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A 
 
 SUMMARY 
 
 f-^ 
 
 OF TK£ 
 
 PRINCIPAL EVIDENCES 
 
 rOR THE 
 
 mUTH, AND DiyiNE ORIGIN, 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CHRISTIAN REVELATION. 
 
 --]■; 
 
 "i:l 
 
 <\ 
 
 * '-I 
 
 *. J.' 
 
 DESIGNED CHIEFLT 
 
 FOR THE USE OF YOUNG PERSONS ; 
 More parUcularly of thofe who have lately been confirmed 
 THE DIOCESE OF LONDON. 
 
 in 
 
 Bt BEIX.BY, Lord Bishop of LONDON. 
 
 The Third Edition, 
 
 " I 
 
 ' i ■ '*■. 
 
 N E W . Y O R K : 
 
 PRINTED AND SOLD BY ISAAC COLLIN-S 
 NO. 189, PEARL-STREET. 
 
 I80I. 
 
 
id 
 
 PRE FA C E, 
 
 
 •J"*^^ <^* 
 
 *S 
 
 4* -I 
 
 y^Oi? Readers of a mature age and judgment, there ere fo 
 many excellent Treatifes en the Evidences of the Chrtfllaa 
 Religion already publi/bed, that it is perfcSly ncedlefs to add^ 
 to their number ; hut it appeared to me, that there <was Jlilt 
 ^wanting fomething in a Jborter, a cheaper, a mere methodical 
 and familiar firm, for thofe who have jvfi received Confirm' 
 ation. This feems to be the proper ejl period for somnmrAcativg 
 to young people the chief grounds of their faith, and layh'g 
 the foundations of a frm belief in the Chrijllan ReveLition ; 
 leaving it to tbemfehes to add to thefe primtiry ev'ubnces ^which 
 reafon furmjhes in favour of Chrtfiianity, thofe further proofs 
 cf its truth, 'which I trujl they -oiill hereafter derive from 
 fldl higher and better fources ; from an intimate acquaintance 
 with tht Sacred IVritings ; from the illuminating and farMi^ 
 fying influences of the Holy Spirit upon their undtrflandingt 
 and their hearts ; and from the experimental conviaion, 
 whUh I hope they 'will hereafter have, cf the divine ejfficacy 
 of the gofpel in purifying their affeSions, in remedying the 
 diforders of their corrupt nature, and in communicating to 
 them thofe twojnvaluable ble^ngs. Peace of Confcience, and- 
 HoUnefs of Life* 
 
 A 2 
 
 
 
IV 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 In a concern of fuch itifinlte imporiancg, ao fpccies of evi- 
 Jettce ouglt to he difcoumgeify depreciated^ or withheld. And 
 at this time more particularly^ when new Corn pen cTtums of lu'- 
 Jidelityy and neiv Libels on Chrt/liaHity are difperfed contmu* 
 ally, nvith indtfat'tgahle tndujlry, through every part of the 
 li/igdom, and every elafs of the community y* it feems highly 
 expedient to meet thefe hojlile attempts with publications of an 
 vpprfiie tendency, and to fortify the miods of thofe who are 
 jujl entering into the world, by plain and concife flatements of 
 the principal argumcnls in favour^ of Chrijlianify, againfl the 
 efforts that will he made to mijlcad their judgments, corrupt 
 thir principles, andjhake their belief in the Gofpcl of ChrijU 
 
 With a view therefore of fulfilling this duty towards the 
 you:h more immediately under my care, I have drawn up tljt 
 fallowing little Tra^l, for the ufe of thofe principally who 
 have been lately confirmed in the Diocefe of London, My 
 chitf objcdi has been to collet together into one view, and to 
 comprefs together in a narrow compafs, all the mofl forcible 
 arguments for the truth of our religion, which are to be found 
 in our befl writers, with the addition of fuch obfervations of 
 VI y own as occurred to me in the profecution of the IVorh, 
 All thefe I have clajftd under a few fhort, clear, diflinci 
 Propcfitions ; an arrangement which I have always found 
 mofl convenient for the inflruBion of youth, and befl calculated 
 to cifffl their memories, to mahe flrong and durable imprejfons 
 on their underflandings, and to render the important Iruths of 
 religion mofl eafy to be comprehended and retained in their 
 minds. After this, I would recommend it to my young Read- 
 ers, as they advance in life, to have recourfe to one or more 
 of the well-known Treatifes of Grotius, Addifon, Clarke, 
 Leflie, Lardner, Beattie, and Paley, on the Evidences of 
 
 * See the Report of the Committee of the Houfe of Lords, rcf- 
 pccSing Trcafonable Societies, &c. 
 
 ^ PREFACE. V 
 
 Chnftianity ; to fome of whom I am myfelf much indelled, 
 and to whofe maflerly writings on thatfubjeB, this little Work 
 ^at meant only as a kind of elementary introdudion» 
 
 I tnufl however warn my young difciples, that when they 
 have, by the courfe of reading here fuggefled, arrived at a 
 full convi3ion of the divine Origin of the Chriflian Religion, 
 they mufl not imagine that their tajk it Jinifhed, and that no- 
 thing more is required at their hands. The mofl important 
 part of their bufmefs fill remains to be accomplifhed. After 
 being fatisfied that the Chriflian Religion comes from God, 
 their next flep is to enquire carefully what that religion is, 
 nvhat the dodrines are which it requires to be believed, and 
 what the duties which it requires to be pcrfbrfned. For this 
 •purpofe it may be ufeful for them to begin with Gajrell's 
 Chriflian Inflitutes, and ArchhiJJjop Seeker^ s Lectures on the 
 Church Catechifm, In thejirfl they will find the DcBrinet 
 and Duties of the Chri/lian Religion ranged under their pro- 
 per heads in the very words of Scripture, and in the other 
 they will fee mofl of them clearly and concifely explained by a 
 mofl able, pious, and judicious divine. After this they may 
 proceed tofludy the Scriptures themf elves, and more particular- 
 ly the New Teflament, with the ajjiflance of Dr, Doddridge's 
 Family Expofttor, to which they fhould add feme of the 
 Sermons of our befl divines, Bifhop Taylor, Barrow, Sher- 
 lock ^ . and Seder, . 
 
 When they have thus learnt what Chriflianity is, and what 
 it demands from them, they will feel it to be their indifpenfa- 
 ble duty (as it is unqueflionably their truefl interefl) to believe 
 implicitly all the doElrines, and obey with cheerfukefs all the 
 commands of their Maker and Redeemer ; to facrifice to them, 
 and. to their own future eternal welfare, all thdr corrupt paf- 
 ftom and irregular defires, to preferve themfclvis unfpoited 
 
 A 3 
 
VI 
 
 PREFACE, 
 
 from the world, and to implore tlje ajt/lanee of Divine Gract, 
 to-operating ivith their own mojl earneji endeavours, to renr 
 der their belief in the Go/pel effeRual to the fanaification cf 
 their hearts, the reflation of their lives, and the falvation 
 of their fouls • 
 
 I have only io add, that although this little Treatife is 
 d^fgned principally for the injru&ion of Youth, yet confider- 
 edas a kind of recapitulation of the Evidences of Chri/lianl- 
 ty, it may be found of fome ufe to perfons of a more mature 
 age, by refrefhing their memories, and bringing back to their 
 recolleaion thofe proofs of their religion which they have for^ 
 merly read in larger and more elaborate works, and which 
 ihey zvill here fee brought together irtto one point of view. 
 
 ;?<£ 
 
 • i-i'it'^ ' 
 
 <#» (^ t^ t#» e^ (^ (^ (^ V> <^ «^ '>^ «^ (^ <^ c^t^ «^ '-#) '^ t^y-^>c^K^ '..^ v^»t#» 
 
 SUMMARY 
 
 OF TH E 
 
 PRINCIPAL EVIDENCES 
 
 C0& TUE 
 
 TRUTH, AND DIVINE ORIGIN, 
 
 O r THE 
 
 CHRISTIAN REVELATION, 
 
 X HE method I intend to purfue in this Trea- 
 tife, is to prefent to my young Readers the fol- 
 lowing feries of propofitions, and then to proTC 
 diftindlly the truth of each* 
 
 I. From confidering the ftate of the heathen 
 world, before the appearance of our Lord upon 
 earth, it is evident that there was an abfolutc ne- 
 ceffity for a revelation of God's will, and, of 
 courfe, a great probability beforehand that fuch a 
 revelation would be granted. 
 
 II. At the very time when there was a general 
 cxpedlation in the world of fome extraordinary 
 perfonage making his appearance in it, a perfon 
 called Jefus Chrift did actually appear upon earth, 
 afTerting that he was the fon of God, and that he 
 was fent from heaven to teach mankind Xfue re- 
 ligion and he did accordingly found^a religion, 
 
$ On the Truth and Divine Origin 
 
 which from him was called the Chriftian Religion, 
 and which has been profefled by great numbers of 
 people from that time to the prefent. 
 
 III. The books of the New Teftament were 
 written by thofe perfons to whom they are af- 
 cribed, and contain a faithful hiflory of Chrift and 
 his religion : and the account there given of both, 
 may be fecurely relied upon as ftriaiy true. 
 
 IV. The Scriptures of the Old Teflament 
 (which are connedled with thofe of the New), 
 are the genuine writings of thofe whofe names 
 they bear, and give a true account of the Mofaic 
 difpcnfation, of the hiftorical fa<fbs, the divine 
 commands, the moral precepts, and the prophecies 
 which they contain. 
 
 V. The charader of Chrift, as reprefented in 
 the gofpels, affords very ftrong ground for be- 
 lieving that he was a divine perfon. 
 
 VI. The fublimity of his do<flrihes and the pu- 
 rity of his moral precepts confirm this belief. 
 
 VII. The rapid and fuccefsful propagation of 
 the gofpel by the firft teachers of it, through a 
 large part of the world, is a proof that they were 
 favoured with divine afiiftance and fapport. 
 
 VUI. A comparifon betwixt Chrift and Maho- 
 met and their refpeaii^e religions, leads us to con- 
 clude, that as the religion of the latter was confei- 
 fedly the invention of man, that of the former was 
 derived from God. 
 
 IX. The prediiflions delivered by the ancient 
 prophets, and fulfilled in our Saviour, fhow that 
 he was the Meffiah expc^cd by the Jews, and 
 that he came into the world by divine appoint- 
 ment, to be the great deliverer and redeemer of 
 mankind. 
 
 of the Chrijiian Revelation. ^ 
 
 X. The prophecies delivered by our Saviour 
 himfelf, prove that he was endued with the fore- 
 knowledge of future events, which belongs only to 
 God and to thofe infpired by him. 
 
 XI. The miracles performed by our Lord, de« 
 monrtrate him to have pofTefled divine power. 
 
 XII. The refurreftion of our Lord from the 
 dead, is a fadl fully proved by the ;;leareft evi- 
 dence, and is the fcal and confirmation of his di- 
 ;vinity and of the truth of his religion. 
 
 ^ Thefe are the feveral points I fhall undertake 
 to prove in the following pages : and if thefe are 
 clearly made out, there can be nothing more 
 wanting to fatisfy every reafonable man, that the 
 
 ^Chrlrtian Religion is a true revelation from God. 
 
 PROPOSITION L 
 
 F 
 
 ROM CONSIDERING THE STATtOf THE 
 HEATHEN WORLD, BEFORE T!fK AI*f£Aa« 
 ANCE OF OUR LORD UPON hAKTH, IT IS 
 EVIDENT THAT THERE WAS .\ N .ABSO- 
 LUTE NECESSITY FOR A DIVIKE RE- 
 VELATION OF cod's WILL, AND, OF 
 COURSE, A GREAT PROBABILITY BE- 
 FOREHAND, THAT SUCH A Rf.VElATlON 
 WOULD BE GRANTED. 
 
 THEY who are acquainted with ancient liifto* 
 ry, know perfecSlly well that there i^ no one faft 
 more certain and more notorious than tli* That 
 for many ages before our Saviour appeared upon 
 ea'rth, and at the time he adlually did appetf, the 
 whole heathen world, even the p<^tcft nnd moft 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 f 
 
 
fa On the Truth and Divbi: Origin 
 
 civilized, and moft learned nations, were, with a 
 very few exceptions, funk in the moft deplorable 
 ignorance of every thing relating to God and to 
 religion ; in the groffeft fuperftition and idolatry, 
 and in the moft abominable corruption and de- 
 pravity of manners. They neither underftood the 
 true nature of God, nor the attributes and per- 
 feftioas which belong to him, nor the worfliip 
 that was acceptable to him, nor the moral duties 
 which he required from his creatures 5 nor had 
 they any clear notions or firm belief of the im- 
 mortality of the foul, and a ftate of rewards and 
 punifhments in another life. They believed the 
 world to be under the direaion of a vaft multi- 
 tude of gods and goddefTes, to whom they afcribed 
 the worft paffions and the worft vices that ever 
 difgraced human nature. They worfhipped alfo 
 dead men and women, birds and bcafts, infers 
 and reptiles, (efpecially that moft odious and dill 
 gufting reptile the ferpent) together with an ihfi- 
 nite number of idols, the work of their own 
 hands, from various materials, gold, ftlver, wood, 
 and ftone. With refpeifl: to their own conduiTt' 
 they were almoft univerfally addicted to the moft' 
 fhocking and abominable vices; even many of 
 their folemn religious ceremonies and a^s of de- 
 votion were fcenes of the grolTeft fenfuality and 
 licentioufnefs. Others of them were attended 
 with the moft favage and cruel fuperftitions, and 
 fometimes even with human facrifices. 
 
 The dcfcription given of the ancient Pagans by 
 St. Paul, in the firft chapter of his epiftle to the 
 Romans, is ftriaiy and literally true.—" They 
 were filled with all unrighteoufnefs, fornication, 
 wickednefs, covetoufnefs, uncleannefs, maliciouf- 
 
 cf the ChriJ^ian Revelation, 
 
 It 
 
 Tiefs; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, maligni- 
 ty ; whifperers, backbiters, liters of God, defpitc- 
 ful, proud, boa^lers, inventors of evil things, difo- 
 bedient to parents, without underftanding, cove- 
 nant breakers, without natural aftedion, implaca- 
 We, unmerciful." 
 
 Thefe are not the mere general declamations gf 
 a pious man againft the wickednefs of the times 5 
 they are faithful and exa^t pi£hircs of the manners 
 of the age, and they are fully and amply confirmed 
 by contemporary heathen writers. They arc appUed 
 alfo to a people, highly civilized, ingenious, learn* 
 ed, and celebrated for their proficiency in all liberal 
 tr)ts ami fciences. What, then, muft have been the 
 depravity of the moft barbarous nations, when fuch 
 were the morals of the moft polite and virtuous ? 
 
 There were, it is true) amon^g all the ancient na- 
 tions, and efpecially among the Greeks and Ro- 
 mans, fome wife and comparatively good men, cal- 
 led pbilofophcrs, who had jufter notions of mora- 
 lity and religion than the reft of the world, and 
 preferved themfelves to a certain degree unpolluted 
 by the general corruption of the times. But thefe 
 were few in proportion to the great bulk of man- 
 kind, and were utterly unable to produce any con- 
 siderable change in the prevailing principles and 
 manners of their countrymen. They themfelves had 
 but very imperfect and erroneous notions refpCiSling 
 the nature and attributes of God, the worfliip he 
 required, the duties and obligations of morality, the 
 method of God's governing the world, his defign 
 in creating mankind, the original dignity of human 
 nature, the ftate of corruption and depravity into 
 which it afterwards ftll ; the pai'ticular mode of di- 
 vine interpofitlon necefiary for the recovery of the 
 
TZ On the Truth and Divine Origin 
 
 human race ; the means of regaining the favour of 
 their offended Maker, and the glorious end to which 
 God intended finally to condu6l them. Even with 
 refpecfb to thofe great and important doiftrines above- 
 mentioned, the immortality of the foul, the reality 
 of a future ftate, and the diftribution of rewards 
 and pftnifhments hereafter, they were full of doubt, 
 uncertainty, and hefitation ; and rather ardently 
 vrifhcd and hoped for, than confidently expe<n:cd 
 and believed them. But even what they did know 
 with any degree of clearnefs and certainty, they 
 cither would not condefcend, or wanted the abili- 
 ty, to render plain and intelligible to the lower or- 
 ders o£ the people. They were deftitute alfo of 
 proper authority to enforce the virtues they recom- 
 mended ; they had no motives to propofe powerful 
 enough to overrule ftrong temptations and corrupt 
 inclinations : their own example, inftead of recom- 
 mending their precepts, tended to countera£l them; 
 for it was generally (even in the very beft of them) 
 in dire£l oppofition to their doctrines ; and the de- 
 teftable vices to which many of them were addict- 
 ed, entirely deflroyed the efficacy of what they 
 taught. 
 
