^«m- ■•■^m 
 
i 
 
A N • 
 
 ENQUIRY 
 
 THE 
 
 DIVINE MISSIONS 
 
 O F 
 
 JOHN the Baptist 
 
 AND 
 
 JESUS CHRIST. 
 
AN' 
 
 ENQUIRY 
 
 INTO THE 
 
 DIVINE MISSIONS 
 
 O F 
 
 JOHN the BAPTlSr 
 
 AND 
 
 JESUS CHRIST; 
 
 So far as Tliey can be proved 
 
 From the Circumstances of their Births, 
 
 AND 
 
 ■ Their Connection with Each Other. 
 
 7here ^vas a Man fent from God, and his Name 'vjas J O H N j 
 the fame came for a Witnefs, to hear nuitnefs of the Light ; 
 THAT ALL MEN THRo'- HIM MIGHT BELIEVE. 
 
 Joh. Gof. i. 6, 7« 
 
 By WILLI AM'^B ell, M,A, 
 
 Fellow of Magdalen- College, 
 CAMBRIDGE. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed for W. SANDBY, oppofite St. Dunjiani Church, 
 in Fl E E T - St R E E T. 
 
 "m"jdcc1xiT 
 
TO THE 
 
 READER. 
 
 IN perufing the Evangelic 
 Writings, the author of the 
 following fheets imagined, 
 that he difcovered an argument 
 of their truth, which had been 
 hitherto overlooked, or very {light- 
 ly mentioned. He caught it with 
 joy, and purfued it with eager- 
 ncfs. He found the proof, v/hich 
 at firft glimmered faintly as it lay 
 difperfed, grow brighter as the 
 fparks v/ere brought nearer to- 
 gether. He traced the different 
 A 3 lines 
 
vi PREFACE. 
 
 lines /)f inference, and perceived 
 that they met at lafl in one cen- 
 tral truth. And he flatters himfelf 
 with having flievvn once more, what 
 was more than fufiiciently flievvn 
 before, that our Religion is from 
 God. He hopes, that he has ad- 
 ded another motive to the power 
 of its influence ; and another ray 
 to the fplendor of its evidence. 
 
 If the argument be really con- 
 clufive, it will fland the teft of 
 examination ; if not, it is for the 
 interefl: of truth and religion, that 
 its weaknefs be deteSed. What- 
 ever judgment be paflid upon it, 
 the author has, at leaft, this fa- 
 tisfaclory conflderation, that every 
 other proof will remain uninjured 
 
 and 
 
PREFACE, 
 
 and unimpaired. And he there- 
 fore fubmits this Eflay to the Pub- 
 lic, as the attempt of one whofe 
 defign is good ; and who will have 
 done no harm, though his per- 
 formance be defedive. 
 
 V2I 
 
 A 4 
 
 CON- 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 TNT:'R ODUCTORT Con/iderations. 
 ^ Page I 
 
 PART L 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 ^he miraculous events recorded of the birth 
 
 and circumcijion of John the Baptift, 
 
 cannot have been forged, either by Jefus, 
 
 or any of his difciples j or by John hi?n~ 
 
 felfy or any of his difciples. Page 19 
 
 SECTION 11. 
 
 Suppofng there was any deceit at all in the 
 
 cafe ', 
 
CONTENTS, 
 
 cafe y 'what the nature and defign of thf 
 whole impofiure viujl have been ; arid 
 who muji have been concerned in planning 
 it out , and carrying it on. Page 65 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 Zacharias and Elizabeth could not be the 
 contrivers of that wicked impofiure -y 
 which the juppofition of any deceit at all^ 
 in this cafe, necejfarily obliges us to ad- 
 mit of. Page 88 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 Zacharias and Elizabeth could not be the 
 authors of any fuch Aouhlo; iinpofure, as 
 muf here befuppofcd. Page 114 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 JjT Zacharias and Elizabeth could have 
 been the authors of fuch a double impof- 
 iure \ they could not have applied to Jo- 
 feph and Mary, to take part with them 
 in carrying it on. Page 135 
 
 SEC- 
 
CONTENTS. xi 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 Neither Zacharias nor ElizabL-th, on the 
 one part 3 ?ior Jofeph a?id Mary, on the 
 other y could contrive Each their rejpec- 
 tive plots, in this double impofnire : nor 
 foz/A/ Jofeph j;z^Mary be the contrivers 
 of the whole joint undertaking. Page 1 64 
 
 PART IL 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 T!he whole impojlure in quejiion is, in its 
 own nature, fo exceedingly abfurd -, that 
 it was not pojjible to have been conceived 
 or undertaken, by aity perfon whatever. 
 
 Page 191 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 Some particular faBs, previous to the births 
 ^"John ^WJefus, confidered. Page 231 
 
 SEC- 
 
xii CONTENT S. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 Several very remarkable faSls, Juhfequcnt 
 
 to the births of John and Jefus, con- 
 
 fidered. Page 249 
 
 PART III. 
 
 ^he dcfigj? of this part ; to confide r the con- 
 du5l ^ John and Jefus ; with a view to 
 their connexion with each other. Page 285 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 John wrought no miracles. Page 292 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 T^he different external charaSiers of John 
 ^W Jefus confidered. Page 306 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 A prophecy ^John'j-, concerning Jefus, con- 
 fdaed. Page 328 
 
 SEC- 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 Jefus baptized by John. Page 344 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 John'^ anfwer to the deputation from the 
 Sanhedrim ; and a particular in Jefus 'i 
 condiiB relative to if. Page 361 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 A very peculiar charaBer andojice afcribed 
 to Jefus by John. Page 378 
 
 SECTION VII. 
 
 A remarkable particular in JohnV condiidl 
 to Herod, co?2jidered in its relation to Je- 
 liis. Page 383 
 
 SECTION VIII. 
 
 John'i very remarkable me£'age to Jefus 
 cojifidered. Page 390 
 
 S E C- 
 
 Xlll 
 
XIV 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 SECTION IX. 
 
 ^he condiiB of Jcfus in confeqiience of his 
 having purified the temple. Page 404 
 
 CONCLUSION, 
 
 Page 414 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 Fage 
 
 76 
 311 
 359 
 
 383 
 
 Lint 
 
 for 
 
 Read 
 
 26 
 
 Havere 
 
 Havere. 
 
 II 
 
 belie veth 
 
 believed. 
 
 12 
 
 and 
 
 to. 
 
 25 
 
 required 
 
 acquired. 
 
 \3& 
 
 of 
 
 for. , 
 
THE 
 
 DIVINE MISSIONS 
 
 OF 
 
 JOHN the Baptist 
 
 AND 
 
 JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 IntroduEiory Co7tJiderations^ , 
 
 HEN we coniider, and com- 
 
 i@ P^^^ together, thofe fhort hifto- 
 
 ries of the life and adions of 
 
 Jefus Chrift, which were written by his 
 
 chofen difciples, and their fellow labourers 
 
 in the gofpel j the great events, that firft 
 
 B en- 
 
 * Whoever is defirous of feeing what may have 
 been written upon this fubjeft before, may confult 
 Dr. Jortins '^th Dtfcoxirfe concer',:hig the truth of the Chri- 
 
 Jiian 
 
IntroduEiory Conftderations, 
 
 engage our attention, are the remarkable 
 birth and miniftry of John the Baptift. 
 The accounts indeed, which the evange- 
 lifts have given of him, are extremely 
 fhort, and feem intended, as far as con- 
 cerns John himfelf,. only to afford us a 
 clear precife notion of his prophetic cha- 
 racfter, and to alTure us of his divine com- 
 miflion to preach repentance to the Jews. 
 But the particulars comprifed even in thefe 
 verv concife relations, are in themfelves 
 fo extraordinary, and fome of them, at 
 firft appearance at leaf):, fo truly miracu- 
 lous, that wx cannot refled on them with- 
 out admiration. The fevere fandity of 
 his manners, the benevolent and pious la- 
 bours of his public life, and the cruelty of 
 his martyrdom in the canfe of virtue and 
 religion, joined to all thofe afloniihing 
 events, that accompanied his conception 
 
 and 
 
 Jlian Religion; entitled, The TejTtmony of John the Bap- 
 tiji : and Part 4. Chap. 5. of a work written originally 
 in French, but tranflated into Englifh, under the title of, 
 The Frinciples of the Chrijlian Religion. Thefe two are 
 the only things upon the fubjeft, which the Author of 
 the follov/ing argument has happened to meet with. 
 
httroduEio?y Confederations^ 3 
 
 and birth, are particulars of fo ftriking a 
 nature, that they may well claim, nay 
 extort our regard, upon their own account 
 alone. 
 
 But the difciples of Jefus had a more 
 important delign to ferve, by their ac- 
 counts of the Baptift, than meerly making 
 known his peculiar life and chara(5ler, and 
 the circumftances which attended his ap- 
 pearance in the world. In them they 
 purpofely tranfmitted to mankind the hi- 
 ftory of a prophet, who had borne the 
 fulled teftimony to the divine charader 
 of their own mailer. And the chief end 
 they propofed to ferve, by making fuch 
 particular mention of John in their hifto- 
 ries of Jefus, was, to confirm the divine 
 million of Chrift by the teftimony of that 
 prophet, whofe coming, it was the uni- 
 verfal opinion, had for fome ages been fore- 
 told, in the character of his forerunner*. 
 B 2 Agree- 
 
 * Behold I ^vill fend my me£mgcr, and he Jhall prepare 
 the nvay before 7>je : and the Lord njjhom ye feek Jhall fud- 
 denly come to his temple : e'ven the mefjenger of the co^e?iant, 
 i<:bom ye delight in : behold he Jhall corne, faith the Lord of 
 
 hojls. 
 
IntrodiiEioty Coi^fiderattons* 
 
 Agreeably to this defign, Mark be- 
 gins his gofpel by acquainting us *, The 
 beginning of the gofpel of Jefiis Chriji the 
 Son of God J was, as it is iiTitten in the 
 prophets j behold I fend my mefjengcr before 
 thy face ^ which fiall prepare thy way before 
 thee. And then he immediately proceeds 
 to relate the public miniflry of John. 
 Matthew likewife declares -[-, that John 
 the Baptift was He that ivasfpoken oj by the 
 prophet^ Efaias, faying, the voice of one cry- 
 ing in the wildernefs^ prepare ye the way of 
 the Lord, make his paths ft raight %. The 
 fame fays Luke |j. And the evangelift John 
 exprefsly affirms §, that there was a fnan 
 fent from Gcd^ whofe name was John j and 
 
 that 
 
 hofls, Mai. iii. I . It is notorious, that, at the time of 
 John's coming, the Jews uni\ erlally expetled feme fuch 
 extraordinary meffenger to precede the MeiTiah ; and 
 that this, among others, was one of tliofe prophecies on 
 which they founded their expefiations. 
 
 * Mark. i. I, 2. 
 
 t Matt. iii. 1—3. 
 
 \ Ifa. xl. 3. T^he 'Voice of him, that crieth in the •wil- 
 der vefs, prepare ye the -ivay of the Lord -y make Ji raight in 
 the defcrt a high ijcay for our God. 
 
 [I Luke iii. 2 — 4. 
 
 § John i. 6, 7. 
 
InlroduBory Confiderations, 
 
 that the fame carne for a ivitncfsy to bear 
 wit fiefs of the light , that all men thro him 
 mi^ht believe. 
 
 From all thefe teftimonies it evidently 
 appears, that the chief defign of the evan- 
 gelifts was not to make us acquainted with 
 the divine charader of the Eactift, on his 
 own account; but to complete the evi- 
 dence of the divine miffion of Jefus, by 
 the unexceptionable tefhmony of that ex- 
 traordinary prophet, whofe appearance in 
 the charad:er of his forerunner, had been 
 univerfally expeded, becaufe explicitly 
 foretold. 
 
 In purfuance of this defign, it was na- 
 tural for them to be fcrupuloufly exa6l In 
 recounting thofe particulars, by which the 
 prophetic character of John himfelf was 
 eftablifhed ; and circumflantial in their re- 
 lations of the teftimony he bore to the di- 
 vine miffion of Jefus. But for the reft of 
 John's life and adlions, as a minute know- 
 ledge of thefe was not necefiary to the 
 chief end in view. They would, ofcourfe, 
 only furnlfli us with their true general idea. 
 Accordingly itv/ill be found, upon compa- 
 B 3 rlfon. 
 
6 IntroduEiory Confiderations, 
 
 rifon, that the evangelifts have followed 
 this plan. Luke has given a very parti- 
 cular detail *, of all the feemingly mira- 
 culous events, which attended John's con- 
 ception and birth 3 and which, if they 
 truly came to pafs as related, muft fully 
 prove him to have been fent by a fpecial 
 adl of the divine providence, purpofely to 
 fuftain that peculiar prophetic character he 
 afterwards aiiumed. And, not to cite each 
 evangelift, or have recourfe to every thing 
 they have recorded, vv^hat follows will fuf- 
 ficiently prove, how deiirous they were to 
 confirm the divine authority of Jefus, by 
 the exprefs teftimony of John. 
 
 And this is the record of fohn^ when the 
 yews fent priejis and levites from ferifa- 
 /<?;;;, to afk him^ who art thou ? and he con- 
 Jejfed, and denied not^ but confeffed^ I am 
 not the Chrif. — I am the voice oj one crying 
 in the wildernefs^ make fir aight the way of 
 the Lordy as faid the prophet Efaias. — / 
 baptize with water j but there ftandeth one 
 among you ^ whom ye know not^ he it is, who 
 
 coming 
 
 * Luke i. from verfe 5, to So. 
 
IntroduElory Conjiderations* 
 
 coming after me^ is preferred before me, whofe 
 fioes latchet I am not worthy to tinloofe. — 
 'The next day fohnfeeth fefus coming unto 
 him J and faith J behold the lajnb of God, which 
 taketh away the fin of the world. This is 
 he, of whom If aid, after me conieth a man 
 which is preferred before me -, for he was 
 before me. And I knew him not : but that he 
 fiould be made manifejl to Ifrael ; therefore 
 am Tcome baptizing with water. And f obi 
 bare record, faying, I faw the Spirit def- 
 cendingfrom he an:) en like a do^ve, and it a- 
 bode upon him. And I knew him not : but 
 he that fent me to baptize with water, the 
 fame /aid unto me, upon whom thou Jhalt fee 
 the Spirit defending, and remaining on him, 
 the fame is he, which baptizeth with the 
 Holy Ghofl. And I faw, and bare record, that 
 this is the Son of God. And again, the next 
 day after, fohnfiood, and two of his difciples ; 
 and looking upo?i fejus as he walked, he faith, 
 behold the lamb of God. And the two dif- 
 ciples heard him f peak, and they followed 
 Jcfus*. Thus 
 
 * John i. from 19 to 37. To the fame purpofe fee 
 
 Matt, 
 
S IntroduEiory Conjiderations, 
 
 Thus full and particular have the evan- 
 gelifts been, in tranfmitting to us the fe- 
 veral proofs of the divine chara(5ler of John 
 the Baptift, and his repeated exprefs tefti- 
 mony in confirmation of the divine mifllon 
 of Jtfus. But at the fame time that they 
 were fo foUicitous to eftablifli the divine 
 character of John, and to preferve fo many 
 diftinft pofitive declarations, publickly de- 
 livered by him, that Jefus Chrift was the 
 true Meffiah j they have tranfmitted to us 
 nothing more of John's other tranfad:ions, 
 than what was abfolutely requifite to give 
 us a true ideaof his extraordinary charader. 
 
 We may venture to conclude then, 
 that the principal intention of Jefus's dif- 
 ciples, in making fuch mention as they 
 have of John, was, in reality, to eftablifli 
 the divine charader of their mafter, fo 
 firmly, upon his tefiimony, that all men 
 thro him might believe. And in this it mufi: 
 at leafl be confefied, that they aded a very 
 prudent part 5 fince it is impoffible for any 
 
 evi- 
 
 Matt iii. II, &;c. Mark i. 7, &■€. Luke iii. 15, &-c. 
 John i. 15, &c. And more efpecially John iii. 25 — 36. 
 
Introdu8io7y Confederations » 
 
 evidence to be more clear, or more deci- 
 (ive, than that with which the Baptift con- 
 firmed the high pretenfions of Jefas. 
 
 On the other hand, we find Jefus on 
 every opportunity employing all his credit 
 with the people, to perfuade them, that 
 John was indeed that very divine perfon, 
 which he pretended to be i and the great- 
 efl of all the prophets, that had ever ap- 
 peared among them. The character, 
 which the Baptift had from the beginning 
 aftumed, was the voice of one cryifig in the 
 wildernefs^ maize Jlraight the 'way of the 
 Lord J as f aid the prophet Efaias. And 
 when, upon a particular occafion, he 
 thought fit to fend fomc of his difciples to 
 Jefus, to aflc him publickly, whether H<; 
 was the Meffiah ; Jefus improved the op- 
 portunity this afforded him, to addrefs the 
 people in favour of John; by declaring, in 
 a manner, the moil emphatical, that John 
 was a prophet y yea^ ^ fiy ^^^^ y^^'^ ^^^'■^ 
 much more than a -prophet. For this is he^ 
 of whom it is written^ behold I fend my raef- 
 fcnger before thy face, 'iJvLich fall prepare 
 
 thy 
 
I o- Int7'odu&ory CoJtf.dei^ations , 
 
 thy way before thee. Verily I fay unto you, 
 among them that are born of wonien^ there 
 hath not arifen a greater than John the 
 Baptifi. — Andy if ye will receive it, this 
 is EliaSy which was J or to come. He that 
 hath ears to hear, let him hear,^ Full 
 and frequent as John had been, in wit- 
 neffing the truth of Jefus's pretenfions to 
 the high character of the MefTiah ; his af- 
 fertions, we fee, were not more exprefs 
 or emphatical, than thefe declarations of 
 Jefus, in which he publickly affirmed 
 John to be his divine forerunner. 
 
 Had they not thus reciprocally fup- 
 ported each other's claims to divine infpi- 
 ration, the characters which they each 
 alTumed, were in themfelves fo diftindl:, 
 though relative to each other, that little, 
 perhaps, could have been drawn from 
 them alone, to eftablifh the truth, or de- 
 ted: the falfehood of their pretenlions. Had 
 John only declared himfelf the forerun- 
 ner of the Mefliah, without pretending to 
 point him out perfonally to the people ; 
 
 and 
 
 * Matt. xi. 9, &c. 
 
IntrGdu&o?y Conftderatioiis. 
 
 and had Jefus left the Jews to judge en- 
 tirely for themfelves, concerning the rea- 
 lity of the Baptift's infpiration 3 the divine 
 authority of Both^ could not neceffarily 
 have been determined by the veracity of 
 Blither. But fince we find them recipro- 
 cally bearing teftimony to the truth of 
 each other's divine commiflion -, and the 
 difciples of Jefus appear like wife to have 
 given us no further account of John, than 
 was necelTary to avail themfelves of his 
 authority, in eitablifliing the credit of their 
 mafter -, hence we are enabled to draw 
 this certain concluiion j that they muft 
 Both have been impoftors 5 or Both^ in 
 reality, thofe divine perfonages, whofe 
 chara(5lers they refpedively affumed. And 
 this conclufion, firft eftablifhed, will im- 
 mediately point out a very natural method 
 to bring the claims of Both to a decifive 
 examination. 
 
 Their mutual endeavours toperfwadc 
 the people into a belief in each other, muft 
 either have been the effed: of fome fuper- 
 natural knowledge, which adlired them 
 
 of 
 
 II 
 
I 2 IntroduElory Conftderations. 
 
 of each other's divine mifiion ; or the re- 
 fult of a previous agreement between them, 
 to fupport their double impoflure. The 
 nature of the cafe will not admit us to 
 fuppofc, that Jefus may have been the 
 true Mefliah, but John an impoftor ; or 
 John, that prophet, he declared himfelf, 
 but Jefus a deceiver. Their claims to any 
 thins: divine muft now fland or fall toge- 
 ther. 
 
 Had either of them alone been a coun- 
 terfeit ; the true prophet, it mufl be al- 
 lowed, could not have borne witnefs in 
 his favour ; unlels the other had found 
 means to deceive him into a firm belief of 
 the truth of his preteniions. As the real 
 melTenger of the God of truth, could not 
 be fent into the world to fupport a lie j fo 
 it was impoffible for him knowingly to 
 abett the defigns of an impious de- 
 ceiver. 
 
 If then only One of them was really the 
 divine perfjn he pretended to be, nothing 
 can account for his conducfl in fupporting 
 tlie Olhcr, but his having been deluded 
 
 by 
 
IntroduEtory Conjiderations, 1 3 
 
 by him into an opinion, that that divine 
 chara6ler did truly belong to him, which 
 he had impioufly aflumed. But this fup- 
 pofition cannot be admitted in the prefent 
 cafe. 
 
 The appearance of the long promifed 
 Mefliah was an event of fuch importance 
 to the general happinefs of mankind, and 
 in which, the goodnefs, veracity, and 
 juftice of God were fo intimately con- 
 cerned ; that He could not be fent into the 
 world, in fuch a manner, as would lay 
 mankind under an abfolute neceffity to 
 difown and rejedl him, v/ithout the leaft 
 fault in themfelves. The divine wifdom 
 could not therefore fend that infpired mef- 
 fenger, whom he had long promifed, 
 purpofely to prepare the Meffiah's way 
 before him j without enlightening him 
 with that ample portion of his difcerning 
 {pirit, which would enable him to diftin- 
 guilli the true Meffiah, without a poffibi- 
 lity of miflake, from every counterfeit of 
 his charader i or at leafc fecure him from 
 bearing Vv'itnefs to any impoftor. Had 
 
 he 
 
14 hitroduEiory Conjtderations, 
 
 he been fent without this necefTary quali- 
 fication, inftead of preparing the Melliah's 
 way before him, he might, and in the 
 pre fent cafe muft, have been the moft ef- 
 fedlual obftru6lor of it. He might invo- 
 luntarily have mifapplied his divine autho- 
 rity, in abetting the defigns of an impious 
 . deceiver; and thus have thwarted thofe 
 eternal counfels he was fent purpofely to 
 fulfill, through the defeds of his own in- 
 Ipiration. 
 
 Supposing then that the Baptift was in 
 fad:, the divine meilenger in queftion ; 
 Jefus muft iikewife have been the true 
 MelTiah. 
 
 On the other hand, fhould we allow 
 Jefus to have been the long expedted Mef- 
 fiah i his teftimony vv^ill furnifli us with as 
 fatisfad:ory a proof of the divine authority 
 of John. Nothing can be more evidently 
 abfurd, than tofuppofe, that a Being of 
 confummate wifdom and power, would 
 render the authority of his divine difpen- 
 fations liable to be brought into queftion, 
 by being connedted with the fhort-fighted 
 
 and 
 
TntroduEvory Conftderatmis, 
 
 and inconliftent fchemes of human impo- 
 flure. Intricate plans of deceit, efpeciaily 
 fuch as afFe(5t the general interefts of man- 
 kind, and are of the moft extenlive na- 
 ture, are ever liable to be difcovered. Nor 
 have we need of any other reafon for re- 
 jeding all pretenders to divine authority, 
 than the finding them delirous to encreale 
 their credit by the affiftance of a deceiver. 
 Jefus, therefore, if he vv^as the true Mef- 
 fiah, muft unqueftionably have diflin- 
 guiihed the true Elias, from every coun- 
 terfeit, who might alTume his name : or, 
 at leaft, he muft have refrained from 
 bearing witnefs to any one, whom he did 
 not infallibly know to be the divine per- 
 Ibn in queftion. 
 
 Besides, had the Baptift alone been 
 the counterfeit, as Jefus muft then have 
 been preceeded by fome truly divine fore- 
 runner, to whom the charader which 
 John alTumed, did really belong j Jefus 
 would undoubtedly have appealed to the 
 teftimony of that true prophet, if to any, 
 inftead of the falfe ; and we could never 
 
 have 
 
1 6 IntroduSiory Co?2fideratiQns, 
 
 have found him endeavouring to eftablifli 
 the credit of John. 
 
 It is evident therefore beyond queftion, 
 that if we admit the divine miffion of Je- 
 fus, his teftimony will oblige us alfo to 
 acknowledge the infpiration of John. And 
 thus the evidence they have borne to the 
 truth of each other's divine pretenfions, 
 reduces us to the neceflity of rejecting 
 them Both as impoftors ; or fubmitting to 
 Both^ in thofe very characters they aflu- 
 med, as the fpecial meffengers of God, 
 and immediate revcalersof hiswill to man- 
 kind. 
 
 This indiUbluble connexion between 
 Jefus and the Baptift, naturally points out 
 a particular method of eftabliiliing the 
 truth and certainty of the chriftian reve- 
 lation ; in its own nature, ftrong and con- 
 clulive 5 and independent of all that varie- 
 ty of other arguments, by which its divine 
 original may be clearly proved. If thofe 
 particulars, which tlie evangeliils have 
 recorded, relating to John's birth and 
 tranfaQions, and fuch others concerning 
 
 Jefus, 
 
IntroduBory Conjiderations. ij 
 
 Jefus, as are neceflarily conneded with ' 
 
 them, will enable us to fhew fatisfadorily, 
 that the Baptifl himfelf could not be an 
 impoftor j then will they afford a com- 
 plete and equally fatisfadory proof of the 
 divine miffion of Jefus : lince it will then 
 be certain, that he could be no lefs than 
 what John declared him to be, the pro- 
 mifed Mefllah, and the Son of God. 
 
 The profecution of this particular point 
 is the firft and more immediate objedl of 
 the following enquiry. But as we pro- 
 ceed in it, the argument will likewife be 
 found attended with this further, and very 
 material, advantage ; that in illuftrating 
 the evidence of the divine original of 
 John, we fhall at the fame time unavoid- 
 ably trace out a feparate, direct, and e- 
 qually full proof of the divine charad:er 
 of Jefus; drawn from the nature of thofe 
 particulars, which relate immediately to 
 himfelf alone. 
 
 The chief of thofe materials, which 
 muft ferve for the foundation of this en- 
 quiry, are but few in number, and little 
 C more 
 
l8 IntroduSiory Conjlderations. 
 
 more than a feries of aftonifhing events, 
 affirmed to have accompanied both the 
 Baptift's and Jefus's birth. But thefe, 
 when confidered in their feverai circum- 
 ftances, and necefTary conne(flions ; and 
 when joined likewife with fome remarka- 
 ble particulars in the condu6l of John and 
 Jefus towards each other, which muft 
 greatly contribute to their further illuftra- 
 tion ; will appear, it is hoped, fully fuffi- 
 cient to anfwer the end propofed ^ and af- 
 ford us a proof, at leaft, as fatisfadlory as 
 in fuch a point can rationally be defired, 
 that John was indeed a man fent from 
 God, and Jefus beyond all queftion the 
 true Meffiah. 
 
 THE 
 
THE 
 
 DIVINE MISSIONS 
 
 O F 
 
 JOHN the Baptist 
 
 AND 
 
 JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 PART L 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 HE feveral miraculous events re- Part i. 
 ported to have accompanied the ,..^-v->J 
 
 conception of John the Baptift, 
 are related by Luke as follows *. 
 
 There was in the days of Herod^ the king 
 ofjudea^ a certain priefi^ named Zacha- 
 rias^ of the coiirfe of Abia: and his wife 
 ivas of the daughters of Aaron, and her 
 name was Elizabeth. And they were both 
 C 2 right" 
 
 * Luke i. 5 — 25, 
 
20 'The Divine Mijpons of 
 
 Part I. 
 Sea. I. 
 
 rigbfeous befire Gcd^ walking in all the 
 commandments and ordinances of the Lord, 
 bla7nelefs. And they had no child, becaufe 
 that Elizabeth was barren, and they both 
 were Jiow well Jiricken in years. And it 
 came to pafs, that, while he executed the 
 priefis office bejore God, in the order of his 
 coitrfe, according to the ciijlom of the pr left's 
 ojjce, his lot was to burn incenfe, when he 
 went into the tetnple of the Lord, And the 
 whole multitude of the people were praying 
 without, at the time of incenfe . And there 
 appeared unto him an angel of the Lord, 
 ftanding on the right fide of the altar of in- 
 cenfe. And when Zacharias faw him, he 
 was troubled, and fear fell upon him. But 
 the atigelfaid unto him, fear not Zacharias : 
 for thy prayer is heard, . and thy wife Eli^ 
 zabeth fidall bear thee a Son, and thou fioalt 
 call his Name fohn. And thou fijalt 
 have joy and gladnefs, and tnafiy fijall re- 
 joice at his birth. For he fijall be great in 
 the fight of the Lord, and fijall drink nei- 
 ther wine, norfirong drink ; and he fijall be 
 filled with the Holy Ghofi, even frotn his 
 
 mother s 
 
yohn Baptifl and Jef^s Ch?^i/i, 
 
 21 
 
 mothers womb. And many of the children Part I. 
 of Ifraeljloall he turn to the ho-^d their God. ^./-v-s> 
 And hefiall go before him in the fpirit and 
 power of Elias^ to turn the hearts of the 
 fathers to the children^ and the difobedient 
 to the wifdom cf the juft^ to make ready a 
 people prepared for the Lord. And Zacha- 
 rias faid unto the angel^ whereby fall I 
 know this ? for I am an old man^ and my 
 wife well firicken in years. And the angel 
 ajifwering faid unto him, I am Gabriel.^ 
 that ft and in the prefence of God : and a?n 
 fent tofpeak unto thee^ and to fiew thee thefe 
 glad tidings. And behold, thou JImH be 
 dumb, and not able to /peak, until the day 
 that thefe things ftdall be performed % becaufe 
 thou believeft not my words, which fball be 
 fulfilled in their feafon . And the people wait- 
 ed for Zacharias, and marvelled that he 
 flayed fo long in the temple. And when he 
 came out he could not /peak unto them : and 
 they perceived that he had feen a vifon in 
 the temple ; for he beckoned unto them, and 
 remained fpeechlefs. And it cametopafs, that 
 as joon as the days oj his miniflraticn were 
 C 3 aC' 
 
2 2 72^ Divine Mijftoits of 
 
 Part I. accompUpedy he departed to his own boufe, 
 A?id after thofe days his wife Elizabeth con- 
 ceivedy and hid herfelf Jive months^ fay^^gy 
 thus hath the Lord dealt with ?jie^ in the 
 days wherein he looked on me^ to take away 
 my reproach among men. 
 
 The evangelift having thus related the 
 circumftances of John's conception, flops 
 here to give an account of many other 
 events, no lefs aftonifhing, which foon 
 after accompanied the conception of Je- 
 fus ; and then goes on with the following 
 hiflory of the birth of the Baptift *. 
 
 l^ow Elizabeth's full time came^ thatjloe 
 jhould be deliver ed^ and Jl:e brought forth a 
 fon. And her neighbours^ and her coujinsy 
 heard how the Lord hadfjewed great mercy 
 upon her y ajtd they rejoiced with her. Ana 
 it came to pafsy that on the eighth day they 
 came to circumcife the child ; and they called 
 him ZachariaSy after the name of his father. 
 And his mother anfweredy andfaidy not fo ; 
 but he fiall he called John. And they faid 
 unto her, there is none of thy kindred that is 
 
 called 
 
 * Luke i. 57 — to the end. 
 
yohn Baptijl a7id ye/us Chrijl, 2 3 
 
 called by this name. And they madejigtn Part I. 
 to his father^ how he would have him called. w^-v>w 
 And he ajkedfor a writing table, and wrote y 
 faying y his name is yohn. And they mar- 
 velled all. And his mouth was opened im- 
 mediately , and his tongue loofed, and hefpake 
 and praifed God. And Jear came on all 
 that dwelt round about them : and all thefe 
 fayings were noifed abroad, throughout all 
 the hill country of Judea. And all they, 
 that had heard them, laid them up in their 
 hearts, faying, what manner of child fhall 
 this be ^ And the hand of the Lord was with 
 him. And his father Zacharias was filled 
 with the Holy Ghof, and prophecied, faying, 
 Bleffedbe the LordGod of Ifrael, for he hath 
 vifted and redeemed his people ; and hath 
 raifedup an horn of falvation for us, in the 
 houfe ofhisfervant David, as hefpake by the 
 mouth of his holy prophet Sy which have been 
 fince the world began. 'That we foul d be 
 favedfrom our enemies, and from the hand 
 of all that hate us. To perform the mercy 
 promifed to our forefathers, and to remem- 
 ber his holy covenant -, the oath which he 
 C 4 fware 
 
24 ^he Divine MiJJtons of 
 
 Part I. Jware to our father Abraham ; that he 
 sy-\/ — would grant unto us^ that we being delivered 
 out of the hands of our enemies^ might ferve 
 him without fear ^ in holinefs and right eouf- 
 nefs before him all the days of our life. And 
 thou^ childy fl:alt be called the prophet of the 
 Higheji j for thoufjaltgo before the face of 
 the Lord to prepare his waySy to give know- 
 ledge of falvaiion to his people ^ by the re- 
 mijjion of their fins i through the tender mer- 
 cy of our God', whereby the day fpring from 
 on high hath vifited us, to give light to them 
 that ft in darknefs, and in the fiadow of 
 death ; to guide cur feet info the way of 
 peace. — A?2d the child grew, and waxed 
 firong in Jpirit, and was in the de farts until 
 the day of his fiewing unto Ifracl. 
 
 Such and To aftonilhing are the parti- 
 culars tranfmltted to us of the conception 
 and birth of John the Baptift. The evan- 
 gelifl himfelf, by his manner of relating 
 them, feems to have thought they con- 
 tained evidence fully fufficient to convince 
 mankind of the truth of his prophetic cha- 
 rader, and divine infpiration. And if 
 
 thefc 
 
yohn Baptijl aitd Jefus Chrijl. 2 5 
 
 thefe accounts may be relied on, as true Part L 
 hiftories of fads, which adually came to v^^-v-^^ 
 pafs, in the manner they are here related j 
 it muft at once be confeiTed, that their 
 teftimony Is abundantly fufficlent to af- 
 fure us of John's divine miiTion ; and there 
 can be no room to doubt whether Jefus 
 was the true Meffiah. 
 
 The appearance of an angel to Zacha- 
 rias ; his prophetic declaration, that things 
 in the higheft degree improbable, would 
 very fliortly be brought to pafs j his pu- 
 nifhing Zacharias, by ilriking him inflan- 
 la/ieoully dumb, for queftioning the truth 
 of what he foretold ; the fubfequent con- 
 ception and birth of John, at a time when, 
 humanly fpeaking, Elizabeth could not 
 have had children 5 the fudden reftoration 
 of Zacharias's ipeech, at the period when 
 the angel had declared it would be reftor- 
 ed to him 5 and his breaking out into pro- 
 phecies the inftant after, through the force 
 of divine infpiration -■, thefe events, con- 
 sidered together, are fo apparently beyond 
 the power of human artifice to accomplifli, 
 
 that 
 
26 The Divi?te MtJJlo7is of 
 
 Part I. that if it be allowed they really came to 
 pais, all further argument is at an end. 
 The Baptift muft at once be fubmitted to 
 as the true Elias j and Jefus, upon his re- 
 peated tcftimony, be acknowledged the 
 Son of God. 
 
 This then is tlie queflion j whether we 
 have fufficient reafon to fatisfy us, in a 
 point of fo great importance, that this re- 
 lation of the evangelifls is free both from 
 impoflure and miilake; and that all the 
 fad:s contained in it are unqueflionably 
 true * ? 
 
 If 
 
 * Before we enter upon the argument propofed, it 
 feems necefiary to premife, that it is not here intended to 
 prove, that the gofpels were really written by thofe 
 perfons, whofe names they bear ; but, taking t\\h fugle 
 point for granted, as having been fully eftablifhed by 
 thofe, who have written pi ofciTedly upon it ; the defign 
 of this enquiry is to prove, that the fafts, in queflion, 
 recorded in the gofpels, could not pofFibly be forged j but 
 mull really have come to pafs, in the manner that they 
 are there related. And this, not by arguing from any 
 fuppofed authority of the evangelifts, but from the very 
 nature and circumltances of their relations themfelves. 
 — The authenticity of the gofpels may be feen proved at 
 large by Lardncr, in his Cre::!. of the Gofp. Hijl. and Others, 
 who have fet themfelves exprefdy to examine the canon 
 cf the New I'eflamciit. 
 
yohn Baptift a7td ye/us Chrijl. 2 7 
 
 If this miraculous hiOiory of the birth Par t I. 
 of John IS not to be rehed on, as a true 
 account of what did adualiy happen ; it 
 mufl either have been invented by Luke, 
 or fome of yefuss apojiles^ in order to 
 ftrengthen the credit of their own ma- 
 iler ; or it mufl have been forged by 
 
 yohn himfelfy or fome of his difciples, to 
 deceive the people into a belief of his di- 
 vine infpiration 3 — or laftly, it mufl have 
 been a contrivance of Zacharias, and his 
 ajfociates', in order to pafs his Son upon 
 the Jews for that honourable prophet, who 
 was exped:ed to come before-hand, to 
 prepare the way of the Lord. 
 
 Now that it could not be forged by 
 Luke, will very evidently appear. Tho' 
 the exad: time of the publication of his gof- 
 pel is unknown, nor is it certain whether it 
 came abroad before or after thofe of Mat- 
 thew and Mark •- ; the nature and end of 
 
 the 
 
 * It is indeed by much the more prevailing opinion, 
 .that Luke did not write his gofpel, till after Matthew 
 and Mark had written theirs. As may be feen in Whit- 
 by's preface to Luke's gofpel, and the generality of 
 
 com- 
 
2 8 7/^^ Divine Mifjlons of 
 
 Part I. ^^ work itfelf, and Luke's own words, 
 
 Seft. I. . 
 
 wors^ oblige us to acknowledge, that it could 
 not be made public immediately after the 
 death of Chrift. Till the church was fo 
 enlarged, that the perfonal teftimony of 
 the apojflles, and the eye witneffes of Je- 
 fus's life and actions, could not often be 
 had ; and their verbal accounts, through 
 a courfe of fome time, were expofed to 
 the danger of being, even involuntarily, 
 corrupted ; the evangelifts were under no 
 great neceffity to write hiflories of the life 
 of Jefus their mafter j and were much 
 too fully employed in making converts to 
 chriflianity, to have leifure for compofing 
 them. In fad, Luke himfelf has ex- 
 prefsly declared *, that he did not com- 
 pofe his gofpel, till after many had taken 
 
 in 
 
 commentators; and Michaelis's Introduftory Leftures 
 to the N. T. and more at large in Dr. Lardner's Sup- 
 plement, Vol. 4. Chap. 4, &c. But Mr. Macknight 
 has fhewn, in the fixth Preliminary Obfervation, pre- 
 fixed to his Harmony of the Gofpels ; that there are not 
 wanting feveral, and at lealt, very fpccious reafons, in 
 fupport of the contrary opinion, iiee likewife Bafnage 
 Annal. Ecclef. Ann. 30. 
 * Luke i. I . 
 
yohn Baptijl ejtd Jefus Chrijl, 29 
 
 in hand to fet forth, i?t order, a declaration Part r. 
 of thofe things, which were mofi affiiredly s/"V"n-» 
 believed among them. This declaration, 
 efpecially when joined to the nature of the 
 thing itfelf, would make it in the highefl 
 degree unreafonable to fuppofe, that the 
 gofpel in queftion could have come abroad, 
 till fome confiderable time after the death 
 of Chrift. And thus far all the different 
 opinions about it are agreed *. 
 
 But after fuch a time had elapfed, the 
 cvangelift could not but know and confi- 
 der, that it would be impolTible for him to 
 forge a feries of fa6ls, fo aftonifhing in 
 themfelves, and of fuch confiderable mo- 
 ment, without being immediately detec- 
 ted ; and ruining at once the prevailing 
 
 credit 
 
 * The earlieft period, that has been affigned for the 
 publication of Matthew's gofpel, feems to be about eight 
 years after the death of Chrift ; and the latell about 
 thirty years after it. See Lardner's Supplement, Vol. J. 
 Chap. V. 10 : Macknight's 6th Preliminary Obfer- 
 vation : Michaelis's Introductory Leftures : and Ben- 
 fon's Hiftory of rhe planting the Chriftian Religion. 
 So that if Luke's gofpel was reaUy publifhed be- 
 fore Matthew's ; even upon this fuppofition, it could 
 fcarcely be fooner than fi.x or feven years after Jefus's 
 crucifixion. 
 
30 'The Divine Mijjions of 
 
 Part 1. credit of Jefus, and all who preached in 
 sy^r^ his name. Could the apoftles, from the 
 firft of their miniftry, have appealed to fo 
 wonderful a feries of events, which had 
 accompanied the birth of John -, no man 
 could pofTibly believe, that they would 
 till this time have ftudioufly fupprelTed 
 them ', or could, through negled:, have 
 forgot to relate them. For John, we have 
 feen, bore the mofl exprefs teftimony to 
 the truth of Jefus's pretentions j and we 
 know likewife, that all the people held 
 John to have been a prophet indeed. 
 
 The evangelift therefore could not 
 poffibly have prefixed a relation fo afto- 
 nifliing, as this hiftory of the birth of John, 
 to his account of the life and adions of Je- 
 fus J unlefs the particulars contained in it, 
 had net only been publickly known^ and 
 believedy before he wrote ; but publickly 
 taught likewife, by all the apoftles, to 
 every convert they had made, from their 
 firfl beginning to preach the gofpel. Be- 
 caufe it was evident, that if he had-, not 
 only his own gofpel, but, with it, all the 
 
 pre- 
 
yohn Baptifi and Jefus Chrijl. 3 1 
 
 pretences of his party, muft on this very P a r t I, 
 account have been univerfally exploded. ^.•-v^o 
 
 Neither can this relation have been a 
 forgery concerted between alU or any of 
 Jefus s dfciples^ at their very firft begin- 
 ning to preach the gofpel, after Jefus's 
 death. Such a furprifing feries of mira- 
 cles fuppofed to have accompanied John's 
 birth y but never made knov^n till fo long 
 a time even after his death* ; and then firft 
 reported byafet of men, vv^hofe intereftwas 
 fo nearly, and fo evidently concerned 
 in promoting the belief of them^ muft 
 neceflarily have carried with it fo ftrong 
 an appearance of impofture, that thofe, 
 who did not rejed them at once, as appa- 
 rently fi<flitiouE, would no doubt have 
 examined into the truth of them, with fo 
 much fcrupulous care j that had they not 
 been founded on unqueflionable fadt, their 
 
 falfehood 
 
 * According to Mr. Macknight, John was beheaded 
 before the third paiTcver of Jefus's public miniftry ; and 
 Jefus hiniltlf was put lo death at the fifth. So that the 
 death of Jefus did not happen till full two years after 
 that of John. Some computations make the diftance 
 greater ftill ; and it could not be leis. 
 
32 The Divine Mijjlons of 
 
 Part I. falfehood muft have been prefentlv de- 
 Sea. I. , r / 
 sy^'^r^ te6ted. 
 
 How zealous and aftlve the rulers of 
 the Jews, and the whole fynagogue con- 
 tinued, for a long time after they had put 
 Jefus to death, in endeavouring to filence 
 the apoftles, and prevent even the name 
 of Jefus from being named among the 
 people, is well known. At the very time, 
 when the apoflles muft have firft publifh- 
 ed thefe forgeries concerning the birth of 
 Johui if in reality they were forgeries, and 
 the apoftles the perlbns who forged them ; 
 the chief priefts and rulers were watching 
 every opportunity to deftroy them. Firft 
 they imprifoned Peter and John *; fhen 
 all the apoftles at once -f- ; not difmiffing 
 them without ftripes, and threats of the 
 fevereft punifliment, if they ftill continu- 
 ed preaching in Jefus's name \ : and very 
 foon after, they even put Stephen to 
 death II . So circumftanced. In the midft 
 
 of 
 
 * A6ls of the apoft. iv. i — 3. 
 
 t Afts of the apoft. v.. 17, 18. 
 
 ■^ A£ts of the apoft. iv. 18, 21. — v. 28, 40. 
 
 jl Ibid. vii. 58, 59. 
 
y-ohn Baptijl a7td ye/us Chrift, 33 
 
 of fiich perfccuting foes, what can be ^ a r t r. 
 more incredible, than that the apoftles v.x^v~ 
 iliould voluntarily court not only their own 
 fhame and deftru(5lion, but even the utter 
 extinction of their mafter's credit j by 
 now firfl publifhing fo extravagant and 
 ill-grounded a forgery, as muft neceffarily 
 make their veracity not fufpecfted only, 
 but exploded, by every one of the leafl 
 judgment or reflection. 
 
 Or, were it conceivable, that the apoftles 
 themfelves could a6t fo foolifli a part i how 
 can it be believed, that the chief priefts and 
 rulers would quietly acquiefce, in fuifering 
 them to fpread abroad thefe hitherto un- 
 heard of divine revelations 3 fo evidently 
 calculated to raife the credit of Jefus ; 
 whofe name and memory they were at 
 tills very time exerting all their authority 
 to deftroy? Had the circumftances of 
 John's birth, which Luke has related, 
 been unknown till this time, and now firfl: 
 publiilied by Jefus's difciples j the fanhe- 
 drim could not have failed to make the 
 llriCtefl enquiry into the evidence alleged 
 D in 
 
34 ^^ Divine Minions of 
 
 Part I. jn their fupport; and if that had proved 
 X,^^Y-sj infufficicnt, as it certainly muft, would 
 have punifhed the apoftles to the utmoft 
 extent of their power j and by laying 
 open their villainy to the public view, 
 have extinguifhed for ever the growing 
 credit of the fed:. 
 
 Since therefore, on the contrary, it 
 - appears, that though they not only threat- 
 ened, but beat, and imprifoned the apo- 
 ftles, and even put one of them to death, 
 for perfifting to preach in the name of 
 Jefus i yet they never accufed them of 
 the leaft forgery, in thofe miraculous ac- 
 counts of the birth of the Baptift, which 
 they were now every where fpreading a- 
 mong their converts to chriflianity ; we 
 are neceffitated to acknowledge, that this 
 account of the birth of John, which Luke 
 has recorded, muft have been publickly 
 known, and univerfally believed, before 
 the time of Jefus's death. It could not 
 therefore be forged by the apoftles, when 
 they firft began to preach the gofpel, im- 
 mediately after it. 
 
 If 
 
yoJyn Baptift and ye/us Chriji, 3 5 
 
 If then the miraculous account under Part I. 
 
 Sea. I. 
 
 conlideratlon was forged by Jefus's difci- 
 ples, Jefus himfelf muft have been con- 
 cerned with them in it, and they muft 
 jointly have publidied it foon after the 
 death of John. But not to repeat argu- 
 ments, which have been but this moment 
 alleged ^ the very fame reafons, which 
 have {hewn it impoilible for Jefus's difci- 
 ples to have done this, foon after hh 
 death -, prove it equally certain, that nei- 
 ther could Jefus, in conjun(ftion with 
 them, have firft publiflied fuch a forgery, 
 at any time after the death of John. Be- 
 caufe the teftimony of Jefas more elpe- 
 cially, with that of his difciples, would 
 neceffarily have been expofed to all the 
 fame objec^Hons in this cafe, as the tefti- 
 mony of his difciples alone, in the former. 
 Since therefore this account of the 
 miraculous birth of John, whether we 
 fuppofe it true or faife, muft have been 
 publickly knov/n and received, while 
 John himfelf was alive to confirm or 
 contradid it; if it was a forgery, we 
 D 2 muft 
 
36 T*he Divine Miff.ons of 
 
 Part I. niuft ncxt fuDpofc Tohn himfelf to have 
 
 Sedt. I. 1 
 
 v-^-v— » been the true author, and chief propaga- 
 tor of it. But neither could this poflibly 
 be the cafe. 
 
 John's whole charader, life, and doc- 
 trine, were fo eminently diftinguiflied by 
 a religious adherence to the veiy ftrideft 
 rules of piety and virtue ; that, accord- 
 ing to Jofephus, the Jevi^s in general were 
 firmly perfuadcd, that particular divine 
 judgments were inflidled upon Herod for 
 putting him to death *. But, not to in- 
 
 fift 
 
 * Jofephus having related the total defeat of Herod's 
 army, and mentioned the caufe of it, that they were be- 
 trayed by fomcdcfcitcrs ; goes on as follows. 
 
 Kccra, 'PToinv.' Icaivh ts iTiKctKafxit'ts B'jLiriffTis. kthvh 
 •>'rtf 7>iTo7 Hj>«/»r, dtya^ov c-.vS'^c/.y ndLi ZKr JvJ'ctivf 
 
 KiKilOVTcr, etp«T»ir i7rai7K0Vl'Ta.c^ Kcti TA Tfcy AhKAf^vT 
 
 CATTKTyu ffVVIiVAI. 'uTa yA^ Kcti Tr.V •a'cl.-JTlJit' 
 et,lToJ"iKT"V CtVTa <r)a.nii^cClf //I) £7r/ TlVeU AfJ-A^TAScoV 
 'JA^AlTWll yj^KUiveoVy AK?C ??' ayVit^t 73V 7fc//ct7 0rj 
 
 - • •• Jofeph. Antiq. Jud. L. 18. 5. Ed. Havere. 
 
 " But many among the Jews were perfuaded, that 
 the deftruftion of Herod's army was owing to the parti- 
 cular interpofition of God ; who, they thought, took 
 
 this 
 
yohn Baptijl and Jefus ChriJ}, 3 7 
 
 liflon this, the feveral particulars related Part L 
 
 ^ Seft. I. 
 
 are of fuch a nature, as prove beyond con- *^/'->vr^ 
 tradition, that thefe accounts could not 
 have been firft invented, nor even firft re- 
 lated, at any time after John's birth '-, and 
 confequently, that it is impoffible for John 
 himfelf, or any of his difciples, to have 
 been the contriver, or firft propagator of 
 them. 
 
 Zacharias's feeming lofs of ipecch, and 
 his fignifying to the people his having ittw 
 a vifion in the temple, were fads, that if 
 true, muft have been notorious to great 
 numbers ; as is evident from the occalion 
 D 3 on 
 
 this method to punifh him, as he very highly defended, 
 for his cruelty to John, commonly called the Eaptij}. 
 For Herod had put him to death, notwithftanding he 
 was a good man, and exhorted the Jews not to come to 
 his baptifm, without iirft preparing themfelves for it, by 
 the praflice of virtue ; by a flrid adherence to the rules 
 of juftice and equity in theii" dealings with one another ; 
 and by manifeiUng a fmcere piety towards God. P'or 
 their being baptized, he taught them, would then only 
 be acceptable to God, when, having firft purified the 
 mind with righteous dil'pofitions, they had recourle to 
 baptifm, as nothing more than an emblem of their free- 
 dom from fenfual pollutions ; not when they made ufc 
 of it as a commuuttion for their lins." 
 
2 8 TJje Divme MtJjlo7is of 
 
 Part I. on vvhich they are faid to have happen- 
 y,yy/^ ed*. Again, Zacharias's no Icls fur- 
 prifing, inftantaneous recovery of his 
 fpeech, at the time of John's circumcifion, 
 was another fa(5t, which, if true, muft 
 have been known likewife at the veiy 
 time, to no lefs than ten feveral relations 
 of the family j who, according to the con- 
 stant cuflom of the Jewilli nation, muft 
 have been prefent upon that occafion -f*. 
 
 Now 
 
 * And the people Hjoalied for Zacharias, and riiayvclled 
 that he tarried fo long in the temi le. And nvhen he came 
 out he could not /peak unto them : and they perccii-cd that 
 he had feen a njifton in the temple : for he beckoned unto 
 them and remained fpcechkji. Luke i. 21, 22. 
 
 •)• The occafion was the circumcifion of John. And 
 it came to pafi, that on the eighth day they came to circitm- 
 eife the child j and they called hiin Xacharias, after the 
 natne cf his father, bic. Luke i. 59. — Upon this oc- 
 cafion the cuflom of the Jews was as follows. 
 
 " Upon the day of circumcifion the father makes a 
 feaft. fen mull be the number of the invited guells : 
 and one or two of the learned Rabbis make a long 
 prayer and fermon at the table ; while the others freely 
 fet the glafs about and drink plentifully. This feall 
 they oblerve, by the example of Abraham, who made 
 a great feaft, the fame day that Ifaac was weaned: (Gen. 
 xxi. 8.) they pervert the text, and fay, when he w:is 
 circumcifed." Lew is's Ktb. Antiq. B. 4. Ch. i. 
 
 The 
 
yoh7i Baptiji and Jefus Chrijl, 39 
 
 Now it is inconceivable, that an im- Part. I. 
 
 Seft. I. 
 
 poftor fhould choofe to forge fuch fadls as ^^v^^-^ 
 thefe, the falfehood of which might pre- 
 fently be deteded j and add likewife, that 
 the whole country round about was, at 
 the ^fery time, made acquainted with, and 
 furprifed at them j when, if the fadts 
 themfelves v/ere not true, it would imme- 
 diately have appeared, upon enquirvj that 
 none of the neighbouring inhabitants had 
 ever heard any thing of them. * A?id 
 fear came on all that dwelt roundabout them-, 
 and all thefe fay ings (that is, all thefe tranf- 
 ciciions ■^) were noifed abroad^ throughout 
 D 4 all 
 
 The number of perfons to be invited to this feaft, at 
 the circumcifion, was not limited to ten ; but thtre was 
 always to be fen at the leajl. Buxtorf. Syn. jud. cap, 2. 
 
 * Luke i. 65, 66. 
 
 t To prevent any fufpicion of having interpreted this 
 pafTage in a more comprehenfive fenfe, than it ought to 
 t»e taken in ; it is proper to obferve, that the words in 
 the original are, — -ircLVTct ra, fH^ctrct tclvto. : which 
 in the tranflation are Tendered, ** all thefe /2zr/V/^7.'" 
 Now it is certain, that ret ^^luccia. Signifies indifi'erently 
 thi/igs as well as rx)ords ; and is as often ufed for the for- 
 mer, as the latter. Thus in this very chapter, ver. 37, 
 Or/ ovK Aj^vyciTiiTi irct^a. tcj Qzco ttav piy.a. : in the 
 Jranfl:;tion, For v.-ith God nothing Jf^all he impoffible."'' 
 
 Au4 
 
40 T'he Divine MiJJtons of 
 
 Part I. 
 Se&.. I. 
 
 all the hill country of Judea. And all they 
 . that heard them laid them up in their hearts, 
 faying, what manner of child f:all this be ? 
 Unlefs thefe events had apparently come to 
 pafs, in the manner, and at the time, 
 they are related to have happened j they 
 could not at that time have been noifed 
 abroad through the neighbouring country ; 
 nor could John himfelf, or his aflbciates, 
 at any time afterwards have ventured to 
 alTert that they were. 
 
 The nature of the fadts themfelves was 
 fo furprifing, that, upon this account alone, 
 fome remembrance of them muft have 
 been prefervcd, in the neighbourhood 
 
 where 
 
 And in chap. ii. 15. A^SAdt'^uec cTm «;>,•«• B»3-A=://. x-it 
 li' cju.iv TO f«//4 TC'jTo '(0 yiyo'c-:, c K ?/<»? eyvo^iffiv 
 yfjLiv, Let us go twiv e'ven unto Belhlehemy and fee this 
 thing, ivkich is come to p^fs, ivhich the Lord bath made 
 hnoiun unto us. From tliefe inftances only it is fufHcient- 
 ly plain, that in t''^e pafTage before us, ircf.vrcjL ra f»//a. 
 T <x. ~ Av 7 r. . would have been more properly tranflated, 
 *' all thefe events ;" inflead of, " all thefe fayings j" 
 and thrt Luke meant by them, not only Zacharias's 
 prophetical declaration, but all the faifts he had jufl been 
 relating. See more on the word piiyuct in Hamm. oq 
 
 Matt, 2. — Wolf. Cur. Phil, in Luc. i. 37 Gataker 
 
 de Stylo N. T. p. 146. — Rofs's EiTav for a ncv 
 Traufl. (from Lc Ccnc) p. 2. ch. 4, 
 
yohn Baptij} a?:d Jefus Ch?^ij}, 41 
 
 where Zacharias had lived, had thev real- Part r. 
 
 Se£t. I. 
 
 ly happened, much later than it was pof- 
 fible for John himfelf, or any of his dif- 
 ciples while he was living, to have con- 
 trived and publiflied thefe accounts. The 
 hiftory of fo many divine revelations, re-j 
 fled:ing fuch fignal honour upon all thofe, 
 to whom they had been made, muft with- 
 out doubt have been preferved in the fa- 
 mily, with great care, at leafl as long as 
 the perfon, whom they immediately con- 
 cerned, was alive. The hopes and ex- 
 pedlations of feeing them accomplilhed 
 in John's future life and actions, muft 
 have kept them in remembrance among 
 Zacharias's friends and relations at leaft ; 
 and rendered it abfolutely impoffible for 
 the memory of them to have been lofl:, 
 while there was a poffibility remaining of 
 feeing them one day fulfilled. 
 
 No fooner, it is related, had Zacha- 
 rias fif^nified, that his fon fhould be named 
 John ; than his fpeech was perfedly refto- 
 red, and he was immediately filled with 
 the Holy Gholl, or at leafl pretended to 
 
 be 
 
42 7^^ Divine MiJJJons of 
 
 Part I. be fo, and prophecied: foretelling, be- 
 %^ry^ fides the fpeedy coming of the Meffiah 
 himfelf, and the glories of his reign, that 
 his own fon^ at that time but a few days 
 old, was fent to difcharge the office of 
 his immediate forerunner. 
 
 So unexpecfted a prediflion, delivered 
 by Zacharias, after having been, as he 
 pretended, for fo long a time miraculouf- 
 ly flruck dumb, and but the inftant be- 
 fore as miraculoufly reftored to fpeech; 
 and this too concerning a child, born to 
 him when he could have no hopes of 
 children j and to whom hehadjuft given 
 a name, in oppofition to the defire of all 
 his relations prefent, and the prevailing 
 cuftom of his country j fuch a prophecy, 
 pronounced in circumflances fo remark- 
 able, and full of promifes fo defireable, 
 could not have been forgot in John's life 
 time, had it really been delivered; nor 
 could John's affirming fuch a ftory have 
 been able to procure it belief, if it had not 
 , been remembered. 
 
 If 
 
yohn Baptiji and yefas Ch?^iJ}. ■ 43 
 If therefore, upon enquiry, when John Part r. 
 
 . Se6t. I. 
 
 aflumed his public charad:er, no account, w/^vv^ 
 not even the Icafl: tradition, of thefe mi- 
 racles and prophecies could be learned 
 from the family of Zacharias, and the 
 neighbourhood * where he lived ; and if 
 they were forgeries of John's own, or any 
 of his difciples, it is evident this mufl have 
 been the cafe 5 they mufl at once have 
 been efFedually exploded. John's own 
 reputation muft have been abfolutely 
 blafted 3 nor v^ould the hiflorians of Jefus 
 have dared afterwards to publi{h thefe re- 
 lations, in order to fupport the credit of 
 their mafter. On the contrary, it muft 
 
 have 
 
 * It may not be improper to take notice, on this oc- 
 cafion, that the Jews were from the beginning fettled in 
 their poffeflions, according to their tribes and families. 
 (See M. Lowman's Civil Government of the Hebrews, 
 ch. 4.) By this means a whole neighbourhood, being 
 in fome meafure related to each other, muft have been 
 more nearly connei^ed, than in other countries ; where 
 no fuch regulation had originally taken place ; and their 
 tribes were not keptdifunft. And, on this account, it 
 muft have been looked on as ftill more highly incredi- 
 ble, that the neighbourhood, where Zacharias had lived, 
 could at this time be found abfolutely ignorant of any 
 fuch aftonifhing events as thofe before us ; had they ever 
 really come to paf?, and been related among them. 
 
44 ^^ Divine Mijfions of 
 
 Part I. have been their defile, by all means, to- 
 
 Seft. I. - - 
 
 \^>r^ tally to fupprels all memory of them j 
 lince any known falfehood in John muft 
 fo neceflarily bring the credit of Jefus into 
 queflion. Not to fay, that in this cafe it 
 would have been impoflible for the credit 
 of Jefus to have outlived that of John. 
 
 But befides this conclufive argument, 
 drawn from the feveral circumftances at- 
 tending the fuppofed revelations them- 
 feives ; it appears, on many other ac- 
 count?, abfolutely impoflible for them to 
 have been forged by John himfelf, or con- 
 fequently by his difciples. 
 
 It muft at once be allowed, that before 
 he could contrive, or enter upon a deflgn 
 fo intricate, fo bold, and fo iniquitous, he 
 muft, at leaft, be drawing very near to 
 man's eftate. This is the very earlieft 
 period we can poffibly ailign for it. He 
 could not then begin to publifti thefe fto- 
 lies, in order to prepare people for re- 
 ceiving him, in that divine charader, 
 which he muft have intended afterwards 
 to aftume, till he was at leaft about twen- 
 ty 
 
yohji Baptijl and Jefus Chrijl. 45 
 
 ty years of age. Now, at this time, ei-P^RT I. 
 ther Zacharias arid Elizabeth, and all the »,^v^^ 
 ten perfons, who had been prefent at the 
 feaft of John's circumciiion, about twenty 
 years before, muft have been ftill alive ; — ■ 
 or elfe only fome of them were yet living ; 
 — or laftly, they muil: all have been al- 
 ready dead. And whichever of thefe fup- 
 poUtions we may choofe to embrace, it 
 will be found incredible, that John could 
 attempt fetting on foot fuch an impofture, 
 at this time -, or, if he had attempted it, 
 that he could have efcaped immediate and 
 public detedlion. 
 
 If Zacharias and Elizabeth, and all 
 thofe who had been prefent at their fon's 
 circumciiion, were yet alive; it is evi- 
 dent, that John could not attempt to pub- 
 lifh any forgeries of his own, giving an 
 account of fuch remarkable revelations, 
 as having been made to all of them, fo 
 many years before ; unlefs he had firft fe- 
 duced them all to corroborate his relation, 
 with their own evidence; and confpire 
 with him in the profecution of the whole 
 plot. But 
 
46 The Drcine Mijfwm of 
 
 But what an extravagant and incredi- 
 ble fuppofition is this ! Was it poflible for 
 John to entertain a defign of engaging" 
 his very parents themfelves, perfons of 
 fuch virtuous converfation as he knew 
 them to be, irt fo wicked an impofture ? 
 Could he conceive hopes, that they, who, 
 he well knew, had ever walked in all the 
 ccmmandjiicnts and ordinances of the Lord 
 bla7nelefs^, would encourage, and even 
 
 affilt 
 
 * As it is not allowable here to take the good cha- 
 radler of Zacharins and Elizabeth upon truft, it is necef- 
 fary to oblerve, that the circumftauces of the cafe will 
 prove the charafters given of them to be true ; without 
 confidering Luke's relation as of any authority, on his 
 own account. — Ithasjuil now been proved, that if the 
 circumftanccs of John's birth, relrtted by Luke, had been 
 forged ; they could not however be forged, and firfh 
 made known, either by Luke himfelf, or any of Jefus's 
 difciples, after the death of Jefus ; or by Jefus, in con- 
 junQion with his own, or John's difciples, after John's 
 death. This being the cafe, it necefl'arily follows, that 
 the particulars concerned, cvCn if they were forged, muft 
 have been made known, at the latell, while John was 
 yet alive. It is evident likewife, that thefe particulars 
 were of fo marvellous a nature, that whenever they were 
 firft related, they would undoubtedly caufe many, and the 
 chief priefts more efpeclally, to recolleiSl, or enquire into, 
 the received charaders of Zachaiias and Elizabeth ; wh«i 
 were reprefented as fo intimately concerned in them. And 
 
 as 
 
yohn Baptijl and J ejus Chrijl. 47 
 
 affift him, in the moft impious of all un- Part I. 
 
 1 1 . \ ^ It- . 1 Seft. I. 
 
 dertakings ? Or could he imagine, that sy\f^^ 
 
 among 
 
 as this, we have feen, muft have been while John was yet 
 alive ; and, confequently, long before the received cha- 
 raders of Zacharias and Elizabeth could be forgot, in 
 the neighbourhood where they had lived ; hence it ap- 
 pears, that the reputation they had really maintained, 
 whether good or bad, muft have been fo well known 
 and eftabliOied during the public minillry of John ; that 
 it could not be in the power of Luke to attribute zfalfe 
 charafler to them, and above all, one fo remarkably 
 good, when he came to write his gofpelfome years af- 
 terwards. — Befides, it would be manifeftly abfurd to 
 fuppofe, that the people in general, or the chief prielts 
 in particular, Ihould not enquire who John was, and 
 from what parents he arofe ; when firft he began to bap- 
 tize, and drew all orders about him. Curiofity alone 
 would lead the generality to make this enquiry ; and the 
 chief priefts, muft have done it on other motives. Nor 
 could they poffibly remain ignorant of the true charadlers 
 of Zacharias and Elizabeth ; fince all the other priefts, 
 who had lived in the fame neighbourhood with them, 
 muft certainly have known very well, what reputation 
 they had in fa£t maintained ; and were the very perfons, 
 to whom the chief priefts and rulers v/ould have applied, 
 
 for information about them. On both thefe accounts 
 
 therefore it muft be allowed, that that exemplary cha- 
 rafter, which Luke has without fcruple afcribed to Za- 
 charias and Elizabeth, could be no other, than what had 
 always been admitted as their true charafter ; but more 
 efpecially from the time, when John began firft to bap- 
 tize ; at which time, it is certain, no falfe account of 
 them would have been fuffered by the chief priefts to 
 gain ground. 
 
