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YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY Gift of
Rev, T, Larorason Riggs

A N
ARGUMENT In Defence of
CHRISTIANITY, TAKEN FROM
The Concessions of the mofl antient
Adverfaries.

A N
ARGUMENT In Defence of
CHRISTIANITY, TAEEN FROM
The Concessions of the moft antient
Adverfaries, Jews and Pagans, Phi
losophers and Historians.
In which is fhewn.
The difierent State of Infidelity in thofe early
Times, from what it now is.
To which is added.
An APOLOGY for fome of the Firft
Christian Fathers;
WITH
Some Remarks upon the Genuinenefs of the
Four Gospels.

By

GREGORY SHARPE,

L.L.D.

Fello\/v

' of the Royal Society, and of the Society

of Antiquarians,

LONDON:
Printed for John Mill an, oppofite the Ji-
miralty-Office, Whitehall.

M.DCC.LV,

Tatiani Oratio^ p. 105. edit. Oxon. 1700.
* I JhaU not take my evidences from our own
* authors^ but make ufe of your Greek au-
*¦ ' thorities.'
K-KoH^eiV.iax \j.zv rjS'ii^ co arcT/^gs, tou cortx. s^^aif
Kj (X ^coy oyioXoyajxevav b<p vjxwv. Juftini dial. I.
' It is now proved, O men, to thofe who havf
* earSj and that from pur own ConfeJJioas,'

TO
7%e Righi Rev. Father in God Joseph,
Lord Bijhop of Rochefter, Dean of
Weftminfter, and Chancellor of the
Order of the Bath ;
The Rev. E. Lewen, L. L. D. Chan
cellor of the Diocefe of Rochefter ;
The Rev. J. Denne, D.D. Archdeacon
of the Diocefe of Rochefter, and Pro
locutor of the prefent Convocation ;
"The Rev. Fr. Hooper, D.D. ProBor
in Convocation for the Diocefe of
Rochefter ;
T^e Rev. the Clergy of the Archdeaconry
of Town-Mailing.
Reverend Father and Brethreny
IT is with the greateft refped I pre
fent the following difcourfe to you^
and intreat your acceptance of it, in
this

[vi]
this form, with the fame candor and
goodnefs. you were pleafed to receive
the author and his femion, when ht
had the hbriour to deliver it before you,
at OUT laft visitation.
I will not plead the requeft of fome
of my bYerhteh, riibugh I fhall always
efteem theit requefts as tommatids, in
«xoufe for the publitation df this '<iif-
oourfe. The |vt^valeooe of infidelity,
arid too general difregard of ^--eiigion,
the m'an^^apen attempts from tnen of
<all ranks againft it, as if it Were an
enemy to hurrian fociety, and the few
r^hgicJus examples fet by thole who
would do well to confider the extent
and influence of their example, call
for every aid, and evefy motive, to fub-
due the Wicked deligns of fome, fas
well as the lethargy of others, and ren der

[ vii]
der every other excufe, at leaft, unne*
ceffary. .
Not that the Chriftian religion is in
danger: No. It is not poffible that
the gates of hell fhould ever prevail
againft it. It muft fubfift for ever,
and the author of it is certainly moft
able to proted: it againft the malice and
utmoft efforts of all its enemies, and
will for ever prove the Deliverer of
all who believe in him. But they, who
difown his power and influence, have
no right, no claim to be proteded by
him. And if, inftead of obeying the
precepts enjoined by the Chriftian re
ligion, the people fliould unhappily
proceed, at laft, to difown all religious
obligation, it is moft certain the fo
ciety could not long furvive fo fatal an
injury. Who^

[ viii ]
Whoever examines the charaders of
men, and the moral ftate of the world
at prefent, under all the advantages it
has certainly received from the profef-
fion and pradice of Chriftianity in it,
will have no reafon to think there are
too many motives for men to be good ;
but, on the contrary, find it neceflary,
inftead of taking any of them away,
to inforce them with all the authority
of reafon and example.
He muft therefore be a moft wretch
ed politician indeed, who fliould op-
pofe, I do not fay the errors of Chrif
tian men, but Chriftianity itfelf, Spe
cially in a proteftant country, where
fuch an attack will give equal ftrengtk
to the different extremes of Inndelity
and Superftition ; and thofe of the
Romifli perfuaflon have never failed to

avail themfelves of thefe writings.

No

[«]
No Politician would pretend to go
vern a people without the aid of reli
gion ; and no religion has ever been
offered to the world, that could be
compared to the religion of Jefus. Po
liticians are feldom incliried to admit
of any alteration in eftabliflied reli
gions ; and when they profeffedly op-
pofe the public faith, it is to be feared
it may proceed from other motives than
the public good.
The philofopher has as little reafon
as the politician, to objed to the reli
gion of Jefus, whofe charader and
dodrines are incomparably more per-
fed, more popular, and more ufeful,
than thofe of any of the antient hea
thens. And of modern philofophers,
not of thofe, who have arrogantly
taken the name to themfelves, but
thofe whom all the world have agreed
b to

[^1
to call by that name, and who have
furpafled all that went before them in
the greatnefs of their difcoveries ; there
has fcarcely been one who has not di-
ftinguiflied himfelf as much by his
faith in Chrift, as by his knowlege in
nature. I would not have loft the prefent
opportunity of offering you the fer-
mon I delivered, on a like occafion,
fome years paft ; and which, I flatter
myfelf, was not lefs favourably heard
than tbe prefent, if I did not hope for
fome future opportunity of making
it public, when I may extend and im
prove it, by fliewing the evidences and
connexion of natural and revealed re
ligion. But that was a different ar-^
gument from this, in the difcourfe I
now have the honour to addrefs to
you y and which, together with the
Notes,

[xi]
NoteS) the Apology for fome of the
firft Chriftian Writers, and Evidence
for the Four Gofpels, contains one en
tire and diftind argument for the truth
of the Chriftian Religion ; and fuch
an argument as will remove the con-
troverfy out of the hands of ignorant
and unlearned Infidels, and confine
it to thole only, who are capable of
inquiring into what was done in Pale-
ftine and Rome more than feventeen
hundred years ago. And as it ftates
the difference between the Infidelity
of the antients and the moderns, and
fliews that the latter haVe, without any
authority, denied what the former,
from the great notoriety of the fads,
were forced to admit, it affords a fuf-
ficient anfwer to the moderns, by op-
pofing to them the conceffions of their
predecefl'ors in Infidelity, who were
b 2 rather

[xii]
rather better judges of what was fad
in or near their own times.
Notwithftanding all that has been
faid of late, in fome moliminous and
indigefted heaps of writing againft
theology, it is moft certain, from the
different fchemes of religion in every
age, as well as every nation in the
world, from the various attempts of
atheiftical and irreligious men, as well
as of fedaries (I fpeak not of modern
diffenters and fellow-proteftants) from
the birth of Chrift, to this day, and
from the controverfies that muft for
ever fubfift, whilft the civil eftablifli-
ment of religion in one country is dif
ferent from that of another, theology
muft be reckoned among the learned
and ufeful ftudies, and they only who
cannot, or will not, diftinguifli be
tween opinions that preferve the li
berties

[xiii]
berties of a people, and thofe that ne-
ceffarily ferve to inflave them, will
objed to this ftudy, as inconfiftent
with their own wicked views.
I am fure I have no occafion to
make any excufe to my learned bre
thren for the Hebrew, Greek, and other
citations in the following notes. I was
inquiring into fads, and thought it
might be more fatisfadory, even to an
unlearned reader, to bring my evi
dences along with me, and let them
ipeak for themfelves, in their own
language, than to have them at too
great a diftance from their interpreter.
There are other evidences, which
I have purpofely omitted, fuch as the
eclipfe mentioned by Phlegon, and
ApoUophanes, about the time of
our Saviour's crucifixion ; the appear
ance of the fign Virgo, as defcribed by

[ ^v ]
by Ahu-maajhar^ commonly called
Albtm^:^jr, and others ; all the Siby-
Hne oracles, and the famous paffage
in Jofephus, where he doubts whether
it is lawful to fpeak of Chrift as a man,
and owns his miracles, 8cc. though I
am very far from thinking the laft is
not genuine : But they have all been
difputed by Chriftian men, and I was
defirous of ufing fuch authorities only
as I think cannot be denied *. I
* If there is any thing of moment yet left
in the Talmud, it will not be very difficult
for a man, tolerably well fkilled in rabbinical
letters, to colleft from thofe writings all that
relates to Jefus, his difciples, and the Chriftian
religion, by means of a copy of the Talmud,
printed at Venice, which formerly belonged
to the moft learned Mr. Selden, and is now
preferved amongft his books, in the Bodleian
library at Oxford. In this copy, whatever
relates to Chriftianity or Chriftians, is care
fully blotted out with ink : And thefe paflages,
which are not many, may eafily be difcovered by

[xv]
I believe I have not mifreprefented
any one of thofe antient teftimonies
cited by me, or forced them to fay
more in our language than they have
long fince faid in their own : But of
this you are the beft judges, and to
your candour and protedion the au
thor humbly dedicates both his labours
and himfelf, being,
Reverend Father and Brethren^
Tour mofl dutiful^
faithful^ offeEiionatey
humble Servant ^
Gregory Sharpe.
by turning over the leaves, and be tranfcribed
from the fame pages, in any other fair copy
of the fame, or other editions where the pages
anfwer. When I infpefted this copy, I found
the word 'D'ch}; (virgin) blotted out, though it
had, in that place, no reference to the blefled
mother of our Lord; but it ftiews the care
that has been taken, to mark every word that
could relate to Chriftians.

ACTS ii. 23.
Te men of Ifraely hear thefe words:
yefus of Nazareth.^ a man approved
&f God among you, hj miraclesy and
WQMderSy and figns, which God did
hy him in the midfi of youy as ye
yourfelv^s, alfa know,
[E have here an affertion of
the fulleft and ftrongeft kind,
that the miflion of Jefus of
Nazareth was warranted by miracles ;
and not only fo, but that thefe mi
racles were performed in fuch a man
ner, AS moreover warranted an appeal
to the lenles of the people themfelves,
for the truth of them. They were
B not

not done in fecret, but in public, be
fore multitudes, in the temple, and
even in courts of judicature : And
though the Gofpel was preached to the
poor, it was offered to the rich, and
men of all conditions, all the world *,
were invited, and had the fame evi
dence of indifputable miracles to en
gage their affent.
St, Paul, in anfwer to Feftus, and
to prove his words to be the " words
*' of truth and fobernefs," fays, " the
*' king knoweth of thefe things, be-
" fore whom alfo I fpeak freely ; for
* Chrifti regnum ubique porrigitur, ubi
que creditor, ab omnibus gentibus fupra-enu-
meratis colitur, ubique regnat, ubique ado-
ratur, omnibus ubique tribuitur sEqualiter.
Tertul, I . adverfui Judaos.
* The kingdom of Chrift is univerfal : He
• is believed every-where, and worfliiped in
* all the nations above-named. He reigns
* over all, is every-where the objed: of ado-
* ration, and is equally made known to all
« in every place.' «I

[ 3 ]
" I am perfuaded that none of thefe
** things are hidden from him ; for this
*' thipg was not done in a corner."
And fo far is the king from condemn
ing Paul, that, if he had not appealed
unto Caefar, he declares he might have
been fet at liberty j and inftead of
charging him, as did Feftus, with mad-
nels, or with falfe reports, as deceiv
ing others, or deceived himfelf, he
owns unto Paul, " almoft thou per-
** fuadeft me to be a Chriftian."
Noi" was Agrippa the only prince,
the only man of power and eminence,
who knew of thefe things, and who
was alm.oft perfuaded to be a Chriftian.
Sergius Paulus, the governor of Cyprus,
before whom Elymas, the Sorcerer, was
ftruck blind, *' when he faw what was
*' done, believed, being aftonifl:ied at
" the dodrine of the Lord." Ads xiii.
Dionyfius alfo, the Areopagite, a judge
and Senator of the Areopagus, one of
B 2 the

t4]
the moft refpeded courts of Judicature
in Greece " believed with Damaris and
« others," Ads xvii. 34. The " rioble-
*' man too, whofe fon was fick at Ca-
*' pernaum, himfelf believed> and his
*' whole houfe." John iv. Nay, even
" Among the chief rulers, many be-
" lieved on Jefus, but, becaufe of the
" Phatifees, they did not confefs him."
John xii. 42. And even of this rigid
fed we find believers mentioned in the
Ads XV. 5.
Saul, the perlccutor, had been
brought up at the feet of Gamaliel,
and in the full fury of his zeal was,
by a Ipecial miracle, converted to the
faith. And, laftly, Simon Magus, or
the magician, alfo believed : He Viffio
had " bewitched the people of Sanik-
" ria, giving out that himfelf was fome
" great one, and to whom," proceeds
the text, " they all gave heed, from
" the Icaft to the greateft, faying, This
2 *' man

[5]
*« man is the great power of God, be-
** lieved Philip, preaching the kingdom
** of God, and the name of Jefus
*' Chrift ; and when he was baptized,
*' he continued with Philip and won-
** dered, beholding the miracles and
" figns which were done." Nor is ic
any reproach to the faith he had pro-
fefled, that he offered the apoftles
money for the power of giving the
Holy Ghoft ; for that very ofe was a
piroof of his belief in the reality of that
power : And, as the noble anfwer of
Peter fhews how fuperior to all mean
or mercenary confiderations the apoftles
were, " Thy money perifh with thee,
'' becaufe thou haft thought the gift of
*' God may be purchafed with money,"
&c. So the fubmiflion of Simon to
the fentence denounced againft him,
in thefe words, " Pray ye to the Lord
*' for me, that none of thefe things,
*' which ye have fpoken, come upon

" me

" me," argues a full perfuaflon in him*
that nothing but his immediate re
pentance could procure him an abfo-
lution. Ads viii.
It is not true therefore, that the firft
converts to the gofpel were all of them
men of low rank, or mean fortunes.
The works, that our Saviour did, were
not confined to the cells and cottages
of the poor ; they were public, they
were manifeft to all, and they tcftified
of him, that his Father had fent him,
the expeded Meffiah, the deliverer,
and the prince *. But
* That the word Shiloh n^'lT Gen. xlix.
lo. iignifies the deliverer^ may be provej^.
from the idea Jews and Chriftians have of the
Meffiah, and from the ufe of that word in
one of the oriental dialeds. JJ^ Shala, fig-
nifies delivered, and the being called to de
liver from danger, Golius's Arabic Lexicon,
col. 1308. and for this fenfe the authorities
of Gieuharis and Ibn maruph are cited. But
as the learned Schultcns, in his Otigines, had
derived

[7]
But as he was a prince without a
temporal power, a deliverer who ap
peared unable to deliver himfelf, " a
*' man of forrows and acquainted
"with griefs,"* the Jews, who had
tlerived Shiloh from JJ[^ Sala, • to liquidate
* or reftore things, that had been great-
* ly difturbed, to tranquility, peace, and
* opulence,' p. y^. Origin, Hebr. I wrote
to my moft learned friend Dr, Hunt, pro-
feflbr of Hebr. and Arab, at Oxford, who
was pleafed to prefer the former derivation,
iand to confirm it by the authority of the
great Arabic Lexicon Kamus, which ex
pounds Jl^-- by XiixJu^l '° deliver, and
that ejUjo J>^ C^-^ CiT^ f''"^ diftrefs or
deJiruSHon, from whence the noun J^l^JLcO
virtus, robur, &c.
And fince this I have met with the fame
derivation in the Horee Talmudica of Schoet-
genius, Tom. i. p. 1270. who thinks the
idea of prince and dominion, may likewife
be deduced from the ufe of the Hebrew
verb TDV in Lament, i. 5, and Dan. iv. r.
But of this prophecy, Gen. xlix. 10. the
infertion of the letter Or&c. I have much
more to communicate than can be contained
In a fliort note, formed

[8]
formed very different conceptions of
him, and who were a grofs, fordid,
felfifh people, chofe to deny his mif-^
fion, though they could not deny the
miracles that proved it.
Indeed it never was difputed, till
of late, whether Jefus and his dif^
ciples performed the miracles recorded
of them in the Scriptures of the New
Teftament : And furely it is as abfurd
to begin to deny them now, at the
diftance of more than feventeen hun
dred years, as it would be to begin
to prove them, if they had never be
fore been acknowleged. Remote fads
muft be left to as remote records, and
if they eftablifh them, it is in vain,
when it is too late, to conteft them.
The Gofpels have every internal
mark of genuine and authentic re-*
cords; and it is impoftlble to read
tliem, and not lee they contain a
hiftory that could not be invented after the

C 9 ]
the deftrudion of Jerufalem, There
are too many fads, and too many
circuriiftances of perfons, places, and
times, to be forged without a difcove-
ry ; and it is abfolutely unimaginable,
that the difciples and their followers
ftiould undergo the labours, and tor
tures, and miferies, and cruel deaths
they were expofed to, in fupport of
what they pretended to have feen or
heard, concerning a meek and humble
man, whofe kingdom was not of this
world, and who had been put to death
for the opinions they promoted, if all
was invention, and they themfelves
were impoftors.
The difciples, who lived with Jefus,
could not poffibly be impofed upon,
for whatever deluflon the fight may be
liable to^ they certainly knew whether
they themfelves had a power of work
ing miracles, and of talking languages
they had never learned. And Cle-
C ment