 Above all, they were deftitute of thofe awful 
 fan£fcions of religion, which are the moft eiFe6lual 
 reftraints on the paflions and vices of mankind, and 
 the moft powerful incentives to virtue, the rewards 
 and puniftiments of a future ftate, which form fo 
 clTential and important a part of the Chriftian dif- 
 penfation. 
 
 There was, therefore, a plain and abfolute ne- 
 cefllty for a divine revelation, to refcue mankind 
 from that gulph of ignorance, fuperftition, idolatry, 
 wickednefs, and mifery, in which they were almoft 
 
 of the Chrijian Revet ation» . 13 
 
 univcrfally funk ; to teach them in what manner, 
 and with what kind of external fervice, God might 
 moft acceptably be worftiipped, and what expiation 
 he would accept for fin ; to give them a full aifur- 
 ance of a future ftate and a future judgment ; to 
 make the whole dodrine of religion clear and obvi- 
 ous to all capacities; to add weight and authority 
 to the plaineft precepts, and to furnifli men with 
 extraordinary and fupernatural afllftance, to enable 
 them to overcome the corruptions of their nature. 
 And fince it was alfo plainly worthy of God, and 
 confonant to all our ideas of his goodnefs, mercy, 
 and compaflion to the work of his own hands, that 
 he ftiould thus enlighten, and aftift and direct the 
 creatures he had made, there was evidently much 
 ground to expedl: that fuch information and affiftance 
 would be granted ; and the wifeft of the ancient 
 heathens themfclves thought it moft natural and 
 agreeable to right reafon to hope for fomething of 
 this nature. 
 
 You may give over, fays Socrates, all hopes of 
 amending men*s manners for the future, unlefs God 
 be plcafed to fend you fome other perfon to inftruft 
 you;* and Plato declares, that whatever is right, 
 and as it fhould be in the prefent evil ftate of the 
 world, can be fo only by the particular inter pofttion 
 of God,\ Cicero has made fimilar declarations; and 
 Porphyry, who was a moft inveterate enemy to the 
 Chriftian religion, yet confelTes, that there was 
 wanting fome univerfal viethod of delivering men^s 
 foulsy ivhich no feEl of philofophy had ever yet found 
 cut4 
 
 * Plato in Apolog. Socratis. f Piato de Rep. 
 
 i Auoruftin. de Civitatc Dd, 1. lo. c. 32. 
 
 B 
 

 14 On the ^vuth and Divine Origin 
 
 Thefe confeflions of the great fages of antiqui- 
 ty, infinitely outweigh the afTertions of our modern 
 infidels, " that human reafon is fully fufiicient to 
 teach man his duty, and enable him to perform it; 
 ;ind that, therefore, a divine revelation was perfectly 
 needlefs." It is true, that, in the prefent times, a 
 Deifl may have tolerably juft notions of the nature 
 and attributes of the Supreme Being, of the wor- 
 fliip due to him, of the ground and extent of mo- 
 ral obligation, and even of a future ftate of retribu- 
 tion. But from whence does he derive thefe notions ? 
 Not from the dilates of his own unafTifted reafon, 
 but (as the philofophifl Rouileau himfelf confefTes*) 
 from thofe very fcriptures which he defpifes and re- 
 viles, from the early imprellions of education, from 
 living and converfing in a Chriflian country, where 
 thofe do<Slrines are publicly taught, and where, in 
 fpite of himfelf, he imbibes fome portion of that re- 
 ligious knowledge which the facred vvritings have , 
 every where difFufed and communicated to the ene- 
 inies as well as the friends of the gofpel. But they 
 v.'ho are deftitute of thefe advantages, they who had 
 nothing but i^afon to dire<n: them, and therefore 
 knew what reafon is capable of doing, when left to 
 itfelf, much better than any modern infidel (who 
 never was, and ne\'er can be, precifely in the fame 
 predicament-,) thefe men uniformly declare, that 
 the mere light of nature was not competent to con- 
 duct: them into the road of hnppinefs and virtue -, 
 and that the only fure and certain guide to carry men 
 well through this life ivas a divine difcovery of the 
 truth,\ Thefe confiderations may ferve to fliew, 
 that, inflead of entertaining any unreafonable pre- 
 
 of the Chrijiian Revefation, 
 
 IC 
 
 * Vcl IX. p. 72, i:nT?. 1-64. 
 
 f Plato 111 Ph. c done. 
 
 judices beforehand againfl: the pofllbility or proba- 
 bility of any divine revelation whatever, we ought, 
 on the contrary, to be prevloufly prepofTeiTed in fa- 
 vour of it, and to be prepared and open to receive 
 it with candour and fairncfs, whenever it fliould 
 come fupported with fufficient evidence ; becaufc, 
 from confidering the wants of man and the mercy 
 of God, it appears highly probable that fuch a re- 
 velation would fme time or other be vouchfafed to 
 mankind. 
 
 PROPOSITION ir. 
 
 A 
 
 T THE VERY TIME WHENT THERE WA^ 
 A GENERAL EXPECTATIOxV I xV THE WORLl> 
 OF SOME EXTRAORDINARY PERSONAGE 
 MAKING HIS APPEARANCE IN IT, A PER- 
 SON CALLED JESUS CHRIST DID ACTUAL- 
 LY APPEAR UPON EARTH, ASSERTING 
 THAT HE WAS THE SON OF GOD, AND 
 THAT HE CAME FROM HEAVEN TO TEACH 
 MANKIND TRUE RELIGION; AND HE 
 DID ACCORDINGLY FOUND A RELIGION, 
 WHICH FROM HIM WAS CALLED THE 
 CHRISTIAN RELIGION, AND WHICH HAS 
 BEEN PROFESSED BY GREAT NUMBERS OF 
 PEOPLE FROM THAT TIME TO THE PRE- 
 SENT. 
 
 IT was necefTary jufl to ftate this Propofition, as 
 the foundation of all the reafoning that is to fol- 
 low ( but the truth of it is fo univerfally acknow- 
 ledged, that it requires but very few words to be 
 faid in fapport of it. 
 
 B 2 
 
i6 
 
 On the Truth and Divine Origin 
 
 of the Chrijiian Revelation, 
 
 ^7 
 
 That there was, about the tune of our SavIour^s 
 birth, a general expe6lation fpread over the caft- 
 em part of the world, that fome very extraordi- 
 nary perfon would appear in Judaea, is evident 
 both from the fiicred hiftory and from Pagan wri- 
 ters. St. Matthew informs us, that when Jefus 
 was born in Bethlehem of Judxa, there came wife 
 men (probably men of confiderable rank and learn- 
 ing in their own country) from the Eafl, faying, 
 ** Where is he that is born King of the Jews ; for 
 we have feen his (lar in the Eaft, and are come to 
 worflilp him r" In confirmation of this, two Ro- 
 man hiftorians, Suetonius and Tacitus, aflert, that 
 there prevailed at that time, over the whole Eaft, an 
 ancient and fixed opinion, that there fliould arifc 
 out of Judsea a perfon who fliould obtain dominion 
 over the world. 
 
 That at this time, when Auguftus Csefar was em- 
 peror of Rome, a perfon called Jefus Chrift was 
 adlually born in Judaea ; that he profefi!ed to come 
 from heaven to teach mankind true religion, and 
 that he had a multitude of followers ; the facred 
 hiftorians unanimoufly affirm, and feveral heathen 
 authors alfo bear teftimony to the fame fa6ls. They 
 mention the very name of Chrift, and acknowledge 
 that he had a great number of difciples, who from 
 him were called Chriftians. The Jews, though pro- 
 feficd enemies to our religion, acknowledge thefe 
 things to be true ; and none even of the earlieft Pa- 
 gans who wrote againft Chriftianity, ever pretend- 
 ed to queftion their reality. Thefe things, therefore, 
 are as certain and undeniable as ancient hiftory, 
 both facred and profane, and the concurrent tefti- 
 mony both of friends and enemies, can poftibly 
 make them. 
 
 PROPOSITION III. 
 
 Xhe books of the new testament 
 were written by those persons to 
 whom they are ascribed, and con- 
 tain a faithful history of christ 
 and his religion: and the account 
 there given of both, may be secure- 
 ly relied upon as strictly true. 
 
 THE books which contain the hiftory of Chrift 
 and of the Chriftian religion, are the four Gofpels 
 and the aiSts of the Apoftles. That the Gofpels 
 were written by the perfons whofe names they 
 bear, namely, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, 
 there is no more reafon to doubt, than that the 
 hiftories which we have under the names of Xc- 
 nophon, Livy, or Tacitus, were written by thofe 
 authors. 
 
 A great many paftliges are alluded to or quotcwl 
 from the Evangelifts, exa6lly as we read theni 
 now, by a regular lucceffion of Chriftian writers, 
 from the time of the Apoftles down to this hour ; 
 and at a very early period their names are men- 
 tioned as the authors of their refpecSlive gofpels ; 
 which is more than can be faid for any other an- 
 cient hiftorian whatever.* 
 
 Thefe books have always been confidered by 
 the whole Chriftian world, from the Apoftolic' 
 age, as containing a faithful hiftory of their reli- 
 gion, and therefore they ought to be received ns 
 futh ; juft as we allow the Koran to contain a 
 
 * Lai oner's Credibility, b. i. and Pahy's Evidences, vol, i. 
 
J 8 On the Truth and Divine Origin 
 
 genuine account of the Mahometan reh'gion, and 
 the facred books of the Bramins to contain a true 
 reprefentation of the Hindoo religion. 
 
 That all the facfb related in thefe writings, and 
 the accounts given of every thing our Saviour faid 
 and did, are alfo ftriaiy true, we have the mofl 
 lubftantial grounds for believing : 
 
 For, in the iirft place, the writers had the very 
 bell means of information, and could not poflibly 
 be deceived themfelves. 
 
 And, in the next place, they could have no con- 
 ceivable inducement for impoilng upon others. 
 
 St. Matthew and St. John were two of our 
 Lord's Apoftles •, his conftant companions and at- 
 tendants throughout the whole of his miniflry. 
 They were a^ually prefenl at the fcenes which 
 they defcribe ; cye-witnefles of the fa6ls, and ear- 
 tvitneflcs of the difcourfes, which they relate. 
 
 St. Mark and St. Luke, though not themfelves 
 Apoftles,. yet were the contemporaries and com- 
 panions of Apoftles, and in habits of fociety and 
 friendfliip with thofc who had been prefent at the 
 tranfadlions which they record. St. Luke ex- 
 prefsly fays this in the beginning of his gofpel, 
 which opens with thcfe words : " For as much as 
 many have taken in hand to fit forth in order a 
 declaration of thofe things which arc moft furely 
 believed amongft us ; even as they delivered them 
 unto us, which from the beginning were f)v- 
 •uuificjps and tninijhers of the ivord, it fecmed good 
 to me alfo, having had perfect under/landing of all 
 things frctn the very frfy to write unto thee, in 
 order, mofk excellent Theophilus, that thou might- 
 ell know the certainty of thofe things wherein thou 
 hatl been inilruaed.*' St. Luke alfo being the 
 
 cf the Chrijlian Revelation. 
 
 If 
 
 author of the A6ls of the Apoftles, we have, for 
 the writers of thefe ^\q books, pcrfons who had 
 the moil perfect kncnuledge of every thing they re- 
 late, either from their own perfonal obfervation, 
 or from immediate communications with thofe 
 who faw and heard every thing that pafTed. 
 
 They could not therefore be themfelves de- 
 ceive ; nor could they have the lead inducement, 
 or the leaft inclination, to deceive others. 
 
 They were plain, honeft, artlefs, unlearned men, 
 in very humble occupations of life, and utterly m- 
 capable of inventing or carrying on fuch a refined 
 and complicated fyftem of fraud, as the Chriftian 
 Religion muft have been if it was not true. There 
 are, beiides, the ftrongefk marks of fairnefs, can- 
 dour, fimplicity, and truth, throughout the whole 
 of their narratives. Their greateft enemies have 
 never attempted to throw the leafh ftain upon their 
 chara(fkers ; and how then, can they be fuppofed 
 capable of fo grofs an impofition as that of afiert- 
 Ing and propagating the moft impudent fiiSlion ? 
 They could gain by it neither pleafure, profit, nor 
 power. On the contrary, it brought upon them 
 the mofl dreadful evils, and even death itfelf. If, 
 therefore, they were cheats, they were cheats 
 without any motive, and without any advantage; 
 nay, contrary to every motive and every advan- 
 tage that ufually influence the adlions of men. 
 They preached a religion which forbids falfehood 
 under pain of eternal punifhment, and yet, on this 
 fuppofition, they fupported that rehgion by falfe- 
 hood ; and whilfl they were guilty of the bafefl 
 and .mofl ufeleis knavery themfelves, they were 
 taking infinite pains, and going through the 
 
70 
 
 On the Truth and Divine Origin 
 
 greateft labour and fufFerings, in order to teach 
 honefty to all mankind. 
 
 Is this credible ? Is this poffible ? Is not this 
 a mode of aifling fo contrary to all experience, to 
 all the principles of human nature, and to all the 
 ufual motives of human conduift, as to exceed the 
 utmoft bounds of belief, and to compel every rea- 
 fonable man to reject at once fo monftrous a fup- 
 pofition. 
 
 The facfls, therefore, related in the Gofpels, and 
 in the Adls of the Apoftles, even thofe evidently 
 miraculous, muji be true j for the teflimony of 
 thofe who die for what they aflert is evidence fuf- 
 ficient to fupport any miracle whatever. And this 
 opinion of their veracity is ftrongly confirmed by 
 the following confiderations. 
 
 There arc, in all the facred writings of the New 
 Teftament, continual allufions and references to 
 things, perfons, places, manners, cuftoms and opi- 
 nions, which are found to be perfedlly conforma- 
 ble to the real ftate of things, at that time, as re- 
 prefented by difinterefted and contemporary wri- 
 ters. Had their ftory been a forgery, they would 
 certainly have been detedled in fome miftake or 
 other concerning thefe incidental circumftance?^ 
 which yet they have never once been. 
 
 Then, as to the fadls themfelves which they re- 
 late, great numbers of them are mentioned and ad- 
 mitted both by Jewiih and Roman hiftorians ; fuch 
 as the ftar that appeared at our Saviour's birth, 
 the journey of the wife men to Bethlehem, He- 
 rod's murder of the infants under two years old, 
 many particulars concerning John the Baptift and 
 Herod, the crucifixion of our Lord under Pontius 
 Pilate, and the earthcj[uake and miraculous dark- 
 
 $f the Chriflian Revelation, 
 
 21 
 
 nefs which attended it. Nay, even many of 
 the miracles which Jefus himfelf wrought, par- 
 ticularly the curing the lame and blind, and call- 
 ing out devils, are, as to the matters of fa^y ex- 
 prefsly owned and admitted by leveral of the ear- 
 lieft and moft implacable enemies of Chriftlanity. 
 For though they afcribed thefe miracles to the af- 
 fiftance of evil fpirits, yet they allowed that the 
 miracles themfelves were a^ually wrought.* 
 
 This teftimony of our adverfiiries, even to the 
 miraculous parts of the facred^ hiftory, is the 
 ftrongeft poffible confirmation of the truth and 
 authority of the whole. 
 
 It is alfo certain, that the books of the Nevr 
 Teftament have come down to the prefent times 
 without any material alteration or corruption ; 
 and that they are, in all eflTential points, the fame 
 as they came from the hands of their authors. 
 