48 The Divine Mijfions of 
 
 Part I. among no lefs than ten of his father's 
 Sea I. ^ . 
 
 v,/^v*w feledl friends, and two of them Rabbis> 
 
 whom he had chofen to rejoice with him, 
 at the feaft for the circumcifion of an un- 
 expcd:ed fon ; there fliould not be one, 
 who fhould have common honefty enough 
 to refufe becoming an accomplice in fo 
 wicked a confpiracy ? Nothing can further 
 exceed the bounds of credibility, than 
 this fuppofition would j except what we 
 muft at the fame time fuppofe, in order 
 to convi<5l John of the forgery in debate ; 
 that he not only determined to attempt 
 corrupting them, but ad:ually fucceeded. 
 
 Though the evangelifts have given us 
 no account of thofe perfons, who were 
 prefent at the Baptift's circumciiion ; the 
 occafion of the meetins: itfelf is fufficient 
 to convince us, that they muft certainly 
 have been perfons of good moral charac- 
 ters, and virtuous reputations. Zacha- 
 rias called them together, in compliance 
 with the cuftom of his country, to rejoice 
 with him, for the birth of a fon, born 
 ^ter he had loft all hopes of having chil- 
 dren. 
 
yohii Baptifl ajtd yefus Chrljl, 49 
 
 dren. This was an event, which mu ft p^^t l* 
 have given fb much pleafure to Zacharias, w'^v*^ 
 and more efpecially to Elizabeth * ^ that 
 it cannot be doubted, but they would 
 certainly invite fuch of their moft inti- 
 mate friends to rejoice with them upon it, 
 as would render the family meeting as 
 fatisfa6tory as poftible. Whoever they 
 were then, that met to rejoice with Za- 
 charias upon this occafion ; they could 
 not be any of his meer common acquain- 
 tance ; perfons whofe lives and converfa- 
 tions he might know but little of, and be 
 as little foUicitous about j but, on the con- 
 trary, they muft have been fuch of his 
 beft friends and relations, as he knew 
 v/ould take part moft fincerely in his pre- 
 fent fatisfaclion. 
 
 Now from hence it is certain, that they 
 muft have been perfons of integrity, and 
 unblemiflied reputation. For how can 
 it be imagined, that a prieft, , who had 
 maintained to old age an exemplary cha- 
 racfter, could have formed his moft inti- 
 E mate 
 
 * See Luke i. 24, 25. 
 
^o 72^ Divine Mijfions of 
 
 Part I. mate connexions, with perfons of aban- 
 
 Sect. I. 
 
 doned principles, and diflblute lives ? 
 How is it poiTible he fliould have formed 
 friendfhips, and kept up an intimate cor- 
 refpondence, with thofe, whofe company 
 would have been a difgrace to his profef- 
 fion, and whofe condu6l mufl have been 
 oppofite to his own ? Had he conducted' 
 himfelf in this manner, he could neither' 
 have acquired, nor preferved, that virtu- 
 ous reputation, which he died poflefled of. 
 He was now like wife arrived at that advan- 
 ced time of life, when other caufes of inti- 
 macy lofe their influence, and good men 
 value their friends,, more than ever, for the 
 internal difpofition and good principles of 
 the heart. Thofe friends therefore, whom 
 Zacharias feleded to rejoice with him up- 
 on this occafion, we may reft fatisfied mufl 
 have been, like himfelf and Elizabeth,, 
 perfons of approved probity and worth. 
 
 What then can be more incredible, 
 than tliat John fl:iould imagine he could 
 prevail with no lefs than twelve perfons, 
 of fuch worthy charaders as his parents 
 
 and 
 
yohn Baptijl a72d Jefus Chriji. 5 r 
 
 and their friends certainly were, to be- ^!:\'^ ^• 
 
 ' Sea. I. 
 
 come, ail on the fudden, extravagantly w''-v'■^^ 
 wicked, and afliil him in the profecution 
 of a moft impious impofture ? And even 
 had it been pofTible for him to have re- 
 fblved upon attempting thisj by what 
 ftrange fatality could it happen, that they 
 fhould all, without exception, approve 
 his wicked defigns ; and all become at 
 once fo hardened in iniquity, that neither 
 the cuftomary flings of remorfe, nor even 
 the feverer terrors of a death-bed, {hould 
 induce any one of them, ever after, to 
 make confefTion of his crime ? No expedi- 
 ents whatever can render fuch fuppofitions 
 even in the very loweft degree credible^ 
 or capable of being allowed. 
 
 And what views of advantage could 
 John have to propofe to his parents and re- 
 lations, in order to engage them in fo ini- 
 quitous an undertaking j which on fo ma- 
 ny other accounts, it rnuft have appeared 
 to him plainly impolTible for them to ap- 
 prove ? Some furely he muft have thought 
 neceflary for this end : and yet his de- 
 E 2 fign, 
 
52 TJoe Drome MiJJi07is of 
 
 ^- fign, planned as we muft fuppofe him to 
 have planned it, could not admit of any. 
 
 The prophecies and revelations which 
 they attefted, and which mufl either have 
 been his contrivance alone, or the joint 
 produce of all, were fuch as would at all 
 times have made it requifite for him to 
 refufe all earthly power and honours. He. 
 was to be great indeed * ; but then it was 
 to be ill i he fight of the Lcrd^ not of man. 
 His life and manners were to be diflin- 
 guiflied from thofe of other men > but in- 
 ftcad of being rendered remarkable by a 
 more fplendid pofTeflion of human enjoy- 
 fnents ; he ivas to drink ncithtr mine nor 
 fircng drink 5 and to live in a continued 
 courfe of abflinence and mortification. 
 He was to affume the charader of an in- 
 ftrudlor of mankind 3 but far from being 
 to polTefs the allurements of human wif- 
 dom and philofophy j he iz'as to be fdled 
 with the Holy Ghofi from his mother s iDcmb. 
 He was to preach the dodrine of repen- 
 tance i of all others the mod diredly cal^- 
 
 culated 
 
 .* Luke i. 1 5. 
 
yohn Baptifl and Jefus Chrijl. 5 3 
 
 culated to draw upon him a general hatred 
 and averfion j and, to give knowledge of Jal- 
 vation to that people who valued them- 
 felves fo highly on being the fons of Abra- 
 ham, hy the remijjion oj their fins. In fine, he 
 •was profelTedly to renounce the high cha- 
 radter of the Meffiah s and to lay claim to 
 no other honour, than that of a-melTenger, 
 who was to prepare his way before him, in 
 the referved, and retired manner of Elias. 
 
 This being the plot he contrived, if it 
 was indeed a plot of his own contrivance ; 
 what rewards could he poiTibly propofe to 
 Zacharias and Elizabeth, and their friends, 
 fufficient to induce them to embark in fo 
 iniquitous an impofture ? It is evident he 
 could have none to offer. And to fuppofe 
 notwithflanding, that he could think it pof- 
 iible, that fo many perfons of virtuous re- 
 putation {liould all agree to join in carrying 
 on fo wicked, and, at the fame time, fo ufe- 
 lefs a deiign ; and in confequence of this 
 opinion, that he could attempt to feduce 
 them ; and further, that, in fad, they ail 
 heartily embraced it, and ever after a.d- 
 E 'I hered 
 
 * A R. T I. 
 
 Sea. I. 
 
c^. T'he Divt7U MijfiQns of 
 
 hered to it j would be contradidling thd 
 firft principles of common fenfe, and all 
 experience j and utterly confounding all 
 diflindtion between falfehood and truth. 
 
 But incredible as the fuppofition mufl 
 undoubtedly be allowed, let us fuppofe 
 thefe twelve perfons, of unblemiflied inte- 
 grity, to have become, all at once, the moft 
 accomplifhed impoftors. Even this con- 
 ceflion itfelf will not yet make it poflible 
 for the impoflure in debate to have been 
 firft contrived, and thus fet on foot by the 
 Baptift. For, had it been his contrivance, 
 even the joint teftimony of all thefe in 
 its fupport, would have been utterly in- 
 fufficient to prevent it from being prefently 
 exploded. 
 
 It has been already obferved, that John 
 muft at leaft have arrived at man's eftate, 
 before he can be conceived capable of en- 
 tering upon fuch a dcfign. So that, what- 
 ever affociates he might then engage in it, 
 muft till that time have been totally igno- 
 rant of every particular of the plot j and, 
 eonfequently, could never have made men- 
 tion 
 
yohn Baptijl and Jefus ChriJ}, 55 
 
 tion of any of thefe divine revelations, as ^ * '^ '^ ^* 
 
 . . Sea. Jt. 
 
 having accompanied the birth of John, wx-v^-* 
 during the long interval of about tv/enty 
 years, v^hich muft have elapfed fince he 
 was born. But after fuch a filence as this., 
 had they all agreed to publifh relations of 
 any fuch miraculous events ; it cannot be 
 doubted, what muft have been the fuccefs 
 of fo foolifh an attempt to impofe upon 
 the common fenfe of mankind. 
 
 Who could poffibly have given credit 
 to ftories of fo extraordinary a nature; 
 which, if related at the very iirfl, requir- 
 ed to have been fo well attefled i when 
 it {hould appear, that not one of thole 
 witnelTes, upon whofe teftimony only 
 they muft ftand or fall, had ever made 
 the leaft mention of them, for fuch a fe- 
 ries of years ? It would have been utterly 
 impoffible for any of them, and more ef- 
 pecially for Zacharias, to account fatif- 
 fadlorily for their entirely fuppreffing fuch 
 events, at the time they came to pafs ^ 
 when aftonilhment alone would have led 
 •every honell undefigning fped:ator to re- 
 E 4 veal 
 
56 The Divine Mijfwns of 
 
 Pa r t I. veal them y as well as for makins: them 
 
 Sett. I. ° 
 
 known at lall, when they were plainly 
 calculated to ferve an interefled view, af- 
 ter having fo long fuppreffed them. Such 
 a condu(5t, it muft have been clear to all, 
 could have proceeded from nothing lefs 
 than feme diflioneil agreement between 
 them ; and confequentiy, muft have de^ 
 prived their tcftimony of all regard^ how- 
 ever credible witneffes they might other- 
 wife have been. 
 
 What more natural, nay, what more 
 unavoidable, than this enq;uiry j how fo 
 many honefi: men could have agreed a- 
 mong themfelves, abfolutely to fupprefs 
 fiich extraordinary revelations of the will 
 pf God, as, according to their own ac- 
 count of them, it was of the utmoft im- 
 portance, fliould be publiihed to man- 
 kind ? He fiall be greats laid the angel to 
 
 Zacharias, in thejight of the Lord -, 
 
 and many of the children cf Ifrael Jhall he 
 turn to the Lord their God. And he fiall 
 go before him^ in the fpirit and poijser of 
 Elias ; to turn the hearts rf the father's ta 
 
 the 
 
yolm Baptiji cvid y^fus Chrijl, 57 
 
 the children J and the difobedient to the wif- Part I. 
 do?n of thejujij to make ready a people pre- ^/v'n-' 
 pared for the hord^. Zacharias himfelf 
 too prophecied, And thou child fialt be 
 called the prophet of the higheft^ for thou 
 fhalt go before the face of the Lord to pre- 
 pare his ways, to give knoivledge of f aha- 
 tion to his people, by the remi/Jion of their 
 fins '\, Thefe were dilpenfations, which, 
 the moft fimple could not but at once per- 
 ceive, required the proofs of John's divine 
 commillion to be pubiifhed to mankind. 
 It muft therefore have occurred to every 
 one, that whoever could agree among 
 themfelves to fupprefs thofe miraculous 
 events, by which alone thefe difpenfations 
 could be confirmed ; muft have been per- ' 
 fons of no lefs abandoned principles, than 
 fuch as could deliberately combine toge- 
 ther, to oppofe the merciful difpenfations 
 of God, and obftrud; the univerfal happi- 
 nefs of man. So that had it been poflible 
 for John himfelf to have entered upon, 
 
 and 
 
 * Luke i= I J, 17. 
 t Ibid. i. 76, T], 
 
58 Tloe Divme Mijfwns of 
 
 Part I. and engaged his parents and relations in 
 Sea. I. .^ ^ ^ . 
 
 ^r^r*^ 10 foolifh a deiign -, their long unavoidable 
 
 filence, with regard to all thefe aftonifhing 
 events, which they mufl now at length 
 have attefled, was abundantly fufficient to 
 prevent any one from paying the leafl re- 
 gard to their reports *. 
 
 Above all the reft ; the credit of Za- 
 charias and Elizabeth, though hitherto 
 unfufpecfted, muft on this account have 
 been effedually deftroyed. For every 
 honed: motive, that could poffibly influ- 
 ence iheir condud: upon fuch an occafion, 
 would have confpired together, in forcing 
 them to publidi thefe divine revelations, 
 had they ever really been made. If he was 
 a man of probity and virtue, he could not 
 
 have 
 
 * Nay, their teftimony would not only have been 
 rejefled on all thefe accounts ; but their charafters 
 would unavoidably have become infamous, in the judg- 
 ment of al the people. For among the Jews, all fuch as 
 concealed any revelations, that had been made to them, 
 were looked upon, as one particular fpecies oi fa'fe 
 prophets ; and they believed that God would execute 
 feveve juc^gment upon them, as fuch. — See Selden d€ 
 Synedr. Eb. 1. 2. C. 6. And Lewis's lieb, Antiq. 
 b'. 2. 16. 
 
yohn Bapttjl and Je/us Chrijl, 59 
 
 have refolved to conceal from mankind. Part I. 
 luch fingular manifeftations of the over- ^.•■v'v-* 
 ruling providence of God. If aprieftof 
 piety and religion, he could not have dared 
 to withhold from his whole nation, thofe 
 divine revelations concerning his own fon j 
 the veiy fubftance of which evidently 
 fhewed, that God certainly defigned them 
 to be made known to all. As a defcen- 
 dant of Abraham, and an inheritor of the 
 promifes made to his forefathers, he could 
 not but have been extremely defirous to 
 be the firft publifher of the joyful tidings 
 of the long expedled Meffiah ; he could 
 not but have rejoiced exceedingly at the 
 high honour conferred upon himfelf, in 
 bleffing him with a fon to be the Meffiah's 
 immediate forerunner. And on all thefe 
 accounts together, if he was not prevented 
 by any difhoneil defigns, he muft have 
 burned with impatience, to make known 
 to all the neicrhbourhood, where he lived, 
 thefe certain affurances of the approaching 
 deliverance of their whole nation, and his 
 own great favour with God. 
 
 The 
 
6o The Divine Mijfwns of 
 
 Part I. The defire even of cncreafino: his own 
 sy^sr^ reputation, mult have concurred with his 
 regard to virtue and religion, and forced 
 him to make known fuch miraculous re- 
 velations, had they really accompanied 
 the birth of his fon. Thefe confiderations 
 likewife were fo far from remote, that 
 they muft naturally have occurred to eve- 
 ry 'Je'VD^ upon the firft mention of the cafe. 
 So that, though for argument's fake, we 
 fnould fuppofe Zacharias, and all the refl, 
 to have entered into a plot to bear witnefs 
 to thefe revelations, at the inftigation of 
 John J this fmgle circumftance, that they 
 had never made the leaft mention of them, 
 for the long interval of near twenty years, 
 after they were affirmed to have come to 
 pafs, mufl effeduaily have betrayed the 
 impofture, and caufed it to be univerfally 
 exploded. 
 
 Thus it appears impoflible for John 
 himfclf to have been the contriver of any 
 fuch impofture, as that in queftion i if we 
 fuppofe his parents, and ail thofe who had 
 been prefent at his circumcifion, to have 
 
 been 
 
"Joh7t Baptijl a?2d Jefus Cyijl. 6 1 
 
 been ftill living, when he was capable ofPAi^T ?• 
 contriving it. s^^sr^ 
 
 If now we fuppofe, v/hat is far more 
 probable to have been the cafe, that only 
 fome of them remained alive, when John 
 may be thought capable of forming fuch 
 a defign ; the impoffibility of his fetting 
 the plot on foot, without its being pre- 
 fently rejecfled, becomes more evident 
 than before. For, in addition to all the 
 larguments already alleged, which muft 
 have effedually deflroyed the credit of 
 fuch of them as were yet alive, to publiili 
 thefe relations 3 the abfolute filence of all 
 thofe, who had even died without ever 
 making mention of fuch miraculous e- 
 vents, would have rendered it ftill more 
 apparent, that no fuch revelations had ever 
 really been made. That thofe, who noW at 
 length attefled them, (liould have con- 
 cealed them fo long, was what no man 
 could believe j but that any of thofe, who 
 were prefent when they happened, fhould 
 even die v/ithout revealing them, v/as 
 doubly incredible. 
 
 Can 
 
62 ^he Divine MiJfiVm of 
 
 Can it appear poiliblc then, for Jolm 
 to have fuccceded better in the fuppofed 
 dcfign ; if, m the lafl place, we fhould 
 imagine, that Zacharias and Elizabeth, 
 and all, who had been prefent at his cir- 
 cumcifion, were dead before he entered 
 upon it ? Could he take advantage of the 
 death of all, and fucccfsJuUy publifli fuch 
 forgeries as thefe 3 when there were no 
 longer any witnelTes to be had, who could 
 exprefsly declare his pretenfions to be falfer 
 On the contrary, it is apparent from what 
 hasjuft now been faid, that thisfuppofi- 
 tion, the only one remaining, muft be, of 
 all, the moll unfavourable for his plot. 
 For, could John himfelf have been foolifli 
 enough to lay claim to a divine charader, 
 upon the meer flrength of thefe pretended 
 revelations s at a time, when he himfelf 
 was the only perfon, who alTerted he had 
 ever heard a fyllable of them ; and when 
 every one of thofe peribns to whom, he 
 faid, they had been made, were at length 
 dead j and dead too, widiout having ever 
 revealed the lead: hint concerning them ; 
 
 it 
 
• yohn Baptijl and yefus Chrijl, (}'^ 
 
 it is apparent he muft at once have been ^^\7 ^' 
 reje(5ted5 as the mofl fhamelefs and aban- \y>/^^ 
 doned of ail impoflors. * 
 
 Since therefore, on the other hand, it 
 is certain, that John was not only efteemed 
 a true prophet, by the people in general -, 
 but that even the pharifees themfelves, his 
 avowed and early enemies, had no fuch 
 argument to allege againfl his pretenfions 
 to a divine commiffion -, it mull necefTa- 
 rily be acknowledged, that there could 
 be no room for this decifive objedion. 
 And thus, to convince us that thefe reve- 
 lations, faid to have accompanied the con- 
 ception and birth of John, were undoubt- 
 edly 
 
 * It would be idle to fuppcfe here, that John might 
 fuborn vvitnefles to corroborate his own teftimony, by 
 afTerting, that they had heard of thefe revelations, as 
 well as himfelf ; and that by this means his account 
 might gain ground. For, not to infifl on the great ap- 
 parent difficulty and danger of fuch an attempt, it muft 
 have been utterly impofiible for John to have procured 
 fuch a number, as would by any means have been fuffi- 
 cient to give even an air of probability to their relations ; 
 while the contjadiilory evidence of others, of no lefs 
 authority, muft have effedually prevented their teftimony 
 from being received, after fo long an interval had 
 ela^fed as that of twenty years. 
 
64 ^^ Divine Mijfwns of 
 
 edly noifed abroad, by Zacharias and his 
 friends concerned in them, throughout all 
 the hill-country of Judea, iimncdiately af- 
 ter ychis circumcijion 3 and confequently, 
 that it is abfolutely impoffible for them to 
 have been forged by John himfelf, or any 
 perfons at all connetfted with him, after 
 that tifjie 5 we have, at once, the exprefs 
 afTurance of the evangelifl, the obvious 
 nature of the thing itfelf, and the un- 
 queftionable teftimony of the very ene- 
 mies of John. 
 
 "'^" 
 
 SECTION 
 
yoh7i Baptift a?td jfefus Chrijl, 65 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 THE miraculous events, faid to have Part I. 
 accompanied the birth of the Bap- ^^^Ji^ 
 tift, having thus approved themfelves fuch 
 as could not poflibly be forged, either by 
 Luke, or any of Jefus's difciples, after 
 John's death ; or by John himfelf, or 
 any one elfe in conjunction with him, fe- 
 veral years after his birth 3 there remains 
 but one fuppofition more, which can pof- 
 fibly account for them on the foot of an 
 impofture. 
 
 If the events in queftion did not really 
 come to pafs, in that fupernatural man^ 
 Tier in which they are related j then the 
 whole muft have been a plot, concerted 
 before the Baptift's birth, between his pa- 
 rents Zacharias and Elizabeth, and who- 
 ever elfe {hall appear to have been con- 
 cerned with them in carrying it on. And 
 all this muft have been contrived purpofely 
 to impofe their fon upon the Jews for that 
 prophet, whom they expecfled God would 
 F fend 
 
66 TToc Divme Mijftons of 
 
 Par T I. fend to proclaim the comine of the Mef- 
 W'^J hah. 
 
 It is now therefore neceffary to confi- 
 der, whether this fuppofition is at all more 
 capable of being admitted, than either of 
 the former. And to proceed in this en- 
 quiry with clearnefs and certainty, it will 
 be requifite, in the firft place, to take a 
 full view of the whole fcheme of that 
 impofture, in the profecution of which, 
 Zacharias muft, on this fuppofition, have 
 been engaged j as well as to know cer- 
 tainly, what affociates he muil have been 
 conneded with, in carrying it on. 
 
 This done, we may be enabled to de- 
 termine the truth or falfehood of the fup- 
 pofition itfelfi from confidering the nature 
 of the fuppofed defign ^ the circumjia?2ces 
 andjituation of all the perfons concerned; 
 and the manner in which, it fhall appear, 
 they muft adually have condudled it. 
 
 For if the feveral circumftances of all 
 thofe, who, on this fuppofition, mufl 
 have contrived the plot in queflion, Ihould 
 make it incredible for them to have been 
 
 en- 
 
yohn Baptifi and yefus Chrijl, 67 
 
 engaged in fuch an undertaking; — if, ^^rt I. 
 befides, the fuppofed impofture itfelf 
 fhould prove fb abfurd in its own nature, 
 as to make it impoffible to believe, that 
 any one could be foolifh enough to have 
 planned it out ; — and again, if feveral 
 particulars fhould occur in the progrefs of 
 it, fuch as could not poffibly have been 
 adopted by them, if they had ; — Zacha- 
 rias, and all concerned, muft be acquit- 
 ted of all fufpicion of deceit ; and the pro- 
 phetic character of the Baptift v^^ill be com- 
 pletely eflabliihed. 
 
 By laying together fome circumftances 
 of importance in the cafe, it v^^ill imme- 
 diately be feen, that if Zacharias w^as 
 really engaged in the contrivance we have 
 juft been fuppofing, he could not be the 
 only perfon who planned, and carried it 
 on. On the contrary it will be found, 
 that whatever forgeries were made public 
 by Zacharias and Elizabeth relating to 
 John ; Jofeph and Mary muft not only 
 have been thoroughly acquainted with, 
 and accefTories to them ; but the plot it- 
 F 2 felf. 
 
68 The Dii)me Mijftons of 
 
 Part I. 
 
 Sea. 2. 
 
 felf, muftj from the beginning, have been 
 concerted between them ail. 
 
 It will appear likewife, that if the im- 
 pofture fuppofed with regard to John, had 
 any real exiftence, this alone was not the 
 whole defign Zacharias miift have been 
 engaged in concerting j but there mufl 
 have been, at the fame time, a fimilar 
 plot laid, and put in execution, relating, 
 to Mary 's fon j in the projed:ion and fup- 
 port of which, Zacharias and Elizabeth 
 muft have been jointly engaged with Jo- 
 feph and Mary themfelves. The truth 
 of thefe alTertions will prefcntly appear. 
 
 Supposing all the circumstances re- 
 corded of John's birth, to have been no 
 more than the feveral particulars of a deep 
 laid impoflure j Zacharias, we find, en- 
 tered upon his defign, by pretending to 
 have ^Qtn an angel in the temple, who 
 foretold even the conception, as well as 
 the birth of his fon ; commanding Zacha- 
 rias, when the time came, to name him 
 John J and declaring him ordained of God 
 to be the immediate forerunner of the 
 
 Mefliah. 
 
yohn Baptijl and yefus Chriji, 69 
 
 Meffiah. That to prevent people from ^^"^^ ^' 
 queftioning the truth of 10 extraordinary w/-v">^ 
 a revelation, he immediately feigned him- 
 felf dumb ; lignifying, that the angel had 
 deprived him of fpeech, for a certain pe- 
 riod, which he afligned 3 as a puniOi- 
 ment for his having doubted the truth of 
 this aftonifhing predi6tion. That, in due 
 time after this, his wife Elizabeth was 
 delivered of a fon, as he pretended the 
 angel had foretold fiie fhould be. That 
 to confirm ftiil further the angel's appear- 
 ance in the temple, which was to ferve 
 for the foundation of the whole impof- 
 ture ; Zacharias, at his Ion's circumcifion, 
 named him John : and immediately pre- 
 tending to have had his fpeech inflanta- 
 neoufly reftored, according to the angel's 
 pretended declaration, he began to return 
 thanks to God for his gracious difpenfa- 
 tions. And, in fine, to give a ftill ftronger 
 fandion to the future divine charadtef of 
 his fon, and to cover the whole plot with 
 a greater air of Iblemnity, he himfelf im- 
 mediately afiumed the ftyle of infpira- 
 F 3 tion, 
 
yo The Divine Mijftons of 
 
 Part I. tlon, and broke out into a pretended 
 Sea. 2. . ^ 
 
 y^'y/'^sj prophecy j foretelling, that the MefTiah 
 
 himfelf was at length on the point of 
 appearing ; and, as before, that John was 
 ordained to be his immediate fore- 
 runner *. 
 
 Such was the part Zacharias mufl 
 have adted, in that fcheme of impoflure, 
 which we are now fuppoling him to have 
 contrived with regard to John. 
 
 As to his wife Elizabeth^ the very na- 
 ture of the cafe evidently fhews, that flie 
 mufl unavoidably have been a party to 
 the delign j and her behaviour at the 
 time of John's circumcifion, fufficiently 
 proves it. And it came to pafs, that on 
 the eighth day they came to circu??tcife the 
 child J and they called him Zacharias after 
 the na77ie of his father. And his mother 
 anfwered^ and faid, not fo ; but he fiall 
 he called John. And they faid unto hery 
 there is none of thy kindred^ that is called 
 by this name. A7id they made figns to his 
 father how he would have hhn called: and 
 
 he 
 
 * Luke, ch. i» 
 
yohit Baptiji and Jefus Chriji. 7 1 
 
 he ajked for a writing-table ^ and wrote ^ Part, l 
 faying^ his name is John. And they mar- v>^vO 
 'veiled all*. 
 
 Had not Zachaiias already engaged 
 Elizabeth in the profecution of whatever 
 delign he had in view, with regard to 
 John J we could not have found her, on 
 this occafion, breaking through the cuf- 
 tom of her country, to the no fmall 
 furprife of ail their relations prefent -j- ; 
 evidently for no other end, than to obey 
 the pretended commands of the angel to 
 F 4 Zacharias, 
 
 * Luke i. 59. 
 
 t " The name was ufually given to the child at 
 the time of circumcifion :" (as we fee was the cafe with 
 
 John.)— *' They always had regard to the name of 
 
 fome perfon of diftinftion, who had been of the fa- 
 mily."— Lewis's Heb. Antiq. B. 4. ch. i. 
 
 " God at the fame time inftituted circumcifion, and 
 changed the names of Abraham and Sarah : hence the 
 cuftom of giving names to their children at the time 
 of their circumcilion." 
 
 " Amongft the feveral accounts, why this or that 
 name was given to the fons, this was one that chiefly 
 obtained, wz. For the honovir of fome perfon, whom 
 they efteemed, they gave the child his name. Which 
 feems to have guided them in this cafe here ; when 
 Zachary himfelf, being dumb, could not make his 
 
 inind known to them.'' Lightfoot on Luke i. 59. 
 
 — VoL 2. p. 387. and iikewife vol. i. p. 421. 
 
72 TT:>e Divhie Mijftons of 
 
 Part I. Zacharias, and by that means confirm the 
 
 Se6l 2. 
 
 ^./-Vx-/ belief of his appearance in the temple. 
 Elizabeth therefore mufl certainly, from 
 this time at leaft, have been engaged in 
 promoting the plot, which Zacharias had 
 contrived, to fcrve for the foundation of 
 the future impofture of their fon. 
 
 But if all this extraordinary condud: of 
 Zacharias and Elizabeth, was really the 
 efFe(5t of fubtlety and deceit j there mufl 
 likewife have been another fimiliar im- 
 pofture carrying on, at the fame time, by 
 "Jofeph and Mary ; and they muft all have 
 been engaged together in the joint profe- 
 cution of both. This the connection of 
 the plots themfeives, and the whole 
 condudt of all the parties, will oblige us 
 to acknowledge. 
 
 Zacharias began his pretended pro- 
 phecy, at the time of John's circumcifion, 
 thus : Blejfed be the Lord God of Ifracl^ 
 
 for he hath vifited and redeemed his people ; 
 and hath raifed up an horn of fahation 
 
 for us, in the hoiife of his fer'vajit Da'uid-, 
 as he fpake by the ?nouth of his holy pro- 
 
 phcts^ 
 
yohn Baptijl and Jefus Chrift, 73 
 
 fhets^ which have been fince the World 3^- P a r t r. 
 gan *. This declaration, it is plain, could 
 not poffibly relate to John, who was not 
 of the houfe of David j nor to any other 
 perfon, than the Meffiah himfelf. And 
 in it Zacharias prophetically declared, 
 that the God of Ifrael had, at that time, 
 raifed him up among them. 
 
 If then Zacharias was carrying on 
 fuch a plot, as we now fuppofe, 'tis cer-f 
 tain he muft, before that time, have 
 found out fome of David's defcendants, 
 who had embarked with him in this 
 deep-laid defign ; and, in concert with 
 him, had already fixed upon fome def- 
 cendant of their own family, who fliould 
 afterwards aflume the facred charader of 
 the Mefliah. To have uttered fuch a 
 prophetical declaration, without firft pro- 
 viding for its accomplifhment, would 
 have been purpofely betraying his want 
 of real infpiration, and publifhing the 
 whole deceit. 
 
 And that in fadl Zacharias was not 
 
 guilty of fo great an overfight as this, 
 
 ; will 
 
 * Luke i. ez. 
 
74 ^^ Divine MiJfwJis of 
 
 Part I. ^^\\\ immediately appear, from the fol- 
 t/^VVJ lowing account of feveral extraordinary 
 events, faid to have come to pafs above 
 three months before the birth of John ; 
 and confequently fome little time longer 
 before Zacharias delivered this pretended 
 revelation. 
 
 And * in the fixth month, after his ap- 
 pearance to Zacharias, the angel Gabriel 
 was fe?it from God, unto a city of Galilee^ 
 named Nazareth j to a ijirgin efpoufed to 
 a Man whofe name was Jofeph, of the houfe 
 of David', and the virgins name was 
 Mary, And the angel came in unto her^ 
 and faid^ Hail, thou that art highly fa- 
 voured, the Lord is with thee ; hleffed art 
 thou among women. And when fl^e faw 
 him, fje was troubled at his faying, and 
 caji in her mind what manner of falutation 
 thisjljoidd be. And the angel faid unto her. 
 Fear not, Mary, for thou haft found fa- 
 vour with God. And behold, thou foali 
 conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a 
 fon, and Jhalt call his name Jefus. He 
 
 Jkall 
 
 * Luke i. 26, — 56. 
 
yoh7i Bciptift and yefus Chriji, 75 
 
 fiall be great, and J! jail be called the Son Part I. 
 of the Higheji j and the Lord God jhall ,^-y«sJ 
 give unto him the throne of his father 
 David, And hejlmll reign over the houfe 
 of Jacob for ever 3 a7id of his kingdom 
 there jhall he no end. "Then faid Mary 
 unto the angel. How Jloall this he, feeing I 
 know not a man ? And the angel anfwered, 
 and faid unto her. The Holy Ghofi fall 
 come upon thee, and the power of the 
 Highef JImU overjlmdow thee-, therefore 
 alfo, that holy thing, that Jloall be born of 
 thee, Jloall be called the Son of God. And 
 behold thy coujin Elizabeth, fie hath aljb 
 conceived a Jon in her old age, and this is 
 the fixth month with her, who was called 
 barren. For with God ?iothing fioall be im~ 
 poJJible. And Mary Jaid, Behold the hand^ 
 maid of the Lord, be it unto me according 
 to thy word. And the angel departed from 
 her. And Mary aroje in thoje days, and 
 went into the hill-country with hajle, into 
 a city of fiida, and entered into the hoije 
 of Zacharias, and Jaluted 'Elizabeth. And 
 it came to pajs, that when Elizabeth heard 
 
 the 
 
^6 The Divme Mijftoiis of 
 
 Part I. the falutation of Mary ^ the babe leaped in 
 v^-yv-/ her womb ; and Elizabeth was filled with 
 the Holy Ghoft. And fie fpake out with a 
 loud voice ^ and faid^ Blejfed art thou among 
 women, and blejj'ed is the fruit of tljy 
 womb. And wucnce is this to me, that 
 the mother of my LordJl:ould come to me ? 
 For lo I as foon as the voice of thy falu- 
 tation founded in my ears, the babe leaped 
 in my womb for joy. And blefjed is fie that 
 belicvelSk j for there fijall be a performance 
 of thofe things^ which were told her from 
 the Lord. And Mary faid. My foul doth 
 magnify the Lordy and my fpirit hath re- 
 joiced in God my Saviour. For he hath 
 regarded the low eft ate of his handmaiden : 
 for behold, from henceforth all generations 
 fijall call me bleficd. For he that is mighty 
 hath done me great things, and holy is 
 his 72ame. And his mercy is on thefn that 
 fear him from generation to generation. 
 He hath fiewed firength with his arm, he 
 hath fcattcrcd the prcud in the imagination 
 cf their hearts. He hath put down the 
 7mghty from their jeats, and exalted them 
 
 of 
 
^ohn Baptiji and ye/us Chrift. 77 
 
 of low degree : he hath filled the hungry ^^^'^ I- 
 with good things ; and the rich he hath fent ^,y>,^»^ 
 empty away. He hath holpen his fervant 
 Ifrael, in remembrance of his mercy , as he 
 fpake to our fathers.^ to Abraham^ and to 
 his feed for ever. — And Mary abode with 
 her about three jnonths, and returned to her 
 own houfe. 
 
 The particulars of this extraordinary 
 relation will not fuffer us to doubt the 
 truth of the following conclufions. Firft, 
 that if that part of the events here record- 
 ed, which relate to John, were the effects 
 of contrivance and deceit j there muft 
 unqueftionably have been two connedled, 
 though diftind fchemes of impofture, fet 
 on foot by the fame perfons, at the fame 
 time 'y which taken together, formed the 
 whole of their plot. — And fecondly, that 
 though one part of this contrivance was 
 more immediately under the diredion of 
 Zacharias and Elizabeth^ becaufe it was 
 of fuch a nature, that they only could 
 conduct it; and the other , for the fame 
 reafon, was principally executed by Mary 
 
 and 
 
y8 7Ze Divi7U Mijfions of 
 
 Part I. and 'Jojcph ; yet the whole defign muft 
 ^y^^^f^ from the beginning have been planned 
 out, and agreed upon, between All the 
 Tour, 
 
 The clofe conneflion between the 
 angel's two mcffages to Zacharias and 
 Mary, one of which exprefsly makes 
 mention of the other j joined to the flill 
 more immediate dependance of Zacha- 
 rias's prophecy upon both ; fhews plainly, 
 that if the firfl of thefe revelations was a 
 forgery, the fecond muft have been fo 
 , too ; and that both muft have been jointly 
 contrived by all the parties concerned. 
 Had either appearance of the angel been 
 real, and, confequently, either meifage a 
 divine revelation; which-ever it was, it 
 could not have borne teftimony to the 
 truth of one that was forged. Nor could 
 two diftindt fchemes of impofture have 
 been fo contrived, that one (hould necef- 
 farily prefuppofe, and depend immedi- 
 ately upon the other j but by the original 
 agreement, and joint confpiracy of the au- 
 thors of doth. 
 
 ^ The 
 
"John Baptijl and J ejus Chrifl. 79 
 
 The intercoiirfe Hkewife between Eli- Part I. 
 
 Sea. 2. 
 
 zabeth and Mary ; their mutual declara- .^.o/*^ 
 tions of the immediate interpofition of 
 God, in making one of them the mother 
 of the Mefliah, and the other of his im- 
 mediate forerunner j their reciprocal con- 
 gratulations upon this remarkable ac- 
 count ', and their prophetic declarations in 
 confequence of it 3 all thefe particulars 
 prove to demonftration, that from the be- 
 ginning they muft have aded in concert 
 to fupport each other's pretenfions 3 and, 
 confequently, that v^hatever impoftures 
 were carrying on among them, Mary 
 mufl, from the firft, have been jointly 
 engaged with Elizabeth and Zacharias in 
 the contrivance of the whole deceit. 
 
 That Jofeph likewife muft have been 
 a principal in the plot, both the nature of 
 the cafe, and feveral particulars in his 
 condudl, will undeniably prove. When 
 Mary began the part Ihe performed, fhe 
 had been already for fome time efpoufed 
 to Jofephi and was (hortly to become his 
 
 wife. 
 
So T'he Divine Mijftons of 
 
 Part I. wife *. So circumftanced, it is plainly 
 
 Seft 2. r J 
 
 Ky\^^^ incredible, that Zacharias and Elizabeth 
 ihould attempt to engage Her in a contri- 
 vance of fuch a nature as this, without 
 firft engaging Jofeph to aflifl: in the fame 
 
 delign. 
 
 * As the particular here taken notice of made a part 
 of the matrimonial rites among the Jews, to which we 
 have nothing fimilar ourfelvcs ; it may be proper here 
 to obferve, that among the Jews no one could be 
 7narned, who had not been before efpoufed. That the 
 ceremony of the efpoufal was as much a fixed, and r.e- 
 cejfary rite, as thofe more immediately obferved at the 
 final completion of the 7narriage. The different forms 
 of efpoufing were all minutely prefcribed ; they were 
 to be tranfadcd before witnelTes ; and they were cele- 
 brated with a Feaft. The efpoufal was a folemn en- 
 gagement between the feveral parties concerned, effen- 
 tially preparatory to the marriage ; and the time?, which 
 were to elapfe between them, were limited in fome 
 refpedls. From the time of the efpoufal, the woman 
 was confidered as the i/oife of the man, to whom fhe 
 was efpoufed ; in every refpeft, except that they did 
 not live together : and the utmofl: care and caution were 
 obferved in the regulation of her conduit ; as the fam6 
 capital pi'.nijhjnents were inflifted on her, on account 
 of any failures in it during this interval, lefore the 
 marriage, as after fhe was aftually married ; and were 
 even extended, in fome degree, to thofe under whofe 
 care Ihe now remained. — See all the particulars re- 
 lating to this point at ln.rge, in Sclden's Ux. Heb. I. 2. 
 c. 3, and 8. — Bainage's Hift. of the Jews, B. 5. 19, 
 
 fed. 9, &C. Lewis's Heb. Antiq. B. 6. c. 33, 35, 
 
 36. AUix's Refleft. on the O. T. ch, 20, p. 242, 
 
 244, 
 
yohn Bdptift and jfefus Chrifl, 8 1 
 
 defisn. The obvious and neceflarv con- Part I, 
 
 Sedt 2. 
 
 fequence muft otherwife have been, that ^^-^^-^^ 
 Jofeph would immediately have become 
 their profelTed enemy -, Mary's reputation 
 mufl very foon have been blafted^ and 
 the integrity of Zacharias and Elizabeth 
 themfelves would have been rendered, at 
 leaft, fo extremely fufpicious j that tho' 
 their iniquitous defigns fhould not have 
 been plainly detedted, yet their whole in- 
 tended impofture muft have been efFedu- 
 ally put an end to. 
 
 Nor is it more certain, from the very 
 nature of the cafe, that Jofeph^ as well 
 2.'=, Mary, mud, from the beginning, have^ 
 been engaged in the profecution of the 
 plot i than it is clear, from his own con- 
 dud:, that he was at leaft as adive in 
 promoting it, as any of them all. No 
 fooner had Zacharias played his part at 
 the circumcilion of John, than Jofeph 
 began his -, with an account of ftill more 
 divine revelations made to himfelf; all 
 evidently calculated to ferve the fame de- 
 iign, and promote the credit of thofe 
 G al- 
 
82 7^^ Divine Mijfwm of 
 
 Part I. already given out by Zacharlas and 
 K^r>^r^ Mary. 
 
 Notv * the birth of Jefus Chriji was on 
 this wife. When as his mother Mary was 
 efpoufcd to fofephj before they came toge- 
 ther^ fie was found with child of the Holy 
 Ghofi. Then Jofcph her hufhand^ being a 
 juji rnan^ and not willing to make her a 
 publick example, was minded to put her a- 
 way privily. But while he thought on thefe 
 things, behold, the angel of the Lord ap- 
 peared unto hifn in a dream, faying^ fo- 
 feph, thou fon of David, fear not to 
 take unto thee Maiy thy wife j for that, 
 .which is conceived in Ixr, is of the Holy 
 Ghofi. And fide fi:all bring forth a fon, and 
 thou fi: alt call his name Jefus ; for hefi:all 
 favc his people from their fins. — T^hen fo- 
 feph, being raifed from fieep, did as the 
 angel of the herd had bidden him, and took 
 unto him his wife. 
 
 Thus did Joleph endeavour to 
 ftrengthen the authority of what Mary 
 had already related, concerning her fu- 
 ture 
 
 * Matt. i. iS,— 24. 
 
yohn Baptiji and Jefus Chrijl^ 83 
 
 ture fon ; fome months before Tefus was Part r. 
 
 Se£t 2 
 
 born. And to this revelation, we find, w/-vs!/ 
 he afterwards added two more, admi- 
 rably fitted to promote the fame end. 
 
 And ^ when they ^ the. wife men, were 
 departed J behold^ the angel of the Lord ap- 
 peareth to Jofeph in a dream, faying^ arife 
 mid take the young child, and his mother, 
 and flee into Egypt -, and be thou there un- 
 til I bring thee word-, for Herod willfcek 
 the young child to defiroy hi?n. When he 
 arofe he took the young child, and his mo- 
 ther, by night, and departed into Egypt. — • 
 But when Herod was dead, behold, an 
 angel 0} the Lord appear eth in a dream to 
 fofcph in Egypt, faying, arife, and take 
 the young child, and his mother, and go 
 into the land of Ifrael. And he arofe, and 
 took the young child, and his mother, and 
 came into the land of Ifrael. 
 
 If then there was any deceit contriving 
 
 among them, Jofeph, it is certain, mufl 
 
 have been full as active as the reft, in 
 
 promoting the common caufe j iince he 
 
 G 2 mufl 
 
 * Matt. ii. 13, — 21. 
 
84 'The Divine MiJfioJis of 
 
 Part I. xTwxOi havc foi'2:ed no lefs than three reve- 
 lations in its behalf. Nay, it appears, 
 he mufl have put himfelf to all the in- 
 conveniences, of banifhing himfelf and 
 his family from his own countiy, for a 
 confiderable time, purely to gain credit 
 to thefe ftories, of his own inventing, for 
 its fupport. 
 
 At length, therefore, we may venture 
 to affirm, what the very nature of the 
 cafe, as well as the clear evidence of fads 
 have fo fully proved -, that if the events 
 recorded of the birth of Jobi were only 
 the feveral particulars of a deep laid de- 
 ceit ; thofe relating to the birth of Jefus 
 mufl have been fo too : that the fuppofi- 
 tion of Ofie of thefe impoftures neceffarily 
 includes the Other : and that ZachariaSy 
 Elizabeth, Mary, and Jofcph, muft All 
 have been jointly engaged in the planning 
 out, and profecution of Both. 
 
 This conclufion immediately points 
 out, in what method we muft now pro- 
 ceed, to enquire into the real cxiftence of 
 the impoliiircs in debate. Should it ap- 
 pear 
 
yohn Baptijl and jfefus Chrijl, 85 
 
 pear impoffible for T^hefe four perfons to ^ ^ ^"^ ^♦ 
 have been connedled together, in the joint 
 contrivance of this double deception, the 
 queftion v^^ill then be decided. All fufpi- 
 cion of Zacharias's integrity muft be re- 
 jected as groundlefs and falfe j the Baptijl 
 muft be fubmitted to, as one infpired from 
 above j and Jcjus confequently be received 
 as the undoubted Meffiah. 
 
 At the fame time it mufl become 
 equally evident, from the very nature of 
 the cafe, and without any regard had to 
 the teftimony of yohi j that all the cir- 
 cumftances recorded of the birth of Jefus, 
 muft adlually have come to pafs, in that 
 fupernatural manner, in which they are 
 related : and therefore, that on this di- 
 fiindi account likewife, we have the fuUeft 
 aflurance, that Jefus Chrift was the true 
 Meffiah. 
 
 Now fuppofmg the contrivances juft 
 explained, to have been really under- 
 taken, by all thofe, who, we have juft 
 ifeen, muft have confpired together to 
 carry them on ; one of the following 
 G q fup^- 
 
86 The Divine Mij[pi07is of 
 
 Part I. 
 Sea. 2. 
 
 fuppofitions muft unavoidably be allow- 
 ed. Either, 
 
 ift, Zacharias and Elizabeth muft 
 have been the original and real contrivers 
 of Both thefe defigns ; as well that re- 
 lating to Mary's Ton, as their own j and 
 by means of fome advantages, which Jo- 
 feph and Mary might be made to hope for 
 from the One^ perfwade them to become 
 their accomplices in Both. Or, 
 
 adly, Zacharias muft have been the 
 projedior of that defign only, which imme- 
 diately concerned his fon -, and Jofeph and 
 Mary, in like manner, have firft planned 
 the impoflure in favour oi their fon. Or, 
 
 3dly, Joseph and Mary muft have 
 contrived Both the plots j and fo have 
 perfwaded Zacharias to confpire with 
 them, in promoting that immediately re- 
 lating to Mary's fon ; in hopes of fome 
 advantages to be drawn from the fuc- 
 cefs of the other, relating to his own 
 fon. 
 
 \y they were All thus united in thefe 
 fchemes of iniquity, one or other of thefe 
 
 fup- 
 
yohn Baptijl and yefus Chriji, 8 7 
 
 fuppoHtions mud of neceflity be true j ^J^^ "^ I- 
 fince the cafe itfelf will admit of no more. \ysr^ 
 It mufl: now, therefore, be our bufinefs to 
 evince the incredibility of them all-y and 
 this, in the firft place, from conlidering 
 the f articular charaBers, and other tJia- 
 terial circmnjiances^ of all the parties con- 
 cerned. 
 
 G4 
 
 SEC- 
 
88 I'he Divine Mijfions of 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 THAT Zacharias himfelf, and his 
 wife Elizabeth were efteemed, by 
 all who knew them, perfons of fincere 
 virtue and integrity, we may be fure, as 
 there has already been occafion to 
 prove *, from the remarkable good cha- 
 rad;er Luke has given them, in the very 
 opening of his gofpel j that they locrc both 
 righteous before Gody walking in all the 
 commandments and ordinances of the Lord, 
 biamekfs. The evangelift could not have 
 ventured on this allertion, were it capa- 
 ble of being difproved. And as Zacha- 
 rias was a prieft, one of that particular or- 
 der of men, in vv-hich a more exemplary 
 condudt is naturally required to eftablifli 
 an univerfal good name j and whofe fail- 
 ings are naturally cenfured with greater 
 feverity, than thofe of any other profef- 
 fion J fo his unblemished charadler could 
 not have been fupported by any other 
 
 means, 
 
 * See note, p. 46. 
 
yohn Baptijl and yeftis Chrijl, 89 
 
 means, than an uniform difcharge of all ^^ \^ ^ ^' 
 the moral and religious duties of the Jew- s^%^^^ 
 ilh law. 
 
 Among the Jews, it is well known, 
 that the priefthood was abfolutely confi- 
 ned to one family only. No one could 
 be admitted to exercife the prieftly func- 
 tions, till he had clearly proved his im- 
 mediate defcent from fome priefl of the 
 family of Aaron, and was found to be 
 free from every, the leaft perfonal ble- 
 mifh. When a candidate had undergone 
 thefe examinations, he was capable of 
 being admitted to perform fbme duties in 
 the temple, at twenty years of age ; and 
 from that time continued, in his turn, a 
 kind of probationer in all the employ- 
 ments there, till the age of thirty; when 
 he became qualified to difcharge every 
 part of the prieflly office *. 
 
 Under 
 
 * " The fucceffion of the Hebrew priefthood was 
 eftablifhed in the family of Aaron ; the pontifical dig- 
 nit-^ was fixed in the line of his firft-born. All others 
 of his pofterity were priefts, fimply fo called ; or prieih 
 of the fcccKii Order. The fixed and confiflent time of 
 
 tne 
 
90 T'he Divine Mijfions of 
 
 Part T. Under fuch an inftitution it would be 
 
 Sea. 3. 
 
 sy>/^^ abiurd to fuppofe, that no attention was 
 paid to a prieft's moral charadter; and 
 much more fo to imagine, that one of 
 this order fhould be able to preferve from 
 youth, to old age, the reputation of ex- 
 emplary goodnefs -, had not his adions 
 themfelves plainly ihewn him to have de- 
 
 ferved 
 
 the pricll's entering into the fervice, was at the age of 
 thirty : but at five and twenty they were probationer?, 
 and might do fome offices, but not all." (And even 
 from the age of twenty, after David's time ; as Light- 
 foot proves from i Chron. xxiii. 24 — 27.) " Their in- 
 ftallment and admiflion into the fervice, was in this 
 manner. The great Sanhedrim fat daily in the room 
 Ga7,ith, to judge concerning the prierts that came to 
 age, and were to be admitted : and if they proved duly 
 cjualified, they clothed them in white, and enrolled 
 them among the order, and they went in and minifter- 
 ed : and the great council rejoiced to find them perfedt, 
 and blefled God for it with a folemn prayer. But if the 
 perfon proved to be of the right line, and had any of the 
 blemiflies, which rendered him incapable of the mini- 
 ilry ;" (of which w ere reckoned 1 40', ''' he was fent intj 
 the wood-room to worm the wood for the altar ; and 
 had his portion of the holy things with the men of the 
 houfeof his father, and did eat with them." — Lewis's 
 Heb. Antiq. B. 2. Ch. 6. See the chapter, and Light- 
 foot, Vol.1. P'9i5' Seidell de Succeil'. in Pondf. 
 Ebrx. 1. 2. c. 5. Lev. :cxi. 16. ad finem. Spencer dc 
 Leg. Heb. 1. i. c. 10. p. 177. 
 
yohn Baptifl and yefus Chrijl, 9 1 
 
 ferved it. As certainly as the fmalleft Part I. 
 
 Seft. X. 
 
 blemifh in his perfon, which was prohi- s-/^r>-» 
 bited by the law, would have prevented 
 Zacharias from officiating in the temple 
 worfhip ; fo certainly would any vicious 
 irregularities in his condud: and converfa- 
 tion, have deprived him of that amiable 
 character, which, it appears from the e- 
 vangelift, he mufl have died pofl'efTed of. 
 It was impoffible for the Jews in general 
 not to agree in this particular with Mofes 
 their lawgiver ; who defigned, " that 
 the priefts fhould be not only in every re- 
 fped: faultlefs, in the difcharge of their 
 facred fundions ; but that they fliould 
 exert their earnefl: endeavours, to approve 
 themfelves unblameable in their daily 
 converfation, and common intercourfe 
 with the world *." And, had not this been 
 the rule of Zacharias's condud, he could 
 not poffibiy have obtained, and left be- 
 hind him, fo fair a reputation. 
 
 Eli- 
 
 aTHd^A^nif cff, /.xi 'Tfifi Tiii' Avrav S'ta.na.v, u<m 
 uvthv afj.i/j.rrrsv itva.i. • ■ Jclephi Antiq. Jud. I. 3. 
 12. fub init. 
 
TIdc Divine Miffions of 
 
 Elizabeth's fphere of adion muft- 
 have been much lefs public than that of 
 Zacharias. But her alliance with a man 
 of fuch approved worth, when confidered 
 jointly with her having, in faft, main- 
 tained the fame virtuous character as him- 
 felf, which it appears fhe did ; deprives 
 us, at once, of the leaft fhadow of a reafon 
 for calling her integrity into quedion. 
 Belides, the very profelTion of her huf» 
 band affords no inconliderable teflimony 
 to her virtue. 
 
 ^ There was nothing, we are informed, 
 about which the Jews were more fcrupu- 
 lous, than the marriages of their priefts j 
 not only to prevent fuch alliances as would 
 taint their blood, but fuch likewife as 
 might tend to corrupt their morals, an4 
 lelTen their reputation. The law * itfelf 
 exprellly prohibited them from mariying, 
 not only all fuch as were of known ill 
 charadter, or whofe integrity could be 
 thought in the leafl; fufpicious j but even 
 
 th ofe, 
 
 * Levit. xxi, See Lewis's Heb. Antiq. B. 2.6. 
 
 ■ Jofephus's Jew. Antiq. 1. 3. 12. fub. init. • ■ 
 
 idem contra App- 1. i . 7. — Li<^htfoot, vol. 2. p. 379- 
 
yohn Baptiji a7id Jefus Chriji, 93. 
 
 thofe, whofe fituations in life expofed ^^'^'^ ^* 
 them to more danger of being vitiated s./^\r^ 
 than others -, and even the children of 
 all fuch perfons. By means of which 
 precautions, it became at length even a 
 proverbial expreffion among the Jev/s, to 
 denote a woman of an exemplary cha- 
 racter 5 " that {lie defer ved to marry with 
 " a prieft." And the moft honourable 
 alliance a prieft could enter into was 
 with one of prieftly extradion, which 
 Elizabeth herfelf was *. 
 
 To argue from thefe cautious reftric- 
 tions only, however remarkable, that the 
 wife of every Jewifli prieft, muft necef- 
 farily have been a perfon of an excellent 
 moral character; would be drawing a 
 concluiion, which the weaknefs of hu- 
 man nature could not poflibly bear. But 
 when we conlider, in addition to the 
 character of Zacharias her hulband, and 
 all thefe circumftances fo much in her 
 favour, the pofitive reputation of fo un- 
 exceptionable 
 
 * And his ^vife ^vas of the daughters of Aaron, and her 
 name ivas Elizabeth, Luke i. 5. 
 
94 ^^ Divi?ie Mijfwns of 
 
 exceptionable a life, as Elizabeth left be- 
 hind her J we can no longer doubt of her 
 integrity, without preferring a meer 
 groundlefs and obftinate prejudice, to the 
 plain reafon of the thing. 
 
 So circumflanced then as Zacharias 
 and Elizabeth were ; nothing can be 
 more unreafonable than to fufped", that 
 their virtue might be no better than hy- 
 pocrify, and their reputation maintained 
 by fome artful difguife. To obtain the 
 applaufe of numbers for a time, by means 
 of fome remarkable actions of a fpecious 
 nature, may perhaps be no very difficult 
 tafk. Extraordinary fits of zeal, and in- 
 ilanccs of fevere mortification, have at 
 times been able to eilablifh a charader 
 for virtue, where the principle was cer- 
 tainly wanting. But to preferve an un- 
 interrupted reputation for goodnefs and 
 piety, through the feveral ftages of life, 
 even to advanced age ; without laying 
 claim to any uncommon flights of virtue, 
 or aiming at fuch adions as are plainly 
 calculated to procure popular applaufe 3 
 
 feems 
 
yohn Bapujl afid yejus Ch7^ifl, 95 
 
 feems far beyond the power of any thing, Part r. 
 lefs than the peaceable confcientious dif- ,./^v~ 
 charge of all the duties of our flation. 
 
 That fuch was the condud of Zacha- 
 rias and Elizabeth, we have good reafon 
 to believe from their very charadter itfclf. 
 The evangelift fays nothing of their ex- 
 traordinary fits of devotion, and pious 
 zeal. But they were both righteous^ we ' 
 are told, before God^ walking in all the 
 commandments and ordinances of the Lord, 
 blamelefs. A character, equally remote 
 from all affected dazling difplays of more 
 public virtue j and all the feverer rigours 
 of fandified enthufiafm. A character, 
 which, as it plainly fhews they made it 
 their chief care and ftudy, to live void of 
 offence, towards God and man 3 fo it as 
 evidently implies, that they never at- 
 tempted to eftablifh an ill-grounded re- 
 putation, by any indiredl: means. And 
 indeed, had they attempted it, their 
 middle ftation in life, by expoiing the 
 general tenour of their condudl to the 
 familiar obfervation of all their neigh- 
 bours j 
 
96 The Divine MiJ/h?ts of 
 
 Part I. bours : would have made it impoflible for 
 
 Seft. 3. ^ 
 
 ^y\^^^ them to have fupported, through Hfc, this 
 peculiar kind of good fame, by any other 
 means, than the real pradice of that 
 goodnefs, they had the reputation of 
 poiTeiring. From all thcfe rcafons laid 
 together, we are therefore bound to be- 
 lieve, that Zacharias and Elizabeth muft 
 have really merited the good name they 
 maintained : that is, that they mufl: have 
 been juft and benevolent in all their 
 dealings with man, and fincere wor- 
 fhippers of God. 
 
 Can it then be conceived, that any 
 perfons of this virtuous and religious dif- 
 pofition, could be capable of deliberately 
 forming fo iniquitous a fcheme, as we 
 are now to enquire, whether itispofTible 
 for Zacharias and Elizabeth to have con- 
 trived ? Can it be imagined, that a pricft 
 of the God of Ifraei, who was likewife 
 a man of approved piety and goodnefs, 
 could conceive and profecute fo impious 
 a defign, as that of fetting up his own 
 fon for the Meffiah's forerunner 3 and 
 
 pre- 
 
yohn Baptijl and ye/us Chrijl. 97 
 
 prevailing with another perfon to fet up ^'^rt I. 
 his, to counterfeit the moft facred and x../-v~^ 
 awful character of the Meffiah himfelf ? 
 
 Zach ARIAS, a devout priefh of the 
 God of Ifrael, muft have been thoroughly 
 inftruded in all his miraculous and merci- 
 ful difpenfations to his forefathers, as well 
 as his fevere judgments executed upon 
 them for their impieties. He mufh have 
 believed the predidions of Mofes and all 
 the prophets. He muft at this very time 
 not only have expected, but wifhed to fee 
 the arrival of the true Eiias, and the ma- 
 nifeftation of the long promifed Meffiah. 
 And he muft unqueftionably have believ- 
 ed, that God would afluredly accomplifli 
 the plans of his divine providence j and not 
 permit any counterfeits of thefe facred and 
 important characters to go off undetected, 
 or the abettors of fuch impious undertak- 
 ings to efcape without lignal punifhment. 
 
 Was it then poffible for a good man, 
 
 furniftied with this knov/ledge, guided by 
 
 this belief, and actuated by thefe hopes 
 
 and fears -, to have contrived fo execrable 
 
 H a 
 
g8 'The Divine Mijftons of 
 
 a defign, purely to pull down the ven- 
 geance of God upon him ? Could fuch a 
 man doom his own fon, even before his 
 birth, to be the perpetrator of One fuch 
 impious impofture ; and, as if that w^ere 
 not wickednefs enough, perfuadehis friends 
 to engage as deeply in the profccution of 
 Another ? If fo, he who ferved devoutly 
 at the altar of the God of truth, muft vo- 
 luntarily have contrived and publiflied the 
 moil mifchievous and iliockingfalfehoods: 
 he who believed all the miraculous inter- 
 poiitions of God's power, fo frequently 
 difplayed in the deliverance and eftablifli- 
 ment of his own nation, and lived in hopes 
 of a ftill greater deliverance God had pro- 
 miled fliortly to fend them ; muft volun- 
 tarily have fet himfelf to oppofe the accom- 
 pliiliment of thofe gracious promifes; 
 which, at the fame time, he both hoped, 
 and believed, would certainly be fulfilled. 
 In (hort, he, who expeded the reign of 
 the Mefliah to be produdive of the utmofl 
 glcry and happinefs to his whole nation, 
 muft purpolely have endeavoured to pre- 
 vent 
 
, yobn Baptifl and yefus Cfjnjf, g^ 
 
 vent the happy confequences of his ap- Part l 
 pearance ; by letting up, berore he came, w'V">v 
 an impoftor in his ftead. But thefe are 
 fuppolitions in their own nature evidently 
 contradidlory and abfurd. And indeed, the 
 whole of this fuppofed contrivance is of 
 fo very iniquitous a nature, that none but 
 the moji abandoned of men could ever 
 poffibly conceive or undertake it j and 
 therefore impoffible to have been deviled 
 and carried on, by One, who, we have 
 fufficient reafon to believe, mufl have been 
 eminently good. 
 
 But had not Zacharlas's and Eliza- 
 beth's character, and fituation, proved it lb 
 clearly impoffible for Them to have been 
 capable of engaging in fuch a plotj flill 
 their age would have rendered it utterly 
 incredible, that they JJjoidd, 
 
 At the time, when we mufl fuppofe 
 them to be entering upon the execution of 
 this delign, they were neither of them 
 young, nor even in the vigour of life ; 
 but, on the contrary, they were both well 
 Jiriken in yean : a circumftance of the 
 H 2 greatefl 
 
(OO T'he Divine Mijfwns of 
 
 greateft importance to illuftrate their in- 
 nocence, with regard to this particular im- 
 pofture. Whatever ambitious views we 
 may imagine capable of prompting any 
 one to fo defperate an undertaking, mull: 
 naturally have cooled, and died away, in 
 the decline of Ufe i however warmly they 
 might have been actuated by them before. 
 That daring fpirit of enterprife, and de- 
 fiance of danger, which fometimes en- 
 gages men in the mofl: defperate attempts, 
 to gratify the wifhes of ambition, in the 
 adive and vigorous parts of life , gene- 
 rally gives way to cautious and timid ap- 
 prehenfions, when age has bounded the 
 profpecl before them, and checked the 
 current of the blood. Then too religi- 
 ous appreheniions begin to intrude them- 
 felves niore forcibly upon the mind ; and 
 make men little inclined to embark in ha- 
 zardous plots of extreme wickednefs and 
 impiety, whatever they may have done 
 before. So that could wc fuppofe them 
 capable of having formed fuch a plan of 
 impofture, and refolved to put it in exe- 
 cution. 
 
yohn Baptiji ajid yeftis Chrifl, i o i 
 
 cution, at that adive age, when a vitious 
 ambition has fometimes led men into the 
 moft extravagant enormities ; yet their 
 having continued chiidlefs till they were 
 now well Jiriken in years, and all hopes 
 of an opportunity to execute it were at 
 length at an end j mufi: unqueflionably 
 have caufed them long fincc to drop all 
 thoughts of their former defign. 
 
 To imagine, that after this, upon the 
 unexpedled birdi of a fon, they fhould 
 refume it again, iji their old age -, and pro- 
 fecute it with fuch a feries of unheard of 
 devices, as forged revelations, feigned 
 lofs of fpeech, and pretended prophecies j 
 would be fuppofing them to have arrived 
 at fuch a hardened pitch of iniquity, as 
 nothing lefs than a life of continued, and 
 notorious wickednefs was able to bring 
 them to. But after what has been it^n 
 already of their true character and con- 
 duct, we may venture to fay this would be 
 a fuppoiition, that muil: certainly be falfe. 
 
 Further, the incredibility of their re- 
 fuming the plot fuppofed, becomes ftill 
 H 3 more 
 
102 The Divme Mijjlom of 
 
 Part I. more undeniable, when we conlider, that 
 it was now likewife too late for them to 
 indulge any of thofe ambitious defigns, 
 for the fake of which only, even obflinacy 
 itfelf can pretend, fuch an impoflure could 
 be contrived, and undertaken. Had the 
 birth of their fon happened while they 
 were in the vigour of life, they might 
 conceive hopes, it may be faid, of deriv- 
 ing great honour and advantage to them- 
 felves, from being the parents of the re- 
 puted prophet of the highejl j 'who was to go 
 before the face of the Lord to prepare his 
 ivays ; to give knowledge of fahation to bis 
 people. But John was not born till Za- 
 charias and Elizabeth were fo far advanc- 
 ed into the decline of life, that all fuch 
 hopes of enjoying the fruits of their ini- 
 quity muft neceffarily have expired. 
 