[ IO ]
meat ,and Pplycarp, who lived with.
them, whb died for the fame opinions,
and who were men of good under-
ftanding, could be no more deceived.
than they themfelves were. Irenseus
lived to converfe with Polycarp, a,nd^
Juftin the Martyr was older than Ire-
nasus ; and from thefe we have a re
gular fucceffion of hiftorians, in num
ber and authority fufficient to eftablifh^
the credibility of ecclefiaftical hiftory*
No period of antient times is de
livered down to us with fo much cer
tainty, or is fo well attefted by fuch
variety of evidence, as is that of the
gofpel. What other fads have ever
been fealed with the blood of fo many
martyrs ? Or what other opinions have
ever fpread and prevailed with fuch
rapidity, and force of convidion, as
thofe of the Chriftian Faith ? Pagan-
ifm, however general it may have
been, was not one religion, but one
7 " - nanig

[II 3
name for many very different fyftems
of religion; arid Moharftmedifm, which
pofleffes fo much of the globe, is alfo
a mixed perfualion that allows both of
^ divine dilperifation to the Jews, and
of the gofpel of Jefus.
But the different methods of pro
pagating thefe religions in the world,
are fufficient to diftingujlh the true
from the pretended revelation. He,
who lays down his own life in fup
port of his dodrine, gives us a much
better opinion of himfelf and his fin-
cerity, than he who plays the apoftle
and the murderer together. Patience
Jn luff^rings, even unto death, is a
fairer proof of innocence than perfe-
cution and maflacres. And as nothing
ever honoured Chriftians more, than
the fuffering of their martyrs under the
perfecution of others, fo nothing ever
difgraced them fo much as their per-
feciiting one another, C 2 But

But no force, no artifice, no hu
man policy, no vain ambition, no
proud fcience, had any fhare in the
firft advancement of the Chriftian
Faith. No ; it derived its fuccefs
from its own intrinfic merit, from the
divine authority manifefted in it ; from
the awful truths it contained, from
the exalted morality it recommended,
and the univerfal charity it breathed.
It had not its foundation laid in en
ticing words, it had not the fpecious
glofs, of human wifdom, but " de-
" monft ration of the Spirit and of
** power," (r Corin. ii. 45). or in
other words, of prophecy and miracle,
which rendered all fuch feeble aids un-
neceffary. Alas ! what is man's wifdom, that
we fhould lay fo much ftrefs upon it ?
How Ihort is the fpace of time allowed
us to improve it ? How few are the
premifes we are abje to comprehend ?
How

[ 13 ]
How fhort is the chain of reafbning
we are able to form ? How frail, how
feeble, how tranfitory are all the hy-
pothefes we are able to build ? How
much are we the dupes of our own
paffions ? How felfifh in all our ways ?
Ignorance mifleads us, pride and rafh-
nefs make us flight or overlook the
plaineft truths ; and little more than
anxiety and incertainty have been the
only genuine fruits of all our boafted
philofophy. What, therefore, a race
of beings raifed one degree above our-
felves might juftly regard with deri-
iion, we may fuppofe the greateft Be
ing of Beings regarded with compaf-
fion. However, thus much is gained
by the efforts we had made to trace
out a firft caufe, and unravel the
inextricable web of Providence, as to
fhew, notwithftanding our inability
to remove many doubts, that we arc
religious as well as rational Beings. Pri-

c Hi
Private happinefs, and public pro-
fperity, it had been difcovered, re
quired a religious bafis : This the very
idolatries of the world had demon-
ftrated. But then thefe idolatries had
iclofed up the door of truth, inftead of
opening it; and darkened and be*
wildered the world, inftead of dired-
ing and enlightening it. In the fulnefs
of time, therefore, for his own glory,
ind for the reftoring Jight and life to
the benighted fons of Adam, God him^-
felf interpofed, and caufed a Sun of
Righteoufnefs to fhine upon them,
' And one would have thought the
glad tidings of peace on earth, and
good-will towards men, offered freely
to all, would have been as gladly ac-^
cepted by all.
To be told by a voice from heaven
what vi^^as our duty, and to fee heaven
opened to all, in confequence of our
difcharge Oi it, one would have
thought,

[ IS]
thought, fhould have filled every hear^
Vvith gratitude, and every mouth witl^
praife. But what was a ftumbling-block
to the Jews, proved alfo foolifhnefsi'
tp the Greeks ; and not only to the
vain, pretending, felf-conceited, fo*
phifts of former times, but to their re-
prcfentatives ftill to be met with even:
in ours. ^
To doubt modeftly, ought to be
tolerated, to inquire carefully is me
ritorious, but to cavil petulantly, and:
pronounce dogmatically in matters of.
the utmoft confequence to the repofe?
of government, the welfare of fbciety,
and tJie general peace of mankind, is
not only to ad a very difingenuous
and unbecomingj but, give me leave
to, fay, an anti-chriftian part.
It feems to argue, that the men
who ad in this manner, love darknefs
rather than light, becaufe their deeds. are

r i6 ]
are evil. In order therefore, that
there may be fewer of thefe in the
next generation, for there have been
too many of them in this, it is to be
wifhed, that greater care were to be
taken of the education of our youth :
If they were all early inftruded in the
principles of religion, and religion
were placed upon its true bafls, it
would be better for them and their
country ; and if to read the Bible, a
privilege fo dearly purchafed for us by
the blood of fo many of our fathers,
was a little more in fafhion than it is,
vice, and its offspring infidelity, would
be lefs popular than they are.
It has been hinted, that men are
xeligious as well as rational beings,
ever influenced either by true religion,
or the abufe of it, which is fuperfti-
tion ; for no man is entirely free from
the dominion of one or the other.
His hiftory, as well as his nature, prove

1 17 ]
prove this to be true; as alio, that be
is not to be governed but by religion ;
that fociety cannot fubfift without re
ligion > and that laws derive their ufe-
fulnefs and efficacy from it : For where
there is no religion, there can be no
confcience; where there is no con-
fcience, there can be no fenfe of obli
gation ; and where there is no fenfe. pf
obligation, laws will be. of little ufe..
Since, therefore, man muft 'be of
Ibme religion or other; fince it is no
torious the Worft men are the moft
fuperfiitious *, and he who pretend* to
* Many inftances niiay he produced out of
hiftory to prove this afl!ertion, . but I ftiall
content myfelf with only that of Li^cinS Cor
nelius Sylla, who was one of the moft pro
fligate and moft fuperftitious men in the world.
He was guilty of every vice, and every fpecies
of barbarity : His own houfe was a fcene of
dreadful excution. He was a flave to dreams
and omens, and yet fo impious, as to cut
D dowa

[i8]
to believe the leaft, is the moft pfe-
pofterous and paradoxical, if not more
credulous than others ; the honeft and
the fenflble wiD enquire after true re
ligion, and having found it, follow it
as their beft diredor.
In the fearch after this faithful
guide, in the facred writings, they
will hear of revelations that lay claim
to the confirmation of miracle and
prophecy ; and, fince the extindion
of paganifm, they will find no reli
gion raifed up on fo firm foundation.
In fhort, if they believe the times
for the coming of Meffiah are paft,
and that the peculiar additions of
down the facred groves at Athens. He fa-
crilegioufly feized upon the treafures of the
temples, particularly thofe of Epidaurusj
Olympia, and Delphi ; ahd yet was fuperfti
tious enough to afcribe his fafety in batde, to
a little image he wore in his bofom of Apollo,
the very deity he had robbed. Read his.
whole life as it is in Plutarch. Mo-

[ 19 1
Mohammed to the Jcwifh and Chri
ftian revelations, are his own, they
will find the Chriftian the only reli
gion in the world *. And when they ex-
* The following paflages taken from La
Bibliotheque Orientale d'Herbelot, are fuf
ficient to prove what is here faid of the Mo
hammedans. L' Alcoran donne ce titre (Seddik) au pa
triarch Jofeph, a Jefus-Chrift, et a la faintc
vierge Marie fa mere. Ce mot Seddik fig-
nifie Temoiu fidele et autentique. Aiticle
jibubecre. Remarquez encore que les Mufulmans pen
dant qu'ils doutent des miracles de leur pre-
tendu prophete, croyent fans exception ceux
de Moyfe, et avoiient non feulement ceux
de Jefus-Chrift, mais qu'ils lui en font faire
beaucoup d'autres dans les annees de fon
enfance, defquels I'evangile ne fait aucun
mention. Article Aidt.
Bad Meffih fignifie le vent ou le fouffle du
Meffie. Les Perfans appellent ainfi la puif-
fance que Jefus-Chrift, avoit de faire des mi
racles, parce qu'ils difent que, par fon feul
fouffle, non feulement il reftlifcitoit les morts,
mais ii donnoit auffi la vie aux chofes inanir
mees.
D a Ceux

[*o]
examine ft, they will difcover in it all
the marks of a divine original. This
Ceux, qui font mieiix inftrqits pgrmi eux
des chofes qui regard le Chriftianifme, avou-
ent que I'evangile qui eft aujourd'hui entre
les mains des Chretiens, auffi-bien que celuy
qui y etoit au tems que le faux prophete
Mahomet parut, eft le veritable evangile de
Jefus-Chrift, et qu'il p'y en a point d'autre.
Engil. On trouve parmi les traditions authentiques
des Mufulmans, celle qui porte que Jefus-
Chrift, qu'ils appellent Ina, doit, a fon fecbnd
avenement,reunir toqtes les religions ettoutes les
feftes differentes au Mufulmanifme. EJlam.
Mahadi diredteur et pontife dans la reli
gion Mufnlmane, le furnom du dernier Iman^
de la race d'Ali, Les Perfans croyant que Get
Imam doit fe joindre a Jefus-Chrift pour
combattre I'Antichrift et ne faire de deux loi^
CJiretienne et Mufulmane qu'une feule:
Tons conviennent unanimement qu'il (Mo
hammed Aboulcafi'em, i. e. Mahadi) doit
paroitre a la fin du monde, immediatement
avant le fecohd avenement du Meffie, pour
reunir toutes les feftes des Mufulmans en
une feule, et toutes les religions differentes au
Mufulmanifme, p. 604.
Vpyez le paffage de I'Alcoran oij il efl
parle

[ " ]
This Ihave touch'd upon already ;
but my fubjed requiring me to en
large upon it, I muft take leave to
add,
parle de ees foffes ou puits de feu au Chapi-
tre 85. eft en ces termes les gens qui ont
prepare les fofles pleins, 6cc. on fait fouffrir
aux fideles. Et Ton pent remarquer que Ma
homet reeonnoit en cet endroit que les Chre
tiens de ce tems la etoieht fideles, c'eft-a-dire,
qu'ils faifoient profeffion de la veritable foy,
II eft parle de la faiiite Vierge tres honor-
alilement en plufieurs endroits de I'Alcoran, ou
I'on trouve mgme un chapitre entier qui portp
/on nom-
To thefe paffages in Herbelot may be add
ed the fentiments of Achmet Benabdalla, the
African phyfician, in a letter to Maurice, prince
of Orange, and Emanuel of Portugal, in an
fwer to this queftion, * What think the Moors
' of our Lord Jefus Chrift ?' Dico eum haberi
apud nos prophetam, et nuntium Dei (ut Au-
riacus princeps Mauritius tunc etiam dixit) et
benediftam Dei fanftam, Mariam ejus matrem
et dominam noftram virginem, quae peperit et
concepit miraculo ex Deo omnipotenti. * I
f anfwer, fays the African, that he is held by
* us to be a prophet, and the meffenger of God
f (as Maurice, prince of Orange, then faid) and
* our

[ 22 ]
add, That it is an inftitution, in itfelf,
worthy of God to command, and of
man to obey ; a reafonable fervice, well
adapted to the different natures of God
and man ; a covenant between them
of grace and mercy, with the condi
tions to be performed by us, that we
may be partakers of them ; delivered
to the world by the Mediator, Jefus
Chrift, the Advocate for frail, degene
rate man, his Saviour, Redeemer, King,
and at the refurredion of the dead his
Judge. Awful and moft interefting
truths, promulgated with authority
from on high, attefted by the powers
of heaven, and the providence of God,
* our lady the virgin Mary his mother, to
' be bleffed of God, holy, who brought him
' forth, and conceived him miraculoufly by the
' Almighty power of God.' This letter of Ach-
met's was given to Wagenfeil, author of the
Tela ignea SataneB, and after his death, a very
few copies of it (pauciffima exemplaria) were
printed by his fon at Altdorf. by

[ n 1
by mirades and prophecies. Inftances
of the latter we may behold with our
own eyes, in the accompli ftiment of
the New Teftament predidions, de
claring, long before, what would be
the fate, what the peculiar corruptions
of the church of Chrift in after-ages ;
and as we cannot but fee this, if we
look into the weftern world, we can
have no reafon to deny the former,
fince prophecy fulfilled is itfelf an un
deniable inftance of miracle *.
A religion from heaven feem'd to
demand this proof of its origin : and
* 'Sli x«.i ex. Tovraiv Tifxea^ co? SUpnv, tov Incrow
xai TOO'.' jWgT CtVTOV yevflcrofJiivKV 'wpoyvooc^w sttp-
q'a.i/.i^a., Kcu it, aKAoiv S's TroAAwy cov tsy^oe-tTri
yivwiSrcLi TOIS TK^enovcn xaa ofAoAoyouaiv auTov
'Kqjic^oi'.
* So from thefe, as I faid, we know that
* Jefus had foreknowlege of what ftiould
' come to pafs after him, and from many
* other things, which he foretold fliouId hap-
* pen to thofe who believed and confeffed him
* the Chrift.' Juftini. Dialog, I. furety

furely the reftoration of man tnay
as well deferve the public atteftation
of heaven, as the creation of him ;
and it may be equally difficult to
account for either, without miracle or
revelation. To create is an extraordinary ex
ertion of divine power, at leaft it
muft appear fo to us ; and whenever
man was newly made, as he could
not be left at once to himfelf, deftitute
of all knowlege, and uninformed of
the confeqiiences of all his adions,
fo any fuch information or revelatioUj
muft have been equal to prophecy : it
is in vain therefore, to objed againft
the Chriftian Religion, on account of
its being fupported by miracle and pro
phecy, fince there can be no religion
without them.
If then we are forced to acknow-
lege not only that miracles may be,
but that they adually have been per-
form'd.

formed, it will be very unreafonabl^
to refufe our aflent to thofe of the
gofpel. , Notwithftanding the great growth
of Infidelity of late, and the many
writings in its favour, which ferve to
increafe the number of unbelieving,
fuperficial men ; notwithftanding the
yet greater nuriiber of unbelievers,
who are not readers^ and who have
never examined the merits of the
Chriftian caufe ; it is very certain, no
thing, now faid or done, can invalidate
the evidence for fads accomplifl:ied
more than feventeen hundred years ago*
Infidehty would have begun with con-
tefting the fads, if they had not been
too confpicUous, and too well attefted,
to admit of any difpute: But as it
did not in thofe early days difpute
thofe fads, it is certairily now too late
to difpute them. Whence then arifes
this fpirit of contradidion, in thefe
E later

[26]
later times ? Have any of our fophifts
difcovered any antient records that eon-
tradid the hiftory of the New Tefta
ment? No, they do not pretend to
any thing like it. Have they any new
evidence, any other materials to work
with, than what the old Infidels had
furniflied long ago ? Why no ; th«
evidence remains as it did, but Infi
delity itfelf is changed.
The firft or old infidels lived tod
near the times of Jefus and the apoftles,
to deny or difpute the miracles per
formed by them ; and the modern
think themfelves at liberty to do both,
only becaufe the glaring notoriety of
the feveral fads upon record has, in
the courfe of fb many ages, been ne-
ceffarily worn off. And I muft a/I<:
again, if neither Chriftians nor Hea
thens, neither Jews nor Muffulmans
ever denied the fads recorded by the
evangelifts; if nor Celfus^ nor Por-
i phyry.

