalerdius," 
 
 Chalcidius. 
 
 50, 
 
 27, 
 
 " Sanchionathan," 
 
 Sanchoniathan. 
 
 56, 
 
 33, 
 
 " press," 
 
 pass. 
 
 57, 
 
 21, 
 
 " testimonies," 
 
 histories. 
 
 61, 
 
 24, 
 
 " Pompedithe and Seria," read Pompt 
 ditha and Soria. 
 
 Notes to page 
 
 62, 
 
 " Matrob :" 
 
 Mac rob : 
 
 
 
 " Argentes" 
 
 Argenteoy 
 
 In page 68, line 
 
 2, 
 
 " naturally," 
 
 necessarily. 
 
 69, 
 
 10, 
 
 " already," 
 
 clearly. 
 
 101, 
 
 1, 
 
 " propitiary," 
 
 propitiatory. 
 
 Note to page 
 
 101, 
 
 " Sanchionathan,' 
 
 ' Sanchoniathan. 
 
 102, 
 
 14, 
 
 " only one," 
 
 one only. 
 
 104, 
 
 12, 
 
 " the process," 
 
 process. 
 
 105, 
 
 25, 
 
 " Manctho," 
 
 Manetho. 
 
 106, 
 
 12, 
 
 " Chaan," 
 
 Cham, 
 
 Note to page 
 
 106, 
 
 " e3a»)j," 
 
 Ep^»5. 
 
 In page 111, line 16, 
 
 " cerumque," 
 
 eorumque. 
 
 123, 
 
 18, 
 
 " Egyptianus," 
 
 Egyptiacus, 
 
 135, 
 
 5, 
 
 " was," 
 
 were. 
 
 148, 
 
 7, 
 
 " attitude," 
 
 altitude. 
 
 150, 
 
 28, 
 
 " Hermios," 
 
 Her mis. 
 
 179, 
 
 5, 
 
 " cries he," 
 
 he cries. 
 
 206, 
 
 31, 
 
 " occason," 
 
 occasion. 
 
 211, 
 
 5, 
 
 " him," 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar. 
 
 233, 
 
 25, 
 
 " wrote," 
 
 and wrote. 
 
 257, 
 
 10, 
 
 " Exemplei'," 
 
 Exemplar. 
 
 Note to page 
 
 261, 
 
 " Proe," 
 
 Pref: 
 
 Note to page 
 
 281, 
 
 "Lag:" 
 
 Leg: 
 
 In page 284, line 25, 
 
 " confine," 
 
 confines. 
 
 Note to page 
 
 285, 
 
 " Just:" 
 
 Inst : 
 
 In page 286, line 5, 
 
 " lights," 
 
 rites. 
 
 312, 
 
 15, 
 
 " Philostorgis," 
 
 Philostorgius, 
 
Date Due 
 
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