 That in the various trartfcripts of thefe wri- 
 tings, as in all other ancient books, a few letters, 
 fyllables, or even words, may have been changed, 
 we do not pretend to deny ; but that there has 
 been any defigned or fraudulent corruption of any 
 confiderable part, efpecially of any doarine, or any 
 important paflage of hiftory, no one has ever at- 
 tempted, or been able, to prove. Indeed it was 
 abfolutely impofllble. There can be no doubt but 
 that, as foon as any of the original writings came 
 out of the hands of their authors, great numbers 
 of copies were immediately taken, and fent to all 
 the different Chriftian churches. We know that 
 they were publicly read in the religious aflemblies 
 of the firft Chriftians. We know, alfo, that they 
 
 • Clarke's Evidences of Natural and Revealed Religion. 
 
22 On the Truth and Divine Origin 
 
 were very Toon tranflated into a variety of foreign 
 languages, and thefe ancient verfions (many of 
 which ftill remain) were quickly difperfed into all 
 parts of the known world; nay even feveral of 
 the original manufcripts remained to the time of 
 Tertullian, at the end of the fecond century.* 
 There are numberlefs quotations from every part 
 of the New Teftament by Chriftian writers, from 
 the earlieft ages down to the prefent, all which 
 fubftantially agree with the prefent text of the 
 facred writings. Bcfides which a variety of fedls 
 and herefies foon arofe in the Chriftian Church, 
 and each of thefe appealed to the Scriptures for 
 the truth of their doarincs. It would, therefore, 
 have been utterly impoffible for any one fea to 
 have made any material alteration in the facred 
 bocks, without being immediately detefted and ex- 
 pofed by all the others.f Their mutual jealoufy 
 and fufpicion of each other would effbaually pre- 
 vent any grofs adulteration of the facred volumes j 
 and with refpea to leller matters, the beft and 
 moft able critics have, after the moft minute exa. 
 mmation, aiTerted and proved, that the Holy Scrip- 
 tures-bf thcNewTeftament have fuffered lefs from 
 the injury of time, and the errors of tranfcribers, 
 than any other ancient writings whatfoever.J: 
 
 • Grotlus de Ver. L j. f. a. f Beattie, vol. i. p. t88. 
 
 \ The ftyle, too, of the Gofpcl (fays the amiable and tlegant au- 
 thor of the Minftrel) bears intrinfic evidence of its truth. We End 
 there no appearance of artifice or of party fpirit ; no attempt to ex- 
 aggerate on the one hand, or depreciate on the other ; no remarks 
 thrown m to anticipate objedions ; nothing of that caution which 
 never fails to diftinguiih the teftimony of thofe who are confcious 
 of mipofture ; no endeavour to reconcile the reader's mind to what 
 •ay b;; extracrdijiary in the narrative ; all is fair, candid, and Ura^ 
 
 cf the Chrijlian Revelation, 
 
 PROPOSITION IV. 
 
 25 
 
 Xhe scripturxs of the old testa- 
 ment, WHICH ARE CONNECTED WITH 
 THOSE OF THE NEW, ARE THE GENUINE 
 WRITINGS OF THOSE WHOSE NAMES THEY 
 BEAR, AND GIVE A TRUE ACCOUNT OF 
 THE MOSAIC DISPENSATION, AS WELL AS 
 OF THE HISTORICAL FACTS, THE DIVINE 
 COMMANDS, THE MORAL PRECEPTS, AND 
 THE PROPHECIES WHICH THEY CONTAIN. 
 
 THAT part of the Bible, which is called the 
 Old Teflament, contains a great variety of very 
 clitFerent compofitions, fome hiftorical, fome poeti- 
 cal, fome moral and preceptive, fome prophetical ; 
 written at different times, and by different per- 
 fons, and colle(5ted into one volume by the care of 
 the Jews. 
 
 That thefe books were all written by thofe whofc 
 names they bear, there is not the leaft reafonable 
 ground to doubt •, they have been always confider- 
 cd as the writings of thofe perfons by the whole 
 Jewifh nation (who were moft interefted in their 
 authenticity, and moft likely to know the truth,) 
 from the earlieft times down to the present : and 
 no proof to the contrary has ever yet been pro- 
 duced. 
 
 That thefe writings have come down to us in 
 
 |-)L'. The tiuorians make no reflexions of their own, but ccnfinc 
 thjnifelves to matter of fad, th:it is, to what they heard and faw; 
 and honcilly record their own miHakcs and faults, as well as the 
 Cth^r particulars of tJic fcory. Dcctt-cs Evidences ^ 1'. l./. 89. 
 
^ »Bij>«f •■"'I'y'ft*^ 
 
 14 On the Truth and Divine Origin 
 
 the fame ftate in which they were originally writ- 
 ten, as to all eflential points, there is every reafon 
 to believe. The original manufcripts were long 
 preferved among the Jews. A copy of the book 
 of the law was preferved in the ark ; it was order- 
 ed to be read publickly every fcven years, at the 
 feaft of the tabernacles, as well as privately, and 
 frequently, in every Jewifh family. 
 
 There is a copy ftill extant, of the five books of 
 Mofes (which are called the Pentateuch,) taken 
 by the Samaritans, who were bitter enemies to the 
 Jews, and always at variance with them ; and this 
 copy agrees, in every material inftance, with the 
 Jewifh copy. 
 
 Near three hundred years before Chrift, thefe 
 fcriptures were tranflatcd into Greek, and this ver- 
 fion (called the Septuagint) agrees alfo in all eflen- 
 tial articles with the Hebrew original. This being 
 very widely fpread over the world, rendered any 
 confiderable alteration extremely difficult : and the 
 difperfion of the Jews into all the different regions 
 of the globe, made it next to impoflible. 
 
 The Jews were always remarkable for being 
 moft faithful guardians of tlieir facred books, 
 which they tranfcribed repeatedly, and compared 
 moft carefully with the originals, and of which 
 they even numbered the words and letters. That 
 they have not corrupted any of their prophetical 
 writings appears from hence ; that we prove Jefus 
 to be the Meffiah from many of thofc very prophe- 
 cies which they have themfelves preferved ; and 
 which (if their invincible fidelity to their facred books 
 had not reftrained them) their hatred to Chriftlan- 
 ity would have led them to alter or to fupprefs. 
 And their credit is ftill further eftabliflied by this 
 
 fif the Chrijian Revelation, 
 
 2C 
 
 circumftance, that our Saviour, though he brings 
 many heavy charges againft the Scribes and Phari- 
 fees, yet never once accufes them of corrupting or 
 falfifying any one of their facred writings. 
 
 It is no lefs certain that thefe writings give a 
 true and faithful account of the various matters 
 which they contain. Many of the principal faas 
 and circumftances related in them, are mentioned 
 by the moft ancient heathen authors. The flrft 
 origin and creation of the world out of chaos, as 
 defcribed by Mofes ; the formation of the fun, the 
 moon, and the ftars, and afterwards of man him- 
 fclf j the dominion given him over other animals ; 
 the completion of this great work in fix days 5 the 
 deftrucftion of the world by a deluge ; the circum- 
 ftances of the ark and the dove ; the puniflimcnt 
 of Sodom by fire ; the ancient rite of circumci- 
 fion •, many particulars relating to Mofes, the giv- 
 ing of the law, and the Jewilh ritual 5 the names 
 of David and Solomon, and their leagues with the 
 Tyrians ; thefe things and many others of the 
 fame fort, are exprefsly mentioned, or plainly al- 
 luded to, in feveral Pagan authors of the hioheft 
 antiquity and the beft credit. And a very bitter 
 enemy of the Jews as well as Chriftians, the Em- 
 peror Julian, is, by the force of evidence, compel- 
 led to confefs, that there were many perfons amonfr 
 the Jews divinely infpired ; and that fire from hea- 
 ven defcended on the facrifices of Mofes and Elijah. 
 Add to this, that the references made to the Books 
 of the Old Teftament, and the paffages quoted 
 from them by our Saviour and his apoftles, is a 
 plain proof, that they acknowledged the authority 
 of thofe writings, and the veracity of their authors. 
 It is true, indeed, that in the hiftorical Books 
 
 c 
 
 m 
 

 26 On the Truth and Divine Origin 
 
 of the Old Teftament, there are fome bad charac- 
 ters and bad a(n:ions recorded, and fome very cruel 
 deeds defcribed ; but thefe things are mentioned 
 as mere hiftorical fa£ls, and by no means approved 
 or propofed as examples to others. And except- 
 ing thefe pafTages, which are comparatively few in 
 number, the reft of thofe facred books, more ef- 
 pecially Deuteronomy, the Pfalms, Proverbs, Ec- 
 rlefiaftes, and the Prophets, are full of very fub- 
 lime reprefentations of God and his attributes ; of 
 very excellent rules for the condudl of life, and 
 examples of almoft every virtue that can adorn 
 human nature. And thefe things were written at 
 a time when all the reft of the world, even the 
 wifcft, and moft learned, and moft celebrated na- 
 tions of the earth, were funk in the groffeft igno- 
 rance of God and religion j were worfhipping idols 
 and brute beafts, and indulging themfelves in the 
 moft abominable vices. It is a moft fingular cir- 
 cumftance, that a people in a remote, obfcure cor- 
 ner of the worLl, very inferior to fcveral heathen 
 nations in learning, in philofophy, in genius, in fci- 
 ence, and z\\ the polite arts, fhould yet be fo in- 
 finitely their fuperiors in their ideas cf the Supreme 
 r>eing, and in every thing relating to morality and 
 religion. This can no otherwife be accounted for, 
 than on the fuppofition of their Jiavlng been in- 
 ftrufled in thefe things by God himfelf, or by per- 
 fons commiflloned and infpired by him ; that is, 
 of their having been really favoured with thofe 
 divine revelations, which are recorded in the Books 
 of the Old Teftament. 
 
 With refpc<Sl to the prophecies v>'hich they con- 
 tain, the truth of a great part of thefe h?s been 
 ijifallibiy proved by the cxa<ft fulfilment of them 
 
 of the Chri/fian Revelation. 
 
 27 
 
 in fubfequent ages, fuch as thofe relating to our 
 Saviour, (which will be hereafter fpecified) to Ba- 
 bylon, to Egypt, to Edom, to Tyre and Sidon. 
 But thofe which refer more particularly to the dif- 
 perfion of the Jews are fo very numerous and clear, 
 and the accomplifliment of them, in the prefent 
 ftate of the Jews, is a h£t which obtrudes itfelf, at 
 this moment, fo irreftftibly upon cur fenfcs, that 
 I cannot forbear prefenting to the reader fome cf 
 the moft remarkable of thofe predictions, as they 
 are drawn together by a moft able writer. 
 
 It was foretold by Mofcs, that when the Jews 
 forfook the true God, " they fliould be removed 
 into all the kingdoms of the earth, Ihould be fcat- 
 tered among the heathen, among all people, from, 
 the one end of the earth even unto the other ;, 
 fhould become an aftonifhment, a proverb, and a 
 by-word, among all nations ; and, that amorg 
 thofe nations they Ihould find no eafe, neither 
 fhould the folc of their foot have reft 5 but the 
 Lord ftiould give them a trembling heart, and fail- 
 ing of eyes, and forrow of mind, and fend a 
 faintnefs into their hearts in the land of their ene- 
 mies •, fo that the found of a fhaken leaf fhcald 
 chafe them."* The fame things are continually 
 predicted through all the following prophets : 
 " That God would difperfe them through the 
 countries of the heathen j that he would fift them 
 among all nations, like as corn is fifted in a fieve ; 
 that in all the kingdoms of the earth, whither they 
 Ihould be driven, they Ihould be a reproach and 
 a proverb, a taunt and a curfc, and an aftonifh- 
 
 * Dcut. 28. 25 ; Lev. 26. 33 ; Deut. 4. 27 ; Deut. 28. 64 ; Dcut. 
 48. 37 ; Deut. 28. 6j ; Lev. 26. 36. 
 
 C 2 
 
 *, ., 
 
28 On the Truth and Divine Origin 
 
 ment and a biffing ; and that they fhould abide 
 many days without a king, and without a prince, 
 and without a facrifice, and without an image, and 
 without an cphod, and without a teraphim."f 
 
 Had any thing like this, in the time of Mofes 
 or of the Prophets, ever happened to any nation 
 in the world ? Or was there in nature any pro- 
 bability that any fuch thing fhould ever happen to 
 any people ? That when they were conquered by 
 their enemies, and led into captivity, they fhould 
 neither continue in the place of their captivity, nor 
 be fwallowed up and loft among their conquerors, 
 but be fcattered among all the nations of the world, 
 and hated and perfecuted by all nations for many 
 ages, and yet continue a diftin^ people ? Or could 
 any defcription of the Jews, written at this day, 
 be a more exaa: and lively pi^ure of the ftate they 
 have now been in for many ages, than thefe pro- 
 phetic defcriptions, el]oecially that of Mofes, given 
 more than 3,000 years ago.* 
 
 PROPOSITION V. 
 
 X HE CHARACTER OF CHRIST, AS REPRE- 
 SENTED IN THE GOSPELS, AFFORDS VERY 
 STRONG GROUND FOR BELIEVING THAT 
 HE WAS A DIVINE PERSON. 
 
 WHOEVER confiders with attention the cha- 
 rafter of our bleiTed Lord, as it may be colkaed 
 from the various incidents and actions of his life, 
 
 t Ezck. 20. 13 ; II. 15 ; Amos, 9. 9 ; Jer. 24. 9 ; 29. 18 j Ho- 
 fea, 3. 4. 
 
 * Clarke's Evidences, p. 176, 277, 
 
 of the Chrifiiati Revehitioii. 29 
 
 {for there are no laboured defcriptions of It, no 
 encomiums upon it, by his own difciples) will foon 
 difcover that it was, in every refpetl, the moft 
 perfecl that ever was made known to mankind. 
 If we only fay of him what even Pilate faid of 
 him, and what his bittereft enemies cannot and 
 do not deny, that we can find no fault in him^ and 
 that the whole tenor of his life was entirely blame- 
 lefs throughout, this is more than can be faid of 
 any oth«er perfon that ever came into the world i 
 But this is going a very little way indeed in the 
 excellence of his character. He was not only free 
 from every failing, but pofTefled and praaifed every 
 imaginable virtue. Towards his heavenly Father 
 he exprefled the moft ardent love, the moft fcr- 
 v<int yet rational devotion, and difplayed in his 
 whole conducl the mcft abfolute refignation to his 
 will and obedience to his commands. His man- 
 ners were gentle, mild, condcfcending, and gra- 
 cious : his heart overflowed with kindnefs, com- 
 paflion, and tendernefs to the whole human race. 
 The great employment of his life was to do good 
 to the bodies and fouls of men. In this all his 
 thoughts and all his time were conftantly and al- 
 moft inceiTantly occupied. He went about dif- 
 penftng his bleffings to all around him in a thou- 
 fand different ways ; healing dileafes, relieving in- 
 firmities, ccrrecliijg errors, removing prejudices 
 promoting piety, juftice, charity, peace, harmony, 
 among men, and crowding into the narrow com- 
 pafs of his miniftry more a^s of mercy and com- 
 pafllon than the lQ;igeft life of the moft benevolent 
 man upon earth ever yet produced. Over his 
 own pafTions he had obtained the moft complete 
 command ; and though his patience was continu* 
 
 c 3 
 
30 On the Truth and Divine Origin 
 
 ally put to the fevereft trials, yet he was never 
 once overcome, never once betrayed into any intem- 
 perance or excefs in word or dttd^ " never once 
 rpake unadvifedly with his lips." He endured the 
 crueleft infults from his enemies with the utmoft 
 compofure, meeknefs, patience, and refignation 5 
 difplayed the moft aftonifhing fortitude under a 
 mod painful and ignominious death ; and, to 
 crown all, in the very midft of his torments on 
 the crofs, implored forgivenefs for his murderers 
 in that divinely charitable prayer, " Father, for- 
 give them, for they know not what they do." 
 