 From the very nature of that charadler, 
 which, according to this fuppofition, they 
 mull: have defigned him to counterfeit ; 
 nothing could be more probable, than 
 that they themfelves might not live till the 
 
 very earlieft period, when it could be pro- 
 per. 
 
yohn Baptijl and yefus Chrijl, 103 
 
 per, or even poffible, for John to under- Part I. 
 take it. He, who by their own predic- 
 tions, was to go before the Lord in the j'pi- 
 rit and power of Eli as ^ to turn the hearts of 
 the fathers to the children^ and the difobe- 
 dient to the wifdom of the jufi^ to make rea- 
 dy a people prepared for the Lord ; could 
 not take upon him the awful name of fb 
 exalted a prophet, and attempt to fulfill 
 the great purpofes of this divine commif- 
 fion ', till he was arrived at that age, which 
 was requifite for the compleat performance 
 of even the duties of a common prieft. 
 And accordingly it appears in fa6l, that 
 neither John nor Jefus alliimed their pub- 
 lic charaders, till they were jufl approach- 
 ing the age of thirty years. This 'very 
 diflant period therefore was the earlieji 
 at which Zacharias and Elizabeth could 
 hope for even the fmall fatisfadion, of 
 bringing their long planned impofture to 
 the tryal ; and feeing whether there was any 
 probability of impofing thus on the world. 
 Or fliould it be imagined, they might not 
 think it neceffary for John and Jefus to pay 
 H 4 this 
 
104 ^^ Divine MiJJtons of 
 
 Part I. this fcrupulous regard, in point of time, 
 ^^^r-^^f^ to the legal ag€ of a priell: ; they muft 
 however be fenfible, that the impoftors 
 they were contriving to raife up, could 
 not poiTibly appear in thofe difficult cha- 
 racters they intended them to fuftain, at 
 the Joonejl^ till they had already pad the 
 firfl age of a man. 
 
 But what can be more inconceivable, 
 than that they, who were already old 
 and is)ell Jlriken in years, fliould fet them- 
 felves to lay the foundation of fuch an im- 
 pofture, to gratify their own afpiring de- 
 fires J as could not be fct on foot, till no 
 lefs, than between twenty and thirty years 
 after -, and then mufl be extremely uncer- 
 tain of fuccefs ? Should they have hap- 
 pened to live to this period, and even hav^e 
 feen their wicked artifices fucceed ; fup- 
 pofitions both of them in the higheft de- 
 gree improbable ; what advantages could 
 they then expeil to reap from them ; 
 when extreme old age would fcarce have 
 left them the perception of any thing the 
 world could beflow ; and they were jufl 
 
 tottering 
 
"John Baptijl and Jefus Chrifi, 105 
 
 tottering into the grave ? Had they there- Part, l 
 fore been wicked enough to be capable of 
 contriving fuch a defign, as w^ell as of exr 
 editing w^hatever plot might feem to flat- 
 ter their ambitious defires j it is utterly in- 
 credible, that at their advanced age^ they 
 fhould plan out, or determine to wait the 
 ilTue of a projed: fo tedious as this. 
 
 As to any advantages to be procured 
 from the contrivance, before John fhould 
 be old enough to ad his defigned part -, 'tis 
 evident they expended none. They nei- 
 ther endeavoured to make him be perfb- 
 nally taken notice of, before that time ; 
 nor took pains to fpread far and wide, their 
 accounts of fo many miracles, as having 
 attended his birth. Both which they would 
 certainly have done, had they been in- 
 fluenced by any fuch expectations. On 
 the contrary, we find, that 'John was in the 
 defer ts until the day of his f dewing unto IJ- 
 rael *. And fo far were they from afli- 
 duoufly fpreadicg abroad, every where^ 
 
 the 
 
 * Luke, ch. iii. 15. — John began to appear in his 
 public charafter about the thirtieth year of his age. 
 
io6 7Z^ Dtv}??e Mi/fwns of 
 
 Part I. the mlracles iuft mentioned: that when 
 sy^ir^ John at'terwards began to baptife, all men 
 mufed 171 their hearts whether he were the 
 Chriji or not *. And fometime after this, 
 even after he had baptized Jefus, and de- 
 clared him to be the Mefliah j the Jews 
 fent pricjis and kvites from 'Jerufalem^ to 
 ajk him^ who art thou ? -^ Upon both which 
 occalions, as well as many others, the ma- 
 jority appeared fo inclined to think he 
 might be the Chrilt j that John himfelf 
 thought it necelTary to tell them plain- 
 ly, he was not the Chriji; but only the 
 voice of one crying in the wildernefsy make 
 ftraight the way of the Lord i. 
 
 At the time then, when John was 
 preaching among them, 'tis plain the 
 Jews in general formed their conjectures 
 of his character, meerly from his ap- 
 pearance as a great prophet, and their 
 own expedations of the Mefiiah ; not 
 from divine revelations of the particular 
 characfler he was to bear^-afliduouflyfpread 
 
 abroad, 
 
 * Luke ch. iii. 15. — ... | John ch. i. 19. — — 
 % Jchn ch. i. 20, 23. 
 
yohn B^ptijl a?td Jefus Chriji, 107 
 
 abroad, among ^// the people, by his pa- Part I. 
 rents, from the very time of his birth. ^^-y4l/ 
 From whence it is plain, that though they 
 did not conceal thofe aftonilhing events, 
 vi^ith w^hich he was introduced into the 
 world ; yet they had not made it their bu- 
 finefs, as impoftors would have done, to 
 make them univerfally known 5 but in 
 compliance with the natural fuggeftions 
 of an honeft and upright mind, had pub- 
 lifhed them, as we have already feen, in 
 all the neighbourhood, where they lived; 
 and waited, with a pious refignation, for 
 the accompliihment of thofe predictions, 
 which they knew alTuredly were divine. 
 
 And thus it feems evident, that Za- 
 charias and Elizabeth could not pofTibly 
 have fet on foot, any fach iniquitous im- 
 pofture, as that in queftion ; which was 
 to be carried into execution afterwards by 
 yohn, Zacharias's religious p'ofejjiony 
 and ftation in life ; the remarkable good 
 character^ which both He and Elizabeth 
 always maintained, and at length died pof- 
 fefled of; and the advanced age they had 
 
 alreadv 
 
io8 TToe Divine Mijfwns of 
 
 Par T r. already arrived at, at the time of the birth 
 
 Seft. %. 
 
 ^y'-Y>0 of John ; confidered jointly with fome 
 very material particulars in the fuppofed 
 plot itfelf i are all fo many convincing ar- 
 guments of the utter incredibility of their 
 havinsf been the authors of fuch an im- 
 
 o 
 
 pofture ; and when laid together in one 
 view, prove the fuppofed fad:, with fa- 
 tisfadory evidence, to have been morally 
 impoffible. 
 
 But befides, did not the circumftances 
 and lituation of Zacharias render it fo 
 highly incredible for him to have been the 
 contriver of fuch a plot, as that in de- 
 bate, relating to his own/on ; ftill it would 
 be on all accounts inconceivable, that he 
 could choofe to add to it fuch another, as 
 that we are now fuppofmg him to have 
 contrived for the fon of Mary. 
 
 It will be freely confefled indeed, that 
 if Zacharias had been wicked enough to 
 plan out one of thefe defigns, no fcruples 
 of confcience could have prevented him 
 from entering upon the other. But, what 
 honefty would not have prevented, policy 
 
 would: 
 
yoh?i Baptiji mid yefus Chrijl, 109 
 
 would : and his concern for the fuccefs of P ^ r t I. 
 
 Se£l. %, 
 
 the enterprife intended for John^ would ^.,/^\r^ 
 not have permitted Zacharias to have ren- 
 dered it dependant upon the fuccefs of 
 fuch another, as that relating to Jejus. 
 
 ZachariAs cannot be imagined to 
 have contrived the impofture in debate for 
 Mary's fon, and to have connedted it fo 
 clolely with that relating to his own 3 un- 
 lefs he thought it would prove beneficial 
 to 'John% undertaking, and ferve to pro- 
 mote his fuccefs. The fuccefs of his 
 own fon was what he muft have had moji 
 at heart -, nor could he therefore join any 
 other plot with this ; which he did not 
 imagine would make John's impofture 
 more likely to fucceed, than it would have 
 been without it. 
 
 But is it poffible he could hope for 
 any advantage, of this kind, from the fup- 
 pofed impofture of "Jefm ? In other words, 
 could he believe T^hat more likely to fuc- 
 ceed, than the undertaking he had plan- 
 ned out for John ? On the contrary, 'tis 
 evident, at firft fight, Zacharias muft have 
 
 known. 
 
no The Divine MiJJlons of 
 
 I- known, that, difficult as yohns enterprizc 
 might prove. That of Jefus muft be in- 
 finitely more fo : and confequently, that 
 the profecution of Both, in a mutual de- 
 pendance upon each other, would be fo 
 far from affifting John j that it mull un- 
 avoidably render his attempt far more ha- 
 zardous, than it would have been alone. 
 
 The defign we are fuppofing him to 
 have planned out for John, was only to 
 counterfeit the Meffiah's forerunner : 
 whereas the enterprife he mufl have in- 
 tended for Jefus, was nothing lefs than to 
 fupport the charader of the Meffiah /;/w- 
 feif] The moft particular idea the Jews 
 had been able to form of the Mefliah's 
 forerunner, was little more, than that he 
 would appear among them, to preach 
 the acceptable year of the Lord ; with 
 all that fpirit of piety, feverity, and mor- 
 tification, which had remarkably diftin- 
 guilTied one of their moft renowned for- 
 mer prophets. But fuch was their uni- 
 verfal interpretation of the various pro- 
 phecies, concerning the life and adions 
 
 of 
 
yohn BaptiJ} a?2d Jefus Chri/i, iii 
 
 of the MeJJiah y that whoever fliould af- Part r. 
 fume his character, it was well known, 
 would be expelled to make himfelf their 
 king. 
 
 Thus the pretended Forerunner might 
 condud: himfelf in the mod peaceable, 
 and lead dangerous manner; whereas 
 the counterfeit Meffiah, in order to be 
 received, would be under a neceffity of 
 laying claim to the fupreme power j and 
 wrefting it out of the hands of thofe, 
 who already polTefied it. The earneft 
 preaching of repentance, joined to the 
 continued pra6lice of mortification, and 
 a perfed: freedom from all fufpicion of 
 any vice, might be fufficient to eftablifh 
 the charader of the One: whereas nodiing 
 lefs than the exertion of fupernatural 
 powers, in uttering great prophecies, and 
 working great miracles, would anfvv'er the 
 expe6taUons of the Jews, or induce them 
 to give credit to the Other. All this Za- 
 charias could not but be well apprifed of, 
 and refledl upon. And confequently, the 
 fuperior dangers and difficulties una- 
 voidably 
 
I I 2 "The Divine Mijftoiis of 
 
 voidably attending this laft undertaking, 
 prove it abfolutely impoflible, for Zacha- 
 rias to have laid the fcheme of the fup- 
 pofed impofture of Jefus, in order to fa- 
 cilitate the fuccefs of the other defien, to 
 be executed by John. It is apparent, 
 that he himfelf muft have known, that 
 this would be the readieft way to defeat it. 
 So that, in addition to what has been 
 already proved, that Zacharias could not 
 poflibly be a man of fuch abandoned prin- 
 ciples, as to have been capable of con- 
 ceiving thefe impious defigns \ and more- 
 over, that, if he had, his age alone v/ould 
 have effeftually prevented him from fct- 
 ting them on foot ; it now appears fur- 
 ther, to be equally incredible, that he 
 could be foolifi enough jointly to adopt 
 them. And fmce it is undeniably cer- 
 tain, that both thefe tranfa(flions proceed- 
 ed, from the beginning, in a mutual and 
 clofe dependance upon each other ; and 
 that befidcs, whether they were the cf- 
 fedls of divine providence or human 
 iniquity, Zacharias was, from the iirft, 
 
 intimately 
 
yoht Baptift and yefus Chrtjl, 113 
 
 intimately concerned in Both; we mud Part i. 
 be forced to acknowledge, that the di- v«/^v^ 
 vine pretenfions of John and Jelus could 
 not" be founded upon any fuch deceits-, 
 or, at leaft, that Zacharias and Elizabeth 
 could not be the contrivers of them both, 
 if" they were. 
 
 SEC- 
 
114 The Divine MiJfto7J5 of 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 K O U L D we now for a while ne- 
 glect all that has been proved in vin- 
 dication of Zachariass innocence, and 
 fuppofe him to have been wicked enough 
 to be dejirous of fetting up his fon for the 
 Mefliah's forerunner j ftill his intimate 
 connexion with yofeph and Mary, through- 
 out the whole of thefe tranfadions, is fuch 
 a particular, as will not permit us to be- 
 lieve he a&nally did. Had he been ever 
 fo defirous of carrying into execution this 
 plot relating to yohn j it was of fo dan- 
 gerous a nature, that he could not have 
 ventured to conned: it with any other un- 
 dertaking, whether advantageous or not, 
 which would oblige him to lay open his 
 impious defign, to any perfon whatever. 
 He would certainly have contrived it fo 
 as to carry it on by Elizabeth\ help alone, 
 without any other affociates ; or, if he 
 thought this could not be efFedually done, 
 he would entirely have laid afide the defign. 
 
 The 
 
yohn Baptifl and yefus Chrijl, 1 1 5 
 
 The impoflure in debate relating to Part L 
 "John only^ was in every refped: of fo -very >.x'V"0 
 bad and unpromifing a nature ; that Za- 
 charias himfelf muft have believed he was 
 almofl certain of being betrayed, fooner 
 or later, by any one to whom he might 
 venture to impart it. Such only, as were 
 of the mofl abandoned principles, could 
 be at all expeded to join in a confpiracy 
 for fruftrating the moft ancient and re- 
 ceived predictions of the prophets, by 
 counterfeiting the character of the Mef- 
 fiah's forerunner. At the fame time Za- 
 charias well knew, that the fuccefs of his 
 plot muft appear to all next to impoflible ; 
 on account of the univerfal expectation, 
 at this time, of the fpeedy arrival of the 
 true Meffiah himfelf : and likewife, that 
 the utmoft advantages he could propofe 
 to obtain by it, even if it could fucceed, 
 were moft exceedingly dubious and re- 
 mote. 
 
 This being the apparent nature of the 
 cafe, Zacharias could not but believe, that 
 2)1 thofcj Vx'lio wore the onh perlbns ca- 
 
 I 2 pable 
 
1 1 
 
 The Divme Mijfions of 
 
 pable of confpiring in fo wicked a defign, 
 would without hefitation rejed: T^his we are 
 confidering. Such veterans in iniquity 
 would certainly require a plot, that had a 
 much furer, and a much nearer profpecft 
 of fuccefs 3 as well as more ample rewards 
 to allure them to fo hazardous an enter- 
 prife. For in T^his^ they all knew, that 
 no lefs than certain death would be the 
 inevitable confequence of detedion. It 
 was a law God himfelf had given * them, 
 ^hat the prophet y which JJjould prefume to 
 
 Speak 
 
 * Deut. xvlii, 20. — — *' The proplietlc fpirlt being 
 fo common among the Hebrews, it was neceflary there 
 ftiould be a method of tryiil eftabliOied, to prevent im- 
 pollors, and to difcern the falfe prophet from the true. 
 For it could not be expcdcd but, in a nation where 
 there was fuch a number of prophets, many pretendej*s 
 would arife ; who would endanger the faith of the peo- 
 ple, unlefs there were fome certain way to faid them 
 out. The more efteilually therefore to deter men, either 
 from counterfeiting a prophetic fpirit, or to hearken to 
 them that did ; God appointed a fevere puniiliment for 
 every fuch pretender ; who, upon legal convidllon, 
 was to fuffer death. 'The Jews generally under- 
 
 ftand this of ftranglmg ; as they do always in the law, 
 when the particular manner of death is not cxprefTed." 
 — They were tried by the fanhedrim. Lewis's Heb. 
 Antiq. b. 2. 16. — Selden de fynedr. lib. 3. c. 5. 
 
yoht Baptijl aiid Jefus Chrift.. \ \ y 
 
 fpeak a word in his name^ which he had not Part r. 
 commanded him to fpeak^ jhoidd die. And ^J^^^r^ 
 we are well informed, " That when once 
 any one was cxjnvidled of fuch an impof- 
 ture, and of pretending a divine commif- 
 lion, when God had not fent him ; no 
 character or intereft was powerful enough 
 to fave him from punifhment *." And 
 certainly he who fhould dare to publifh 
 falfe prophecies, to promote fo impious a 
 fraud as this, above all others, could ex- 
 ped: no mercy. 
 
 Nor was it the only, or even the 
 ftrongeft reafon, that muft have deterred 
 Zacharias, from attempting to procure 
 ajjociates in fiich a plot ; that its danger- 
 ous nature would have deterred every 
 one from engaging in it : there were be- 
 fides the ilrongeft temptatiojis imaginable 
 to betray it. Nothing could be more dif- 
 tant, precarious, and chimerical, than 
 any advantages to be expeded from its 
 fuccefs. But he might alTure himfelf of 
 immediate and ample rewards, who fliould 
 I 3 detea 
 
 * Lewis ibid, near the end. 
 
1 1 8 The Divine MiJfwJis of 
 
 Part I. cletcdl fo impious and facrilegious a priefl: 
 w*^V"^ of the moft high Godj as had not 
 only contrived a plot for fetting up his 
 own fon, to counterfeit the AleJJiah's fore- 
 runner } but would have perfuaded ano- 
 ther to fet up an impoftor, even for the 
 Mejjlah himfelf. The detedtion of fuch 
 complicated and enormous villainy, di- 
 redly calculated to make the nation rejecft 
 the true Meffiah, when he fhould come ; 
 and fet on foot at the very time when he 
 was foon expelled to appear j would un- 
 queflionably have met with a reward, pro- 
 portionable to the importance of the dis- 
 covery. The whole nation, priefls and 
 people, would have confidered their own 
 fafety as intimately concerned, in the put- 
 ting a ftop to fuch aftonifhing wickednefs, 
 in the very fanduary itfelf ^ and would 
 immediately have rewarded whoever laid 
 it open, in a far more ample manner, than 
 the impofture itfelf, even if fuccefsful, 
 could ever be expected to do. 
 
 Zacharias therefore, had he adu- 
 ally refolved upon any fuch. deceit with re- 
 gard 
 
yoh?i Baptijl a72d ye/us Chrijl. i i ^ 
 
 gard to 'John ; could never have added to P ^ r t r. 
 it any other plot, which would lay him w^>v~ 
 under a neceffity of attempting to pro- 
 cure ajfociates^ at fo imminent a hazard 
 of his life. He knew very well, that to 
 whomfoever he laid himfelf open, they 
 would have all the mofc powerful temp- 
 tations poffible, to betray him ^ but none 
 to engage with him in fo dciperate an un- 
 dertaking. 
 
 Let us however fuppofe him fuch an 
 able deceiver, that he might think to per- 
 fuade fome, into the hopes of inconceiv- 
 able advantages, to be gained by this con- 
 trivance ; and to reprefent it in fuch a 
 light, as to make it appear in the end al- 
 moft certain of fuccefs. Notwithftand- 
 ing thefe large cpnceffions, we fhall find 
 him ftill under the fame dilemma as be- 
 fore. 
 
 It was impoffible he could exped: to 
 gain confederates in his defign, by the 
 hopes of any advantages it might pro- 
 duce i fince the impofture was of fuch a 
 nature, that it could not even be brought 
 I 4 to 
 
I20 T'he Divifje MiJJtons of 
 
 to the ti yal till above tnuenty years after. 
 Such as wade the deepefl in iniquity to 
 gratify their reftlefs deiires, are but little 
 able to brook even accidental delays. 
 Much lefs can they be fuppofed to enter 
 into defignSj profefTedly calculated for fo 
 tedious a procraftination. Men of fincere 
 virtue indeed, and extenfive benevolence, 
 are fometimes feen to labour contentedly 
 through life, for the accompliilnnent of 
 whatever ufeful and generous purfuits they 
 have in view. That f^lf-complacency, 
 which attends the profecution of all vir- 
 tuous defigns, carries them calmly through 
 every difficulty \ and keeps alive the vi- 
 gour of application to fuch undertakings, 
 as require a long feries of time to bring 
 them to perfection. But fchemes of ini- 
 quity, and dark projects of deceit, keep 
 the thoughts even of the abandoned them- 
 felves in fo uneafy a fufpenfe, that they 
 cannot but be delirous of foon determin- 
 ing the event. 
 
 To fuppofe men knowingly to con- 
 Ipire together in a moft impious undertak-.- 
 
yohn Baptift and Jefus Chrifi, 121 
 
 ing, oi fuch a nature, as to render it ab- Part I. 
 folutely impoflible for them to derive ,^/-y^ 
 the leaft benefit from it, for the long in- 
 terval of more than twenty years j would 
 be fuppoling, what is diredlly oppofite to 
 the nature of a depraved and vicious 
 heart, and inconliftent with the frame of 
 the human mind. Not to obferve, at the 
 fame time, that however fure of fuccefs 
 any fuch confpiracy might appear 3 the 
 uncertainty of life itfelfy for fo long a pe- 
 riod, would render any benefits to be ex- 
 pelled from it, in the highefl degree pre- 
 carious. So that laying alide every other 
 conlideration ; this Jingie circumftance of 
 the plot, that the whole muft neceflarily 
 lie dormant from the lirtb of yobn, at 
 the leafl till he was full twenty years of 
 agCy was inconfiflent with every motive 
 that could poffibly induce any one to join 
 in fuch an impofture. Nor could Za- 
 charias therefore have hazarded his own 
 fafety fo far, as foolifhly to xtvQdlfuch a 
 defign, in hopes of procuring accomplices 
 in his guilt. 
 
 It 
 
122 72^ Divine Mijfwns of 
 
 It is likewife ftill more incredible, 
 that he fhould have ventured on this dan- 
 gerous experiment, could he even have 
 believed it poflible to gain over fome par- 
 ties to his plot i on this further account, 
 that he muft know, he had little lefs to 
 fear, from whoever he might prevail with 
 to ajjifi in his defigns, than thofe who 
 fhould at once rejedi them. This long 
 interval of more than twenty years, which 
 muft of neceflity elapfe, between the con- 
 trivance, and the execution of the impof- 
 ture ; afforded room for fo many viciffi- 
 tudcs in the circumftances, and fuch a 
 change of the inclinations, of whoever 
 might at firft join with him in it ; as 
 would give him the gi-eateft reafon to ap- 
 prehend a difcovcry of it, even from them ; 
 before it could have a chance for fuccefs. 
 
 If an exaggerated reprefentation of the 
 advantages to be expected from it, had at 
 firft warmed them in the purfuit ; and 
 from what has been proved already, it is 
 certain, nothing elfe could ; this was a 
 length of time, in which they muft fre- 
 quently 
 
yohn Baptijl and Jefus Chf^ijl, 123 
 
 quently cool, and refletS: upon the folly, Part l 
 and uncertainty of the attempt. If they en- 
 tered into it through licentious confidence, 
 and the overweening prolpeils of artifi- 
 cial joy, and temporary fits of refolution ; 
 here was full time enough for the frequent 
 defpondencies of an evil fpirit to undo the 
 charm ; and place the folly of fo flrange 
 a defign full before their eyes. And what 
 then could be expeded from them, but 
 that at leaft in the defpondencies of fick- 
 nefs, and at the approach of death -, cir- 
 cumflances very highly probable to at- 
 tend them within fo long a period j they 
 would naturally be led to make an ample 
 difcovery of fo wicked a contrivance j and 
 bring the authors of it, if alive, to con- 
 dign punifhment, before it could be put 
 to the tryal. 
 
 Nay neither death nor licknefs would 
 have been at all requifite to bring on this 
 difcovery. Whoever was capable of en- 
 tering into fuch a confederacy as this^ for 
 any fuch diftant and precarious advan- 
 tageSj as it might feem at iirft to promife ; 
 
 muft 
 
124 2^^ Divine Mijft072s of 
 
 ^Seft^ ^* "^^^'^ certainly have been capable of be- 
 
 ^y^^^fi^ trayi?ig it, when their firft fanguine hopes 
 
 of its benefits died away ; and they faw 
 
 good reafon to expedl a far better, as well 
 
 as immediate reward- for revealing it. 
 
 It is evident then, on various accounts, 
 that this fuppofed impoflure was oifuch a 
 nature, as not only to deprive Zacharias 
 of all hopes of engaging any ofie to con- 
 Ipire with him in it ; but even to render it 
 almoft certain, that whoever he fliould im- 
 part it to, whether they became ajjociates 
 in it or ?iot, would fooner or later betray 
 his impious defigns. 
 
 Hence it mull: readily be allowed, that 
 if the plot, we have been luppofing, with 
 regard to John^ could have any real exif- 
 tence i and Zacharias could have been the 
 contriver of the deceit j he certainly would 
 not have joined to it any other plan of im- 
 poflure, which would lay him under a ne- 
 ceflity of procuring fome accomplices, 
 who mufl be made privy to Both, He 
 would have profecuted the jirfi d^^^io^vx^ 
 whicli was what he was chiefly concerned 
 
 for. 
 
yohn Baptiji a?id Jefus Chriji, 1^5 
 
 for, alone ; and his wife Elizabeth would Part r. 
 have been found his o?ily affiftant in car- s^-^v^^ 
 rying it on. 
 
 Nor is there room to objedl here, that 
 though the truth of all this mufl be own- 
 ed, yet perhaps it might not occur to Za- 
 ch arias-, who might be fopoflelTed with the 
 hopes of fucceeding in this extraordinary 
 defign, by the help of fome aifociates, as 
 to overlook the imminent danger he mufl 
 incur, in endeavouring to procure them. 
 True indeed it is, that impoftors are fome- 
 times off their guard, and found to a6t 
 inconfiftently, when their condudl is de- 
 leted . But in the fuppofed cafe before 
 us, the danger of being betrayed was on 
 many accounts fo great -, on all accounts 
 fo obvious ; that it could not have efcaped 
 the notice even of a raw beginner in the 
 pradice of deceit. In this cafe, therefore, 
 nothing can make it credible, that Zacha- 
 riaSy above all others, could be guilty of 
 fo total a want of circumfpedion ; in a 
 particular, which fo nearly concerned, not 
 his fuccefs only, but his fafety j not his 
 reputation alone, but his life. 
 
 Should 
 
26 7Z^ Divme Mtjjlofis of 
 
 Should we imagine him to have been 
 capable of planning the deceit before us ; 
 we fhall be forced to own, at the fame 
 time, that he mufl have been the moft 
 cautious, and careful concealer of his 
 true character and adtions, that ever lived. 
 If at his age, and in his religious profef- 
 fion, he w^as capable of fetting on foot 
 fo impious an undertaking j 'tis evident 
 he muft have been long hardened in wick- 
 ednefs, and have grown old in fin. Yet 
 fure we are, that both He and Elizabeth 
 had found means to fupport an exemplary 
 charader, which was never called into 
 queftion. And this too, notwithftanding 
 that the witnefs, which John afterwards 
 bore to yefus, muft naturally have led ma- 
 ny of the Jews, and more efpecially the 
 rulers, to enquire fcrupuloufly into their 
 life and converfation. But He^ who could 
 thus manage to advance in efteem for vir- 
 tue, in proportion as he proceeded to 
 greater lengths in iniquity; and never 
 drew on himfclf the lead fufpicion of his 
 guilt ; mufl have been far too cautious a 
 
 vete- 
 
yolm Baplift a?id yefus Chrijl. 127 
 
 veteran in deceit, to have run the hazard Part I. 
 of betraying himfelf in the manner now wo<-v> 
 under confideration. 
 
 A PLOT, which, we have feen, he mud 
 originally have contrived, fo many years 
 before the birth of a fon gave him an op- 
 portunity to attempt itj and which he 
 muft fo often, in the mean time, have 
 revolved every particular of j when the 
 fondnefs of conceit, and the warmth of 
 expedlation were over 3 could not pofTibly 
 draw fo wary a deceiver into an overlight 
 fo obvious, and fo dangerous as this. 
 
 After all, it appears plainly from the 
 fuppofed contrivance itfelf, that he could 
 have no end to anfwer by this ftep, in the 
 leaft degree adequate to the danger incur- 
 red by it. None indeed could be of fuf- 
 ficient moment for an impoftor to purfue, 
 which could not be obtained without ex- 
 pofing himfelf to almoft certain detection. 
 If Zacharias had even fo laid his principal 
 plan with regard to 'John ; for the fake of 
 which only he could fet himfelf to con- 
 ti-Jve any other j as to make fome aflbciates 
 
 necef- 
 
2 8 The Divine Mijfions of 
 
 ART 
 
 Sea. 4 
 
 Par^t I- neceflaiyforitsprofecutiorii the great dan- 
 
 ger of attempting to procure any would 
 certainly have made him alter his defign. 
 But, in fa6l^ the fuccefs of the plot in quef- 
 tion relating to Johuy fuch as we now find 
 it, could fcarcely be at all promoted by 
 any tejftimony, befides that of Zacharias 
 and Elizabeth themfclves. 
 
 All that He could poffibly defire, at 
 the time of his fon's birth, muft have 
 been, to eftablifli the credit of that divine 
 meilage, which, he affirmed, had been 
 delivered to Him by an an gel from heaven j 
 and upon the authority of which, Johns 
 whole claim to infpiration was necelTarily 
 to depend. Now this divine mefTage was 
 publifhed as having been delivered to Za- 
 charias alone^ and confequently could not 
 admit of being attefted by any other per- 
 Ibn whatever. All therefore, that any ac- 
 complices could pofTibly do to ftrengthen 
 the caufe, was, to publifli accounts of 
 other divine meffages revealed to them- 
 fclves ; calculated to confirm the truth of 
 Zacharias 's own relation. But if his ac- 
 count 
 
yohn Baptijl- and yefus Chri/l, 129 
 
 count of his vifion fhould not be believed. Part r. 
 
 Seel. 4. 
 
 upon the flrength of his alTertion ; en- 
 forced by fo refined an artifice, as his pre- 
 tended lofs of fpeech, for a limited time 
 only, in confequence of itj Zacharias 
 could have no hopes of eftablifhing its 
 credit, by the teftimony of any other per- 
 fons, oi far lefs v^eight and authority than 
 himfelf. 
 
 At this time, it mull: be remembered, 
 he was far advanced in years, and pof- 
 fefTed the charader of a man of true pro- 
 bity and religion. His facred profeflion 
 likev^ife would of itfelf, in great meafure, 
 fecure him from being thought capable of 
 contriving a forgery of fo heinous a na- 
 ture. His own teflimony therefore, he 
 well knew, came fo ftrongly recom- 
 mended to the public, by his age, his 
 profeflion, the general opinion of his vir- 
 tue, and his feeming miraculous lofs of 
 ipeech ; that if This alone proved unable 
 to gain belief for the fadts he related ; 
 the addition of one or two corroborat- 
 ing, but /^?r lefs creditable, witnefies, mud 
 K be 
 
130 T^e Divme Mijfwns of 
 
 be ufelefs and vain. If the people dilbe- 
 lieved him himfelf; he knew afTuredly, 
 they muft regard the reft as inferior ac- 
 complices in the fame crafty defign, and 
 reje6l: all their pretended revelations with 
 difdain. 
 
 In the mean while it is incredible, that 
 Zacharias fhould imagine, the people 
 would, at this time in particular, prove 
 averfe to the reception of fuch a revela- 
 tion, as he made public among them 3 or 
 confequently, that his own eftablifhed 
 charadier would now, more than ever, be 
 infufficient to procure him their belief. 
 
 In other nations indeed, whofe hifto- 
 ries pretended to no more, than a few un- 
 certain accounts of divine interpoiitions ; 
 whoever had made public a revelation of 
 this kind, might with good reafon appre- 
 hend, it would require the teftimony of 
 more than one, to gain credit to fuch an 
 impofture. But with the Jews the cafe 
 was quite different. Their religious and 
 civil hiftory being woven together in the 
 fame records, and confifting of little elfe, 
 
 than 
 
yohn Baptifi and y'efus Chrijl, 131 
 
 than a continued feries of immediate re- Part l 
 
 Sea. 4. 
 velations from God, authenticated in the w'-v^ 
 
 moft unqueftionable manner ; fuch divine 
 interpofitions were fo far from appearing, 
 to their apprehenfions, flrange or impro- 
 bable, in the nature of the thing ; that they 
 were familiarized to the conceptions of even 
 the loweft of the people. 
 
 They had been favoured like wife, 
 with a long fucceffion of prophets, whofe 
 predidlions had been verified, in the moft 
 lignal revolutions of their ftate and na- 
 tion ', and on whofe authority they now 
 confidently expected the fpeedy manifef- 
 tation of the Meffiah. Their liberty too 
 had been at length fwallowed up by the 
 Roman power, and they began more ea- 
 gerly to look for the arrival of that long 
 promifed prince, with whom they ex- 
 pedted nothing lefs than univerfal domi- 
 nion. Thus impatiently were the Jewifli 
 nation at this time expeding the fudden 
 appearance of their mighty deliverer. 
 
 And could Zacharias apprehend, when 
 
 the people were in fuch a temper as this, 
 
 K 2 that 
 
132 'The Divine Mijftons of 
 
 Part I. that they would be, ?iow, more than or- 
 dinarily averfe to beheving any divine re- 
 velation, upon the report of one of his 
 profcffion, and eilablifhed good charac- 
 ter y and more particularly, a revelation 
 which proclaimed the adual arrival of the 
 Mefliah's immediate forerunner ? Could 
 he think, that they would now at lafl: be- 
 gin to call in queflion the honefty of one, 
 whofe piety they had ever till this time re- 
 vered ? On the contrary, muft he not 
 rather have exped.ed, that they would re- 
 ceive with joy the glad tidings of the Mef^ 
 fiah's approaching manifeftation j and, in- 
 ftead of now firfl fufpeding his veracity, 
 wait, with a pleafing hope, for the ac- 
 complilliment of the predidion ? And 
 with this opinion, founded upon the well 
 known expectations of the whole people, 
 joined with the confcioufnefs of his own 
 eftabliflied character ; it would be abfurd 
 to imagine, that fo artful an impoftor 
 could foolifhly run the rillc of being al- 
 moft inevitably betrayed j meerly to pro- 
 cure alTociates , whofe concurrence was 
 
yohn Baptift and Jefus Chrijl, 133 
 fo far from neceffary, that they could not Part ^^ 
 
 . Sea. 4. 
 
 at all affift him in the execution of his fup- w^^v-^ 
 pofed deligns. 
 
 It has appeared then, that the fup- 
 pofed impofture of ZachariaSy relating to 
 his own fin, was of (o peculiar a nature, 
 that' he himfelf could not entertain hopes 
 of procuring any aflbciates in it, fhould 
 he make the attempt j and mufl: have 
 been fenfible, that if he could, it was next 
 to certain they would betray him, long 
 before the plot could be put in execution. 
 It has appeared likewife, that he could 
 not but believe, that his own characfler 
 was fufficient to bear him out ; or, ilT^hat 
 fhould prove infufficient, that the affif- 
 tance of any afibciates, he could procure, 
 would be ftill more unable to fupport his 
 caufe. And further we have feen, the fup- 
 pofed plot itjelfj if there was one, was io 
 contrived, that in fad: he flood in need 
 of no aflbciates at all. 
 
 From all thefe particulars we cannot 
 
 but draw this conclufion ; that if Zacha- 
 
 rias had been a wicked deceiver, and the 
 
 K 3 con- 
 
134 ^^ Divine Mijfions of 
 
 Part I, contriver of fuch a falfe revelation con- 
 cerning hts oivji Jon-y he certainly would 
 not have fet on foot, at the fame time, any 
 other confpiracy, which would oblige him 
 to reveal to any one his chief defign, re- 
 lating to John. 'This muft have been his 
 o?jIy attempt) and his wife Elizabeth 
 would have been found the only perfon 
 concerned with him, in carrying this on. 
 And confequently, fince it has before in- 
 difputably appeared, that two other per- 
 fons, Jofeph and Mary, were as intimately 
 concerned in the whole tranfadlion relat- 
 ing to John, as Zacharias and Elizabeth 
 themfehes j and likewife, that they were 
 Ail engaged together, at the fame time, in 
 another limilar tranfadion relating to ye- 
 Jus ', we are reduced to the neceflity of 
 acknowledging, that there could be no 
 impojiure at all in the cafe ; or at leaft, 
 that Zacharias and Elizabeth could not be 
 the original contrivers of Both the plots ; 
 if anyfuch iniquitous deception QZx\JlillhQ. 
 fuppofed. 
 
 SEC- 
 
yohn Baptiji and Jefus Chrtjl. 135 
 
 H 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 A V I N G proceeded thus far in P ^ ^ t I- 
 
 proof of Zachariass, innocence of s_ ^, j 
 
 the impoftures in debate ; in order to place 
 the incredibility of his having contrived 
 them, in that clear and ftrong light, which 
 the nature of the cafe allows, it will now 
 be necelTary to take fome more particular 
 notice o^Jofeph and Mary ; who, we have 
 feen, mufl: from the beginning have been 
 privy to Zacharias\ defigns. 
 
 For the prefent then, let us wave all 
 that has been proved to the contrary, and 
 ftill fuppofe it poffible for Zacharias to 
 have contrived both the plots in queftion ; 
 and to have refolved to run the hazard of 
 procuring fome aifociates to carry them on. 
 After all, it will yet be found, that ^0- 
 feph and Mary were in feveral, the moll; 
 material circumflances, perfons abfolutely 
 unfit for his defigns -, fuch, as it is utterly 
 inconceivable he fliould venture to make 
 acquainted with his plots, or in the leaft 
 K 4 expert 
 
136 Tl^e Divine Mijftons of 
 
 Part I, expe(5l to aflift him in them -, and fuch, 
 sy\r^ indeed, as lie could by no means think 
 capable of ever confenting to abet them. 
 
 A MORE unanfwerable argument can- 
 not be delired, to iliew the impoffibility 
 of Zacharias's fingling out Mary, for a 
 confederate in the confpiracies fuppofed, 
 than the confideration of her youth. 
 
 The moft authentic writers inform us, 
 that marriage was, ftri(5lly Ipeaking, fo 
 truly univerfal among the Jews ; that they 
 efteemed it an abfolute command of God, 
 which every man was indifpenfably oblig- 
 ed to comply with, as foon as he came to 
 years of maturity. That, on this ac- 
 count, it was reputed among them highly 
 finful, for a man to remain unmarried af- 
 ter he was arrived at twenty years of age. 
 And that, in confequence of this opinion, 
 the men were all adually married by that 
 time, and generally fooner ; and the wo- 
 men even j?mch younger Jlill. For though 
 a pofitive command laid upon the man 
 only, was thought fufficient; and there- 
 fore they did not hold, that a fimilar com- 
 mand 
 
yohn Baptifi and Jefus Chrijl. i;^y 
 
 mand was laid upon the woman alfo j Part I. 
 yet we are affured, what indeed will ,,y\^ 
 fcarcely be doubted, that in fa<5l the wo- 
 me?i were always married, at firft, much 
 younger than the me?2. They were ge- 
 nerally betrothed^ when only ten years 
 old 5 and even married, in the higher 
 ranks, extremely young. And judging 
 upon a very fair average, we may believe 
 their nuptials were compleated about the 
 age of fifteen, at the lateft, through the 
 whole body of the people *. 
 
 This 
 
 * As this is a point of no fmall importance in the 
 queftion, and the fadls here aflerted are fo difFerent from 
 what obtains in this part of the world ; it will be pro- 
 per here to eftablilh the truth of them, by more good 
 authorities than one. 
 
 " The Jenj^s are very warm aflertors of the honour 
 and fanftity of marriage ; they extol it infinitely above 
 a fmgle life, and hold it a condition more fuitable to 
 nature, more advantageous to mankind, and more ac- 
 ceptable to God : fo that they admit of no unmarried 
 fetSl among them ; but on the contrary, look very jea- 
 loufiy upon fuch of their nation, as either marry not at 
 all, or long defer it. Wedlock they ejleem among the affir- 
 mative precepts, 'which they make obligatory upon their 
 ivhole nation. Eniery male coming to years of maturity, is 
 
 bound to take a njuife to increafe his family. Upon this 
 
 account thiir efpoufals are very early, their daughters being 
 
 ufually 
 
138 11:>e Divi72e Mtffions of 
 
 This being the cafe, we are warranted 
 to conclude, that at the time> when Za- 
 
 charias 
 
 ufually betrothed at ten years of age ; and if they are rich 
 are married 'very young. Lewis's Heb.Antiq. b. vi. 3^. 
 — ■ See alio particularly b. vi. 24. 
 
 *' The fe^'js are obliged to marry, becaufe God'^s pre- 
 cept to the firft man, of peopling the earth, increafe 
 and tnultiply, ftill continues in all its force. Woe to the 
 man 'who lit'es in a houfe nvithout a nuife. They come 
 not under this law till they are twenty years of age ; but 
 then they mujl marry y othernvife they fn againjl God and 
 his ordinance, they become murtherers ; they dejlroy the 
 image of the firjl man ; and cauje the Holy Spirit to ivith- 
 drwvj himfelf from Ifrael. 'Tis a queftion in the 
 Talmud, Who is he that profit utes his daughter ? and 
 the anfwer is, the father that keeps her too long at homey 
 cr marries her to an old man. — - The fe'ws do not gene- 
 rally wait twenty years. They make contracts betwixt 
 their children betimes, and execute them as foon as pofli- 
 ble. — In the mean time, a daughter marriedhy her fa- 
 ther, before fie is tnx:el've years old and a half, has the 
 privilege of feparatlng upon a fimple difguft at her huf- 
 band, becaufe fhe was not then at the age of choofmg." 
 — Bafoage's Hiil. of the Jews, b. v. 19. — For want of 
 the original I have quoted from Taylor's tranflation. 
 
 " Certainly among the Jeivifi nation, they were fo 
 far from accounting the vow of virginity a piece of de- 
 votion and religion, that they accounted it a reproach 
 for a woman to be childlefs ; nay a reproach for a wo- 
 man not to be married. ■ And a greater reproach it 
 
 was, for a woman not to be married. Nay the Jews 
 
 in their traditional law, (by which they were led too 
 much) did not only account it afiame, not (0 be married i 
 
 but 
 
yohn Baptift a?td ye/us Chrijl, 139 
 charlas muft have linsled out Man, as a P * r t l 
 
 •' Seft. c. 
 
 proper perfon to affifl: him in carrying on v^^^Tn-* 
 
 his 
 
 but a Jin, and a breach of God's command. For thofe 
 word^ (Gen. i. 7.%^ be fruitful and multiply, they ac- 
 count not only a bleffing, but a co7nrnand ; and reckon it 
 the firft command of the fix hundred and thirteen com- 
 mands that are in the law." •— Lightfoot vol. ii. p. 
 1216. 
 
 On another occafion he quotes the following parage 
 from Maimon. — " The man is commanded concerning 
 begetting and multiplying, but not the woman. And 
 when doth the man come under this command ? frot-t 
 the age of Jixteen or featenteen years. But x? he exceeds 
 tvjenty years without marrying ; behold he violates, and 
 renders an affirmati've precept vain." — — Lightfoot v. ii. 
 
 P-757- 
 
 " Amongft the people of the Jexvs, the defire of ifTue 
 made them marry very young : 77ioJi of the vien nvere 
 
 married at eighteen years of age. Allix's Reflec. on 
 
 the four laft books of Mofes, ch. 20. 
 
 '* Mafculi omnes tenentur uxorem ducere, ubi attlge- 
 
 twxAfexdecejn aut feptemdecem antws.'''' " The men are 
 
 all obliged to marry, when they arrive at fe^enteeii or 
 
 eighteen years of age,'''' Lamy, App. Bibl. p. 140 
 
 <' At eighteen a fon is to marry." Lewis's Heb. Antiq. 
 b. vi. ch. 39. 
 
 In confirmation of thefe authorities a great variety of 
 regulations, which were obferved among the Jews, prove 
 
 the earlinefs of their marriages beyond all difpute. < 
 
 It was provided, that a woman betrothed before Jhe tvas 
 tvjehe years old, could not be taken to her hufband's 
 houfe, without her own confent, till foe njcas tvjel've com- 
 plete. ■ If a woman was completely married before 
 the age oftnvehe a?!d a half, fhe might obtain a divorce 
 
 upon 
 
140 T^he Divine MiJJions of 
 
 Part I. his implous defigns, and one who might 
 t^^-yxj be fuppofed likely to undertake the part 
 he intended for her in them j She could 
 not be more than about fourteen years of 
 age. 
 
 From the hiftory itfelf it plainly ap- 
 pears, that even after the birth of John ; 
 
 which 
 
 upon a fimple digufl. A man at thirteen years of age^ 
 and a ivoman at th.vel-ve ami a half, was at full liberty 
 to enter into a contrafl of marriage without the confent 
 of parents, or guardians. — - If a luoman was betrothed, 
 before the age of tivelx'e, ihe had a power of deferring 
 the mariage for a tnx:elnjE7nonth ; whenever the hufband 
 
 frofofed to her to complete it. ■ If betrothed at the age 
 
 cf tii-ehe and a half, ihe might put off the marriage 
 tilljhe ivas ayear older. But if (he was thirteen and a 
 half or older, at the time of betrothing; fhe had ;;» 
 foiver to delay the marriage for more than thirty days, 
 after the man propofed to her the completing of their 
 marriage. —— If the man deferred the completion of 
 the marriage, longer than the expiration of thefe le- 
 gal times; (except in cafes of neceffity) he was bound 
 to fupport the woman he had betrothed, till he finally 
 married her. 
 
 Thefe peculiar regulations prove clearly, that /row be- 
 fore the age often, to about thirteen years, was the period, 
 in which the ivomen among the Jenx-s were cuftomarily 
 betrothed. And when we confider this, jointly with the 
 authorities juft produced, it cannot be doubted, but that 
 marriage was ftridly fpeaking univerfal, among the 
 Jews; and that in naming even the age of fifteen years, 
 for that limit, in which the Jei.vif? ^a-ornen were firji 
 married; we ha\ie allowed, at the leaft, full as long a 
 period as the cafe can require. 
 
John Baptijl and Jefus Chrifl, 141 
 
 which muft have been near a twelvemonth Part I. 
 
 Sea. 5. 
 
 after X2jc\\2^n2issjirji application to Mary ; v^r^f^^ 
 flie was ftill only betrothed^ not yet msir- 
 ried to Jofeph. T^he birth * ofjefus Chriji 
 was on this wife. When as his mother Mary 
 was efpoufed to yofeph ; before they came 
 together fhe was found with child of the 
 Holy Ghofl. In confequence of which it 
 follows, that Jofeph was minded to put her 
 away privily. But it is plain likewile, 
 that Jofeph was not apprized of Marys 
 iituation till juft after the birth of John, 
 For upon the angel's appearing to Mary, 
 and informing her -f*, as we are told, that 
 her coufin Elizabeth was then fix months 
 gone with child ; Mary, we find, imme- 
 diately left her own home, to go to Eli- 
 zabeth ; and abode with her three months, 
 till her full time came, and fl^e brought 
 forth a fon %• Then it was, at her return 
 to her own home from Elizabeth, upon 
 the birth of John \ and while her mar- 
 riage with Jofeph remained yet to be com-' 
 
 pleted ', 
 
 * Matt, i, 18. t Lukei. 36, t Idem i. 
 
 56, 57. 
 
142 T^e Divhie MiJJlom of 
 
 Part I. pJefed ', that jm? became acquainted with 
 
 Seft. 5. ^ ^ 
 
 vx->r*>-^ her pregnancy, and began to think of 
 putting her away. Nor did he take her 
 ' home to his own houfcj which was part 
 
 of the matrimonial ceremonv amoncj the 
 Jews, till at leaft fome little time after 
 this ; when, as he aflerted, the angel had 
 appeared to him, and told him, to fear 
 not to take unto him Mary his wife *. 
 From all which it is abundantly evident, 
 that even fo late as after the birth of Johft, 
 Mary was not yet adually married to fo^ 
 feph -y though they had been for fome time 
 betrothed to each other. 
 
 It has been proved already-^-, that yo/^/Z* 
 and Mary mull: have been engaged by Zj- 
 charias in his defigns ; if they were engag- 
 ed inthem at all 3 before the time of ZVj own 
 vifion in the temple. 'Tis indeed appa- 
 rent, from the nature of the cafe alone, 
 that he who had fuch an extraordinary 
 part to play, and made ufe of fo much 
 refined artifice at the opening of the plot, 
 
 muft 
 
 • Matt. i. 20. t See pages 72 — 84. 
 
"John Baptljl and Jefus Chrijl, 143 
 
 muft certainly have taken care to fecure Part I. 
 fuch aflbciates, as he had made abfolutely ^/^^'v^ 
 requilite for its fuccefs, before the time, 
 when the plan was adually to be put in 
 execution. So that it appears, Zacharias 
 muft have lingled out Mary^ as a perfon 
 both likely and proper to carry on that im- 
 pofture he had contrived ^ and muft have 
 communicated to her his whole delign ; 
 and adtually have engaged her to affift, as 
 £he afterwards did, in the profecution of 
 it ; about a twelvemonth, at leaft, before 
 her marriage with Jofeph was completed-, 
 at which time fhe could fcarcely be more 
 than betwee?! fourteen mid fifteen years of 
 age. 
 
 With regard to Mary then, the argu- 
 ment is reduced to this fhort queftionj . 
 whether this can be allowed a probable, 
 or even a poffible fuppoiition ? Whether 
 it is conceivable, that an arch impoftor, 
 grown grey in the practice of fraud and 
 diflimulation, and ilcilled in all the arti- 
 fices necelTary to carry on a deceit ; as 
 Zacharias J if a deceiver, muft have been ; 
 
 ftiould 
 
144 ^^ Divme Mijfwjts of 
 
 Part I. fhould efteem a rz>/, who was not arrived 
 
 Seft 5. 
 
 *^/-V^> at the full ufe of her underftanding, a 
 fit perfon to carry on a long and intricate 
 train of the moft impious import ures ? 
 Whether, in fhort, he who had projedted 
 fuch a defign, as he knew was incapable 
 of being entered into by an)\ who had not 
 their confciences feared with the long 
 pradlice of iniquity, in all its fhapes j 
 fhould fmgle out one, as a likely perfon to 
 approve and abet it ; whofe youth, and 
 fex *, and innocence, and inexperience 
 
 of 
 
 * The incredibility of the fuppofition we are confider- 
 ing, is very greatly inhanced, by the referved manner 
 in which the Jen.vijh avomen, like thofe of mod other 
 eaftern nations, were brought up. 
 
 " It was the cuftom for parents among the Jews, ne- 
 ver to let their 'virgin daughters go out of their houfes ; 
 which cuftom made them be called concealed, in oppofi- 
 tion to thofe that ^ent abroad ; that is, that were prof- 
 titutes." — — Allix on the Old Teftament, vol. i. c. 20. 
 
 To the fame purpofe, Lamy, Apparat. Biblicus, c.i6, 
 *' Virgines multa cura fervantur abditas intra domum ; 
 unde virgo dicitur hebraice, gnalema; hoc eft, abfcon- 
 dita." ■ " The virgins are with great care kept con- 
 
 cealed within doors ; from whence a virgin is called in 
 Hebrew, gnalema ; that is, hidden.'''' 
 
 ** The daughters are inftruded by the mothers, with 
 great care, in the bufmefs that belongs to their fex. 
 
 They 
 
yohn Baptlft a7id y^fus Chrljl. 14^ 
 
 of the world, would neceflarily make her Part I. 
 terrified at the mention of fo villainous a ../-v^ 
 propofal ; and fliocked at the monfler, 
 who could attempt to feduce her into it ? 
 
 These furely are queftions we cannot 
 hefitate how to anfwer. We may with 
 confidence pronounce it morally impof- 
 fible, for him, who, if detected, was 
 fure to pay for his villainy with his life, 
 voluntarily to lay it open to one, whofe 
 youth and inexperience abfolutely difqua- 
 lified Her from giving him affiftance ; and 
 whofe timidity, and native abhorrence of 
 fuch crimes, would /;/ all human probability 
 induce her to publifh them to the world. 
 
 Nothing can render it poffible for 
 Zacharias to have pitched upon a perfon 
 Jo young as Mary, to make a confederate 
 in fuch a fcheme ; or account for Her en- 
 gaging in it 3 but the fuppofition, that fhe 
 had already given very plain proofs of Co 
 L profligate 
 
 They were feldom allowed to go abroad ; an4 upon this 
 accourit a daughter in the Hebrew language is called 
 u^/ma ; which fignifics as much as a perfon concealed, and 
 cloie fff;^?;t"i." F— — Lewis's Ileb. Antiq. b. vi. 35, 
 
l^e Divine Mijftoits of 
 
 profligate a difpofition, that it might na- 
 turally be fuppofed, {lie was capable of 
 entering into any villainous enterprife, he 
 could pofTibly propofe to her. A luppo- 
 fition on all accounts abfurd, and impof- 
 fible to have been true. 
 
 Had this been the cafe, it mufl: cer- 
 tainly have been much better known at 
 Nazaretby the place where Mary * lived ; 
 than it could be to Zacharias, who dwelt 
 at Hebron -f-, which was a great diftance 
 off J. But had the neighbourhood, where 
 Mary refided, known, or only fufpeded 
 her to have been guilty, not of any enor- 
 mous crimes only, but of any vicious con- 
 
 dudt 
 
 * Luke i. 26. 
 
 t It is a generally received opinion, that Zacharias 
 dwelt at Hebron. — " For thougti it is true indeed, the 
 priefts alter the return from Babylon, were not all dif- 
 pofed and placed, in all thofe very fame dwellings they 
 had poflefTed before the captivity ; yet is it probable that 
 Zachary, who was the feed of Aaron, being here faid to 
 dwell in the hill country of Judea, might have his houfe 
 in Hebron, which is more peculiarly faid to be the city 
 
 of Aaron's offspring, Jofh. xxi. 11." Lightfooton 
 
 Luke i. 39. vol. ii. 386. Allix on the N. T. 198. 
 
 X The hill country of Judea, was about feventy miles 
 from Nazareth, where Mary lived. Macknight's com- 
 ment on his harmony, fcift. 4. 
 
yohft Baptiji and Jefus Chrijl. 147 
 
 du6l whatever 5 it would unqueflionably ^^^'^ ^' 
 have been reported about, and her repu- w^r^^ 
 tation deftroyed j at leaft as loon as fhe 
 began to i^t up for a publlflier of divine 
 revelations, and the moft homurahk mo^ 
 ther of the promifed MeJJmh. The plea- 
 fure, which people of all ranks and fta- 
 tions are univerfally found to take, in ex- 
 poiing the faults and failures of all within 
 their knowledge j efpecially when they 
 make pretenfions to fomething more ex- 
 cellent than all about them ; will not al- 
 low us to fuppofe, that, if Mary had given 
 figns of (o bad a difpofition j thofe who 
 lived near, and were upon a level v^ith 
 her, would have fuffered her to efcape 
 without this public condemnation. 
 
 Her inferior rank in life too v/ill notfuf- 
 fer us to imagine, that fhe could have been 
 guilty of fuch crimes, and yet have found 
 means to conceal them. In the more ex- 
 alted ftations wealth may fometimes fupply 
 means and opportunities of concealing our 
 true charaders, and fuch adions as are not 
 fit for the public viev/. But That clafs of 
 L 2 the 
 
148 Tl:)e Divine Mijpons of 
 
 the people, who arc obliged to labour for 
 their lupport, and in which the intended 
 wife of Jofeph was, are deflitute of fuch 
 refources. 'T'heir habitations, and the ge- 
 neral tenour of their lives, are fo far, at 
 leail, unavoidably expofed to the obfer- 
 vation of all about them ; that they can- 
 not go any confiderable lengths in vice, 
 without bringing thcmfelves into general 
 fufpicion at leaft, if they are not even adu- 
 ally deteded. 
 
 It is therefore utterly inconceivable, 
 that Md?'y could already have been guilty 
 of any thing fo bad, or indeed of any bad 
 condudl at all, which could make Zacha- 
 rias believe her capable of undertaking fo 
 iniquitous a part, as he muft have defign- 
 ed her to ad; widiout having become 
 proportionably infamous ; or at leaft of a 
 •vpy fufpicious charader, in the neigh- 
 bourhood where ilie lived. Whereas we 
 have fufficient rcafon to believe, that no 
 objedions were ever raifed to Marys vir- 
 tue and integrity. 
 
 If 
 
R T 
 
 yohn Baptift and ye/us Cl)?iJ}. 1 4.9 
 
 If any could have been urged, as they ^ f^ ^ 
 would unqueftionably have been made ^^ 
 public, and handed down to us j fo v%^ould 
 they have rendered Maiy ahfoliitely unft^ 
 for Zacharias to have applied to, for an af- 
 fociate in his plot. Had her character been 
 in the leaft degree fufpicious j any apparent 
 connedion with IIe7\ in a feries of fuch 
 amazing events ; great part of which were 
 fo circiimflanced, as to depend upon her 
 veracity for their only immediate proof, 
 at that time ^ muH: unavoidably have made 
 €very one apprehenfive of fome deceit. 
 The fuppolition of Mary\ being engaged 
 by Zacharias- to carry on his fuppofed im- 
 pofture, is therefore plainly inconfiflent 
 with, and deftructive of itfelf. It necef- 
 farily fuppofes her reputation to have been 
 fufpicious, at leaft j in order to account 
 for his judging her a proper perfon to carry 
 on his deiigns j though it is evident, that 
 the leaft imputation upon her charader, 
 muft have made his aflbciating with her, 
 the readiefl way to prevent his fuccefs. 
 
 As 
 
150 Tlje Divine MiJJions of 
 
 Part I. 
 
 Seft. 5. 
 
 As for Zacharias himfclfy we have al- 
 ready feen, he had ahvays found means to 
 fupport an exemplary charadler. For Him 
 therefore to have picked out an aflbclate, 
 whofe integrity was looked upon as of a 
 dubious nature j would have been pur- 
 pofely lefTening his own authority, and 
 foolifhly bringing his own eftablifhed cre- 
 dit into queftion. A condudl, it muft be 
 owned, too apparently abfurd, to fuppole 
 him capable of purfuing i and which the 
 event has fhewn he did not in fad: adopt, 
 had he been capable of it. Had Marys, 
 integrity been but of a queftionable na- 
 ture ; the Jewish rulers, who never hear- 
 kened to y(5^«, and at length crucified y^yz^j, 
 would not have failed to expofe her, with 
 the utmoil virulence and malice. This 
 they would aflu redly have done, to con- 
 vince the people of the wifdom of their 
 own condud: ; and to fhew them, that 
 the whole feries of miraculous events at- 
 tefted both by Zacharias and Her^ were, at 
 the bottom, nothing better than a moft 
 audacious impoilure. 
 
 In 
 
yohn Baptiji and yefus Chriji, ic\ 
 
 In fliort, to render it poffible for Za- ^ ^ r t I. 
 charias to have attempted making Mary wAr^-^ 
 an accomplice in the plot fuppofed, we 
 mufl: refolutely maintain the truth of one 
 or other of the following moft abfurd fup- 
 pofitions. 
 
 Either Mary, while fhe was yet quite 
 a girl, and before fhe was betrothed to Jo- 
 feph, muft have been guilty oifucJo crimes, 
 as fliewed her to be fit for Zacharia$\ de- 
 iigns : and thefe crimes, though well 
 known to Zacharias, who lived at a con- 
 fiderable diilance from Nazareth 3 were 
 never, at any time, fo much as fufpe(fted, 
 in the very place, where ^he herfelf re- 
 fided. 
 
 Or elfe her wicked condu(5t was re^ 
 ally well known to her neighbours and 
 acquaintance at Nazareth j but they were 
 all fo firmly attached to her interefl, and 
 the two grand impoflures fine fo foon en- 
 gaged in J that not one of them ever be- 
 trayed the leafi bint of her mifdemeanors ; 
 even though the laying open her true cha- 
 racter, would certainly have been recom- 
 penced with very great rewards. 
 
 L 4 Or 
 
I 5 2 The Divine Mijfw?is of 
 
 Part I. 
 Sea. c. 
 
 Or thirdly, though Man had actually 
 gone great lengths in iniquity ; neither 
 Zacharias^ nor a?2y cue elfe, had any caufe 
 to fulpecft it : and yet Zacharias pitched 
 upon Her for acting a principal part in his 
 plot J and imparted it to her, without any 
 reafon whatever for imagining flie could 
 be capable of entering into it. 
 
 Or, in the laft place j Mary\ conducfl 
 had really been irriproachable^ till Zacha- 
 rias thus unaccountably laid open to her 
 his flagitious defigns : but then, all at 
 once^ Ihe willingly confpired with him, 
 in publifhing the mofl impious forgeries, 
 for divine revelations ; and ever after con- 
 tinued fo hardened and undaunted, as ne- 
 ver to make the leaf! confeflion, or ac- 
 knowledgment of her crimes. 
 
 Such are the conditions, and the only 
 conditions, on which it is allowed us to be- 
 lieve, th-atZacharias attemxpted to makeil^^- 
 ?y a confederate in the profecution of his fup- 
 pofed impofture ; and that Mary really be- 
 came an accomplice with him in it. But as 
 each of thefe conditions abounds in abfurdi- 
 
 ties, 
 
yohn Baptiji a?2d Jefus Chrifr. 153 
 
 ties, Impoffible to be admitted ; it muft at p^^^t ?• 
 
 length be acknowledged, that had Z^r/6<:?- 
 
 rias adtualiy planned out fuch an impof- 
 
 ture, he could not have applied to M.ary^ 
 
 to affiil him in carrying it on ; nor Mary 
 
 have complied w^ith his propofal, if he 
 
 had. And lince it is likewife undeniably 
 
 plain, that Mary v^^as as much a principal 
 
 in the whole tran faction, as Zacharias 
 
 himfelf; we are obliged to confefs, from 
 
 the evidence of inconteflible fads, that 
 
 the two impoftures fuppofed muft be all 
 
 a meer groundlefs imagination ; or, at leafi:, 
 
 that Zacharias and Elizabeth could 7iot be 
 
 the authors of them Both ; if in fad: there 
 
 could be any deceit at all in the cafe. 
 
 With regard to yofcph, we cannot ar- 
 gue in exadly the fame manner as we 
 have concerning Af^ry ; becaufe his age, at 
 the time of his marriage with Mary^ is adif- 
 puted point. The majority indeed fuppofe 
 her to have been his ^Vyf wife 5 in Vv'hich 
 cafe we might fafely rely upon his being 
 fcarcely^/^C'Ufc' twenty years old *, at the time 
 
 when 
 
 * As will appear upon confidering the conclufion el- 
 tabllfhed from p. 72, top. 84; together with the parti- 
 culars contained in the note p. 137, & fetj. 
 
154 ^^^ Divi?ie Mijfwns of 
 
 when Z^fZ'rt'r/Vzjmufl: have applied to Him 
 likevvife, to take part in his plot. But Ibnie 
 authors not only imagine him to have been 
 married, and to have had children before 
 this time 3 but have even thouo^ht he was 
 already a very old man *. However, 
 choofe which of thefe opinions we pleafe , 
 either of them will afford us fufficient evi- 
 dence of the incredibility of His being ap- 
 plied to by ZachariaSy to allifl: in his fup- 
 pofed impofture. 
 
 If we embrace the fi-rfl fuppofition, 
 and the moft commonly received , his 
 youth itfelf, confidcred in all its confe- 
 quences, which need not here be infilled 
 on, will be fuch a circumilance, as is 
 alone fufficient to render Zacharias\ ap- 
 plying to Him^ with the defign in queftion, 
 very highly improbable. Suppofe him, 
 with the other fide, very far advanced in 
 yearSy and it will be but plunging into one 
 infuperable difficulty, in order to get clear 
 
 of 
 
 * See Epiphanius, as referred to by Lardner, Crc- 
 dib. &c. vol. viii. p. 309. — For the moie received opi- 
 nion, confuUGrot. en Matt. xiii. 55. Lightfoot vol. i, 
 p. ;68. 
 
"John Baptijl and Jefus Chrijl, 155 
 
 of another. The older we fuppofe him Part r. 
 to have been, the more glaringly impof- s^r>/->^ 
 fible it muft appear, for one in his low 
 flation of life 5 and who, before he could 
 be thought capable of confpiring in fuch a 
 deceit, muft have been well hardened in 
 the practice of vice 3 to have kept his true 
 charader fo effe(ftually concealed, that 
 not even his enemies themfelves fhould 
 ever call his integrity in queftion. Yet 
 this it is certain he muft have done ; fince 
 the evangelift has not hefitated to affirm, 
 he was a jufi man * j and the Jews have 
 never contradidied the afTertion 3 notwith- 
 ftanding we know very well how defirous 
 they mufl have been to blall: his reputa- 
 tion. And to this we muft add, that if 
 'Jojeph was now eighty years of age, as 
 fome authors report, or even many years 
 younger -■, all the various abfurdities of 
 his entering into fo tedious a plot, as that 
 in queftion, muft have appeared fo obvi- 
 ous to ZachariaSy as well as Jofcph himfelfy 
 that it is clearly incredible He could apply to 
 
 Jojeph 
 
 * Matt. i. ig. 
 
'156 5~Zv Divine Mifj'ions of 
 
 ^' y^fiP^ ^o t^^c part in it ; or that Jofcph 
 could have confented to it, if he had. 
 