[«7]
phyry, nor * Julian, nor long after
them the Mohammedans, ever denied the
* In the fixth book of Cyril againft Julian,
are the following paffages, by which it ap
pears that Julian, though he would have di-
miniftied the glory of our Lord's miracles,
could not deny them.
'O S'f Ijitrovs.-ovS^sv a.K.orii ec^iov, & [jlti ni
oiSTcu Toui KvAAovi Koci Ti/cpAous loctTaSiou, y.a.1
^ctijuLOViov Tas g(pop3tJ^eiy ev BflScrccitTa x.aL sv Bg-
Srccvix Tctis X.WJM.SUS T fJiSyK^ajv ipywv eivau. p. 1 9 1.
edid. Spanhem.
* Jefus did nothing worthy report, unlefs
* any one think to heal the lame, and the
* blind, and to cure demoniacs, in the towns
* of Bethfaida and Bethany, are fome of the
* greateft works.'
lyiaoui S'e J tw« TrveufJicLcnv iTriTccTlcov, v.a.1 Ba-
ii^oiv e-TTi T»5 SrocAaocrn?, seal to, J'ctifcovia, g^eAau-
vwv, £ws S'e J/<.«s SgAglg, TOV ovpocvov v.a.i t;iv ynv
etTrepyxcrctfJLevoi. ou yap Sn tocvtcx. T£ToAjM.»;6g th
etTeiV -TSTipi CCVTOU Tuv iJi.tx,briloov, « fxv i^-ovoi Ico&v-
vj\s. Cyril, contra Julian, lib. vi.
' Jefus commanded fpirits, walking on the
' fea, and driving out demons, and, as you
* will have it, made the heaven and the earth :
E 2 ! B^t

I 28 ]
the miracles of Jefus, for what other
reafon, or on what new grounds, are
they denied now ? But
* But no one of the difciples hath dared to
? fay this of him, except John only.' p. 3 1 3-
' Julian was inftruded in grammar by Mar.-
donius the eunuch, an heathen ; in rhetoric,
by Eubolius, who was far from being fteady
in the faith ; and the good defigns of the
emperor, and of Eufebius the biftiop, were
fruftrated by Maximus the philofopher. He
does not appear to have ever been a Chriftian.
He conformed for his own ends, and de
clared hinifelf a heathen as foon as he could
do it with fafety to his perfon and dignities.
Too much has been comp'aifantly faid of his
parts and learning ;" for he is far from being a
writer of the firft clafs. He was exceedingly
fuperftitious, thinking it more reafonable to
worfliip the fun than what is not an objed of
fight. There is more of malice and envy.
tlian true wit in his Csefars, and his reproach-:
ful treatment of the Chriftians, was as cruel
as it was unjuft ; to take away their fortunes,
^nd tell them he thereby made them partakers,
of a gofpel-glefting, for bl^fled are the poor.
ExeiJfl aviQii utxTo Toy Srccvfi.a<nioTecToii vof/.ou
'^pQStpiliCjy IV e,i TUV EccfiA-^ccv Toov ovpavwv iVO-a
i'ompoyi

I 29 ]
But if we had no other information
than the New Teftament itfelf gives, it
^UTSpov TTopevoaxri, -zrpos tovto o'uvaywvi^ofJt.tvois
Toii av^pctiTTOH, aVTOJv TO, ^pnfJiaToe. tws EJ^goaM-
vcov gJtjtAwaJas, aTTciVTcc gjcgAgi'ffajM.gf «,vx?\.ncp^>ivxi,
i'o^crofJiivx Toii TpaTZwlaiS, v.xi tx K%y.xix tois
rfx.ilepgts 'sipoc^ebm'xi 'srpi&xTois, ivx "Trsvu/Aevoi
c(ti(^pQveticn, XXL fA'n c^'ipnuoocrtv ris 6ti eKin^ovaiv,
DVpxviou BacrjAeas' tois oixovai S'e Tnv EcTgojay
'^ffpoxyopsvofASv XTTS^S^rxl TTxcrm ^XO'SOOS •x.xi
^iXoveiXixs, ivx y.t] Tnv TifJUTipxv (piXxv^puTfixv
y.ivY\(rxvTS<, xafy' vuoov xutuv vsjep tws TWf xoivMV
XTx^ixs S'Lxnv Tiavls, ^i(pei xxt (pvyri xxi irvpt ^ij-
j/,lljJ^iVTiS.
' Since it is provided by a moft a^toniftiing
* law, that they may with lefs trouble enter
' into the kingdom of heaven ; to affift thefe
' men in this affair, we have commanded all
* the efreds of the church of the Edeffeni to
' be taken away, and diftributed to the fol-
* diers, and their poffeffions to be added to
' our own private ones : That by being poor
' they may become wife, and not be deprived
* of that heavenly kingdom they now hope
* for. We command the inhabitants of Edeffa
* to avoid all fedition and ftrife, left they
* -provoke our humanity, and you be made to
* fuffef for the common difturbance, and be
* punifli-

r 30 3
it fhould feem fufficient ; for I believe
very {cWy if any, have ever critically
confidered the ftyle and compofition of
thefe writings, the wifdom and oeco-
conomy of the divine difpenfation ;
the truth and harmony of the rela
tions they contain ; the ftrid unifor
mity of charader preferved by the
perfons whofe hiftories are related ;
but have been thoroughly convinced
* puniftied with fire, fword, and banifti-
* ment.' He could do more than this, if the letter
to the Jews, afcribed to him, be genuine,
where he fays, fpeaking of fome who were
defirous of oppreiling the Jews, and who had
been admitted to the table of Conftantius.
Ous fjiiv eyoo ev ^epcriv ejjixis Axl^oixevos, ea /2o-
6^31' eoaas o>Ki<7x-, ws /xJilg fjivnjJLW eTi (peps^xt »
e'.vxi Trap nf/jv tws xvtoov xttcioA&ixs-
' Whom I feized with my own hands, rnd
* deftroyed, by thrufting them into a pit, that
* there might be no report amongft us left of
' their deftrudion.' See the note, p. 113,
114.. of an introdudion to Univerfal Hiftory,
tranllated from the Latin of Baron Holberg. and

E 31 ]
and fatisfied of their authenticity and
truth. To this we may add the hiftorical
accounts handed down to us from the
apoftolrc days, by Chriftian writers,
to whom nothing can be objeded, but
that they were Chriftiafis ; that is, well
informed of what they relate'. And
then, if we confider the amazing fuc
cefs it met with, :|)readirig itfelf, fn a
few years, over all the known vp'orld ;
it is not poffible to add any thing
more to fuch clear manifeftation of
the truth, as it was in Jefus ; unlefs
We can fhew, that the adverfaries
themfekes have acknowleged many of
the fads : And even this I fhall fbdri
do from their own writings; after
which, what will remain for thie un
believer, if he will continue an un
believer, but to ihift his ground once
again, and by attacking the religion,
inftead of the hiftory of Jefus, deny
Chriflianitj

[sO
Chriflianity to be as old as the Cred*
tion. So public, confpicuous, and incon-
contellable therefore were the miracles
of our Lord, that his enemies chofe
rather to blafpheme the power, than
deny the fad : inftead of acknow-
leging thefe miraculous inftances of
goodnefs and mercy, as well as of
divine power, to proceed from the
one and only God, they malicioufly
reported them to be the works of Bel-
zebub, the prince of demons. But af
terwards, when the power of demons,
or Idolatry, was difcovered to be vain,
they afcribed the great adions of our
Lord to his fkill in magic ; and other
later Jews, to his having ftole from a
ftone in the fanduary *, which never was
* The ftory of the foundation- ftone, call
ed n^riB' is in Toledoth Jefhu, near the be»
ginning, told in thefe words,

t-33 ]
was there, the true reading of the
name of God : but neither Jew nor
Gen-'
inpon rvnn pipn i^iisd a^ ri^r] K'nn nj^si
i«Q niD'n fix ik) nn msB'Siy m'Tib' pK "^
D^n pipn; rrn v^;^"i Dinnn 's fjjr nnK px oa^
nnN ?JB' iK'jrT-.D'B'Tpn 'ts'ipa inn^jni iniM nf?;;m
o'lynpn 'B'lp nnsj hy dpi^h i^m morn nu'nj h&
MN ID^I DJ3JB» 'D ^31 ^KDt!'3 "inxi f'D'.a nn«
ins^'anoVmnNrjia d'Hsu vn «2i'B'3 to prn ,
DJ3J1 ... oniN nDB*! la^D D'rni3 niDuri vn nVnai
hyb-s^n arcnb'mpn nvrnxn db' nof?! h^'fh
r)^2 na qnnVif? 3N3' ah^ o^n tdtw T'jn
* And In that time ther* was Shem-mapho--
* refch (the diftinguifhed name of God) en-
* graved in the holy houfe (temple) upon the
' foiindation>^ftone. For as king IDavid dug
'the fourtdatioii, he found thefe a ftone over
* the mouth, of the abyls, and upon it was
* engraved the name ; and he took it up and
*• depofited ifin the holy ofholies.^^And they
* made two lions of brafs by the names (by
* inchantment) and placed them over the door
* of the holy of holies, one on the right, the
' other on the left. And every one who eri-
* tered and learned the name is he went out:
* .(hearing) the lions bark, and from fear and
F ' per-

[J4]
Gentile ever thought of denying the
miracles. The difpute of old, between
* perturbation, the names efcape him and are
* forgot (frightened by the roaring of the lions
' he forgets the name he had juft beforelearny<f)f'
* And he (Jefus) entered the temple, and"
* learned the name of the hpjiyf letterSj a^d
' writ the name upon paper, and pronounced
' the name that it fliould not hurt him, and,
' he cut open his flefli, and_ hid the paper
* with the name.'
The temple w^s nqt built by lJ>ayid, h^
by Solomon, how then couldvpavid d;epof5.te
this ftone in the holy of holies ? If we believe
the Miftina, this ftone was known long be*
fore the days of David. ." '
Joma, c, 5, §. 2.
CD'X'ij niD'Q D?j' nmn px piMiifeajfa
pan p mm rjKipj nrvn n^^nm tywin
• From the time the arc failed, there w^S:
* a ftone, within the memory of the firft pro-.
' phets, called the foundation-ftone, tlire&
*. fingers high from the-ground.' 2. But Jo-
lephus, fpeaking of the holy of holies, fay»:
exprefly, ' There w^as nothing at all laid in it,'
eStgdo <f' ovS'ey oKws ev xvlu,
them,

[ 35 I
them and Chriftians, was not con>
cerning the fads, but the caufe.
We read of many thoufands. Ads
xxi. 20. who believed in Jefiis, but
who, neverthelefs, circumcifed their
children, and walked after their own
cuftoms; and who were fo offended
with the great apoftle of the Gentiles^
as to lay harids on him, and bring
him to a trial before Feftus and Agrip
pa. Thefe had no motives for con
vidion,' but what arofe froni the evi
dence of fads, and were converts to
them only, and not to the apoftles.
From fuch fort of believers proceed
ed -Uianyftrange feds, and certain fpu-
rious ^itioris of the gofpel. But of
thefe there are many more names than
books * ; all of them are founded up on
* The gofpel of the Nazarenes, the Ebion-
ites,, the twelve apoftles, according to the He
brews, of Bartholomew, Cerinthus^ was the
F 2 fame.

[ 36 ]
on the true gofpels, but charged with
fuch abfurd additions, as ferve to pro
claim their forgery, and to promote,
rather than leffeh, the credibility of the
true gofpels ; which come to our hands
from the laft and moft beloved dif-
ciple of Jefus : And from that time to
this, the church never admitted any
other, nor, in all its. controverfies, fuf-
fered any alterations wilfully to be
made, in favour of any prevailing opi
nions ; but orthodox and heretic con-
ftantly appealed to the fame decifive
authority, the fame book* And from
the commentaries and coritroverfies of
Chriftian men, and the citations they
have feverally made of Scripture, at
different times, and in very diftant
places, we have the fureft evidence
that the copy of the Scriptures we
poffefs is genuine.
fame, in all probability, with the Hebrew
gofpel of St. Matthew, interpolated. And

[37]
And that there may be no doubt of
miracles having been performed by Je
fus and his difciples, we will now call
upon the antient Jews and Pagans, to
declare what they knew of thefe mat
ters. The firft and moft inveterate ene
mies of Chrift and - Chriftians were
the Jews, who expeded a conqueror,
not over death, but kingdoms ; not one
to fave, but to deftroy ; they wanted
a redeemer, not to deliver them from
the power of fin, but the. yoke of their
enemies ; they deiired not fo much
the falvation of the world, as the de
ftrudion of Rome ; and inftead of a
pious refignation to the good defigns
of providence, they thirfted for re
venge, dominion, and the fword. Dif^
appointed in all thefe expedations,
they crucify their only Meffiah, the
Lord of life ; and having rejeded him,
they were fo far rejeded by hjm, as to
be

r 38 3
be drove Into a ftate of difperfion ; in
which they now are, and will conti
nue to be, " until the fulnefs of the
'' Gentiles be come in *." This dif
perfion,
onnKtr nrs^T ann:3 hanv?* nax^ Dn: nn *
:D^irn an nircin^i timm sfhnro} d^'s B'n^i
Maimonides de Chrifto, §. 4.
• And he (Jefus) was the caufe (or it wa»
* on his account) that Ifrael periflied by the
* fword, that their remains were difperfed and
* oppreffed, the law changed, and the greater
* part of the world perveited.*
It is evident from Jofephus, the Jewifli
hiftorian, that James was put to death not
long before the deftrudion of Jerufalem j and
Origen cites Jofephus (though it be an error)
for faying, that the death of James was the
deftrudion of that city. I think the caufe of
Origen's miftake was no other than his own
reafoning upon the paffage, as it now ftands
in Jofephus ; by which it is plain, that the
putting James to death was almoft univerfally
refented by jthe people, as a wicked abufe of
power : and that commotions fliould arife
ffom thence, and be followed by the ruin of
the ftate, does not feem to be a ftrange con-
clufion.

[ 39 ]
perfion, as well as the deftrudion of
the city of Jerufalem, they own to
have been the confequence of his
death, or to have been caufed by him :
And in the antient writings of their
Rabbi's, often fpeak of him as * lifted-
up or crucified. They call him f Je
fus of Nazareth.; the + fon of Mary |I,
the
clufion. Maimonides, we know, afcribes- theL
deftrudion of Jerufelem to our Lord. And-
when we confider how difficult it muft have:
been to cite paffages from fuch volumes^ as the
antients ufed, and without indexes, it muft
not be thought partial in us, if we pardon
Origen, not only fori this miftake, but for
his-omiffion alfo of the famous paffage? con
cerning Jefus (fee the remarks of the learned
Dr. Fofter upon this place) which may have
been in the original Jofephus, even though, ie
were wanting in Origen's copy.
pafl^m. •')hnin *
:[ paffim. Sanhedrin. n!i1jmB" -f .
Sanhedrin. "^ynZ-WlD: \l; ¦
But this is an error, for it was Jofeph her
huftiapd who was the fon of Eli. See the an
notations

[40]
the daughter of Eli, whofe fon he was
without the knowlege of her hulband. After
notations of Wagenfeil upon Toledoth Jefliu.
Schoetgenius's horse Talmudicae, vol. II. p.
702. And fezardus upon the Avoda Sara ;
who, however, is miftaken, p. 304. vol, I.
in faying that Jefus was, out of contempt,
called nJlJ 12 lii ' a carpenter, the fon of a
' carpenter', in Gemara, fol. 50, a. for there
is no mention of Jefus in that place.
In the Toldoth Jefliu, publiflied by J. J.
Huldric, i/of. and which is very different
from that publiflied by Wagenfeil, there is
mention made of the murder of the inno
cents, p. 12.
on^ npD Nsojn op h^ inrh m^ ^^Dn nam
: -j^on -ja-iD ep h^ Tj")nM D'xin d^'i
* And the king gave orders for the putting
• to death every infant to be found in Beth-
' lehem, and the king's meffengers kill every
* infant, according to the royal order.
There is another teftimony for this flaughter
in Macrobii Saturn. 1. 2. c. 4. Cum audiviffet
Auguftus, inter pueros, quos in Syria Herodes
rex Judasorum infra bimatum juffit interfici,
filium quoque ejus occifum, ait, melius eft
Herodis porcum effe quam filium. ' When

[ 4' ]
After this, they fay, he fled into * Egypt,
and there learned thofe magic arts, by
which he was enabled to perform all
his
* When Auguftus heard that Herod's own
* fon was killed amongft the infants, under
* two years of age, put to death, in Syria, by
' his father's order, he faid it was better to be
' Herod's hog, than his fon.'
Sixtus Senenfis, in his Bibliotheca, pretends
to have read the fame anfwer in Dion Caffius,
but it is not in any of our copies, all of which
want that part of his hiftory. Cedrenus too,
fays, that Herod was diftinguiflied by the
name of UxlS'oxIovos, or flayer of children, but
he does not mention his authcM*.
V^rv 'T)hm \:Th i<3^D'>«'inj'^E)p no *.
= j«n!f jn an2fo h^ amiD^hah ib"i n'ms p
Sanhedrin, fol, 107. 2.
* When Jannaeus the king put the Rabbi's
* to death, R. Jofliua, the fon of Perichia,
* and Jefus, fled to Alexandria in Egypt,'
•• Tiira hv^ nanoa on^iDa d'SB'S nijdd p ¦
Shabbat, fol. 104, b.
' The fon of Satda brought with him ma-
* gic arts, firom Egypt, ihferting them in his
* flefli.'
G The