 Nor was his wifdom inferior to his virtues. 
 The doctrines he taught were the moft fublime 
 and the moft: important that were ever before de- 
 livered to mankind, and every way worthy of that 
 God, from whom he profefTed to derive them, 
 and whofe fon he declared himfelf to be. 
 
 His precepts inculcated the pureft and moft 
 perfe<fl morality ; his difcourfcs were full of digni- 
 ty and wifdom, yet intelligible and clear ; his pa- 
 rables conveyed inftru(fbion in the moft pleafing, 
 familiar, and impreflive manner ; and his anfwers 
 to the many infidious queftions that were put to 
 him, fhewed uncommon quicknefs of conception, 
 foundnefs of judgment, and prefence of mind, 
 completely bafHed all the artifices and malice of 
 his enemies, and enabled him to elude all the 
 fnarcs that were laid for him. It appears then, 
 even from this fhort and imperfect fkctch of our 
 Snviour's charaifler, that he was, beyond compa- 
 rifon, the wifeft and moft virtuous perfon that 
 ever appeared ; and even his bittercft enemies al- 
 low that he was fo. If, then, he was confefledly 
 fo great and fo good a man, it unavoidably fol- 
 
 of the Chrijiian Revelation, 
 
 3» 
 
 lows that he muft be, what he pretended to be, a 
 divine perfon, and of courfe his religion alfo muft 
 be divine 5 for he certainly laid claim to a divine 
 original. He aflerted, that he was the fon of 
 God 5 that he and his religion came from hea- 
 ven ; and that he had the power of working mi- 
 racles. If this was not the cafe, he muft, in a 
 matter of infinite importance, have aflerted what 
 had no foundation in truth. But is fuch a fuppo- 
 fition as this in the fmalleft degree credible ? Is it 
 probable, is it conceivable, \^ it confiftent with the 
 general conduct of man, is it reconcileable with 
 the acknowledged charader of our Lord, to fup- 
 pofe, that any thing but truth could proceed from 
 him whom his very enemies allow to have been in 
 every rcrpeiH: (and of courfe in point of veracity) 
 the beft and moft virtuous of men ? Was it ever 
 known, is there a fingle inftance to be produced 
 in the hiftory of mankind of any one fo unble- 
 mifhed in morals as Chrift confefledly was, per- 
 fifting for fo great a length of time as he did in 
 aflertions, which if untrue, would be repugnant to 
 the cleareft principles of morality, and moft fatal 
 in their confequences to thofe he loved beft, his 
 followers and his friends ^ Is it poflible, that the 
 pure, the upright, the pious, the devout, the meek, 
 the gentle, the humane, the merciful Jefus, could 
 engage multitudes of innocent and virtuous people 
 in the belief and fupport of a religion which he 
 knew muft draw on them perfecution, mifery and 
 death, unlefs he had been authorifed by God him- 
 felf to eftablilh that religion ; and unlefs he was 
 confcious that he poflefTed the power of amply re- 
 compenfing thofc who preferred his religion to 
 every other confideration ? The common fenfe and 
 
 Jk 
 
32 On the Truth and Divine Origin 
 
 common feelings of mankind muft revolt at fuch 
 a prepofterous idea. 
 
 It follows, then, that Chrift was, in truth, a 
 divine teacher, and his religion the gift of God. 
 
 PROPOSITION VI. 
 
 T 
 
 HE SUBLIMITY OF OUR LORd's DOC 
 TRINES AND THE PURITY OF HIS MORAL 
 PRECEPTS CONFIRM THE BELIEF OF HIS 
 DIVINE MISSION. 
 
 THERE is no where to be found fuch impor- 
 tant information, and fuch juft and noble fenti- 
 mcnts concerning God and Religion, as in the 
 Scriptures of the New Tellament. 
 
 They teach us, in the firft place, that there is 
 one Almighty Being, who created all thi^lgs, of 
 infinite power, wifdom, juftice, mercy, goodnefs ; 
 that he is the governor and preferver of this world, 
 which he has made ; that his providential care is 
 over all his work^ ; and that he more particularly 
 regards the atiairs and condua of men. They teach 
 us, that we are to worfliip this great Being m fpi- 
 rit and in truth ; and that the love of him is the 
 firll and great commandment, the fource and 
 fpring of all virtue. They teach us, more parti- 
 cularly, how to pray to him, and for that purpofe 
 fupply us with a form of prayer, called the Lord's 
 Prayer, " which is a model of calm and rational 
 devotion, and which, for its concifenefs, its clear- 
 nefs, its faitablencfs to every condition, and for the 
 weight, folemnity, and real importance of its pe- 
 titions, is wlchout an equal or a rival."* They 
 
 * Paky. 
 
 of the ChrijTian Revelation. 
 
 3? 
 
 teach us, moreover, what we all feel to be true, 
 that the human heart is weak and corrupt ; that 
 man is fallen from his original innocence ; that he 
 is reftored, however, to the favour of God, and 
 the capacity of happinefs, by the death and media- 
 tion and atonement of Chrift, who is the way, the 
 truth, and the life ; and that he will be aflifted in 
 his fincere, thouj^h imnerfecl endeavours after ho- 
 linefs, by the influence of God's Holy Spirit. 
 
 They aflure us, in fine, that the foul does not 
 perifh with the body, but fliall pafs, after death', 
 into another world •, that all mankind fhall rife 
 from the grave, and ftand before the judgment- 
 feat of Chrift, who fliall reward the virtuous, and 
 punifh the wicked, in a future and eternal flate of 
 exiftence, according to their deferts. 
 
 Thefe are great, and intercfting, and moment- 
 ous truths, either wholly unknown, or but very 
 imperfeclly known to the world before ; and they 
 render the meaneft peafant in this country better 
 acquainted with the nature of the Supreme Being, 
 and the relation in which we ftand to him, than 
 were any of the greateft fages of ancient times. 
 
 Equally excellent, and fuperior to all other rules 
 of life, are the moral precepts of the Gofpel. 
 
 Our divine Mafter, in the firft place, laid down 
 two great leading principles for our condu6l:, love 
 to God, and love to mankind; and thence dedu- 
 ced (as occaftons offered, and incidents occurred, 
 which gave peculiar force and energy to his in- 
 fbru6\ions) all the principal duties towards God, 
 our neighbour, and ourfelves. 
 
 With refpedt to God, we are commanded to 
 love, fear, worlhip, and obey him ^ to fet him al- 
 ways before us ; to do all things to his glory \ to 
 

 34 On the Truth and Divine Origin 
 
 feek firft his kingdom and his righteoufnefs ; ta 
 refign ourfelves wholly to his pleafure, and fubmlt, 
 with patience, cheerfulnefs, and refignation, to 
 every thing he thinks fit to bring upon us. 
 
 With regard to our neighbour, we are to exer- 
 cife towards him the duties of charity, juftice, 
 equity, and truth ; we are to love him as our- 
 felves, and to do unto all men as we would they 
 fhould do unto us -, a mod admirable rule, which 
 comprehends the fum and fubftance of all fecial 
 ▼irtue, and which no man can miftake. 
 
 As to thofe duties which concern ourfelves, we 
 are commanded to keep ourfelves unfpotted from 
 the world, to be temperate in all things, to keep 
 our body under, and bring it into fubjedion, to 
 preferve an abfolute command over all our paffions^ 
 and to live foberly, righteoufly, and godly in this 
 prefent world. 
 
 Thefe are the general dire^Flions given for our 
 conduct in the various {itu:\tions and relations of 
 life. More particular injun(ftions are given in va- 
 rious parts of Scripture, efpecially in our Saviour*s 
 admirable fermon from the mount, where we find 
 a multitude of moft excellent rules of life, fhort, 
 fententious, folemn, and important, full of wifdom 
 and dignity, yet intelligible and clear. But the 
 principal excellence of the gofpel morality, and 
 that which gives it an infinite fuperiority over all 
 other moral inftru(5lions, is this ; that it prefers a 
 meek, yielding, complying, forgiving temper, to 
 that violent, overbearing, inflexible, imperious dif- 
 pofition, which prevails fo much in the world ; 
 that it regulates not merely our aaions, but our 
 afte<ftiDns and our inclinations ; and places the 
 check to- iicentioufnefs exadly where it ought to 
 
 §f the ChriJIian Revelation, 
 
 35 
 
 be, that is, on the heart ; that it forbids us to 
 covet the praife of men in our devotions, our alms, 
 and all our other virtues ; that it gives leading 
 rules and principles for all the relative duties of 
 life i of hufbands and wives, of parents and chil- 
 dren, of mafters and fervants, of Chriflian teach- 
 ers and their difciples, of governors and fubje£ls \ 
 that it commands us to be, as it were, lights in the 
 world, and examples of good to all j to injure no 
 man, but to bear injuries patiently ; never to feek 
 revenge, but return good for evil : to love our very 
 enemies, and to forgive others as we hope to be 
 forgiven ; to raifc our thoughts and views above 
 the prefent life, and to fix our affections principal- 
 ly on that which is to come. 
 
 But befides all this, the manner in which our 
 Lord delivered all his do<5lrines and all his pre- 
 cepts ; the concife, fententious, folemn, weighty 
 maxims into which he generally comprefTed them ; 
 the cafy, familiar, natural, pathetic parJoles in 
 which he fometimes clothed them ; that divine 
 authority, and thofe awful fan(ftIons with which he 
 enforced them ; thefe circumftances give a v. eight, 
 and dignity, and importance to the precepts of 
 Holy Writ, which no ether moral rules can boaft. 
 
 If now we afk, as it is very natural to a£k, who 
 that extraordinary perfon could be, that was the 
 author of fuch uncommonly excellent morality as 
 this ? the anfwer is, that he was, to all outward 
 appearance, the reputed fon of a carpenter, living 
 with his father and mother in a remote and ob- 
 fcurc corner of the v;orld, till the time that he 
 aiTumed his public charadler. ** Whence, then, 
 l^ad this man thefe things, and what wifcUm is 
 this that was civen unto him V* lie had evident- 
 
3<5 
 
 On the ^ruih and Divim Origin 
 
 V 
 I 
 
 ly none of the ufual means or opportunities of cul- 
 tivating his underflanding or improving his mind. 
 He was born in a low and indigent condition, with- 
 out education, without learning, without any an- 
 cient ftores from whence to draw his wifdom and 
 his morality, that were at all likely to fall into his 
 hands. You may, perhaps, in fome of the Greek 
 or Roman writers, pick out a few of his precepts, 
 or fomething like them. But what does this avail ^ 
 Thofe writers he had never read. He had never 
 ftudied at Athens or at Rome ; he had no know- 
 ledge of orators or phiJofophers. He underftood, 
 probably, no language but his own, and had no- 
 thing to give him judcr notions of virtue and re- 
 ligion than the reft of his countrymen and per- 
 fons in his humble rank of life ufually had. His 
 fellow-labourers in this undertaking, the perfons 
 who afTifted him during his life, and into v/hofe 
 hands his religion came after his death, were a 
 few fifhermen on the Lake of fioerias, as un- 
 learned and uneducated, and, for tho purpofe of 
 framing rules of morality, as unpromiiing as him- 
 felf. Is it poflible, then, that fuch men as thefe 
 could, without any afliftance whatever, produce 
 fuch perfecl and incomparable rules of life as 
 thofe of the gofpel •, fo greatly fuperior in purity, 
 folidity, perfpicuity, and univerfal ufefulnefs, to 
 all the moral lefibns of all the philofophers upon 
 earth put together ? Every man of common ft^nfe 
 xnuil fee that this is abfolutely impoflible ; and 
 that there is no other conceivable way of account- 
 ing for this, than by admitting what thefe perfons 
 conftantly affirmed, that their do<£trines and their 
 prece^s came from the fountain of all perfe(^ion, 
 that is from God himfclf. 
 
 cf the ChriJIian Revelation, 
 
 37 
 
 PROPOSITION VIL 
 
 X HE RAPID AND SUCCESSFUL PROPA- 
 GATION OF THE GOSPEL BY THE FIRST 
 TEACHERS OF IT, THROUGH A LARGE 
 PART OF THE WORLD, IS A PROOF THAT 
 THEY WERE FAVOURED WITH DIVINE 
 ASSISTANCE AND SUPPORT. 
 
 WE find in the A^ls of the Apoftles, and in 
 their Epiftles, that the number of converts to the 
 Chriftian Religion began to increafe confiderably, 
 almoft immediately after our Saviour's afcenfion, 
 and continued increafing to an aftonifhing degree 
 through every age till the final eftablifhment of 
 Chriftianity by Conftantine. The firft afTembly 
 which we meet with of Chrift's difciples, and that 
 a few days after his removal from the world, con- 
 fifted of 120.* About a week after this, 3000 
 were added in one day •,-[- and the number of Chrif^ 
 tians publickly baptized, and publickly afibciating 
 together, were very foon increafed to 5000.:!: In 
 a few years after this, the converts were defcribed 
 as increafing in great numbers, in great multi- 
 tudes, and even in myriads, tens of thoufands :§ 
 and multitudes both of men and women continued 
 to be added daily ; fo that within about thirty 
 years after cmr Lord's death, the gofpel was 
 fpread, not only throughout almoft all parts of 
 the Roman Empire, but even to Parthia and In- 
 dia. It appears from the Epiftles written to fe- 
 veral churches by the Apoftles, that there were 
 
 ♦ A(ft» i. 15. f Ads ii. 41. I Ads iv. 4. § Ads xxl. 20. 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 D 
 

 3« 
 
 On the ^ruth and Divine Origin 
 
 of the Chrijllan Revelatkn, 
 
 39 
 
 large congregations of Chriilians, both at Rome 
 and in all the principal cities of Greece and Afia. 
 This account is confirmed by contemporary Ro- 
 man hiftorians ; and Pliny, about eighty years af- 
 ter the Afcenfion, complains that ih\s fuperjiition^* 
 as he calls it, had feizcd not cities only, but the 
 lefler towns alfo, and the open country ; that the 
 Pagan temples were almoft deferted, the f.icred 
 folemnities fufpended, and fcarce any purchafers 
 to be found for the vi(Slims. About twenty years 
 after this, Juftin Martyr, a Chriftian writer, de- 
 clares, that there was no nation of men, whether 
 Greeks or barbarians, not excepting even thofe 
 favages that wandered in clans from one region to 
 another, and had no fijced habitation, who had 
 not learned to offer prayers and thankfgivings to 
 the Fnher and Maker of all, in the name of Je- 
 fus, who was crucified. And thus the Church of 
 Chrifl: went on increafing more and more, till, 
 under Confbantinc, the empire became Chriftian ; 
 at which time there is every reafon to believe that 
 the Chriftians were more numerous and more 
 powerful than the Pagans. 
 
 In what manner, now, can we account for this 
 wonderful and unexampled progrcfs of the ChriC- 
 tian Religion ? 
 
 If this religion had fet out with flattering the 
 corrupt paflions of mankind, and held up to them 
 the profpecl of power, wealth, rank, or pleafure 
 as the rewards of their convcrlion ; if it had 
 foothed their vices, humoured their prejudices, 
 and encouraged their ancient fuperftitions *, if 
 the perfons who taught it had been men of 
 
 * The very nami by which mo<Lrn Pagans ^ as well as their pre- 
 deceiTors, tlic ancient Heath j:i3, dsfcrihc the ChrilUan Religion. 
 
 brilliant talents, or commanding eloquence ; if 
 they had firft propofed it in times of darknefs and 
 ignorance, and among favage and barbarous na- 
 tions ; if they had been feconded by all the influ- 
 ence and authority of the great potentates of the 
 earth, or propagated their doclrines at the head of 
 a viaorious army, one might have feen fome rea- 
 fon for their extraordinary fuccefs. 
 
 But it is well known that the very reverfe of 
 all this was the real truth of the cafe. It is well 
 known, that the firft preachers of the Gofpel de- 
 clared open v/ar againft all the folli«:s, the vices, 
 the interefts, the inveterate prejudices, and fa- 
 vourite fuperftitions of the world ; that they were 
 (with few exceptions) men of no abilities, no 
 learning, no artificial rhetoric or powers of per- 
 fuafion ; that their doarlncs were promulgated in 
 an enlightened age, and to the moft poliflied na- 
 tions, and had all the wit and learning, and elo- 
 quence and philofophy of the world to contend 
 with : and that, inftead of being aided by the au- 
 thority and influence of the civil powers, they 
 were oppofed, and harraflcd, and perf-cuted by 
 them, even to death, with the moft unrelenting 
 cruelty ; and all thofe who embraced their doc- 
 trines were expofed to the fame hardfliips and 
 
 fufterings. 
 