 It muft therefore be given up as an in- 
 credible imagination, tliat Jofeph could be 
 feduced by Zacharias to take part in the 
 confpiracy in queflion ; or elfe we muft 
 maintain, that even more moral impofTi- 
 bilities, than thofe which have juft now 
 fhewn the falfehood of this fuppofition, 
 with regard tc Mary y ought not to be 
 allowed their natural weight and influ- 
 ence, in determining its credibility with 
 relation to Jofeph. 
 
 But befides, can any thing be much 
 more improbable, than that a "Jeimjldpriejl^ 
 who had conceived a defign no lefs am- 
 bitious, than that of fetting up his own 
 fon for the Forerunner of the Mejjiah ; 
 fhould choofe for his aflbciates in the pro- 
 fecution of fuch a plan, perfons of lb 0^- 
 fcwe a ftation as ycfph and Ma?'y were ? 
 Could the fame man, who was capable of 
 forming fo iniquitous a device, to gratify 
 an unbounded pride and ambition ; choofe 
 to be conncdcdj in the profccution of it, 
 
 with 
 
yohn Baptijl and yeftis Chrijl, 157 
 
 with an obfcure carpenter and his wife ? P a r t r. 
 ^ . Sea. 5. 
 
 Nothing could induce him to fingle out ^./-v-w 
 
 fuch affidants as thefe j had his favourite 
 plot really flood in need of any ; but his 
 imagining, either, that it would be more 
 difficult to procure any confederates of a 
 higher rank in life j or that, if they could 
 be found, their affiflance would not be fo 
 likely to gain fuccefs to his undertaking. 
 But as to the jirjl of thefe fuppoiitions ; 
 how could he imagine, that the lower 
 ranks of the people only were capable of 
 furnifhing him with aiTociates in fuch a 
 villainous impoflure ? It has never been 
 fuppofed, that tht plain fundamental prin- 
 ciples of moral honefty and religion, are 
 not as well known to the mechanic and 
 artificer, and have not as general an in- 
 fluence over them ; at lead; in fuch cafes, 
 where guilt would be highly flagrant j as 
 they are to, or have over thofe, who are 
 placed in much higher flations of life. 
 
 And if there is not even an imaginary 
 connexion betv/een induftry, and falfe- 
 hood J or impiety, and an humble Na- 
 tion ; 
 
158 7"^^ Divine Mijfions of 
 
 Part I. tioH ; Certain it is, there are fotyie vicious 
 ^./'-^N^ undertakings, which thofe who labour for 
 their fupport, are rendered much more 
 unlikely to enter into, by their very fitua- 
 tion itfelf. Such, above all others, are 
 thofe iniquitous plots, which owe their 
 birth to infatiahle ambition ; the very na- 
 ture of the fuppofcd impoflurc before us. 
 The fphere, in which men adl, prefcribes 
 in great meafure, the limits of their at- 
 tempts. It fets bounds to the dangers they 
 dare encounter, and the prize they will 
 encounter them to obtain. The forging 
 of divine revelations, in order to fet up a 
 counterfeit of the promifed Mejjiah j was 
 a proje<5l too far removed abo've the 'uiews 
 of a common carpenter, to make it pro- 
 bable he could be at all defirous of enter- 
 ing into it; as well as too difficult and 
 dangerous an attempt, for one in his low 
 JIatioji to care to engage in, for what re- 
 wards it had to offer. Whereas it was, 
 Jo far ^ a defign not unworthy the enter- 
 prifing ambition of thofe in the more ex- 
 alted fpheres of life; and confequently 
 
 far 
 
yohn Baptijl a7id ye/us Chrift, 159 
 
 far more likely to enga^^e them in its Part I. 
 
 ^ ^'^ Sea. 5. 
 
 puriuit. v^'-yNj 
 
 What motive then could poiTibly 
 determine Zacharim to attempt procur- 
 ing his allbciates, from fo low a rank of 
 the people ? Could he think, that the in- 
 fluence of fuch as were of fome figure 
 and fafhion, would not fo effedually 
 contribute to crown his enterprife with 
 fuccefs? On the contrary, 'tis apparent, 
 that the afliftance of thofe, whofe rank 
 would fecure them from contempt, was 
 what an impoftor, embarked in fuch a 
 caufe, mufl: have been particularly defi- 
 rous of. The flrongeft teftimony of an 
 ohjcure mechanic^ in matters relating to 
 the higheft points of divine revelation, 
 Zacharias well knew, was likely to have 
 but little weight indeed, with the haughty 
 rulers of any of thofe fed:s, into which 
 the yews were divided ; and by fome of 
 which the whole people were held, as it 
 were, in bondage. Neither could Za- 
 charias exped: to find in the narrow 
 fphere of Jofeplj^ ftate and education ; 
 
 that 
 
6o TI:e Divine Mijfwns of 
 
 that comprehenfivc fubtlety, and refined 
 dilTimulatlon, fo neceflary for carrying on 
 fuch intricate impoflures ; but fcarcely to 
 be acquired without a more mifcellane- 
 ous, and general intercourfe with various 
 orders of mankind. 
 
 In the mean time, it can fcarcely be be- 
 lieved, that any one could have travelled 
 fo long in the high roads of iniquity, as 
 ZachariaSy if he was the contriver of this 
 plot, muft have donej without fome 
 j^///i/^// companion, to divide the dangers, 
 and iliare the rewards of his crimes. At 
 leafl, if this could otherwife be believed ; 
 fo long as v/e fuppofe Zacharias to have 
 fought out for an alTociate, on the prefent 
 occafion'i we fhall find ourfelves obliged 
 to grant, that he muji frequently have 
 done fo before. If, in the many wicked 
 plots he muft have devifed and executed 
 before this^ he had made it his invariable 
 rule, never to admit a partner into his 
 counfels, for fear of difcovering at length 
 his true character and condud: j it will be 
 abfurd to fuppofe, that he fliould n(nvy 
 
 after 
 
yohn Baptijl and J ejus Chrift, 1 6 1 
 
 after all, fo foolifhly lay himfelf open to 
 detection J in the very wickedefl, and 
 mod . hazardous, of all the attempts he 
 could ever have undertaken ; and, above 
 all, the mo/l likely to be betrayed. 
 
 His being fuppofed to have fought 
 out for alTociates at this time, plainly im- 
 plies, therefore, that he mufi: have done 
 fo before^ on many other occafions ; and 
 confequently, that he muft have had 
 fome approved fellow^-v^orkers of ini- 
 quity, from w^hofe former fidelity he had 
 good reafon to think, that vi^hether they 
 joined in his prefent defign or no, they^ 
 above all others, v^^ould not betray him. 
 'Thefe therefore, if flill living, mufl have 
 been the perfons he v^ould have applied 
 to ; and whom, if any, v^^e ihould have 
 found ailing their parts in this impofture. 
 For if /,^^j7 ihould have thought it too hazar- 
 dous, and unpromiling an .enterprife to 
 engage in ; Zacharias could not have ima- 
 gined any others would rifk their fafety upon 
 it. And even if he had already out- 
 lived all his faithful accomplices, it was 
 M now 
 
 Part I. 
 Sea. 5. 
 
1 62 ^^^ Divine Mijfwns of 
 
 now much too late in life to incur the 
 daneer of making more. Yet certain it 
 is, that Mary was a pr'uicipal in the whole 
 tranfadion before us ; and as certain, that 
 ^he^ who was then fcarce fifteen years of 
 age J could not be one of thofe long tried 
 affociates, of him, who muft at this time 
 have been fo old a praditioner in the arts 
 of deceit. Her youth alone, not to re- 
 peat here any other circumftance of her 
 charader and fituation, renders it abfo- 
 lutely impoffible, that llie could. 
 
 In one word therefore, to clofe the 
 evidence that has been produced on this 
 head, it has plainly appeared j that if Z^- 
 charias was the contriver of Both the con- 
 fpiracies in queftion, and {educed yofeph 
 and Mary to ad the parts they fuftained 
 in them j in the firfl place, he muft /enow- 
 ingly have expofed himfelf to almofi cer- 
 tain deftrudion, by adding the plot con- 
 cerning fefiis to that relating immediately 
 to fohn ; as by this means only he laid him- 
 felf under a necefiity of making known 
 his villainous defigns, in order to procure 
 accomplices to cany them jointly on : 
 
 and 
 
yohn Baptijl aiid ye/us Chrift, 163 
 
 and this, notwithflanding \i\% Jirji^ and Part l 
 fanjoiirite impojiiire^ was fo contrived, v^o^-O 
 that its fuccefs was rendered more pre- 
 carious, by being conned;ed with the 
 Other y than it would have been alone. In * 
 the next place, to crown the whole, he 
 mufl purpofely have fingled out Jiich per- 
 fons, to apply to for their affiftance, in 
 this double impofture 3 whofe youth and 
 charaBer, whofe every circumfiance in 
 life, rendered them, he well knew, the 
 mofl: likely perfons to rejeSi his propofals, 
 and betray his villainy ; and even fliould 
 they not, the leajl capable of promoting 
 their fuccefs. 
 
 But as thefe are fuppofitions, which it 
 is evidently impoilible to admit j we may 
 at length venture to affirm, that the ex- 
 iflence of any fuch plots^ as thefe in de- 
 bate, is a meer groundlefs imagination j or 
 at leaf!:, if they did exift, that Zacharias 
 and Elizabeth could 'not be tl-ie original 
 contrivers of the?n Both ; and for the fake 
 of promoting the fuccefs of Oite, have pro» 
 cured Jofeph and Mary to undertake the 
 profecution of the Other. 
 
 U 2 SEC- 
 
164 ^^ Divine Mijfwns of 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 I- 'no HE Jirji of thofe three fuppofi- 
 '_, jL tions we were obliged to make *, 
 in order to account for the exiftence of the 
 impoflures under confideration, having 
 thus proved incredible, on fo many ac- 
 counts ; let us now proceed to the fecond-y 
 and enquire v/hether it is poffible, 
 
 " That Zacharias might be the ori- 
 ginal projedor oi that defign onl\\ which 
 immediately related to his Sc?i , and Jo- 
 feph and Mary, in like manner, the con- 
 trivers of the other fcheme, in favour of 
 their own" 
 
 Had this been the true ftate of the 
 cafe, fmce it has been feen, that I'hey were 
 All, from the beginning, engaged to- 
 gether in the joint profecution of Both 
 impoflures j it will unavoidably follow. 
 
 Either that Zacharias made known 
 his defign frft, to Jojeph and Mary ; and 
 that in confequence of it, they then made 
 
 him 
 
 * See p. 86. 
 
yohn Baptijl and Jefus Chrifl, 1 65 
 
 him acquainted with thetn : Or, that ^ ^ ^ "^ ^' 
 Tbey Jirfi difclofed thetr intended plot to v^^vn^ 
 Zacbarias, in hopes of procuring his af- 
 fiftance in That alone ; upon which Za~ 
 charias laid open to 'T^hem the fcheme he 
 himfelf had in view : And thus, which 
 ever might happen to be the cafe, T^hey All 
 immediately agreed to fupport each other 
 in the joint profecution of Both, 
 
 If Each party contrived their own plot, 
 one of thefe fuppofitions mufl have taken 
 place. But a flight attention to fome ma- 
 terial circumftances will prefently make it 
 appear, that neither of them can be true. 
 
 With regard to the jirfi ^ which fup- 
 pofes Zacharias to have laid the fcheme 
 concerning 'John only^ and to have applied 
 to yofeph and Mary^ to join with him in 
 the profecution of T^hat alone \ nothing can 
 be more plain, than that every argument 
 which has been already alleged, to fhew 
 that Zacharias could not be the author of 
 both defigns 5 or, if he had been, that He 
 could not have applied to Jofeph and Mary 
 to confpire with him in Both j remains as 
 M 3 ftrong 
 
l66 Tl:>e Divine Miffions of 
 
 Par t I. ftrong as before^ upon thh fuppofition ; nay 
 
 ^/Y^ ^^d proves even more forcibly, that he 
 
 could not have imparted to them One of 
 
 thefe fuppofed defigns, had he been the 
 
 contriver of Ow 0///^'. 
 
 He could not have been wicked enough 
 to be capable of a contrivance for counter- 
 feiting the Mefliah's Forerunner ; without 
 having been equally capable of fetting up 
 an impoftor, even under the charader of 
 the Meffiah himfelf. If his advanced age, 
 his religious profefllon, and his fingular 
 good charader, confidered in all their un- 
 avoidable confequences, prove it utterly 
 incredible, that he could be the author 
 of two fuch deteftable undertakings ; they 
 render it equally abfurd to imagine he 
 could be the planner out of Either. If 
 the length of time requifite to put in prac- 
 tice the fuppofed impofture relating to 
 John onl)\ is fuch a circumftance, as, 
 when confidered jointly with Zacharias\ 
 age, renders the fuppofition of his con- 
 triving it, not only unworthy of belief, 
 but even highly ridiculous -, it cannot 
 
 ftand 
 
yohn Baptiji and ye/us Chrijl, 167 
 
 ftand in need of any other plot of the Part I. 
 
 . . . Sea. 6. 
 
 fame kind, to make it ftill more incre- v^v*^ 
 
 dible. If it has appeared likewife, from 
 
 confidering Marys youth, and the feveral 
 
 other circumftances, both of her fituation, 
 
 and that oi'jojeph 5 that Zacharias cannot 
 
 be conceived to have difclofed to them^ 
 
 both thefe deligns, if he had contrived 
 
 them Both ; the fame reafons will make it 
 
 equally incredible, that he could venture 
 
 to lay open to them his iniquity in Ojie of 
 
 thefe devices, if he was the real author 
 
 of One only. 
 
 From what has been proved already 
 therefore, without any thing further, it 
 might here be allowable to conclude 5 
 that this fecoJid fuppofition, as far as re- 
 lates to Zacharias, muft in every particu- 
 lar be as falfe and groundlefs as xki^ jirjl. 
 But in reality, the evidence of his inno- 
 cence will be found much flronger on this 
 fuppofition, than ^^ former. 
 
 In the firft place, it is apparent from 
 
 the nature of the thing itfelf, that if the 
 
 plot relating to "John was the ijohole of Za- 
 
 M 4 charias% 
 
1 68 l%e Divine MiJJions of 
 
 Part I. charias\ defign ; Elizabeth and He were 
 
 Sect. C'. , 1 r 
 
 ^.^/-V^^ the ofily perfons at all requifite, and in- 
 deed the only perfons capable of carrying 
 it on. Had this been the cafe therefore, 
 they would never have revealed their own 
 impiety, as no ufe could attend it, to any 
 perfon whatever. To imagine, that now 
 at lergth Zacbarias would voluntarily lay 
 open his wicked intentions, when they 
 neither required, nor indeed could admit 
 of any management befides his ow?i ; and, 
 above all, that he fhould thus betray him- 
 felf to fiich perfons, fo circumftanced as 
 Jofeph and Mary were ; purely to let 
 them into the fecret of his true concealed 
 character ; would be the moft ridiculous 
 and extravagant of all imaginations. 
 
 Again, while we fuppofed Zacharias 
 to have contrived a plot for the Son of an- 
 other perfon^ as well as one for his own -, 
 it might, at firft iight, appear pollible to 
 procure alTociates, by giving them hopes 
 of great advantacres to be drawn from 
 the fuccefs of their Son. But if he had 
 no defign on foot, more than that relating 
 
 to 
 
yolm Baptijl and Jefus CJoftJi, 169 
 
 to John only ; even this appearance of a Part 
 poilibility of his procuring affiftance from 
 Jofeph and Mary, had his plot really flood 
 in need of it, is entirely vanifhed j and 
 the fuppofition of his applying to them 
 about it, becomes at once confeffedly in- 
 credible. 
 
 Certainly he could not hope to en- 
 gage them in fo dangerous, as well as ini- 
 quitous a defign, v/ithout having at leaft 
 fome very fpecious emoluments to pro- 
 pofe to them from its fuccefs. But what 
 advantages could he make them imagine 
 might probably refult to them -, fliould his 
 fuppofed defign in favour of yohn o?ily 
 prove ever fo fuccefsful ? And this is the 
 oiily defign we are now fuppofing him to 
 have contrived. It might indeed be 
 thought, that the parents of fo diftinguifli- 
 ed a prophet, if they were flill alive when 
 the plot fhould take effed:, would be held 
 in veneration and efleem : and this was 
 the utmofl that even they ihemfclves 
 could hope for. But no benefit could be 
 expe(5led on this account by his mojl dif- 
 
 tant 
 
lyo The Divijte Mijfwns of 
 
 Part I. fanf relations, and efpecially fuch as were 
 \y>^^ in fo obfcure a fphere of life as Jofeph and 
 Mary were. 
 
 Greatness and fplendor were by no 
 means the apparent objeds of this defign, 
 even with regard to yolm himfelf : who 
 inftead of affed:ing rule and authority over 
 the people, was to teach them the know- 
 ledge of fahatio7Z through the remijjion of 
 their fim ; and preach to them the bap- 
 tifm of repentance. And however fuc- 
 cefsful he might be^ in impofing on them 
 as a prophet \ an attempt itfelf of no fmall 
 difficulty and danger ; it would ftill re- 
 main in the higheft degree improbable, 
 that he fliould ever be able to graft upon 
 it the aaainment of wealth and power. 
 
 In nations overrun with a fabulous re- 
 ligion, and fuperltitious notions of the 
 gods, the eftablifhed credit of divine in- 
 fpiration might, with reafon, be expected 
 to afford means of gratifying the moft un- 
 bounded ambition. But among the fcws 
 this was by no means the cafe. T^heir 
 clear and eftabliflied knowled2:e of God's 
 
 imme- 
 
yolm Baptijl and Jefus Cb?^ijl, iji 
 
 immediate providence, and fettled belief Part r. 
 in his will, already revealed to them, freed sy\r>^ 
 them fo effed:ually from this blind enthu- 
 fiaftic admiration, of whoever might pre- 
 tend to an extraordinary commiflion from 
 above ; as to make them, od the contrary, 
 fevere judges of all fuch pretenlions. 'Tbey 
 had enjoyed like wife a long fucceffion of 
 perfons, univerfally acknowledged as the 
 moft approved prophets; who, though 
 even workers of miracles in fupport of 
 their claims, had neither fought for pub- 
 lic honours, nor to aggrandize their for- 
 tunes ; but perfifted, to the laft, in quite 
 a private and reclufe lituation. Nay, the 
 very Per/on, whofe life and manner 
 jfohn was profelTedly to imitate, accord- 
 ing to Zacharias\ own predidion ; was 
 one at leaft of the moll eminent of them 
 all, for the abftemioufnefs and privacy of 
 his courfe of life. 
 
 I T was therefore fo far from being natural 
 for a Jew to expert, that thtje'wijh People 
 would be at all inclined to beftow wealth 
 and honours, upon whomfoever they 
 
 might 
 
'The Divine Mifftons of 
 
 might acfluallyefteem in{pired from above; 
 that, in reality, there was great reafon to fear, 
 they would begin to call in queflion the 
 veracity of any one, and more efpecially 
 of the profeffed imitator of E/ias, as foon 
 as he fhould begin to betray a defire of 
 fuch kind of rewards. 
 
 Besides, He, above all others, who 
 jQiould appear as the Forerwiner of the long 
 expeded Mefjiah, could not propofe to 
 himlelf, or his adherents, any confider- 
 able advantages. The Mejjiab himfelf was 
 the king, for whom the ^cws fo ardently 
 wilhcd ; and, whom they fo foon expeded. 
 He it was, who, they believed, would 
 eftablifh them in an univerfal dominion. 
 And the nearer . they apprehended his 
 arrival to be; that is, the more fuccefs- 
 fully any pretender to the character of 
 his Forerunner fliould delude them into 
 the belief of his own divine miffion ; the 
 further would they be from beftowing 
 wealth and honours upon the pretended 
 mefienger himfelf. Their thoughts and 
 exped:ation5 would unavoidably be fuf- 
 
 pended 
 
yohi Baptlji and Jefus Cirri ft, 173 
 
 pended till the arrival of the Meffiah, and Part r. 
 for him they would certainly referve all 
 their choiceft gifts 5 while the MeJJtnger 
 and his adherents could have little or no 
 hopes of profit or exaltation. If they fhould 
 believe his report ; it was naturally to be 
 expedted, that they would behave to him, 
 as in fa(5l it appears the 'Jews did to 'john^ 
 when they did believe him^ and he per- 
 emptorily declared himfelf only the har~ 
 binger of the Meffiah : that is, that they 
 would reverence him as 2i prophet ^ but not 
 think of exalting him as a man, 
 
 •To fuppofe then, that Zacharias had 
 ojily this plot in view, and yet that he 
 difclofed it to Jofeph and Mary j would 
 be fuppoiing him determined to make 
 known to them his own unparalleled ini- 
 quity J though 'They could be of no ufe to 
 Him in the execution of his plot j and it 
 could not be of anyjervice to Them^ even if 
 it fliould fucceed. But this is a fuppolition 
 too abfurd to be received ; fince ii Zacha- 
 rias was capable of betraying himfelf in (o 
 fooliili a manner, he mufi have been ab- 
 
 folutely 
 
174- ^^ Div'me Mijfions of 
 
 Part I. folutcly incapable of concealing his true 
 character, and maintaining fo good a re- 
 putation as he did, till he was well Ilricken 
 in years. 
 
 But though, for all thefe reafons, it 
 cannot be believed, that Zacharias could 
 betray himfelf in fo foolilh a manner to 
 yofeph and Mary j poflibly yofeph and Ma^ 
 ry might apply Jir/i to Zacharias^ to pro- 
 cure his afliftance in that impofture, which 
 we are now fuppoling 'Them to have plan- 
 ned out for their Son. 
 
 And here the queftion immediately 
 occurs, for what reafcn could They apply 
 to Zacharias, if they had o?2ly that plot 
 in view, which related to their own Son ^ 
 Could they be defirous of laying open their 
 wicked intentions to him, when it was 
 not in the leafl neceffary to the profecution 
 of their defign ; and when they could 
 not pojflibly imagine it capable of being 
 at all beneficial to him ? Was the im- 
 piety of fetting up an importer for the Mef- 
 Jiah, lefs (hocking than that of counter- 
 feiting his Forerunner j that They fhould 
 
 be 
 
yohn Baptijl a?2d Jefus Chrifl. 175 
 
 be more ready to lay themfelves open to P a r t I. 
 Zachartas ; than He^ could be, as we have ^^Xi-O 
 already feen, to expofe himfelf to T^hem F 
 Or, in one word, would not the folly 
 and danger of this ftep have been fo great, 
 and fo glaring, that it is impoffible to con- 
 ceive they could be capable of overlook- 
 ing it ? The plot itfelf, as has been be- 
 fore fully fhewn *, was of fo dangerous 
 and difcouraging a nature j fo deflitute of 
 all profpeds of advantage, and fo much 
 more likely to induce any one to betray 
 than promote it j that it cannot be be- 
 lieved they could venture to impart it to 
 any perfon whatever. 
 
 Waving however thefe confidera- 
 tions, and fuppoling Them determined, 
 though contrary to every motive by which 
 they could poffibly be determined, to 
 make fomebody privy to their intended 
 impofture ; flill it would have been im- 
 poffible 
 
 * This n]^uft plainly appear, from confidering all 
 that has been feen of the unpromifing nature of the ds- 
 fign fuppofed with regard to John ; jointly with the ftill 
 greater difficulties and dangers, that mull neceflarily at- 
 tend this relating to Jefui. 
 
176 Tloe Divmc Mijfioits of 
 
 Pa^r-t I- poffible for them to have fixed upon Za- 
 sy\^ charias and Elizabeth, above all others, to 
 make acquainted with their plot. 
 
 Nothing can be more inconceivable, 
 than that they fliould fingle out a Prieji of 
 the God of Ifrael, grown venerable with 
 years, and ftill more fo by an unblemiilied 
 reputation ; as one, who could be plcafed 
 with the authors of fo iniquitous a device. 
 They could not pollibly hit on any perfon, 
 in their own opinions more likely to reveal 
 their impiety immediately to the rulers, 
 and publifli it to thb whole nation ; and 
 by this means procure them that condign 
 punifliment they fo highly deferved, and 
 would have been fure to undergo. It 
 muft be ridiculous to fuppofe, they could 
 exped: any thing better at his hands j 
 though their defign had been fuch, as 
 even to have tempted him with lucrative 
 and ambitious views. And what then 
 could they hope for, or how could they 
 lay open their own guilt to Kwi, above all 
 others -, when it was abfolutely impof-r 
 fible, that their fuppofed fingle impof- 
 
 ture 
 
yohn Baptiji and Jefus Chrijl, 177 
 
 ture ill favour o^JefuSj could procure Za- Part I. 
 charias any benefit at all r v^^^'--^ 
 
 But, infiu-mountable as thele difBcuI- 
 ties muft be owned, the fuppofition we 
 are examining, labours yet with one more, 
 if poffible, ftill greater tl>an all the reft. 
 
 We have feen long ago, that if there 
 was any contrivance in the cafe, all the 
 pai'ties concerned muft have been engaged 
 together in it, even from the very plan- 
 ning of the whole joint tranfadlion. If 
 therefore Mary and Jofeph communicated 
 their feparafe defign, fijl, to Zacharias ; 
 they mufl certainly have taken this flep, 
 before Zacharias adually counterfeited his 
 vilion in the temple. Ts^ow this event we 
 know, from the order of the feveral fa6ts, 
 came to pafs no lefs xhu^ full fix months 
 before even the conception oi Mary\ fon. 
 So that, on the fuppofition we are now 
 confidering, fofcph and ilf^r)' muft have 
 planned out, and communicated their^^- 
 parate defign to Zacharias ^ nay, and they 
 ,muft all have determined, that Zacharias 
 ihould at5tually proceed to begin his part 
 N * in 
 
178 I'he Divine Mijjions of 
 
 Part I. 
 
 Sea. 6. 
 
 in the joint undertaking; /////^.v months 
 before jfefiis ivas conceived; and confe- 
 quently, as long before Majy had any ac- 
 tual profped of a child, to a6l that part, 
 they intended him afterwards to under- 
 take. But this is an agreement fb utterly 
 incapable of being believed, that whatever 
 fuppolition unavoidably includes it, muft 
 neceflarily be falfe. 
 
 To lay no more therefore upon this 
 head ; fince it has fo plainly and fully ap- 
 peared ; firH:, that Zacharias, could 7iot be 
 the author of Both the plots in queftion 
 together ; nor fecondly, of One of them 
 alone ; while yojeph and Mary were the 
 real contrivers of the Other: let us en- 
 quire in the laft place ; 
 
 " Whether Jofeph and Mary may 
 not have been the real contrivers of 5oth 
 parts of this double impoflure ; and have 
 prevailed with Zacharias to undertake the 
 profecution of One -y in hopes of fome great 
 advantages to be drawn from the joint fuc- 
 cels o{ Bothr 
 
 This 
 
yohn Baptift and yefus Chrijl, 179 
 
 This is the only poffible fuppofitlon P^^"^^- 
 
 remaining ; and even this muft be ex- 
 ploded, as well as the two former, unlefs 
 it fliall appear credible, in the firft place, 
 that Jofeph and Mary could contrive two 
 fuch defigns J in the next, that they could 
 impart them to Zackarias, in hopes of 
 his approving, and becoming a principal 
 in the joint profecution of them ; and lafl- 
 ly, that He could really engage in them, 
 if they had. All thefe particulars muft, 
 upon examination, appear credible; or 
 this laji fuppofition, as it includes them 
 all, muft neceffarily be rejed:ed as incre- 
 dible and abfurd. 
 
 And with regard to thefe particulars, 
 abiblutely neceflary to be firll eftabliflied ; 
 not to enlarge upon arguments that have 
 been already infifted on, it muft by this 
 time be fully evident, that neither of 
 them can poilibly be admitted. For if 
 the ingenuity, artleiTnefs, and timidity, 
 natural to Marys youth ; the modeft and 
 referved education of her fex ; the good 
 charadler, free from all afperfion, which 
 N 2 She 
 
 Sea. 6. 
 
i8o Tloe D'lv'me Miffto?is of 
 
 Par r I. ^Jj^ ^s Well as Jofeph^ at this time enjoyed, 
 v^-yv^ and ever after maintained j together with 
 the confined views, and inexperience of 
 the world, necefFarily occafioned by their 
 low ftation in life ^ render it utterly incre- 
 dible, that 'They could even have become 
 parties to fuch impious and fhocking con- 
 trivances, when planned out by another ; 
 they muft unqueftionably prove it morally 
 impoflible for Them to have firfl: con- 
 trived fuch impoilures Themfelves. After 
 all then that has been faid already, in 
 proof of this point; the fuppofition of 
 Their having been the true authors olBoth 
 thefe impoflures, becomes fo apparently 
 extravagant, that it needs but to be men- 
 tioned, in order to be exploded. 
 
 Nor, in the next place, can any Wron- 
 ger arguments be defired, than what the 
 lacrcd profeflion, advanced age, and ex- 
 emplaiy characSler of Zacharias, have al- 
 ready furnilhed ; to convince us of the im- 
 poffibility of his being applied to for af- 
 liftance, in any wicked dcfign whatever ; 
 and much more of his becoming a con- 
 federate 
 
yohn Baptijl and ye/us Chri/i, 1 8 1 
 
 federate in thefe above all others, had he Part I. 
 adually been follicited to join in them. sy\^ 
 
 However, abundantly fufficient as 
 the joint force of all thefe confiderations 
 is, to prove that Jofeph and Mary could 
 not be guilty of contriving both the plots 
 in debate ; the. nature of the cafe will 
 fupply us with one argument more, which 
 muft needs put this point beyond poffibi- 
 lity of difpute. 
 
 If 'Jofeph and Mary were the real con- 
 trivers of both the fuppofed impoftures ; 
 and confequently, engaged Zacharias and 
 Elizabeth to ad; the part they afterwards 
 did, in the profecution of them ; then 
 I'hey mufl in the beginning have laid 
 open thefe defigns to Zacharias, in hopes 
 of inducing him to undertake the manage- 
 ment of that half of the plot, which he 
 afterwards carried on. And fince it is 
 manifeftly impoflible ^o'c Zacharias to have 
 begun oSiing his part, till after he had 
 been thus follicited, and agreed to under- 
 take it j Jofeph and Mary muft have ap- 
 plied to him on this account, and He mufl 
 N X have 
 
1 82 ^^ Divine Mijftons of 
 
 Part I. have Qgrced to their propofal j fome time 
 before he atflually opened the plot, with 
 his pretended vifion in the temple. That 
 is, in other words, fof}ie time before even 
 the conception of fohn. 
 
 But what was the fltuation of Zacha- 
 rias and Elizabeth at that time ? Eliza- 
 beth had always hitherto continued abfo- 
 lutely childlefs ; and both She and Za- 
 charias were now too old, to entertain 
 the leaft hope of ever having children. 
 So that upon this fuppofition, Jofeph and 
 Mary muft have follicited Zachartas and 
 Elizabeth to begin an impofture for the 
 fake oi their own Son-, and they mufl: have 
 agreed to it, with this view -, not only at a 
 time when they really had nofon-, but when 
 they muft likewife have been fully perfuad- 
 ed, that they ne'ver fliould have any. But 
 how was it poftible, in fuch circumftances, 
 for one party to make the application, or 
 the other to comply with it ? This at leaft, 
 it muft be confefled, was abfolutely impof- 
 iible J and the contrary fuppofition would 
 be evidently abfurd. 
 
 Had 
 
yohn Baptijl a7id Jeftis Chri/I\ 183 
 
 Had it therefore flill remained a mat- Pa? t I. 
 
 Se6l 6 
 
 ter of doubt, whether Jofeph and Mary v^W^ 
 might not have planned out the two im- 
 poftors in queftion ; fure we are Zacharias 
 and Elizabeth were fo fituated, that "They 
 could not have been applied to, to affift 
 in carrying them on^ nor have attempted 
 to do it, if they had. Nor does this con- 
 clufion reft wholly, even upon a variety 
 of the ftrongeft 7?ioral proofs ; but like- 
 wife, upon the cleareft ?iatural impoffibi- 
 lity, that the contrary could be true. 
 
 In fine, to conclude this argument, it 
 appears not only certain, that jfofeph and 
 Mary were incapable of contriving fuch 
 execrable plots j as well as from feveral 
 circumftances of the laft importance, that 
 they certainly did not contrive thofe in de- 
 bate ', but likewife, that they could have 
 no affignable motive whatever for fetting 
 fuch contrivances on foot. 
 
 The onlycaufes, which either obfti- 
 
 nate infidelity can invent, or impiety fug- 
 
 geft, to account for their concerting fuch 
 
 a flrange impofture ; muft be, either the 
 
 N 4 hopes 
 
184 'TIk Divine Mijfiom of 
 
 Part I. hopcs of advantages to accrue from the 
 impoftures themfelves ; or the delire of 
 preventing all fircaftic rcfledions upon 
 Marys unexpcBcd condition^ before her 
 marriage with 'Jojeph was finally corn- 
 pleicd. But as to any advantages to be 
 derived from the fuccefs of thefe impof- 
 tures themfelves j though the pofTibility 
 of fuch hopes has been all along fuppof- 
 ed, for the fake of allowing the fuppo- 
 fition of their guilt every imaginable ad- 
 vantage i ' yet they have in faft appeared 
 far too remote and chimerical, and the 
 dangers of the plots too great and immi- 
 nent, to admit of any one's contriving 
 them on fuch motives as thefe. After all 
 that has now been feen, this account of 
 the matter mufl neceffarily be given up. 
 
 As for the remaining fuppofition, that 
 the whole might be a contrivance tofave 
 Marys repufatio?i -, the fad:s themfelves 
 will fliew this to be, of all others, the 
 moft ridiculous, and indeed ftriftly fpeak- 
 ing impoihble. Nothing can be a more 
 extravagant imagination, at firfl: fight, than 
 
 this y 
 
^oht Baptifl and yefus Clnijl, 185 
 
 this-, that a carpe?ifer and his intended wile, 
 fliould agree to fet up a child of theirs, yet 
 unborn, for a counterfeit of the great ilfd^^ 
 Jiah ; and moreover attempt to perfuade 
 fome one of their acquaintance, to fet up 
 another for his Forerunner ; and all this/i^r 
 no other end, than mcerly to prevent 
 their neighbours from throwing out reflec- 
 tions to their difadvantage. 
 
 But befides, if the faving of Marys 
 reputation was the point they aimed at ; 
 there was a certain, fafe, eafy, and ef- 
 fed:ual method of doing it, which they 
 could not poffibly-be ignorant of, or for- 
 get ; and which therefore they would un- 
 queftionably have adopted ; inftead of 
 fetting themfelves to contrive plots of fo 
 dangerous, fruitlefs, and flrange a nature, 
 as thofe before us. In a word, as it is 
 plain, that they had been for fome time 
 betrothed to each other, before Marys 
 particular Jituation took place; the meer 
 co?npktion of their marriage, upon the 
 very firft, llighteft fufpicion of it, would 
 have fecured Her effedlually from all re- 
 proach y 
 
1 86 Tl^e Diviite Mijfwns of 
 
 Pa R T I. reproach j and was indeed the only ex- 
 
 Sed. 6. " . - , . . 
 
 \ysr^. pedient capable of doing it. 
 
 Still the fadts will lupply us with 
 another confideration, upon this point, 
 that can admit of no reply. Had both 
 the plots been contrived by Jofeph and 
 Maryy to fave her from difgrace, on ac- 
 count of her fituation, before their mar- 
 riage was complete J it is plain They them- 
 felves could not have fettled the plan of 
 them, till they had fome reafon to appre- 
 hend the ftate ihe might be in. Atleaft, 
 this mufl unqueftionably be allowed ; that 
 Ty^^^y could not apply to Zacharias and Eli- 
 zabeth to undertake one of the joint plots 
 they had contrived ; and above all, that 
 Zacharias could not proceed to the adtual 
 execution of any public ftep in it ; till T'hat 
 event, on account of which only the 
 whole contrivance was agreed on, could 
 be certainly known to have taken place. 
 
 These points confidered, it muft ne- 
 cefl'arily be acknowledged, that if "Jojeph 
 and Mary contrived both thefe impof- 
 tures, for the end now fuppofed 3 Zacha- 
 rias 
 
"John Baptijl and Jefus Chrijl. 187 
 
 rias could not have brought on his pre- ^^ ^ "^ ^ 
 tended vifion in the temple j which muft v^^v"*^. 
 have been the public opening of the whole 
 defign } till at leaft fome little time after 
 Mary's particular fituation had been fully 
 confirmed. 
 
 Does it then in fad appear, that Za- 
 charias did not begin the part he aded, 
 with the vilion juft mentioned ; till Mary 
 might have been found with child j the 
 very earlieft period which the nature of the 
 cafe can poffibly admit ? So far from 
 it, that on the contrary, we find, He pre- 
 tended, at leafl, to have feen the vilion in 
 queftion, and to fhew the vifible efFeds 
 of it, no lefs than full fix months * be- 
 fore Mary afferted fhe had feen a limilar 
 vifion 5 and confequently, as long before 
 even the conception of fefus. 
 
 We may therefore confidently pro- 
 nounce it impoilible, for Zacharias\ vi- 
 fion 
 
 * That it was not poffible to falfify the time of Za- 
 charias's firft appearing dumb, and pretending to have 
 feen the vifion juft nientioned ; or to forge the fact itfelf, 
 if it had never happened j fee proved more at large in p. 
 1 95, 1 96, 1 97, &;c. and the notes, 
 
1 88 72£? Divi7ie Mijjiojis of 
 
 Part I. {-^QVi to have been the opening of a plot, 
 K^-yr^ contrived by Jofeph and Mary^ and entered 
 into by Zacharias at tlxir inftigation ; in 
 order to refcue Mary from reproach, ofi 
 account of her being found v^^ith child, 
 before her marriage with yofeph was com- 
 pleted. Becaufe it was tranliided fo many 
 months before the fuppofed occafion for it 
 had any exiftcnce, to bring her character 
 into queftion ; and confequently, before 
 any impoflure whatever could, on that ac- 
 count, be carried into execution. 
 
 At length then we may be permitted 
 to affirm, that the fuppofition, that "Jofrph 
 and Mdrv were the real authors of the 
 whole defign^ and the feducers of thofe 
 concerned with them in carrying it on, 
 appears on various accounts abfurd, and 
 impofiible to be true. And this fuppofi- 
 tion being what we were unavoidably dri- 
 ven to, as the very laft * that could be 
 made in fupport of any impoflure at all ; 
 we are now under a neceiiity of laying 
 afide all fufpicion of any deceit in the cafe ; 
 
 as 
 
 * Seepage S6. 
 
yohn Baptijl mtd Jefus Chrift. 
 
 as contrary to the clear evidence of a great 
 variety of fa6ls, and deftitute of every, 
 the lead, rational foundation or fupport. 
 
 And fmce it has appeared plainly, 
 from, the feveral circmnjiances^ Jituatiom^ 
 2in6.cha?'a5lerSj oi All the parties concern- 
 ed in the tranfadions under conlideration -, 
 that neither Any of them alone ^ nor All of 
 them together^ could contrive and enter 
 upon fuch an impofture, as that in quef- 
 tion, if it was one, mufl: have been ; v/e 
 are indilpenfably bound to acknowledge, 
 that the conceptions^ and births^ oi fohn 
 the Baptift and fcfm Chrif, were truly 
 accompanied with all thofe miraculous 
 events, which the evangelifts have re- 
 corded of them : and confequentiy, that 
 thofe prophetic and divine charadrers^ 
 which, agreeably to the angel's predic- 
 tions, they afterwards aflumed, were un- 
 queftionably their /rwfcharaders, and what 
 had been of old ordained for them by the 
 ftupendous providence of God. 
 
 THE 
 
THE 
 
 DIVINE MISSIONS 
 
 O F 
 
 JOHN the Baptist 
 
 AND 
 
 JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 H E circumllances and charader Part II. 
 of every perfon at all concerned in 
 the births of 'John the Baptifi and 
 Jefus Chrifl, havings upon a clofe exa- 
 mination, afforded fo full a proof of 
 their divine milTions and authority j let 
 us now proceed to confider, w^hether as 
 ftrong an argument, in fupport of the 
 iame conclufion, may not be drawn, from 
 
 the 
 
192 72^ Divme Mijftons of 
 
 P / ;. T II. the internal nature of thefe remarkable 
 Sect. I . 
 
 events themfehes ; and the feveral fubor- 
 dinate tranfadions, that were either pre- 
 vious to, or any way conneded v/ith them. 
 Upon an attentive confidcration, perhaps 
 the main fads themfelves, as well as the 
 circumftances attending them, will be 
 found of fo peculiar a nature ; as to fur- 
 nifh the mofl: convincing proofs we can 
 defire, that they could not polTibly arife 
 from, or even admit of any import ure. 
 
 It is needlefs to repeat here the detail 
 of every particular connected with the 
 main events in debate j fiace the evange- 
 lift's own account of the whole feries of 
 thefe tranfadions, has been quoted at 
 large already *. We may therefore pro- 
 ceed at once to the examination oi fiich 
 particulars onl}'', as feem fully fufRcient 
 to place beyond doubt the truth and cer- 
 tainty of all the reft. And this they will 
 enable us to do, by lliewing, firll, T^hat 
 the plot fuppofed is, in its own nature, fo 
 very ridiculous and ahfurd, that it is ut- 
 terly 
 
 * See page 10, — 24. and p. 74, — 77. 
 
yohn Baptijl and yefus Chi^ift, 193 
 Urh incofjceivable any one could ever con- Part il. 
 
 • • • A 1 . 1 Seft. 1. 
 
 trfve or engage tn tt. And, in the next v•'v^^^ 
 place, that if we could fuppoje it capable 
 of being undertaken ; the expedients by 
 'which it appears it mufi have been carried 
 (m, are fuch as it is abfolutely incredible 
 could ever have been adopted. 
 
 The only foundation necefTary to be 
 laid, before we enter upon this argument, 
 is fo obvious a principle, that we may 
 fafely venture to fuppofe it will be very 
 readily allowed. And this is, that 
 
 All impostors must ever be 
 supposed to act upon motives of 
 human cunning, and to govern 
 themselves. by views of human 
 
 FORESIGHT AND PROBABILITY. AnD 
 CONSEQUENTLY, WHENEVER A PLOT 
 IN QUESTION WOULD, IF TAKEN FOR 
 GRANTED, BE ABSOLUTELY DESTI- 
 TUTE OF THE ONE ; AND THE CON- 
 DUCT OF THE SUPPOSED IMPOSTOR 
 BE FOUND DIRECTLY OPPOSITE TO 
 THE OTHER ; THAT THEN RIGHT 
 REASON AND COMMON SENSE OBLIGE 
 
194 ^^ Divine Mijftons of 
 
 Part II. us TO ACKNOWLEDGE, THERE COULD 
 Sea. I. ' 
 
 BE NO DECEIT IN THE CASE. 
 
 By this touchftone therefore let us 
 now try the impofture in debate. 
 
 It is related, that an angel appeared 
 to Zacharias in the temple, and foretold 
 to him the conception, birth, and divine 
 charadier of his fon. That to punifh 
 him for miftrufting the truth of thefe 
 predi(5tions, as well as to convince him in 
 the ftrongeft manner of their divine au- 
 thority ; the angel at once ftruck him 
 dumb J afTuring him at the fame time, 
 that he fhould continue thus deprived of 
 his fpeech, till that fon, whofe birth he 
 had then been forewarned of, fhould be 
 actually born. That in a few days after 
 this, when his miniftration at the temple 
 was over *, Zacharias returned home ; 
 
 and 
 
 * The whole body of the Jewifh priells, was divid- 
 ed into twenty four parts, called courfes ; each of which, 
 in a fixed rotation, attended in the temple, to perform 
 the whole worftiip there ; and the attendance of each 
 conrfe was a week at a time, and that twice in a year. 
 Such was the miniftration of Zacharias here mentioned, 
 at the expiration of which he returned home from Jeru- 
 falem. — See Lewis's Heb. Antiq . b. ii. c. 7. 
 
yoJm Baptijl a7id yefus Chrijl, 195 
 
 end after thofe dap his wife Elizabeth con- ^^^^ ^^* 
 ceived. That in fa<5l Zacharias did continue w/^v"^ 
 dumbi till, in the natural courfe of time, 
 yohn was accordingly born ; and fhortly 
 after, agreeably to the angel's prediction, 
 his fpeech was as inftantaneoufly reftored 
 to him, as it had been before taken away. 
 
 This therefore now becomes the point 
 in debate > whether the fa6ts here related 
 might not be fo many particulars of a 
 fubtil impofture; or whether, that fup- 
 pofed impofture, of which only thefe 
 particulars could be part, mufl not have 
 been of fb abfurd a nature, that it is im- 
 poflible to believe it could ever really 
 exift ? 
 
 And here, firil, it is obvious, that Za- 
 charias's pretending, at leaft, to have been 
 fuddenly flruck dumb, at the particular 
 time mentioned, is a fadl which cannot 
 have been forged ; becaufe. If true, great 
 numbers mufl: have been witnelTes of it, 
 and could not be deceived about it. More 
 cfpeclally as it is affirmed to have happen- 
 ed, on fo remarkable an occafion, and in cir- 
 O 2 cum- 
 
196 'The Divine MiJfio?7S of 
 
 Part II. cumftanccs (o particular, that itmuft un- 
 avoidably have engaged the attention of 
 every one, who w^as prefent at the temple 
 fervice, at the time. 
 
 According to the cufiom of the prieji's 
 office^ his lot was to burn incenfe *, when 
 he went into the temple of the Lord. And 
 the whole multitude of the people were pray- 
 ing without at the time of incenfe. A?id 
 the people waited for Zacharias^ a7id fnar- 
 'velledj that he tarried fo long in the temple. 
 And when he came out he could not f peak 
 tinto them : and they perceived that he had 
 fcen a vifion in the temple ; for he beckotied 
 unto theniy and remained fpeechlefs \. 
 
 This was fo remarkable an event in all 
 Its circumftances, that it could not but 
 aflonifli every one prefent, and be imme- 
 diately noifed about through the whole 
 
 city 
 
 * " As the courfes of the priells were (originally) de- 
 cided by lot ; fo every particular prieft had his office' 
 appointed him by the fame method. The lot determi- 
 ned, who Ihould attend the altar of incenfe, who ihould 
 feed the fire, who carry out the afhes, and all other parts 
 ef the fervice." — Lewis, ibid. 
 
 t Lukei. 9, io,--2i, 22, 
 
John Baptijl and Jefus Chrijl. 197 
 
 city of Terufalem. A vilion from heaven, Part ii. 
 appearing to a prieft of venerable age, and sy^\r^ 
 exemplary charadler j while he v^^as adlu- 
 ally performing duty in the temple itfelf ; 
 and depriving him olfpeech^ fo as to dif- 
 ahle him from going on with the mofl 
 public, and remarkable part of his office -, 
 that of difmiffing the people with their 
 appointed foleiiin bleffing * j was an in- 
 cident 
 
 * This is a particular which deferves our efpecia! no- 
 tice ; as it muft have rendered Zacharias's apparent, 
 fudden lofs of fpeech, fo extremely remarkable ; that 
 not one perfon, who was then attending worfliip in the 
 temple, could remain ignorant of it. T^he people, we find, 
 njoaitedfor Zacharias, to come out from the lioly place, 
 where the incenfe was burnt, and blefs them ; for fo the 
 priefts ufed to do after burning the incenfe. (See Light- 
 foot's Temple Worfhip, ch. 9. Lewis, b. iv. 13.) Jncf 
 they mawelled that he tarried fo long. Jnd tvhen he came 
 out he could not /peak unto them ; to give them their accuf- 
 tomed blefiing, before they departed. And they percei<v- 
 ed, that he had feen a mjion in the temple j for he beckoned 
 unto them^ and remained fpeechlefs. Now this lafl part of 
 his office, which Zacharias on this occafion appeared un- 
 able to perform, and adlually did not perform ; was that^ 
 for which the Jews entertained a much greater venera- 
 tion than any other. -— — " The henedidion was to be 
 pronounced by the prieft, ftanding fo that he might be 
 feen ; with his hands lifted up and fpread ; and Ipeak- 
 ,.ing with a loud voice, with his face towards the affem- 
 O 3 bly. 
 
igS ^^ Divine MiJJtons of 
 
 Par T II. cident (o very uncommon, that thofe who 
 
 yys^ were prefent would naturally make it 
 
 known ; and render it impoflible for any 
 
 one afterwards to publifh fuch an account, 
 
 had the fadl never happened j or falfify 
 
 the time on which it did. 
 
 And 
 
 bly. This was the form of the bleffing, as it was efta- 
 bliflied by God himfelf, (Nurr.b. vi. 24, &c.) 7he lord 
 hlefs thee and keep thee ; the Lord make his face to Jhine up- 
 on thee, and be gracious unto thee : the Lord lift up his 
 countenance upon thee, and gi've thee peace. When this 
 benediftion was faid in the fanftuary, if we may be- 
 lieve the Jews, it was but one, and pronounced without 
 any paufe, the people keeping profound filence : but 
 out of the fanduary, in their fynagogues, they made 
 diree of it ; the prieft paufing at the end of every verfe, 
 and the people faying, Jmen, to each of them." " 
 *' The divine blefling was always fuppofcd to depend 
 upon the bleffing of the prieft ; which they thought,^ 
 veceffary, that fuch priefts as were admitted to no other 
 fervice might perform this, left the people ftiould at any 
 time want it. And it was a maxim, that the hkffing 
 pronounced by a prieft, who had fome blemifti in his 
 body, was always to be accounted lawful. There is 
 nothing performed among the Jeivs with fo much fo- 
 lemnity, and in which they place fo much fanftity, as 
 in this folemn Benedi8iony— Lewis, Heb.Antiq. 1. ii. 7. 
 — After this account of the folemnity of that part of 
 his office, which Zacharias did not perform ; fignifying, 
 at the fame time, to the whole congregation, that he 
 had feen a vifion and was dujnb ; we cannot need any 
 other argument to convince us, of the great notice, that 
 muft have been taken of it, by every one who was pre- 
 ient, at the time it came to pafs. 
 
yohn Baptijl a7td yefus Chrijl. 199 
 
 And befides this confideration, relat- Part IL 
 ing to the people in general 5 it muft like- s^r^/^ 
 wife be remembered, that the whole 
 number of the Jewifh priefts, was di- 
 vided into feveral diftind bodies j each of 
 which performed the worfhip at the 
 temple, in their appointed weekly cour- 
 fes, and at no other time. So that as Za- 
 charias ^ould not poffibly officiate there, 
 from the moment he appeared dumb, till 
 he had his fpeech to all appearance reftor- 
 cd J the time when \\<tjirji ceafed to j'peak 
 muft have been fo well known to all the 
 reft of his own courfe, who were upon 
 duty at the temple, at the fame time; 
 and who were always a very confiderable 
 number ; that it muft have been impof- 
 fible for him ever after to falfify the pe- 
 riod of this remarkable event *. 
 
 In 
 
 * It cannot fail of illuftrating this argument very 
 greatly, to confider how many priefts there might be 
 in their week of duty at the temple, together with Za- 
 charias ; and who muft all have been well acquainted 
 with what paffed at this time. — Each of the twenty- 
 four courfes had their weekly turn of duty in the tem- 
 ple, twice in the year ; and the diftinft families of each 
 O 4 courfe 
 
200 Hoe Divine Mijftons of 
 
 Part II. J^ fine, were there no other confi- 
 
 Seft. 1. . r 1 . . 
 
 o^V^^j derations to amire us of this important 
 
 point, 
 
 courfe had their appointed days in the week " Now 
 
 the priefts in every one of the twenty-four courfes were 
 exceeding many. For Jofephus relateth, that they were 
 thoufands in every courfe. And this we are fure of, 
 from evident fcripture ; that at the crowning of Joafli, 
 when an infurredion by Athaliah was feared ; the priefts 
 oft'wo courfes ««/y were reputed as a fufficient guard for 
 the King, and about the temple. — 2 Kings ,xi. 5, 6, 7. — 
 And when Uzziah would have burned incenfe, there 
 were eighty priefts ready to withold him, 2 Chron. 
 xxvi. 17. — So that among fo great a multitude, there- 
 in hut one being permicied to burn incenfe, it was ne- 
 ccflary, tliat he fhould be chofen from among them by 
 lot ; and the lot at this time fell to Zachmrias ^ — Light- 
 foot, vol. i. 406. Thus we fee, that a very large 
 
 number of the priefts ofZacharias\ own courfe muft have 
 been witneffes of his remarkable behaviour at this time. 
 But thefe were a few in comparifon of the reft of the 
 fpeftators. — " There were conftantly in the temple, at 
 the hour of prayer, f/Vy?, the priefts of that courfe, that 
 then ferved. Secondly, the Icvites that ferved under the 
 priefts. Thirdly, the men of the ftation, as the rabbins 
 call them ; that is, certain men, that were to reprefent 
 the whole congregation, in putting their hands upon the 
 heads of the facrifices. Fourthly, thole whom devotion 
 moved to leave their other employments, and to be pre- 
 fent at the fervice of God, All thefe might amount to 
 a great number indeed. But the evangelift in naming 
 the nxihole multitude of the people, feemethto have fome fur- 
 ther meaning ; as if he would intimate, that this was not 
 upon an ordinary day of the week, but upon the /j^- 
 
 buth- 
 
yohn Baptiji and Jefi^s Chrijl, 201 
 
 point, the v^vyfervice which Zacharias at Part II. 
 this time performed, would alone be fuf- yysr-^ 
 ficient to preclude the leaft doubt about it. 
 For on this day, his lot was to bum incetife : 
 and this was a particular fervice, which no 
 prieft had the honour to perform more 
 than o?ice, in his whole life *. It was ef- 
 
 teemed 
 
 hath'day, when the congregation was full ; not on^y of 
 the priefts of the feventh courfe, that went that day out 
 of their fervice ; but alfo of all the multitude of the city ; 
 which were tied that day in a more fpecial manner, to 
 the public worlhip." Idem. i. 407. — See thefe things 
 more at large in Lightfoot's Temple Worfhip, ch. vi. 7. 
 Lewis, b. iv. ch. 13. 
 
 * " Novi Temper accedebant facerdotes, ut fortian- 
 tur ad fufhendum. Et nuUus bis fuffitum adolebat." 
 - " Whenever the lot was drawn, to determine the 
 prieft, who fhould burn the incenfe ; it v/as drawn by 
 thofe only, who had not burnt incenfe before. The 
 fame perfon never burnt incenfe tiuicej''' — Sigon. Rep. 
 Heb. 1. iv. 13. Not. Ed. Nicolai. 
 
 " Sacrificium juge vefpertinum iifdem ritibus quibus 
 matutinum peragebatur, exceptis fortibus, quse denuo 
 non ducebantur, et heyiedWione ; fed eadem funftio iif- 
 dem mane et vefperi obtingebat, fi fuffitum excipias ; ad 
 
 quern novo fortium du£iu opus erat .'"' " The enjening 
 
 facrifice was of courfe performed with the fame forms 
 as the morning ; except the ceremony of drwwiiig lots^ 
 and the blejjtng : every one difchargcd the fame office 
 in the evening, that had fallen to him in the morning ; 
 except the offering of incenfe ; fr ivbick it vjas ahvays nt- 
 
 ceffary 
 
202 72^ Divine Mijfions of 
 
 p A R T II. teemed the moft honourable of all the of- 
 
 sy^\r^ fices, which the ordinary priefts had to 
 
 perform; and as their numbers were fo 
 
 great, none were fuffered to draw lots for 
 
 it, who had ever performed it before. As 
 
 this 
 
 eejfary that fome other perfon J}:>ould he chofen." — Reland, 
 Antiq. Heb. p. ii. c. 5. 5. 
 
 Lightfoot indeed makes mention of an exception* 
 when t\it fame perfon might burn incenfe /itvV^ ; but 
 this, it will immediately be feen, cannot in the leaft in- 
 validate the argument we have drawn from the rule jt- 
 felf. — " In the evening they (the priefts) caft not lots 
 for their feveral employments ; but thofe that the lot 
 had affigned them in the morning, they retained in the 
 afternoon : only about . the matter of burning the incenfe 
 they cafi lots aneiv, amongft thofe of the houfe of the fa- 
 ther , thatferi-ed that day, that had NEVER burnt incenfe in 
 their lives. But if all of them had, at one time or other, 
 been upon that employment; then he that had it by 
 lot, at the morning fervice, did alfo perform it in the 
 evening." -^ (Temple Worlhip, c. 9. near the end.) 
 Befides that this was a cafe, which, from what we have 
 feen of the prieftly families, could fcarce ever happen ; 
 it is plain, that it could not happen at this time ; becaufc 
 if Zacharias appeared dumb in the morning, he could 
 not poflibly officiate again in the evening : and even if 
 he could have done it, it is obvious, that the conclufion 
 which this particular has been brought to eftablilh, 
 mull remain as valid as before. 
 
 It may not be improper to add here one remarkable 
 particular, that a pricft, who had been guilty of any 
 great crime ; was ne-cer after permitted to perform this 
 office. See Reland, as above. 
 
John Baptiji and Jefus Chrifl, ^203 
 
 this therefore was fo very particular an oc- Part li. 
 canon; one even that had never happened ^„r^r^ 
 to Zacharias before^ and never could 
 again ; and as his apparent lofs of fpeech 
 rendered it impofiible for him to officiate 
 again in the temple, till a twelvemonth 
 after this happened; and three months 
 after the birth of John ; there w^as not 
 even a poffibility left him, to falfify the 
 ti7ne of his appearing, at lead, to have 
 been flruck dumb, in the temple, on the 
 occafion related. 
 
 Whether then, for the prefent, we 
 fuppofe this account of the angel's ap- 
 pearance and difcourfe to have been found- 
 ed in truth, or a meer fidion ; and con- 
 fequently Zacharias s lofs of fpeech real, 
 or pretended ; this we are bound to be- 
 lieve as an unqueftionabley^i^ ; that Za- 
 charias became in appearance dumb, on 
 the occajion, and at the time related. And 
 that was, as the evangelift has exprefsly 
 informed us, fome little time before the 
 conception of John, For it came * to pafs, 
 
 that 
 
 * Luke i. 22; 
 
204- iT^e. Divine Mijfwns of 
 
 Part II. fjj^f ^j /^^;2 as the days of his. Zacharias's, 
 
 Sea. I. . .^ ^ . . . 
 
 ^./-\r«w miniftration were accompiified -, during 
 
 which he became dumb ; he depaj'ted to 
 
 his own houfe ; and after thofe days his wife 
 
 Elizabeth conceived. 
 
 Supposing it poflible then for Zacha- 
 rias to have invented this refined expedi- 
 ent, and determined to make ufe of it, 
 the more efFedually to conceal his projec- 
 ted impofture j was it pofTible for him to 
 have put it in practice at this time ? Or, 
 on the contrary, will not the very time 
 only of his apparent lofs of fpeech unan- 
 fwerably prove, that it could not be the 
 effeft of any fuch concerted defign ? 
 
 We are exprefsly informed *, that 
 Elizabeth had till this time continued 
 abfolutely barren i and both She and Za- 
 chariaSy were now fo far advanced in years, 
 that all thoughts of their having children 
 muft have been at an end. This being 
 the cafe, though v/e fhould fuppofe them 
 to have planned the v/hole contrivance, in 
 queftion, years before j and to have been 
 
 fully 
 
 t Luke i. 7,-*- 1 8. 
 
yohn Baptiji and yefus Chriji, 205 
 
 fully refolved to execute it, whenever an Pa r t II. 
 opportunity Ihould offer , ftill it will be v/v^ 
 confefledly impoffible for Zacharias to 
 have begun executing this part of the plot, 
 at the fooneft, till he knew with certainty^ 
 that Elizabeth was actually with child. 
 
 Nothing can be more ridiculous in 
 itfelf, or more inconfiftent with fo mafterly 
 a flroke of impofture, as this would have 
 been ; than to imagine he ihould begin 
 executing a plot, the very exiftence of 
 which neceflarily depended upon Eliza^ 
 beth\ being aBiially with child j at a 
 time, when he had every reafon, the na- 
 ture of the cafe would admit of, to con- 
 clude, that She never would have chil- 
 dren. To believe him all on the fudden 
 forging a divine revelation, and feigning 
 himfelf dumb -, with an exprefs predic- 
 tion, that he fhould continue fpeechlefs, 
 till his wife fhould bring forth a fon j and 
 all this with no other view, than to fet up 
 tUs future Jon for the Meffiah's Fore-r 
 runner; notwithftanding Elizabeth had 
 hitherto continued barren^ and he himfelf 
 
 muft 
 
2o6 The Divine Miffions of 
 
 muft have believed, at the very time, that 
 (he would always continue fo j is fuch a 
 fuppofition, as the more v^^e confider it, 
 the more abfurd and ridiculous it muft ap- 
 pear. Yet impoflible as this evidently is, 
 we muft believe every particular of it to 
 have been true, before we are at liberty 
 even to fuppofe, that Zachariass interview 
 with tht Angel rcn^t be afidlion, and his 
 apparent lofs of fpeech a deceit. For it 
 has juft been obferved, that this remark- 
 able tranfadtion came to pafs even fome 
 time before Zacharias could have the Icaft 
 expectation of a child. 
 
 From the very nature of the thing 
 itfelf, therefore, it appears abfolutely im- 
 pofTible for Zacharias to have forged the 
 angel's appearance, and have feigned him- 
 felf dumb j at that time when, it is cer- 
 tain, he apparently became fo ; in order to 
 facilitate any preconceived impofture re- 
 lating to his fon. It is likewiie apparent, 
 -that the whole of this tranfaClion related 
 entirely to the future birth and charadter 
 of his fon ; and confequently could not 
 
 be 
 
yohn Baptlfl mid yefus Chrift. zoj 
 
 be forged on any other account. From Part n. 
 whence it inevitably follows, that Zacha- 
 rias mull really have converfed with an 
 Angel J and have been actually deprived of 
 his Ipeech, in the manner related by the 
 evangelift j becaufe the time when it hap- 
 pened proves fufficiently, that there could 
 be no deceit in the cafe. 
 
 But notwithftanding, for the prefent 
 let us imagine him already apprifed oi Eli- 
 zabeth'^ unexpeded, though doubtful, 
 iituation -, and determined at all events to 
 profecute this long premeditated impof- 
 ture. Still it will be utterly incredible, 
 that he fhould venture to rifle any fteps of 
 a public nature, and efpecially one fo re- 
 markable as this before us, at the very 
 earliefl: period, till the birth of the child 
 ivas fafely over, 
 
 Elizabeth was already at an age, 
 when fhe could no longer be expeded to 
 become the mother of children. And 
 Zacharias, if he was the cunning impof- 
 tor fuppofed, mull have governed him- 
 feif with regard to the uncertain event of 
 
 her 
 
208 l^e Divine MiJJions of 
 
 Part II. her unexpe(fted fituation, by the common 
 ^^/-V^w fules of probability in cafes of the fame 
 kind. The point he had to confider was 
 nothing more than a plain matter of facfl, 
 of daily obfervation j and Zach arias, had 
 all the experience of an advanced age to 
 dired: his judgment about it. Can it then 
 be conceived, that he could immediately 
 enter upon the execution of his propofed 
 jmpofture ^ as if it was an abfolutely cer- 
 tain point, that the hero of this intended 
 plot, muft (hortly after be brought alive 
 into the world ; merely becaufe Elizabeth 
 was now, in her old age, and contrary to 
 all expectation, with child ? 
 
 It is notorious he mufi: have known 
 this to be, at beft, but an uncertain event, 
 even when all favourable circumftances 
 concurred j and in the prefent cafe, on 
 account of Elizabeth's advanced age, more 
 particularly doubtful than in common. 
 So that, had he been already affured of 
 the jirft necejjary point, with regard to 
 'Elizabeths ftate and fituadon^ which how- 
 ever we have fcen he was not ; it was 
 
 impoffible 
 
yohi Baptifi mtd ye/us Chrift, 209 
 
 irApoflible for him to be guilty of fuch ex- Part II. 
 treme madnefs and folly, as to proceed at 
 once to the forgery of a divine revelation 5 
 and to punifh himfelf with this pretended 
 lofs of fpeech, for a long, and fixed period 
 of time ', purely to introduce an impof- 
 ture, relating folely to a child, who was 
 not only yet unborn 3 but whofe birth, 
 on fome peculiar accounts, was an event 
 of more than ordinary hazard and uncer- 
 tainty. 
 