[42]
his miracles. Agairi, they own two
11 witneffes were fuborned to fwtar
againft him, ahd declare that he
was + crucified on the evening of the
Paf-
The comment upon this is,
pcncsinn vnc o'aina i^'sih^ ^la* n'n kW
?ja^ u^ihh D'sra w^jcvkW f^e4vn h'2 ppiia
*^ He could not bring away the writings,
* for the magicians fearched every one on his
* departure, that he might not carry away
< the incantations to (the fons of) other coun-
« tries.'
^hy pj'oao pi* rnSnh^ nwo 'a'Tj ^a ||
n^aa •wnn« h pp'^io h pny ^5j''a...iTD yn
in'B' na \yi.'*nn rva^ on'y t> vymL^ 'd'jsh
:fmn nKin wn mm i^-? r-iK fToicT otn pxr>
: DDaT aiya inw^nT m'^a kicsd p^ r;^ pi J
* To none of thofe guilty of death, by the
* law, are fnares laid, except him (AVho has
* endeavoured to |3ervert another to idolatry
* and flrange worfliip) how do they perform
* it to him ? They light a candle in an inner
* room, and place the evidences in one with-
* out, fo that they may fee him and hear his
' voice, without his feeing them.' ' And

C 43 ]
Paflbver, Mention is aHb made in
thefe writings, of feveral of his f dif
ciples, of Matthew, Thaddflpus, and.
Bauni, the nam^ of him >vho was af;^
ter-»
* And &> they did to the fop of Satda (placed
* men privately in the next room", to be evii
* dence againft him) in Lud, and fufpended
* him on the crofs, op the evening of the
* Paflover.' " - - - - -
- ^ 'minrjian^rj«p3
fiajohedrin.j cvi. fol. ^3. i. fin.
* The Rabbins fay that Jefus 'had flve dif-
* dplesi Mathai, Nakai, /Nezer, ~ Boni apd
f Toda.' See Buxtorf 's Talmud. Lexicon, col, 145'^.
under ^120. Wagenfeil upon Toledoth Je^u,
p. J7, 18, 19. Seboetgenius, Horae Talmud.
ypl. ii. p. 6pg. 703. The paffages marked [(
and f., are cited by Bvixtorf, in his Talmudip
Lexicon, col. 1458, Schoetgenius reading i^i
the next page of the Lexicon, Duo falfi tcfte^
cqntr^ iipiiini pronunciarunt [produdi] ' Tw9s
* falfe witneffes pronounced [produced] againlj:
'¦ him,' but not reading what is faid in thp
Q 2 preced*

[ 44 ]
terwards called Nicodemus, and of
whom, as a very great, and good, and
pious ruler, much is related in thefe
books. In one of them * Eliezer tells his
preceding page, denies that Buxtorf has cited
any authority for this j loco non fimul indicate,
non tamen eft quod fidem ejus in dubium
vocemus, p. 706. vol. ii, Hor. Talmud.
ina 'nNJfoi niB'jf h^ ^rhyn pi^a i^no *
")DN IOC M'JDD ")sa T'N api^'i nsun ib» n^nhtio
»mDK Hh^ - njiT f jdm K»an ah oamina aina )h
njn wxo njfun ir 'piD'^ la*^ im. hyh
oipQ?? iNa nsmn oyoo aits" nji? fjnx t -^^f ap
: nann 'JNJm ia9' nsuton
Avoda Sara, c. r. p, 130. Ezardus,
* Walking in the high ftreet of Zippor,
'' and I found one of the difciples of Jefu of
* Nazareth, James, a man of the town of
* Secania, who faid to me, it is written in
* your law, peuter. xxiii. 18. Thou Jhalt not
* bring the hire of an harlot  And I did not
*¦ anfwer him, and he, adding, faid to me, Je-
* fus of Nazareth taught me the meaning of
I Micha. i. 7. For Jhe gathered it of the hire of

[45]
his friend Akiba, that he met with
James, a difciple of Jefus of Nazareth,
in Zippor, a town in GaHlee; who
gave him the interpretation of a paf
fage in the Old Teftament, which he
had received from Jefus, and with
which Eliezer was, at that time, pleal^
ed. That the difciples of Jefus had
the power of working miracles, and
the gift of healing, in the name of
their mafter, is confefs'd by thefe
Jews; who give an inftance of it in
the grandfon of Rabbi Jofhua, the ,fon
of Levi, who being in great danger,
one of the difciples came, and Wpuld
have cured him, in the name of Jefus *.
This
* of an harlot, and they JhaU return to the
* hire of an harlot. From an impure place
^ they came, to an impure place they fl^all
' go. And this interpretation (fays R. Eliezer)
* pleafed me.'
na nn nhx y^a n*^ mn "^an h^ nnana *
«)S3 no DcjKi mtjs yrn ww fo rh rn^i ^i
3 1DJ<

[46]
This power is again acknowleged, iri
*iON nsht arh}$ nh noM n^h nniyn^ no ih idn
: iai p irh nrwTi p jtdb' n*?i n*© if?K n'^ ntj no
Sabbat, Hierofol. Sheraona Shcratz.
* The grandfon of R. Jofe, fon of Levi,
* fwallowed (fomething) and there came one
* of the fons of men, and whifpered (fome-
* thing) in the name of Jefus, the fon of Pan-
* dira, and he was about to (or did) recover :
* On his departure he (R, Jofe) fays to him,
* what did you whifper ? he (James) fays to
* him, fuch a word. He faid, better were it
* for him to die, and not have heard it. And
* fo it happened unto him,*
Thus it is in the PugioJ^dei, publiftied with
anncftations, bydeVoifin, p. zpo, Butanth«
notes to the fecond chapter of the Avoi^gfara,
by Ezardus, p. 311. it is cited differently,
P'23J la for i^sno. nvi inftead of K«n- OWJW
for omay n"D for rro. and p M^l without rOB'-
Which reading is confirm'd by a copy of the
Talmud confulted, on this occafion, by Dr.
Hunt, who obferves that the fame paffage oc
curs again in the following chapter of the fame
Talmud, ain Momedln ; where it is j^OB^n'Jn ah\
p»0 ' and not to 'have heard this word,' which
is fuller and plainer than either p ^h") or
p;'OB',xi>% the

[47]
* the cafe of the fon of I^ama, grand
fon of Ifhmael, who was dying of the
bite of a ferpent, when James, the
farne who had the conference with
Eliezer, came and offered to cure the
MDaiih K'jaD -isa ly'K :spy* Njai unj iB«ants^
fi:t\ TIN hayise^ "t "h "ts^^i has;w 'i "h m'jn n^i
XPI& mnn ?o K^po K'ax ':ni udd xsiftn i^
^r»^a'B' ny ¦« nn n^ noA pson nsVi nnio
NDT p'-^nB'ij.Woi!'* "1 1'^J^ N^p nQl5rj»ffi3
: mncDa ^noi?: nm^i -nnw ¦jswb'
Avoda Sara, 2 cap. p.48. by^Ezacdus,
* There was an inllance ofthis in 'the foA
* -bf Dsfifea, Ihe f^r's Can of R. Ifmael, who
* -was -bit by a ferpent: Aadthlsrie came James,
f a man of the town of Secaiaia, to^heal.biin,
* but -R. Iftimael would not fuffer him. And
• he (the young man) faid to R. Iftimael, my
* Uhde, luff^r that I be healed by him, and
* I will produce a pslffage from the law,' to
* prove it lawful j ..,. he fcarcely uttered thefe
* words, when the foirit faird him, and he
• died, R. Ifmael fpoke over him aloudi,
' faying, ^Bleffed art thou, O fon of Dama,
' that thy body is pure, and thy foul hath de-
• parted pure out of it.'
young

[48 J
young man, but the grandfather fof^
bad it, and he died. In a much later
work of the Jews, and that the moft
virulent of all the invectives againft
Jefus, his power of railing from the
dead, and healing leprous perfons, is
acknowleged over and over again*. To
l^iH'i imx n>nKi ma no "h iN»an id^vv *
mtj'a' rroiy pi ia injcq 'h) ma nap nsnn
CDiK'an "iD'i n^DTsy pi unsq n^ idn^ i^ n»j'i
Dpi a24jr k^ tD^ir nrn^n q-|2{'l 1^ QlN'a'l
»n»i vhn ^M ira;^'! tupi jnui iB'ai -jiy on'^y
cnV -iDN'i inori'i lain ns< ca'tyj^n iNn>v
imx KS-iJiiTiN jniso»^ iK'an no'n oa^nttin
ifinisDn cairap a: iniK sjSTiyiixD 'h iM'an
p 'Miiai^ nDN'i i^iinnB«i i^sm p amjnain«i
¦nnatiynha
* And he faid. Bring hither to me a dead
* man, and I will reftore him to life. And
' they ran and broke open a fepulchre, and
' found in it nothing but dry bones, and they
* haften to him to tell him, that they found
• nothing but bones. And he faid bring them.
* And they brought them, and he joined tbe
* bones, bone to bone, and brought over
' them

[49]
To thefe conceffions we may add, what
Jofephus has faid of the time when
the Jews, according to their prophets, ex-
* them, fkin and flefh, and finews, and he
* arofe and ftood upon his feet and lived.
' And the men, who beheld, wondered at
' the thing. And he faid to them, do you
* wonder at this ? Bring me one that is a
* leper, and I will cure him. And they
* brought to him a leper, and he cured hirii
* alfo, by the name Hammaphorafli. And
' when they beheld thefe things, they fell
* down and worftiiped him, and faid unto
* him, of a truth thou art the Son of God.'
1^ l^«'a'l 1JX31N1 ini<yn2fD h iN'an ib» idn»i
na ina'i ^lun asf idt'i v^;^ it tDCi yr^n
no h iK'an ns" Ty laK'i : sysn ijj'aa aB"i B"MfT
aff7\ na nai'i ^hy it qst'i inx no h wa^i
¦¦^'hy^hy nciy'vrvy
'totedoth Jejhu, by Wagenfeil, under the
title of Ignea tela Satana.
* And Jefus faid, Bring hither to me a
* leper, and I will heal him. And they
* brought him a leper, and he put his hand
* upon him, and pronounced the great name,
H 'and

[ 5° ]¦
expeded MefTiah, the Prince and the
Deliverer; and what he has faid of
John the Baptift, and his death, and of
' .and the man was cured, and he became
' again like the flefti of a child ; moreover,
' Jefus faid. Bring hither to me a dead body,
* and they brought him one that was dead:
* he laid his hand upon him, and pronounced
* the name, and he came to life, and ftood'
* upon his feet,'
It is neceffar3r to obferve here, that in the
abftradt of the Talmud, which is in common
ufe with the Jews, and alfo in the printed co
pies of Medrafti Kohelet, the name of Jefus
is omitted ; but in the Tofaphoth, or mar
ginal additions to the Avoda Sara, it is ex-
preffed thus ; -'
: IB" 'ID^DD ' ? JDB' 133 B"J« apr»
' James, a man of the town of Secania,
* one of the difciples of Jefus.' And in the
Glofs of Jarchius ; •IB" lan
' And there came JaMes, ' a man of the
' town of Secania, to him, to cure him in
'• the name of his mafter Jefus.'
3 Com-

[¦ 5' ]
of the murder of James, the brother
of Jefus.And now we may furely be per
mitted to infer, that {q many gofpel,
fads would never have been admitted
by thefe early Jews, if the gofpel-
hiftory had not been true ; for they,
of all adverfaries, would not havs
borne their teftimony alfo to the mi
raculous powers of Chrift, and his
apoftles, if they could have been de
nied. ^ And whatever they may have
faid on the other fide * againft our Sa-
Compare the annotations of de Voifih to
the Pugiofidei, p. 25x8, with thofe of Ezardus
to the fecond chapter of Avoda Sara, p. 313.
The reafon why the old Rabbins refufed
to have their geand-children cured IS?* DtS'a in
the- name of Jefus, was, becaufe Chriftians
are efteemed minim, or heretics, by them, and
the name of Jefiis is, to them^ an Avoda Sara,
or idolatry,
=*«- See Sepher Toledoth, publiftied by Wa
genfeil, This book applies all that is faid of
Mary, the dreffer of women's hair, in the
H 2 , Talmud,

[52]
Saviour or his mother, by miftaking
Mary Magdalene, for the mother of
Jefiis,
Talmud, to the mother of Jefus. The cir-
cumftances being fo many, and fo exaftly the
fame, it is hardly poflible to fuppofe that
the Jews could mean any other by Jefliu, the
fon of Satda, than our Lord Jefus Chrift:
nor is there any pretence againft this, but
what arifes from a miftake in the Jewifti
chronology. But the Jews are well known
to be very bad chronologers at beft, and in
this cafe are moft remarkably inconfiftent.
So that they are of no authority in determining
the age of Jefus, as will appear from the fol
lowing coUedtions.
The fon of Satda (Mary) and Pappus, fon
of Jehuda, by Fandeira, the difciple of Jofliua
ben Perachija, lived in the reign of Alexander
Jannajus, an. m. ^670. See Zemach David,
Pappus was living before Akiba died, anno
mund. 3880. And Mary, the mother of Je^^
fus, is faid to have lived in the times of
Akiba. Here then is an anachronifm of about
two hundred years.
Another proof of the confuiion and incer
tainty of their chronology is, according to
them, Mary lived under the fecond temple, in
the time gf Alexander Jannaeus j but the angel of

[53]
Jefus, and by charging her fon with
the exercife of magic, and with other
^alum-
of death is faid to be wi^h R. Bihi ben Abai,
and to order Mary (the fame Mary diftinguifli
ed by them, in this and feveral other places,
as one who drefs'd women's heads) to be
brought to him, that i?, according to Jar
chius, to be kill'd. But Bibi lived long af
ter the fecond temple, and is reckoned one
of the Gemarifts.
See all this proved by Ezardus, in his notes
to the firft chapter of Avoda Sara, p. 300,
301. and by Voifin, in his annotations upon
the '^ugiofdei^ p. 259.
Again ; the fon of Satda, as it is in Wa-
genfeil's Toledoth Jefliu, lived under Alex
ander JannjBUs, and performed fome of his
miracles in the prefence of queen Helena.
Now Alexander lived before the Casfars reign
ed in Rome, a. urbis c. 6-/^. And Helena,
when Claudius reigned, a. u. c. 794. Alex
ander reigned twenty-fix years. So that here
is, by this account, an anachronifm of about
a hundred years.
"rajio n»J3 w opK'TNn na^o 'h^r^
:N'Ti^p iD'pn 'O'a iT'jjin 'cjnt'jo
* Helena, queen of the Adiabeni, and her
* two fons Monbaz and Ifates, became pro-
* felytes

[ 54 1
calumnies, is eafily removed, by con-
fidering the moral and religious cha
racter of our Lord, which is far
greater than ever was reprefented in
any other perfon in the world. He,
of all philofophers or legiflators, was
the only one who confirmed every law,
and every precept of his own making,
by his own example : He was King,
Prieft and Prophet, and yet the Ser
vant of his own difciples, the fubje<9:
of his own laws ; meek, humble, and
obedient, even unto the death of the
crofs, the end he had foretold of him
felf. He, of all men, alone was free
from fin, * " who did no violence,
*' neither was any deceit in his mouth ;"
and it is impofTible to read his ftory,
and not rejedl the calumnies and blaf-
• felytes in the Days of Claudius Caefar,'
Zemach David. See Buxtorf 's Talmud Lexi
con, under 23D.
* Ifaiah liii.
phemous

[55 ]
phemous afperfions of Jews and Gen
tiles, Again, there is nothing in the gol^
pels, nor in Jofephus, that intimates
the leaft reflexion on the charader of
the bleffed Mary * : On the contrary,
the great regard and tendernefs ex-
preffed by Jefus for his mother, and
the excellent character of James, the
brother of Jefus, as it is reported by
the Jewifh hiftorian, feem fufficient to
declare her innocent -f-. If
* There is a paffage in Maffecheth Kallahj
fol, 1 8. 2. in which Akiba, the great Akiba
of the Jews, promifes her eternal happinefs,
if flie wilt confefs the truth concerning her
fon. She is then faid to have owned, that he
was fpurious. But on requiring Akiba to
confirm his promife by an oath, it 'is faid,
.la^a ^aam vnsra yys^: y '") ^
* R. Akiba fwore with his lips, but denied
' it in his heart.' What credit can be given
to fuch a witnefs as this ? Schoetgenius, vol, ii.
. .^ TxuTx Txvix avST?vxxrxve7n xx^xtpsaa tj)5
'VtrxpxS'o^a xto xym vrvsvjxixl®^ ffv^.M^£(>ii' ii'vvxvlo

[ 56]
If we now inquire of the Greeks
and Romans, after what was done in
Pale-
eS'-Jvxi'lo yxp x^^Xms ¦^evS'oTroincrxt S'tx to crfoS'pa
"nrxpx^o^ov tyiv tc^opixv., >^ fJLti oxrirepei xxaaiws
(ivJxa.Tx^e^xi, OTI ax, xiro o-uwjflwi' avopuTOis
yxfJt-eov 0 lr\a»s eyewndti' >^ xxoAaBov ye nv tss, j/.v
au^xxTx^ifjievHs tyi 'sjxpxS'o^M yevvmcret th Iwcra
•mXxtJxi Ti -^evS"®^' to S^e jocw 'snBxvias auras tbto
'moir)crxit aAAa fJi.eTx tb Ttiptiffai, OTi bjc xtto
Tit l£U(T«9 'srxp^ev®^ ffurgAafg tov Iwaac, Toii
axaav s^ iXey^eiv xvxirXxafJixlxS^wxfJLevoiSievxp-
yes r)v ¦^euSos' apx yxp evXoyov, t to(txiitx vtae^
TS yevss tuv xv^pooTrcov ToAjW-^iram, ivx to oaov
€Tr' xvlcf}, TTxvles 'EAAwces ^ fixpQxpoi x.ptcnv ^eixv
tapotrS'ox'/XTxvTes, xTot^ueri fJLeTx t«5 xxkixs, ttxvtx
i'e iirpxTMa-iv xpeaxovloos to) tojv oKwv S'rtfA.epy^,
'STapxf'o^ov fJiev fJLit eyrtxevxi yevvntriv, •cracrwi' J^e
yeviaeav 'mapxviifJiWTXTnv ^ xi^tt^'tivi &C.
Origen. contra Celfum, p. zy, 26.
* All thefe things they feigned, in order
* to fet afide the miraculous conception by the
* Holy Ghoft. For they might, otherwife,
' mifreprefent the hiftory, as fabulous, becaufe
* exceedingly miraculous, and deny, though
' inwardly convinced, that Jefus was not born
* in the common way of the married ftate of
• men ; and confequently invent a falfe ftory,
• not acknowleging the miraculous birth of
' Chrift.