 Is it now credible, that, under thefe circum- 
 Aances, twelve poor iUiterate fifliermen of Galilee 
 fhould be able, merely by their own natural pow- 
 ers, to fpread their new religion in fo fliort a 
 fpace, over fo large a part of the then known 
 world, without any afliftance or co-operation from- 
 any quarter whatever ? Did any thing cf the kind: 
 ever happen in the world, before or fince ? It is 
 
 D %. 
 
 ■ si 
 
 r 
 
40 
 
 On the Truth and Divine Origin 
 
 plainly unprecedented and impofUble. As, there- 
 fore, all human means of fuccefs were againft 
 them, what elfe but fuper natural means were left 
 for them ? It is clear almoft to demonftration, 
 that they muft have been endowed with thofe mi- 
 raculous powers, and favoured with that divine 
 jvlliftance to which they pretended, and which 
 of courfe proved them to be the meflengers of 
 Heaven. 
 
 PROPOSITION VIII. 
 
 A 
 
 i ■ 
 
 COMPARISON BETWEEN CHRIST AND 
 MAHOMET, AND THEIR RESPECTIVE RE- 
 LIGIONS, LEADS \JS TO CONCLUDE, THAT 
 AS THE RELIGION OF THE LATTER IS 
 CONFESSEDLY THE INVENTION OF MAN, 
 THAT OF THE FORMER IS DERIVED FROM 
 GOD, 
 
 THERE is a religion in the world, called the 
 Mahometan, which is profefTed in one part of Eu- 
 rope, and moft; parts of Afia and Africa. The 
 founder of tliis religion, Mahomet, pretended to 
 be a prophet fent from God j but it is univerfally 
 allowed, by all who are not Mahometans, and 
 who have fearched very carefully into the pre- 
 tenfions of this teacher, that he was an enthufiaft 
 and an impoftor, and that his religion was a con- 
 trivance of his own. Even thofe perfons who re- 
 jedl Chriftianity, do not think Mahometanifm to 
 be true •, nor do we ever hear of a Deift em- 
 bracing it from conviction. 
 
 Here, then, we have two religions co-exifting 
 
 ef the Chrifian Revelation. 
 
 A\ 
 
 together in the world, and both pretending to be 
 revelations from Heaven •, one of thefe we know 
 to be a fraud, the other we affirm and believe to 
 be true. If this be fo, upon comparing them and 
 their authors together, we may expea to find a 
 moft marked and eflential difference between them, 
 fuch a difference as may naturally be fuppofed to 
 exift between an impoftor and a divine teacher, 
 between truth and falfehood. And this, I appre- 
 hend, will appear to be ac1:ually the cafe with rc- 
 fpea to Chrift and Mahomet, and their refpeaive 
 
 religions. 
 
 Mahomet was a man of confiderable rank in his 
 own country ; he was the grandfon of a man of 
 the moft powerful and honourable family in Mec- 
 ca, and, though not born to a great fortune, he 
 foon acquired one by marriage. Thefe circum- 
 ftances would of themfelves, without any fuper- 
 natural affiftance, greatly contribute to the fuccefs 
 of his religion. A perfon confiderable by his 
 wealth, of high dcfcent, and nearly allied to the 
 chiefs of his country, taking upon himfelf the cha- 
 raaer of a religious teacher in an age of ignorance 
 and barbarifm, could not fail of attraaing atten- 
 tion and followers. 
 
 Chrift did not poffefs thefe advantages of rank 
 and wealth, and powerful conneaions. He was 
 born of parents in a very mean condition of life. 
 His relations and friends were all in the fame 
 humble fituation •, he was bred up in poverty, and 
 continued in it all his life, having frequently no 
 place where he could lay his head. A man fo 
 circumftanced was not li-ely, by his own perfonal 
 influence, to force a nevr religion, much lefs ^ 
 falfe one, upon the world. 
 
 ^ 3 
 
 
 %■• 
 
.■fT 
 
 42 
 
 On the Truth and Divine Origin 
 
 sf the Chri/lian Revelation. 
 
 43 
 
 Mahomet indulged himfelf in the grofTeft plea- 
 fures. He perpetually tranfgreiTed even thofe li- 
 centious rules which he had prefcribed to himfelf. 
 He made ufc of the power he had acquired, to 
 gratify his pafRons without controul, and he laid 
 claim to a fpecial permiffion from heaven to riot 
 in the mofl unlimited fenfuality. 
 
 Jefus, on the contrary, preferved throughout 
 life the mofl: unblemiftied purity and fanftity of 
 manners. He did no iln, but was perfectly holy 
 and undefiled. Not the leaft: flam was ever 
 thrown on his moral character by his bittereft 
 enemies. 
 
 Mahomet was violent, impetuous, and fanguinary. 
 
 Chrift was meek, gentle, benevolent, and mer- 
 ciful. 
 
 Mahomet pretended to have fecret communica- 
 tions with God, and with the angel Gabriel, which 
 no other perfon ever faw or heard. 
 
 Jefus was repeatedly declared to be the Son of 
 God by voices from heaven, which were plainly 
 and diftin«Sl:ly heard and recorded by others. 
 
 The appearance of Mahomet was not foretold 
 by any ancient prophecies, nor was there at the 
 time any expe«Slation of fuch a perfon in that part 
 of the world. 
 
 The appearance of Chriil upon earth was clearly 
 and repeatedly predicted by feveral ancient prophe- 
 cies, which moft evidently applied to him and to 
 no other ; and which were in the keeping of thofe 
 who were profelfed enemies to him and his religion. 
 And there was at the time of his birtji a general 
 expedlation over all the Eaft, that fome great and 
 extraordinary perfonage would then manifeft him- 
 felf to the world. 
 
 Mahomet never prefumed to foretel any future 
 events, for this plain reafon, becaufe he could 
 not forefee them ; and had he foretold any thing 
 which did not come to pafs, it muft have entirely 
 ruined his credit with his followers. 
 
 Chrift foretold many things which did actually 
 come to pafs, particularly his own death and re- 
 furredtion, and the deftrudtion of Jerufalem. 
 
 Mahomet never pretended to work miracles ; 
 on the contrary, he exprefsly difclaimed any fuch 
 power, and makes feveral laboured and awkward 
 apologies for not pofTeffing it. 
 
 Jefus, we all know, worked a great number of 
 the mod: aftonifliing miracles in the open face of 
 day, and in the fight of great multitudes of people. 
 He made the deaf to hear, the dumb to fpeak, the 
 lame to walk, the blind to fee, and even the dead 
 to rife from the grave. 
 
 Mahomet, during the firft twelve years of his 
 miflion, made ufe only of argument and perfuafion, 
 and in confequence of that gained very few con- 
 verts. In three years he made only fourteen pro- 
 fclytes, and in feven only eighty-three men and 
 eighteen women. 
 
 In the fame fpace of time our Saviour and his 
 apoftles converted thoufands and tens of thoufands, 
 and fpread the Chriflian Religion over a great part 
 of Afia. 
 
 Mahomet told the Jews, the Chriftians, and the 
 Arabs, that he taught no other religion than that 
 which was originally taught to their forefathers, by 
 Abraham, Ifmael, Mofes, and Jefus. This would 
 naturally prejudice them in favour of his religion. 
 
 Chrift preached a religion which dire(Sl:ly oppof- 
 cd the moft favourite opinions and prejudices of 
 
 f i '11 
 

 44 
 
 On the Truth and Divine Origin 
 
 of the Chrijlian Revelation. 
 
 45 
 
 •i J 
 
 tlie Jews, and fub verted, from the very founda- 
 tion, the whole fyftem of Pagan fuperftition. 
 
 Mahomet paid court to the peculiar weaknefles 
 and propeniities of his difciples. In that warm 
 climate, where all the paffions are ardent and vio- 
 lent, he allowed them a liberal indulgence in fen- 
 fual gratifications : no lefs than four wives to each 
 of his followers, with the liberty of divorcing them 
 thrice.* 
 
 In the fame climate, and among men of the 
 fame ftrong paflions, Jcfus mod peremptorily re- 
 ftrained all his followers from adultery, fornication, 
 and every kind of impurity. He confined them 
 to one wife, and forbade divorce, except for adult- 
 ery only. But what was ftill more, he required 
 them to govern their eyes and their thoughts, and 
 to check the very firft rifing of any criminal defire 
 in the foul. He told them, that whoever looked 
 upon a woman, to luft after her, had committed 
 adultery with her already in his heart ; and he af- 
 fured them, that none but the pure in heart fhould 
 fee God. He declared open war, in fhort, againfk 
 all the criminal paflions, and evil inclinations of 
 mankind, and exprefsly required all his followers 
 to renounce thofe favourite fins that did moft eafily 
 bcfet them ; nay, even to leave father, mother, 
 brethren, fifters, houfes, lands, and every thing 
 that was moft dear to them, and take up their crofs 
 and follow him. 
 
 With the fame view above-mentioned of bribing 
 men to embrace his religion, Mahomet promifed 
 to reward his followers with the delights of a moil 
 voluptuous paradife, where the objects of their af- 
 
 * Koran c, 4. p. 4i. lb. c. a. p. 4'» 
 
 fe^lion were to be almoft innumerable, and all of 
 them gifted with tranfcendent beauty and eternal 
 youth.* 
 
 Chrift entirely precluded his difciples from all 
 hopes of fenfual indulgences hereafter, afluring 
 them that in heaven they ihould neither marry nor 
 be given in marriage, and promifing them nothing 
 but pure, celeftial, fpiritual joys, fuch as eye hath 
 not feen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man con- 
 ceived. 
 
 Befides the powerful attra(flions of fenfual de- 
 liahts, Mahomet had another ftill more efficacious 
 mode of producing conviction, and gaining pro- 
 felytes •, and that was, force, violence, and arms. 
 He propagated his religion by the fword ; and, till 
 he made ufe of that inftrument of converfion, the 
 number of his profelytes was a mere nothing. He 
 was at once a prophet, a warrior, a general, and a 
 conqueror. It was at the head of his armies that 
 he preached the Koran. His religion and his con- 
 quefts went on together ; and the former never 
 advanced one ftep without the latter. He com- 
 manded in perfon in eight general engagements, 
 and undertook, by himfelf and his lieutenants, fifty 
 military enterprizes. Death or converfion was the 
 only choice offered to idolaters, and tribute or con- 
 verfion to Jews and Chriftians. 
 
 Jefus employed no other means of converting 
 men to his religion, but perfuafion, argument, ex- 
 hortation, miracles, and prophecies. He made ufe 
 of no other force but the force of truth •, no other 
 fword but the fword of the fpirit, that is, the 
 word of God. He had no arms, no legions to 
 
 ♦ Koran, c. 56. p. 413- 
 
46 
 
 On the Truth and Dlv'nie Origin 
 
 cf the Chrijlian Revelation* 
 
 47 
 
 fight his caufe. He was the prince of peace, and 
 preached peace to all the world. Without power^ 
 without fupport, without any followers but twelve 
 poor humble men, without one circumflance of at- 
 tra<^ion, influence, or compulfion, he triumphed 
 over the prejudices, the learning, the religion of 
 his country ; over the ancient rites, idolatry, and 
 fuperftition ; over the philofophy, wifdom, and 
 authority of the whole Roman empire. 
 
 The great cbjcdt of Mahomet was to make his 
 followers foldiers, and to infpire them with a paf- 
 iion for violence, bloodfhcd, vengeance, and per- 
 fecution. He was continually exhorting them to 
 fight for the religion of God ; and, to encourage 
 them to do fo, he promifed them the higheft ho- 
 nours, and the richeft rewards, in paradife. ** They 
 who have fuftered for my fake, and have been flain 
 in battle, verily I will expiate their evil deeds from 
 them, and I will furely bring them into a garden 
 watered by rivers, a reward from God, and with 
 God is moft excellent reward."f This duty of 
 warring againft infickls is frec[uently inculcated in 
 the Koran, and highly magnified by the Mahomcd- 
 an divines, who call the fword the key of heaven 
 and hel/y and periuade their people that the leaft 
 drop of blood fpilt in the way of God, as it is cal- 
 led, is moft acceptable unto him ; and that the 
 defending the territories of the Moflems for one 
 night, is of more avail than a faft of two months.* 
 It is eafy to fee to what a degree of fiercenefs this 
 muft raife all the furious vindictive paflions of the 
 foul, and what a horde of favages and barbarians 
 it mufl let loofe upon mankind. 
 
 f Koran, ch. 3. p. 91. and c. 9. p. 242. 
 • Sale's Prelim. DilT. L 11. p. 189. 
 
 The directions of Chrift to his difciples were of 
 a different temper. He pofitively forbade them 
 the ufe of any violence whatever. The fword that 
 was drawn by one of them in his defence he or- 
 dered to be (heathed : " Put up thy fword within 
 the ilieath ; they that ufe the fword ihall perifh 
 by the fword.^f He would not confent to bring 
 down fire from Heaven on the Samaritans, who 
 had refiifed to receive him : " The Son of man," 
 he told them, " came not to dellroy men's lives, 
 but to fave them. Peace I leave with you ; my 
 peace I give unto you. Do violence to no man ; 
 refifl: not evil. Be ye merciful, even as your Father 
 in Heaven is merciful. Blefl^ed are the merciful, 
 for they fhall obtain mercy."* 
 
 The confequence was, that the firft followers of 
 Mahomet were men of cruelty and violence, living 
 by rapine, murder, and plunder. The firil: fol- 
 lowers of Jefus were men of meek, quiet, inoflfen- 
 five, peaceable manners, and in their moi-als irre- 
 proachable and exemplary. 
 
 If now, after comparing together the authors 
 of the two religions we have been confidering, wc 
 take a fliort view of the facred books of thofe re- 
 ligions, the Koran and the Gofpel, we fliall find a 
 difference no lefs ftriking between them ; no lefs 
 ftrongly marking the truth of the one and the falfe- 
 hood of the other. 
 
 The Koran is highly applauded, both by Ma- 
 homet himfelf and his followers, for the exquifitc 
 beauty, purity, and elegance of the language, which 
 they reprefent as a ftanding miracle, greater than 
 
 f Matt. xxvi. 52 ; John xviil. 11. 
 * Luke ix. 56 ; Jcilin xiv. 27 ; Luke iii. 14 ; Matt. v. 59 ; Luke 
 ▼L 36 ; Mat. v. 7. 
 
 !p|:^ 
 
 Sy .JMgSWaiJte! «»fcaftMtf<*PtriliatfiiL4ni»i^^ ittet^miiti^ "aSt- 
 
48 
 
 On the Truth and Divine Origin 
 
 of the Chrijlian Revelation, 
 
 49 
 
 even that of raifing the dead. But admitting its 
 excellence (which yet has been queftioned by feve- 
 ral learned men) if beauty of ftyle and compofition 
 is to be confidered as a proof of divine infpiration, 
 the writings of Plato and Xenophon, of Cicero and 
 Caefar, and a multitude of other inimitable wri- 
 ters in various languages, will have as juft a claim 
 to a miraculous origin as the Koran. But in truth, 
 thefe graces of di(^ion, fo far from being a circum- 
 ilance favourable to the Koran, create a ftrong fuf- 
 picion of its being a human fabrication, calculated 
 to charm and captivate men by the arts of rhetoric 
 and the fafcination of words, and thus draw off 
 their attention from the futility of its matter, and 
 the wcaknefs of its pretenfions. Thefe are the 
 artifices of fraud and falfehood. The Gofpel 
 wants them not. It difdains the aid of human 
 eloquence, and depends folely on the force of 
 truth and the power of God for its fuccefs. ** I 
 came not (as St. Paul fublimely exprefles himfelf ) 
 with excellency of fpeech, nor with the enticing 
 words of man's wifdom, but in demonftration of 
 the fpirit and of power, that your faith might not 
 ftand in the wifdom of men, but in the power of 
 God."* 
 
 But, whatever may be the purity of the language, 
 the matter and fubftance of the Ko^;an cannot bear 
 a. moment's comparifon with that of the Gofpel. 
 The narrative is dull, heavy, monotonous, uninte- 
 refling •, loaded with endlefs repetitions, with fenfe- 
 lefs and prcpofterous fables, with trivial, difgufting, 
 and even immoral precepts. Add to this, that it 
 kas very little novelty or originality to recommend 
 
 • I Cor. ii. I, 4, /. 
 
 rt, the moft material parts of it being borrowed 
 from the Scriptures of the Old Teftament or the 
 New *, and even thefe are fo difguifed and deform- 
 ed by pafllng through the hands of the impoflor, 
 (who vitiates and dcbafes every thing he touches) 
 that you can hardly know them to be the fame 
 incidents or tranfadlions that you read with {o 
 much delight in the Bible. 
 