 Further, what mull we think of 
 this extravagant fuppolition, when we re- 
 colle(5t, that the divine charaSier^ which, 
 according to the angel's predidion, the 
 future child of Elizabeth was to appear 
 in, necellarily determined of which fex 
 it muft be ^ 
 
 Certain it is, the Forerunner of the 
 Meffiah was always exprefsly prophecied 
 of as a ?]2an. Behold I will fend you Eli- 
 jah the prophet, before the coming of the 
 great and dreadful day of the Lord-, and 
 HE fJoall turn the heart of the fathers to 
 the children, and the heart of the children 
 V to 
 
2IO Tl:>e Divine Mijfwns of 
 
 Par T II. tQ the fathers y lefi I come and fmite the 
 earth with a curfe *. And agreeably to 
 this, the Angel aflures Zacharias, in that 
 revelation, which if it was forged, he him- 
 felf muft have planned s " thy wife Eli^ 
 zabeth foall bear thee (not a child ^ but) 
 a SON J and thou fait call his namefohnr 
 Suppose then, that at the time of 
 this vifion, when Zacharias became ap- 
 parently dumb; Elizabeth's pregnancy 
 had been clearly afcertained : and that 
 Zacharias was determined to begin his 
 part in the plot, notwithftanding the great 
 uncertainty of the birth of the child, upon 
 which the whole mufl depend. After 
 all, the exiftencc of the plot fuppofed 
 will remain ftill as incredible as before. 
 Becaufe no one can be conceived fo ab- 
 furd, as to forge a prediction under the 
 pretence of its being divine ; which ab- 
 folutely pronounced, that a particular 
 child yet unborn, and even but very lately 
 conceived, fhould infallibly prove a fon. 
 Above all, he who was cunning enough 
 
 to 
 * Mai, ch. iv. 5, 6. 
 
yoJm Baptijl and yefus Chrijl, 211 
 
 to introduce an impofture, with fo refined Par t li. 
 
 , . Sea. I. 
 
 an artifice as the pretended miraculous lofs \y\^^^ 
 
 of ipeech j can never be believed to have 
 adopted {q apparently foolifli a defign. A 
 defign, which unavoidably required the 
 certain foreknowledge of an event, that it 
 was abfolutely impoffible for him to fore- 
 know i and the contrary of which it was 
 equally probable might take place. 
 
 Should we, contrary to all reafon, 
 fuppofe that Zacharias might be capable 
 of fo wicked an attempt \ it can never be 
 imagined he could contrive one fo exceed- 
 ingly fimple ; which nothing lefs than a 
 meer ideot^ or an abjoliite madman^ could 
 undertake or conceive. It muft not be 
 forgot, that the very fuppofition of any 
 deceit in this cafe, neceflarily implies, as 
 has been already {hewn, that Zacharias 
 muft have been one of the moft fubtil 
 impoflors the world ever produced. Till 
 fuch a one therefore can be fuppofed to 
 contrive a deceit of the moil dangerous 
 nature, in the dired: way to hetraj it ; 
 Zacharias can never be believed to have 
 P 2 foretold, 
 
Z 1 2 'The Divine Mijfwns of 
 
 Part II. foretold, under the mafk o£ divine rev e^ 
 
 SeQ.. I. . 1 1 • 1 • 1 
 
 vy'-V^s^ lation, that his child, yet unborn^ would 
 certainly prove a Son. 
 
 But thefe are not all the abfurditles, 
 which the nature of Zacharias\ fuppofed 
 impofture muft unavoidably have been at- 
 tended with. Could we even grant this 
 moft ridiculous conceflion, that Zacha- 
 rias might unaccountably refolve upon 
 this pretended prediction ; though he 
 knew^ at the fame time, that the accom- 
 plifhment of the event foretold, was in 
 the higheft degree uncertain : ftill it will 
 be found impoffible to believe, he could 
 be fo extremely foolilli, as to pretend to 
 prophecy publicly, as he did *, but a 
 very few days after yobns birth; that his 
 then infant fon was to be the Forerunner 
 of the long expe<5ted Meffiah. 
 
 To be thoroughly fatisfied of this, we 
 need only recoiled, what the nature of 
 this character was ; and how long it muft 
 be before fohn could enter upon it. As 
 a very remarkable prophet, who was to 
 
 preach 
 
 * Luke i. d-], to the end. 
 
yohn Baptijl and ye/us ChriJ}, 213 
 
 preach the baptifm of repentance, to re- ^ ^^J^ ^^' 
 claim the people from their fins, and make w^-v^ 
 known the acceptable year of the Lord -, 
 Zacharias well knew it would be impof- 
 lible for his fon, to enter upon his taflc, 
 till he was between tweiity and thirty years 
 of age "*. So that the publifhing, at the 
 time he did, a pretended divine revela- 
 tion, foretelling that his fon was to be 
 the Mefliah's Forerunner -, was, in fadl, 
 no lefs than affirming it to have been re- 
 vealed to him from above, that an infant^ 
 who was then only eight days old, would 
 infallibly live, at leaf!:, till he was above 
 twenty years of age. 
 
 But among all the deceivers, that the 
 world has ever produced j where fhall 
 we find one fo extravagantly foolifli, fo 
 bent upon procuring his own deftrud:ion, 
 as voluntarily to have flaked the fuccefs 
 of all his defigns ; and with his credit, 
 even his Ufe itfelf-, upon his being able 
 to afcertain the life of a mere infant, for 
 the long term of twenty years 1 To forge 
 P 3 a re- 
 
 * See p. 102 — — 104. 
 
214 ^^ Divine Mijftons of 
 
 Part 1 1, a revelation, foretellino: the certain con- 
 v^/^v"-- tinuance of the life of any perfon what- 
 ever, for no lefs than full twenty years to 
 come; did even every poflible circum- 
 fiance of age, health, and lituation, con- 
 Ipire to render the continuance of it, for 
 fuch a period, as probable as human na- 
 ture could permit ; would be too glaring 
 an abfurdity for any one in hisjejifes to be 
 capable of committing. 
 
 Whereas in the prefent cafe, fo far 
 was Zacharias from having even any fuch 
 probabilities^, to ground this fuppofed for- 
 gery upon ; that, on the contrary, he could 
 not but know, that the continuance of 
 Johns life, at the time when he uttered 
 this prediftioh, was not only a matter of 
 the utmoft uncertainty, from the general 
 nature of the thing; but likewife, on a 
 peculiar account, more than ufually im- 
 probable. Zacharias could not have lived 
 to old age, without being well apprifed, 
 how very large a proportion of thofe who 
 are born into the world, die even in in- 
 fancy itfelf i how many more never pafs 
 
 the 
 
yohn Baptift and Jefus ChriJ}, 215 
 
 'art! 
 Sea. I. 
 
 the bounds of childhood ; and what great Part n. 
 
 numbers of the remainder ilill fall off, 
 about the iirft years of maturity : and in 
 fhort, that from infancy till towards the 
 age of thirty years i that very interval 
 which he mufi: have undertaken to pro- 
 nounce for J is, of all others, except old 
 age, the moft uncertain and dangerous 
 period of human life. This he could not 
 but know was undoubtedly the cafe with 
 mankind in general ; and he had befides a 
 peculiar reafon to believe it would prove 
 fo, with his own/on, in particular. 
 
 If there was nothing miraculous in the 
 cafe, yohfi w^i- the unexpected, and al- 
 mofl unnatural child of his old age j 
 brought into life when Both his parents 
 had already outlived the ftrength of their 
 conftitutions, and began to feel fenlible 
 approaches of decay. From v/hence it 
 was more particularly probable, in the na- 
 tural courfe of things, that he might very 
 foon give manifefl: tokens of a weak con- 
 flitution, and fhortly after decline. And 
 can any thing be more exceedingly ridi- 
 P 4 culous^ 
 
2i6 *The Divi?te Mijftons of 
 
 Pa r t II. cukus. than it would be to imagine : that 
 
 Sect. I . ° 
 
 w'-V^^ 3- crafty veteran deceiver, fhould plan out 
 a laboured fcheme of impofture, abfolutely 
 requiring him to pretend to prophecy, 
 \h2iifuch a particular infant, but a few 
 days old:, Ihould certainly live to above twenty 
 years of age ? If this is not abfolutely in- 
 credible, it will be no eafy tafk to aflign 
 any thing that can be fo. Yet muft the 
 poflibility of all this be entirely acquiefced 
 in, before we are even at liberty but to fup- 
 pofe, that Zacharias could be a deceiver, 
 and his lofs of fpeech a pretence. 
 / But beddes the great uncertainty, and 
 
 even improbability of John^ living to the 
 age, which Zacharias's prediBmi requir- 
 ed; there was another difficulty in the 
 plot, impoffible to be removed j and 
 which alofie would have been fufficient to 
 deter any man, in his fenfes, from adopt- 
 ing fuch a defign. 
 
 It is notorious, that the tempers, abi- 
 lities, and difpoiitions, of different men, 
 are fo various and oppofite j that nothing 
 lefs than a knowledge far fuperior to all 
 
 human 
 
"Joht Baptijl and Jefus Chrijl, 217 
 
 human forefight, could poffibly form even Part ir. 
 the remotefl guefs, of what would prove w^^vr^-* 
 the future character of an infant, only 
 eight days old\ when he fhould be ad- 
 vanced to the full age of a ma7i. And he 
 muft have arrived at a degree of folly, not 
 eafily to be conceived poffible j who 
 (hould dare to foretell this, when con- 
 fcious of his utter ignorance about it ; 
 and by pretending to fpeak from divine 
 authority, purpofely contrive to lay open 
 his own deceits to almoft certain detection . 
 Yet if Zacharias was the counterfeit fup- 
 pofedjfuch mufthave been theftrange con- 
 duct he purfued. 
 
 On the day of jfohn's circumcifion, no 
 fooner did Zacharias^ fpeech appear to be 
 reflored, than he peremptorily pronounced " 
 this prophetical declaration. And thou, 
 childy fialt be called the prophet of the 
 Highejl : for thou fialt go before the face 
 of the Lord J to prepare his ways ; to give 
 knowledge of fahation to his people by the 
 refnijjion of their fns^. Nay the Angela even 
 
 when 
 * Luke i. 76, 77. 
 
2i8 7Z^ Divhie Mijfions of 
 
 Part II. vvhcn he foretold John's conception and 
 Sea. I • , . , . - ■ , - 
 
 sy^^r^ btrthy is reprelented as delcribing his fu- 
 ture charader and employment, with ftill 
 greater exadnefs. Hefiall be great in the 
 fight oj the Lordy and fiall drink neither 
 luine nor [Irong drink j and he Jhall be fil- 
 led with the HolyGhoJly e^enfrom his mo- 
 ther s wojnb. And many ofi the children 
 of Ifrael Jkall he turn to the Lord their 
 God. And hefnallgo before him in the fpi- 
 rit and power of Eli as ; to turn the hearts 
 of the fathers to the children, and the dif- 
 obedient to the ivifdom of the juft ; to make 
 ready a people prepared for the Lord. 
 
 Thus did Zacharias very minutely de- 
 fcribe a moft fingular character j and pro- 
 nounce, as by divine authority, that it was 
 the very charadler, which his fon would 
 afterwards appear in ; not only when it 
 was yet but a few days fince his birtli, 
 but even fhortly after of his conception. 
 He foretold, that even from his child- 
 hood, he would be remarkable for his An- 
 gular good underilanding, great abflemi-r 
 oufnefs, and irreproachable condu(5t j that 
 
 he 
 
yohn Bapift and y^fis Chrlfl, 2,ig 
 he would preach to the whole people the Part ir. 
 
 . Seft. 1. 
 
 neceffity of repentance and reformation, 
 with all the boldnefs and freedom of the 
 old prophets ; and that by the force of his 
 own virtuous example, together with the 
 goodnefs and energy of his dodrine, he 
 would bring great numbers to a true fenfe 
 of religion and their duty. 
 
 This, it muft be confefled, was no 
 common charadler; but one which re- 
 quired the joint pofleflion of many rare 
 endowments to fulfill. To fupport it, he 
 muft be pofTefted of great quicknefs of 
 underftanding j and a judgment improved 
 by an extenlive knowledge of mankind. 
 He muft have wifdom to extricate himfcif 
 from the embarraffments, and fortitude to 
 encounter all the dangers, to which fuch 
 an attempt would unavoidably expofe him. 
 In fhort he muft be expert in inculcating 
 the neceffity of a good life upon others ; 
 and fo able a hypocrite, as to appear in all 
 refpefts to pradice it himfelf j and yet, at 
 the fame time, fo thoroughly wicked at 
 heart, a$ to undergo all this drudgery, in 
 
 order 
 
220 The Divine Mtjfions of 
 
 Part II. order to deceive the world by a moll 
 
 Sedt. I. 1 •/- 1 • • 
 
 profligate, and miichievous impofture. 
 
 But how can we believe it poffible for 
 Zacharias to have deliberately contrived 
 fuch a plot, as laid him under the necef- 
 fity of foretelling, that a particular infant 
 but juft born into the world ; nay, one 
 not yet born ; would certainly become 
 a man of fuch uncommon abilities, 
 and fo depraved a difpofition as this ? 
 Could he take pleafure in diking his cre- 
 dit, and even his life, on the accomplifli- 
 ment of fuch events, as were not only 
 impoilible to be foreknown, but in the 
 highefl degree improbable to happen ? 
 Yet this muft have been Zacharias '=> de- 
 liberate and fettled choice y if in the cafe 
 under confideration he was guilty of any 
 deceit at all. For (hould 'John have turn- 
 ed out, as it was moft probable he would, 
 a perfonof only common abilities; it would 
 have been far beyond his poivcr^ to fup- 
 port that charad:er, which his father had 
 prophecied he would maintain. And un- 
 lefs he fhould be brought likewife to a very 
 
 uncom- 
 
yohn Baptijl and J ejus Chrifl. 2,2,1 
 
 uncommon pitch of the moft daring Part If. 
 • 1 1 r . • . 1 1 Sea. I. 
 
 wickednels j it was very plain he could v^-v^^ 
 
 never be induced to undertake it. 
 
 And here a ftill further difficulty ft arts 
 up before us. How was it poffible for 
 Zacharias to depend upon the certainty of 
 ^o evidently precarious an event, as his 
 fon's becoming wicked enough to engage 
 in the profecution of (o impious a defign ; 
 even ihould he prove able to carry it on ? 
 We muft indeed allow, that if he de- 
 iignedy*?^;? to carry on this impofture, he 
 muft certainly have propofed likewife to 
 educate him in fuch vicious principles, as 
 would fit him for the undertaking. This 
 the nature of the thing itfelf requires. 
 But then, this neceftary fuppofition, will 
 be fo far from removing the difficulty juft 
 mentioned ; that it renders it infurmount- 
 able ; and the whole defign, if poffible, 
 even more incredible than before. 
 
 Can it be believed, that when Za- 
 charias was already within the confines of 
 old agej he could deliberately enter upon 
 fuch a plot, as plainly required, that he 
 
 himfelf 
 
22 3 IT^^ Divine Mijfwns of 
 
 Part II. himfelf fliould live at leaft twenty yean 
 
 Seft. I. 
 
 longer, in the vigorous enjoyment of all 
 his prefent abilities and cunning ? Yet 
 this he muft have done, if he fet on foot 
 the plot fuppofed. For it neceffarily re- 
 quired, that He Ihould live to educate his 
 infant fon, in fuch principles of vice and 
 irreligion, as v^ould prepare him for un- 
 dertaking the plot he himfelf had begun ; 
 and to inftill into him, fo much artifice 
 and hypocrify, as would enable him to 
 carry it on ; and laftly, to convince him 
 of fuch advantages to be drawn from it, 
 as would make him enamoured of the 
 defign. 
 
 In the natural courfe of things j Za^ 
 chart ass only rule of judging in this whole 
 matter ; it was a point of the greatefl un- 
 certainty, whether he himfelf might live 
 to fee John arrive at ba/f the age of man- 
 hood. And fliould he furvive that, and 
 even a much later period ; he had no- 
 thing to expedl, but that his prefent adti- 
 vity would long have left him, and his 
 former cunning and abilities have been fo 
 
 far 
 
yohn Baptiji and Jefus Chrtjl, 2Z^ 
 
 far deftroyed; as utterly to difable him PartII. 
 
 . . . . . Sea. I. 
 
 frdm training up this intended impoftor. sy^^r*^ 
 And fhould this prove the cafej as Zacha- 
 rias muft have expeded it would 5 what 
 muft at length have enfued, from all his 
 deep laid defigns, and the predictions he 
 had fo fooliilily publifhed, at the time of 
 yohns conception and birth ? jfohn could 
 never have undertaken to perfonate that 
 charadier, which Zacharias had foretold, 
 as by divine authority, that he would in- 
 fallibly appear in ; and Zacharias % long 
 concealed iniquity muft at laft have been 
 detected ; and punifhed with, at leaft, its 
 due infamy and reproach. 
 
 John might indeed have become aban- 
 doned enough for any undertaking, by be- 
 ing fuffered to grow up in the unreftrain- 
 ed indulgence of all his appetites, and the 
 total negled: of all rational inftrudion. 
 And in this manner he might have arrived 
 at manhood, while Zacharias experienced 
 the ufual infirmities of extreme old age, 
 and was in all refpedls unable to corrupt 
 him. But then this would have been 
 
 quite 
 
2 24 -^^ Divine MiJJions of 
 
 Part II. quite infufficient for the execution of Za^ 
 chariass defign ; nay, it would necelTarily 
 h-SLVQ prevented John from ever attempt- 
 ing to purfue it. 
 
 Insufficient it muft have been; 
 becaufe a inojl extraordinary charadier 
 was ah'eady particularly marked out for 
 him to fupport ; and in which therefore 
 it was abfolutely neceflaiy, that he fhould 
 be completely inftruded ; and befides 
 prevailed with to ailume it. That it muft 
 have dijabled him from ever adling his in- 
 tended part, is equally plain ; becaufe the 
 fupport of it required the exertion of all 
 thofe abilities, which a total negled: of his 
 education, and his unreftrained indulgence 
 in every vicious inclination, muft inevit- 
 ably have deftroyed. And what motives 
 could prevail with One, who from his 
 very infancy had grown up without all re- 
 ftraint ; to aftume, and perfift in a charac- 
 ter of moft extraordinary abftemioufn efs, 
 leverity, and virtue ? 
 
 Unless therefore we can believe, that, 
 at the time of '^ohni birth, Zacbarias was 
 
 ignorant 
 
yohn Baptiji and Jefus Chrijl, 2,2^ 
 
 ignorant, even of the common period of Pa r t n. 
 human life, and the ufual decays atten- >.,/^v^ 
 dant upon great age j and firmly perfuaded 
 of the continuance of his own life j nor of 
 that only J but of all his a6tive faculties, to 
 a moft uncommon and improbable length 
 of years : unlefs we can believe all this, 
 it mufl be clearly incredible, that he 
 fhould, about the time of "Johns concept 
 tiony or birth, forge fuch a revelation con- 
 cerning the future chara(5ter of his fon -, 
 as made it neceflary for him himfelf to 
 live to train him up in vice and hypocrify, 
 for full twenty years to come. 
 
 But, in addition to all the particulars 
 already mentioned, how mufl the impof- 
 iibility of this whole contrivance increafe 
 upon us, when it is confidered j that, in 
 reality, Zacharias himfelf could not be- 
 lieve, that John would ever have an op-* 
 portunity to profecute his fuppofed defign ; 
 even if he himfelf fliouid live long enough 
 to train him up completely for it ; and 
 moreover, muft have apprehended, that 
 the worfl punilhment would overtake 
 Q_ him 
 
226 The Divine Mijftons of 
 
 Pa R T II. him himfelf, fhould he live fo long. Yet 
 v^/^y*^ this is nothing more than a true ftate of 
 the cafe. 
 
 About the time of the birth of j^A, 
 the whole Jewiili nation was firmb.^ per- 
 fuadcd, that the true MeJJiab himfelf, 
 and much more his Forerunner^ would 
 very fpeedily appear. This is fully evi- 
 dent Irom the gofpel-hiuory in general ; 
 but more efpecially from the remarkable 
 conduit of Herod, in confequence of the 
 appearance of the wife men at Jerufalem ; 
 and the cruel maflacre of the children, 
 which he thought it necefiary to proceed 
 to, immediately after their departure. A 
 cruelty, which he could never have re- 
 folved on, had he not known, that the 
 expedations of the people were fo univer- 
 fal and eager, as to think they endanger- 
 ed the fafety of his throne. 
 
 At fuch a time. as this, when the ar- 
 rival of the true Me[fiah himfelf, was 
 looked on as an event, that might every 
 day come to pafs, and could not be far 
 off i how could Zacharias imagine John 
 
 would 
 
"John Baptijl aitd Jefus Chrijl, ^27 
 
 would have any opportunity to coxmX&xl^it Part II. 
 the charad;er of his Forerunner ; when it s,^"v*^ 
 was plain that John could not p.ppear upon 
 the ftage, till full twenty years afterwards ? 
 Zacharias could expe6t nothing elfe, than 
 that the true harbinger of the Meffiah 
 would have appeared in the mean time, 
 and have proved his divine commifiion ; 
 long before John would have been old 
 enough to fet himfeif up in his ftead. 
 And then Zacharias had good reafon to 
 think, that if he himfeif fhould be flill 
 alive j which, as this might happen very 
 foon, might very probably be the cafe; his 
 own forgeries of divine revelations, and the 
 pretended lofs and recovery of his fpeech, 
 would immediately be called to mind 3 
 and that he fliould meet with that infamy 
 and punifliment, which crimes of this 
 particular nature, and among the Jews 
 above all others, could not but incur. So 
 that whether he himfeif lived or died j 
 and whatever vicioufnefs and cunning he 
 might be able to inftlll into his fon 3 He 
 could not but think it extremely impro- 
 0^2 bablcj 
 
228 7^^ Divine MiJJions of 
 
 Part II. bablc, \h2xJ0hn {hould ever have anop- 
 v...^.^^^ portunity to carry on the fuppofed impof- 
 ture ; and confequently, it is utterly in- 
 credible, that he could proceed to fuch 
 dangerous and fhocklng forgeries, merely 
 to lay a foundation tor it, if he fhould. 
 
 When wc lay together thefe moft re- 
 markable particulars, all neceflarily in- 
 cluded in the very nature of the fuppofed 
 impofture itfelf j its abfurdities muH: ap- 
 pear at once fo many^ and fo manifeji, 
 as to fhew it plainly impofTible for any 
 one but a downright idcor, or an abfo- 
 lute madman, to have engaged in it ; at 
 the fame time that it is equally impof- 
 fible even for thefe to have contrived it. 
 And to iuppofe ftill, x}[\2xfuch a plot could 
 be the deliberate deiign of an old, fub- 
 til, and fuccefsful impoflor j fuch as 
 ZachariaSy if any at all, muft have been -, 
 would be judging in dired oppofition to 
 the plained didates of common fenfe^ 
 and in reality believing what is humanly 
 ipeaking impoirible. 
 
 And 
 
yohfi Baptift and Jefus Chriji, 229 
 
 And here, to conclude this part of Part II. 
 the argument, it is necenary to obferve j yy>f>^ 
 that every conclufion we have now drawn 
 from the nnture of the plot in debate, to 
 prove the utter impoffibility of its exif- 
 tence, as far as relates to John ; is equally 
 applicable to all the circumftances of the 
 birth of Jefus likewife; which, we have feen 
 long ago, mufl have been the counterpart 
 of the fame delign* His future birth was 
 openly predicated, by his parents them- 
 felves, foon after his conception j his life 
 was pojitively ajjured for the fame term of 
 years y his whole employment and public 
 chara5ler^ were defined even more ex- 
 adlly than that of John ; though they 
 were of fuch a nature, that no humaji 
 accomplifliments whatever could pollibly 
 fulfill them ; and fofeph and Mary them- 
 felves muft have thought, at the very time, 
 that in all probability fefiis would never 
 have an opportunity to alTume them. 
 
 Though therefore the whole impof- 
 
 ture, as it relates to fefus as well as Johny 
 
 is rendered utterly incredible, by confider- 
 
 0^3 i"S 
 
230 
 
 n^e Divine MiJJtons of 
 
 Part II. ing its numerous abfurdities, as far as they 
 ^^,^Y>^/ concern yohn only ; the impoflibility of the 
 plot becomes, as it were, doubly evident, 
 when we add the confideration of the feveral 
 circumflances of the birth oijcfus^ to that 
 o^yohn ; and furvey the whole conned:ed 
 tranfadtion in one view. 
 
 SEC- 
 
yohn Baptifl a?7ci jfefus Chrijl, 231 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 THUS far we have been proving P a r t II. 
 the impoiTibility of the impoflure ^J'jJi^ 
 under conlideration, merely by examin- 
 ing its own internal nature and conftitu- 
 tion. But the point in debate will ftill 
 admit of no fmali additional iiluftration, 
 from confidering fome particulars that oc- 
 cur, in feveral diflind: fleps of theie com- 
 plicated tranfadtions. For if the whole 
 was an impoflure, all the parts mufl have 
 been fo many diftinct fteps, deliberately 
 agreed on by thofe who devifed, and car- 
 ried it on. Whereas feveral of tbeje, 
 when clofely attended to, will be found 
 fuch as the contrivers of the whole defign 
 could not be capable of adopting *. 
 
 Ne- 
 
 * To prei^ent an objeflion, which might othcrwife 
 arife, it is here proper to apprife the reader, that in the 
 remainder of this part, as well as in the laft, the argu- 
 ments are frequently drawn from various particulars re- 
 lated by the evangelifts ; without giving immediatt 
 proofs, that the particulars themfelves mulT: certainly 
 have come to pafs, as they are related. This may 
 0^4 poffibly 
 
232 7Z^ Divine Mijfwns of 
 
 Part II. NEGLECTING then for the prefent. 
 
 Seft 2 
 
 what has been fo fully proved to the con- 
 trary, from the internal nature of the 
 whole defign ; let us fuppofe it Jtot im- 
 pofiible for Zacharias^ Elizabeth ^ Mary, 
 and Jofephj to have forged fome fuch 
 revelations as they actually pretended to 
 have had made to them ; and at the very 
 time too, when they declared them to 
 have happened. Are there not ftill fome 
 important particulars occurring in the pro- 
 grefs of the plot, which they could not 
 have agreed on, had the whole been an 
 impofture of their joint contriving ? 
 
 In the account of Zachariass vifion, 
 befides the predidtion of the future con- 
 ception, birth, and divine character of 
 yohn ; we are told of a very fignal pu- 
 
 nifliment 
 
 poffibly appear, at firft, like relying upon the authority 
 of the E^oavgelijls for their truth. But when we re- 
 coiled, that it has been already proved, both from the 
 circumftances of every perfon concerned, and from the 
 internal nature of the thing, that there could not be any 
 impofture in the cafe ; for the fake of which only, any 
 of thofe particulars, which may hereafter be made ufe 
 of, could be forged ; this feeming objetTaon falls irame- 
 diately to tiie ground. 
 
^ohn Baptifi and Jefus Chrift, ^33 
 
 r/ifliment inflicted upon Zacharias, by the Pa r t il 
 
 Sed. 2. 
 
 Angel, for prefuming to doubt the accom- ^,/^y^-sJ 
 plifliment of his predidions. That he was 
 inftantaneoully ftruck dumb, for a Jixed 
 period of about nine months ; at the expi- 
 ration of which time he was as inftanta- 
 neoufly reftored to fpeech. 
 
 Here it is obvious, that if the Angel's 
 appearance was nothing more than a fic- 
 tion, Zacharias's lofs of fpeech and fudden 
 recovery of it, could be no better than a 
 downright deceit. And this he muft have 
 put in practice merely to gain credit to the 
 pretended viiion itfelf, by the appearance 
 of an adlual miracle in its fupport *. A 
 mafterpiece of cunning it mufl be confef- 
 fed ; and fuch as muft prove its author to 
 have been very clofely attentive to every 
 circumftance of what he was about. But, 
 at the fame time, fo dangerous and dejpe- 
 rate an expedient ; that however defirous 
 he might be to contrive fome artifice or 
 
 other 
 
 * We mufl: not forget, that the truth of the external 
 fali^i.c. Zacharias's having publickly appeared Axxmh, m 
 the manner Luke has related, has been fully proved al- 
 ready, p. 1 95, — 204. 
 
334 ^'^ Divine Mijfwns of 
 
 Part II. other for this end, it is impoflible to be* 
 
 Seft. 2. , ^ . , 
 
 syyr^ -^^^^*^ ^^ could venture upon T^his. 
 
 For what muft this have been, but 
 devoting himfelf to sn ahfolute and unin- 
 terrupted Silence, while he was in full en- 
 joyment of the poweis of fpeech, for a 
 continued feries oi no lefs than nine 
 months^ A reftraint, than which, it is 
 plain, none could be vhoxq painful in it- 
 felf j none more inconvenient to the pro- 
 fecution of his d^figns ; none more likely 
 to be the means oi betraying them. 
 
 The mere paiiifulnefs of fuch a rc- 
 ftraint, for fo long a continuance, was 
 alone fufficlcnt to have deterred any one 
 from voluntarily laying himfelf under 
 an obligation, of fo very irkfome a na-r 
 ture. And had it not been io^ fuch a refo- 
 lution would have interfered fo dired:ly, 
 with the profccution of the plot ; that on 
 this account alone he could never have 
 adopted it. He was now only laying the 
 foundation of a long and intricate impof- 
 ture 3 in which Jojeph and Mary were in- 
 timately concerned with him, and had 
 
 their 
 
• yohn Baptiji aitd Jefus Chrift, ^ZS 
 their part likewife foon afterwards to ad. Part il 
 
 Se6l. 2. 
 Nothing could be more defiireable, and 
 
 even neceiTary, in (o dangerous and diffi- 
 cult an undertaking, than fecuring each 
 other's courage and fidelity ; by confer- 
 ring together, as often as might be, upon 
 the plot they had agreed on, and the dan- 
 gers they were to guard againfl. Whereas 
 xhtjirange expedient before us muft either 
 have efFedually prohibited all intercourfe 
 of this kind between them ; or continu- 
 ally have expofed Zachariasy and with him 
 the whole confederacy^ to imminent dan- 
 ger of deted;ion. 
 
 Above all, can it be thought credible, 
 that Zacharias could be fo confident of his 
 own perpetual watchfulnefs and care -, as 
 to believe, that a bare refolution to ap- 
 pear fpeechlefs, would enable him to con- 
 tinue abfoliitely dumb, for fo confiderable 
 a length of time ? That upon no occafion 
 whatever, during fo long an interval, he 
 fhould be fo far ofif his guard, as to utter 
 2. Jingle inadvertent word, and betray the 
 cheat ? Or is it credible, that Zacharias^ 
 
 in 
 
2^6 The Divine Mijjtons of 
 
 Part II. \^ particular, with all his long experience 
 and peculiar caution, fhould choofe to rifk 
 the detedlion of his iniquity upon fuch a 
 manifeft hazard as this ? Scarce any fup- 
 poiition can be more ridiculous and incre- 
 dible. Could he not have hit upon fome 
 other expedient to anfwer the fame end ; 
 certainly he would much rather have left 
 his interview with the angel, to be received 
 upon his own long eftablifhed credit, and 
 authority only j than have attempted fup- 
 porting it hy fuch a contrivance, as he him- 
 felf muft have thought, at the very time, 
 was almoft fure to defray it *. 
 
 But 
 
 * The argument is here purpofely confined to the 
 fuppofition, that Zacharias was on/y, to all appearance, 
 Jumb; becaufe our tranflation is confined to this {enie 
 only. But fome of the beft commentators are ftrongly of 
 opinion, that he appeared not only <///«/', but deaf 
 likevvife. (See Hamm. on Luke i. 62. Lightfoot on 
 Luke i. 22. See alfo Lamy on Luke i. 22.) And 
 fhould this interpretation be allowed ; the abfurdities al- 
 ready mentioned on ihe/rji fuppofition, will become at 
 once fo exceedingly magnified ; that one cannot fcruplc 
 to pronounce, without the leaft hefitation, that it was 
 ivipcjfble for any deceiver to have run the hazard of 
 fuch an expedient as This, 
 
"John Baptiji and y ejus Chrift, 237 
 
 But the evidence to be drawn from ^f: ^ "^ ^^' 
 this particular, will be tound of Itill vx>r^-# 
 greater weight ; by conlidering, that 'very 
 remarkable difference we find, between 
 the confequence of the Angel's interview 
 with ZachariaSy and his appearance to 
 Mary. 
 
 Zacharias, it is faid *, was terri- 
 fied at this interview, and exprejTed great 
 doubtfulnefs of the truth of his melTage ; 
 and as a punifhment for his unbelief was 
 immediately flruck dumb, in the manner 
 juft now related. Mary likewife is repre- 
 fented as having been exceedingly afto- 
 niflied at the angel's appearance, and 
 wonderful declarations to her ; and plainly 
 fignifying her opinion, that it was impof- 
 fible they fhould come to pafs j but at 
 length, as acquiefcing in the expedation 
 of feeing them fulfilled j and as having 
 efcaped' all kind of punifhment, for firft 
 doubting of their truth. 
 
 Now if thefe appearances of the Angela 
 and of courfe all the circumftances re- 
 lated, 
 * Luke i. 1 2 — — 20. 
 
238 72^ Divine MiJJtons of 
 
 P A R T II. lated, were mere fi6tions of Zacharias 
 
 Stct. 2. 
 
 v<-\rx-' and his AlTociates i contrived for a founda- 
 tion to their fubfcquent impofture ; it 
 feems incredible, that Zacharias fliould 
 have been reprefented as Jlruck dumb in 
 this manner ; and yet Mary^ at the fame 
 time> as having tj'capedsW 'vifiblc rebuke. It 
 fliould feem, had there been any deceit in 
 the cafe, either that Both of them would 
 have appeared in fome manner vifibly pu- 
 nifhed j or if One of them only, that it 
 then muft have been Mary inftead of Za^ 
 charias. 
 
 From what has been obferved already, 
 it is certain, that if we grant it pojjible for 
 Zacharias to have laid himfelf under this 
 ftrange and painful neceffity, of appear- 
 ing totally deprived of fpeech, for fo long 
 a time ; it could be on no other account, 
 than becaufe he thought it abfolutely ne- 
 ceflary to add the fand:ion of an apparent 
 miracle, to the relation of fo uncommon 
 an event, filled with fuch extraordinaiy 
 predidions. It mufl be owned, that Za- 
 charias could not have hazarded this ex- 
 
 traordi- 
 
yohn Baptiji and Jefus Chrift. 239 
 
 traordinary expedient 3 which expofed him ^^V^}^' 
 to fo much danger of betraying the whole j 
 unlefs he thought it ahfoiutely nece^jjary^ 
 in order to procure credit to his own rela- 
 lation. But if Zacharias himfelf^ with all 
 the advantages of his facred profeflion, his 
 advanced age, and long eflablifhed repu- 
 tation, thought his ovn teftimony infuf- 
 ficient to 2:ain credit to his relation of fuch 
 a fad; ; how was it pofTiole he could ima- 
 gine, that the angel's appearance to Mary, 
 with a prediction even ftill more wonder- 
 ful than his own, would be received, upon 
 the fmgle affirmation of Mary only ? 
 
 Had the faSis themfelves been but 
 alike improbable, the credibility of the 
 nsoitnejjh was very far from being equal. 
 Zacharias had good reafon to exped:, that 
 his teftimony would have a conliderable 
 weight and influence with the people 
 in general. But if he thought his own 
 credit infufficient to warrant an event of 
 this extraordinary nature; what regard 
 could he think would be paid to the fingle 
 witnefs of an ohjcure^ ignorant girl, not 
 
 yet 
 
240 5^^ Divine Mijftons of 
 
 Pa r t II. yet arrived at years of judgment and dii^ 
 v/-^^-s^ crction ? What more obvious, than that fb 
 improbable a tale, fupported only by the 
 evidence of fo contemptible, and at the 
 fame, fo interefted a witnefs, would be 
 turned into ridicule ; or, at the beft, be 
 regarded as the mere deluiions of fear and 
 fuperflition ; fo generally attributed to her 
 fex. 
 
 Besides, with regard to the faSii 
 themfelves; the appearance of an Angel 
 in the holy place of the temple, charged 
 with a divine revelation to a priejl of re- 
 fpedtable charader, was an event fo fimi- 
 lar to what, all the Jews knew, had feve- 
 ral times happened, fince the fettlement 
 of their nation ; that, on this account 
 alone, they would be the more favourably 
 inclined to believe it. Whereas, a ftill 
 more aftonifhing revelation, made to a 
 mere girl i bred up in obfcurity, and defli- 
 tute of all external caufes of refpedt j it 
 mufl: naturally be expeded, would be 
 heard with prejudice, and rejeded with 
 contempt. And while no obvious motive 
 
 whatever 
 
yohn Baptijl and Jefis Chrift, 241 
 
 whatever could lead them to fufpedt Za- Part ir. 
 charias of any fuch deceit > Mary s f.ttia- v^-v"^ 
 tion, before her marriage was concluded, 
 would very (hortly have furniihed fo pro- 
 bable a caufe for her forging the revela- 
 tion in queftion j as was enough to bring 
 her veracity into univerfal fufpicion. 
 
 It was not at all oppolite to any receiv- 
 ed opinion of the Je^vs, that the Mefliah's 
 Forerunner fhould be the fon of a relpec- 
 table prieft : fo that thus far Zachariass 
 account was very likely to be well receiv- 
 ed. But nothing could be more inconfif- 
 tent with all their acknowledged notions 
 concerning the Mejjiah himfelf -, than 
 the fuppolition, that He fhould be born 
 of one in no higher llation, than the in- 
 tended wife of 2,carpenter. This was fuch a 
 ftumbling block as Zacharias had little rea- 
 fon to think, they could ever get over ; 
 efpecially Vv'hen joined to the reafon juft 
 mentioned for fufpedting Marys veracity. 
 How then can it be conceived, that Za- 
 charias and his aflbciates (hould think it 
 abfolutely neceflary to ftrengthen his tefti- 
 R ^ mony, 
 
243 iT^e, Divme Mijfwns of 
 
 Part II. mony, with the pretence of a miracle ; 
 even at fo manifeft a hazard of his inad- 
 vertently betraying the whole impofture j 
 and yet, at the fame time, leave the tefti- 
 mony of Mary quite unguarded, to ftand 
 or fall by its own fufpicious credit and 
 authority ? 
 
 It is manifeft, that if they had jointly 
 determined it neceffary to make ufe olany 
 apparent miracle at all 3 they would either 
 have contrived one to confirm Marys re- 
 velation, as well as Zacharias's ; or Ma^ 
 rys alone -y fince T^hat ftood fo much more 
 in need of fome external fupport. So that 
 had thefe revelations been forged, for the 
 only purpofe, for which they could be 
 contrived ; we fhould either have found, 
 that Mary pretended to have been ftruck 
 dumb, inftead of Zacharias -, or that fome 
 other, 720 lefs apparent, miraculous pu- 
 nifliment, was as evidently inflicted upon 
 Her likewife. 
 
 Nor can it be here objeded, that im- 
 poftors are frequently inconfiftent with 
 themfelves, and often betray their plots 
 
 by 
 
yohn Baptijl a?id yefus Chrljl, 243 
 
 by flagrant folly in fome particulars, while Part ir. 
 they guard againft detedion by the moft sy\^ 
 refined cunning in others. For, not to 
 repeat, what it has been fo often neceflary 
 to mention, that if Zacharias was a de-. 
 ceiver, Hevcmik unqueftionably have been 
 the moft fubtil and cautious impoftor the 
 world ever produced ; the particular, now 
 before us, did not allow room for any fuch 
 inconfiftency. 
 
 From the very nature of the thing, 
 it feems manifeftly impoffible -, that He 
 could take fo much thought to fecure a 
 good reception for his own ftory ; and 
 pay no regard whatever to the fuccefs of 
 Marys j by far the more likely to be re- 
 jected of the two. For an attention to 
 bothy was not to two dijiindl fteps of the 
 plot J one of which might poflibly be 
 overlooked, while the other was remem- 
 bered J but in fa6l they were both necef- 
 farily comprehended, under one and the 
 fame confideration. And even had it been 
 poffible for Zacharias to have attended to 
 the onCy and not the other , it was not 
 R 2 poffible 
 
244- ^^ Divme MiJfto7is of 
 
 Part II. poffiblc for Jofeph and Mary j with whom 
 ^•^y^ it has been already feen the whole plot 
 muft have been concerted ; to have been, 
 at the fame time, totally forgetful, of what 
 fo immediately concerned their own fafety 
 and fuccefs. Zacharias\ taking this par- 
 ticular care for himfelf; muft at leaft 
 have reminded T^hem of their much 
 greater want of fome fimilar expedi- 
 ent, to procure credit to their part of 
 the plot. 
 
 To the decillve evidence of thefe con- 
 fiderations, we may add the corroborating 
 teftimony of one fad more, which hap- 
 pened before the birth of yohn ; and 
 which feems to afford as ftrong a proof, as 
 the nature of fuch circumftances can ad- 
 mit of, that there could be no fuch plot 
 on foot, as that we have all along been 
 fuppofmg. The particular itfelf, is the 
 ftep Mary took, immediately after her in- 
 terview with the Ang;el. 
 
 The Angel, after revealing to her, what 
 would very fhortly happen to herfelf, pro- 
 ceeded to inform her of what had already- 
 happened 
 
yohit Baptijl and yefus Chrijl. 245 
 
 happened to Elizabeth. Behold thy cotifjfi Part II. 
 Elizabeth, She hath alfo conceived a child, >,y-\^ 
 in her old age, a?id this is the fixth month 
 with her, who was called barren. Upon 
 receiving this information, we find Mary 
 immediately left her own home j and 
 went into the hill-country with hajie, into a 
 city of yuda-, and entered into the houfe of 
 Zacharias, and fainted Elizabeth : and 
 there flayed with her, no lefs than 
 three months, till the time of fobi\ birth 
 was almofi: arrived. 
 
 Here we have a fad, which may 
 ferve greatly to illuftrate the integrity, and 
 artlefs innocence, of every perfon con- 
 cerned. Had Zacharias, Elizabeth, Ma- 
 ry, and fofeph, been engaged together, 
 in concerting fo daring and dangerous an 
 impofture as that in queflion ; we cannot 
 but think, that it would have been one 
 of the firft and principal objeds of their 
 attention, to conceal their correfpondence, 
 at this particular, time, as much as pofTible, 
 from the public view. They could not 
 but exped, that whenever their intended 
 R 3 coua* 
 
24^ ^^ Divine Mijftoits of 
 
 Part II. counterfeits fhould appear upon the ftage, 
 Xy^-^f^ and become objedts of the public atten- 
 tion; the flridleft enquiries would pro- 
 bably be made into \h& families of two 
 perfons, whofe claims to divine characters, 
 were fo very extraordinary in themfelves, 
 and fo clofely conne6led with each other. 
 For this reafon they would ftudioufly have 
 avoided all appearance of any intimate 
 connexion, efpecially at this time j as 
 that, in fuch a cafe, more than any thing 
 elfe, might induce every one to fufpedl 
 fome concerted import ure. How then 
 can the fad: before us be reconciled with 
 the fuppolition of the plot in queftion ? 
 What can be more improbable, if they were 
 all engaged in the fuppofed contrivance, 
 than that Mary fhould go to the houfe of 
 Zacharias^ and He permit her to ftay 
 in his houfe, for no lefs than three 7nonths 
 together, at this critical time ? It is incre- 
 dible, that the contrivers of fo artificial 
 and refined a plot could be guilty of fuch 
 an overfight as this. 
 
 Whereas, 
 
yohn Bapttjl and yefus Chrijl, 247 
 
 Whereas, if we fuppofe their ac- Part ir. 
 . ' „ 1 Sea. 2. 
 
 counts or the angel s appearances to be ^>-V"n-> 
 
 true, and the feveral parties concerned 
 innocent of all finifter deligns ; the whole 
 difficulty is cleared up at once j and no- 
 thing could be more natural,\h2in this beha- 
 viour, in confequence of thefe events. An 
 honeft and undeligning heart could not but 
 burn with a defire of communicating to 
 its friend, fuch an aftonifhing revelation 
 as Mary had received concerning herfelf-, 
 as well as of determining the credit it de- 
 ferved, by enquiring into the truth of 
 what the angel likewife informed her, 
 had already happened to her friend. Nor 
 could any condud: be more natural^ when 
 Elizabeth and She certainly found them- 
 felves made the happy inftruments of ful- 
 filling thofe glorious promifes, which had 
 been revealed to their forefathers ; than 
 their paffing fome time together, in ad- 
 miring thofe aftonifhing events, which 
 were already come to pafs ; and thofe 
 more aftonifhing ftill, which were now 
 upon the point of being fulfilled. And 
 R 4 furely. 
 
248 l^he Divine Mijjlons of 
 
 Part II. furely, when their condu(5l approves it- 
 s/^V^-/ felf, in every particular, the jiatural re- 
 fult of innocence^ and is i?icompatible 
 with the fuppofition of their guilt ; it 
 would argue no fmall degree of per- 
 verfcnefs, ftill to fuppofe them engaged 
 in the profecution of an impofture. 
 
 SEC- 
 
yoh7t Baptijl aijd yefus Chrijl, 249 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 F the few fads iufl: confidered, pre^ PartIL 
 
 •^ „ Sea. 3. 
 
 ceeding the births of 'John and Je- .^^-^^rv^ 
 
 Jm^ bear witnefs in fo ftrong a manner, 
 to the innocence and veracity of all thofe, 
 who were moft immediately concerned in 
 thefe events ; much more will feveral 
 aftonifhing particulars, that (oon followed 
 them, convince us, that they could not 
 pofTibly be the efFedts of human artifice 
 and cunning i or arife from the fecret 
 machinations of Zacharias and his ^JJo- 
 ciates ; the only perfons who could pof- 
 fibly have contrived them. 
 
 Luke having particularly informed us 
 of the time and place of yefui^ birth ; and 
 the means by which it happened, that he 
 was born at Bethlehem j immediately 
 goes on with the following narration. 
 
 And there were in the fame country, 
 near Bethlehem, fepherds abiding in the 
 
 field, keeping watch over their flock by 
 night > Andlo, the angel of the Lord came 
 
 upon 
 
250 The Divine MiJftQ7is of 
 
 Pa R T ir. upon them, and the glory of the Lord Jhone 
 round about them, and they were fore afraid. 
 And the angel faid unto them, fear not : 
 for behold, I bring you good tidings of great 
 joy, which JJjall be to all people. For unto 
 you is born this day in the city of David, a 
 Saviour, which is Chriji the Lord. And 
 this Jhall be a fgn unto you ; ye fiall find 
 the babe wrapped in fwadling cloaths, lying 
 in a majiger. Andfuddenly there was with 
 the angel a 7nultitude of the heavenly hoft -, 
 praifing God, and faying ; glory to God in 
 the higheji, and on earth peace, good will 
 towards men. And it came to pafs, as the 
 angels were gone away from them into 
 heaven, the fioepherds faid one to another ; 
 let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and fee 
 this thing which is come to pafs, which the 
 Lord hath made known unto us. And they 
 came with hafie, and found Mary and Jo- 
 fephy and the babe lying in a manger. And 
 when they had fcen it, they made known, 
 abroad the faying which was told them con- 
 ceriiing this child. And all they that heard 
 it wondered at thofe things, which were told 
 
 them 
 
yohn Baptijl and Jefus Chrijl. 251 
 
 them by the fiepherds. But Mary kept all ^ ^^^ ^^• 
 thefe things and pondered thetn in her heart. s^VNi* 
 Ajid the Jhepherds returned glorifying and 
 praijing God, for all the things that they 
 had heard and feen, as it was told unto 
 theni *. 
 
 Here a new fcene opens upon us, 
 crouded with unexpedled vifions, and di- 
 vine revelations, bearing witnefs in the 
 moll: extraordinary manner to the facred 
 charader, and divine miffion of 'Jefus, 
 But if the zngtVs former appearances, and 
 predictions of the births oifohn and fefuSy 
 which have ah^eady been conlidered, were 
 in reality but fiBions of Thofe, to whom 
 they were pretended to have been made ; 
 then muft this aftonifhing account of 
 what happened to the Shepherds of Beth- 
 lehem, be an impofture likewife. And if 
 this be fo, it muft have been brought 
 about in one or other of the following 
 ways. 
 
 Either the Shepherds muft have been 
 deluded by the ftrength of their own fuper- 
 
 ftitious 
 
 * Luke ii. 8 — 20. 
 
252 Tl^e Divine Mijftons of 
 
 flitious imaginations, into a belief, that they 
 faw angels which never appeared ; and 
 heard the mofl furprifing things revealed 
 to them, which in fad: were never fpoken. 
 Or elfe, they muft have been corrupted 
 by ZiichariaSy and his Confederates , pur- 
 pofely to give out this marvellous reve- 
 lation ; and to pretend to feek for Jojeph 
 and Mary and the young cbildy by night, 
 as if in confequencc of it ; and they knew, 
 at the fame time, that every particular of 
 this relation was entirely falfe. But we 
 ihall loon fee, that neither of thefe fup- 
 politions can poffibly be true. 
 
 It is notorious, that nothing could be 
 more inconfiftent with the univerfal ex- 
 pedation of the Jews, nor any thing more 
 contradidlory to all the notions they had 
 formed of the long expeded Me/Jiah, 
 their future king and deliverer ; than that 
 he fliould make his entry into the world, 
 in the jJabli: of an in?i. On the contrary, 
 they expeded him to appear, with fuch 
 a glorious difplay of his fuperior dignity 
 and power, as might fecm a fit introduc- 
 tion 
 
yohn Baptijl and Jefus Chriji. 253 
 
 tionto that univerfal dominion, they be- Part II, 
 lieved he would alTume. And it will wOr^» 
 readily be allowed, that the ftrength of 
 imagination, however overheated, could 
 not feign to itfelf divine appearances and 
 revelations, diametrically oppofite to all 
 its ftrongeft prejudices and conceits. 
 
 Had the force of enthufiafm there- 
 fore painted this chorus of angels, and 
 dictated the glad tidings they brought ; the 
 Angels could not have informed the Shep- 
 herds, that a particular mofl aftonifhing 
 event had adually taken place, which 
 could never before have entered into their 
 thoughts i and which, above all others, 
 they i\Ym\y believed it impoffibk fliould ever 
 come to pafs. And indeed had it not been 
 impoffible on this account alone, what 
 can be more difficult to believe, than that 
 feveral poor fliepherds, thus accidentally 
 met together, fliould all be feized at once 
 with fuch a ftrong enthufiaflic delulion j 
 all be pofleffed at once with the fame wild 
 imagination ; all fee the fame angels, and 
 hear the fame revelation, and fong of re- 
 joicing j 
 
354 -^^ Divine Mijftons of 
 
 Part II. joiclngi and all this relating folelytoa 
 
 \y\r<j matter io extremely foreign from their 
 
 common thoughts and occupation, as the 
 
 time, place, and minuteft circumftances of 
 
 the birth of the Meffiah ^ 
 
 Not to infift further therefore on the 
 manifeft incredibility of fuch a fuppo- 
 iition y if there was any deceit in the cafe, 
 it muft needs have been in the Shepherds 
 ihe?nfelves. They muft have been fe- 
 duced to affift in the grand plot , and on 
 this occafion only aded a part, they had 
 been before inftrud:ed to perform. Let us 
 fee then, whether this fuppofition is, at 
 the bottom, at all more credible than the 
 former. 
 
 On this occafion we might appeal to 
 the uniform pra6lice of all impoftors ; 
 who, with good reafon, are fo fearful of 
 nothing, as of imparting their defigns to 
 more perfons, than are abfolutely ?iecef- 
 fary for the profecution of their plots. 
 We might appeal to the conduct of that 
 arch impoftor, Mahomet himfelf 3 who, 
 though he was pradifing upon a people 
 
 ignorant 
 
yohn Baptiji and Jefus Chrijl, 255 
 
 ignorant even to barbarifm, and liable to P a r t ir. 
 all the extravagancies of the mofl foolifh v^v^ 
 credulity ; did not dare to feek afliftance 
 in his plot, from more than one , or two 
 perfons, at the moll ; and concealed his 
 connedion even v^^ith them, with fo much 
 care and circumfpedion, that it has colt 
 even the mofl: learned no little pains to find 
 them out *. Every argument likewife, that 
 has been already -f drawn from the pecu- 
 liar danger of the cafe, in the plot before 
 usi to Ihew the incredibility of Zacharias's 
 attempting to make any aflbciates at all'm 
 the plot fuppofed ; might here be applied, 
 with double force, to the fuppolition of 
 his having made known his iniquity to 
 the Shepherds in queftion. 
 
 What more incredible, than that he 
 Ihould almoft provoke fome one to be- 
 tray him, by laying himfelf open to fo 
 many ; merely for the fake of executing 
 a contrivance, by no means neceflary for 
 
 the 
 
 * See Prideaux's life of Mahomet, p. 36. ——49. 
 
 Svo 2d. Edition. 
 
 t See Part I. Sedl. 4. 
 
256 7Z^ Dhbie Mijfions of 
 
 P A R T II. the fuccefs of his grand defign ? Or how 
 > was it poflible for him to choofe to cor- 
 rupt thofe, above others, whofe fimpli- 
 city and great ignorance of mankind, 
 made them, of all orders of men, the mofi: 
 tinjit to promote his Ichemes; and the 
 moft Hkely to be fhocked at, and be- 
 tray his propofals ? It would be difficult 
 to invent a fuppofition much more incon- 
 ceivable than this j that Zacha?'ias or Jo- 
 feph could attempt to corrupt a number 
 of Shepherds^ to bear the witnefs thefc 
 did to the divine character of 'Jefm j or 
 that T^hey fliould have become the zealous 
 promoters oi Juch an impofture, and ever 
 after have remained the faithful concea- 
 lers of it, if he had. 
 
 But flill new wonders rife up before 
 us. Though we have already difcovered 
 jo jnany perfons, who muft certainly have 
 been made partakers with Zacharias and 
 Mary^ in whatever impofture they were 
 now carrying on ; more actors are ftill 
 coming upon the ftage, to perform new 
 parts in the plot. 
 
 And 
 
yohn Baptiji and ye/us Chrijl, ^57 
 
 And when the days of her ^ Mary's,^//;- Part ir. 
 rificatioTij according to the law of Mofes, ^ 
 were accomplified, that is, about a month 
 after Jefus's birth, they brought him to fe- 
 rufalem, toprefent him to the Lord. As it 
 is written in the law of the Lord, every 
 male that openeth the womb, Jhall be called 
 holy to the Lord. And to offer a facrifce^ 
 according to that which is faid in the law 
 of the Lord'y a pair of turtle doves, or 
 two young pidgeons. And behold, there was 
 a man in ferufalem, whofe name was Si- 
 meon ; and the fame man was jiiji and de- 
 vout, waiting for the co?ifolation of Ifrael: 
 and the Holy Ghoft was upon him. Ajid it 
 was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghojiy 
 that he fjould not fee death, before he had 
 feen the Lord's Chrift. And he came by the 
 Spirit into the temple : And when the pa- 
 rents brought in the child fefus, to do for 
 him after the cufiomof the law, then took he 
 him up in his arms, and bleffed God, and 
 faid; Lord, now letteft thou thy fervant de- 
 part in peace, according to thy word. For 
 mine eyes have feen thy fahation ; which 
 S thou 
 
258 ^e Divine MiJfto?ts of 
 
 Part II. fhou hall prepared before the face of all 
 
 y/-V-*w people: a light to lighten the gentiles^ and 
 
 the glory of thy people Ifracl. And Jofcph 
 
 and his mother ?narvelled at thofe things 
 
 which were Jpoken of him. And Simeon 
 
 bleffed theniy a?idfaid unto Mary his mother -, 
 
 Behold this child is fet for the falU and 
 
 rifing again ^ of many in Ifrael ; and for a 
 
 fign, which fall be fpoken agaifiji -j yea a 
 
 fword fiail pierce through thy own foul alfo, 
 
 that the thoughts of many hearts may be re^ 
 
 vealed, 
 
 And there was one Anna a prophetefs, 
 the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of 
 Afer i fie was of a great age^ and had 
 lived with her hufbajid feven years from her 
 'Dirginity : and fie was a widow of about 
 fourfcore and jour years : which departed 
 not from the temple^ but ferved God with 
 fafiings and prayers night and day. And 
 fioe coming in that infant y gave thanks like- 
 wife unto the Lord, and Jpake of him to 
 all them that looked for redemption in fe- 
 rufalem. And when they had per j or me d 
 all things according to the law of the Lord, 
 
 they 
 
yohn Baptijl and yeftis Chriji, 259 
 they returned into Galilee^ to their own city. ^J-^'^ ^^' 
 
 •^ -^ Seft. 3. 
 
 Nazareth. v,/'V"V 
 
 Strange as this fuppolition will at 
 once appear, It muft be owned, that if 
 the other circumftances recorded of the 
 births of "^ohn and Jefus^ were only fb 
 many parts of a deep laid impofture j the 
 remarkable particulars juft related mufl 
 have been a fubtil contrivance from one 
 end to the other. 
 
 Simeon and Anna, of whom (o ho- 
 nourable mention is made for their ac- 
 knowledged piety and goodnefs, muft at 
 the bottom have been two mofl impious 
 deceivers ; who had been corrupted by 
 Zacharias, or fome of his affociates, to 
 abett his impofture in the manner juft re- 
 lated. Their coming into the temple at 
 this particular time, as it is faid, by the 
 Spirit 'j Simeons taking yefus in his arms ; 
 his moft remarkable addrefs of thankfgiv- 
 ing to God, for the arrival of the Mcjjiah ; 
 and his prophetic affuvances to Mary con- 
 cerning her Jon ; together with Anna\ 
 public thanks, and infpired declarations, 
 S 2 poiitively 
 
26o T^he Divine Mijfwns of 
 
 Part II. pofitively aflerting the divine charadler of 
 Jeftis-j muft all have been the refult of 
 mere artifice and contrivance ; and mea- 
 fures firft privately concerted between 
 them. Nay, what is ftill more, all the 
 claims of Sitneon and Anna to divine in- 
 fpiration, before this time ; and efpecially 
 Simeons revelation, that he Jljould not fee 
 deaths before he hadfeen the Lord's Chriji ; 
 muft all have been mere forgery and pre- 
 tence, from the very firft j and, purpofely 
 given out, with the view of tranfadling 
 this particular fcene of the plot. So that, 
 though the part, which, we muft now be- 
 lieve, I'hey had undertaken to execute, 
 did not bring them into public view be- 
 fore -y T^hey muft in reality have been privy 
 to the whole impofture, and have agreed 
 to adl the part they did to fupport it, fome 
 time before they came upon the ftage. 
 
 But how will it be poflible to folve 
 fuch a feries of difficulties as here thruft 
 themfelves into view ? Can we fuppofe 
 Zacharias refolutely bent upon purfuing 
 the moft certain means to betray his own 
 
 iniquity. 
 
yohn Baptiji and jfefus Chriji. 2 6 i 
 
 iniquity, and procure his deftrudion ? ^ ^ r t it. 
 
 , . Sea. 3. 
 
 Could the wickedefl and moft fubtil im- k^ot^ 
 poftor, that ever lived, fingle out thofe of 
 the mofl; approved piety and goodnefs, to 
 make aflbciates in his crimes j and choofe 
 to lay open his impious devices, above all 
 others, to the wife and good ? Could he 
 fuppofe, that they, who from youth to old 
 age had perfevered in the practice of pie- 
 ty and religion, would at laft, on the fud- 
 den, become equally induftrious in the 
 fervice of impiety and vice ? Could he 
 expedt to conquer the virtue of fourfcore 
 years ; and even without the leaft profpe6t 
 of reward ? Or could the fame perfons, 
 who had approved themfelves fincere 
 worfhippers of the God of Ifrael, through 
 the moft dangerous ftages of human life ; 
 at length proceed to mock him with hor- 
 rid blafphemies, in his very temple itfelf j 
 when they could have no inducement for 
 doing it, at the extremity of old age ? 
 
 If all this be allowed impoffible ^ and 
 the nature of the thing will not even ad- 
 mit a doubt 5 then is it abfolutely incre- 
 S 3 diblCi 
 
262 Tloe Dlv'me Mijpmis of 
 
 Part II. dible, that Zacharias or Jofeph could have 
 ^/"V'N^ attempted to corrupt Simeon and Afina ; 
 and equally fo that 7l6dj could have agreed 
 to abett fuch an impoilure, if either of them 
 had And fince their condudl was fo very re-^. 
 markable, though on this fingle occafion 
 only, as to prove beyond doubt, that T'hey 
 muft have been principals in the plot fup- 
 pofed, if iri fad: it had any real exiftence ; 
 the integrity of Zacharias, and every per- 
 fon concerned, appears inconteftibly prov- 
 ed i and all the miraculous circumftances 
 related of the births both of yohn and 
 of Jefus, muft be acknowledged as un^ 
 queilionably true "^. 
 
 But 
 
 * In addition to whnt has been here urged, drawn 
 from the peculiar charaSlers and circumfiayices of Sime- 
 on and Anna themfelves ; it is likewile proper to ob- 
 ferve, that every argument which has been already al- 
 ledged, in Part i. SeSt. 4. drawn from the nature of the 
 fiippofed contrivance alone, to prove the utter incredi- 
 bility of Zacharias's communicating fuch a plot to any 
 one at all ; muft here be allowed their full weight and 
 influence in regard to Simeon and Anna ; and clearly 
 prove it to have been impoffiblc i'oi him to have made 
 confederates of them. 
 
 But befides, the very fuppofition, that they had ap- 
 plied to Simeon and J;:r.a, und engaged them to affift 
 
 in 
 
yoh7i Baptijl and Jefus Chrifl, ^63 
 
 But the amazino: artifices of Zacha- ^ ^\'^ ^^* 
 rias and his aiTociates to conceal their im- 
 pofture, if in truth they had any to con- 
 ceal ; or, to fpeak more properly, the in- 
 diiputable evidences of their innocence 
 and integrity, are not yet at an end. There 
 S 4 ftill 
 
 in their fcheme ; is in fa£l immediately and eiTentially 
 deftruftive of their yww/ plot itfelf. For, iffo, it muft 
 either have been Zacharias and Elizabeth on one iide, 
 or Jofeph and Mary on the other, who looked upon Si- 
 meon and Anna as fit perfons for their purpofe ; and in 
 confequence of this opinion, applied to them to affift the 
 caufe. But had Zacharias had any knowledge of .Sz- 
 meon and Awia, and looked upon them in this light j 
 certainly he would at firfl have applied to Them alofie, 
 to affift him in fome fuch manner in favour of jfohfi, as 
 they afted with regard to Jefus ; and with their affift- 
 ance he would have carried on his own plan concerning 
 John 07ily ; nor fhould we have found him connedled, 
 in any of his tranfaftions, with Jofeph and Mary ; or 
 his contrivance for John, burthened with one of fo 
 much more hazardous a nature, as that relating to Jefus,. 
 While, on the other hand, had Jofeph and Mary been 
 the perfons who knew the real charaders of Simeon and 
 Anna, and engaged them to aft the part they did, rela- 
 ting to Jefus ; they could have had no reafon whatever 
 for laying open their defigns to Zacharias and Eliza' 
 Beth ; who, being old and childlefs, were evidently un- 
 capable of carrying on the other part of their impofture. 
 So that, take which fide we pleafe, the fuppofition of 
 either party's perfuading Simeon and Anna to engage in 
 their plot ; is, at the bottom, abfolutely deftrudlive of 
 the fuppofition of their y««/ impoilure itfelf. 
 
264 TZ^ Divme Mijftons of 
 
 Part II. ^^\ remains to be confidered another, and 
 
 Sea 3. . ' , 
 
 \y\r^ a moft remarkable tranfadlion ; which will 
 aflford perhaps as deciiive evidence, to de- 
 termine the point in debate, as any that 
 has been hitherto taken notice of. It is 
 related by Matthew * a§ follows. 
 
 Now when 'Jefiis was born in Bethle- 
 hem ofjiidea, in the days of Herod the king^ 
 behold t he?' e came Wife Men from the eajl to 
 ferifakm^ faying^ where is he that is born 
 king of the fcws ? For we have feen his 
 jlar in the eaft^ and are come to worfiip 
 him. Wloen Herod the king heard thefe 
 things, he was troubled, and all fernfalem 
 with him. And when he had gathered all 
 the chief priefls and f crib es of the people to- 
 gether, he dema7idcd of them, where Chriji 
 fljoidd be born? And they f aid unto him, in 
 Bethlehem of fiidea : for thus it is written 
 by the prophet; And thou, Bethlehem, in 
 the land ofjuda, art not the leaji among the 
 princes of fuda ; for out of thee f mil come 
 a governor, that fiall rule my people Ifrael, 
 I'hen Herod, when he had privily called the 
 
 Wife 
 
 * Matt. ii. I,— 16. 
 