[57]
Paleftine, we fhall find much in fa
vour of our religion, related by the
Chriftian fathers *. According to
their
* Chrift. But they did not render it plaufible j
* for, having admitted that the Virgin was not
* with child of Jefus by Jofeph, it muft ap-
* pear to all, who can difcern and confute
* fidlions, to be a manifeft forgery. For is it
^ at all probable, that one who has dared fo
* much for human kind, that, as much as in
* him lay, all (men) Greeks and Barbarians,
* from the expedance of divine Judgment,
* might abftain from evil, and do every thing
* pleafing to the Founder of the Univerfe ;
* fliould himfelf not be diftinguiflied by an
* extraordinary birth, but be the offspring of
* a moft infamous, and moft wicked proftitu-
t tion,' &c.
* Vetus erat dccretum ne qui Deus ab im-
peratore confea-atur nifi a fenatu probatus. Scat
M, ^Emilius de deo fuo Alburno : [in primo
contra Marcionem idem meminit fed a Me-
tello non TEmilioJ Facit et hoc ad caufam
noftram, quod apud vos de humano arbitrati*
divinitas penfitatur, nifi hominiDeus placuerit;,
Deus non erit, homo jam deo propitius effe
debebit. Tiberius ergo, cujus tempore nomen
Chriftianum in feculum iotravit, annunciata
I fibi

[58]
their reports, Tiberius, informed by
Pilate of the refurredtion of our Lord,
moves
fibi ex Syria Paleftina quae illic veritatem iftius
divinitatis revelarant, detulit ad fenatum cum
prasrogativa fuffragii fui. Senatus, quia non
ipfe probaverat, refpicit: Caefar in fententia
manfit, comminatus periculum accufatoribus
Chriftianorum. Confulite commentarios ve-
ftros, illic reperietis primum Neronem in banc
fedtam tum maxime Romae orientem, Casfa-
riano gladio ferociffe, Sed tali dedicatore dam-
nationis noftrae etiam gloriamur. Qui enim
fcit ilium, intelligere poteft non nifi grande
aliquod bonum a Nerone damnatum.
Tertulliani Apologet. p. 6. Rigalt,
Tertullian, who lived at the end of the
fecond century, and publiflied his book de
Pallio about the fifteenth of Severus, a. c. 207.
fays, ' By an ancient decree, not any God
' was to be confecrated by the emperor, un-
* lefs approved of by the fenate, as M, Mxni-
* lius knows was the cafe of his Deus Albur-
* nus : (See the fame cited in tbe firft againft
* Marcion, where is Metellus inftead of iEmi-
* lius) and this makes for our purpofe, as it
* proves you fubjett the divinity to human ar-
' bitration ; unlefs the God pleafes man, he
* fliall not be a God, and men now muft be
' pro-

[ 59 ]
moves the fenate for his reception into
their pantheon, or inrollment amongft their
propitious to the Deity ! Tiberius therefore,
in whofe reign the Chriftian name entered
the world, being informed, from Paleftine
in Syria, of thofe things done there to ma
nifeft the truth of this divinity, notified it
to the fenate, with the prerogative of his
own fuffirage ; the fenate, becaufe he h&,d
not laid before them the proofs, rejected it.
Caefar continued in the fame mind, threaten
ing thofe who informed againft the Chrif
tians. Confult your own records, you will
there find that Nero (who did not even fpafe
his own mother) was the firft who furioufly
employed the royal fword againft this fedl,
which then increafed greatly at Rome. But
in fuch an author of our condemnation we
even glory, for whoever is acquainted with
his charafter, may know that nothing was
condemned by Nero, but what was greatly
good.' However, the apotheofis of our Lord did
not depend upon an order of the fenate. The
truth of his afcenfion is of more divine au
thority, than political debates, or intereft of
parties. And whether Tiberius adled the part
given him by Tertullian, is matter of difpute,
I 2 He

[6o]
their Gods : Vefpafian and Titus dread his
He who would fatisfy himfelf, may read
Faber, Bafnage, Vandale, againft it; Pearfon,
Huetius, and Steph, Le Moyne, for it.
That Tiberius was informed by Pilate, is
mentioned in this manner by Tertullian ; Ea
omnia fuper Chrifto Pilatus, et ipfe jam pro
fua confcientia Chriftianus, Csefari tum Tibe-
rio nunciavit, ' Pilate, who was in his con-
* fcience now a Chriftian, made known to
* Tiberius Csfar all things concerning Chrift.*
And again, Eum mundi cafum relatum, in ar-
chivis veftris habetis, ' You have this event,
* in which the world is concerned, recorded
' in your archives,' This has alfo been dif
puted. But as it was ufual for the governors
of provinces to tranfaiit to the emperors an
account of daily occurrences, it is not poflible
to fuppofe Pilate would have been permitted
to have been filent, concerning the commo
tions that had arifen in his province, on ac
count of the man Jefus. And it is moft pro
bable, that thefe adts, fo often referred to by
Juftin iVIartyr, Tertullian, and others, were
deftroyed by the heathen:^, before the time of
the Chriftian emperors, and are therefore loft
to the world. For as to the gofpel of Nico
demus, called alfo the Adls of Pilate, it feems
to have been forged towards the end of the
3 ' third

[ 6i ]
his power and influence : * Adrian
purpofes divine honours to him, and
forbids
third century. See Gaufabon's exercitat. Span-
heim's ecclef hift. Fabricius's codex Apo-
cryphus ; and the very learned Mr. Jones's
Canon of the New Teftament.
* Chriftianos effe paffus eft.
Matutinis horis in larario fuo (in quo &
divos principes, fed optimos eledos & animas
fandiores, in quels & Apollonium & quan
tum SCRIPTOR TEMPORUM SUORUM DICIT,
Christum, Abraham, & Orpheum, & hu-
jufcemodi Deos habebat, & majorum effigies)
rem divinam faciebat  Chrifto templum
facere voluit, eumque inter Deos.recipere, quod
& Adrianus cogitaffe fertur, qui templa in om
nibus civitatibus fine fimulacris jufferat fieri :
qusB hodie, idcirco quia non habent numina,
dicuntur Adriani : quas ille ad hoc paraffe di-
cebatur : fed prohibitus eft ab iis, qui, con-
fulentes facra, repererant omnes Chriftianos fu-
turos, fi id optato eveniffet, et templa reliqua
deferenda. * He tolerated Chriftians.
* He performed his devotions in the morn-
* ing in his oratory, in which were the em-
*¦ perors, the beft, the chofen and more divine
* fpirits, among whom was Apollonius, and as
' A

[ 62 ]
forbids the worfhiping of idols, Se-»
verus and Antoninus plus, ereded fta-
tues to him, and worfhiped him. If
< A WRITER OF HIS OWN TIMES DECLARES,
* Christ, Abraham and Orpheus, and Gods
* of this fort, and the efligies of his anceftors. "
' He would have erefted a temple to Chrift,
* and have admitted him among the Gods,
* which Adrian is reported alfo to have had in
* view, when he commanded the temples in all
* the cities to be made without images in them;
* and which are now called Adrian's, becaufe
* they have no Gods j which he was reported to
* have prepared for this purpofe, but was for-
• bid by thofe, who, confulting their oracles,
* found, that all men would be Chriftians, if
* that fliould fortunately happen, and that all
* other temples would be deferted,'
From the life of Alexander Severus, by
iElius Lampridius, according to the firft
printed edition. Some fay it was wrote
by Julius Capitolinus, But there was a
MSS. copy of it in the Palatine Library,
which gives it to JEVms Spartianus, who
lived in the reign of Dioclefian, towards
the end of the third^ and beginning of
the fourth century.
Note, If the reader chufes to refer optato to
Adrian, he will then read ' according to his
* wifties' inftead of the word ' fortunately,' thefe

[ 63 ]
thefe fads are objeded to, as coming
fi-om Chriftians, let me afk, what is
to be expeded from other writers, who
had not knowlege of thefe affairs fuf
ficient for their own convidion ? What
from the Roman hiftorians, and claffic
authors, as they are called, of affairs
in Judea, or the Chriftian faith ? The
hiftories by Dionyfius, Livy, Juftin,
conclude before the times of Chrift.
Eutropius, Paterculus, Florus, Sextus,
publilhed only fhort, very fhort abridg
ments of the Roman hiftory, with
little regard to the fate of other na
tions. Suetonius and Tacitus confine
themfelves almoft entirely to the lives
and charaders of their own emperors ;
but yet they * both of them mention
Chrift, and the latter exprefly fpeaks
* Suetonius in Claudio, c. 2f. Tacitus,
lib, XV. Autor nominis^ejus Chriftus, qui,
Tiberioimperitante, per procuratorem Pilatum
fupplicio affe(^us erat. of

[64]
of him as " the Author of the Chriftian
" name, who, in the reign of Tiberius,
" was put to death by Pilate, the Ro-
" man deputy." Befides thefe there
is not another author extant of this
fort, from whom any evidence of
thefe matters could reafonably be ex
peded, unlefs it be from Dio Caffius,
and that part of his hiftory, which in
cluded a period of five years before,
and as many after our Saviour's time,
is loft *. Pliny
* The Chriftians are charged with having
deftroyed the writings of their adverfaries, and
if the charge be true, it muft be allowed they
have diminiflied the evidence arifing from fadts,
for the truth of the Chriftian religion, by de-
ftroying the conceffions, together with the ca
lumnies of their adverfaries. Theodofius the
younger, indeed, ordered the writings of Por
phyry, and others, contra religiofum Chriftiano
rum cultum, againft the religious worfliip of
the Chriftians, to be burnt. But was Theo
dofius, or Chriftian men, the firft who de
ftroyed irreligious books ? Was it not * an
* antient

[ 6s ]
f antient pradice of the Romans, to deftroy
* eivery thing that might feduce the inhabi-
* tants of their city from the worfliip of their
* gods.' See Valerius Maximus, l.i. c. i. No-
luerunt prifci viri quidquam in civitate Ro
mana affervari quo animi hominum a deorum
cultu avocarentur. Are the Chriftians then
alone to be blamed for taking this method of
filencing the impiety of their adverfaries } Did
not Julian urge it as one reafon why he de-
fired to have the books of George, bifliop of
Alexandria, fent to him after that bifliop's
death ? -za-oAAa J^e mv xxi tjjs tuv FaAiAaiwi' S'l-
S'xcrxxKixs X jSsAoi/ajji' fJiev n<pxvi^xt. Epift. p.
* For there arc many (books concerning) the
* dodbines of the Galileans, which indeed I
* would have to be deftroyed.' But after all,we
are obliged to Cyril, for fome remains of Julian,
fuch as they are, and to Origen for all that re
mains of Celfus J unlefs it be true, as I have
heard, that Celfus againft the Chriftians is
ftill extant in the Arabic language, and thence
tranflated into French, but not publiflied.
Chryfoftom was fo far from thinking that the
Chriftians deftroyed the writings of the Pagans
againft them, that he feems to think, there
would not have been any left, if the Chriftians
had not been pleafed to honour them with their
notice. Too-stos st^ '^wv wV xifluv ysypxfAf^evoov
o yehus, ca(^e a(^xvi&nvxi x.xi tx ^iSXix ttxKxi,
XXI dfj.x TO) S'ei^wxi x,xi xToM^xt T« toAA*'
K «

[ 66]
Pliny * and Julian fpeak of the
manners of the Chriftians, as moft
devout
« S'e TTS Ti XXI ivpe^m S'lxtroo^ev, Trxpx ^picr'«,vois
TSTo <roi3^of/.svov evpoi T15 ar. edit, oavil. p. 444*
vol. v. He fays, ' There was this ridiculous
* circumftance attended their writings, that
* they were of no duration, for that many
* were loft as foon as known : But if any
* were preferved, they muft be looked for
.* amongft the Chriftians.' Such was the re
gard fliewn them by men of their own party.
And if they were defpifed then, we have no
reafon to lament their lofs now. What Am-
brofe fays, in the preface to his commentary
upon the gofpel of St. Luke, was equally true
of thefe writings, as of thofe fpurious pro-
dudlions, of which he fpeaks thus ; Legimus
ne ignoremus; legimus non lit teneamus, fed
ut repudiemus, & ut fciamus qualia fint in qui
bus magnifici ifti cor exaltant fuum, ' We
* read for information ; not to receive, but to
* rejedl, and that we may know with what
* thefe boafters lift up their heart.'
* Pliny, in one of his letters to Trajan,
fays, Effent foliti ftato die ante lucem conve-
nire; carmenque Chrifto, quafi deo, dicere
fecum invicem, feque facramento non in fcelU's
aliquod obftringere, fed ne furta, ne latrocinia,
ne adulteria committerent, ne fidem fallerent, ne

[67]
ne deppfitum appellati abnegarent; quibus
peraftis mbrem fibi diicedendi fuifle, rurfufque
coeundi ad capiendum cibum promifcuum,
tamen &; innoxium. Plinii Epift. p/. lib. x.
' The Chriftians were wont to affemble on
* a certain day, before it was light, and recite
* a hymn to Chrift, as a Deity, in alternate
' ftrains, and to bind themfelves by an oath,
* not to any thing bad, but, on the contrary,
' not to commit thefts, nor robberies, nor
' adulteries, not to falfify their faith, nor dif-
* own a pledge or depofite, when called upon.
* Which over, it was ufual for them to de-
^ part, and to meet again to eat together, in
* a harmlefs way.'.
So Julian, in a letter addreffed to Arfaklos,
chief of the Pagan priefts in Galatia, advifes
them to take example from the good practices
of the Chriftians. ' There is not, fays the
• emperor, one of the Jews who begs, and
* the Galileans not only fupport their own
* (poor) but ours, oi tov fji.ev IscTaiwi' aS'eiS fxe-
Txi\&.' TpS(pyat S^e oi '^vo^i^m TaXiAxi^i -zirpos
TSS exvloov, ^ TSS vfAslsp'es, But it is ftrange,
that he fliould, on this occafion, call fuch Ga-
lUeans (Tuoo-gfas impious. In the former part
of the fame letter, alluding to the viitues of
the Galileans, he aflcs j
Ov^e x7ro^?iS7ro.f/.sv ,</ uxXk^x T'/iv x^'Sotwx
trvvT^v^miv n Trepi th^ ^ivas q/i?'.a.v^p(ii7r}x « Tripi txs
K Z Ta(pxif

(

[ 68 ]
TX(pXS TUV ViXpaiV tupOfJift^HX, X) )1 TSTiTXxOrf/.eVlt
a-efji.voTns xolIx tov ^lov' cue txx<^ov oiofxxi ;:t;p«>'af.
•wxp rifAcov aAnGws eiriTnS'iveSrxi' xxi ax xiro^pn to
cif^vov eivxi Toiyiov' aAAa -ztrayTaS aTra^atxAws
OJ 'srepi Tnv rx?iXTixv eicrty lepeis, as n S'u^coTYjc^ovt
v T£icrov eivxi a-zcaS'xiys, n tws tepxTixns AaTSp-
yixs xttothctov, « /«.» 'UTpocre^oivIo fjielx yuvxixwv
XXI 'sxxi^uv XXI ^epxTrovTt>>v tois Sreois, aAAaj
XVe^OlVTO TCOV OlXiTOOV 1) VliUV V TCi)V Tx^^XlOlV
yxf/ieluv x(7iQavTCtiv jjh.v eis tss S-gss, x^eoTYilx S^s
^eoa-eSuxs 'n^poTifjioyvloov' evrenx -vjxpxiviorov lepece
y.rfle ^xTpco •arapaCaAAfti', /m.w']? ev xxiryihaco
TTlVSlVj &C.
Why do we not fee how much humanity
to ft rangers, concern for the burial of the
dead, and feigned chaftity of life, have in
creafed the religion oppofed to Paganifm,
Every one of which, I think, ought fin-
cerely and carefully, and habitually, to be
pradtifed by us. Not that this chafte (or fo-
lemn) appearance is fufficient. But, in ge
neral, oblige all the priefts, by threats or
perfuafion, to be diligent, or difmifs them
from the prieftly funftion, if, with their
wives and children, and fervants, they do
not attend upon the gods, and fuffer the fer
vants, fons, or married Galileans, to be
have irrehgioufly towards the Gods, pre
ferring impiety to godlinefs. Moreover, ex
hort the prieft not to approach tbe theatre,
not to drink in taverns, &c.