 The Gofpel, on the contrary. Is every where 
 concife, fimple, original, animated, interefling, 
 Signified *, its precepts important, its morality per- 
 fect, its fcntiments fublime, its views noble and 
 comprehcnfive, its fandlions awful. 
 
 In the Koran, Mahomet is perpetually boaftlng 
 of his own merits and achievements, and the fu- 
 preme excellence of his book. In. the Gofpel, no 
 encomiums are beftowed by the Evangelifts, either 
 on themfclves or their writings. Even the vir- 
 tues of their divine Mafter arc not diilindlly fpe- 
 cified, or brought forward into a confpicuous point 
 of view. It is from his adtlons onlv, and his dif^ 
 courfes, not from the obfervations of his hiftori- 
 ans, that we can colledl the various tranfcendent 
 excellencies of his chara£lcr. Here we plainly fee 
 the fobcr modcfiy of truth oppofed to the oflen- 
 tatious vanity of impoflure. 
 
 In the defcription of future rewards and punifli- 
 mcnts, the Koran is minute, circumftantial, and 
 extravagant, both in painting the horrors of the 
 one and the delights of the other. It defcribcs 
 things which cannot, and ought not to be dc- 
 fcribed, and enters into details too horrible, or too 
 licentious, to be prefented to the human mind. 
 
 In the Gofpel tlie pains and the pleafures of a 
 future life are rcprefented concifely, in flrong, but 
 
 £ 
 
 i!|;ii 
 
5» 
 
 On the ^ruth and Divine Origin 
 
 of the Chrijlian Revelation, 
 
 SI 
 
 general and indefinite terms, fufiicient to give them 
 a powerful, but not an overwhelming influence 
 over the mind. 
 
 There is flill another, and a very material mark 
 of difcrimination between the Koran and the Gof- 
 pel. Mahomet (hows throughout the utmoft anxi- 
 ety to guard agalnft obje<Slions, to account for his 
 working no miracles, and to defend his conduct, 
 in feveral inftances, againfi: the charges which he 
 fufpe<fiS may be brought againfi him. This is al- 
 ways the cafe with impofture. It is always fufpi- 
 cious, afraid of being dete£led, alive to every ap- 
 pearance of hoftility, folicitous to anticipate, and 
 eager to repel the accufations of enemies. 
 
 Truth has no occafion for fuch precautions, 
 and therefore never ufes them. We fee nothing 
 of this fort in the Gofpel. The facred hiflorians 
 fliow not the fmallefl folicitude, nor take the leafl 
 pains to obviate cavils or remove diliicultics. 
 They relate plainly and funply what they know 
 to be true. They entertain no doubt of it them- 
 felves, and feem to have no fufpicion that any one 
 elfe can doubt it ; they therefore leave the fa-Its to 
 fpcak for themfelves, and fond them unprote<Slcd 
 into the world, to make their way (as they have 
 done) by their own native force and incontrover- 
 tible truth. 
 
 Such are the leading features of Mahomet and 
 his religion on the one hand, and of Chrift and 
 his religion on the other ; and never was there a 
 ftronger or more flrikinf^ contrafl fecn than in this 
 inftance. They arc, in fhort, in every cllcntial 
 article, the direct oppolites of each other. And 
 as it is on all hands acknowlcdped that Mahomet 
 was an impoflor, it is fair to conclude that Chrifl, 
 
 who was the very reverfe of Mahomet, was the 
 reverfe of an impoftor, that is, a real melTenger 
 from heaven. In Mahomet we fee every dif^ 
 tiniflive mark of fraud ; in Jefus, not one of thcfe 
 is to be found ; but, on the contrary, every pofli- 
 ble indication and character of truth. 
 
 T 
 
 PROPOSITION IX. 
 
 HE PREDICTIONS DELIVERED BY THE 
 
 ANCIENT PROPHETS, AND FULFILLED IN 
 OUR SAVIOUR, SHOW THAT HE WAS THE 
 MESSIAH EXPECTED BY THE JEWS, 
 AND THAT HE CAME INTO THE WORLD 
 BY DIVINE APPOINTMENT, TO BE THE 
 GREAT DELIVERER AND REDEEMER OF 
 MANKIND. 
 
 THE word Messiah fignfBes anointed; that 
 is, a perfon appointed to fome high flation, dig- 
 nity, or office j becaufe originally among the eaf- 
 tcrn nations men fo appointed (particularly kings, 
 priefls, and prophets) were anointed \Vlth oil. 
 Hence the word Meffiah means the perfon pre- 
 ordained and appointed by God to be the great 
 deliverer of the Jevi^ifh nation, and the Redeemer 
 of all mankind. The word Christ means the 
 fame thing. 
 
 Now it was foretold concerning the Mefiiah, 
 that he fhould come before the fccptre departed 
 from Judah, that is, before the Jewiili government 
 was deflroyed j* and accordingly Chrift appeared; 
 
 ^ Gen. xlix. lo. 
 E Z. 
 
 ii 
 
 11 
 
52 
 
 On the Truth atid Divine Origin 
 
 cf the Chrijlian "Revelation, 
 
 53 
 
 (C 
 
 C( 
 
 a fhort time before the period when the Jewi/Ii 
 government was totally overthrown by the Ro- 
 mans. 
 
 It was foretold, that he fhould come before the 
 deflcuclion of the fccond temple. " The delire 
 *' of all nations iliall come, and I will lill this 
 
 houfe with glory, faith the Lord of Hofts ; the 
 
 glory of this latter houfe fliall be greater than 
 ** of the former."* Accordingly Chrift appeared 
 fome time before the deftrucTlion of the city and 
 the temple cf Jerufalem by the E.cmans. 
 
 It v/as foretold by the Prophet Daniel, that he 
 fhould come at the end of 490 years after the re- 
 building of Jerufalem, which had been laid wafte 
 during the captivity of the Jews in Babylon, and 
 that he fliould be cut off; and that afterwards the 
 city and faniStuary of Jerufalem fhould be deftroy- 
 ed and made defolate.f And accordingly, at what 
 time foever the beginning of the 490 years can, 
 according to any fllir interpretation of the words, 
 be jBxed, the end of them will fall about the time 
 of Chrift's appearing : and it is well known how 
 entirely the city and fan(Stuary were deftroyed by 
 the R.omans fome years after he was cut off and 
 cruciiled. 
 
 It was foretold, that he fhould perform many 
 great and beneficial miracles \ that the eyes of the 
 blind fhould be opened, and the cars of the deaf un- 
 ftopped ; that the lame man Ihould leap as a hart, 
 and the tongue of the dumb fing \\ and this we 
 know was literally fulfilled in the miracles of 
 Chrift; the blind received their fight, the lame 
 walked, the deaf heard, 
 
 * Haggal, ii. 7. 9. f Dan. Ix. 26. \ Ifalah, xxxv. 5. 
 
 It was foretold, that he fhould die a violerrt 
 death •, that he fliould be wounded fur our tranf- 
 greffions, and bruifed for our iniquities j that the 
 chaftifement of our peace ihould be upon him ; 
 and that with his ftripes we fliould be healed ; 
 that God would lay on him the iniquity of us all.* 
 All which was exatftly accomplifhcd in the fuffjr- 
 ings of Chrift, " who died for our fins, the Juft 
 for the unjuft, that he might bring us to God."f 
 
 It was foretold, that to him ihould the gather- 
 ing of the people be ; and that God would give 
 him the heathen for his inheritance, and the ut- 
 moil: parts of the earth for his poffefiion,f which 
 was punctually fulfilled by the wonderful fuccefs of 
 the Gofpel, and its univerfal propagation through- 
 out the world. 
 
 Laftly, many minuter circumftances were told 
 of the great Deliverer, or Redeemer, that was to 
 come. 
 
 That he fhould be born or a virgin ; that he 
 fhould be of the tribe of Judah and the feed of 
 David ; that he fhould be born in the town of 
 Bethlehem ; that he fhould ride upon an afs in 
 humble triumph into the city of Jerufalem ; that 
 he fliould be a man of forrows, and acquainted 
 with grief; that he fliould be fold for thirty pieces 
 of filver; that he fliould be fcourged, bufteted, 
 and fpit upon ; that he fliould be numbered with 
 the tranfgreffors (that is, fliould be crucified, as 
 he was, between two thieves ;) that he fliould 
 have gall and vinegar given him to drink ; that 
 they who faw him crucified fliould mock at him. 
 
 * Ifalah, Ilii. tliroughout, and Dan. ix. ij^, 
 
 \ Pfalm, ii. 8. 
 
 E 3 
 
 f I Pet. iii. 18. 
 
 i./'' 
 
 j...~i«...juas..;jif ...J. i:,gijyjff»- .-^-t. jg 'J"'-.iftMftiW»aii*ftLj->j^jaka*Bb^j,^-.j!j8mA«ji?v 
 
52 
 
 On the Truth and Divine Origin 
 
 cf the Chrljllan Reve/allcn. 
 
 53 
 
 a fhort time before the period when the Jewifli 
 government was totally overthrown by the Ro* 
 mans. 
 
 It was foretold, that he fhould come before the 
 deflruclion of the fccand temple. " Tlie deflre 
 *' of all nations fliall come, and I will lill this 
 •* houfe with glory, faith the Lord of Hofts ; the 
 ** glory of this latter houfe fliall be greater than 
 ** of the former."* Accordingly Chrifi: appeared 
 fome time before the deflrucTtion of the city csid 
 the temple cf Jerufalem by the R-cmans. 
 
 It v/as foretold by the Prophet Daniel, that he 
 fhould come at the end of 490 years after the re- 
 building of Jerufalem, which had been laid wafte 
 during the captivity of the Jews in Babylon, and 
 that he fliould be cut off; and that afterwards the 
 city and fan(ftuary of Jerufalem fhould be deftroy- 
 ed and made defolate.f And accordingly, at what 
 time foever the beginning of the 490 years can, 
 according to any fSir interpretation of the words, 
 be fixed, the end of them will fall about the time 
 of Chrill*s appearing : and it is well known how 
 entirely the city and fan<Sluary were deflroyed by 
 the Romans f^jme years after he was cut off and 
 crucified. 
 
 It was foretold, that he fhould perform many 
 great and beneficial miracles *, that the eyes of the 
 blind fhould be opened, and the cars of the deaf un- 
 flopped ; that the lame man Ihould leap as a hart, 
 and the tongue of the dumb fing jj and this we 
 know was literally fulfilled in the miracles of 
 Chrift ; the blind received their fight, the lame 
 walked, the deaf heard. 
 
 * Haggai, ii. ;. 9. f Dan. Ix. 26. | Ifalah, xxxv. 5. 
 
 It was foretold, that he fhould die a violent 
 death •, that he fhould be wounded for our tranf^ 
 grcffions, and bruifcd for our iniquities ; that the 
 chaftifement of our peace ihouUl be upon him ; 
 and that with his ftripes we fliould be healed ; 
 that God would lay on him the iniquity of us all.* 
 All which was exadlly accomplifhed in the fuffcr- 
 ings of Chrifi:, " who died for our fins, the Jud 
 for the unjufi:, that he might bring us to God."f 
 
 It was foretold, that to him Ihould the rather- 
 ing of the people be ; and that God would give 
 him the heathen for his inheritance, and the ut- 
 mofi: parts of the earth for his poflefiion, f which 
 was punctually fulfilled by the wonderful fuccefs of 
 the Gofpel, and its univerfal propagation through- 
 out the world. 
 
 Lafi:ly, many minuter circumfiances were told 
 of the great Deliverer, or Redeemer, that was to 
 come. 
 
 That he fhould be born oF a virgin ; that he 
 fhould be of the tribe of Judah and the feed of 
 David ; that he fiiould be born in the town of 
 Bethlehem ; that he fhould ride upon an afs in 
 humble triumph into the city of Jerufalem ; that 
 he fliould be a man of forrows, and acquainted 
 with grief j that he fiiould be fold for thirty pieces 
 of filvcr; that he fliould be fcourged, buffeted, 
 and fpit upon ; that he fliould be numbered with 
 the tranfgrcffors (that is, fliould be crucified, as 
 he was, between two thieves ;) that he fliould 
 have gall and vinegar given him to drink ; that 
 they who faw him crucified fliould mock at him. 
 
 * Ilaiah, lUL tliroughout, and Dan. ix. 7^, 
 
 J Pfalm, ii. 8. 
 
 E 3 
 
 f I Pet. ill. 18. 
 
 J 
 
 III 
 
 
54 
 
 On the Truth and Divine Origin 
 
 and at his trufting in God to deliver him ; that 
 the foldiers fhould caft lots for his garments ; that 
 he fhould make his grave with the rich ; and that 
 he fhould rife again without feeing corruption.* 
 All thefe circumfi:ances, it is well known, were 
 foretold, and, to the greatefi: poflible cxadtnefs, 
 fulfilled, in the perfon of Chrift. 
 
 What now lliall we fay to thefe things ? Here 
 are upwards of twenty difFercnt particulars, many 
 of them of a very extraordinary nature, which, it 
 was foretold, 700 years before our Saviour was 
 born, would all meet in him, and which did all ac- 
 tually meet in his perfon. Is not this a mofl extra- 
 ordinary confideration ? There are but three pof^ 
 fible fuppofitions that can be made concerning it : 
 either that this was a mere fortuitous coincidence, 
 ariiing entirely from chance and accident, or that 
 thefe prophecies were written after the events had 
 taken place -, or laflly, that they were real predic- 
 tions, delivered mftiy years before thefe events 
 came to pafs, and all fulfilled in Chrift. That any 
 one fhould by chance hit upon fo many things, 
 which fliould all prove true, and prove true con- 
 cerniniT one and the fame perfon, though feveral 
 of them were of fuch a nature as were unlikely to 
 happen ^w^/v, and by far the greateft part of which 
 had never before happened fingly, to any perfon 
 ivhatever ; this, I fay, exceeds all bounds of cre- 
 dibility, and all power of conje(5lure or calculation. 
 
 That thefe prophecies were not written or deli- 
 vered after the things predicted had happened is 
 
 * Ifai.-ih, vii. 14 ; Mich. v. Zech. ix. 9 ; Ifalah, liii. 3. Zech. xi. 
 12 ; Ifaiali, 1. 6 ; Ifaiah, liii. 12 ; Pfalin Ixix. 32 ; Pfalm xxiv. 7. i8 ; 
 Ifalah, liii. 9 ; Pfalm xvL lo. 
 
 cf the Chrijlian Revelation, 
 
 55 
 
 moft certain ; becaufe they are found in books 
 which exifled long before thofe events came to 
 pafs, that is, in the Books of the Old Teftament ; 
 and the Jews themfelves, the mortal enemies of 
 Chrift and his religion, acknowledge that thefe 
 prophecies were in thofe Books exactly as we now 
 fee them many hundred years before Chrift came 
 into the world. 
 
 The books themfelves were in their own keep- 
 ing, in the keeping of our adverfaries, who would 
 undoubtedly take effectual care that nothing fa- 
 vourable to Chrift fliould be fraudulently inferted 
 into them. The Jews were our librarians. The 
 prophecies were in their cuftody, and are read in 
 all their copies of the Old Teftament as well as in 
 ours. They have made many attempts to explain 
 them away, but none to qucftion their authenticity. 
 