Part IL 
 Sea. 3. 
 
 yoh7i Baptifl and Jefus Chrijr, 265 
 
 Wife Men, enquired of them diligejttlyywhat 
 time theflar appeared. And he Jent them 
 to Bethlehem, andfaid ; go, and fear ch di- 
 ligently for the young child; and whe?t ye 
 have found him, bring me word again, that 
 I may come and worfoip him alfo. When 
 they had heard the kifjg they departed; and 
 lo, theflar, which they faw in the eafl, went 
 before them, till it came a?td flood over where 
 the young child was. When they faw the 
 flar they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. 
 And when they were come into the houfe, 
 they faw the young child, with Mary his mo- 
 ther, and fell down and worfnpped him : 
 and when they had opetied their treafures, 
 they prefented him with gifts, gold, ajid 
 frankincenfe, and myrrhe. And being 
 warned of God, in a dream, that they 
 fjould not return to Herod, they departed 
 into their own country another way. And 
 when they were departed, behold, the an- 
 gel of the Lord appeareth unto fojeph in a 
 dream, faying ; arije, and take the young 
 child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, 
 and be thou there until I bring thee word; 
 
 for 
 
266 72 J Divins MiJ/iom of 
 
 Par^t II. J'qj^ Herod will feek the young child to de- 
 t/V^ J^(^y ^^^^- • IVtjen he rofe, he took the young 
 chijdj and his mother ^ by nighty and de- 
 farted into Egypt J and was there until the 
 death of Herod-, that it might be fulfilled^ 
 which was fpoken of the Lord^ by the pro- 
 phet faying } out of Egypt have I called 7ny 
 fon. T'hen Herody when he fa%v that he 
 was mocked of the Wife Men, was exceed- 
 ing wroth, and fent forth y and few all the 
 children that were in Bethlehem, and in all 
 the coafts thereof; from two years dd and 
 under; according to the time, which he 
 had diligently enquired of the Wife Men. 
 
 The evangelift makes no mention of 
 the precife time, when this very remark- 
 able event came to pafs, nor is it mate- 
 rial to the fubjedit in hand. But as far as 
 may be coUedled from fome circum- 
 ftances, it feems at leaft very probable, 
 that it happened about a twehemonth * af- 
 ter fefuss birth. Various have been the 
 
 opi^ 
 
 * See the notes on the i ith feft. of Macknight's Pa- 
 raphrale on his Harmony of the Gofpels. Ham- 
 mond's obfcrvation on Luke ii. 24. . See Lightfoot, 
 
 vol. i. 205. 
 
John Baptift and Jefus Chrtjl, 2,6 f 
 
 opinions propofed, concerning the parti- P/^^'^ Jo- 
 cular character and country of thefe un- »*/->r^ 
 expedled perfons ; who, we are only told, 
 were IFiJ'e Men from the eafi *. But to 
 pafs over this difquifition, in which du- 
 bious conjediure is perhaps the utmofl that 
 has yet been arrived at j it will be fuffici- 
 ent to our purpofe to obferve, that if the 
 other miraculous circumllances related of 
 the births of Zachariass and Marys fons, 
 were only the feveral parts of a plot, for 
 deceiving the Jews with a falfe prophet, 
 and a counterfeit Meffiah s then muil 
 thefe Wife Men from the eafi have been 
 mere impofiors ; and nothing better than 
 accomplices with Zacharias ; fent by him 
 to Jerufakmy purpofely to ad that parti- 
 cular charader, they tliere appeared in. 
 
 This extraordinary device too muft 
 have been put in execution, in order by 
 their aftonifhing enquiry, even of Herod 
 himfelf, after a young King of the Jews, 
 lately born in his own dominions j as 
 
 well 
 
 * See the commentators, on the place; and note r. 
 on the 1 1 th, feft. of Macknight's Harmony. Lightfoot, 
 vol. i. 436. &c. 
 
2,68 The Divine Mtfftons of 
 
 Par T II. well as by the religious worfliip they were 
 to pay the child, when they found him ; 
 to fix the thoughts and expe(5lations of the 
 whole people upon 'Jefus ; that when he 
 fhould afterwards be old enough to begin 
 acting his own part, they might the more 
 readily receive him for the promifed Mef- 
 fiah. The ftory of their being apprized 
 of the young kings bh'th^ by the appear- 
 ance of a ftar in the eaft, and its appear- 
 ing again to them, and direding them to 
 the houfe where yejm lay j mufl all have 
 been forged, merely to fupport their cha- 
 racters, and carry on the delufion. Their 
 being warned likewife of God, in a dream, 
 to depart from Bethlehem without return- 
 ing to Herod 'j and 'Jofcph\ carrying Mary 
 and the child into Egypt, immediately 
 after, in confequence of a fimilar divine 
 command ; mufl have been forgeries 
 given out to throw an air of myflery over 
 their fudden departure ; while, in fa6t, 
 every one of thefe fteps muft have been 
 concert<id between them All, long before 
 thefe pretended JFife Men from the eqft 
 made their appearance at ye?'ufalcm. 
 
 At 
 
. yohn Baptiji and Jefus Chrift, 269 
 At length then we are arrived at the ^^ \ "^ ^^* 
 
 . Sea. 3. 
 
 finishing ftroke of this marvellous com- sy^\n^ 
 bination ; v^hich, at firft fight, might 
 force one to acknowledge it, for ingenuity 
 of delign, not unworthy of the com- 
 pleted: mafters in deceit. But a clofer in- 
 fpe(5lion will prefently convince us, that 
 the fuppofition of this ingenious expedi- 
 ent is on many accounts incredible, and 
 Jiicb as cannot be received. 
 
 In particular, the nature of the thing 
 itfelf will fully prove j that if ZachariaSy 
 and thofe connected with him, were ac- 
 tually engaged in the grand plot we have 
 all along fuppofed ; ftill it will remain in- 
 credible, that they could attempt the ex- 
 pedient before us. But above all, the 
 whole Jewifh Sanhedrim^ and even He- 
 rod himfelf^ win bear ample witnefs, that 
 the Wife Men in queftion were, beyond 
 all doubt, the real pcrfons they pretended 
 to be. 
 
 That fome fuch perfons, as the evan- 
 gelift has defcribed, appeared publicly at 
 Jerufalemy enquiring for the young King 
 
 of 
 
270 TToe Divme Mijfions of 
 
 p A R T II. fjj fjjg Jg<K;s ; that Herody in confequencei 
 v^V^ of their application to him, on this ac- 
 count, fummoned a great council of all 
 the chief priefts and fcribes, to determine 
 upon the place, where Chrift lliould be 
 born ; that, in confequence of their de- 
 termination, he fent the ftrangers to Beth- 
 lehem J commanding them, when they 
 had found the you?ig king, to acquaint 
 him alfo, where he was : that they there 
 found Mcwy, and her fon Jefiis, and paid 
 homage to him, acknowledging him to be 
 the young king they had fought after : and 
 that, becaufe they departed without re- 
 turning to Herod, as he defired, he imme- 
 diately put to death all the children about 
 yeftis"?, age, which were to be found in 
 Bethlehem, and the region round about : 
 all thefe fadls, related clearly, pofitively 
 ailerted, and never in any part contra- 
 dicted J are not now to be called into 
 queilion. 
 
 Had they not been true, the evange- 
 lifl: could not have dared to afTert them ; 
 and even if he could have been guilty of 
 
 fo 
 
John Baptijl and yefus Chri/i, 371 
 
 fo much folly ; their falfehood would have Part ll. 
 
 Sedl. ^ 
 
 been foon detected, and publicly laid 
 open ; and the credit of his gofpel have 
 been effedlually deftroyed. The fadts are 
 of fo aftonifhing, and fo public a nature, 
 that this mufl inevitably have been the 
 cafe. Not to fay, that the very fuppo- 
 iition of any deceit at the bottom, necef- 
 farily implies the exiftence of the fads 
 themfelves j and, that the maffacre of the 
 infants, which is the moft important of 
 them all, to confirm the truth of the reft, 
 is elfewhere recorded *. 
 
 The 
 
 * See Lardner's Cred. of the Gofpel Hiftory, B. u. 
 ch. 2, throughout. See likewife even the exprefs tefti- 
 mony of a Jew to the truth of this faG ; quoted by Dr. 
 G. Sharpe, in his " Argument for the Defence of Chri- 
 ftianity, taken from the Conceffions of its moft ancient 
 Adverfaries ;" p. 40. But the truth of thefe extraordi- 
 nary fafts is fet in fo clear a light by a French writer, 
 that, upon this occallon, I hope to be forgiven the li- 
 berty of tranflating what he has faid about them. 
 
 " Had the evangelift only told us, that the Wife Men 
 faw a ftar in the eail, which they believed to be the ilar 
 of the King of the Jews ; this would have appeared 
 very fuipicious. If he had faid no more, than that the 
 Wife Men came to Jerufalem ; neither would this have 
 been fatisfatSory. But he afierts, not only that they 
 came there ; but that they appeared there in public ; 
 
 and 
 
212 7^^ Divine Mtjfions of 
 
 Part H. The fa6ts then being indifputably 
 yJ^^^jXj eftabliflied -, it is certain, from the nature 
 
 of 
 
 and that the whole city of Jerufaletn were greatly moved 
 and aftonifhed on their account. Is it very likely any 
 one fliould take it into his head to attempt perfuading 
 fo great a city as Jerufalem, that they had been thrown 
 into a general confternation, by the appearance of cer- 
 tain Wile Men, who came purpofely to worfhip the king 
 of the Jews ? When a man has determined to publifh 
 any fallehood, which it is of the utmoft importance to 
 him to procure the belief of; will he fingle out fuch cir- 
 cumftances to relate, as the people well know are all 
 utterly falfe ? Matthew, who wrote this account, wa» 
 himfelf a Jew. And for whom did he immediately de- 
 fign it ? For many thoufind Jews, converts to chrillia- 
 nity, who dwelt at 'Jerujalem ; and who were as well 
 acquainted with what had happened there ; both in their 
 own days, and thofe of their fathers ; as the people of 
 Paris are, with what came to pafs there, under the ad- 
 miniftration of Cardinal Richlieu ; or thofe of London, 
 with what was tranfadled there, in the time of Oliver 
 Cromwell ; or the people of Stockholm, with what hap- 
 pened in that city in the reign of Guftavus. And let us 
 only confider, whether it would be poflible for any one 
 to publifh fuch falfehoods in thefe populous cities, with 
 fuch remarkable fuccefs as attended the relations we are 
 now coafidering ; fo as by their means to engage many 
 thoufands to become parties in his caufe." 
 
 '• But granting, that the evangelift might have aflii- 
 rance enough to delcribe the Wife Men, and the aflo- 
 nifhment they occafioned in all the inhabitants of Jeru- 
 falem ; even in dired oppofition to the well known hif- 
 tory of the times : it mull at leaft be allowed, that the 
 juhfeqwnt events, aflerted to have happened in confe- 
 
 quence 
 
yohn Baptiji a?td Jefus Chrijl., 27^ 
 
 of that enquiry, which thefe apparent Part ir. 
 PFife Men from the eaft came to Jerufa- ^^^^^-O 
 T km 
 
 quence of this, were offuch a nature, that not even 
 the moft impudent and abandoned writer, could have 
 dared to make mention of them, had they not come to 
 pafs." 
 
 " In reality, this tranfaftion contains two or three 
 fads fo clofely connedled in their own nature, that if we 
 allow the truth of one, k will be impoffible to deny the 
 reft. If we agree, that the arj^jival of fame Wife Men 
 induced Herod to fummon the great council of the Jews, 
 in order to be alTured, where the Meffiah fhould be 
 born ; we cannot poffibly doubt whether any fuch per- 
 fons did adually appear. And if we allow, that Herod 
 really fent his people to Bethlehem, to put to death 
 all the children there, of two years old and under ; 
 there can be no difpute about the anfwer given by the 
 Sanhedrim to this enquiry. If, therefore, the truth of 
 the chief fa£l may be relied on, there can be no need of 
 any further proof of the two other." 
 
 " Now I will venture to affirm, that if this chief 
 event had not really come to pafs, the evangelift could 
 never have related it. For what was better known 
 than the reign of Herod the Great ? Even his moft in- 
 fignificant adions were all got abroad. How then 
 could any one dare to charge him,falj'e!y, with fo afto- 
 nilhing, and unheard of a maiTacre as this ? Bethlehem 
 itfelf was ftill flourifhing, when the evangelift wrote his 
 account of this tranfaftion. So that, if his relation was 
 not true, every inhabitant of that city could bear witnefs 
 to its falfehood. Its diilance from Jerufalem too was 16 
 fmall, that the cbriftians there could not poffibly be ig- 
 norant of the reception this account met with at Bethle- 
 hem itfelf; efpecially as there was a very confiderable 
 T ■ inter- 
 
274 ^^ Divine MiJJio7is of 
 
 P AR T ir. /^;;; (q iTiake, that they could not be im- 
 Sea. 3- n 
 v/v"s^ poltors. 
 
 For firft, fliould we fuppofe Jofeph 
 and Zachartas adlually engaged in the 
 grand impofture ; nothing can be more 
 incredible, than that they fhould, at this 
 time efpecially, be fo induftrious in con- 
 triving the moft ready ways to betray it j 
 by ftill making Jg many more perfons ac- 
 quainted with their whole defign. And 
 
 how 
 
 intercourfe carried on between the two cities. Nor was 
 the time, which had elapfed between the birth of Jefus 
 Chrift and the writing of this Gofpel, by any means 
 (ufficient to afford room for the reception of fo extrava- 
 gant a falfehood. I would only aCc, whether we our- 
 felves could be perfuaded into the belief, that any par- 
 ticular Monarch now reigning in Europe, or, if you 
 pleafe, one who reigned thirty or forty years fmce, had 
 caufed two or three thoufand children to be put to death 
 in the cradle ; for the fake of deftroying one in particu- 
 lar, whofe future fortune he was afraid of ? There is 
 little likelihood indeed of our liftening to fuch an impo- 
 fition as this ; or indeed that any one fhould publifh fuch 
 a falfehood ; or even, that fo ftrange a thought fhould 
 even enter into any man's head. But that any one 
 Ihould be able to pcifuade the people oix^Vizfaine king- 
 dom, and even the inhabitants of the i:cry place, where 
 the fcene is laid, into the belief of fuch a faft, if it had 
 never happened, is above all incredible." — See Traite 
 de la Verite de la Religion Chretienne, par I. Abbadie ; 
 Par. ii. fefl. 3. ch. 2. . 
 
yohn Baptijl and ye/us Chrijl. 275 
 
 how could thefe veteran deceivers think Part IL 
 of promoting their fuccefs, by fending sy^^n^j 
 any of their accomplices upon fo danger- 
 ous, nay fb mad an enterprife \ as that of 
 going purpofely to acquaint Herod him- 
 felf, with the adtual birth of a young King 
 of the Jews ? Above all, where could 
 they expert to find adventurers, daring 
 and foolifh enough, to engage in fo def- 
 perate an undertaking ? 
 
 The leaft they could expert from the 
 execution of fuch an embafly was, that, 
 if Herod fliould refrain from putting them 
 immediately to death, it would only be, 
 in order to place fuch fpies upon all their 
 motions, as' they could not efcape from ; 
 thatfo, when he had by this means de- 
 teded their infant king^ he might cut 
 them all off together ; and thus bring ail 
 their crafty devices to a very fpeedy con- 
 clufion. ' 
 
 Nor is it lefs evident from the condu(5l 
 
 of Herodj and the Jeivijh council^ that 
 
 the Wife Men in queftion really were not 
 
 impoftors j than it is from the very na- 
 
 T 2 ture 
 
276 7^^ Divine Mijftons of 
 
 p A R T II. ture of that enquiry they came to Jerufa- 
 " I lem to make, that they could not be fo. 
 Can it be imagined, that a prince of 
 Herod's penetration, policy, and paflio- 
 nate difpofition, would fuffer three or four 
 perfons, in the character of Wife Men 
 from the Eajl^ to throw himfelf, and all 
 Jerufalem with him, into fufpence and 
 aftonifhmenti by daringly publifhing even 
 the aftual birth of a 7iew King of the 
 Jews J and declaring they were come, by 
 the guidance of heaven itfelf, to worfhip 
 him ', without immediately caufing the 
 very ftrideft enquiry to be made, into their 
 true country and character ? Can we fup- 
 pofe Herod, above all men, would fuffer 
 his very throne to be Hiaken under him •, 
 without fatisfying himfelf in the com- 
 pleted manner, that thefe unlooked for, 
 and daring harbingers of the 7iew Kingy 
 were not a fet of impoftors ? Could fo po- 
 litic a prince, on any account whatever, 
 himfelf add dignity to their charaders, 
 and authority to their declarations j by 
 treating them with fo much outv/ard re- 
 
 fpedt, 
 
"John Baptiji afid ye/us Chrijl, zyj 
 fpedl, as even to fummon the prm/ Coun- Part ir. 
 
 . Se£t. 3. 
 
 f//of the priefts *, to give a folemn an- w^-v^^ 
 fwer to their enquiry ; unlefs he had been 
 thoroughly convinced, that they w^ere in 
 truth the very perfons they pretended 
 to be ? 
 
 Before he could refolve to follow^ fb 
 dangerous a courfe as this, which muft 
 unavoidably make the people in general (o 
 much more prone to tumults and revolts j 
 he would certainly have taken every flep 
 necelTary, to deted: fo bold an impofition j 
 and v/ould have condemned the impof- 
 tors, had they proved fuch, to the moft 
 cruel and ignominious deaths. Nor can 
 it be believed, that all the mofl eminent 
 members of the Jewifh priefthood fhould 
 be fummoned, even by Herod himjelf] to 
 give their opinion upon the place ofCh?'i/l's 
 T 3 birth, 
 
 * " The chief priefts were either thofe, who had en- 
 enjoyed the dignity of the high priefthood, which was 
 now become eleftive and temporary ; or the chiefs of 
 the facerdotal claffes ; the heads of the courfes of priefts 
 appointed by David. The fcribes were the interpreters 
 
 of the law, and the public teachers of the nation." • 
 
 Macknight, kd. 1 1. — See Lightfoot, vol. i. 438. &c. 
 
278 The Divine Mijfions of 
 
 P^R T II. birth, on fo unlooked for, and furprlfing an 
 KX^V^^ occalion ; without enquiring, very curi- 
 oufly, into the true charaders of thofe 
 ftrangers, whofe amazing declarations had 
 been the only caufe of Herod's calling 
 them together. 
 
 Besides, from the cruel mafTacre of 
 the infants, which Hc7'od immediately- 
 proceeded to, upon the departure of the 
 Wife Men from Bethlehem^ without re- 
 turning to him ; it is evident, that his de- 
 fign in treating their enquiry with fo much 
 reipecft, was, merely to get the yowig King 
 into his power j that he might then cut 
 off him, and whoever appeared connec- 
 ted with him, at once. And this being 
 unqueftionably his real intention -, had he 
 not been moft thoroughly convinced, that 
 the Wife Men in queftion were not im- 
 poftors i had there been but the leafl 
 room for any fufpicion about it ; his firfi 
 care would have been, to befet them with 
 trufty perfons, when he fent them to 
 Bethlehem ; who would have certainly fe- 
 cured I'bem and their ififant King^ as fooa 
 
 as 
 
yoh7t Bapttjl arid yefus Chrijl, 279 
 
 as they pretended to have found him \ ^ ^ r t II. 
 and have brought them all back together .w/-^v'>^ 
 to Hej'ody to be put to death at his plea- 
 fure. So that had not the M^ife Men^ who- 
 ever they really were, brought with them 
 fuch clear credentials of the truth of their 
 afTumed charadters and country, as freed 
 them at once from the leaft fulpicion of 
 deceit j we may be fure they could not 
 have efcaped, either undetected, or un- 
 punifhed. 
 
 But further, had not fuch an attempt 
 itfelf been far too dangerous for them to 
 try J and had it been poffible for them to 
 have efcaped 3 ftill it appears, that no im- 
 poflors could have been fent on this oc-^ 
 Gallon, with inflrudions to conduct them- 
 felves in that manner, in which the Wife 
 Men before us are found to have done. 
 
 It was now fome time fince the birth 
 of their intended counterfeit king. It 
 had fallen out like wife, in confequence of 
 an edift of the Roman Emperor 5 that 
 he had been born in a city, where Jcfeph 
 and Mary had not^ oiherwifej any intention 
 T 4 that 
 
280 The Divine Mijjiom of 
 
 Part II. that he fliould *. Whence it plainly ap- 
 pears, that T^hey at leaft knew nothing of 
 any acknowledged opinion, univerfally 
 known and agreed in, that Bethlehem^ in 
 particular, was certainly to be the birth- 
 place of the Me/Jiab. At the fame time, 
 ^erod's affembiing the great Council of 
 the priefts, upon this occafion, to give 
 
 him 
 
 * That Jofeph rmd Mary had not originally formed 
 any defign of tlieir oivn, that Jefus (hould be born at 
 Bethlehem, is evident, not only from the mexpeSIeJ 
 occafion of their going thither, Auguftus's decree for the 
 taxing ; but likevvife from the other cireumftances of 
 his birth there. For it appears, that they did not come 
 to Bethlehem till fo late, that no room was to be had 
 in the houfe ; and Mary was adlually delivered of Jefus 
 in 7iJ}able. Whereas had Jofeph and Mary been enga- 
 ged in the plot fuppofed, and formed a rtV/Fo« of hav- 
 ing Jefus born at Bethlehem, in order to correfpond 
 Vith any received opinion of the birth place of the 
 JAeJp.ah ; they would unquellionably have taken care to 
 have been atBethlehem, efpecially upon the publication of 
 fueh a decree, time enough to have fecured fome more 
 convenient, and fafer place for Mary's delivery, than 
 lUtit fiahle of an inn. They knew before hand how ex- 
 tremely full the town would nccctTarlly be, upon this 
 particular occafion ; and as Zacharias had already per- 
 formed his public part in the plot, and the further pro- 
 fecution of their defign fo abfolutely depended upon 
 Mary's fafe delivery ; they would unqueflionabiy have 
 taken this requifite and obvious precaution, at leaft, in 
 order to have fecured it. 
 
yoh7i Baptijl and Jefus Chriji, 281 
 
 him their opinion, where the Meffiah ^art ir. 
 fhould be born 5 affords us another proof v^-vv^ 
 likewife, that this was a point, by no 
 means univerfally known and deter?mn- 
 €dy at the time, when the Wife Men m 
 queftion appeared. 
 
 Now this point not being known to 
 yofeph and his aflbciates 3 nor fo far deter- 
 mined, as to enable them to judge be- 
 fore-hand, with any tolerable degree of 
 affurance, for what particular place He- 
 rod's anfwer would declare j it is clearly 
 impoflible, that they could fend counter- 
 feits to Jerufalem, at this time, to en- 
 quire of Herod, where the Meffiah fliould 
 be born ? 
 
 For as to Herod, if lie (hould choofe 
 to diffemble fo far, as to return any an- 
 fwer to their enquiry; nothing lefs was to 
 be expected, than that he would aflemble 
 the great Council of the priefts, to deter- 
 mine the matter. And what mufl: have 
 been the confequence, if I'heir anfwer 
 had fixed upon a7ty other place, than that 
 particular city, where, without the leail: 
 
 view 
 
282 iToe Divine Mijfwns of 
 
 Par T II. view to the plot fuppofed, ycfia had been 
 already brought into the world ? It is 
 obvious, and muft have been fo to them, 
 that the determination of this learned 
 Body of the priefts, whofe opinions in 
 all matters of religion were of the grea- 
 teft weight and authority, would have 
 been fubmitted to, as decifive, by the 
 whole people ; and all this artful long 
 laid defign of fctting up the fon of 
 Mary for the Mrffiahy and the coun- 
 terpart of the plot with regard to Johny 
 muft at once have been effediually quafli- 
 ed, and entirely put an end to. 
 
 Had it therefore been poflible for any 
 company of deceivers, engaged in a con- 
 federacy with Zacharias and yofeph, to 
 have come to Jerufalem at this time, un- 
 der the aftiimed charafters of Wife Men 
 from the Eafl -, which however we have 
 feen it was not ; certain it is their er- 
 rand could not now have been, to en- 
 quire cf Herod himfeJf where the Mef- 
 fiah fhoidd be bor?i ? But, to fpread it 
 abroad among the people in general, 
 
 where 
 
yohn Baptijl and Jefus Chrifi. 283 
 
 where he aSlually was born. And the ^^'^'^ ^^* 
 
 •^ Sedl, 3. 
 
 fame ftar, which they pretended had s./->^r^ 
 guided them from the Eaft to Jerufa- 
 lem J would, without any difficulty, have 
 been made to condud: them foon after 
 to Bethlehem likewife -, and by this means 
 have faved them from that dangerous 
 application to Herod ; as v/ell as from 
 the hazard of receiving any fuch deter- 
 mination of the priefts, with regard to 
 the birth place of the Meffiah -, as mull 
 neceffarily have overthrovi^n their long 
 laid defign, of fetting up Jefus in his 
 flead. 
 
 And thus we have gone through the 
 propofed examination, as well into the 
 internal nature of the grand impofture 
 in debate ; as of feveral particulars^ that 
 occur in the courfe of the whole tranf- 
 adlion ^ and which, if there was any 
 deceit at all in the cafe, mull have been 
 fo many Heps deliberately taken by thole 
 who contrived, and carried it on. And 
 while, on the one hand, the defign it- 
 y^^ has appeared, on every conlidera- 
 
 tion, 
 
284 ^^ Divine Mijfwm of 
 
 Par T II. tion, moft extravagantly abfurdy and im- 
 ^^-V-w pojjlble to have been conceived or un- 
 dertaken J on the other, the condu6l of 
 every perfon concerned has proved itfelf, 
 in feveral particulars of the lafl impor- 
 tance to their fuccefs, diredly oppofite 
 to w^hat they muft certainly have purfued, 
 had they really been engaged in the pro- 
 fecution of the fiippofeJ iniquitous deceit. 
 
 Here therefore we may be allowed 
 to repeat, upon the ftrength of this ar- 
 gument o?iIy ', what has already been as 
 fully proved, in the firfl part, by an- 
 other ', that the plot, which we have all 
 along been fuppoiing, could not poffibly 
 have any real exigence. But on the con- 
 trary, that the revelations, and other mi- 
 racles recorded, as having accompanied 
 the ifirths of Zacharias's and Marys fons, 
 prove themfelves to have really come to 
 pafs : and confequently, that the facred 
 and prophetic ch a rasters, to which yohn 
 and Jejiis laid claim, muft unqueftionably 
 have been their true cho.raBers^ and in all 
 refpedts divine. 
 
 THE 
 
>^MM&^^m^. 
 
 THE 
 
 DIVINE MISSIONS 
 
 O F 
 
 JOHN the Baptist 
 
 AND 
 
 JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 PART III. 
 
 F T E R having proved, in the Part ill. 
 iirft place, from the circumftances 
 and lituation of all thofe, who 
 mufl have been the only contrivers of the 
 impofture in debate, that I'bey could not 
 poffibly have engaged in fuch a plot ; in 
 the next, that the fuppofed plot itfelf is, 
 in its own nature, fo manifeflly abfurd^ 
 that it could never be entered into by any 
 
 perfon 
 
3 86 The Divine MiJJtons of 
 
 Part III. perfoQ whatever j and further, that 7^1;^- 
 ral of the mofl important fteps, in the 
 courfe of thefe tranfadtions, are fuch as 
 could not have been taken, even if the 
 plot itfelf could really have exifted ; cer- 
 tainly nothing more can be necefTary to 
 eftablilh the miraculoia conceptions and 
 births, and confequently, the divine cha- 
 racters of "John the Baptiji and 'Jefus 
 Chriji, 
 
 But we have not yet produced all the 
 evidence in fupport of thefe points, which 
 the nature of the cafe will admit of, and 
 the fadls recorded in the gofpels afford. 
 And fince, in a matter of fuch impor- 
 , tance to the everlafting interefls of man- 
 kind, as the truth and certainty of a par- 
 ticular divine revelation, no argument, 
 which the cafe can furnilli to illuflrate the 
 truth, fhould be fuffered to lie negleded > 
 let us now go on to the examination of 
 fome other particulars, which naturally 
 prefent themfelves after thofe already con- 
 lidered; and which will prove a very 
 confiderable iiluftratlon of the points al- 
 ready eftablillicd. 
 
 Since 
 
yohn Bapttjl and Jefus Chriji, 2,^*j 
 
 Since John and Jefus at length ap- ^^^'^ ^^^^ 
 peared together, in thofe conneSted cha- 
 radters, which it was prophetically alTert- 
 ed, at the time of their births, they were 
 afterwards to aflume j we may with good 
 reafon exped-, that their own condu6t, in 
 all fuch particulars as any way affedled 
 each others charad:er and reputation j or 
 could have any influence on the final fuc- 
 cefs of their joint defign ; will afford us 
 fome very ftrong circumftantial evidence 
 of the truth or falfehood of their pre- 
 tenfions. 
 
 When any one has determined to at- 
 tempt deceiving mankind, by counter- 
 feiting fome public charader of a very ex- 
 traordinary nature ; it is incredible that 
 he iliould begin to enter upon adion, 
 without firft fettling, at leaft allthe/>r/«- 
 cipal parts of that condud, which he 
 judges moft likely to fecure him from de- 
 tedlion. When ?7iore than one have 
 agreed to profecute jointly any fuch ini- 
 quitous delign, it is equally obvious, that 
 they cannot be fuppofed to appear on the 
 
 public 
 
288 The Divijte Mijfwns of 
 
 Part III. public ftagc, vvithout having firft jointly 
 fettled the whole fcheme of their con- 
 dud, and allotted to each his particular 
 plan. 
 
 The more important and difficult the 
 characters are, which they intend to af- 
 fume, and the better the people, whom 
 they defign to impofe upon, are qualified 
 for dete(5ling them i the greater care they 
 will necelTarily take in adjufting their di- 
 ftindt parts, and contriving all the parti- 
 culars of importance in their public beha- 
 viour. More efpecially, as nothing is fo 
 apt to caufe an immediate fufpicion of 
 fome concerted deceit, as an apparent 
 connexion between fuch as lay claim to 
 the characters of infpircd mellengers from 
 God ; it cannot be imagined that fuch de- 
 ceivers, would determine to fay or do any 
 thing, which naturally tended to bring 
 the credit of Either into queftion. On 
 the contrary, it muft readily be allowed, 
 that they weuld exert the utmoft care, to 
 avoid doing any thing, but what might 
 help to promote the reputation and fuc- 
 
 ccfi 
 
"John Baptijl and If ejus Chrijl, ^^89 
 
 cefs of Each Other ^ in their joint under- Part III. 
 taking. 
 
 Since therefore ^ohn and 'Jefus were 
 fb profefTedlyconnedled together, that they 
 reciprocally bore the moft pofitive tefti^ 
 mony to the divine charader of each 
 other; thefe confiderations point out an^ 
 other method, in addition to thofe already 
 made ufe of, for eflablifliing the truth, or 
 deteding the falfehood of their claims. 
 For from hence it is plain, that if we will 
 fuppofe them to have been impoftors, we 
 muft allow their whole public condu(5t to 
 have been concerted between them, be- 
 fore they proceeded to the adual exe- 
 cution of their plot. So that if it fhould 
 appear, that in feverai particulars of their 
 public management, they took fuch fteps 
 as they muft naturally think would prevent 
 their mutual fuccefs ; and that, infome in- 
 ftances of their joint and relative behaviour, 
 Eiach purfued a very likely and obvious 
 method to deflroy the Other's, and even 
 his own reputation ; this likewife muft 
 be allowed a very ftrong collateral proof, 
 U that 
 
290 T'he Divine Mijftons of 
 
 Part III. that they could not be deceivers. With 
 chara6ters fo extremely difficult to fup- 
 port, as thofe laid claim to by yobn and 
 Jefus J and before a people fo well qua- 
 lified, and fo willing as the Jeivs were to 
 detedl them, had they been pretenders ; 
 we may peremptorily pronounce, that no 
 impoftors whatever could have adopted 
 fuch a conduct as this. 
 
 The evangelifts indeed have recorded 
 but few inftances of any public inter- 
 courfe between the Baptijl and yefus ; 
 and as few public declarations of Either, 
 immediately relating to the Other. Per- 
 haps becaufe there were in reality few 
 more of importance to mention j per- 
 haps becaufe they were fully fatisfied 
 with mentioning thofe they have j in ad- 
 dition to that abundant proof of yobis 
 divine charader, contained in the ;;;/r^- 
 cidous circumftances of his birth. But 
 few as the particulars of this kind, hand- 
 ed down to us, are ; thefe, when it is 
 confidered, that on the fuppofition of 
 an impofture, they muft have been pre- 
 concerted 
 
yohn Baptifl a72d Jefus Chrijl, 291 
 
 concerted between them ; will add no Part iir. 
 little ftrength to our former conclufion j 
 and place the certainty of the divine ori- 
 ginal of John and 'Jefus^ even in a flill 
 Wronger light than before. 
 
 U 2 
 
 SEC 
 
292 TT^e Divine Mijfwns of 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 Part III. 'HT^ H E condud and chara<flers of 
 sy^>/^ JL yoh?! the Bapti/i and ycfus Chrijiy 
 were in no particular more remarkably 
 diftind:, than this ; that whereas Jefus 
 fpent great part of his time in performing 
 the moft aftonifhing miracles, without 
 number ; the Baptiji, we are exprefsly 
 informed *, never attempted to work a?jy 
 miracle at all. 
 
 Now fuppofing them to have been 
 joint impoilors, John muft have been as 
 able to perform all Jefus's miracles, as 
 Jefus himfelf was. For, on this fuppo- 
 lition, how aftonifliing foever thefe works 
 may appear to us, and plainly beyond the 
 reach of all power lefs than the divine ; 
 to be confiftent, we are obliged to con- 
 fefs, that at the bottom they could not be 
 any thing more, than mere tricks and 
 delufions. It is clearly impoflible like- 
 wife, for two deceivers to have agreed to- 
 gether 
 * John's Gofp. X. 41. 
 
yohn Bapttjl and y ejus Chrijl. 293 
 
 getherupon fo hazardous a defign, with- p^rt in. 
 out laying open to each other all the wiles ^/v^s/ 
 and artifices each was mafter of, and by 
 the help of which only they could hope 
 to carry it on. 
 
 If then they were deceivers, it mufl: be 
 allowed, that 'John knew how to work as 
 many, and as great apparent miracles asy^- 
 fiis himfelf did. And confequently we muft 
 believe, that his never attempting to per- 
 form any, was in truth owing to a private 
 agreement, previoufly made between 
 them 5 from a perfuafion, that this arti- 
 fice would conduce moll to the fuccefs of 
 their joint defign. 
 
 Is it then credible John and Jefus 
 could imagine, that the fuccefs of their 
 plot would have been at all obflruded, 
 fhould John liave performed any of thefe 
 aflonifhing works ? At firfl fight it feems 
 evident, that deceivers, who were deter- 
 mined to attempt fo difficult and unpro- 
 mifing an impoflure, would gladly have 
 made ufe of e'uery expedient, that could 
 gain the good opinion of thofe they want- 
 , U 3 e4 
 
294- ^^ Divine Mi£io77S of 
 
 Part III. ed to deceive. And fince the peculiar 
 i,/-vO part yohn undertook, was to prepare the 
 people for the reception of yefus ; by af- 
 furing them of his divine authority, and 
 prepoiTefling them, as much as polTible, 
 in his favour j what more natural, than 
 for yohn himfelf to have exerted fome of 
 thefe extraordinary powers j the more ef- 
 fectually to gain credit to his own pro- 
 phetic character j and confequently, to all 
 his declarations, concerning his AJjociate^ 
 who was fo foon to appear ? 
 
 If they thought it neceflaiy for pro- 
 curing yefus ^ fuccefs, to fend a meffenger 
 before him, to proclaim his fpeedy arri- 
 val, and prepare the Jews to receive him, 
 when he fliould come -, they muft un- 
 queftionably have been delirous to furnifli 
 this pretended divi?ie herald, with the heft 
 credentials in their power ; that his em- 
 bally might be attended with the wiflied 
 for effedt. Nor could they think, that 
 any other expedient would be fo emi- 
 nently fcrviceable for diis end, as the per- 
 formance of fome fuch feemingly mira- 
 culous 
 
yohn Baptijl and yefus Chrijl, 295 
 
 culoiis works, as we have juft now feen. ^^^J ^^^• 
 
 ■' Sedt. 1. 
 
 ^ohn muft have been able to perform. Be- >y\r^ 
 lides that great attention and reverence, 
 which works of this kind were fure to 
 excite, on their own account alone ; they 
 were what feveral of the Old Prophets had 
 occafionally performed i and in particu- 
 cular, that very prophet * Elijah^ in 
 ivhofe fpirit and power Zacharias had ex- 
 plicitly foretold, that 'John would go before 
 the Lord, 
 
 This therefore would have been (o 
 far from inconliftent v/ith that charad:er, 
 in which yohn himfelf was to appear -, 
 that it muft have feemed highly probable 
 to yejiii and Himfelf if impoftors, that 
 the people might expec^l fomething of 
 this kind at his hands. And whether 
 they fhould require this or not 3 thus 
 much was evident and certain ; that no- 
 thing elfe could contribute fo efFe(5tually 
 to fohns reception as a true prophets and 
 confequentiy to the eflablifliment of Je-^ 
 7^^5's character, hy his means, 
 
 U 4 Since- 
 
 * I Kings, ch. xvii. andxviii. 2 Kings, ch. i. and ii. 
 
2g6 7%e Divine Mijfions of 
 
 Part III. SiNCE then 'John and 'Jefm could not 
 but be fenfible, that the performance of 
 fome feemlngly great miracles would be 
 highly inftrumental in fecuring 'Johns 
 fuccefs, in his preparatory part of the 
 plot J their previous agreement, that, not- 
 withftanding this, John fhould abftain en- 
 tirely from making ufe of them ; muft 
 have arifen from fome apprehenfion, that if 
 he did not, this would interfere with that 
 part, which Jefus himfelf was foon after 
 toadt J and thus, in the end, obftru6t the 
 fuccefs of the whole undertaking. 
 
 From what then could fuch an ap- 
 prehenfion arife ? No other affignable 
 foundation for it occurs, than a doubt, 
 whether, if John fliould work wonders 
 as well as JJus^ the people might not be 
 fo far prejudiced in favour oijolm j efpe- 
 cially as He was to 2.^}pt2ivfjji before them j 
 as to believe, for the moil: part, that John 
 himfelf was the Mejiahy and therefore pay 
 little regard to Jtjhs:, when he came. Or, 
 at leaft, that they might be fo far kept in 
 fulpence between the Two, as never to give 
 
 their 
 
yohn Baptijl and yefus Chrift, 297 
 
 their hearty afTent to Either ^ and by this Part lir. 
 means effedually prevent the final luccefs ,^ryr^ 
 of Both. 
 
 But thefe apprehenfions, however 
 plaufible at firft fight, could not pofiibly 
 have any real exiftence. Had two fiich 
 deceivers indeed fi:arted up, at the fame 
 time, without any fecret conned;ion ; 'They 
 might have had fome reafon to apprehend 
 the worfl of thefe inconveniencies, un- 
 lefs they prefently agreed to adl in con- 
 cert, and fupport each other. But as it is 
 certain, that if "John and 'Jefus were de- 
 ceivers, they muft from the beginning 
 have concerted every fiiep they took, to- 
 gether j fo we may be afiln^ed, that 'They 
 could not be influenced by any fuch ap- 
 prehenfions as thefe. 
 
 The more fatisfacflory proofs "Jchn 
 could give of his own infpiration j the 
 more eflfedually mufl his teftimony have 
 eftablifhed the belief of ycfuss divine mif- 
 fion y and not of his divine miflion only, 
 but the precife nature, and defign, of his 
 particular ojice. Whatever influence ycZ^/z's 
 
 autho- 
 
29S Tl^e Divine Mi£lo?is of 
 
 Part III. authority mkhthave, in determining the 
 
 Seel. I. JO' tj 
 
 opinion of the people, in one of thefe 
 points J the fame, it was to be expedted 
 it v/ould have, in the other. As Johns, 
 declarations could have no v/eight with 
 the Jews, in either of thefe particulars, 
 but in confequence of their being perfuad- 
 ed, that he was commiiHoned, from 
 cbove, to make known to them whatever 
 he declared j it was natural to think, that 
 his declarations would have the f^me 
 weight, in both thefe points, as in either. 
 So that if John and Jefus were agreed in 
 opinion, that it would be ferviceable to 
 their joint delign, for john to appear as a 
 divine meffenger, before the arrival of jfe- 
 Jus ; and to bear witnefs to Him at all ; 
 and had not this been the cafe John could 
 not have appeared j they muft, for the 
 fame reafon, have thought it befl:, for John 
 tofupport his own divine character by every 
 artifice in his power ; and particularly, by 
 this of performing great apparent mira- 
 cles, in preference to every other. 
 
 Had 
 
'Joh?! Baptijl and J ejus Chrijl. 2,gg 
 Had they even conceived the leaft fuf- P^^^^J ^^r. 
 
 Sect. I. 
 
 picion of any fuch ill confequence from 
 this condud:, as v^as juft now fuggefted ; 
 nothing vi^ould have been ealier, than to 
 prevent their mutual credit from interfer- 
 ing, by this means, in the leaft with each 
 other. What more obvious, than that 
 they would have agreed, t\-i:it Johi fliould 
 perform many works apparently miracu- 
 lous J but that the mojl aflonifliing of all 
 thofe they were able to contrive ; fuch as 
 feeming to give fight to thofe who had 
 been born blindy and railing the dead -, 
 fhould be inviolably referved for jfefus's 
 hand alojie. That Joh?!^ in the mean 
 time, fhould on all thefe occalions incul- 
 cate upon the people, the great fuperiority 
 of power with which they would fliortly 
 fee the Mejjlah himfelftndio^^tdi ; and prefs 
 this upon them, as the infallible criterion 
 of that fuperior divine charader, which, 
 he was to teach them, belonged to yefiis 
 alone. This would have been fo natural 
 an expedient, that they could not over- 
 look it ; and, at the fame time, fo ex- 
 tremely 
 
300 n^e Divine Mijfwns of 
 
 Part III. tremelv ferviceable to their caufe, that It 
 v/^/'>j IS inconceivable they fliould decline mak- 
 ing ufe of it. 
 
 And befides this obvious and eafy re- 
 flridion, with regard to the nature of the 
 works themfelves ; various expedients 
 would have been hit on, bv men of fuch 
 fubtilty and contrivance, as thefe mufl 
 have been ; to render yohris miracles far 
 lefs flriking, than thofe even of the fame 
 kind, worked by ycfus bii}?Jelf; merely by 
 means of their different maimers of per- 
 forming them. 
 
 In fome inflances we find ^efus him- 
 felf making ufe of apparent, though not 
 adequate means to accomplifh his works j 
 in others, not having recourfe to any. 
 Sometimes he required certain qualifica- 
 tions in the perfons themfelves, for whom 
 he was about to work them ; as neceffary 
 afiiftances for the fuccefs of his own en- 
 deavours : at others he peremptorily pro- 
 nounced the word, and the work was 
 performed. Some he chofe to com- 
 pleat in an infbant 3 others were accom- 
 
 pliOied 
 
yohn Baptijl and Jefus Chrtfl. 301 
 
 plifhed but by degrees. Upon fome oc- Part ill. 
 Gallons he openly implored afliftance from .^^-y-N^ 
 heaven, as if it was God alone, who re- 
 ally performed every thing he himfelf 
 feemed to do; on others he thought fit 
 to adt, as if he himfelf was adlually en- 
 dowed with the fulnefs of divine power. 
 
 It is not only a probable juppojition 
 therefore, that many different methods of 
 working the fame kind of miracles would 
 have occurred to ^ohn and Jefus^ at the 
 fettling of their refpedtive parts, in the 
 execution of the plot ; but it is an un- 
 deniable matter of faB, that they actu- 
 ally miiji. It is evident likewife, that 
 though every work conceived to be mi- 
 raculous neceffarily implies the exertion 
 of divine power ; yet -fome miracles, in 
 the nature of the things themfelves, may 
 be far more aftonifliing than others ; and 
 even the fame kind of miracles may be 
 performed by different perfons, in a man^ 
 ?ier fo unequally calculated to furprife j 
 as to make the fpedators naturally con- 
 ceive far more exalted notions of the One, 
 than the Other. So 
 
302 The Div'me Mijfwns of 
 
 Part ih. So that, by takinn; in the performance 
 
 Seft. I. • I 1 
 
 ^../^'-^ or apparent miracles to his aid, but con- 
 fining himfelf, all the while, to thofe of 
 the leaft ftupendous and aftonifhing na- 
 ture, and working even thcfe in the moft 
 diffident and humble manner; 'John 
 might with much greater affurance have 
 cxpeded to eflablifli his own credit, and 
 prepare the people for acknowledging the 
 divine miffion of Jcfus ; than he could 
 hope to accomplilh thcfe ends without 
 them. And the miracles, which John 
 might have performed under thefe ob- 
 vious reilridions, would have been fo far 
 from involving the Jews in doubt and per- 
 plexity, about the difference between the 
 character of yefus, and His ow?2 ; that his 
 repeated declaraticns of himfelf, as be- 
 ing only the Mejjiah's Forerunner ; and of 
 Jefus as being the true Mejjiah -, flrength- 
 ened by yejuss more aftonifhing works, 
 and fuperior all-powerful manner of per- 
 forming them ; would have induced the 
 Jews to acquiefce with greater readinefs, 
 and certainty, in Their difiindl pretenfions. 
 
 For 
 
"John Baptijl and Jefus Chrifl, 303 
 
 For as yohris divine authority would, by Part III, 
 this means, have been more aflliredly »y-vO 
 eftablifhed j fo it v^^as to be expeded, that 
 his peremptory, explicit declarations of 
 yefus's peculiar character, as well as his 
 own, would be more implicitly believed. 
 
 How then can it be conceived, that 
 'fheyy who, if impoftors, were mafters 
 of fo compleat an art of working won- 
 ders, as no other impoftors ever polTef- 
 fedj and who depended ultimately for 
 fuccefs, upon the ufe they fliould make 
 of thefe wonderous works, more than 
 any thing elfe ; as Jefus himfelf often de- 
 clared ; how can it be believed T^hey could 
 agree, that John fhould entirely abftainfrom 
 making the leaftufe of them, when they 
 would have been fo immediately capable 
 of doing the greateft fervice to the caufe ? 
 Nothing lefs than the moft evident da?!^ 
 ger refulting from them, could perfuade 
 an impoftor to forego the pleafure of put- 
 ting in practice fo exquifite an art j and in 
 the cafe before us, inftead of any ill con- 
 fequence to fear from it, there was a very 
 
 evident. 
 
304 ^^^ Divine Mijfwns of 
 
 Part III. evident, and ftron^ reafon for yohns mak- 
 
 Seil. I. . . ° ^ 
 
 ^./-v*^^ ii^g ^fc of it- The benefit to be expe(5ted 
 from it, was (o great, that they muft both 
 have been exceedingly defirous to make 
 Johns application of it fubfervient to the 
 reft of their plot j and the expedients, by 
 which this might have been done, were fo 
 obvious and ea/y, that they could not ef- 
 cape their obfervation. 
 
 Had John and y^fus been importers, 
 we fhould therefore undoubtedly have re- 
 ceived accounts of many miracles per- 
 formed by John ; though neither fo nume- 
 rous, nor aftonifliing as thofe of Jefus 
 himfelf. And had this ever caufed the 
 Jews to enquire ; in a manner fimilar to 
 what they did upon another occalion ; why 
 He performed thefe miracles, if he was 
 not the MeJJiah^^ His anfwer was ready, 
 and would have been of Angular fervice 
 to the whole joint undertaking — I indeed 
 (he would have faid) do perform thofe mi- 
 raculous works, which have excited your 
 admiration, and caufed this enquiry -, but 
 there ftandeth one among you, whom ye 
 
 know 
 
yohn Baptijl and yefus Chrifl, 305 
 know notj He it is, who will perform Part III. 
 
 Seft. I. 
 
 much greater works before you, than I .^^<-^^-sJ 
 am able to do. But thefe works, that I 
 do, they are abundantly fufficient to con- 
 vince you of my on.vn divine authority j 
 and confequently to fatisfy you, that He 
 alone, whom I have (o often pointed out 
 to you as fuch, is the true Mejjiah ; as well 
 as that / myfelf am his immediate Fore- 
 runner. 
 
 X 
 
 SEC- 
 
3o6 ll^e Divine MiJJlons of 
 
 S E C T I O N II. 
 
 Part III. TT p 'John and JeJ us vftXQ joint ditc^iwtvs, 
 i^»vv A it is certain, not only from the nature 
 of their defign itfelf, but likewife from 
 thofe very diftindt, and remarkable kinds 
 of life, they Each adopted j that they did 
 not begin to fhew themfelvesto the people, 
 without having firfl deliberately agreed to 
 afTume fuch particular characters, as ap- 
 peared to them beft calculated for promot- 
 ing their plot. For befides, that this was 
 a matter of fuch importance as they could 
 not negle6t j the chara5lerSy they adually 
 appeared in, were fo extraordinary in them- 
 felves, and fo directly oppojite to each 
 other, that they could not proceed from 
 any thing but a preconcerted defign. 
 
 From the very beginning 'John prac- 
 tifed all imaginable aufterity j making his 
 firft public appearance in a covering * of 
 camels hair, tied with a leathern girdle ; 
 living with the moft fmgular abftemiouf- 
 
 nefs, 
 f Matthew iii. 4. 
 
^ohjt Baptijl and y ejus Chriji, 307 
 
 nefs, upon locufts and wild honey -, and ^^^'^ I^^* 
 excluding himtelfj in great meafure, from v^-v-v 
 all human fociety. Nor did he himfelf 
 only mofl rigoroufly adhere to all the re- 
 ligious rites and ordinances, pradiced by 
 the feverefl fe6l among the Jews, the Pha- 
 rifees ; but he obliged all his own dif- 
 ciples, who aflbciated at all with him, to 
 do the fame. Whence the Pharifees them- 
 felves put the queftion to Jefus ; why do * 
 the difciples of fohn fajl often, and make 
 prayers, and likewife the difciples of the 
 Pharifees ; but thine eat and drink ? Such 
 was xhtfolitary and mortified life of yohn, 
 from the beginning of his public appear- 
 ance in the charader of the Baptif, 
 
 Jesus, on the contrary, was the very 
 reverfe of all this. He afTumed a charac- 
 ter, not ooly void of all feverity and re- 
 ft raint, but fpent his whole time in a moft 
 uncommon manner, in feeking the fociety 
 of, and converfing familiarly with all ranks 
 and orders of the people. And fo far 
 was he from " complying with the fuper- 
 X 2 ftitiou* 
 
 * Luke V, 33. 
 
3o8 ^e Divhie MiJJtofts of 
 
 Part III. ftitious ceremonial of any of the prevailing 
 fedts, but more efpecially the rigid Pha- 
 rifees i or exhorting his difciples to con- 
 form in the leaft, to them j that, on all 
 occafions, he himfelf conftantly broke 
 through them, and both publicly and 
 privately inveighed againft them. Society 
 was vA\2i\. he fought above all things; 
 even with the moft defpifed fort of men, 
 and fuch as lay under a general reproach : 
 and Vv^ith thefe, and all others, he eat, 
 and drank, and converfed, juft as oppor- 
 tunities offered, without the leaft refer- 
 vednefs or reftraint. From his very firft 
 appearance in the charadter of the Mef- 
 fiahj he bid adieu, not only to retirement, 
 but even to domeftic life ; and might be 
 faid to live perpetually in the public view 
 of mankind. So that folitude and aufte- 
 rity did not more remarkably diftinguifli 
 the character of 'John -, than focial inter- 
 courfe with all ranks of men, and a ready 
 compliance with all their various indiffe- 
 rent cuftoms, may be faid to mark out the 
 peculiar condud: of Jefus. 
 
 Now 
 
yohn Baptijl and jfefus Chrifl, 309 
 Now it is plainly impoffible for two Part irr. 
 
 ^ , , . 1 r , 1 Sea- 2. 
 
 connecled aecewers, to liave reloived on v.,./-v"s«,» 
 two fuch Jingiilar and cppofite charaders 
 as thefe ; and more efpecially upon one io 
 fevere and difagreeabie as that of the Bap- 
 tijl j unlefs they thought them indifpen- 
 libly neceffary for the accomplifhment of 
 their defigns, and for that very reafon 
 pitched upon them. It is evident like- 
 wifcj that whatever other coniiderations 
 might contribute to determine their 
 choice i the ^r/l and principal defign, 
 which they could never lofe light of, mull 
 have been, to lingle out fuch a character 
 for Each, as would appear to correlpond 
 with, and fulfill, thofe prophetical reve- 
 lations concerning them, which had been 
 published by Zacharias and Mary^ about 
 the time of their births. While we fup- 
 pofe them to have been impoflors, thefe 
 predictions, as we have already feen, mufl: 
 be acknowledged as the beginning and 
 foundation of the whole plot. So that 
 they were now under an abfolute necef- 
 fity of paying the ftridefl regard to them ; 
 X 3 and 
 
3 I o The Divine Mijfions of 
 
 Part III. and could neither forget nor negled to 
 do it. 
 
 If then either of thofe lingular cha- 
 racters, which we find they a<5lually adopt- 
 ed, and efpecially that of "J ejus ^ fliould 
 prove, upon confideration, in any ftrik- 
 ing and capital particulars, wholly incon- 
 fiftent with, 2indie.wtncontradiBory to, what 
 they themfelves mufl know to be the 
 commonly received fenfe of thofe predic- 
 tions, which had been at firft made pub- 
 lic concerning them ; this again muft be 
 allowed another very ftrong prefumptive 
 argument, and indeed a conclufive one, 
 that they could not be impoftors. 
 
 Zacharias's prophetical declaration 
 concerning Jefus, at the time of John's 
 circumciiion, was as follows. Blejjed be 
 the Lord God of Ifrael^ for he hath vifited 
 and redeemed his people^ and hath raifed tip 
 an horn of fahation for us, in the hoiife of 
 his fervant David ; as he fpake by the 
 months of his holy prophets, which have 
 been f?ice the world began : that we Jhoidd 
 be faved from our enemies, and from the 
 
 hand 
 
yohn Baptijl and Jefus Chriji, 311 
 
 hand of all that hate us : to perform the Part lir. 
 mercy promijed to our fathers y and to re- ^^sf^^ 
 member his holy covena?2t : the oath which 
 he fivare to our father Abraham 3 that he 
 would grant unto us, that we being deli- 
 *oered out of the hands of our enemies ^ might 
 ferve him without fear ; in holinefs and 
 righteoufnefs before him all the days of 
 
 our Itte 
 
 * 
 
 Agreeable to this, but more full and 
 exprefs, was the revelation of the Angel 
 ^xc^ Mary, And behold, thou Jhalt con- 
 ceive in thy womb, and Jlmlt bring forth 
 a fin, and fialt call his name Jefus. He 
 JJjall be great, and Jhall be called the fin 
 of the Higheji -, and the Lord God fjall 
 give unto him the throne of his father 
 David. And he Jljall reign over the houfe 
 of facob forever, and of his kingdom there 
 Jhall be no end -f*. 
 
 In what fenfe the Jews at this time in- 
 terpreted the predidions of the Holy Pro- 
 phets, mentioned by Zacharias, and God's 
 promifes to Abraham, is well known. In 
 X 4 the 
 
 * Luke i. 68,— 75. f Luke i- 3°; — 33' 
 
312 The Divine Mijftons of 
 
 Part III. the perfon of the MeJJiah, they univerfally 
 J^^/«*^-*^ expedled a temporal prince ; who {hould 
 deliver them out of the hands of their 
 enemies, and raife them to an univerfal 
 monarchy, which could never be over- 
 turned *. And fince the prophecies con- 
 cerning 'J ejus ^ ]\}SS. now quoted, were 
 plainly fuch as coincided with this general 
 opinion j and Zacharias and Majj, who 
 made them public, could not but know, 
 that they would be univerfally underflood 
 in this fenfe, and no other i if they were 
 forgeries, their defign in them muft ne- 
 cefTarily have been, that ycfus fhould af- 
 fume fuch a charader, as the predidions 
 they delivered, would be univerfally un- 
 derftood to foretell. For the fame rea- 
 fon, when Jcfus himfelf came afterwards 
 to deliberate upon a plan for his own 
 public condudt -, he muft have been clear- 
 ly convinced, that no behaviour whatever 
 
 would 
 
 * This is abundantly evident, not only from the be- 
 haviour of the people in general to Jffus, but even of 
 his d'tjciples themfelves, in a variety of inftances through- 
 out the gofpcls. Sec likewife I.aruner's Cred. &c. b. i. 
 ch. 5. 
 
yohit Baptift and yefus Chrijl, 313 
 
 would be looked upon as agreeable to ^'^^t i^f- 
 thofe prophecies, which he knew it was ^/v^ 
 abfolutely incumbent upon him to fulfill ; 
 unlefs he plainly intimated a defign of fet- 
 ting himfelf up, at fome proper opportu- 
 nity, for their tetnporal King. 
 
 Was that remarkable kind of life, 
 then, that Jefus actually adopted, fuch 
 as might probably induce the Jews to 
 conclude, he entertained this defign -, or 
 did he ever make any particular declara- 
 tions to promote this belief ? On the con- 
 trary, his conftantand familiar intercourfe, 
 not only with the lowed orders of the 
 people, but with the Fiiblicans more efpe- 
 cially, who were looked upon as infa- 
 mous by the Jews ; was a principal part 
 of his condu6t, plainly calculated to de- 
 prive him of all outward refped and ho- 
 nour 5 and to ^r^w;?/ the Jews, as much 
 as pofiible, from entertaining any exalted 
 notions about him. 
 
 At the fame time, it appears, he never 
 threw out any fuch crafty infinuations, as 
 an impofior^ in this cafe, would not have 
 
 failed 
 
314 ^^ Divme Mijftons of 
 
 Part JII. failed to do; calculated to lead the people 
 
 Sedt 2. . . . 
 
 \y>^^-^ on witlt an opinion, that he was not with- 
 out fuch deligns, as they believed the 
 Mejjiah would certainly put in practice ; 
 though the proper feafon for their execu- 
 tion was not yet arrived. Nay when, af- 
 ter having miraculoufly fed a great multi- 
 tude, he faw they began to be perfuaded, 
 that he muft be the Mcjjiah ; and for that 
 reafon were propofing to fet him up im- 
 mediately for their King j he indujirioujly 
 prevented it, by difperfmg them ; and to 
 avoid any further attempts of the fame 
 kind, immediately left the place *. And 
 at length, even when his death was juft 
 approaching, he folemnly clofed the fcene 
 with an explicit declaration to Pilate^ 
 that he laid no claim to any earthly 
 kingdom •\. 
 
 Could any conducSl have been more 
 oppojite than this, to the fenfe, in which 
 he well knew the Jev.'s muft have under- 
 ftood thofe remarkable prophecies of his 
 life and ad:ions, which had been made 
 
 public 
 
 * John vi. 15, kc. f, John x\'ili. 36 
 
yohn Baptift and Jefus Chf-ifl, 315 
 public by Zacharias and Mary ; as well as P^^^ llf- 
 
 . . /. . . /• 7 beet. ^ 
 
 to their univerfal opinion of tkit condud:, .^•'V'^ 
 which the Mejjiah was to purfue ? From 
 beginning to end, it is evident, he per- 
 fifted in a regular oppofition to their in- 
 veterate opinions of both j and yet never 
 attempted to convince them, or even ib 
 much as infinuated to them, that they 
 were at all miftaken in their interpreta- 
 tion of either. 
 
 But perhaps a fufpicion may here arife, 
 that becaufe thefe prophecies had been 
 given out no lefs than near thirty years, be- 
 fore yefiis began to appear in public 5 
 therefore he might on this account deter- 
 mine, that there was no neceffity to pay 
 any regard to them; as predidions long 
 fince forgotten, and of no concern. Or 
 perhaps, it may poffibly be objedled, ^6'- 
 fus might think the knowledge of them 
 was confined within fb narrow a circle, 
 that on this account likewife they were not 
 worthy of his regard. 
 
 Here it is obvious to remark, the 
 truth of which we have it^n long ago, 
 
 that 
 
3i6 Tl^e Divine Mijftons of 
 
 Part III. that all the furprizin": events faid to have 
 
 Seft. 2. . , . . . 
 
 J accompanied yefus's conception, his birth j his 
 prejentation in the temple, andefpeciallyhis 
 being fought after by the Wife Men ; muft 
 certainly have been known, at the time, to 
 very great numbers of the Jews. It is 
 likewife as confeiTedly obvious, that Jo/m 
 and Je/iis could not but exped: the me- 
 mory of all thefe particulars to be revived; 
 as foon as their claims to the divine cha- 
 radlers they aflumed, fliould become an 
 objed of the public attention. And as 
 to the prophecies y in particular, which 
 had been at firft made public about them ; 
 the number of years which had elapfed, 
 fince the time when they were given out, 
 was a circumftance fo far from making it 
 :he kfs defireable to fulfill them ; that, 
 on the contrary, it was the moft forttmate 
 circumftance, that could attend them. 
 Such a one indeed, as any impoftors, in 
 their cafe, mufl: have wiflied for, if it had 
 not exifted. For the longer it had been 
 iincc fuch prophecies were delivered, be- 
 fore tlie time for their accompliiliment ar- 
 rived i 
 
yoh7t Baptiji and Jefus Chrijl. 317 
 
 rived; the greater certainly muft their ^z^- ^^^"^ ^^^ 
 , ^ ■' Sea. z. 
 
 thority be j and confequently the more v.^'-v"^ 
 defirous an impoftor muft have been to 
 fulfill them. 
 
 But befides all thefe confideratlons, 
 the character alTumed by the Baptiji v^ill 
 very clearly convince us, that, in fadl, 
 yefus and He did not look upon it as un- 
 neccjfary for them to do all in their power, 
 to fulfill the prophecies in queftion. 
 
 It is not now to be proved, that if 
 ^ohn and "Jefus were deceivers, their pub- 
 lic condu(5t and characters mufl in the 
 beginning have been debated and agreed 
 on, between them Both. And had they 
 been of opinion, for any reafons what- 
 ever, that it was not necefTary for 'Jefus 
 hi mfelf to pay, any regard to thofe prophe- 
 cies, which had been fo long before fpread 
 abroad concerning him j for the fame rea- 
 fons, they would have determined it to 
 be unnecejjary for yohn likewife ; elpe- 
 cially as he had but the inferior part 
 to aft. 
 
 It 
 
31 8 T^he Divine MiJ/tons of 
 
 Part III. It muft be obferved too, at the fame 
 
 Se6t 2. 
 
 ^./-Y-Nj time, that Johns whole charadler con- 
 filled in the pradlice of fo much apparent 
 fandity, at leaf!:, and real^fevere morti- 
 fication, as it is incredible any impoftor 
 would have confented to undergo, unlefs 
 he thought it abfolutely reqiiifite for the 
 fuccefs of his undertaking. Yet John^ we 
 find, adhered minutely to thefe prophe- 
 cies, which had been given out by Za- 
 charias concerning him : nay, he even ex- 
 ceeded what could have been expelled 
 from him, on their account, in the feve- 
 rity of his life and manners. 
 
 It had been foretold, that he fliould 
 go before the "Lord in the fpirit and power 
 of Elias : and this he fo particularly ful- 
 filled, as even to appear like E/ias, in his 
 very garb itfelf *. It had been faid, that 
 
 he 
 
 * As appears from Matthew iii. 4. And the fame 
 'John had his raivient of camels hair, and a leathern girdle 
 ahctit his loins ; \vhen compared with 2 Kings, i. 7, 8. 
 — And he, Ahaziah, /aid unto them, luhat manner of 
 man ivas he, luhich came to meet you, and told you thefe 
 nfjords F And they anfivered him, he ivas an hairy man, and 
 girt wth a girdle of leather about his loins. And he faid, it is 
 
 Elijah 
 
"John Baptijl and "Jefus Chriji, 3 r g 
 he fhould drink neither wine nor ftrong: Part ill, 
 
 Sed. 2. 
 
 drink : and he lived in the defert upon ^y^^^ 
 locufts and wild honey * : and preach- 
 ing the baptifm of repentance for the re- 
 miffion of fins, was, as it had been fore- 
 told -j-, the conftant employment of his 
 public life. So that while Jefus, as we 
 have feen already, was ad:ing in direB op- 
 pojition to the received opinion of all the 
 prophecies, which had been given out con- 
 cerning him i and this, in thofe parts of his 
 condudl, which mufl be expedled to have 
 the greateft influence upon his fuccefs : 
 yohn v/as practicing without interruption 
 the raoji fever e mortifications ; merely to 
 fulfill thofe predictions, v/hich had been 
 originally made public concerning him. 
 
 But v»^hat principles can pofiibly ex- 
 plain, or reconcile, fo oppofite a condud: 
 
 as 
 
 Elijah the Tijhhite. John's garment of camels hair was 
 probably the fackcloth with which penitents and mour- 
 ners ufed to cover their loins, and fometimes their whole 
 bodies ; i Chron. xxi, i6. — Macknight's Harm. fe£l. 
 14. —See Hamm. on Matthew iii. 
 
 * Compare Luke i. 15. with Matt. iii. 4. and Mark 
 i.6. 
 
 t Compaie Luke iii, 3, &c. with Luke i, 76, jj. 
 