[ 69 ]
devout and exemplary. Porphyry ap
plied feveral of the oracles to Chrift *,
and
Tis S^'xv yevoilo aoi TUTcav x^iottic^os q^oKoyix
jxaAAav t»s ts staG' y\jj.wv tsoKejxiB ypxfns,. w ev 015
i7reyTrx-\e -mept tyis ex Xoyiav <piAoiro.<pixs ev TpiTca
cviypxfjifjixTi TsBeilxi, uS'e wcos iTopwv xxtx Ag^iv.
Xls aTTo TiiS evepycixs anTJjs avvopxTxi tois
(piAxhti^smv ri TBS 'srepi xv\ov ev^m xpe%s S^vvx"
fAlS. "KpmfAOl 'STSpl TS XpiTS,
TIxpxS^o^ov itTMS (Tofftgf XV Ticnv eivxi to y.eX-
Aoi/ Keye^xi v(p y\fjt.aiv' tov yxp 'K.pn^ov 01 ©go*
iu(TeQs(^xTov x7re(pvvxv%, xxi x^xvxiov yeyovolx
ev(pnfjiQ}S Te xvTH fJLvytiJLoviuBcn.
Kai VTjjoQxs eiriXeyet, tuepi ynv TsXpjire gpwT)}-
wx,vTc>iv ei et^i ©eos, (pv(Tiv-
OtIi julSv x^xvxtyi ^v^i) jxelx (TMfJiX'ZS-po^XlVeif
TiyvaxTxet (rofiv Teliitj<,vfJi.ep®^' aAAa ye ^y^u
Avep®^ eixreSiYi 'mpo(pepefxTv eq'iv ex&vH.
"Evae^efx^ov xpx e^n xv%.v, Xj tyiv -^v^fiv xvTui
xx^xTnep ^ Twy xKAciov, fx.eTx Stxvxtov xttxBx-
vxTiSrnvxiy 'h cefieiv xvoavTxs tss Xpi^iacss*
eirepaTmxvTcav S'e Six ti exoXxSrti, e^pmev.
^cajjix }Ji.ev xSpxveaiv (ixarxvois xi£i iirpo^ eCAnlxi'
"^iJ^n S'' evo-e^eoiv eis spxviov TreSov ;^«,
Kai eTTiMyei jwSTa tov ^pmy.ov e^ns, xutos
ev gi/o-g/3))5, ^ «5 epxvas uitnre^ 01 evcreS&s X'^P^'
cxs' u<^e TSTOV fJLBv s (3Axa-(pnixtiereiS, e?\.e>]creiS
(Te TOOV XV^pUTTiOV TYIV XVOIXV. TxUTX ^ WV 0
Dop-

[ 7° ]
TJop^VpiOi' xp VV XTTXTexV CO BTO55 '<•«'' TOJ flA^
©¦g SucuTreiTu tmv oixetoiv pn/nxix' e^eis toi yxo
uv TOV V/XSTepOV SwTnpa IyKTHV tov '^plq'OV TH
©gs, Xj "wxpx TOIS ixvla ei}[x.QKoyi/)f/.ei'ov s yo)ux
aSe (pxp/Jixxex, aAA' evaefirt Xj SixxiothIov >^
cofov ^ apxvimv x-\iSuv oijc>iTopa,
Eufebii Demonftrat. Evangelii, lik iii,
* Is there i^ny evidence you would more
* readily embrace, than the confeflion of one
' who was our profeffed enemy ? Which he
' (Porphyry) has delivered in the third volume
' of the treatife intituled, Philofophy from
' Oracles ; where he expreffes himfelf in
• thefe very words,
* That the efficacy of the divine virtue, re-
' lating to him, muft be vilible by its own
' energy to the lovers of truth.'
* Oracles concerning Chrift.
* What we are going to fay may, to fome,
' perhaps, feem a paradox. For the gods
' openly declared Chrift to be a moft pious
* and an immortal Being, and honourably re-
' ported his memory.
' And after this he fays. That, being con-
^ fulted concerning Chrift, whether he was a
* God, the anfwer was,
' That the immortal foul continues after the
' body,
* He who is renowned for wifdom knows.
' But the foul
* Of that man is moft excelling in wifdom. ' He

[70
* He acknowleges him, therefore, to be moft
' pious, and his foul, like othefs, after death,
' to be immortalized, which the fenfelefs
' Chriftians adore. But being afked,why he
* was puniflied, the oracle replied,
• The body indeed is ever liable to little
* torments:
* But the mind of the pious refts in the
* plains of heaven.
' And,immediately after this oracle, he adds,
' he was pious, and went to heaven, as other
' pious perfons do. You ought not thei-e-
*¦ fore to blafpheme him, but to pity the folly
* of men. "This now is what Porphyry has
* faid. And was he a deceiver too ? Be ra-
* ther kindly aftedled by the favourable words
* of one of your own party. It is therefore
' confeffed by your own writers, that Jefus
^ our Saviour, the anointed of God, was no
' juggler, no Sorcerer, but pious, and moft
' righteous and wife, and an inhabitant of the
* arched heavens.'
1 will only make this one obfervatlon upoii
this long citation from' Eufebius, That it con
tains not only the opinion of Porphyry, but
the teftimony of their gods, or, if you pleafe,
of iheir priefts, who did not dare to deny the
excellence of the charader of Jefus, Thefe
oracles cannot be called the forgeries of the
Chriftians : And whatever may be juftly faid
againft thofe of the Sibyls, theft muft have their
2 weight

[72 ]
and reprefented him as * * pious and
" immortal, as one who had defcend-
" ed into heaven, and fuperfeded *
" the neceffity of other gods, who
" were become ufelefs to the public,
" fince his appearance in the world."
Celfus too + acknowleged the extraor dinary
weight with all who regard the authority of Por
phyry, or the teftimony of our adverfaries.
* Iwtrs TifJMfjievii eSe/xixs tis ^ecov SyifJLomxs
oxpeAe^xs ri^elo. Eufeb. przepar. 1. v. c, i.
•f* Avg-nrAao-g Se ti eTSpov crvixxTXTi^efxev®-
y.Sv 'ZZ7WS Tais 'urxpxSo^ois SuvxfJieaiv, xi Iyxths
STToimev, ev xis tss tztoAAbs s-tureiaev xXoKa^eiv
xvlea ctiS yipiq'ui' SixQxKheiv S avlxs (iaXofJuevos
as XTTO fjixyeixs Xj a S'aa Svvxjxet yeyevnf/.evxs'
<pn(Tt yx^ *' xvlov crxoTiov Tpx<pevlx jxi^xpvyicrxv-
'' Ixf eis Aiyv7r%v, Svvxfxeuv tivuv Treipx^evlx,
" exeiBsv eirxveX^eiVy ©eov S' ex&vxs Tas Svvxfi.&s
" sxvlov xvxyopevoviX'
Eyo} S' Bx oiS o-ro-ws xv fjixyos i^yuviaxlo SiSxr
^xi hoyov, TreSovix [Traj'laJ -mpxTleiv, us ©gtf
xpivovT®-' lxx<^ov ein nrxai tois tiTeTrpxyfJiS-
vols' Kxl STW StXTl^eVTX TSS txvla fJLxdiJTXS, OIS
»^gAAg ^pjjcrx^xi Sixxovots tjjs lauTS SiSxaxx-
A/as. Apa yxo exeivoi stw StSx^^evTSS iroieiv
SvvxfASis, vpav Tdi ajcasjTaiS, n aSe SuvxfJL&s tlTQlBV'j

[73 ]
dinary powers which Jefus exerted,
and by which he prevailed upon many to
STToisi/; TO jM.gy ev Xiysiv oti aSaixms SvvxfK&s
eiroiBv, aAAa 'urK^evo'xvTes aSejULia, Koyuv txx-
voTiiUj 'ujapxTrXnaius t>! ev Stx?isxJixri EAA»yfit);'
co(pi2t,, STTsSciDxxv ixvlas TO) xxti'ov SiSxaxeiv Aoyov
CIS XV iTriS-njJinaoocji txvu e<^iv xKoyov' Tivi yxo
^xppuvTBs eSiSxcxov TOV Xoyov Xj exxivoTo/JLHv i
« Se Svvxfxiis STgAsy xexe-.voi' tivx e^ei tiQxvo-
TYllx TO fJ-XyBS TOtTBTOlS XlvSvvolS IxVTBS "TUXpX"
€e(B?inxevxi [eia-xyovTxs] SiSxaxxXixv fJLxyeixs
XTrayopevea-xv' s Soxa //.oi xyuviax^xi Tupos Ko-
yov, s ywgTa amSns aAAa fJielx ^Aevris eiprtfjievov.
Origen. contia Celfum, p. 30.
* But he [Celfus] feigned fomething elfe :
* he acknowleged the miracles Jefus perform-
* ed, by which he prevailed on many to fol-
* low him as Chrift : but was defirous of ca-
* lumniating them as the effed^s of magic, not
* of divine power. For he fays, he was
* brought up obfcurely, and was a hired fer-
' vant in Egypt, where he learned certain
' powers, and returning thence, by means of
* his miracles, openly declared himfelf a God.
• But I do not underftand how a magician
* could confiftently and earneftly promote a
' dodrine that perfuades every one fo to aft,
' as if he was to give an account of all his
* adions to God in judgment j and fo to pre-
L ' pare

[74]
to follow him, as the Meffiah : But,
willing to calumniate them, he feigned
they were not the effeds of divine
power, but of magic, which he had
Icaraed in Egypt. His objedions are
the fame with thofe of the Jews, from
whom he borrowed them.
'¦ pare and inflxud his difciples, who were to
' be employed in the promulgation of his
' dodrine. Did they work miracles, and by
' them prevail with their hearers, or did they
' work no miracles ? To fay they did not per-
' form any miracles, but relying on no fufli-
* ciency of reafon, after the manner of the
*¦ Greeks in their logic, fet themfelves to teach a.
' new dodrine where-ever they came, is very
*¦ abfurd. What encouragement had they to
* teach this dodrine, and cut out this new
* work .? But if they wrought miracles, what
' probability is there, that magicians would
* expofe themfelves to fuch dangers, to intrb-
*-' duce a dodrine that forbids rnagic .'' But it
' is not worthwhile ferioufly to contend againft
* a difcourfe that abounds more with ridicu-
* lous cavil than reafon.'
In the edition in i Cyy. for Xpta-x^xi inujigi,
read xp^txStxi ttti, as in- Field's edition,
^" ^^^^- Such

[75]
Such was the ftate of Infidelity in
the firft ages of the Chriftian profef
fion, when the hiftory of our Lord
and his difciples could not, if a for
gery, have been impofed upon both
Jews and Gentiles, who then had op
portunities of difcovering a fraud, if
there had been any, and who would
not have acknowleged fb many fads
as they did, could they, with any pre--
tence, or any degree of probability,
have denied them.
The judicious Mr. Locke feems to
have laid great ftrefs upon the con
ceffions of our adverfaries, and to have
been of opinion, that it was direded
by Providence that the miracles fhould
not be denied. " The evidence of
" our Saviour's miffion from heavert
" is fo great, fays this eminent phi-
" lofopher, in the multitude of mi-
** racles he did, before all forts of peo-
** ple.5 (which the Divine Providence
L 2 " and

[ 76 ]
" and Wifdom has fo ordered, that
" they never were, nor could be, de-
** nied by any of the enemies. and op-
" pofers of Chriftianity) that what he
" dehvcred cannot but be received as
" the oracles of God, and unqueftion-
** able verity *." p. 256. of the rea-
fonable-
* Even Lucian calls the Chriftian dodrine
S'xvfjixc^n (ro(pix tuv Xpn^ixvcav, the miraculous
or wonderful wifdom of the Chriftians, See
his death of Peregrinus. Where he fpeaks of
TOV fjieyxv excivov sti aeSaaiv xvhpwTrov, tov ev
naAaiq-u'vi xvxaxoAia-Tri&evTx, oti xxivnv txv-
TYiv TgAgTxr eicrnyxyev es tov (iiov. — ' that great
' man they now revere, who was crucified
* in Paleftine, becaufe he introduced this
* new religion into life.'  And, foon af
ter, he gives the following account of the
Chriftians ;
Tleireixxm yx^ auTSs, oi xxxoSxiy-ores, to uiv
oAovy xuxvxToi eoii^xi XXI (iiuaeSrxi tov xa
vpoi'o;'' Trap o xxi xxTx(ppovaa-i tb Stxvxtb, xxt
V/<yi'Tg5 xvlas xTTiSiSoaaiv oi TroAAoi* eirenx Se
0 fo//o6gT«s 0 -wpcoTos eireio-ev auTSs, ws xSeA(poi
irxvTes eiev aAA/;A&'c' eiraSxv xirx% Tuxpx^xv-
Tis, Sri^i i^.iv TBS eAA-/?ny.y; XTx^mam'Txi, tcv Se

[ 77 ]
fonablenefs of Chriftianity. See alfo
p. 263. We
Se xve(nt.oXQTSi(TfJLevov ex&vov co(pii^yiv xvtuv, 'mpoa-
XUVUtTI, XXI XXTX TBS eXSiVi VOJUiBS I^IOIO-I' XXTX-
(ppOVBtTlV BV XTTXVTOOV g^JffJJS, XXI XOlVX riyBVTXly
XVeV TIVOS XXpl/BBS TTK^SeoS TX TOIXVTX TXpxSt"
^xfjLevoi. Lucian. "crgpi t>js rigpsT-piys TgAeuTjjs.
• Thefe unhappy men perfuade themfelves,
* that they are altogether (here Lucian feems
* to allude to the refurredion of the body, as
' well as the immortality of the foul) im-
* mortal, and fliall live for ever. And there-
* fore it is they defpife death, and many
' willingly give themfelves up unto it. More-
* over, this lawgiver was the firft who per-
• fuaded them, that they fliould be as brethren
* to one another. As foon as they left us,
* that they fhould deny the Grecian deities,
* and adore their mafter, him who was cru-
* cified, and live in conformity to his laws.
* They therefore were contemners of all alike,
* and held all things common, receiving fuch
* without any certain proof.'
Monf le Fevre has publiflied this part of
Lucian by itfelf, and is fo angry with thofe
who would, on account of fome expreflions
againft the Chriftians, not publifli it, as to
fliew that he, on the contrary, publiflied it
only

[ 78 ]
We have therefore all the evidence
from fads, that can reafonably be ex
peded ; for we have the teftimony of
fome of the earlieft and moft inveterate
enemies to the Chriftian caufe, for the
miraculous powers of its author, and
his immediate followers ; and the ac-
knowlegement at leaft, of other ad-
only for the fiike of thofe expreflions. This
angry critic negleding, as the Latin tranflators
have done, the article J prefixed both to vo^jlo-
^e%s and -srpwlos, hie vel ille legiflator qui pri
mus, &c. moft abfurdly fuppofes this firft law
giver not to be Chrift, but Paul, becaufe the
latter fpeaks of the brethren ; as if it had not
been the dodrine of Jefus that his difciples
ftiould love one another 1 Again, he changes
XOlVX common, into xevx vain, empty, for no
good reafon that can be given: for the fenfe
does not require any fuch alteration, nor is the
real difficulty removed by it. The miftake
is not in the original Greek, but in the Latin
tranflation, where tt/j-'s is rendered, by Fides,
faith, inftead of evidence. And that this is no
forced fenfe, may be proved from the beft
Greek authors, who have ufed tti^t^ xxpiSnst
for certain evidence.
ver fa-

[ 79 ]
verfaries, which is raofl unexception-*
able evidence J andy when. added to the
other authorities from hiftor]^, of pro-^
phecy fulfilled, and the harmony, and
many internal excellencies, of tbe Scri--
frttires of tjhe~ New Teftrament, will
render it much more eafy to- account
for the fiiccefe of Chriftianity ae firft,
than for thef oppofitions that hav^
fince been n$ade to it..
Whilft the- political, as well as reli
gious ufe of fecrifices and oracles, pre-"
vailed in the world ; whilft the foperb
and magnificent parade of Pagan ce
remonies fubfifted ; fb long as th^
multitudes of the hofts of heaven, in
ftead of the God of hofts, were WoT-
feiped ; all the oppofition that a vain,
fuperftitious and idolatrous world coUld
rdfe againft the gofpel, and the pro-
feffors of it, was to be expeded : But
nowy fince Chriftianity has, every
where.