 It remains then that thefe are all real predic- 
 tions, all centering in our Saviour, and in him only, 
 and delivered many centuries before he was born. 
 As no one but God has the foreknowledge of 
 events, it is from him thefe prophecies muft have 
 proceeded ; and they fhew, of courfe, that Chrift 
 was the perfon whom he had for a great length of 
 time predetermined to fend into the world to be 
 the great Deliverer, Redeemer, and Saviour of 
 mankind. 
 
 PROPOSITION X. 
 
 1 HE PROPHECIES DELIVERED BY OUR 
 SAVIOUR HIMSELF, PROVE THAT HE WAS 
 ENDUED WITH THE FOREKNOWLEDGE OF 
 
 <H 
 
 ^ 11 
 
 M 
 
h«w&V.i.-J 
 
 
 5<5 
 
 On the Truth and Divine Origin 
 
 cf the Chrijllan Revelation, 
 
 57 
 
 FUTURE EVENTS; WHICH BELONGS ONLY 
 TO GOD, AND TO TIlOiE INSPIRED BY 
 HIM. 
 
 HE did very particularly, and at feveral differ- 
 ent times, foretcl his own death, and the circum- 
 ftanccs of it : that the chief priefts and fcribes 
 ihould condemn him to death, and deliver him to 
 the Gentiles, that is to Pilate and the Roman fol- 
 diers, to mock, and fcourge, and crucify him ; 
 that he fhould be betraved into their hands ; that 
 Judas Ifcariot was the perfon who Oiould betray 
 him 5 that all his difciples would forfake him, and 
 flee *, and that Peter would particularly thrice deny 
 him in one night. He foretold further, that he 
 would rife again the third day ; that, after his af- 
 cenfion, he would fend down the Holy Ghoil: on 
 his apoftles, which fhould enable them to work 
 many miracles. He foretold, likewife, many par- 
 ticulars concerning the future fuccefs of the Gof- 
 pcl, and what fliould happen to feveral of his 
 difciples j he foretold what oppoiition and perfe- 
 cution they fhould meet with in their preaching ; 
 he foretold what particular kind of death Peter 
 iliould die ; and intimated that St. John fhould 
 live (as he did) till after the deftru^lion of Jeru- 
 falem ; he foretold that, notwithftanding all oppo- 
 iition and perfccution, the Gofpel fliould yet have 
 fuch fuccefs as to fpread iticlf over the world j and, 
 lafily, he foretold the deftrucllon of Jcrufalem, 
 with fuch very particular and minute circumftan- 
 ces, in the 24th chapter of St. Matthew, the 13th 
 of St. Mark, and the 2ifl: of St. Luke, that no 
 one who reads the defcription of that event, in the 
 hiftorians of thofe times, can have the fmalleil: 
 doubt of our Saviour's divine foreknowledge. We 
 
 have a mofl authentic, exa^, and circumftantial 
 account of the fiege and deflruction of that city by 
 the Romans, written by Jofephus, a Jewilh and 
 contemporai7 hiflorian •, and the defcription he 
 has given of this terrible calamity fo perfctflly cor- 
 refponds with our Saviour's prophecy, that one 
 would have thought, had we not known the con- 
 trary, that it had been written by a Chriftian, on 
 purpofe to illuflrate that predi£lion. 
 
 This power of foretelling future events is a plain 
 proof that Chrifl came from God, and was endued 
 with this power from above. 
 
 PROPOSITION XI. 
 
 T 
 
 HE MIRACLES PERFORMED BY OUR 
 LORD, DEMONSTRATE HIM TO HAVE POS- 
 SESSED DIVINE POWER. 
 
 ALTHOUGH the preceding propofitions con- 
 tain very convincing proofs of the divine mlflion 
 of Chrift, and the divine authority of his religion, 
 yet, undoubtedly, the ftrongeft evidence of this 
 arifes from the wonderful and well-attefted miracles 
 which he wrought from the beginning to the end 
 of his miniftry. He cured the mofl inveterate 
 difeafes ; he made the lame to walk ; he opened 
 the eyes of the blind and the ears of the deaf; he 
 caft out devils •, he walked upon the fea ; he fed 
 five thoufand pcrfons with a few fmall loaves and 
 fifliesj and even raifed the dead to life again. 
 Thefe miracles were all wrought in open day, in 
 the fight of multitudes of witnelfos, who could not 
 be impofed upon in things which they faw plainly 
 
 I i-i'i 
 
53 On the Trttch and Divine Origin 
 
 with their own eyes, who had an opportunity of 
 fcrutinizing them as much as they pleafed, and who 
 did actually fcrutinize them with a moft critical 
 exa£lnefs, as appears from the very remarkable in- 
 ftance of the Wind man reftored to fight by our 
 Lord, in the ninth chapter of St. John, a tranf- 
 adlion which I recommend very earneftly to the 
 attention of my readers. 
 
 It is true, that miracles being very unufual and 
 extraordinary fa£ls, they require very ftrong evi- 
 dence to fupport them ; much ftronger, it muft be 
 owned, than common events, that are recorded in 
 hiftory : and accordingly the miracles of Chriil 
 have this very ftrong and extraordinary evidence to 
 fupport them ; evidence fuch as is not to be equal- 
 led in any other initance, and fuch as is fully 
 competent to prove the reality of the grcatcfl: mi- 
 racle that ever was performed. 
 
 . Belides a multitude of other perfons, who were 
 cye-witnefTcs to thefe miracles, and who were ac- 
 tually convinced and converted by them, there were 
 twelve perfons, called apofllcs, plain, honcfl:, un- 
 prejudiced men, whom our Saviour chofe to be his 
 conftant companions and friends, who were almoft 
 always about his perfon, accompanied him in his 
 travels, heard all his difcourfes, favv all his miracles, 
 and attended him through all the dilFercnt fccnes 
 of his life, death, and refurredlion, till the time of 
 his afcenfion into Heaven. Thefe perfons were 
 perfectly capable of judging whether the works 
 which they faw Jefus perform were real miracles 
 or not *, they could tell whether a perfon whom 
 they had known to be blind all his life was fudden- 
 ly rcftored to fight by our Saviour's only fpeaking 
 a word or touching his eyes *, they could tell whe- 
 
 of the Chrijiian Revelation* 
 
 59 
 
 ther he did actually, in open day-light, walk upon 
 the fea without finking, and without any \ifible 
 fupport ; whether a perfon called Lazarus, whom 
 they were well acquainted with, and whom they 
 knew to have been four days dead and buried, was 
 raifed to life again merely by Chrift faying, Lcza- 
 17//, ari/e. 
 
 In thefe, and ether fa^s of this fort, they could 
 not poflibly be deceived. Now thefe, and many 
 other miracles equally afionifhing, they affirm that 
 they themfelves a<SlualIy faw performed by our Sa- 
 viour. In confequence of this, from being Jews, 
 and of courfe fi:rongly prejudiced againfi: Chrift 
 and his outward appearance, which was the very 
 reverfe of every thing they expelled in their Mef- 
 fiah, they became his difciples ; and en account of 
 their converfion, and more particularly on account 
 of their afierting the truth of his miracles and his 
 refurrectlon, they endured for a long courfe of 
 years the fevcrefi: labours, hardfhips, fufierings, 
 and perfccuticn, that human nature could be ex- 
 pofed to, and at la ft fubmitted to the moft cruel 
 and excruciating deaths ; all which they might 
 cafily have avoided, if tliey would only have faid 
 that Chrifi: was not the Son of God, that he never 
 worked any miracles, and never rofe from the 
 dead. Yet this they refufed to fay, and were con- 
 tent to die rather than fay it.* 
 
 Is not this giving the firongeft proof of their 
 fincerity, and of the reality of Chrift's miracles, 
 that human nature and human teftimony arc capa- 
 ble of giving. The concurrent and uncontradi<Sled 
 
 * No man ever laid down his Hfe for tlie honour of Jup.ter, Nep- 
 tune, or Apollo ; but how many thoufands have fcaled their Chrillian 
 teilimony w ith tuclr blood ? Bjaiiict v. a. 
 
 H 
 
"■m 
 
 4o 
 
 On the Truth and Divine Origin 
 
 i»f the Chrijiian Revel at li^ti. 
 
 6i 
 
 teftimony of twelve fuch witnefles is, according to 
 all the rules of evidence, fufEcient to eftablifh the 
 truth of any one fa£l in the world, however ex- 
 traordinary, however miraculous. 
 
 If there had been any powerful temptation 
 thrown in the way of thefe men ; if they had been 
 bribed, like the followers of Mahomet, with fenfual 
 indulgences j or, like Judas Ifcariot, with a fum of 
 money, one fliould not have been much furprifed 
 at their perfifting, for a time at leaft, in a preme- 
 ditated falfehood. But when we know that, in- 
 ftead of any of thefe allurements being held out 
 to them, their mafter always foretold to them, and 
 they themfelves foon found by experience, that 
 they could gain nothing, and muft lofe every thing 
 in this world, by embracing Chriftlanity ; it is ut- 
 terly impoflible to account for their embracing it 
 on any other ground than their convi(rtion of its 
 truth from the miracles which they faw. In faiSl, 
 muft they not have been abfolutely mad to have in- 
 curred voluntarily fo much mifery, and fuch cer- 
 tain deftru£lion, for affirming things to be true 
 which they knew to be falfe ; more efpecially as 
 their own religion taught them, that they would 
 be punifhcd moft feverely in another world, as 
 well as in this, for fo wicked a fraud ? Is it ufual 
 for men thus to fport with their own happinefs, 
 and their very lives, and to bring upon them- 
 felves, with their eyes open, fuch dreadful evils, 
 without any reafon in the world, and without the 
 Icaft pofllble benefit, advantage, credit, or pleafure 
 refulting from it ? Where have you ever heard 
 of any inftance of this fort ? Would any twelve 
 men you ever knew, efpecially men of credit and 
 chara£ter, take it into their heads to alTert that a 
 
 pciTon in the neighbourhood raifed a dead man to 
 life, when they knew that no fuch thing had ever 
 happened ; and that they would all, with one con- 
 fent, fufFer themfelves to be put to death rather 
 than confefs that they had told a lie? Such a 
 thing never happened fince the world began. It 
 is contrary to all experience and all credibility, and 
 would be, in itfelf, a greater miracle than any of 
 thofe that are recorded in the Gofpel. 
 
 It is certain then (as certain as any thing can 
 be that depends on human teftimony) that real 
 miracles were wrought by Chrift ; and as no mi- 
 racles can be wrought but by the power of God, 
 it is equally certain that Chrift and his religion 
 drew their origin from God.* 
 
 PROPOSITION XII. 
 
 T 
 
 HE RESURRECTION OF OUR LORD FROM 
 THE DEAD, IS A FACT FULLY PROVED BY 
 THE CLEAREST EVIDENCE, AND IS THE. 
 SEAL AND CONFIRMATION OF HIS DIVI- 
 NITY AND OF THE TRUTH OF HIS RE- 
 LIGION. 
 
 THE refurreclion of Chrift being one of thofc 
 miracles which are recorded in the Gofpel, the 
 truth of it is, in fa£l:, already proved by what has 
 been advanced refpedling thofe miracles in the 
 
 * On tlic dear and evident marks of difcrimiuatlon between the 
 real miracles of the Gofpel and the pretended miracles of Paganifm 
 and of Popery, fee Bifliop Douglas's Criterion, and Dr. Paley's 
 moft mafterly obfervations, in his View of the Evidences of Chrif- 
 tianity, prop. i. cli. ii. b. x. p. 329. 
 
 '1 J 
 
 11 
 
 ii' ' 
 
 ' Hi 
 
 Ii 
 
,•■". ■ i" 's«"" 
 
 s-c^-- Vw^^' 
 
 6t 
 
 On the Truth and Divine Origin 
 
 of the Chriflian Revelation* 
 
 63 
 
 preceding article. But it is an event fo lingular 
 in its nature, and fo infinitely important in its 
 confequences, that it well defervcs to be made the 
 fubjeift of a dift:ini5l Propofition. 
 
 After our Saviour's crucifixion, Jofeph of Ari- 
 mathea, we are told, laid the body in his own 
 new tomb, hewn out of a rock, and rolled a great 
 (lone to the door of the fepulchre. In order to 
 lecure themfelves againfl any fraud, the Jews de- 
 fired the Roman governor, Pilate, to grant them 
 a band of foldiers to guard the fepulchre, left, as 
 they faid, the difciples fhould come by night and 
 ileal the corpfe away. Pilate's anfwer was in 
 thefe words, '^ Ye have a watch, go your way, 
 make it as fure as you can : fo they went and 
 made the fepulchre fure, fealing the flone, and 
 fetting a watch.*'* The Evangelifl then proceeds 
 to relate the great event of the refurre^lion with 
 that ingenuous and natural fimplicity which cha- 
 rt(Slerizes the facrcd hiftorians, and which carries 
 upon the face of it every mark of fincerity and 
 truth. 
 
 " In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to 
 dawn towards the firfl day of the week, came 
 Mary Magdalen, and tlie other Mary, to fee the 
 fepulchre. And behold there was a great earth- 
 quake ; for the Angel of the Lord defcended from 
 heaven, and rolled back the ftonc from the door, 
 and fate upon it. His countenance was like light* 
 ning, and his raiment white as fnow. And for 
 fear of him the keepers did fhake, and became as 
 dead men. And the Anrel of the Lord anfwercd, 
 and faid unto the women. Fear not ye ; for I know 
 
 • Matth. XTvil 6 J, 66. 
 
 that ye feek Jefus that was crucified. He is not 
 here, for he is rifen from the dead ; and behold 
 he goeth before you into Galilee, there ye fhall 
 fee him. Lo ! I have told you. And as they 
 went to tell his difciples, behold, Jefus met them, 
 faying, All hail *, and they came and held him by 
 the feet, and worfhipped him. Then faid Jefus 
 unto them, Be not afraid j go tell my brethren, 
 that they go into Galilee, and there they Ihall fee 
 me. Now, when they were going, behold fome 
 of the watch came into the city, and fhewed unto 
 the chief priefts all that was done. And when 
 they were afTembled with the elders, and had ta- 
 ken counfcl, they gave large money unto the fol- 
 diers, faying, Say ye, his difciples came by night, 
 and ftole him away while we flept ; and if this 
 come to the governor's ear, we will pcrfuade him 
 and fccurc you. So they took the money, and 
 did as they were taught ; and this faying is com- 
 monly reported among the Jews unto this day."* 
 
 Such is the relation of this wonderful hdi given 
 by St. Matthew, which comprehends not only his 
 own account of it, but that alfo which was circu- 
 lated in oppofition to it by the chief priefts and 
 rulers of the Jews. Here then we have fairly be- 
 fore us the two different rcprefentations of this 
 event by the friends and by the enemies of Chrift; 
 of which the former affcrts that it was a real re- 
 furredtion, the other that it was a fraud i and be- 
 tween thefe two we muft form our opinions, for 
 no third ftory has been fet up, that we know x)f, 
 by any one. 
 
 One thing is agreed on by both fides, tIz. that 
 
 * Matth. xxviii. i— ^6» 
 F 2 
 
 '^1 
 
?■-*"•«»« > '■: .-vi 
 
 „, JSiftt'i 
 
 
 64 0/; /Z^f* 2V;/r/f d.'/J Divine Origifp' 
 
 the body was not to be found in the fepulchrev 
 It was gone •, and the que (lion is, by what means ? 
 The foldiers gave out that the difciples " came hj 
 night, while they flept, and ftole it away." But 
 it is not very eafy to underfland how the foldiers 
 could depofe to any thing that paiTed while they 
 were faft aflecp 5 they could not poflibly tell ia 
 what manner the body was ftolen away, or by 
 whom. Nor, confidering the extreme feverity of 
 the Roman military difcipline, is it credible, that 
 if they had been afleep, they would have confefled 
 it. For it was certain death to a Roman foldier 
 to be found fleeping upon guard. Nothing could 
 have prevailed upon them to make fuch a decla- 
 ration as that, but a previous promife of impunity 
 and reward from the Jewifh rulers 5 a plain proof 
 that they had been tampered with, and that it 
 was a concerted ftory. 
 