320 TToe Divine Mijfions of 
 
 Part III. as tlils ; ill two impoftorsyo/Vz/Zy embarked 
 ,^,/-Y-s^ ^'^ the profecution of o;?f and the fame de- 
 fign ? The adapting of their charadiers to 
 the prophecies in queftion, was evidently 
 a particular, which all impoftors muft 
 have regarded, as of the utmoft impor- 
 tance to their future fuccefs. It was like- 
 wife a point in which the fuccefs of Both 
 was equally concerned, with this diffe- 
 rence only J that as the iffue of the whole 
 undertaking depended finally upon the re- 
 ception, which ^efus himjelf might be 
 able to procure j fo the failure of "Jefus^ in 
 this moft important particular, would have 
 been more foUicitoully guarded againft by 
 all impoftors, than that of "John. So that 
 had ^chn and 'Jefus been impoftors, we 
 may reft fully fatisfied, that Both of them 
 would have contrived the characters they 
 afliimed, in fuch a manner as to anfwcr 
 the prophecies in queftion j or, had thi^ 
 been poffible. Neither. And even could 
 the nature of the cafe have permitted, that 
 Ojie of them might negled: this precau- 
 tion, while they thought it was abfolutely 
 
 ne- 
 
yohn Baptiji and "J ejus Chrijl, 321 
 
 necefTary for the Other to obferve it; it P^^^ l^^- 
 muft certainly have been John^ who was 
 left at liberty to choofe, inftead of Jefiis, 
 
 The condud: of 'Jejiis therefore, in 
 regard to this important particular ; when 
 confidered, as the nature of the cafe ne- 
 ceflarily requires it {hould be, in conjunc- 
 tion with that of "John-, appears abfolutely 
 irreconcileable with the fuppolition of their 
 joint impoflure ; and this inconfiilency in 
 their different characters, when viewed 
 in its proper light, affords us another de- 
 cilive argument, that they could not pof- 
 fibly be deceivers. 
 
 But might they not entertain hopes 
 of fucceeding more univerfally, it may 
 be faid, with all ranks and orders among 
 ^kv^Jews', by means of thofe contrary cha- 
 racters, which they alTumed ? The Jew- 
 iih people being divided, as it were, into 
 feparate bodies ; of which the leading fecfts 
 were very exaCt and rigorous in their ob- 
 fervance of all faflings, and numberlefs 
 external rites of religion ; while the refl 
 paid much lefs regard to thefe rigid infti- 
 Y tutions ; 
 
32 2 7^^ Divine Mijfions of 
 
 Part III. tutions ; it may poflibly be conceived, that 
 \y^\^ 'John and 'Jefiis purpofely afTumed thofe 
 oppofite charadters in which they appear- 
 ed, in order the more effedually to ingra- 
 tiate themfelves with all fedts and perfua- 
 fions. Perhaps it may even be thought, 
 that 'Jejus himfelf item's, to have betrayed 
 fome fuch defign, in this particular ex- 
 clamation. Whereiinto fiall I liken this 
 generation ? It is like unto children Jitting 
 in the markets, and calling unto their feU 
 loivSy and faying -y ive have piped unto 
 you, and ye have not danced; we have 
 ' mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented, 
 — For Johji came neither eating, nor drink- 
 ing, and they fay he hath a devil. I'he fon 
 of man came eating and drinking ; and 
 they fay, behold a ma?i gluttonous, and a 
 isoine-bibber, a friend of publicans, and fin- 
 Iters : but ivifdom is jufified of all her 
 children *. 
 
 Now had this been their view, it will 
 not be denied, that it muft have been 
 Johns intended part, to apply himfelf af- 
 
 fiduoufly 
 
 * Matthew xi.i6 : — 19. 
 
yohn Baptijl a7td yefus Chrtjl, 323 
 
 fiduoufly to gaining over xh^Pharifees^ and Part in. 
 other powerful feds, by means of his con- ^.y^^ 
 formity to their favourite fuperftitions : 
 while Jefus was to win upon the people in 
 general, by his negled of fuch rigid for- 
 malities, and unreferved condefcenfion. 
 In the mean time, it muft have been a 
 conftant and principal part of the care 
 of Bothy to avoid every thing, that 
 had the leaft apparent tendency to inter- 
 fere with, and obflrud the fuccefs ofEacb 
 Other, 
 
 Does it then in fadl appear, thzt Johii 
 did apply himfelf more efpecially to pro- 
 cure the favour and protection of the moffc 
 powerful and rigid SeBs ? Quite the con- 
 trary. He had all the opportunity for at- 
 tempting it he could ever hope for. He 
 no fooner began to preach and baptize, 
 than the Pharifees and Saducees, ftruck 
 with the novelty of his appearance and 
 manner, came in great numbers, with the 
 reft of the people, about him. Did he 
 then receive thefe haughty guefts with any 
 peculiar marks of reverence and refpe<ft ? 
 Y 2 Did 
 
324 ^^ Divine Mijftons of 
 
 Part III. Did he do, or even fay any thing, on this 
 
 ^yyji>^ wilhed for occafion, that might flatter 
 
 their pride, and difpofe them to entertain 
 
 a favourable opinion of him and his pre- 
 
 tenlions ? 
 
 On the contrary, he began imme- 
 diately to rebuke tbem^ and even 'Thefji 
 in particular, with the greateft feverity, 
 in the prefence of the whole multitude j 
 as it were declaring war againft them, and 
 openly fetting them at defiance. T^hen 
 went out to hifn (John the Baptift) Jeru- 
 faJem, and all Judea, and all the regioji 
 round about 'Jordan, attd were baptized of 
 him in Jordan, confejjing their Jins. But 
 when he Jaw many of the Pharisees and 
 Sadducees come to his baptifm, he f aid 
 unto them J O generation of vipers, who 
 hath warned you /o flee from the wrath to 
 come * t Nothing could be more oppo- 
 fite, than this condud:, to the defign jufl: 
 fuppofed ; nor was any thing elfe to be 
 exped:ed from, it, but what adually hap- 
 pened; 
 
 * Matthew iii. 5, 6, 7- 
 
yohn Baptijl a7td ye/us Chriji, 325 
 
 pened *; that while tht people^ and the ^^^^ i^^* 
 publicans fubmitted chearfuUy to his bap- w'''"v*^ 
 tifm, the Fharifees and rulers almoft uni- 
 verfally rejedted and oppofed it. 
 
 In the mean time, fo far was 'Jejia 
 from being cautious of giving offence to 
 the leading feds 3 that he might not ob- 
 ftrud: the Baptiji, in his endeavours to 
 gain them J that He likewife feized every 
 opportunity of expofing even their pre- 
 tended virtues, as well as apparent vices : 
 and as his own conduct was in every re- 
 fpedt diametrically oppolite to theirs -, fb 
 he was continually pointing them out 
 to the people, as the proper objeds of 
 their averlion and contempt. Nor was 
 this behaviour, either in Joh?! or Jefus, 
 the fudden effedl of unguarded paffion, or 
 furprife ; but their cool, conflant, and 
 deliberate choice. So that, as nothing 
 could be more inconfiilent with that con- 
 du(Sl they would certainly have obferved, 
 had they agreed on their refpedive cha- 
 Y 3 raders 
 
 * Luke vii. 29, 30. 
 
3^6 l[T3e Divine Mijfwns of 
 
 Part III. raders with the defign juft fuggefted ; 
 
 ^•■V^w and as this defign is the only one capable 
 of reconciling their charadlers to the fup- 
 pofition of any impofture at all j we mufl 
 neceflarily confefs, that the peculiar con- 
 dud both of Jefus and of John *, when 
 
 con- 
 
 * Had the oppofite charadlers and condufl of John 
 and Jefus, with regard to all the religious rites and cere- 
 monies, which were obferved by the different fefts of 
 the Jews, been owing to any private agreement between 
 them ; as it piuji have been if they were deceivers ; 
 ■ this at leaft we might certainly depend on, that Each 
 would have taken care to prevent his o-rvn difciples from 
 publickly raifing objedions, on this account, to the 
 Other. But, on the contrary, we find, that when Jf/us 
 was dining with Levi, and a great number were prefent ; 
 then came to him the difciples of John, faying,^ <vchy do ix.-e 
 and the pharifeesfaft oft ; and thy difciples faf not ? Matt. 
 ix. 14. and from Mark ii. 18. it appears, that they join- 
 ed with the Pharifces in raifing this particular objedlion 
 to fefus'^ condudl. Whereas had Jefus and John been 
 affociates, it was impoifible, that Either fhould have been 
 fo negligent of their common fuccefs ; as to fuffer his 
 own difciples, for want of proper information, to join 
 with their common enemies in raifmg objeftions to the cre- 
 dit of the Other. For there is not the leall room to fup- 
 pofe, that this might be an artful expedient defigned to 
 make the Pharifces better pleafed with John ; fmce we 
 have feen, that the whole condufl oijohn as well s.ijefus, 
 on every important occafion, was fuch as they knew 
 would procure them the Pharijees" utter hatred and aver- 
 lion. 
 
'John Baptijl and Jefus Chriji, 'Tf'^j 
 
 confidered feparatelv in its own nature, ^^rt ill, 
 
 . . f , . . Sea. 2. 
 
 and jointly in their relation to each wOrv- 
 
 other ', affords us one of the ftrongeft 
 
 collateral proofs, we can poffibly delire, 
 
 that 'They could not be engaged in the 
 
 profecution of a deceit. 
 
 Y4 
 
 SEC- 
 
3^8 ^he Divine Mijftons of 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 Part III. ' 9 ^ PI E only dcfign Johji and 'Jefui 
 ^y^Asd A could poflibly be engaged in, fup- 
 pofing there could be any plot in the cafe, 
 was a deep laid defign of counterfeiting 
 the two laft prophets the Jews ever ex- 
 pe6led to behold : and one of whom 
 efpecially, was to be by far the moft ac- 
 complifliedj in all prophetical endow- 
 ments, of any they had ever feen. And 
 had ^hey really undertaken fuch an at- 
 tempt as this J nothing can be more ob- 
 vious, than that it would have been one 
 conftant, and chief objedl of their care y 
 not to foretell any thing, and, more efpe- 
 cially, any thing relating to Each Other ; 
 by v/hich their prophetical knowledge 
 might poflibly be brought into queftion. 
 
 This was manifeftly a point of fuch 
 importance, as they could not but very 
 carefully attend to, from the very firft en- 
 trance upon the execution of their deiign. 
 If they were delirous of feeming to fore- 
 
 tell 
 
^ohn Baptljl and Jefus Chrijl, 3^9 
 
 tell any thing concerning Each Other, as Part iir. 
 by divine infpiration 5 in order the more .^^--v-s-j 
 effedtually to fupport the delufion ; they 
 mull firft privately have agreed upon fome 
 .particular adions, which the One could 
 fafely undertake to perform ^ and the 
 Other might therefore fecurely venture to 
 foretell. To have hazarded any predic- 
 tio72, without this obvious and neceilary 
 precaution ; would have been contriving 
 the fureft method of expofing their want 
 of all real infpiration, and laying open 
 their impofture to the public view. 
 
 Should it appear then, that yoh?! ac- 
 tually foretold of Jefus^ upon a very re- 
 markable occafion, and as an infallible to- 
 ken whereby to diftinguifh him for the 
 true Mejjiah ; that yefus would introduce 
 a certain moil remarkable kind of religi- 
 ous rite 5 totally different from what 'John 
 himfelf made ufe of for the fame purpofe : 
 and (hould it likewife be found, that 'Je- 
 JuSy during his whole life, never fo much 
 as attempted to put in pradice any fuch 
 rite 3 nor ever ailedged any reafon for de- 
 clining 
 
33^ ^oe Divine Mijfions of 
 
 Part III. clinlng it j nay, nor ever made the leaft 
 mention of it : this lurely muft be ac- 
 knowledged as another convincing proof, 
 that John and Jcjm could not be the im- 
 poftors fuppofed. 
 
 When 'John made his firft public ap- 
 pearance in the country round about Jor- 
 dan, preaching the baptifm of repentance 
 for the remiffion of fins j the whole mul- 
 titude, we find, came forth to be bap- 
 tized of him, and to learn from him the 
 means of falvation *. And -f-, at this 
 time, as the people were in expeSlation^ and 
 all men mufed in their hearts of fohiy 
 whether he were the Chriji or not ; John 
 a?tfweredy Jhyifig unto them all -, — / indeed 
 baptize Xyou with water -, but one mightier 
 than I Cometh^ the latchet of whofe Jljoes I 
 am not worthy to unloofe : He shall bap- 
 tize 
 
 * Matthew iii. i, &c. Mark i. 3, Sec. Luke iii. 2 
 — 14. 
 
 t Luke iii. 15, 16. Compare Matt iii. 11. Mark 
 j_ 7, 8. And Johni. 33. 
 
 X For the nature and end of John's Baptifm, fee 
 Lightfoot, vol. ii, p. 121. £<.c. See alfo Macknight'i, 
 ftct. 14. note. 
 
yohn Baptijl and Jeftis Chrijl, 331 
 
 TIZE YOU WITH THE HoLY OhOST ^^'^'^ ^^^• 
 
 Sedl. 3. 
 
 AND WITH FIRE. And foon after this v— -y— ^ 
 predidlion, when Jefus was come to yQh?2j 
 and like the reft of the people had been 
 baptized * by him ; to prevent the pof- 
 libility of any doubt, about his being the 
 perfon, whofe inftitution of this unheard 
 of kind of baptifm, John had particularly 
 pointed out; in order that they might know 
 H"/;;; by this fignto htXhttrueMeJJiah j John 
 bare witnejs of him, and cried^ fiy^ng ; this 
 ivas he, of whom I /pake, he that comet h 
 after me is preferred before me j for he was 
 before me •\. 
 
 Nothing could be more remarkable, 
 on its own account, than the particular 
 kind of baptifm here foretold ; nor could 
 any occafion be of greater importance, 
 than that on which this prophecy was de- 
 livered, fohn had juft begun to baptize, 
 in order to prepare the people for giving 
 fefus's high pretenfions a more favourable 
 reception 3 when, contrary to his views, 
 
 they 
 
 * Matthew iii. 13 — 17. 
 
 t John i. 15. and i. 26 — 34, 
 
332 The Divine Mijftons of 
 
 Part III. they began already to imagine, that 'John 
 yy^sr^ himfelf mi^t be the Mejjiah. 
 
 Such a perfuafion, fhould it have con- 
 tinued, muft unavoidably have broke in 
 upon their plan, and prevented the fuc- 
 cefs of the whole defign. Since 'Johriy wha 
 firfl fetout as the ^It^r^iSx ^Forerunner, could 
 not alfume the charader of the MeJjiah 
 himfelf-y how willing foever the people 
 might be to give it him ; without efFedu-^ 
 ally proving himfelf an impoftor, in fb 
 barefaced a manner, as could not long ef- 
 cape the notice of any intelligent obferver. 
 
 It was therefore of the utmoft im- 
 portance to prevent this opinion from gain- 
 ing ground. And to (liew how fenfible 
 yohn himfelf was of the necefiity of doing 
 it, in the moft effedlual method j we find 
 him folemnly declaring to all that came to 
 him ; that though he did indeed baptize 
 with water, he was J20t the Mejjiah 3 but 
 that one mightier than hi?n, who was indeed 
 the Meffiah, would very fpeedily appear. 
 At the fame time, to give them the lowed 
 comparative opinion of his own charac- 
 ter, 
 
yohn Baptijl and Jefus Chrtji, 333 
 
 ter, and the mofl exalted one of ^efm ; he Part III- 
 
 . Seft. 3. 
 
 tells them, he himfelf was fo far from being v,/->rw 
 the Mejjiah, that he was not even worthy 
 to unloofe the very latchet of his fhoes. 
 
 It was impoffible to fet the fuperior 
 excellence and dignity of Jefis's charader 
 above his own^ in a flronger light. Yet left 
 his own poiitive denial of the high office, 
 they were inclined to afcribe to him, 
 fhould not be fufficient to put an end to 
 their doubts j he proceeds likewife to give 
 them dLjign^ by which they might diftin- 
 guifh the MeJJiahy not from himfelf only, 
 but from every pretender to his charader j 
 and by which they would fhortly be con- 
 vinced, that Jefus was he. I indeed, fays 
 he, baptize you with water ; a ceremony, 
 which you yourfelves have long fince 
 adopted, in the admiffion of profelytes 
 into your own religion * : thereby declar- 
 ing myfelf a real prophet, commiffioned 
 from on high. But xhQ MeJ/iah himfelf, 
 when the proper time arrives, will bap- 
 tize you in a manner totally different from 
 
 all 
 
 * See Lightfoot, ii. 121, &c. Lewis, Antiq. Heb. 
 b. iv, ch. 2. 
 
334 ^^ Divme Mijfions of 
 
 Part III. ^U that have gone before him : namelv. 
 yy^sr^ ivith the Holy Ghoji, and with fire. 
 
 The only efFedl, which this remark- 
 able prophecy could have, upon thofe to 
 v/hom it was delivered, was, to make 
 them believe, that the true Mejpah would, 
 at fome time or other, inftitute fuch a kind 
 of baptifm, as this prophecyplainly defcrib- 
 ed: and conlequently, to make them rejedt 
 ^very pretender to this charader, and Je- 
 fiis among the reft, liHe fliould not. And 
 as this was the otily pofiible effe(ft it could be 
 attended with, it muft have been the only 
 one, which yoh?t himfelf could wilh, or 
 intend it to have. 
 
 If therefore yohn was an Impoftor, he 
 could not have foretold this remarkable 
 particular of his Jljfociate^ in the deceit 
 fuppofed ; unlefs it had been before agreed 
 on between them , and the manner, in 
 which yefiis was to perform it, had been 
 already determined. And had 'John de- 
 livered this prophecy in confequence of 
 fuch a previous agreement, Jefiis could 
 not afterwards have negledted to fulfill it, 
 
 when 
 
yohn Baptijl and Jefus Chrijl, 'T^ZS 
 
 when at length He appeared. It is evi- Part iil 
 dent, this would have been purpofely be- ^^'v^ 
 traying their plot, at their very entrance 
 upon it. For how could 'John hope to 
 maintain the reputation of a prophet, when 
 y^/s conduct fhould appear plainly to fal- 
 iifyhismoftpolitive, and explicit predidions 
 concerning him ? Or if Jobi^ eftablifhed 
 credit ihould, notwithflanding, be able to 
 keep its ground j what could pollibly fave 
 Jefus from being rejedled, as a convided 
 impoflor ? 
 
 John had not only affured the people, 
 that the true Mejjiah would baptize, with 
 the Holy Ghojl and with fire ; but like- 
 wife, that 'J ejus was that very Mejjiah of 
 whom he fpoke. And yet 'Jefus^ from his 
 firft public appearance to his death, never 
 ligniiied fo much as even an intention of 
 introducing this new kind of baptifm 
 among them *. Had the people refleded 
 
 upon 
 
 * Perhaps it may not be improper to obferve, that 
 the completion of this prophecy on the day of Pen- 
 tecoft, can be no objedlion, to what has been faid ; 
 Jince this accomplilhment of it happened not till after 
 
 Jefus's 
 
33^ ^^^ Divine Mijjions of 
 
 Part ITI. upon this apparent con trad i(5lion, (and 
 
 Sea. 3 
 
 what more likely to have happened ?) it 
 would alone have been fufficient to make 
 them reject the pretenfions o^Boih to all di- 
 vine infpiration ; if they had indeed been 
 deceivers ; becaufe then they could have 
 
 had 
 
 Jefus's death : whereas John's prophecy relating to it, was 
 fo exprefied, and delivered on fuch an occafion, that 
 he mull think tlie people would underfland him to mean, 
 a particular kind of baptifm, which Jefus would intro- 
 duce during his life, Befides, nothing can be more ab- 
 furd and ridiculous, than it would be to fuppofe impojlors 
 foretelling of one another, fomething that they would do 
 after their death ; in order to promote the fuccefs of their 
 plots, while they were ali've. 
 
 Neither can it be any objedtion to the force of this 
 argument, that the true meaning of the prophecy itfelf is 
 far I'rom being fo certain, as we would feern to make it. 
 For, with regard to the prefent point, the queftion is not, 
 whether learned men have given the prophecy different in- 
 terpretations, many ages fnice it was delivered ; but what 
 ktiicjohn himfelf mull have believed t)x&people would un- 
 derftand it in, when he delivered it. This alone was what 
 an impofior would have attended to, and could not but 
 attend to ; becaufe upon this mull depend the future 
 opinion of the people, whether it was really fulfilled or 
 not. And the ilightell conuderation of the prophecy it- 
 felf, and the occafion on which it was delivered, fhews 
 at once, that the Je'<:s, who heard John pronounce it, 
 could not but underfland it in that fenfe, in which it has 
 here been reprefented. As indeed, that tliis was its 
 true lenfe, appears undeniably, from what Jefus faid to 
 }iis difciples after his refurreftion, Afts i. 4,5. 
 
yohn Bapttjl and jfefus Chrijl. 337 
 
 had no means whatever of reconciling the Part hi. 
 prediction, to the want or its accom- 
 plifhment. 
 
 Unless therefore we can believe, that 
 two impoftors, who fet out upon a joint 
 undertaking j the very being and fuccefs 
 of which neceflarily depended upon their 
 mutually fupporting the credit of "Each 
 Other J fhould agree to begin their parts in 
 fuch a manner, as was evidently calculat- 
 ed to deflroy the credit of Both ; this 
 iingle prophecy of the Baptiji's, when 
 confidered jointly with the condudt of 
 yefuSy muft alone be fufficient to fhew, 
 that John and J ejus could not poffibly be 
 deceivers. 
 
 Nor was this all. yobi not only 
 feemed plainly to foretell, that Jefus would 
 inflitute a new, and very extraordinary ' 
 kind of baptifm, which Jefus, during his 
 life on earth, never did ; but he likewife 
 expreffed himfelf fo as to leave it highly 
 probable, the people would underftand 
 him to mean, that Jcfm would not make 
 ufe of the fame baptifm, he himfelf 
 
 Z had 
 
338 ^n^e Divine Mijfions of 
 
 Part III. \^2A adopted ; vvhich notwithftanding 'Je^ 
 
 \jr-\f-*^ fits foon after did. 
 
 When "John declared, in order to make 
 the people fully fenfible of the great dif- 
 ference, they would perceive, between the 
 Mejjiah and Himfelf; that He indeed baptiz- 
 ed them with water ^ but that the MeJJiah 
 would baptize them with the /Zb/^'G/?^ and 
 with Jire ; what more natural for John to 
 think the people would conclude him to 
 mean, than, that the Mejjiah would not 
 make ufe of baptifm with water, for the 
 admiffion of his difciples ? This the turn 
 and manner of the declaration itfelf, as 
 well as the occalion on which it was deli- 
 vered, it is obvious, feemed to render ex- 
 tremely probable. Had John therefore 
 been an impoftor connedled with "J ejus -, 
 and had it been agreed between them, that 
 "JeJ'us fliould neverthelefs baptize with 
 water too ; it is utterly incredible, that 
 ^ohn could have omitted making exprefs 
 mention of this particular ; that the people 
 might not immediately judge him con- 
 vided of having prophecied a lie ; when 
 
 they 
 
yohn Baptijl a7td Jefus Chrijl. 339 
 
 they fhould fee ^ejiis baptizing with water ^^^'^ ^^^• 
 as well as Himfelf. s/V'nj 
 
 Had they been joint deceivers, inftead 
 of faying only what he did, ^ohn would 
 certainly have declared -, I indeed baptize 
 you with wafer, as the Messiah him- 
 self LIKEWISE WILL ; but He will 
 MOREOVER baptize yoii with the Holy 
 Ghojl. and with fire. For what opinion 
 could "John otherwife expedl the people to 
 form of his own inspiration ; when they 
 (hould (Q^yefus^ difciples, foon after, baptiz- 
 ing the people with water, under the imme- 
 diate infpedion of their Mafter -, and this 
 even in greater numbers than John him- 
 felf had done ? j^ier thefe things came 
 J ejus and his difciples into the land of Ju- 
 dea, and there he tarried with themy and 
 baptized. And prefently we are inform- 
 ed, that Jejus made and baptized, there, 
 more difciples than John *. 
 
 True indeed it is, that Jefus himfelf ^id. 
 
 not baptize, but only his difciples 3 as the 
 
 Z 2 evan- 
 
 * John ill. 2c. and iv. i. 
 
340 ^^ Divine Mifjlons of 
 
 Part III. evangeliflexprefslyfays*. But this circum- 
 flance could make no difference either as 
 to his adopting this particular ceremony, for 
 the admiffion of his own difciples ; or 
 the interpretation, which the people muft 
 naturally be expedted to put upon it. It 
 is plain, from the evangelift's manner of 
 relating this, that he had no conception, 
 that this circumftance made any alteration 
 in the cafe ; for then he would have taken 
 care to remark it. Nor is it lefs evident, 
 that the Baptifi\ own difciples, and even 
 the Baptiji himfelf] confidcred it in the 
 fame light, as if Jefiis had performed the 
 ceremony with his own hands. For, while 
 Jefus was baptizing in this manner, yohns 
 difciples came, and faid unto him -f-; 
 Rabbi y he that was with thee beyond Jor- 
 dan, to whom thou bareji wit7iefsy behold, 
 the fame baptizethy and all men come to 
 him. 
 
 But, had they looked upon it as a cir- 
 cumftance, which made any difference in 
 the cafe, that Jefus himfelf d^id. not actually 
 
 baptize, 
 
 * John iv. 2. t Idem, iii. 26. 
 
yohn Bapttjl and Jefus Chriji, 341 
 
 baptize, but only his difciples; certainly they Part III, 
 would not have failed to obferve it, on this .„/-v^ 
 occafion, to their mafter. As, on the 
 other hand, had this been an agreed par- 
 ticular between 'Jefiis and 'John^ in order 
 to fave the credit of John^ divine infpira- 
 tion } yohn would now at leaft have made 
 that ufe of it, for which it was contrived j 
 by teaching his difciples to reconcile his 
 own predidtions to yefiis's condu(fl: j which 
 was, fee?ninglyy in every particular fo con- 
 tradidory to it. 
 
 And now confidering both thefe par- 
 ticulars, as the nature of the cafe requires 
 we fhould, in one connected viewj firft, 
 that John exprefsly foretold, as tlxe touch- 
 ftone of yefus\ being the true Mejjiah-, 
 that yefus would adopt a new and very 
 lingular kind of baptifm ; which however, 
 from his firft public appearance to his 
 death, He never did, nor ever mentioned 
 a defign of doing it : and in the next 
 place, that yohn expreffed himfelf in fuch 
 a manner, as he could not but think, 
 might very probably make the people un- 
 Z 3 der» 
 
342 iT^c Divine MiJJions of 
 
 Part III. derftand him to mean, that Jefiis would . 
 sy^^^"^ not baptize with iDater -, which, however, 
 Jefzis prefently after did, even in a greater 
 degree than yoh?2 himfelf had done : 
 when we confider all this, how is it poflible 
 to believe John and Jtfus to have been 
 confpiring impoftors ? 
 
 Had they been fuch, yohn could not 
 have foretold a?2y part of Jcjhs's condud:, 
 in order to convince the people, that He 
 was the MeJJiah ; which y^^^^ had not before 
 agreed with him, for this very purpofe, to 
 perform. Nor could ^ejus^ after fuch an 
 agreement, lay afide the defign of doing 
 any thing, which he had before agreed, 
 that John fliould foretel i without giving 
 him timely notice of the alteration of his 
 deligns. For tliough we have no autho- 
 rity to believe, that the Jews did, in fadl, 
 ever objedt to the truth of their divine 
 pretenfions, on account of this feeming 
 contradiction, between Jejui^ baptifm, 
 and yohns prophecy concerning itj yet 
 was it, from the nature of the thing, fo 
 extremely probable, that they would i and, 
 
 at 
 
yoh7t Baptijl and ye/us Chriji, 343 
 
 at all times, fo very poffible that they Part irr. 
 might ; that no impojlors can be fup- ^^v^ 
 pofed capable of deliberately expofing 
 themfelves, for no end whateve?-^ to fo 
 manifeft a hazard of detedion. 
 
 Z 4 
 
 SEC- 
 
344 ^^ Divhie Mijftom of 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 ^Sea "^' 'XT'^^^ ^°°^ ^^^^^ '^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^'' 
 yz-^JrO V vered the prophecy juft confider- 
 
 ed, concerning the nature of 'Jefus^ bap- 
 tlfm ; we meet with another very remark- 
 able tranfadion, which will ferve to throw 
 flill greater Hght upon their true charac- 
 ters, and the connection really fubfilling 
 between them. 
 
 Then cometh Jefusfrom Galilee to Jor- 
 dany unto yohn^ to be baptized of him. 
 But John forbad hiin^ J^y^^^S > ^ ^^^'^^ 
 need to be baptized of thee, and comefi 
 thou to me f Ajid fefus anfwering faid 
 unto him, fuffer it to be fo now j for thus 
 it becometh us to fulfill all righteoufnefs, 
 *Then he fuffered him. And fefus, when 
 he was baptized, went upftraight way out 
 of the water -, and lo ! the heavens were 
 opened unto him, and he faw the Spirit of 
 God defending like a dove, and lighting 
 upon him. Andlo ! a voice from heaven^ 
 
yoJm Baptijl a?2d ^efus Chrijl, 345 
 
 faying^ this is my beloved SoUy in whom I Part IIL 
 afn well pleafed *. s^'V^^ 
 
 It will readily be acknowledged, that 
 if John and Jefus were joint deceivers, 
 Jefus's coming to defire baptifm of John, 
 muft have been an artifice firft privately 
 concerted between them. It is plainly 
 incredible, that yefiis fhould apply pub- 
 licly to his Forerunner^ on fo particular an 
 account; unlefs they had previoufly agreed 
 upon this ftep, for the fake of fome ad- 
 vantages, which they hoped to derive 
 from it. So that, upon the fuppofition 
 of any impofture, 'John mufl in reality 
 have approved of Jefus s requefl; and 
 his refufal at firft to baptize Jefus ; as if 
 it were more proper that Jefiis fhould 
 baptize Him-, could be nothing more than 
 a well chofen expedient, to prevent the 
 people from fufpefting any fuch precon- 
 certed agreement between them. 
 
 What then could thefe propofed ad- 
 vantages be ? A very little reflection upon the 
 cafe will prefently convince us, that T^'z/Zs 
 
 being 
 
 * Matthew iii. 13 — 17. 
 
246 n^e Divine Mijfmis of 
 
 Part III. being baptized by 'John-j confidered only 
 as to thew^/«r^ of the thingitfelf J was a 
 flep fo far from being calculated to pro- 
 mote the fuccefs of their fuppofed impof- 
 ture ; that, if it (hould have any effed: at 
 all upon the opinions of the people, it 
 muft neceffariiy tend to prevent it. 
 
 John's baptifm was plainly borrowed * 
 from that, which the Jews made ufc of, 
 in the admiflion of heathen profelytes to 
 the profeffion of Judaifm : and John made 
 ufe of his, in a limilar manner, for the 
 admifiion of his difciples into a ftill purer 
 profeflion. This purpofe, to which baptifm 
 among the Jews had always been applied j 
 together with fome traditions generally re- 
 ceived, that they fhould all be baptized, 
 and purijicd, againft the coming of the 
 Mejjiah -f- j had naturally contributed to 
 
 make 
 
 * See note, p. 333. 
 
 t " The Jews, it feems had conceived an opinion that 
 they were all to be hc.pized; either by the MeJJiab 
 himfelfj or fome of his retinue; becaufe it is faid, 
 Zach. \iii. i. In that day there ff? all he a fotcntain ofened 
 to the hcuje of Da'vid, and to the inhahitants of Jcru/aiem, 
 for fin avdfor uucleannefs. Macknight's Comm. feft. '8, 
 Not. on John i. 25. See Lightfoot on the place, ii. 522. 
 
yohn Baptiji and yeftis Chrift, 347 
 
 make the Jews conceive a very high opi- ^^rt iir. 
 nion of the dignity and holinels of any ^^x-v**-* 
 
 prophet, who was commiilioned to bap- 
 tize : and confequently to conclude, that 
 there could not be^ great a degree of pu- 
 rity and holinefs in thofe, who themfelves 
 flood in need of being baptized by him. 
 This opinion muft likewife have prevailed 
 particularly with regard to all who fliould 
 come to be baptized of 'John 5 as his was 
 profeffedly no other than the baptifm of 
 repentance^ for the remijfion of fns -, and 
 of which tlnierefore, thofe only who had 
 a6lually linned, could be thought to ftand 
 in need. 
 
 What companion then mufl: it ne- 
 ceflarily have been expeded the people 
 would make, between the chara^ers of 
 fohn and fefiis ; when they beheld fefiis 
 become a fuppliant for baptifm to John ? 
 Was this a flep calculated to prevent that 
 fatal miftake, which the people had alreadjT 
 fhewn themfelves fo inclined to run into ; 
 that of regarding John inftead of jfus 
 ^s the true Mejjiah ? How could impofiors 
 
 exped 
 
3/^8 The Divhte Miffio?is of 
 
 Part III. expedi the people to reconcile the feeming 
 fuperiority of "John over 'Jejm^ in point of 
 holinefs and purity j which to them 
 would appear fo plain, by 'J ejus % fubmit- 
 ting to be baptized by 'John ; with yohns 
 own declaration, fo lately made to them, 
 that He was not worthy to do even the 
 moll: menial offices about the perfon of 
 Jcfm? 
 
 Could He^ who was unworthy even 
 to undo the latchet of Jefuss fhoes, be a 
 perfon of fo fuperior a charadter, as to 
 make j'efus defirous of being hciptized by 
 him ? Which of thefe public declarations 
 were the people to believe j or rather, how 
 could they give any credit to Him^ who 
 was the author of both ? Above all, how 
 couldThey themfelves think it would prove 
 a more eaiy talk, to make the people be- 
 lieve, that "Jefus was the true Meffiah ; 
 fliouid they give them reafon to think, that 
 he flood in need of baptifm from One, who 
 profeffedly baptized into repentance, for 
 the ^'emijjmn of fins ? 
 
 John's 
 
yohn Baptijl and ye/us Chrijl, 349 
 John's hefitatins: *, at firft, to com- ^^^^ ^^^* 
 
 •' fc> ' ' Seft. 4. 
 
 ply with Jefuss requeft, could make no 
 alteration in the requeft itfelf ; nor remove 
 fo conliderable a ftumbiing block out of 
 their way. Nor was any other confe- 
 quence to be expected from this contri- 
 vance, but that it would diftrad: the opi- 
 nions of the people very much about 
 them ; and induce many, from this time, 
 to conceive but an inferior notion of Je^ 
 
 fuss 
 
 * It may here be worth while to obferve, that if 
 John's refufal to baptize Jefus upon his firft requeft, was 
 purely a contrivance to prevent the Jews from fufpefting 
 any deceit ; as it muji have been if John and Jefus were 
 deceivers; it /i.ould feem, at leaft, highly probable, 
 thatthofe ofye/us^ difciples, who afterwards wrote hif- 
 tories of his life and zCuon,, would not have given us 
 accounts of Jefus's being baptized hy John ; without at 
 the fame time recording, thio refufal of the Eaptift, at 
 firft, to comply with his delire. If this artifice feemed 
 of moment enough to be put in praftice, nothing feems 
 more natural, than that they fhoald all have thought 
 proper to record it. Whereas it appears in fad, that 
 tho' every one of the evangeliih have related Jefus's be- 
 ing baptized by John ; which is by no means the cafe 
 in feveral of their moft importart tranfadions ; yet ijone 
 but Matthew has made the Icaft mention of John's refu- 
 fal at firft to do it. 
 
 See Matthew iii. 13, 15. Mark i. 9,— 1 1 . Luke iii. 
 21,22. John i. 32,—34. 
 
3*50 T^he Divhje Mijfw?is of 
 
 Part HI ^^^j's charadter ; and entertain the ftrongeft 
 fufpicions of the veracity of yoh?2. 
 
 Since then it muft have occurred to 
 yoJm and yefiis ; who could not be igno- 
 rant of the moil prevailing opinions of the 
 whole people, that the ftep now before 
 us, was of fuch a nature in itfelf, as to 
 threaten them with the moft fatal influ- 
 ence on their credit, inftead of contribut- 
 ing at all to its fupport ; was there any ex- 
 ternal reafon, which might promife fo 
 much benefit to their delign, as to induce 
 them, notwithftanding, to adopt it ? 
 
 A TRADITION of the fcribcs, we are 
 told *, prevailed univerfally, at this time j 
 that Eli as was not only to appear as the 
 MeJJiafjs Forerunner^ and to preach con- 
 cerning him ', but alfo, that he was to 
 baptize Him^ in perfon, and make him 
 known to the people. Perhaps then they 
 might think, that the prevalence of this 
 tradition laid them under a neceffity of 
 conforming to it ; and that great credit 
 would accrue to them from exa(ftly ful* 
 
 filling 
 
 * See \\ hitby on Matthew xi. 14. 
 
yohn Baptijl and yefus Chrijl, 351 
 
 filling it. But plaufible as this objedion Part ill. 
 may at firft appear ; their own condudl; ^^/-vO 
 will fufficiently prove it to be utterly 
 groundlefs and falfe. 
 
 Had Johns baptizing Jefas been a ftep 
 concerted between them with fiicJj a de- 
 fign; they would unqueftionably have 
 made this ufe of it, in fupport of their 
 particular pretenfions, when any fair op- 
 portunity occurred. In particular, when- 
 ever they thought proper to appeal to this 
 tranfeMioji at all 3 vv^hich, but for the fake 
 of fome fuch tradition as that jufl: men- 
 tioned, they could never have agreed on j 
 the fulfilling of that tradition muft cer- 
 tainly have been the chief point, of which 
 they would have reminded the Jews. If 
 they judged the fulfiiiing of this tradition 
 fb necelTary to the fuccefs of their plot; 
 as, on this account, to do, what might 
 otherwife have been attended with the 
 moft prejudicial effects to their caufe ; it 
 mufl be abfurd to fuppofe, they could ne- 
 gled making that ufe of it, for which alone 
 it was defigned, when it had been actually 
 accompiifhed. Yet 
 
35 2 ^^ Div'ma Mijfwns of 
 
 Fart iif. Yet is there nothing more certain, 
 v^^^V'N^ tnan that they mufl have done fo j fince, 
 throughout all the gofpels, there is not the 
 leaft hint to be met with, either of the 
 tradition itfeif\ or of its accomplifitnent 
 on this occafion. 
 
 Very foon after Jcfus had been thus 
 baptized, we find John publicly bearing 
 witnefs to the truth of his divine preten- 
 iions. I'his is he^ of ivhom I /pake, he 
 that Cometh after me is preferred before 
 mey * &c. Again, he gives the fame 
 teilimony, to the deputation of Pharifees, 
 whom the rulers fent purpofely to enquire 
 of him -f*, who He himfelf was ? But on 
 neither of thefe remarkable occafions does 
 he give them the leaft hint of his havins: 
 fulfilled any fuch tradition j to ftrengthen 
 the authority of his own declarations. 
 And though, in anfwer to their further 
 enquiry ; ^ivby he baptized thcn^ fince he 
 was neither the Cbrijiy nor Eli as ^ nor that 
 Prophet ? fohn took occafion to tell them, 
 that there flood one among them, who 
 
 was 
 
 • John i. 15, — 18. t Idem i. 19,-28. 
 
yohn Bapliji and Jefus Chrijl. 353 
 
 was fo highly preferred before him : yet ^^rt III. 
 did he make no mention at all of his hav- v^"v"v^ 
 ing baptized Jefus -, and much lefs allege 
 this tranfadtion, as the accomplifhment of 
 any received tradition, concerning the 
 true Mejjiah^ and his expedted Fore- 
 runner, 
 
 Nay, when he once adlually remind- 
 ed the people of the tranfadion itfelf^' ; 
 not a word did he utter, concerning any 
 tradition, which by this means had been 
 fulfilled, y^fus hlmj'elf like wife, when, 
 a long time after this, he put -f* the Jews 
 in mind of the witnefs which "John had 
 borne to him j was as filent, with regard to 
 the accomplifhment of this tradition, as 
 yohn had been before him. And even the 
 evangeliftsi whofe frequent cuftom it is 
 to inform us, that fuch particular things 
 came to pafs, in order that certain pro- 
 phecies might be fulfilled ; have neither 
 of them made mention of any tradition 
 as having been accoraplifhed by this event. 
 A a From 
 
 * John i. 31 — 34. 
 t John V. 32 3S. 
 
354 -^^ Divine Mijfi072s of 
 
 Part IH. From the nature of this tranfadion 
 J^^rv^v then we muft freely confefs, that yoh?i 
 and yefus could not be deceivers; be- 
 caufe otherwife we mufl maintain, that 
 they agreed upon this ftep without any hope 
 or intention of procuring the lead benefit by 
 it ) at the fame time, that they could not 
 but expedl, that it would diftradt and per- 
 plex the people in general about their dif- 
 tinSt pretenfions -, which it was, above all 
 things, their interefl, to make them ex- 
 actly comprehend j and thus very great- 
 ly obHrud: the fuccefs of their whole plot. 
 At leaft there is but one pofTible way to 
 avoid this conclufion. And that is by fup- 
 pofing, that the aflonifliing voice and ap- 
 pearance, which was obferved imme- 
 diately after ycfus was baptized, was no- 
 thing more than the effedl of T'heir ex- 
 quifite {kill and cunning : and that the 
 whole affair was agreed on, merely for 
 the fake of eftablifliing their credit, by this 
 wonderful contrivance. And indeed could 
 it be believed, that what happened on this 
 occafion, might poffibly be the effed of 
 
 human 
 
yohn Baptift and Jefus Chriji, 355 
 
 human contrivance j no more were to be ^J'^'^ ^^^* 
 
 bed:, 4. 
 
 faid. John might well baptize J ejus ; in 
 order to have an opportunity of impoling 
 upon the people, with fo marvellous a de- 
 ceit, if they could perform it 5 however 
 prejudicial to their credit, fuch a ftep 
 might have been, without it. 
 
 But that this could not polTibly be, is 
 evident both from the condud: of JefuSy 
 and the nature of the thing. 
 
 Had They -contrived and executed fb 
 exquilite a deception j Jefus would cer- 
 tainly never after have appealed to Johns 
 teftimony in his favour, without making 
 particular mention of this miraculous ap- 
 pearance, at the time, when he was bap- 
 tized. He could not have reminded the 
 Jews of John's anfwer to the Pharifees . 
 ye fent unto John, andn^E, bare witnefs of 
 me * ; without appealing at the fame time 
 to the fadl before us ; fo much more con- 
 vincing, than every thing elfe, that John 
 had ever witnefTed in his favour. He 
 A a 2 . could 
 
 * John V. 33, 
 
35^ 7^^ Divine Mtjfwns of 
 
 Part III. could not have gone on appealing to his 
 w^v~ ^^^ ivorks, becaufe they were * greater 
 witiiefs than that of JOB N-, without at the 
 fame time appealing to this miraculous 
 appearance likevvife > which had been fo 
 fuccefsfuUy brought about, at the time 
 when yohii had baptized him. 
 
 As for the nature of the thing, we need 
 only repeat what adluallycame to pafs to de- 
 termine upon it. Nowwhen allthepecplewere 
 baptized J it came to pafs ^ that fefus being alfo 
 l^aptized, and prayings the heaven was open- 
 ed; and the Holy Ghofi defended in a bodily 
 foape, like a dove, upon him. And a voice 
 ca?ne from heaven, whichfaid, Thou art my 
 beloved fon, in thee lam well pleafed\. It 
 would be idle to go about to demonftrate, 
 that, if fohn and fefus were impoflors, 
 they could not have had the whole fyftem 
 of nature at their dilpofalj could not 
 have caufed the fky to open before a mul- 
 titude, and fomething vifible to defcend 
 from it ; which after lighting gently on 
 
 the 
 
 * John V. 36. 
 
 f Luke iii. 21, 22. 
 
yohn Baptiji and yefus Chrifl. 357 
 
 the head of y^.f, remained * upon him j ^^^J. ^^^' 
 could not have caufed a multitude to hear v./'v**^ 
 an articulate voice, coming as from heaven 
 upon them. Thefe were efFetSts evidently 
 beyond the reach of human contrivance, 
 fuch as the moft artful deceivers could ne- 
 ver entertain the leaft thought of accom- 
 plifhing. 
 
 Not to infift therefore on the evi- 
 dence, w^hich the miracle it] elf affords ^ 
 a conlideration entirely foreign to the de- 
 fign of this enquiry -, all the conclulion 
 we would here draw from it, is, that no 
 views of contriving fuch a marvellous 
 appearance as this, could be inftrumental 
 in cauling yohn and yefus to agree, that 
 yefus fhould come to yohn^ in this man- 
 ner, and be baptized. Their own con- 
 dudl has like wife fhewn, that they cer- 
 tainly did not agree upon this flep, in or- 
 der to fulfill any tradition, that prevailed 
 at that time. And as to the natural ten- 
 dency of the tranfadion itfelf j that, we 
 A a 3 have 
 
 * Johni. 33. 
 
35 B Tloe Divine Mijftons of 
 
 Part III. J^^ve fecn, was fo far from beinfr likely to 
 w/-V"s^ encreafe their credit, that they themfelves 
 muft have believed, if it had any effect at 
 all, it would fill the minds of the people 
 with doubts and fufpicions about them. 
 So that as no reafons whatever can be pro- 
 duced, for their agreeing to acl in this 
 manner J confiflent with the point they 
 had in view, if tliey were impoftors * ; 
 
 and, 
 
 * After what has been fuggefted in this, and the pre- 
 ceeding article, it muft needs become in a very high de- 
 gree improbable, that John and Jefus could be impof- 
 tors ; on this iingle account only, that Jefus baptized as 
 WELL AS 'John. For what elfe could impoftors expeft to 
 follow, from Jefus'% baptizing the people, when they 
 had already received the baptifm of John ; and after 
 ]e(\is hinifelf too had been baptized by him; but that 
 it would unavoidably make the people believe, th.2Li Je- 
 fus himfelf regarded yo/p«'j baptifn, as ofnov^lueor 
 importance : and befidcs, by filling their minds with 
 doubt and perplexity at fo unufual a conduft, be a great 
 means of preventing them from ever becoming hearty 
 friends to their caufe. Deceivers could expecl nothing 
 elfe, by this means, but to weaken very greatly the au- 
 thority they had hitacrto Squired ; and at all events to 
 obftru6l the fuccefs of their joint dcfigns. And accord- 
 ingly thus it happened. For foon after Jefi<s began to 
 baptize the people in Judea, (John iii. 22.) while John 
 was doing the fame at'Enon, near to Salim ; ( 2 3 . ) — There 
 arofe a qucficTty hetix:een fo?iie of Johns difciples, and the 
 
 Jrws, 
 
III. 
 
 yohn Baptljl and Jefus Chrijl, 359 
 
 and, at the fame time, many obvious and ^1 
 important conlideratlons occur, which •/v 
 A a 4 muft 
 
 yenvsj about purifying. (Ibid 25.) That is, in other 
 words, when the Jews faw "Jefus baptizing as well as 
 John ; he whom John had himfelf baptized, now tak- 
 ing upon him to rebaptize the difciples of y^^?/ ; and 
 this too without any oppolition from him ; unable to ac- 
 count for fo unufual a conduft, any other way, they 
 objefted to Johns particular followers ; that \^ Jefus was 
 empowered to do this. They mull no longer pretend, 
 that the bapti/?n of their own Mafter was of any ufe or 
 importance. (See Macknight's Comm. fe£l. 21 .) That 
 this would be tlie confequence of their Both baptizing, in 
 the manner they now did, was fo obvious, that it is incre- 
 dible any fuch impoftors could have agreed to do fo. 
 But even could this be thought poffible ; it muft at leaft 
 be allowed, that they would have taken care to furnifh 
 their own immediate follon.vers, with fuch an anfwer to 
 this obvious and material objeftion ; as might enable 
 Them, at any time, to filence the fcruples of the people 
 about it. If they could not do this, they would have 
 ■laid afide the defign. But even this too they certainly 
 did not do ; for Johti's, difciples, it appears, were un- 
 able to give an anfwer to the objeftion; and came to 
 their mafter complaining, Rabbi, he that 'was 'u:ith thee 
 heyotid Jordan, to ijchom thou bareji nvitnefs, behold, the 
 fame baplizeth, and all ?nen come unto him. — Thus re- 
 markably does every particular in the conduft of Joh7i 
 and Jefis contribute to prove, that they could not pofii- 
 bly be deceivers. 
 
 What has here been obfervcd will likewife ferve to il- 
 luftrate very greatly the truth of the conclufion eftablifhed 
 in the/;y? fe(5lion of this Part ; from the confideration, 
 
 thaC 
 
360 'The Divine Mijfwns of 
 
 Part III. muft have deterred them from it : it muft 
 
 Sedl. 4. 
 
 yysr^ be confefled, that Jefuss coming to John, 
 and being baptized by him, in the man- 
 ner he was, is indeed a very ftrong colla-^ 
 teral proof, that they could not be de- 
 ceivers. 
 
 that yohn never attempted to perform any miraculous 
 works. The only fuppofition capable of being :herc 
 made, tho' at the fame time it proved abfolutely ground- 
 lefs, to reconcile thnt fafl with the e;dllence of an im- 
 pollure, was, that John might refrain from working 
 wonders, for fear of diiliafting the judgment of the 
 people between Jefns and llimfelf. But now, when we 
 fee that John baptized Jfjn^^ and yet Jefus rebaptized 
 the difciples of John ; a praftice which, it was obvious, 
 could not fail to fill the minds of the people with doubts 
 and perplexity about them ; this faft alone is fufficient 
 to convince us, it could 720t have been agreed between 
 them, that John fiiould depnve himfelf of (o great an 
 advantage, as that of working ^^ondcrs, upon any fuch 
 account. 
 
 SEC- 
 
,^ohn Baptift aiid Jefiis Chrijl, 36 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 w 
 
 HEN '^iohn had now continued Part iir. 
 
 ^ Sea 5. 
 
 to fhew himfelf to the people, ' ^' 
 
 for fome fpace of time, and very foon af- 
 ter his baptizing "yefus, in the manner we 
 have juft now feen j fuch an opportunity- 
 offered itfelf to him, of making known 
 his divine pretenfions to the very chief of 
 the people \ and preparing the way for 
 JefuSj who was now jull: beginning to ap- 
 pear J as, had they been joint deceivers, 
 'John muft have been extremely delirous 
 to obtain. 
 
 THje Jews ^ Jent Priejis and Levitesfrom 
 yenifalejn 5 to Bethabara beyond Jordan, 
 where John was then baptizing j to ajli 
 him, who art thou ? And it will be well 
 worth our while to obferve how he con- 
 ducted himfelf upon this critical occadon. 
 j^nd he co?ifeJ[edy and denied 7iot, but con- 
 fejjed I am itot the Chrijl, And they ajkcd 
 him, what then f Aj^t thou Eli as f And he 
 
 faiiht 
 
 * John i. 19 — 28. 
 
362 The Divine MiJpio?is of 
 
 Part III. /^/^/^ / ^;;; j^^f^ jl^^f fj^Q^ (f^^^ Prophet ? 
 Sect. 5. '■ 
 
 and ke anfweredy no, T^hen fat d they unto 
 himy who art thou ? that we may give an 
 anfwer to them that jent us. What fayejl 
 thou oj thyfelf? Hefaid, I am the voice of 
 one crying in the wildernefs, make flraight 
 the wav of the Lord, as faid the prophet 
 Ejfatas. And tbey^ which were fenty were 
 of the Pharifees. And they afked himy and 
 faid unto him j why baptizeji thou then ; if 
 thou be not that Chrifiy nor EiiaSy neither 
 that Prophet? John aifwered themyfay^ 
 ing 'y I baptize with water : but there 
 fiandeth One among youy whom ye know not ; 
 he it isy whoy coming after mCy is preferred 
 before me i whofe fJjoes latchet I am not 
 worthy to unloofe. 
 
 When it is confidered, who thofe per- 
 fons were, with whom we find Johiy on 
 this occafioi], engaged ; it will readily be 
 feen, in what manner an impoftor, in his 
 circumftances, muft have behaved. In- 
 Head of being cafually applied to by fome 
 of the multitude ; he was now addreiTed 
 by deputies fent purpofely from the rulers 
 
 tliem- 
 
'John Baptijl and 'Jefus Chrljl, 363 
 themfelves : and thefe too not indifcrimi- P;^rt ill. 
 
 . -J . Sect. 5. 
 
 nately appointed, but Prtejis and hevites -, 
 men of knowledge and ikill in all facred 
 matters ; and in fine, men of the moft re- 
 puted and fkilful fed, Vharifee^. Inflead 
 of being afked for his inftruction ii> an 
 eafy point of fpiritual advice ; the quef- 
 tion, to which they required an imme- 
 diate and categorical anfwer, was no lefs 
 than this i what particular divine charac- 
 ter he pretended to alTume ? 
 
 Questioned upon fo important a 
 point, by thofe who were befl able to 
 judge of the truth of his pretenfions, and 
 would certainly examine them with the 
 utmoft rigour ; by thofe likewife, who 
 were capable of being his mofl ferviceable 
 friends ; but otherwife were fure to be his 
 mofl potent and inveterate enemies 5 in 
 what manner muft John^ if an impoftor, 
 have replied to their demands ? To give 
 no determinate anfwer to fuch an embaffy, 
 after having taken upon him to baptize 
 the people, and utter prophecies ; would 
 have been betraying the caufe he was em- 
 barked 
 
364 iT^e Divine MiJJlons of 
 
 Part III. barked in, and a tacit confcffion of his 
 s./->^r^ deceit. He muft therefore have declared, 
 v)hat divine character he took upon him. 
 He would likewife have employed all 
 his art and ingenuity, not in enumerating 
 only, but in illuftrating all thofe proofs 
 he had been able to devife, for the foun- 
 dation of his pretenfions ; and in urging 
 them to the beft advantage. And as he 
 very well knew, that thefe deputies from 
 the Pharifees came prepoffelled againft 
 him ; if he was able to allege any cir- 
 cumftunces, likely to remove their perfo- 
 nal prejudices, he could not have ne- 
 gleded to throw in thefe likewife j in or- 
 der to induce them to examine the proofs, 
 on which he refted his claim to infpi ration, 
 with more candor and impartiality than 
 he could othervv^ife expert. This attack 
 was what he muft have looked for, from 
 the beginning ; and therefore have been 
 long provided with his anfvver. And the 
 oppoitunity it afforded him, to try what 
 could be done with the c\\\(tf pr lefts and 
 pharifccs; if not to deceive, at leaft to 
 
 puzzle 
 
^ohn Baptiji and Jeftis Chrijl, 365 
 
 puzzle and confound them; was what he Part III. 
 
 Seft. 5. 
 
 would by no means have neglected. ^^-Vs^ 
 
 Thus J had Johit been a deceiver, when 
 he received this embafiy from the rulers^ 
 his firft care would naturally have been, 
 to turn the facred profeffion of the mef- 
 fengers themfelves, as well as thole who 
 fent them, to his own advantage ; by 
 making them conceive of Himfeif with 
 more refpedt than before. To this end he 
 would have reminded them, that He too 
 was by birthright a prieft of the God of 
 Ifrael, as well as themfelves ; and the fon, 
 of no lefs honourable a prieft, than Za- 
 charias ; v/ho mufl: yet have been well re- 
 membered among them; and who had 
 lived and died with the reputation of un- 
 blemidied virtue and integrity. 
 
 Then he would have recounted to 
 them at large, all thofe afloniiliing events, 
 that had happened to his Pareftts ; or at 
 leaft were by many believed to have hap- 
 pened to them ; from Zackarias\ lofs of 
 ipeech in the temple, to his recovery of 
 it again, at the time of his own circum- 
 
 cifion. 
 
366 7^^ Divi?ie MtJJions of 
 
 ciflon. And he would have referred 
 them, to the neighbourhood where Za^ 
 charias had lived, and where all theie 
 things had been noifed abroad at the very 
 time, for a full confirmation of the truth 
 of ail he advanced. Above all, he would 
 certainly have given them a very particu- 
 lar account, both of the Angels^ and his 
 Father s prophecy, concerning Himfelf-, 
 as thefe predidions were the fole founda- 
 tion of whatever he might pretend to; 
 and very minutely pointed out that parti- 
 cular character, in which he now ap- 
 peared. 
 
 Such would certainly have been the 
 anfwer o^John to the Priefts and Levites, 
 had he been a deceiver. But yohn it ap- 
 pears adopted a quite contrary part. He 
 declined making ufe of even thofe fair 
 and obvious means in his power, to re- 
 move, or at leaft lefTen their prejudices 
 again fl him. He chofe to fupprefs ; for 
 on this occafion it was impoffible for him 
 to forget J all thofe marvellous events, 
 which were believed to have accompanied 
 
 his 
 
yohn Baptiji and Jefus Chrift, 367 
 
 his conception and birth j and which, if P-^R^ ni. 
 he was a deceiver, muft have been the »,/-vO 
 only, and long laid foundation of all his 
 prefent attempts. Nay he not only re- 
 fufed to allege Zachariass and the A?2- 
 gel's prophecies in his own behalf 5 but 
 even anfwered the meflengers in fuch a 
 manner, as he knew might be interpreted 
 by the pharifees, and indeed by any one, 
 to be contradidtory to them. 
 
 The angel, it had been publicly af- 
 firmed, had foretold to ZachariaSj that 
 John * JJjoidd go before the Lordy in the 
 fpirit and power of Eli as. But when the 
 mefTengers put the queftion to fohn him- 
 felf, art thou Elias ? What anfwer did 
 Job?! give ? He faid^ I atn not. 
 
 Now it is true indeed the Jews in ge- 
 neral expedled, that JLlias -f- the T^ifibite^ 
 himfelf; he, who had been fo diftin- 
 guifhed a prophet among them, above 
 eight hundred years before ; was to be the 
 identical perfon, who would appear again 
 
 to 
 
 * Luke i. 17. 
 
 t See Whitby on Matthew xi. 14. Lightfoot, ii. 522. 
 183. 209. and i. 522. Pocock on Micah iv. 5. 
 
368 72'^ Divwe Mijffto?is of 
 
 Part III fo uflier in the MeJJiah. And confequent- 
 %.,r\n^ l}'j as the meilengers, by their queftion, 
 meant to afli "John^ whether he was that 
 i\ry Ellas -y yohn^ fince he knew their 
 meariing, might veiy truly declare, he was 
 ml. But for this very reafon, lince the 
 Jews in general expeded Ellas hlmjelf to 
 come again ; and not any other perfon, in 
 a cYi2iY2.ditv Jlmilar to his i it was plain, that 
 all who had ever heard of the revelations 
 given out at yohns birth, might have un- 
 derftood them as fpoken immediately of 
 Elu.s hirijrlf^ and confequently, might 
 confiJer yohr^s aniwer, upon this occa- 
 fion, as dircdiy contradictory to them. 
 And even fuch as had never heard of the 
 Angel's prophecy to ZachariaSy might 
 probably confider this anfwerasa plain de- 
 claration from John himfelf, that the of- 
 fice of Ellas belonged not to Him. Nor 
 was it poifible for John himfelf to have 
 been ignorant of this, or not aware 
 of it. 
 
 Can it then be conceived, that an im- 
 pouoi', laying claim to this very charader 
 
 and 
 
%/5;^ Baptijl a7id ye/us Chrifl, 369 
 
 p-nd office, would have given an embafly Part lir. 
 of the pharifees fuch an anfv^^er as this, 
 to an enquiry which ftruck dire6lly at the 
 very foundation of all his claims ? Or 
 could th^fame deceiver, who mull have 
 been fo extremely defirous to be like 
 Elias, in his whole appearance and con- 
 duct, as even to imitate him in the parti- 
 cularity of his drefs * itfelf j could He fend 
 the priefts back with fuch an anfwer to the 
 rulers, as he well knew would appear to. 
 them, to be an utter difclaiming of all con- 
 nection with the character and office of 
 Elias ? 
 
 It was the eflablifhed opinion, that 
 Elias muft firft come. If therefore John 
 was only a deceiver, his intention mufl 
 have been, either to pafs for that very 
 Elias, whom the whole nation through 
 miflake exped:ed ; or he muft have de- 
 figned to convince the Jews, that they 
 mifunderftood the prophecies concerning 
 Elias -y and that He himfelf, though not 
 that very Elias, whom they expedled, 
 Bb and 
 
 * See note, p. 31 3. 
 
370 'The Divine Mijfions of 
 
 Part III. and aflced him after; was in faftthewr/ 
 syy^-^ per fon Jore fold undti' his name. Any pre- 
 tender to the charadler of Elias was under 
 an abfolute neceflity of adopting one, or 
 the other, of thefe plans. 
 
 If he plainly denied himfelf to be the 
 perfon,whom they all expedled; and at the 
 fame time made ufe of no endeavours to 
 convince them, that they expeded a perfon, 
 who really was not to appear; it is evident 
 he did not try to procure himfelf the leafl 
 chance for fuccefs. The only confequence 
 t>£ this conduct could be no other than 
 this ; that his prefent pretenfions, as well 
 as all that had been before publiflied about 
 him, would be regarded as the effed: of 
 artifice and impofture. 
 
 His feeming to them to deny himfelf 
 to be eifber of thofe perfons, whom the 
 Jews expeded to appear, before the com- 
 ing of the MeJJiah himfelf; joined to his 
 giving them but a very Ihort account of 
 what he really pretended to be; could 
 not but contribute very greatly to prevent 
 both the rulers and the people from be- 
 lieving 
 
yoJm Baptijl and ye/us Chriji, 371 
 
 lieving in him, as the MeJJiah's Forerun- ^^'^T^ ^^^* 
 fier ; and confequently, totally prevent his v^^v-s^ 
 - teftimony from inducing them to receive 
 Jefus in the character of the Mejjiah himfelf. 
 View the thing in whatever light we 
 canj is it not utterly incredible, that a 
 counterfeit of the MeJJiah's Forerunner 
 {hould not profit himfeif of .he univerfal 
 perfuafion 3 by pretending to be that very 
 EliaSt whom the whole Jewifh people 
 was already difpofed to acknowledge and 
 believe ? That he fliould refufe to apply 
 fo important a prepofTeffion to the fur- 
 therance of his own impofture, which 
 was abfolutely grounded upon it, is on all 
 conllderations clearly incredible : but cer- 
 tainly, not to conform in this point, to 
 the univerfal belief and exped:ation j and 
 yet, at the fame time, to ufe no means 
 whatever to remove it ; would have been 
 a conduct fo apparently abfurd in an im- 
 poftor, as we cannot hefitate to pronounce, 
 
 no impoftor could purfue *. 
 
 Bb 2 How- 
 
 * At the fame time it is certain, that Johns denying 
 himfeif to be Elia:, on this occafion, is perfedlly con- 
 
37 2 Tee Divi?te Mijftons of 
 
 Part III. HowEVER, for a moment let us ne- 
 gledl this confideration, and turn to a par- 
 ticular in the conduct of y^/i^j, which re- 
 lates immediately to this of Jolm, 
 
 What- 
 
 fiftent with his true charatHier, if he was really the divine 
 Forerunner of the Mcffiah. " That the Baptijl, on being 
 afked if he was Elias, fhould have anfwered in the ne- 
 gative, needs not to be thought ftrange ; if the perfons, 
 who put the queftion to him, believed, that Elias, the 
 Tijhbite, was coming perfonally from heaven to ufher 
 in the Mefliah. For tho' the name of Elias did truly be- 
 long to John ; Malachi having called him thereby ; he 
 was not the perfon whom the people expeded, and the 
 friejis fneant, when they afked him, art thou Elias /"' 
 Macknlght's Comm. fedl. 18. note. 
 
 " His meaning therefore is only this ; I am not that 
 Elias in perfon, whom you expcfl; nor am I fuch a pro- 
 phet, as in the days of the Mefliah, you expeft to rife 
 from the dead." Whitby on Matthew xi. 14. from 
 Pocock,vol i. p. 193. It is plain therefore, that if 
 John had anfwered, he ivas Elias ; he mufl likewife 
 have taken pains to Ihew the priefls, that they were mif- 
 taken in their notions of that Elias, who was to come. 
 But to attempt convincing the Sanhedrim, that they 
 were miftaken in their notions of that prophet, whom 
 they fent to alk him, whether He was ; was what the 
 true Forerunner of the Mefliah, might well kno\T 
 would be fruitlefs and vain. He therefore referred this 
 deputation of the prieib, and thro' them the whole San- 
 hedrim, from whom they came, to Ij'aiah, for a true 
 account of his Office ; and left them to the honeft ufe of 
 thofe lights they \\'ere polTefTed of, to determine idit 
 he was. 
 
"John Baptijl a72d yefus Chrifi, 373 
 Whatever chara<5ler ^ohn publicly P^rt \\y 
 
 rr 1 1 • 1 1 • n Sea. ^ 
 
 anumed, or denied 3 this at lead is cer- ^'^v'-s^ 
 tain, that if y^i^i' and He were joint de- 
 ceivers J and we have feen long ago, that 
 they muft have been confederates, or no 
 impoftors at all ; yefus could never fpeak 
 of jfohn's peculiar divine charadler, in 
 fuch a manner, as he knew would, in 
 all probability, be interpreted, to be di- 
 recftly contradiSlory to what yohn had faid 
 of himfelf. yolms denying himfelf to 
 be Elias in the manner he did, was a par- 
 ticular of" fuch confequence, as he could 
 not have determined to put in pradice, 
 without Jefuss> knowledge and confent. 
 When therefore yohn had declared, that 
 he was ?iot Elias -, had they been impof- 
 tors, yefus could not afterwards have af- 
 firmed, that he was. Yet this^ it appears, 
 yefus adlually did. 
 