[ 8o]
where, diftufed its light and influence,
and Paganifm is no more, there can
be no reafon to oppofe it.
The peculiar and diftinguifhing
dodrines of Chriftianity cannot, furely,
whatever is pretended, give offence to
any man. That we are to forgive and
be forgiven; that anger, and every
rude and tumultuous paffion, is to be
fubdued ; that men are to refped God
as their Father, and one another as
brethren, and to bring forth the fruits
of that love, which is the end of the
commandment, out of a pure heart,
a good confcience, and faith unfeign
ed : And that their defedive, but fin-
cere and diligent obedience, will be ac
cepted of by him, according to the ad
of grace our Saviour, the Meffiah, hath
publifhed in behalf of poor degenerate
man : Thefe, with a difcovery of the
charader and offices of Chrift, and all

[«. ]
all the illuftrations of the future world.
Can never be reafons, to men of fenfe
and goodnefs, againft the Chriftian
religion ; butj oti the contrary, ffluft
ever ftand, as fo many undenjablfc con
firmations of its divinity.
As, therefore, both the dodrines and
the miracles reciprocally authorife and
illuftrate each other, we may {a.k\y
defy both the wit and the maHce of
its moft determined adverfaries to de
ftroy or undermine it.
Being of God, it muft ftand, and
the gates of hell can never prevail
againft it.
But then, let us never forget, that
our faith is to be approved by our
works : That a holy religion calls for
a holy life ; and that we can never
confute gainfayers fo effedually, as
by difcharging the duties we recom
mend : That is, by letting our light
M fo

[82 ]
fo fhine before men, as that they, fee
ing our good works, may glorify our
Father which is in heaven.
To whom, with the Son and Holy
Ghoft, be afcribed all fupreme
power, dominion, honour, glory,
now and for evermore. Amen.

A N

A N
APOLOGY For Some of the
Firft Ch r i s t i a n Writers.
WITH
Some REMARK:S upon the Ge-
nuinenefs of the Four Gospels.
Plufteurs perfinnes, k' aiant pas pour les peres de
Veglifijout le refpe£l qu'il faudroit, fi plaifint a
les taxer d'une aveugle credulite.
Monf, Bayle.

[8s ]

A N
APOLOGY For Some of the
Firft Chriftian Writers^ ^c.
THAT the argument, contained
in the preceding difcourfe, may
be complete, I have thought proper
to fubjoin fome few obfervations upon
the many falfe Gofpels that have, by
Toland, and another late writer, been
confidered as objedions to the de
termining which are true, and upon
the charaders of fome of the fathers
who lived in, or immediately after, the
days of the apoftles, and from whom
their fueceflbrs received the copies of
thofe Gofpels, and other facred writ
ings, which have been delivered down to

[86]
to us, and are received by us as ge
nuine. It will not admit of difpute, whe
ther the Gofpels we now have (and no
other were ever received by the Chrif
tian church) are the fame that Juftin
the martyr and Irenseus made ufe of:
for the former of thefe good men
largely cites many paffages that prove
them to be the fame ; and the latter
writ exprefly againft Marcion, Valen-
tinus, Bafilides, and others, by whom
the genuine Gofpels, as well as the
genuine religion of Jefus, were very
grofly corrupted.
Nor would it admit of difpute, whe
ther Clemens of Rome, Polycarp, and
Juftin, and other pious men, who,
having lived either with the apoftles,
or with thofe who had been conver-
fant, and even intimate, with them,
may be juftly called apoftolicaj, were
men of that ftamp as to forge, and
impofe

[87]
impofe their forgeries upon mankind,
if the lives and charaders of thefe
men were better known than they are.
It is often a fufficient reafon for abufe,
that the perfon to be abufed is not
known ; for many there are of fuch
unhappy temper, as to indulge in ca
lumny and fcandal, though unpro
voked, if they only think themfelves
fecure from an immediate detedion.
The greater the objed, the more
fpirited and great it is held by fuch to
calumniate it ; and they would pafs for
brave, becaufe they are impious ;' when
the utmoft bravery of this fort is nei
ther more nor lefs than the moft con-
fummate impudence. But the cha
raders of thofe, who pretend to draw
the charaders of other men, fhould
firft be confidered ; and, if they are
found to be paffionate, and prejudiced,
and abufive, they will generally be
thought to give their own charaders,
- whijft

[ 88 ]
whilft they mifreprefent and malign
others. If a man fhould charge the
late Dr. Clarke with impiety y and yet
himfelf blafpheme the God of Mofes
and of Paul, it muft appear as ridicu
lous as it is bafe j and if the fame per-*
fon fhould fpeak of the author of the
Religion of Nature delineated, as a
lunatic, and a patient of Dr. Mon
roe's, there will arife fome fufpicion
that this language, and this treatment,
muft proceed from lefs honourable mo
tives, than a zeal for truth, or, than
the calm fpirit of philofophy will ad
mit. And' in this cafe, the greater
the man, the more inexcufable his of
fence againft decency and good man
ners *. But if the living are not
free
* Page 5)4. of the Idea of a Patriot King,
Dr. Clarke is charged, by the author, as one
who " impioiifly aflerts" (things he never did
aflert) as being " a prefumptuous dogmatift 5''
and then the author taking the Religionift upon

[ 89]
£[ee from calumny, how fhall the dead
efcape it j and if our neighbour is abufed, who
upon him, falls into this pious ejaculation...
« God forbid I" p,y.vol.v. 8vo, of Philo-
foph. works. Dr. Clarke is called an " auda
cious^ vain fophift." And p, 54. vol. v. it is
faid, " nothing but the extremeji Jiupidity of
mind, or perverfenefs of fpirit, and difregard
to truth, can make any man affirm like him
(Dr. Clarke) that moral fitnefles are, &c. as
manifeft as mathematical truths,
Mr. Woollafton is treated in the fame
rude manner, by this peerlefs philofopher,
who, p, 393. vol. iv. calls him the " whining
philofopher." And p. 376. vol. iv. when Mr.
Woollafton argues for the immortality of the
foul, it is " madnefs, nonfenfe, a miftake in the
delirium of metaphyfics." And again, after
a very partial and defedive account of Mr.
WooUaiion's arguments for the immateriality
and immortality of the foul, the author of
Works called philofophical, fays, " I will de-
" tain you no longer about fuch difcourfe, as
" would convince you, if you heard it at
'* Monroe's, that the philofopher who held it,
" was a patient of the dodor, not yet per-
" fedly reftored to his fenfes," p. 2ip. vol. i.
Is this philofophy ; this reafoning ? and could
Dr, Clarke and Mr, Woollafton, when dead,
N pro-

[ go ]
who may foon hear, and as foon refen^
it, how eafy will it be to abufe men who
have been dead ages paft, and who have,
of late, been feldom mcntiontd, but for
the fake of abtife and ridicule.
Some men had lifted up the autho
rity of the fathers higher than could be
juftified: They were not content to
make faints of them, but their opinions
muft be decifive in all matters of faith,
^nd religious controverfyi
From one extreme are the fathers
fallen to the other, from having been
provoke this, or any man,to rail againft them in
this unworthy and indecent manner, who, when
living, were as remarkable for the excellency of
their difpofitions, and moral virtues, as for the
powers of their minds, and the extent of their
knowlege and reading ; in all which they were
ornaments, and an honour to their country,
and were diftinguiflied as fuchj which was
enough to provoke this foul-mouth" d, very
trifiivg critic, and dogmatical pedant (thefe are
his own words, p, 332, vol. iii. 8vo,) to fnarl
at and abufe them in this outrageous manner. almoft

[ 9^ 3
.^moft Gods, they are become lower
,than the children of men. The great
reverence theChril^an world once Jhad
for them, may have proceeded from
the excellence of their charaders, and
a frequent reading their produdions ;
for ic is hard to read them, and not
to be .prejudiced in their favour : And
that this efteem is now gone, may be
43v«dng.to.a ,negle<3: of their writings;
and perhaps they who have been moft
£iee in their cenfures of them, .have
been leaft converfant in their works.
Men wlio^knew nothing more of them,
than .that they were Chriftians, .ftrangers
to their very names *, as well as to
their
* Quibus fi laboriofam aliquam defend
fionem parare velim, omnium fim vaniffimus;
cum fciam hzec, non ex judicio, fed ex ne-?
t[uitia, '& infita quadam improbitate animi,
aut faltem ex impotcntia, fummaque levitate,
provenire. QUdi^odo enim ex judicio base
deeeriiant ? nifi forte tam acre & ftupendurii
judicium habeant, ut de iftis, qua non intelH^
N 2 gunt.

[92]
their real charaders and writings, are
moft ready to purfue and join the cry
againft them, as if they had been the
very worft, or the very weakeft of
men. But for the fake of juftice and
honour, let us not condemn men with
out knowing what can be faid for
them ; nor, for the fake of common
fenfe, as well as common honefty, con
demn them without knowing what it
is they have done. From luch vo
luminous writings, many ftrange things
may and have been produced, but this
is not peculiar to the Chriftian fathers;
and if men or books are to be judged
of only by their faults, who fhall be
faved ? It would be thought very par
tial, and very unjuft, to glean from
Diodorus, Herodotus, Livy, Pliny,
Plutarch, and other good and- antient
gunt, rede fentire & judicare valeant. In
praefat. ad Jomam, cod. Talmud, per Robert.
§heringham, pagan

[93]
pagan writers, the rubbilh of all forts
that may be found in their writings,
by a man who has the dirty difpofition
to look after fuch filth, and impofe his
medley of faults upon the world for a
Ipecimen of the veracity and approv
ed abilities of thofe authors. But this
has been doae over and over again
with the fathers; fo that their lateft
enemies are not intitled fo much as to
the merit of difcoverers ; nor have
they" added much to the old heap,
though they have much to clamour
and abufe.
When Herodotus, the father of the
Grfeek hiftorians, was cenfured by
ecclefiaftics for the fidions in his writ
ings, Harry Stephens undertook the de
fence of him, by recriminating upon his
iadvcrfaries, and publifhed an amazing
colledion of forgeries, and fidions, and
rogueries, in his famous apology. And
when the chriftian fathers, and even
ij. fome

t-94 il
iome ©f the lateft and tbe worft of
j^tem, were <3nied Up a.bov€ itheir value,
and they weUe ca^ fio iferve the pur*
|>0fes of i&tolerant ^apinioBi^ it was
time t3o jQiew rthey w^re no Gods.
JRrom tence oUiers took the opportu
nity to treat thtan, as if ^ey had been
wofffe -than the 'WorR. of men, and
Chriftiamtyhasibeen -wounded through
(their fides. But is i^iere no medium
fcetween the two ^xtr^mes ? and are
they fallen dfo low, as not only to be
cenfored, but ^to be .t3efpil<sd ? Are
they all to be condemned by the lump,
and thrown -afide, at l^ft, as ufelefs
to the-worid ? Yes, wikenitUgion and
learning are mjj^qo. t-he dqjartJire, theie
muft pack up and go along with:them.
Tliey have: mutuary fupported eaich
other, and when they fall, they muft
fall together.
&eli^KMi is .neeeffary to a ftate ; np
|>eQple ever have been go.verne.d without it.

E9i]
it, ^iid the decline of the one, has been
the ruin 6? tke othef. It may be fo
mixed with other things, as to become
foul and mifchievotis,and then it fhould
be reformed; but itis very impolitic and
weak, as well as wicked, to be always
pulling down without having any thing
to put up in the room of a pillar, fo
neceflary to the ftrudute and exiftence
of all fociety and laws.
To the fathers v/e appealed,in defence
of the reformation, andat is for the ho
nour of Froteftants, to have their opi
nions and pradice conformable to thofe
of the apoftolic age. And I fee no rea
fon any politician can have for running
down the fathers of that age, and the
proteftant religion of this, unlefs it
be to introduce the fiiperftition of the
laft age, which was popery. For every
attempt to drive out the one, is an in
let for the admiffion of the other ; and
^s men cannot do without a religion. It

[ 96 ]
if what they have now is decried fb as
to become ufelefs, they will imme
diately have recourfe to the old one ;
which muft, in the end, be as fatal
to the proteftant fucceffion, as to the
proteftant religion.
It is of great confequence to every
Chriftian, to know the rife and progrefs
ofhis religion, which have always been
confidered as one good argument, at
leaft, in fupport of it. Nor is it lefs ne-
celTary to be acquainted with the hiftory
of theological opinions, that we may dif-
tinguifh between antient and modern
theology ; between the dodrines of the
firft ages, and thofe which are faid
to have been always received in the
Chriftian church, though they are no
where to be found, for fome centuries at
leaft, after the apoftolic times. Not that
the opinions of the earlieft writers after
the Chriftian's bible, which is the only
religion of proteftants, was completed, are

[ 97 ]
are infallibly to be received as of equal
authority with'Scripture, or of any au
thority without the concurrence of re
velation or reafon, or the evidence of
fads ; for fome of them, particularly
Tertullian and Origen, are fuppofed
to have fallen into great errors, and
none of them, who had been brought
up in the pagan fchools before, laid
afide the opinions any more than the
drels of philofophers.
Not only as Chriftians,but as fcholars,
as curious in antiquities, or delighted
with hiftory, we fhould fhew fome re
gard to thefe antient writings, which
contain many things relating, not only
to the hiftories of men, but the know-^
lege of antient rites and laws, and
cuftoms, demonology and philofophy.
And when we confider the excellence,
and elegance, and ufefulnefs of the
Greek language, we muft own, that
it is greatly beholden to the labours of
O fuch

[ 98 ]
fuch Chriftian men as Suidas, Photius,
Clemens Alexandrinus,and others, who
have preferved many fine paffages from
antient authors, and much of antient
hiftory, which, but for them, had been
entirely loft. And, perhaps, the know
lege and ufe of that laJnguage would
not have been fo extenfive as it has
been among the moderns, if the Chrif
tian fathers had never been in higher
repute than at prefent. Whenever it
fhall be thought neceffary to read the
Greek fathers, the Greek language muft
be cultivated ; and if the learned Ma
dam Dacier was not miftaken in her
aflertion, that true tafte is infpired by
the Iliad, our manners will improve
with our learning ; and therefore both
decline, if, inftead of being obliged to
read Greek, men fhall be reproached
for reading Chryfoftom or Clemens.
But if the Greek fathers are negleded,
they who have written in the Roman tongue

[99]
tongue may be better received, as that
language is more generally underftood ;
and it cannot be denied that there is
a noble fpirit and force in Tertullian,
much learning in Jerom and Auftin,
and great elegance in Ladantius.
At this time, however, I fhall con
fine myfelf to a few of the firft Chrif
tian fathers ; for they are very, far from
being all of equal ufe, or equal autho
rity and goodnefs.
It is not of much confequence to in
quire what may have been the charaders
of fome of the later writers, if the firft are
not worth your regard and confidence.
And it is abfurd and ridiculous, as the
lateMr. Pope's learned friend very juftly
obferved;, (let the man who pretended to
be affronted by it, have been as angry
as he pleafed) to admit the Gofpels, and
at the fame time attempt to deftroy the
credit of thofe from whom we receive
them; efpecially when the fame in'
O 2 con-

[ 100 ]
confiftent writer tells us, in another
place, that there are forty other dif
ferent Gofpels. But he is willing to
admit them upon the authority of the
council of Laodicea, which was not
held till after the middle of the fourth
century, anno Chrifti 364, * and is
appealed to by the Papifts, as giving
* See the poftfcript to the principles of the
reformation, concerning church communion,
p, 212, of a colledion of trads, publifhed
1709, under the title of. An Account of the
growth of Deifm in England.
" That thefe four narratives, which we call
" Gofpels, are genuine and original writings,
" and not romances, forged in the apoftles
*' names, we learn from the authority of the
" clergy aflembled at Laodicea? in which
" council it was agreed, that the l30oks of the
" New Teftament were genuine and authentic
" records, a, d, 164,"
Perhaps the author of works called Philo
fophical, took his information from the above
book, and fuppofed the council of Laodicea
to have been held two centuries earlier than
the truth. autho-

[ lOI ]
authority to fome of thofe dodrines
that diftinguifh them from other Chrif
tians. So that this egregious politician
does not chufe to admit Chriftianity,
till it became popery.
" En quelques-uns (canons) on voit
" des preuves evidentes du facrifice de
" la Meffe, du jevtne du car^me, de la
" diftindion de I'ev^que et du pretre,
*' et de I'ordre de la penitence pub-
" lique." Moreri.
Thofe who lived with the difciples of
Jefus, and were admitted, noc only to
their friendfhip, but to a care and
charge of the churches, as Clemens
Romanus,Ignatius, and Polycarp, could
not but know their hiftory and opi
nions ; and if they were good and ho
neft, and fenfible, as well as pious
men, and communicated what they
knew, to fuch as were like themfelves,
there can be no better evidence, no fafer
conveyance of the Gofpels than this.
3 Hence

[ 102 ]
Hence it becomes neceffary to in
quire into the real charaders of thefe
men ; to fhew the opportunities they
had of knowing what they relate, and
from their charaders the credit that is
due to their relations. To anfwer the
firft purpofe, it will be fufficient to fhew
when and where they lived ; for the
fecond, how they died, that they were
martyrs, and facrificed their lives in
atteftation of the truth of what they
profeffed to have received from the
difciples of Jefus.
It is but of late that the cha
raders of thefe fincere and honeft
men have been called in queftion,
and therefore it muft not be exped
ed, that any antient evidence fhould
be produced againft them. The pri
mitive Chriftians were, indeed, very
grofly and very falfely calumniated by
the heathens ; but then they were fully
juftified by the apologifts, and even by
Julian

[ 103 ]
Julian and Pliny. But as nothing can
be objeded, that is of any credit or
antiquity, againft the firft fathers of the
Chriftian Church, or againft the tefti
mony of their friends ; fo neither is it
neceffary to produce any other , wdt-
nefles, in fupport of their charaders,
than what their own words and adions
afford. Let them fpeak for them
felves, and let us determine their cha
raders from their condud.
To begin with Clemens the Roman,
a fellow-labourer with St, Paul, and one
whofe name is written in the book of
life. He was educated at Athens, and
being folicitous about the immortality
of the foul, and a future ftate, he has
recourfe, but in vain, to the fchools of
the philofophers, and to ,^gyptian
priefts ; but hearing of the Son of God,
in Judzea, and meeting with Barnabas
at Rome, and afterwards with St, Pe
ter at Caefarea, he is inftruded, con
verted.