 In the next place, fuppoling the flory true, of 
 what ufe could the dead body be to the difciples ? 
 It could not prove to them, or to others, that 
 their marter was rifen from the dead ; on the con- 
 trary, it muft have been a (landing and a viiible 
 proof of the contrary. It muft convince them 
 that he, inilead of being the deliverer they expe(Sl- 
 ed, was an impoftor, and they moft cruelly de- 
 ceived. And why they fliould choofe to keep in 
 their pofTcilion, and to have continually before 
 their eyes a lifelefs corple, which completely blafl- 
 ed all their hopes, and continually reminded them 
 of their bitter difappointment, is fomewhat difficult 
 to be imagined. 
 
 The tale then, told by the foldiers, is, upon the 
 very face of it a grofs and clumfy forgery. The 
 confequence is, that the account given by Su 
 
 r 
 
 of the Chrijtian- Revelaiiofu 
 
 6j 
 
 Matthew is the true one. For if the body was 
 actually gone (an acknowledged point on all fides) 
 and if it was not as we have proved, ftolen away 
 by the difciples, there are but two poffible fuppo- 
 iitions remaining ; either that it was taken away 
 by the Jews and Romans, or that it was raifed to 
 life again by the power of God. If the former 
 had been the cafe, it- could only have been for the 
 purpofe of confronting and convicling the difci- 
 ples of falfehood and fraud by the produ(flion of 
 the dead body. But the dead body was fiot pro- 
 duced. It was, therefore, as the Gofpel affirms, 
 raifed from the grave, and reftored to life. There 
 is no other conceivable alternative left. 
 
 And that this was actually the cafe, is proved* 
 by our Lord's appearing, after his refurreclion, not 
 only to the two women who came firft to the fe- 
 pulchrc, but to the two difciples going to Emmaus, 
 and to the difciples aflembled together at two dif-- 
 ferent times, and to all the apoftles, and to above 
 500 brethren, at once. And he not only appeared 
 to them filently, but he talked and ate with them ; 
 he fhowed them his hands and his feet ; he made 
 them handle him ; he held feveral long converfa-- 
 tions with them ; and, at laft, afcended up into^ 
 heaven in their fight. 
 
 Thefe were things of which the plalneil: and' 
 mod ignorant men could judge. It was impoffible 
 for them to be deceived in an objetSl: with v/hich 
 i-hey were well acquainted, and which prcfented 
 itfclf to all their fenfes. 
 
 But there is another moft decifive proof, arifing 
 from their own condu£l:, that they were perfetftly 
 convinced of the reality of our Lord's refurreaion. 
 It appears that the apoftles were far from being. 
 
 f 3 
 
 ! 1% 
 
66 
 
 On the 'Truth and Divine Origin 
 
 »f the ChriJUhn Revelation* 
 
 tf7 
 
 men of natural courage and firmncfs of mind^ 
 "When our Lord was apprehended, all his difciplcs^ 
 we are told, forfook him, and tied. Peter follow- 
 ed him afar off, and went into a hall in the palace 
 of the high priefts, where the fervants warmed 
 themfelves, and being there charged with being a 
 difciple of Jefus, he peremptorily denied it three 
 times with vehemence and with oaths. It does 
 not appear that any of his difciples attended in the 
 judgment-hall to ailift or to fupport him v and 
 when he was crucifi^id, the only perfons that ven- 
 tured to ftand near his crofs, were his mother^ 
 and two or three other women, and St. John. 
 They all, in fliort, appeared difmayed and terrified 
 with the fate of their mailer, afraid to acknow- 
 ledge the flighted connexion with him, and utterly 
 unable to face the dangers that feemed to menace 
 them. But, immediately after the refurredlion of 
 their Lord, a moft aftonifhing change took place 
 in their condudl. From being the moft timid of 
 men, they fuddenly became courageous, undaunted, 
 and intrepid \ i\^y boldly preached that very Jefus 
 whom but a fhort time before they had deferted in 
 his greatcft diftrefs ; and although his crucifixion 
 was frelh before their eyes, and they had reafon to 
 expetSl the fame or a ilmilar fate, yet they perfifted 
 in avowing themfelves his difciples, and told the 
 Jews publickly, " that God had made that fame 
 Jefus whom they had crucilied both Lord and 
 Chrlft,"* and when they were brought before the 
 rulers and elders to be examined refpefting the 
 lame man whom they had cured at the gate of the 
 temple, ** Be it known unto you all, (faid they) 
 
 * Ads, fi. 36. 
 
 fcnd to all the people of Ifrael, that, by the name 
 of Jefus Clorift of Nazareth, whom yc crucified, 
 and whom God raifed from th« dead, even by him 
 does this man ftand here before you all. This is 
 the ftone that was fet at nought of you builders, 
 which is become the head ftone of the corner ; 
 neither is there falvation in any other 5 for there 
 is none other name under heaven given amon<» 
 men, whereby we muft be faved."f 
 
 And when a fecond time they were brought be- 
 fore the council, and forbidden to teach in the 
 name of Jefus, their anfwer was, " We ought to 
 obey God rather than man. And when they were 
 again reprimanded, and threatened, and beaten„ 
 yet they ceafed not in the temple, and in every 
 houfe, to teach and to preach Jefus Chrift ; and 
 with great power gave the apoftles witncfs of the 
 refurre<flion of the Lord Jefus."* 
 
 In what manner now fhall we account for this- 
 fudden and moft ftngular change in the difpofition,. 
 and as it were in the very conftitutlon, of the apof- 
 tles. If Chrift had not rifen from the grave, and 
 his dead body was in the poflefiion of his difciples j 
 was this calculated to infpire them with affe(Slion 
 for their leader, and with courage to preach a doc- 
 trine which they knew to be falfe ? Would it not, 
 on the contrary, have incrcafed their natural timi- 
 dity^ deprcfted their fpirits, extinguiflied all their 
 zeal, and filled them with indignation and horror 
 againft a man who had fo grofsly deceived them, 
 and robbed them, under falfe pretences, of every 
 
 f A<51s, iv. 10, II, 12. 
 * A«5ls, V. 29, 4Z. 
 iv. 53. 
 
 i 
 
 \»j^i.B:\-in^... 
 
6i 
 
 Oft the Truth and D'tvitif Origin 
 
 
 thing that was dear and valuable to them in the 
 world ? Moft unqueftionably it would. Nor is it 
 poflible to account, in any rational way, for the 
 ftrange revolution which took place in their mindsj 
 fo foon after their mafter's death, but by admit- 
 ting that they were fully perfuaded and fatisfied 
 that he rofe alive from the grave. 
 
 It may be faid, perhaps, that this perfuafion was- 
 the effect, not of irrefiftible evidence, but of en- 
 thuflafm, which made them fancy that fome vifion- 
 ary phantom, created folely by their own heated 
 imagination, was the real body of their Lord re- 
 flored to life. But nothing could be more diftant 
 from enthufiafm than the character and condudl of 
 thefe men, and the courage they manifefted, which 
 was perfe(^ly calm, fobcr, colledled, and cool. But 
 what completely repels this fufpicion is, that their 
 bittercft adverfaries never once accufed them of 
 enthufiafm, but charged them with a crime which 
 was utterly inconfiftent with it, fraud and theft \- 
 with ftcaling away the body from the grave. And: 
 if they did this, if that dead body was a<Slually be- 
 fore their eyes, how was it poflible for any degree 
 of enthufiafm fhort of madnefs (which was never 
 alleged againft them) to mifl:ake a dead body for a- 
 living man, whom they faw, and touched, and con- 
 Terfcd with ? No fuch inftance of enthufiafm ever: 
 occurred in the world. 
 
 The refurre£lion of our Lord being thus ef- 
 tabliflied on the firmeft grounds, it affords an un- 
 anfwerable proof of the truth of our Saviour's pre- 
 tenfions, and, confequently, of the truth of his 
 religion : for had he not been what he affumed to 
 be, the Son of God, it is impofiible that Gcd 
 fhculd have raifcd him from the dead; and there- 
 
 of the ChriJIian Revelation. 
 
 6^ 
 
 by given his fandlion to an Jmpofi:ure. But as he 
 did adually refl:ore him to life, he thereby fet his 
 feal to the divinity which he claimed, and acknow- 
 ledged him, in the moft publick and authoritative 
 manner, to be " his beloved fon, in whom he was 
 well pleafed."f 
 
 And this evidence of our Lord's divine miffion 
 is of the more importance, becaufe our Saviour 
 himfelf appealed to it as the grand proof of his 
 being fent from heaven to inftruiH: and to redeem 
 mankind. For when he caft the buyers and fellers 
 out of the temple, and the Jews required of him 
 a fign, that is, a miraculous proof, that he had the 
 authority of God for doing thofe things, his an- 
 fwp was, " Deftroy this temple, (meaning his 
 body) and in three days I will raife it up. When, 
 therefore, he was rifen from the dead, his difciples 
 remembered that he had faid this unto them ; and 
 they believed the fcriptures, and the word which 
 Jefus had faid;"* and they themfelves conftantly 
 referred to the refurrcclion, more than to any othef 
 evidence, as the great foundation on which their 
 faith was built. 
 
 The reafon for this perhaps was, that this great 
 event contained in itfelf, at once, the evidence 
 both of miracle and of prophecy. It was certainly 
 one of the moft ftupendous manifeftations of divine 
 power that could be prefented to the obfervation 
 of mankind; and it was, at the fame time, the 
 completion 'of two moft remarkable prophecies; 
 that of our Saviour's above mentioned, and that 
 well-known one of king David's, which St. Petej 
 
 t Matt. m. 17. 
 * John ii. i<^. az, 
 
 > 
 
70 
 
 On the Truth and Divine Origin 
 
 cxprefsly applies to the refurredlion of Chrift : 
 ** Thou wilt not leave my foul in hell, neither 
 wilt thou fuffer thy holy one to fee corruption." f 
 
 f Pfalm xvl. 10. AS.i^ ii. 27. On this fubjed of Chrift's ref«r- 
 recftion I muft again refer my young readers to Dr. Paley, vol. ii 
 ch. vs.. p. 209. and alfo to the conclufion of hi« work ; the force of 
 which it fcems to me fcarce pollible for an unprejudiced reader to 
 withftand. 
 
 CONCLUSION, 
 
 X HESE are the principal proofs of the truth of 
 the Chriftian Religion. Many others of a very 
 fatisfaclory nature might be added ; but the quef- 
 tion may be fafely reded on thofe that have here 
 been ftated. 
 
 And when we collect them all together into 
 one point of view ; when we confider the deplora- 
 ble ignorance and inconceivable depravity of the 
 heathen world before the birth of Chrift, which 
 rendered a divine intcrpofition cfTcntially neceflary, 
 and therefore highly probable ; the appearance of 
 Chrift upon earth, at the very time when his pre- 
 fencc was moft wanted, and when there was a ge- 
 neral expectation throughout the Eaft, that fomc 
 great and extraordinary perfonage was foon to 
 come into the world ; the tranfcendent excellence 
 of our Lord's chara£ter, fo infinitely beyond that 
 of every other moral teacher j the calmnefs, the 
 compofure, the dignity, the integrity, the fpotlcfs 
 
 of the Chripian Revelation. 
 
 *ll 
 
 fanaity of his manners, fo utterly inconfiftent irith 
 every idea of enthufiafm or impofture 5 the fubli- 
 mity and importance of his doOrines ; the con- 
 fummate wifdom and perfeCl purity of his moral 
 precepts, far exceeding the natural powers of a 
 man born in the humbleft fituation, and in a re- 
 mote and obfcure corner of the world, without 
 learnmg, education, languages, or books ; the ra- 
 pid and i^ftonifliing propagation of his religion, in 
 a very fhort fpace of time, through almoft every 
 region of the Eaft, by the fole efforts of himfelf 
 and a few illiterate fifliermen, in direCl oppofition 
 to all the power, the authority, the learning, the 
 philofophy, the reigning vices, prejudices, and fu- 
 perftitions of the world ; the complete and marked 
 oppofition, in every effential point, between the 
 character and religion of Chrift and the characTler 
 and religion of Mahomet, exadly fuch as might 
 be expedled between truth and falfchood ; the mi- 
 nute defcription of all the moft material circum- 
 ftanccs of his birth, life, fufferings, death, and 
 rciurreaion, given by the ancient prophets many 
 hundred years before he was born, and exaaiy ful 
 
 the Meffiah of the Jews and the Rprleemer of 
 mankind ; the various prophecies delivered by 
 Chrift himfelf, which were all pun^ually accom- 
 phfhed, more efpecially the deftruftion of Jerufalem 
 by the Romans ; the many aftonifhing miracle* 
 wrought by Jefus, in the open face of day, before 
 thoufands of fpe^ators, the reality of which is 
 proved by multitudes of the moft unexceptionable 
 witnefles, who fealed their teftimony with their 
 blood, and was even acknowledged by the earheft 
 and moft inveterate enemies of the Gofpel ; and. 
 
yjt On the Truth a fid Divine Origift, ^c, 
 
 laftly, that moft aftonifhing and well-authenticated 
 miracle of our Lord's refurredlion, which was the 
 feal and confirmation of his own Divine Origin, 
 and that of his Religion ; when all thefe various 
 evidences are brought together, and impartially 
 weighed, it feems hardly within the power of a 
 fair and ingenuous mind to refift the imprelTion of 
 their united force. If fuch a combination of 
 evidence as this is not fniTirient to fatisfy an honeft 
 enquirer into truth, it is utterly impofllble that 
 any event, which pafled in former times, and which 
 wc did not fee with our own eyes, can ever be 
 proved to have happened, by any degree of tefti- 
 mony whatever. It may fafely be affirmed, that 
 fio inftance can be produced of any one fa^ or 
 event, faid to have taken place in pad ages, and 
 eftablifhed by fuch evidence as that on which the 
 Chriftian Revelation refts, that afterwards turned 
 <5Ut to be falfe. We challenge the enemies of our 
 faith to bring forward, if they can, any fuch in- 
 ftance. If they cannot, (and we know it to be 
 irapoffible) we have a right to fay, that a religion 
 fupported by fjch an extraordinary accumulation 
 of evidence, mufh be true ; and that all men, who 
 prrlend to be guided by argument and by proof, 
 are bound, by the moft £icred obligations, to re- 
 ceive the religion of Chrift as a real revelation 
 from God. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 a^ 
 
 i»i^"*«:T'vi.-i 
 
yt On the Truth and Divine Origift, b*r. 
 
 laftly, that moft aftonifhing and well-authenticated 
 miracle of our Lord's refurrc£tion, which was the 
 feal and confirmation of his own Divine Origin, 
 and that of his Religion •, when all thefe various 
 evidences are brought together, and impartially 
 weighed, it feems hardly within the power of a 
 fair and ingenuous mind to refift the impreflion of 
 their united force. If fuch a combination of 
 evidence as this is not fnffirient to fatisfy an honefl 
 enquirer into truth, it is utterly impoffible that 
 any event, which pafled in former times, and which 
 we did not fee with our own eyes, can ever be 
 proved to have happened, by any degree of tefti- 
 monf 'Miatever. It may fafely be affirmed, that 
 no inftancc can be produced of any one fa^ or 
 event, faid to have taken place in paft ages, and 
 eftablilhed by fuch evidence as that on which the 
 Chriftian Revelation reds, that afterwards turned 
 out to be falfe. We challenge the enemies of our 
 faith to bring forward, if they can, any fuch in- 
 ftance. If they cannot, (and we know it to be 
 impoffible) we have a right to fay, that a religion 
 fupported by fjch an extraordinary accumulation 
 of evidence, mud be true -, and that all men, who 
 prc-tend to be Ruided by argument and by proof, 
 are bound, by the moft f^icred obligations, to re- 
 ceive the religion of Chrift as a real revelation 
 from God. 
 
 > 
 
 FINIS. 
 
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