 John, as we have juft feen, declared 
 to the priefts, without any particular ex- 
 planation of his meaning, that he was 
 not Elias : and adding only, that he was 
 the voice of one crying in the wildernefs, 
 Bb 3 as 
 
374 ^^ Divine Mijfwns of 
 
 Part III. as faid the prophet Efaias j left them to 
 y^^^f-^ determine further about him, by them- 
 felves. But fometime after this, upon 
 occaiion of ytj'uss receiving from him a 
 very remarkable meflage, by tv^o of his 
 difciples j J^Jus took the opportunity to 
 defcant very minutely upon the real cha- 
 rader of yobn. And after having af- 
 firmed, that among all^ who were bom of 
 women, there had not arijen a greater pro^ 
 phet than yobn the Baptiji j he clofed hfs 
 remarkable account of him, with this 
 moft emphatical declaration : And, if y^ 
 will receive it, this zVElias, whichwas 
 FOR TO COME. He that hath ears to hear^ 
 let him hear *. 
 
 Nothing could be more emphatical, 
 than this declaration j nor, according to 
 the notion, which the people entertained 
 of KUas, could any affertion feem more 
 contradidory, to what fohi had faid of 
 himfelf. True indeed it is, that yolm 
 was not that Elias, about whom he was 
 queftioned , and equally true, that he 
 
 was 
 
 * Matthew xi. 14, 15. 
 
yoh?i Baptijl and ye/us Chrifl, 3 y ^ 
 
 was that 'Ellas, who was for to come. So ^^^'^ ^^I* 
 
 / Sea. 5. 
 
 that there was no real inconfiftency be- v^v*-^ 
 
 tween what yefiis faid of John, and what 
 He had before faid of himfelf. But to the 
 people, John and Jefus were well appriz- 
 ed, that in this there muft appear a plain 
 contradidion, fo long as they retained 
 their prefent opinion of Elias. Nor could 
 they therefore, if impoftors, have aflerted 
 any thing of fo much confequence, in 
 terms, which they knew, might be thought 
 contradidtory to each other; without at 
 the fame time ufing fuch arguments, as 
 they muft have prepared for this very 
 purpofe, to convince the Jews, that they 
 had taken up a falie opinion of that Eh'as, 
 who was indeed to come before the arrival 
 of the MeJJiah. 
 
 For what could they expedl the people 
 would think 3 if they fhould think at all 
 upon the matter; concerning two preten- 
 ders to divine infpiration and authority ; 
 who feemed to them plainly to contradid: 
 each other ; and this too, in a point of 
 no lefs importance, than the very nature 
 Bb 4 of 
 
37^ "The Dlv'me Mifftojis of 
 
 Part III. of that prophetic character, which One 
 Sea. 5. ^ ^ 
 
 of them afTumed \ and upon the reality 
 
 of which, his evidence, in favour of the 
 Other, depended ? However this fecming 
 contradidtion did, in fad:, pafs unobferved ; 
 in the nature of the thing itfelf, it was very 
 highly improbable, that both priefts and 
 people fliould all overlook it. Nor can 
 any fuppoiition be much more incredible, 
 than this j that two the moft fubtil pre- 
 tenders to divine infpiration, fhould deli- 
 berately refolve to run the hazard of fuch 
 a feeming material coniradidlion j and, 
 for no end whatever, furnilh every one 
 with fo ftriking an argument for rcjed:ing 
 them, as convidled impodors. 
 
 In fliort, yc/?;/, who replied to the em- 
 bafly of the priefts in fuch a manner, as, 
 he knew, would appear to them to be a 
 refufal of any of thofe charad:ers, in fome 
 one of which, he likevvife knew, the whole 
 nation expedled the MeffialSs Fo7-erunncr 
 to appear j and yet did not fo much as in-^ 
 timate to them, that they thcmfelves had 
 formed any erroneous expedations about 
 
 him \ 
 
^ohn Baptijl and yefus Chrijl, 377 
 
 him ; could not be the crafty aflbciate of a Part IIL 
 
 Seft. 5. 
 
 counterfeit Mejjiah. Nor could 'Jejus^ who v/v^o 
 exprefsly attributed fuch a title to "Jolm^ 
 as he knew might appear a plain contra- 
 diction to the teftimony, that 'John had 
 already given of himfeif j be 2l pretended 
 Mejjiah^ adling in concert with yohn j who 
 was to prepare his way before him, by ai^ 
 fuming the part of his Forerunner *. 
 
 * Befides what has been faid, to (hew, that if '/b/^a 
 g.nd J ejus had been iir.poftors, the One could not have 
 refufed the charaiStcr of Elias, nor the Other have after- 
 wards attributed it to him ; without, at the fame time, 
 entering into a particular explanation of the exaft cha- 
 rafter, which they meant by that name : it is well vvorth 
 our notice, that Jefus's manner of fpeaking, on this oc- 
 caiion ; " and, ifye 'will recei've it, this is Elias, which 
 was for to come ;" plainly fliews, that he thought the 
 people would not believe John was the true Elias ; and 
 yet at the fame time we find, that he took no pains to con- 
 vince them that he really was. What could be more op- 
 pofite thaji this to the neceffary condud of an impollor i 
 
 SEC- 
 
378 The Divine Mijfions of 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 ^^^J^^ ^i^' C ^ inconteftable does the divine in- 
 t^-yvj kJ fpiration. of yohn and yefus appear, 
 that there is fcarce a word or ad:ion re- 
 corded of the Former ; which, upon a 
 clofer infpedion, will not furnifh us with 
 fome ftrong collateral proof of the inte- 
 grity of Both J by multiplying the abfurdi- 
 ties, that mufl: follow, from fuppoling 
 them to have been impoftors. 
 
 The next day j after the priefls and 
 levites had been fent by the Sanhedrim, 
 to enquire of John, who he was 3 John 
 feeth Jefus coming unto him, and faith -, 
 behold the Lamb of Gody which taketh 
 away the fin of the world *. And again, 
 the next day after ^ fohn floods and two of 
 his difciples', and looking upon Jefus^ as 
 be walked, he faith ; behold the Lamb of 
 God -f-. 
 
 Now had John and Jcfus been decei- 
 vers, it is evident, that all fuch remarkable 
 
 decla- 
 
 * John i, 29. t Ibid. 35, 36. 
 
yohn Baptiji and yefus Chrijl, 379 
 
 declarations o? Either, concerning the pe- Part iir. 
 culiar divine charader and office of the ^/"vv-* 
 Other, muft have been firft fecretly agreed 
 on between them 5 with a view of pro- 
 moting their reception, in thofe particu- 
 lar charaders, which they thought fit to 
 afcribe, in this manner, to Each Other, 
 And this obfervation is the more particu- 
 larly applicable to the inftance before us ; 
 becaufe the ve?j peculiar character here 
 given to Jefus, by his aflbciate, made no 
 part of any of thofe divine revelations, 
 which were given out, as having pre- 
 ceeded, and accompanied his birth. So 
 that, as none of thofe prophecies were at 
 all concerned in the cafe, which they 
 might think themfelves under a neceffity 
 to fulfill; it muft have ht&n merely the 
 benefits they expected to arife, from pub- 
 licly giving fefus this very remarkable ap- 
 pellation, that could induce them to agree 
 to do it. 
 
 Is it poflible then, that yohzs unex- 
 peded and repeated declaration, of this 
 new part of Jefus's charader, now before 
 
 us. 
 
380 The Divine MtJJions of 
 
 Part III. us, could be agreed on between them, 
 
 Seft. 6. 
 
 from the hopes of any advantages to be 
 derived from it ? Cou'd it be thought ca- 
 pabie of inclining the Jews to receive y^- 
 Jus the more readily for the true Mejjiah ? 
 The character here afcribcd to ^ejus^ that 
 of the Lamb of God^ which takcth away the 
 fin of the world y evidently and diredly al- 
 luded to the daily facrifices offered up in 
 the temple at Jerulalem, for the whole 
 people J as well as the reft of the fin-of^ 
 ferings appointed in the Jewifti law *. In 
 all which the death of the "ciBim was re- 
 prefented as the means , by which iho, fn 
 of thofe, for whom it was offered, was 
 taken away : for, in the Jewifh law, with^ 
 out fkedding of blood there was no remif- 
 fon -f-. 
 
 If therefore any notice fliould be taken 
 of this remarkable character, afcribed by 
 the Baptifl to fcfus 3 which, from its no^ 
 velty it was highly probable there would ; 
 
 as 
 
 * See Lightfoot and Whitby on the place. Lewis's 
 Heb. Avitiq. b. iv. ch. 4. and 6. 
 "^ t Epiixle to the Hebrews i.\. zz. 
 
"John Baptijl a7id yejus Chrijl, 381 
 
 as Johns repetition of it plainly iliewed, ^^^V' }^^' 
 he was very defirous there might ; it was 
 impoffible, for the Jews to put any other 
 interpretation upon it, than this -, that jfe- 
 Jus was one day to be publicly put to death, 
 as an atonement for the fins of all. 
 
 But was this fuch an account of the de- 
 (ign of yefus's coming into the world, as 
 an impoflor could imagine, would make 
 the Jews more ready to receive him, for 
 their long promifed Meffiah? Or even, 
 was this fuch a catajlrophe^ as would cor- 
 refpond with the received interpretation of 
 thofe prophecies, that had been given out 
 concerning yefiis, at the time of his birth ? 
 In particular, could yefus imagine, that 
 the Jews would confider this as an accom- 
 plifhment of that predidion ; that he 
 fliould free them from all their enemies, 
 and fit on the throne of his father David ? 
 The contrary is too notorious to admit of 
 queftion. 
 
 How then was it poflible, that the fal/e 
 Forerunner of a pretended Mejjiah^ could 
 fct himfelf to inculcate into the people, 
 
 fuch 
 
382 7^^ Divbie AIiJfw?is of 
 
 VaktWI. JhcIj 2ix\ opinion concerning his Allbciate*^ 
 real characfter and defigns, as was alojje 
 fufiicient, fliould they believe it, to make 
 them immediately reject him ? Or what 
 could be more oppofite to every conceiv- 
 able defign, an impoftor could entertain ; 
 and confequently, what more impoflible 
 for an impoftor to do j than to take pains 
 to make the people believe, that the very 
 motive and defign of all his adions was, to 
 frocure himfeJf to be put to death ? This 
 furely, if any thing could be fo, muft have 
 been impoffible ; and therefore, neither 
 yoh?i^ who afcribed this character and of- 
 fice to Jefus J nor JefiiSy whofe reception 
 and fuccefs it fo immediately concerned i 
 could poffibly be a deceiver. 
 
 
 SEC- 
 
"John Baptifl and 'Jefus Chrifl. 383 
 SECTION VII. 
 
 TH E evangelifts have not exprefsly Part IIL 
 informed us, how long 'John con- sy^^J^ 
 tinned preaching in public, and baptiz- 
 ing the people. But thus much is cer- 
 tain, that the purity of his dodtrine, and 
 the fandlity of his life, had procured him 
 the higheft efteem and veneration; as 
 w^ell with Herod himfelf, as the whole 
 people, while he was ftill publicly con- 
 verfant with them. 
 
 What opinion Herod had of his in- 
 tegrity, and how great an influence 'John 
 had over him, we learn from the evange- 
 iiil: Mark ; who has not fcrupled to afTert, 
 that Herod feared Johi^ knowing that he 
 was ajujl fnan, and an holy ; and obferved 
 him ; and when he heard him^ he did ma?iy 
 things i and heard him gladly *. No ftron- 
 ger proof can be delired, of that great ve- 
 neration which Herod had conceived ^f£>r 
 
 him, 
 
 • Mark vi. 20- 
 
384- 72^ Divine MiJfio?is of 
 
 Part in. J^Jm^ than his being pleafed with, and 
 ^./'^f^ lidening to, the advice of One in a fta- 
 tion of life fo very flir below him, as the 
 BaptijL 
 
 And hov/ univerfal his authority was 
 with the people, is evident from the con- 
 duct of the priefts ; who, fome time after 
 his death, were afraid the people would 
 have ftoned them, fliould they venture to 
 fay he was an impoftor *. Jofephics like- 
 wife makes honourable mention •^- of him, 
 as one who taught the people the necef- 
 fity of virtue and true holinefs ; and adds, 
 that his influence over them was fo great, 
 that He?-od himfelf was fearful of him, 
 left he {hould excite a revolt ; and there- 
 fore confined him. 
 
 Possessed of fuch credit both with 
 the prince and the people, what conduct 
 would the fecret AJjociate of a pretended 
 Mefliah, at this time, have purfued ? 
 'Jcjiis^ who affumcd the charader of the 
 Mejjiah himfelf^ had not appeared fo long 
 
 on 
 
 * Luke XX. 6. 
 
 t See note, p. 36, 37. 
 
yohn Baptijl and yefus Chriji, ^^c^ 
 on the public ftao;e : his credit remained ^^^'^ i^^- 
 
 . . Seft. 7. 
 
 yet to be ellabiiflied j and upon his fuc- 
 cefs, at laft, muft the event of their joint 
 undertaking unavoidably depend. The 
 crafty Forerunner therefore would now, 
 more than ever, have employed all his art, 
 to keep that influence he had already ac- 
 quired ; at once, cunningly inftilling into 
 the people fuch notions as were beft cal- 
 culated to ferve his fecret defignsj and 
 pradicing every artifice upon Herod to 
 preferve his protedion and kindnefs unin- 
 terrupted. The more popular he was, 
 the more cautious he would certainly 
 have been of incurring Herod's jealoufy, 
 or difpleafure -, for fear of blafting at once 
 all their preconcerted deiigns, when they 
 were, at length, in fo fair a way for 
 fuccefs. 
 
 But how oppoiite to all this, was the 
 condu6t of 'John the Baptiji. At this cri- 
 tical point of time, in this peculiar fitua- 
 tion i when both his own, and his Confe- 
 derates^ interefl, abfolutely required him 
 to ad: in the manner jufl: defcribed ; he 
 C c even 
 
o86 lloe Divine MiJfto?is of 
 
 Part IH. even proceeded to reprove Herod himfeify 
 ^,y\^-^ for the wickednefs of his life j and charg- 
 ed him with the unlavvfulnefs of his moft 
 darling pleafures, in (o particular an in- 
 ftance ; his marriage with Herodias *, his 
 brother Philip's wife j that he could ex- 
 ped: nothing lefs in return, from Herod's 
 violence of temper, and Herodias s influ- 
 ence J than imprifonment and death. And 
 accordingly we find, that Herod imme- 
 diately imprifoned JoId?:, on account of 
 Herodias ; as well as, according to jfofe- 
 phuSj for fear he might attempt to bring 
 on a revolt : and Herodias, as it was natu- 
 ral to expert flie would,, foon after accom- 
 plifhed his death. 
 
 An impoflor, in John's particular fitua- 
 tion, could not but have reflected, at the 
 firft thought of fo dangerous a ftep, as that 
 which occafioned Johns death -y that it 
 was not his own immediate affiflance 
 only, of which his Ajjociate would be de- 
 prived, by his deftrudion ; though this 
 alone would have been fufficient to pre- 
 vent 
 
 • Mark vi. 1 7, 1 8, 1 9. 
 
yohn Baptijl a7id ye/us Chriji, 387 
 
 vent him from adopting it. But he would Part IIL 
 belides have conlidered, that his own im- ^./-v^ 
 
 prifonment and death, would probably 
 itrike fuch a panic into the people j how- 
 ever zealous they had before been in his 
 favour ; as would reftrain them from lif-^ 
 tening afterwards to Jefus ; or paying the 
 fame regard, they might otherwife have 
 done, to his pretenlions. 
 
 Nay nothing was more probable, than 
 that Job?!?, public miniflry being put to 
 fo ignominious an end, would even de- 
 ilroy that good opinion of John himfelf, 
 which they had hitherto entertained ; and 
 induce them to believe, that notwith- 
 ftanding his fair outfide, he could be no 
 better than an impoftor. For by what ar- 
 guments could yohn think it was poffible, 
 that the Jews could perfuade themfelves, 
 he was really fent to be the divine Fore- 
 runner of this triumphant Mejjiah ; when 
 they fhould have feen him feized, by 
 Herod's order, imprifoned, and put to 
 death ? 
 
 C c 2 Beside 
 
388 T^e Divine Mifftons of 
 
 Part III. Beside therefore 'Johris regard to hh 
 f,y^^ onvn fuccefs, his liberty, and even his life 
 itfelf J which no impoftor can be thought 
 defirous of expofing to certain deftruc- 
 tion, for no reafon : his conne^lion with 
 Jefus J if they were deceivers ; and the 
 necelTary dependance of Both upon the 
 mutual fuccefs and afTiftance of Each 
 Other J muft unqueftionably have reftrain- 
 ed 'John from provoking, at this time, the 
 inveterate hatred of Herodias ; and draw- 
 ing on himfelf Herod's violent fufpicion 
 and difpleafure. So that the remarkable 
 behaviour of Johrij in this important par- 
 ticular, and at fo critical a conjundure * 5 
 
 affords 
 
 * Here we cannot but take notice of a very remarkable 
 particular in Jefus'?, conduft, which is clofely connedled 
 with what has juft been confidered in John's. No fooner 
 was Jefus informed , that Herod had thrown John into 
 prifon ; than He quitted Judea, and went into Gallllce. 
 (See Matthew iv. 12. to the end ; and Mark i. 14. to 
 the end : ) and traverfing it all over ; as well that part 
 of it, which was under Herod's ]wx'\{^\d!\Q)Xi, as that un- 
 der Philip's ; (Matthew iv- 23. Mark i. 39.) he there be- 
 gan firll to preach continually to the people ; elefted feve- 
 ral of his difciples to accompany him wherever he went ; 
 performed the moft aftonifhing works ; and drew the at- 
 tention of the whole country upon hiai. But had Jefus and 
 
 the 
 
yohn Bcipti/l and yefus Chrijl, 3 89^ 
 
 affords us one of the ftrongejft prefumptlve ^^J^ ^''' 
 proof* imaginable^ that neither He nor w/'^v^ 
 
 'Jefm could poffibly be deceivers. 
 
 the Baptijl been fl^a^/? impoflors, nothing feems more 
 improbable, than that "Jefus fhould fingle out thi; parti- 
 cular time ; and the dominions of that particular prince, 
 who had but juft then imprifoned his partner in the 
 fame wicked impoflure ; in order there Jirfx to make try- 
 al of all his devices ; procure more affociates; and, at- 
 tended by them, to draw the multitude about with him, 
 from all parts of the country. In an impoftor, this 
 would have been voluntarily feeking the fame fate, that 
 his forerunner had but juft experienced ; and in reality 
 provoking Herod to put an end, at once, to all their 
 joint machinations. But this is what no impoftor whatever 
 can be fuppofed defirous to have done. 
 
 Cc 3 SEC 
 
2 go The Dhme Mtjfions of 
 
 SECTION viir. 
 
 Part IH. 
 Sea. 8, 
 
 O fooner was 'John cafl: into pri- 
 fon, than Jcjm began to preach in 
 a more public, and folemn manner than 
 before. Veiy foon after this, he feledHied 
 his twelve difciples, to accompany him 
 wherever he went j and excited the atten- 
 tion of the whole people, by healing all 
 difeafes, and even raifing the dead to 
 life. 
 
 When behold, after fome time fpent 
 in thefe employments, he was addrelTed, 
 before all the people, by a deputation from 
 John. For the difciples of John fieived 
 him all thefe things j handing accefs to him 
 in prifony where he wasflill cotifined. And 
 John calling unto him two of his difciples ^ 
 fent them unto Jefus^ fiy^^^g i ^^i T'hou he 
 that fl:ould come^ or look we for another ? 
 Whefi the men were come unto him^ they 
 faid j John Bapti/l hath fent us to thee^ 
 faying, art Thou he that fmdd come^ or look 
 ijsefor another'^ Afid in that fame hour He 
 
 cured 
 
jfohn Baptifi and ye/us Chf^ijl, 391 
 
 cured many of their infirmities and plagues ^ ^^^'^ in, 
 and of evil fpir its, and unto many that were ^y^^^^^ 
 blind he gave fight. 'Then jefus anfwer- 
 ing faid unto them -, go your way, and tell 
 "John, what things ye have feeii and heard i 
 how that the blind fee, the lame walk, the 
 depers are clcanfed, the deaf hear, the 
 dead are raifed, to the poor the gofpel is 
 preached. And blefed is he^ whofoever fhall 
 not be offended in me *. 
 
 Here we mufl again recoiled, that if 
 yohn and Jefus were impoftors, Neither of 
 them could take any public ftep, that 
 might at all afFed the credit of the Other, 
 unlefs it had been before agreed on be- 
 tween them. Nor could they even agree 
 to put in pradlice any contrivance of this 
 nature, but fuch as they thought would 
 ferve to impofe upon the people more ef- 
 fectually, and eftablifli their credit more 
 firmly than before. 
 
 Here therefore the quefhon imme- 
 
 -diately prefents itielf j whether, if yohn 
 
 and yefus had been deceivers, this moft 
 
 Cc 4 extra- 
 
 * Luke vii. 18—23. 
 
39^ ^^ Divine Mijfions of 
 
 ^ART III. extraordi?iary melTage from the Baptiji to 
 v^v^N^ y^^^j could poflibly be agreed on be- 
 tween them, from any hopes of its pro- 
 moting the authority of Either ? If, on 
 the contrary, the obvious, natural, and 
 only polTible effedt of it muft have been, 
 exciting the people to call in queftion the 
 veracity of Both j this unexpecSted meffage 
 will furnifh us with another convincing 
 argument of the truth of Jcjliss divine 
 chara(fter, as well as that of his Fore- 
 runner. 
 
 Could it then be the reputation of 
 yefus, which they were in hopes of ad- 
 vancing, by means of this public deputa- 
 tion from John ? Nothing can be more 
 certain, than that the only probable effed: 
 of this contrivance ; (hould it have any 
 eiFe6l at all j muft have been, to under- 
 mine, inftead of eftablifliing and encrea- 
 fing, whatever degree of credit Jefus had 
 yet been able to acquire. Jobiy we know, 
 was at this time, in pofiefiion of an efta- 
 biifhed and univerfal authority. Though 
 the people had not agreed upon any particu- 
 lar 
 
^ohn Baptijl and Jefus Chriji, 393 
 
 lar divine charader to afcribe to him : all Part iir. 
 
 Seft. 8. 
 
 were thoroughly convinced that his cha- u'vn* 
 raster was really divine ; all believed him 
 to be a prophet ; and held him in the 
 higheft efteem and veneration. 
 
 Thus perfuaded of Johis divine cha- 
 rader, as both Jefus and he well knew the 
 people were 5 what influence muft They 
 themfelves expedt it would have upon the 
 general opinion oijejus, fhouldthe people 
 iind Johfi fending his own difciples, pur- 
 pofely to declare, as it were, in public, that 
 yohn himfelf was not fatisfied of the truth 
 of y^fus^ divine pretenfions ? It is ob- 
 vious, that as far as Johns authority could 
 influence the opinion of the people, this 
 ftep could only ferve to prevent any one 
 from becoming a difciple of Jefus, who 
 was not fo already j and to bring his af- 
 fumed charader into fuipicion, even with 
 thofe, who were. 
 
 Was it poffible then for this contri- 
 vance to have been agreed on, with a 
 view to encreafe the credit of John him- 
 felf t So far from it, that they muft cer- 
 tainly 
 
394 
 
 Tloe Divine Mijftom of 
 
 Part HI- talnly have expeded, it would be attended 
 with at leaft as fatal an influence upon hii 
 cwji reputation, as that oiyefus. Jobri had 
 before publicly borne fuch pofitive and re- 
 peated teflimony, to Jcjus's divine nature, 
 and particular charadlcr j that thofe of 
 the duUeft appreheniions might be ex- 
 peded to condemn him at once, for an 
 evident and mod barefaced impoftor ; 
 fhould he now, after all, begin to pro- 
 fefs himfelf, in the leafl, doubtful about 
 him. 
 
 He it was, who from the beginninfr 
 had declared, that the law was given by 
 Mcfes J but grace and truth came ^ Jesus 
 Christ *. He it was, who had long be- 
 fore cried out, more than once j Behold 
 thehAM'Kof God J which taketh away the fin of 
 the world. ^This zVhe of whom Ifai drafter me 
 Cometh a 7nan, which is preferred before me ; 
 for he was bejore me. And I knew him not ^ 
 but that he jJmddbe made manifefi to Ifrael : 
 therefore am I come baptizing with water. 
 And John bare record^ faying \ I f aw the 
 
 spirit 
 
 * Johni. 17. 
 
yohn Baptijl and yefus Chrift, 395 
 
 Bpirit dejcendi?ig from heaven like a dove^ Part lir. 
 and it abode upon him. And I knew him 
 not : but he that fent me to baptize nsith 
 water ^ the fame faid unto me j upon "whom 
 thou fialt fee the Spirit defending^ and re- 
 maining on hitn, the same /j he who bap- 
 tizeth with the Holy Ghoji. And I faw 
 mid bare record, that this is the Son of 
 God "f-, And he that believeth on the Son 
 hath everlajling life ; and he that believeth 
 7tot the Son, fhall not fee life j but the 
 wrath of God abideth on him -f*. 
 
 After fuch peremptoiy and repeated 
 declarations as thefe; which, if true, place 
 fefm% divine miffion and charad:er be- 
 yond doubt ; but, if falfe, muft have been 
 falfehoods, which fohn, at the very time 
 of declaring them, knew to be fuch ; af- 
 ter all thefe declarations, v/hat opinion 
 muft he now have expected the Jews 
 would form of his own integrity \ when, 
 after ail, they fliould find him publicly 
 declaring himfelf unfatisficd of the truth 
 of Jefuss pretenfions ? And in no other 
 
 fenfe 
 
 * John i, 29 — 34, t Idem. iii. 36, 
 
39^ ^^ Div'mc Mijfwm of 
 
 ^Sea."^" ^^"^^ whatever could they be expeded to 
 v./-V-^ interpret the queftion before us ; thus 
 publicly put to Jefm, in Jchns cwn name, 
 and by his own dileiples. John Baptifi 
 hath jhit lis to thee^ fiyif^g ; art T^hou he 
 that fiould comCy ' or look ive for an- 
 other ? 
 
 The only conclufion the people could 
 be expe6led to draw, from the ftrong ap- 
 pearance of a contradidion of fo flagrant 
 a natnre ; in one, v/ho had fo often pre- 
 tended to pronounce jejms divine cha- 
 radler, by adlual inipiration j was evi- 
 dently this : That John himfcJf had 
 hitherto deluded them by his fpecious 
 pretences ; and that He, and whoever was 
 conneded with him, muft be an errant im- 
 poftor. This was fo obvious a confe- 
 quence of the meffage before us, iliould 
 it be taken notice of at all ; and fliould it 
 not, it could certainly do them no good ; 
 that it mufl: have occurred to every one, 
 and more efpecially to two fo artful de- 
 ceivers, upon the firil propofal of fuch 
 a (lep. 
 
 It 
 
^ohn Baptiji and J ejus Chrijl, 397 
 
 It is therefore utterly incredible they Part in. 
 could agree together beforehand, that ^.^\r>J 
 'John fhould fend a deputation to Jefus^ 
 with fuch a melTage as Hhis. Let us in- 
 vent as many fecret caufes as we are able, 
 to account for it j none can ever make it 
 poffibie to have been the contrivance of 
 two pretenders to divine infpiraLon ; af- 
 ter that public and remarkable tellimony, 
 which Jejiis had already fo often received 
 from Jolm, After that, the manifeft and 
 diredt tendency of it could be no other, 
 than to blaft efFedually the reputation of 
 Both. 
 
 Nay, could we even hit on any de- 
 vice, that mjght feem to anfwer the pur- 
 pofe, it v^^ould not be allowable to urge 
 it : becaufe J^fus's condudl, on this oc- 
 cafion, clearly fhews, that, if he was an 
 impoftor, he himfelf knew of none. 
 
 Had they themfelves provided any 
 cunning expedient for this end; J^fis 
 would certainly have made ufe of it, im- 
 mediately after he had given his anfwer 
 to the melTage itfelf j to prevent the people 
 
 from 
 
39^ TZ^ Divine Mijptons of 
 
 ?ART III. fi-Qjj5 drawing from it the mofl: natural 
 
 Scdt. 8. ^ 
 
 v/^-V-N^ conclunons, to the utter dilcredit both of 
 'John end Himfelj. No fooner would yo/^jw's 
 difciples liave left him, to return to their 
 m^ifter j than we iliould have found "Jefus 
 artfully preventing thofe fufpicions, that 
 muft otherwife be expelled to fpring up, 
 in the minds of many, who had heard 
 the meifage dehvered j by infinuating fome 
 plaufible pretence, to account for yohris 
 fending his difciples, at this time, to make 
 io Jirange an enquiry. 
 
 But yefus^ on the contrary, alleged 
 nothing of this kind. And though the 
 doubting meflage, which the people had 
 jufl" heard, could have no other effedt, 
 than ta make them conclude, that "John 
 was certainly unable to point out the true 
 Mcfliab, Ihould he actually appear j Jefus 
 took this opportunity, while the found of 
 yo/vz's meflage was fcarce out of their ears, 
 toaflert, xh2L.tJo}M'was that very mef-^ 
 Jhiger, ivho 'u^as to go before the Mejjiah's 
 face^ to prepare his way before him ; ajid, 
 if they ivculd receive it ; he 'was Eli as, 
 
 ivhicb 
 
yohn Baptifl and yefus Chrifl, 399 
 
 *which was for to come. Addin?, to clofe P^rt H^* 
 
 Se6l. 8. 
 
 the whole with the greateft folemnity ; ^^^y^ 
 he that hath ears to hear, let him hear *. \ 
 
 What conclulion now mufl we be 
 forced to draw, from a condudl, on both 
 fides, in every refped: fo unaccountable 
 as this ? If indeed J ejus was the true Mef- 
 Jiah^ and yohn his real Forerunner ; all 
 this is very poffible to have come to pais. 
 T^hey, who were accomplilliing the eter- 
 nal counfels of God, by fulfilling a variety 
 of explicit prophecies 3 in fuch a man- 
 ner, as to afford mankind the moft ample 
 proof of their divine miffions -, and yet fo as 
 to leave them to their own voluntary and 
 free conviction ; it is to be expected, muft 
 have condu<5ted themfelves, on feveral oc- 
 cafions, in a manner not eafily to be ac- 
 counted for, by beings like ourfelves ; 
 utterly unable to comprehend the whole 
 nature of fuch amazing difpenfations. 
 
 But if T^hey w^ere mere human impof- 
 tors J who could ad upon no other views 
 than thofe of hiunan cunning only ; we 
 
 may 
 
 * Matthew xl. lo, 14, 15. 
 
400 The Divine Mijfions of 
 
 I'art III. may be bold to afTert, that "John could not 
 \,/^\f^^ at this time have lent jiich a meflage to 
 'Jefus ; nor J ejus have behaved thus to the 
 people, upon receiving it, if he had. They 
 themfelves mufl have thought, that this 
 would have been no lefs than provoki?2g the 
 people to rejed; them, as undoubted im- 
 poftors. 
 
 How^EVER, though this melTage could 
 not be agreed on between yohn and jfeJuSy 
 with any view to promote their joint cre- 
 dit, and conceal their deceit j it may be 
 aiked perhaps, might not yo/M fend it 
 with a contrary defign ? yohn had now 
 been impiifoned fome time, and there 
 appeared no profpedl of his releafe. It 
 may poflibly be thought he began at 
 length to be dilgufted with an undertak- 
 ing, which had been the means of bring- 
 ing him into fuch a dilemma ; and could 
 afford no hopes of extricating him from 
 it. That, in confequence of this, he 
 had refolved to obtain what he could for 
 himfelf, by betraying that plot, in which 
 he had fuccceded fo ill : and fent his dif- 
 
 ciples 
 
yohn Baptifl a72d yefus Chrijl, 40 1 
 
 ciples to deliver this fufpicious meIlao:e to ^-'^'^'^ i^^' 
 
 ^ 11. ^^^- ^• 
 
 JefuSy before the whole multitude; in ^^•\r"^-/ 
 
 hopes of deitroying Jefus's credit, by 
 means of his own more eftablifhed au- 
 thority. 
 
 Or at leafl, it may in general be fup- 
 pofed, that he did it out of refentment j 
 owing to fome mifunderfcanding, that had 
 arifen between them. And furely it is very 
 far from impoffible, it maybe faid, for 
 impoftors to betray themfelves, by their 
 quarrels with each other. 
 
 But had 'John been at length deiirous 
 to obtain his own enlargement, and what 
 other advantages he could, by betraying 
 fo iniquitous an impofture ; inllead of 
 taking fuch a method as this^ to open the 
 eyes of the people ; he would certainly 
 have difcovered the whole plot, at once, to 
 Herod himfelf ; from whom every favour, 
 he could hope for, muil be immediately 
 derived. 
 
 From the beginning He had borne 
 
 witnefs to JefuSy as the true Mejiah, in fo 
 
 remarkable a n>anner ; that by what means 
 
 D d ' lb- 
 
ij.02 7^^ Divine MtJJto?ts of 
 
 Part HI. foevcr yeftis fhould be convided of im- 
 sy^\r^ pofture j yohn could not poflibly efcape 
 the fame condemnation. It was therefore 
 impOiTible for Him, to be defirous of lead- 
 ing the people themielves to convidt je^ 
 fus, without his appearing at all volun- 
 tarily concerned in betraying him ; for 
 this evident reafon j that He could then 
 have had no merit to plead in the difco- 
 very j nor any thing to exped: from it, but 
 that condign punifhment, which was due 
 to Iiim for his own fhare in the plot. 
 Had 'John therefore been defirous to be- 
 tray JcfuSy Herod himfelf was the only 
 perfon to whom he would have applied j 
 and to him he would have plainly con- 
 feiled the whole plan of their impofture ; 
 in hopes of obtaining his own pardon, at 
 leafl, if not fome reward. 
 
 And thus, this remarkable mejjage 
 from the Baptiji to J ejus ; which, becaufe 
 the motive, that really occafioned it, does 
 not appear ; may at firfl, perhaps, be con- 
 ceived as fome fmall objection to their 
 Cx*-edit ; approves itfelf, upon a clofer in- 
 
 fpedion. 
 
yohn Baptifi a7id ye/us Chrijl, 403 
 
 fpedion, in every light it can be viewed j Part iir. 
 one of the moji fatisfa5loij, circumftantial vOr^ 
 proofs, of the integrity and divine charac- 
 ter of them Both^ which the gofpels afford. 
 And whether we can point out thofe par- 
 ticular motives *, which adually induced 
 the true Elias, to fend his difciples, with 
 fuch an enquiry, to the true MeJ/iah, is an 
 enquiry of no real importance at all; 
 however it might gratify our curioiity to be 
 able to folve the queflion. Since, in the 
 meantime, it appears abundantly plain, that 
 no fuch meffage could on any account have 
 been fent from 'John to 'Jefus^ had they in 
 reality been no better than impoftors. 
 
 * The chief caufes which have been affigned, as what 
 might probably induce the Baptiji to (end his difciples 
 to Jefics with this enquiry, may be feen, in Jortin's dif- 
 courfes concerning the Ch. Rel. ch. 5. on John the Bap' 
 ii/i. — Macknight's Comm. to his Harmony, fed. 42. 
 —Whitby, and Lightfoot, on Matthew xi. 3. 
 
 Dd 2 SEC- 
 
404 ^^ Divine Mijfwns of 
 
 SECTION IX. 
 
 Setl, g. 
 
 Part III. "]^T O T long before Jcftiss public m'l- 
 i^ ^ niftry, and his life, were put an end 
 to together, he made a folemn entiy into 
 yerufalemy attended by great multitudes, 
 and amidft the general acclamations of the 
 people * -y in fo much that all the city was 
 mo'uedy faying^ who is this ? And going 
 the next day into the temple, he took upon 
 him, to cajl out them that fold and bought 
 in the temple ; and overthrew the tables of 
 the money-changers, and the feats of them 
 that fold doves : and faid unto them^ it is 
 written, my hoife fljall be called the houfe of 
 prayer, but ye have made it a den of 
 thieves '\. It would have been wonderful 
 indeed if the rulers had not taken umbrage 
 at his prefuming to do this. And it came 
 topafs, that on one of thofe days, as he taught 
 the people in the temple, ajid preached the 
 gofpel ; the chief priefls, andfcribes, came 
 
 upon 
 
 * Matthew ch. 21. Markxi. Luke xxi. John xii* 
 4" Matthew xxi. 12, 13. 
 
yoh?! Baptijl and yefus Chrijt, 405 
 
 iipoji him, with the elders, , and [pake unto P^^^ l^l- 
 him, fciying ; tell us by what authority doejl ^/'-v-nI 
 thou thefe things f Or who is he, that gave 
 thee this authority f And he anfwercd, and 
 faid unto them, I will alfo ajk you one thing, 
 and aiijwer me ; and I will tell you by what 
 authority I do thefe things * : 'T'he baptifm 
 o/*JoHN, was it from heaven, or of 7nen? j 
 A7id they reafoned with thcmfelves, faying, I 
 if we fljall fay from heaven, he will fay, 
 why then believed ye him not ? But and if 
 we fay, of men \ all the people will Ji one • 
 us J for they be perfuaded that fohn was a 
 prophet. And they anfwered, that they could 
 not tell whence it was. And J fas faid unto 
 them, neither tell I you, by what authority 
 I do thefe things -f*. 
 
 The remarkable tranfad:ion now be- 
 fore us will ferve greatly to lUuftrate the 
 integrity both of John, and of Jefus ; by 
 furnifhing us with another ftrong argu- 
 ment to fliew, that the various teilimo- 
 nies of the For?ner, to the divine charac- 
 Dd 3 ter 
 
 * Mark xi. 29. 
 f Luke XX. I,— 8. 
 
40 6 *The Dtvh^e Mijfions of 
 
 Part HI. ter of the Latter^ could not have arlfen 
 y^z-^sT^ from any fecret impoflure concerted be- 
 tween them ; and confequently, that no 
 fuch impoflure could exift. 
 
 When 'J ejus took upon him to prohi- 
 bit all that traflickins: in the courts of the 
 temple, which the priefts and rulers had 
 long permitted to be carried on there -, 
 the lead he could expecfl was, that they 
 would foon come to enquire of him, by 
 what authority he pretended to do this, and 
 from whom he derived it ? For this v/asaf- 
 fuming apower, which none, whowerenot 
 commiflioned from God himfelf, or au- 
 thorifed by '^hejn^ had any right to exer- 
 cife. It was openly invading their par- 
 ticular province, and ftriking at their whole 
 authority, even in the face of the people. 
 Whatever then might be the chief de- 
 fign of 'Jcfus in driving the traders out of 
 the temple, in this authoritative method > 
 fince it was, "in a manner, certain, that the 
 Sanhedrim would at leaft fend him a de- 
 putation to make tkh enquiiy, in confe- 
 quence of it} y^/^^J, if he was an im- 
 
 po/lor^, 
 
yohn Bciptijl and yefus Chrijl. 407 
 poflor, muft have determined what an- ^^rt III. 
 
 . . . SecV. 9. 
 
 jhvet' to give them, before he put his de- ..jry^ 
 iig^n in execution. 
 
 The nature of the cafe will likewife 
 inform us, in what manner an impoftor, 
 in ycjuss iituation, muft have determined 
 to anfv/er them. He had now been a 
 long time tiying to gain credit to his di- 
 vine pretenfions, and had at length rnade 
 a kind of public entry into the city, amidft 
 the general acclamations of the people. 
 And with them he v/as now in fo high 
 efteem; th-xt though the chief priejls, and 
 the fcribes, and the chief of the people, 
 fought to deftrcy hi?n ; they could not find 
 what they might do ', for all the People 
 were veiy attentive to hear him *. 
 
 But as the chief priefls, and rulers, 
 were a veiy formidable body, and all 
 ftill oppofed him j fliould he not be able 
 to make good his claims, when publicly 
 challenged, in their name, to vindicate 
 them J he had good reafon to expe6l, that 
 by degrees the good will of the people 
 Dd 4 alio 
 
 * Luke jUx. 47, 48. 
 
4o8 Hje Div'me Mijfwns of 
 
 Part III. ^Ifo would be alienated from hirrt. As, 
 
 Sect. 9 
 
 v^-v^w on the other hand, the more advantage- 
 oufly he could fupport his divine autho- 
 rity, in this particular encounter; the 
 more immoveably he was fure to attach 
 ^t people in general to his interefts ; and 
 the more Hkely to gain over even fome of 
 the rulers themfelves, if that were pof- 
 fible, to favour his caufe. 
 
 Thus circumftanced, 'Jefus^ ifanim- 
 poftor, could not have wiilied for a more 
 defireable event, than to have the chief 
 priejls, a.ndfcril?esj and elders ^ come pu- 
 blicly to demand of him, by what autho- 
 rity he pretended to do, what he had 
 done ? Nay, if he was an impoftor, we 
 may now lee, that the bringing about this 
 public enquiry into his divine commiffion, 
 mufl have been the very defign he had in 
 view; in exercifing that unexpedied au^ 
 thority, which upon this occafion he aft- 
 fumed. 
 
 Had he been a deceiver then, he 
 would eagerly have feized this defireable 
 opportunity, of his own immediate con- 
 
 trivinsr ; 
 
 O 3 
 
yohn Baptijl and Jefus Chrlfl. 409 
 
 triving ; to have enlarged upon every cir- Part IIL 
 cumftance that could be alleged, in lup- ^^^^^-^^ 
 port of his divine authority. He w^ould 
 have related particularly, all thofe aPconidi- 
 ing revelations, and other wonderful cir- 
 cumftances, which had accompanied his 
 conception and birth. He would have re- 
 minded them, on how many occalions 
 the blind had, by his operation, received 
 their fight ; the la7ne walked , the lepers 
 been cleanjed-y the deaf been made to 
 hear ; and even the dead themfelves been 
 raifed up. And in particular, had he been 
 an impoftor in confederacy with John -^ 
 he would have urged to them, in the hear- 
 ing of the people ; who were all zealous 
 difciples of the Baptijl , and whofe di- 
 vine authority he knew the priefls could 
 not dare to deny ; thofe repeated and ex- 
 plicit teflimonies, which John had fo of- 
 ten borne to his divine charader ^ and in 
 which he had even politively declared 
 him to be the true Mejfiah. And now 
 likev/ife, when he had v/orked up the 
 people, by all the arguments he could al^ 
 
 lege. 
 
4io The Divine MiJJtons of 
 
 ^X7 ^^^ ^^b^' ^^ ^^^ greatefl: fervor in his caufe ; 
 
 %y>/^^ had he been an impcftor, he would im- 
 mediately have declared himfelf their 
 Mejjiah and Kifig ; and have commenced 
 at laft one decilive ftruggle, to deter- 
 mine the fate of the whole impofture. 
 
 What then muft we be forced to 
 conclude, with regard to the true charac- 
 ter of Jefus ', who even upon this pe- 
 culiar occafion, procured by his own 
 means ; though poifefTed oi fuch tefti^ 
 vionieSy to eftablifh his divine authority, 
 as he knew the chief priefts could neither 
 invalidate, nor difpnte -, would not, even 
 at this time, produce any of them in his 
 own defence ? How is it pofiible we carr 
 believe him to have been the deceitful ccn^ 
 federate of the Baptiji -, who, even on fo 
 peculiar an occafion, declined all appeal 
 to yohns authoritative teftimony; and 
 would not avail himfelf of /?/j univerfal 
 credit ? 
 
 But did he not in fad, itmaybeaflc- 
 ed, exprefsly put the priefts in mind of 
 yohn the Baptiji ? And might he not in- 
 tend 
 
^ohn Eaptift and Jefiis Chrijl. 411 
 
 tend this, as an appeal to Joh?is teftimony Part in. 
 in his favour ? — True indeed it is, that Je- ^•"v*^ 
 fus did adually remind the priefts of job?i 
 the Baptift : but it is no lefs true, that 
 he did this in fuch a manner, as to make 
 the juftnefs of our conclufion even ftill 
 more apparent, than it could have been, 
 had he not made the leafl mention o^'John, 
 
 For inftead of reminding them of 
 John^ fo as to make the lead ufe of 
 His teftimony, in his own defence j it 
 is evident, he did it with no other de- 
 iign, than merely to procure himfelf an 
 opportunity of making 720 defence at all. 
 
 I will alfo ajk you one things (faid Jc- 
 fus) and ajifwer me ; and I will tell you by ' 
 what authority I do thefe things. The bap- 
 tifm (j/^ John, was it from heaven or of 
 men ? And they anfwered^ that they could 
 not tell whence it was. And fefus faid unto 
 them, neither tell I you, by what authority I 
 do thefe things. 
 
 The manner in which, we fee, fefis on 
 thisoccalion made mention oifohn, proves 
 to demonftration, that though he was by 
 
 no 
 
412 The Divine MiJ/iom of 
 
 Paet IIL no means forgetful of that explicit evi- 
 dence, which fobn had fo frequently 
 borne in his favour j yet that he was deier^^ 
 mitied to make no advantage of it, for the 
 eftablifhment of his own divine charac- 
 ter J even at that very conjundture, when 
 it would have been of the moft fignal 
 fervice to him, to allege it. Whereas, 
 had fefus been an impoftor in confede- 
 racy with fobii ; inftead of making ufe of 
 the Baptijl\ name, at this time, merely 
 in order to procure himfelf an opportu- 
 nity to be flent ; he would certainly have 
 infixed on Johns tefdmony, with all the 
 power of his eloquence -, to eftablifh the 
 people immoveably in their prefcnt fa- 
 vourable opinion of bis own divine million, 
 and authority. And indeed, when we 
 confider the whole of this very remark- 
 able tranfadlion j the reformation in the 
 temple, which Jefus took upon him to 
 make ; together with his anjwer to the 
 chief priefls and rulers, when they came 
 upon him to demand by what authority he 
 pretended to do this ) it appears undeni- 
 ably. 
 
yohn Baptijl and Jefus Chrift, 413 
 
 ably, from that extraordinary manner in P^^^ HI. 
 which he chofe to make mention oijohn, wOrO 
 upon this very peculiar occafion ^ that the 
 Bapfifl and yefus could not poiTibly be 
 ajfociate deceinjerSj and confequently, that 
 yefus himfelf could be no lefs than the 
 true Meffiahj and John the Baptiji than hi8 
 divine Forerunner, 
 
 6> •-* 
 
 CON- 
 
41+ 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 H E enquiry, we at firfl fet out on, 
 is now brought to an end; and 
 the defiled conclulion eflablilhed, it is 
 hoped, by every argument at firft pro- 
 pofed. But the peculiar nature of the 
 tranfa<ftions ccnfidered, and the various 
 circumftances necelTary to be attended to, 
 in order to place every material particular 
 in its true light, and effcd:ually clear up 
 the point in debate ; have unavoidably 
 drawn it out to an unexpeded length. It 
 may not therefore, in the lafl place, be 
 improper to take a fhort fketch of the 
 whole evidence produced, in fupport of 
 the important point to be proved ^ that 
 when coniidered at once in a collecflive 
 view, every diftindl part may be allowed 
 its due influence and weight ; and the cer- 
 tainty of the conciufion be judged of, by 
 the joint evidence of the whole. 
 
 To (hew the utter incredibility of any 
 fuch impofture, as that in debate, no- 
 
 thinsr 
 
CONCLUSION. 415 
 
 thing more can be abfolutely requiiite,than 
 to prove one or other of the following 
 points. 
 
 Either that the plot fuppofed is of 
 fo ahjiird a nature in itfelf j that it is im- 
 poflible to believe it could ever be under- 
 taken. Or hov/ever, if we have not 
 materials enough to prove this -, that 
 all the particular per Jons concerned, were 
 fuch^ and fo circumjianced -, that it can- 
 not be believed poffible for l^hem to have 
 contrived, or engaged in fuch a deiign. 
 Or laftly, that the manner of conduBing 
 the plot fuppofed, certainly was, in fe- 
 veral important particulars during its pro- 
 grefs, fuch as it could not have been j 
 had the only perfons concerned really con- 
 ipired in the profecution oi fuch an im- 
 pofture. 
 
 To trace out a fatisfadlory proof of 
 'Either of thefe points, may in many cafes, 
 for want of information, be extremely dif- 
 ficult ; in many abfolutely impoffible. 
 But in whatever infl^ance either of them 
 Jingly can be clearly, and diftindly made 
 
 out; 
 
4i6 CO NC L US I O N. 
 
 out ; by comparing the fcveral circum-» 
 fiances of the cafe, with the mofl obvi- 
 ous, and allowed principles of human na- 
 ture j there our doubts muji be at an end j 
 and the fufpicion of any impofture jnufi 
 unavoidably be given up. 
 
 When therefore the cafe confidered 
 proves fuch, that not one of thefe points 
 onh, but all of them can be eftablifhed 
 together -j when it can not only be made 
 to appear morally impo[jible^ for the plot 
 in queflion to have e-vcr been contrived j 
 but likewife, for thofe particular perfons, 
 who alone are concerned, to have con- 
 trived it J and moreover, equally incre- 
 dible for Them, if they had, to have con- 
 dueled it in the manner it appears, from 
 the fads themfelves,to have been conduct- 
 ed : when All thefe points can be made 
 good together; then we have the comple- 
 tell proof of the impojjibility of the plot in 
 queflion, that the nature of fuch points 
 can be ^-^ ox capable of admitting. And, 
 in this cafe the mind cannot but acqui- 
 efce without hefitation, and reil perfedly 
 fatisfied with the conclufion. Now 
 
CONCLUSION. 417 
 
 Now by Each of thefe feveral kinds 
 of proofs have we been enabled to efta- 
 blifli the truth and certainty of all thofe 
 miraculous events, which the evano;elifl:s 
 have recorded of the nativities of 'John the 
 Baptiji, and Jefiis Chriji. 
 
 In the firfl place, it was obvious, that 
 the various aftonifliing circumftances, faid 
 to have, accompanied the conception and 
 birth of John, are in their own nature fo 
 evidently miraculous 5/ that if they really 
 came to pafs, His appearance in the 
 world, and the divine chara(!^er he at 
 length alTumed, muft have been the im- 
 mediate appointment of God. With re- 
 gard to thefe fad:s therefore, the only 
 point to be proved was, that they really 
 came to pafs. 
 
 In order to prove this, it was plainly 
 fhewn, from a multiplicity of abfurdi- 
 ties, which muft unavoidably attend the 
 contrary fuppofition ; that they could nei- 
 ther be invented by Jefus, nor his dif- 
 ciples, nor any ore elfe, after the death 
 of JOHN J nor by John himfelf, or any 
 Ee of 
 
4i8 CONCLUSION. 
 
 of his difciples, during his life. That 
 fome of them, from their very nature 
 alone, muft afluredly have come to pafs, 
 in the manner, and at the time related i 
 and, upon the whole, that if any of 
 them did not, or if there was the leaft 
 deceit in the accounts of any of them j 
 Zacharias and Elizabeth muft have been 
 the original and real managers of the 
 plot. 
 
 The contrivance of the plot in quef- 
 tion being thus traced up, as high as 
 T^hem-, in order to determine, whether 
 T^^ey could really be the contrivers of it 
 or not J it was, in the next place, fully 
 fliewn, that, if fo, the defign they muft 
 have been engaged in, could not be con- 
 fined to 'John only ; nor could They them- 
 felves be the only perfons concerned in 
 carrying it on. But, that they muft at 
 the fame time have been engaged in pro- 
 moting another^ limilar impofture, which 
 related in like manner to Jefus ; and was 
 the counterpart of that concerning John, 
 And likewife, that Jojeph and Mary muft 
 
 have 
 
CONCLUSION. 419 
 
 kave been intimately connecfled with Za- 
 charias and Elizabeth, in the joint profe- 
 cution of Both. 
 
 The foundation of the whole further 
 enquiry being thus laid ; the next point 
 was to prove the incredibility of the ex- 
 iftence of thefe joint impoftors, in the 
 manner firfl: propofed i by confidering the 
 circiimjiances and fjiiation of Each of 
 thofe perfons j Who, it had already been 
 clearly feen, mufl have contrived, and 
 carried them on. 
 
 This argument therefore was the firft 
 attended to. And after having purfued 
 it through the feveral tracks, which gra- 
 dually opened to our view, it brought 
 us at length to this deciiive conclulion ; 
 That the whole fuppolition of thefe joijtt 
 impojiiires mull be given up, as in 
 every particular abfolutely groundlefs, 
 and falfe. 
 
 For, from an attentive conlideration 
 of the moll material circiimjiances at- 
 tending Each of the perfons concerned ; 
 but more efpecially, the advanced age, 
 E e 2 facred 
 
420 CONCLUSION. 
 
 facred profefjion, and exemplary cha^ 
 raBer^ of Zacharias -, together with the 
 youth, and innocence^ and mifullied re- 
 putatioriy of Mary, and from thcfe par- 
 ticulars, coniidered jointly with the pro- 
 grefs of the fuppofed plots themfelves ; 
 it has been fully made appear. That nei- 
 ther Any of the Four perfons concerned, 
 whcxhcvfrngly ox jointly j nor All of them 
 together j could poflibly ' be the contri- 
 vers of the impoftures fuppofed. 
 
 It has indifputably appeared, that 
 neither Zacharias and Elizabcthy on one 
 fide, nor yofeph and Mary, on the 
 other J could feparately have planned 
 out, either the T^^o joint impoftures, re- 
 lating to both parties j or that One, more 
 immediately relating to each. 
 
 And moreover, that even if it were 
 credible, that Each fide could have in- 
 vented their own more immediate plot -, 
 it would ft ill, above all, remain abfo- 
 lutely incredible, that Either fide could 
 have attempted to make ajfociates of the 
 Other ; as well as that They could have 
 
 been 
 
CONCLUSION. 421 
 
 been prevailed on, to engage with them, 
 if they had. 
 
 So that, as the only perfons, at all 
 concerned in the tranfadions under con- 
 fideration, have plainly turned out to be, 
 fuch perfons, as could neither have con- 
 trivedy nor undertaken^ the impoflures in 
 debate -, all fufpicion of any deceit in the 
 cafe, muft from this argument alone fall 
 at once to the ground : the miraculous 
 events in queftion muft be acknowledged 
 to have come to pafs, in the manner they 
 are related : and the chara5lers of Thofe 
 extraordinary Perfons, whofe births they 
 accompanied, muft be fubmitted to, as 
 unqueftionably divine. 
 
 Having thus, in the Firft Part, fully 
 proved the incredibility of the impoftures 
 in queftion, from confidering all the cir^ 
 cumjiances of the feveral Parties con- 
 cerned j in the Second, v/e proceeded, to 
 eftablifli the fame point, by another ar- 
 gument ; of no lels real ftrength, and, 
 at the fame time, more obvious than the 
 former. This was an illuftration of fe- 
 Ee 3 veral 
 
422 CONCLUSION. 
 
 . veral moft ftriking abfurdities, unavoid<». 
 ably contained in the internal nature of 
 the fuppofed impojiiires themfelves. 
 
 Under this head it very plainly ap- 
 peared, that the fappofition of any deceit 
 in the cafe before us, would indifpenfably 
 oblige us to fuppofe the truth of feveral 
 particulars, all in the higheft degree im- 
 pofllble to be believed. 
 
 As, for inftance, that an old, prac- 
 ticed, and moft fubtil deceiver, could 
 plan out an impofture to be carried into 
 execution by one particular perfon only ; 
 and even venture to feign himfeif duml\ 
 for a long fpace of time, merely to pre- 
 pare the way for it ; not only while the 
 very perfon, for whom it was contrived, 
 remained yet unborn ; but likewife be- 
 fore he was even conceived -, nay, and 
 while the contriver himfeif had every 
 reafon the thing could admit of, for be- 
 lieving, that tbls per/on, for whom he 
 was contriving all this iniquity, would 
 never a6lually exijl. 
 
 That 
 
CONCLUSION. 423 
 
 That befides, this fame veteran de- 
 ceiver {hould do all this, for the fake 
 oi fuch a plot, yo contrived 5 as, after all, 
 he could not have the leafl hope of ever 
 bringing on the ftage ; unlefs he could 
 firft infallibly yor^/t'//, not only t\\Q future 
 birth, but even the fex too, of a par- 
 ticular infant, even before it w^as coij^ 
 ceived. 
 
 That moreover, he could delibe- 
 rately fix upon fuch a plan for his in- 
 tended impofture, as obliged him pub- 
 licly to foretell, under the pretence of 
 being divinely inl]3ired -, that a certain 
 infant, then but a few days old, would 
 affuredly live till above the age of twenty 
 years. 
 
 And befides, that the fame infant, 
 when arrived at that age, would certainly 
 appear in public, and exercife the feveral 
 functions of a moji extraordinary divine 
 charaSler 3 which, humanly fpeaking, it 
 was in the higheft degree doubtful, from 
 the nature of the charader alone, whe- 
 ther He might either be able, or inclined 
 E e 4 to 
 
424 CONCLUSION. 
 
 to counterfeit i and the true Owner of which, 
 it was likewife univerfally believed, would 
 appear in the mean time j and efFedlually 
 deprive this fuppofed intended counterfeit 
 of any opportunity to alTume his part. 
 
 From the confideration of thefe, and 
 other no lefs incredible fuppofitions 3 all 
 neceflarily implied in the plots in quef- 
 tion J the nature of the cafe led us next 
 to point out, fome remarkable particu- 
 lars, which we meet with in the courfe 
 of thefe tranfadions ; which plainly ap- 
 peared impoffible to have happened, had 
 there really been any impoflure on foot. 
 
 And here it was foon perceived, 
 that 'had the interviews of the Angel 
 with Zacharias, and Mar\\ been fic- 
 tions of their own contriving, to gain a 
 favourable reception for their intended 
 impoftures 3 unqueftionably the Angel 
 would not have been reprefented, as pu- 
 nifliing Zacharias in that particular man- 
 ner, in which Zacharias pretended to 
 have been puniflied by him j or indeed 
 in any manner at all ; and yet at the fame 
 
 time 
 
CONCLUSION. 425 
 
 time fuffering Mary to efcape without any 
 vifible mark of his difpleiiure. 
 
 Here like wife, it appeared evident 
 beyond all contradi6lion, that the fur- 
 prifing relations of the Shepherds at Beth- 
 lehem J the behaviour of Simeon and Anna 
 in the temple -, and the appearance and 
 condudl of the Wife Men from the Eaji^ 
 together v/ith the reception T'hey met with 
 from Herod himfelf; and that cruel 772af-' 
 facre, which immediately enfued upon 
 their departure i were all fo many afto- 
 nifhing events, which could not poffibly 
 have come to pafs , had Zacharias^ and 
 the Other 'Three perfons originally con- 
 cerned, been engaged in a joint impof- 
 tiire. 
 
 For it appeared abundantly evident, from 
 a variety of confiderations \ that the feve- 
 ral perfons, who were the immediate ac- 
 tors in all thefe unlooked for events j 
 were fuch Perfons, as neither Zacharias, 
 nor any concerned with him, could have 
 attejnpted feducing, to take part with 
 them, in carrying on their defigns ; and 
 , fucb 
 
41^6 CONCLUSION. 
 
 fuch likewife, as could never have become 
 their ajfociates^ if they had. 
 
 Thus the truth of all the miraculous 
 circumflances recorded of the concep- 
 tions and births of 'John the Baftijl and 
 'Jefus Chrijl^ were fully proved ; in the 
 two firft parts of this enquiry j by every 
 kind of diredl argument, which the na- 
 ture of the fadls themfelves could admit. 
 For in them it had been fhewn, that nei- 
 ther were the Perfons concerned capable 
 of confpiring together in the plot fup- 
 pofed y nor was the plot itfelf even ca^ 
 fable of being contrived, and entered 
 into i nor could feijeral Jiefs, of the ut- 
 moft importance, which adually took 
 place, have been adopted 3 had there re- 
 ally exifted any fuch impoJturCy as T^haty 
 which muft be fuppofed. 
 
 But to render the joint force of tlie 
 whole dill more irreiiftible ; and that no 
 argument, with which the gofpels could 
 furnlili us, to iiluftrate lb important a 
 point, might lie negleded ; the defign 
 of the laft Part has been, to examine into 
 
 the 
 
CONCLUSION. 427 
 
 the behaviour of JoJm and J ejus Them- 
 fehes J in thofe inftances, in which they 
 muji have had 2ifecret, as vs^ell as thofe in 
 which they had an apparent connection 
 with Each Other 5 and which muft there- 
 fore tend toiliuftrateftiil further our former 
 conclulion, and their true chara^ers and 
 defig7is. 
 
 And upon this enquiry into the rela- 
 five condud: of the fuppofed Impoftors 
 Themfelves , it has appeared very plainly, 
 in a variety of particulars, of the utmoft: 
 importance to their caufe, to have been 
 fuch, as it is utterly incredible they could 
 have adopted • had the fever? 1 ailonifliing 
 events, before confideved, been ficliti- 
 Oiis J and They Themfelves nothing rn^re 
 than mere human impoftors. 
 
 For, in this Part, it inconteftibly ap- 
 peared, that in many, even the mofl re- 
 markable particulars of their public con- 
 duct towards Rach Other ^ they a<fl€d in 
 fuch a manner, as, to thofe, who had 
 nothing more than human forefight to 
 judge by, mufl have appeared the readied 
 way to obilrudl, and over Jet their whole 
 
 defign i 
 
4^8 CONCLUSION. 
 
 defign ; and confequently, in a manner, 
 in which no impojlors could pofTibly have 
 determined to a6t. 
 
 Here therefore it may be allowable 
 to clofe the whole argument, with that 
 mofl: important conclulion, the eftablifh- 
 ment of which was its fole objed: and 
 defign. 
 
 By provingywW/y, the truth of the pre- 
 tenfions ofyo/j«the Baptifl^ 2j\dij€jusCknJ}^ 
 to dhine authority and infpiration ; as the 
 very na.ilre of the fa6ts to be enquired 
 into, abfoiutely require we fhould ; wc 
 have effedlually vindicated, by two di- 
 JiinB^ though conneded proofs, the truth 
 and certainty of the Divine MiJio?i of 
 Jefus. 
 
 For, firft, if John the Baptijl cer- 
 tainly was, what it has fo inconteflably 
 appeared he mufl: have been, the divine 
 Forerunner of the long expeSled Mejjiah ; 
 fent purpofcly to prepare his way before 
 him, and point Him out to mankind j 
 then mull: 'Jcjus ; whom "John frequently 
 in the moft public, and peremptory man- 
 ner 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 ner pronounced to be I'hat divme Perfo- 
 nage-y unqueftionably have been the true 
 Mejjiah. 
 
 And though, from the firfl: entrance 
 upon the argument, the order of the 
 fad:s to be enquired into, naturally led 
 us to afcertain iirft, the true charadter of 
 the Baptiji j and by this means the cir- 
 cumftances of Jefuss birth, which were 
 equally furprifing, have been attended to 
 in the fecond place only j yet Thefe Two 
 grand Events have proved all along fo 
 Jirftilar to Rach Other ^ and fo infeparably 
 'comjeBedj that in eftablifliing the truth 
 of One^ we have neceffarily confirmed 
 the miraculous nature of Both. 
 
 The fame confiderations, which have 
 fo fully fhewn, that no deceit can have 
 been made ufe of, by Zacharias and £//- 
 zabethy in order to lay a foundation for 
 the divine pretenfions of Joh?! i have 
 proved likewife, at the fame time, that 
 yofcph and Mary could not polTibly forge 
 any of thofe miraculous circumftances 
 recorded of the birth of Jefus 3 to pave 
 
 the 
 
 429 
 
430 CONCLUSION. 
 
 the way for His future appearance undef 
 the aflumed charader of the Meffiah. 
 
 And thus the Dhine Mijjion of "Jefui 
 Chrifi ftands firmly eftabliflied ; not only 
 on the adequate, and indifputable, be- 
 caufe infpiredy teftimony of yohi the 
 Baptiji-j but likewife, independantly of 
 His witnefs, upon the unqueftionable 
 truth and certainty of all thofe miracu- 
 lous events^ which the evangelifts have 
 truly informed us accompanied His own 
 firft appearance in the world. 
 
 So confpicuoufly do the divine dif. 
 penfations of perfed wifdom and truth, 
 diftinguifh themfelves from the fliort- 
 fighted Ichemes of human artifice and de- 
 ceit. Plots of human cunning often ap- 
 pear fpecious at firft %ht, and well con- 
 nedted together ; but, on a nearer in-' 
 fpedion, foon betray evident tokens of 
 inconfiftency, falfehood, and difguife. 
 While, on the contrary, the ftupendous 
 plans of divine providence, appear, at a 
 diftancc, like a number of unconnedxcd, 
 and perhaps even interfering events j 
 
 but. 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 but, when mofl: fcrupuloufly examined, 
 never fail to manifeft the fupreme wif- 
 dom of their all-perfedt Author ; in that 
 irreiiftible force of evidence they all joint- 
 ly produce. 
 
 431 
 
 FINIS. 
 
r