[ I04 ]
verted, and baptized, and becomes the
companion, as well as the difciple, of
Peter, for a great part of his life. He
is faid to have brought over fome of the
firft families in Rome to the Chriftian
faith, which rendered him extremely
odious to Torcutianus, a man of great
power. At laft he is condemned,
if he will not facrifice to falfe Gods,
to be banifhed to Gherfon, there to
work in mines and quarries, the worft
and moft difgracefiil of all punifh-
ments, or miferies, that could be in-
flided on the human fpecies. In this
wretched ftate he finds fome Chriftians,
and converts many more, {o that pa
ganifm was almoft extinguifhed there,
when Trajan fent Aufidius,with orders
to take Clemens on board a fhip, and
throw him into the fea, fo as that the
Chriftians might never be able to find
him again. Thus died this faith
ful companion and follower of the
dif^

[ '05 ]
difciples of our Lord, more than two
years after his banilhment, arid aboiit
ten from his having been fole bifhop
of Rome ; in the third year of Trajan,
and 98th of Chrift.
And that he was of an excellent
difpofition, and moft worthy the pro
tedion of fociety, as a friend to vir
tue and mankind, and a devout, fin
cere, and honeft man, is evident from
the following paffages in his genuine
epiftle. " * Let us therefore be of an hum-
" ble mind, my brethren, throwing "off
* TxTeivotppovaa-upLev av, xSsAfoi, x'n-oBe/j.evot
"KxiTXV xAx^oveixv, ^ TV(pov ^ x^pocvvnv xxi op-
'yxS'-"Tx7r£ivo(ppovBv1a}v yxp eq'iv 0 jLpiq'os, bx
STTxtpofJievoov e-jTi TO -moijjiviov xvIb  TOV Kvpiov
IritrBv "KpK^ov b to xijjlx vtatsp tjfjioov eSo% evTpx-
iruf/.ev TBS "urporiyBiJievBs fifjLciov xiSe^ci}iJi.ev t8»
•mpea^vTepBs rifJicav (ti) fJiva-ooy.ev, tbs veas -srof-
Ssv<ra}fji.ev tyiv 'wxiSeixv tb woSb tb &fa' ra? yvvxi-
xxs rtuMV e-jri to ayx^ov Siopvcocrujjieux' to x^ix-
yxTTYjlov TYIS xyveixs woas evSeiEiX^ucxv, to «jce-
fXiov Tns 'wpxvTYil<^ xvTcav (i'Bhrij/.a xttoSe-i^x-
P T&Jcrai',

[ .06 ]
** off all vain-glory, and arrogance,
" and folly, and wrath  For Chrift
" is with thofe who are of an humble
" mind, not with thofe who tyrannize
" over his fold. ,.. Let us revere our Lord
" Jefiis Chrift, whofe blood was given
" for us : Let us honour thofe who
" are fet over us ; refped the aged ;
*' teach youth the fear of God : Let
TWCrXV, TO iTTIfiXeS TYIS yXoOOCFVS XVTMV SiX TYIS
(puvvs laiyYis] (pxvepov -aroiYiaxTucrxv, tyiv xyxirnv
XVTUV [X.YI xxix lepotTxAKTeis aAAa Tracri tois
(foQBjJiivois TOV @iov oaius, lanv 'STxpe^STuaxv. Ta
TSxvx r,f/.uv TH5 ev "Kpic^u ¦nrxiSeixs fJLeTxKxjJiQx-
viTuaxv' [Jix^iTuaxv ti TX7reivo(pDoavv)i 'urxpx
©ga le^uei, « a^aTTw xyvn Tsjxpx tu Qeu Svvx-
Txt' 'ojus 0 (poCos xVTB JcaAos Jcai fjisyxs, xxi
au(^uv irxvlxs t85 sv xvlu oaius xvx!^DS(pofJievBS ev
xx^xpa, Sixvoia,, EpsvvYilYjS yx^ i.q'iv evvoiuv xxi
ivhvjj.Yia-euv' a y\ ttvoyi xvIb ev 7]jj.iv eq-iv, xxi otxv
S-gAw xvtKoi xvTY\i  Tis bv ev vjmv yevvxios \
TIS eva-TrAxi^v®^ j tis TtTe7r?\.Yipo(popYi[j'.evos xyx^irvs j
ciTXTUj Ei Si' ef/.e Txcris xxi epis xxi ^la-juLxlx,
eX^UpOJ, XTTCHfJ.l, B exv (iBAY)Sre xxi ttoiu tx
'Wpoq-XO^OfJ.evX VTTO TB 'TnhrfyoVS, fXOVOV THOlj/.VlOV
TB 'Kpic^-B eipYlvSVSTU (J-ilx TUV XX^Sq-XfJiSVUV TffpecT-
QvTepuv  TTiTU', (poQov, apYivYju, \::j-oiJiovYiv, fJicc-
xpowfA.ixvj eyxpxl&xv, xyvaxv xxi cuq^poawYtv.
« us

t 107 ]
" us dired our wives to that which is
"good; that they may fhew to all
" chaftity of manners,worthy of love ;
*' a fincere defire of meeknefs, that
" they may manifeft their moderation
" of fpeech, by filence, exercifing their
" charity, not partially, but to all ahke
** that fear God in hoHnefs. Let our
" children partake of Chriftian infti-
" tutes; let them learn of what force
** humility of mind is with God, how
** prevalent is chafte love with him.
" How good and great is his fear, fa v-*
" ing all who turn unto him in holi-
" nefs, with a pure mind. For he is
" the fearcher of our thoughts and
" defires ; whofe breath is in us, and
*' when he pleafes he takes it from us, ...
" Who amongft you is generous, who"
*' compaffionate, who filled full of
" love ? let him fpeak ; and if difturb-
*' ance, contention and divifions have
" arifen on my account, I am ready
P 2 *'to

[ 'o8 3
"to depart, and go wherever you
" pleafe, and to do whatever the ge-
** nerality may require of me ; only
" let the fold of Chrift be preferved
*' in peace, with the elders appointed
" over it  And in the end, the good
" man prays for faith, fear, peace,
*' conftancy, purity, and fobriety."
Can any thing be objeded to the
teftimony of fo good a man ? or fhall
we difregard his authority, and blame
his weaknefs, for having illuftrated the
refurredion from the dead, by the fa
ble of the Arabian Phoenix, believed
in his time ; and by fuch images as the
mutual fucceffion of the fetting and
the rifing fun, of night and day, of
feeds, and fruits ?
If he believed the Phoenix to rife up
out of its own afhes, he was; not the
only one that believed it at that time ;
and many great and learned men have
believ-

[ 109 ]
believed as abfurd fidions. Errors of
this fort were then more excufable,
when the produdion of animals, from
no other parent than the earth, impreg
nated by no other principle than heat
and moifture, was afferted by philo
fophers as well as hiftorians *, We
muft not cenfure thofe authors for not
knowing more of philofophy, than had
been difcovered in their days. But al
lowing that he was deceived in what
fie had read of this extraordinary bird,
it will never follow that his evidence
is not to be. taken for what he him
felf law, or knew, or did.
The next Chriftian father I fhall
mention, is Ignatius, who was intimate
with the apoftles, and, together with
* Caeterum afpici aliquando in iEgypto earn
yojucrem non ambigitur. De avi Phoenice,
Annal. 1. vi. Taciti.
' But that the bird itfelf is fbmetimes feen
* in Egypt, is not doubted.' Euodius,

[ "° ]
Euodius, chofen bifhop of the great
city of Antioch, by St. Peter and St.
Paul, who planted Chriftianity there.
Upon the death of Euodius, Ignatius
prefided over that church alone, and
lived there forty years. He was con-
ftant in the performance of all the du
ties of a Chriftian, and indefatigable
in his care of believers, proteding
and encouraging them under per
fecution ; but did not think his own
charader or fervices complete, unlefs
he fuffered martyrdom. And when,
Trajan came to Antioch, the good bi
fhop was, on account of his religion,
committed to prifon and torture, and
then fent to Rome, to be devoured by
wild beafts.
Thus died Ignatius, when he was
upwards of eighty years old, in the
9th year of Trajan, and about the
107th of Chrift. There is an ac
count of his laft journey to Rome, and

[ I" ]
and martyrdom there, much efteemed
by Scaliger, written by Philo and Aga-
thopus, who attended upon him : It
was publilhed by Ufher, and is ren
dered into Englifh in Cave's life of this
father. As fome good men have doubted
the genuinenefs of the epiftles of Ig-
na;tius, and it is very certain, that, if
they were written by him, they have
been very much interpolated fince ; I
fhall not produce more than one fhort
paffage from the epiftle to the Ephe-
fians, and in this leave out thofe words
which are printed in red letters in Ufher's
edition, the mark he ufed to diftin
guifh what was fpurious,
* " See that the weed of the devil
" be notfound in you... be watchful and
" fober
* BAeyrele jj.v tb Six^-oKb fiaixvYi ivpi^n ev
vfjiiv. •'•• vYi-^xle, (ru(ppovY)ax\e ev yipiq'u Iyictb. ....
e^xToi xxipoi AoiTTov eitriv xi^wuc/}f/.ev, (poSn^uf/.ev
TYIV fAXXpO^VfAtXV TB QSB  /AaAAoC yxP TYIV f/.eA.-
2 ABaxv

[ 112 ]
" fober in Chrift Jefus. Thefe that
*' remain are the laft times. Let us
" reverence and fear the long-fuffering
" of God .... let us dread the wrath to
" come, rather than be in love with
" the joy that is prefent in this life.
" But let prefent and true joy be to be
" found in Chrift^ which is true life."
Polycarp, bifliop, or rather angel of
the church of Smyrna, [Revelat. i.]
where he was educated, if not born>
and where he fuffered martyrdom,
prefided feventy-four years over that
church, from the end of Domitian's
reign, to the perfecution under M. Au-
relius, when he fuffered, being about
a hundred years old.
Of this divine old man's writing,
there is only one epiftle left, which,
KBaxv opy;v (foQiSufJiev, ti tyiv eveq^uaxv ^xpxp
ayxiryiaufjiYiv ev TCf) wv (iica' eij"w Se t) eveq'ucrx
^xpx XXI fi aA?)6iyw, to julovov ev X/Ji^'w I)j<7S
hpe^vvxi} eis to xAriQivus ^yjv.
how-

[ 1^3 3
however, ferves to fl:iew the excellence
of his difpofition and manners, as well
as his piety. He exhorts Chriftians
to * " Stand faft in the pradice of
" thefe things, and follow the example
** of our Lord : be ye firm in the faith
" and unchangeable, lovers of the bro-
" tlierhood, loving one another, united
" in truth, fhewing mildnefs of dif-
" pofition to each other, defpifing no
" man. When you can do good, do
" not defer it. ..... I exhort you there-
*' fore, that ye abftain from covetouf-
" ncfe, and be chafte, and followers
** of the truth. Abftain from all man-
* ner of evil."
* In his ergo ftate, & domini exemplar fe-
quimini, firmi in fide et immutabiles, fraterni-
tatis amatores, diligentes invicem, in veritate
fociati, manfuetudinem alterutri prseftantes,
nullum defpicientes. Cum poteftis benefacere,
nolite difterre  Moneo itaque vos ut abfti-
neatis ab avaritid, & fitis cafti & veraces, Ab-
ftinete vos ab omni malo.
Polycarpi Epift. ad Philippenf-
O If

[ "+]
If fuch dodrine will intitle him to
any credit, Irenseus affures us, that
« * Polycarp always taught thofe things
" which +ie had learned from the
*' apoftles, and which he delivered to
*' the church, and which alone are
" true. All the churches throughout
*' Afia bear witnefs to this, as do the
*' Succeffors of Polycarp, in his feat, to
" this day ; who was a far more wor-
*' thy, faithful, fteady witnefs of the
" truth than Valentinus and Marcion,
" and other falfe teachers."
Irenaeus knew well what he faid ;
for he had himfelf been the difciple
of Polycarp, and fucceeded the good
TxuTx (rioXvxxpTos) Sli'a.^XS XCH o. xxt
TTxpx TUV Airo^oXuv ey.xusv, x x.xl tyi ixxXYKTia^
'*aTxpiSuxe X xxi yovx sc^iv aA»D7) yxpTUpBaiv xi
XXTX T'liv Aaixv exx-X'/iaixt ttxcxi, v.xi oi ye^pi
yjv S'ixStyy.evoi tov tb YloXuxxpTB ^povoVj'ZB'oXAu
aE,io'/nq'oTepov xxi (iiCxioTipov aA»6«as yxpTvpx
QM^xYloKvxxpTCV, OuxASVTlVd XXI VlxpY.l'jjVOi XXI
TbJv AoiTrwy xxy.oyfyii,-.,',x'v.
2 . old

["5]
old Pothinus, as bifhop of Lyons, in
179. a time of dreadful perfecution.
Under Commodus, and part of the
reign of Severus, the Chrifti^is enjoyed
fome reft ; but, at laft, this excellent
bifhop, with almoft all the inhabitants
of that vaft and populous city, were
put to death, about the 20 2d or 208th
of Chrift, and the loth or i6th of Se
verus. He was the author of a very
learned and good book againft here-
fies, in which is fhewn the abflirdity
of appealing to Marcion, Valentinus,
and other corruptors of Chriftian doc
trines for gofpel truths. In this work
Irenaeus forbids his readers to exped
from him * " the art of compofition,
'^ which he had not ftudied, nor the
^ Aoyuv Te^vYiv, riv ex eyx^oyev, are Svvx-
fj.iv avyfpx(peus, r,v bx na-xYKTxjx.ev, hts xxAAw
TTio'^-ov Ae^iuv, BTe Tri^xvoTYux, Y)V Bx oiSx^ev'
xhKxxTu'Kus, Xi aA«5(W5, Xj iSixTixus, &C, >
Irenasi praifat.
Q^ 2 " powers

[ »i6 ]
" powers of an author, which he did
*' not affed, nor fine language, nor
" perfuafive turns, to which he was a
" ftranger ; but with fimpUcity, truth,
" and plainnefs, &c,"
To fhew v/hat dodrines the church
received from this plain honeft man,
it will be neceffary to recite part of a
letter he wrote to Florinus, upon his
defedion from the truth, * inclining to
the errors of Valentinus,
As this letter fhews the opinions of
Polycarp, as well as of Irenteus, to have
been truly apoftolical, and as they were
mafter and difciple, I have joined their
lives together, though Juftin the mar
tyr lived before Irenseus,
* " The prefbyters who lived before
" us, and \vho were taught by the
" apoftles
TxVTX TX SoyfJLxlx 01 'urpo ri//.ci}v TSTpeaQviipoi,
01 Xj TOIS xTToq-oPuiis a'u/Jt.(ponYiaxvTes, B 'STxpeSuxev
aoi. liiSov yxp ai, irxis c»v en, tv ty\ xxtu
Actio., 'z^apx tm no^^vxxpTru Xxywpus TzrpxTlovTx

SV

[ i'7 ]
" apoftles, did not deliver down thefe
" tenets to you. For I remember to
" have feen you, when I was a young
" man, in leffer Afia, at Polycarp's,
*' when you appeared with fplendor in
" the royal court, and took pains to
*' approve yourfelf to him. For I re-
ev TYI (ixTiXix'n auAvi ^ 'nmpuu.evov evSoxiyeiv laxp
xviu' fjLx?\Aov yxp TX Toie SixyvYifxavevct), tuv
evxy^os Sixyivoyevuv' ai yxp ex "wxiSuv f/.x^n-
treis auvxv^Bcrxi tti ^f^v? evovvTxi xvIy^i' ue^e ys
S^vvx^xi enreiv Xj tov tottov ev u xxus^oy.evos Sis-
Aeyelo o y.xxxpios YIoAvxxdttos., j^ Tas TrapoSes xvIb
3^ Tas eiiToSBS, Xj tov ^xpxxlnpx tb (iiB Xj tyiv
TB (juyxlos iSsxv, Xj Tas SixAe^as xs evroic/la
-srpos TO -zzxAjjoos, ^ tjjj' ^fiTa Iuxvvb avvxvx^po-
(pYi'v, COS xTTYiyJeXAe, 5^ tyiv ^STa tuv KoIttuv tup
luDxxoTuv TOV Kvplov, ^ US xweyvYiyovsve tbs Ao-
yBS xvJuv, ^ 'srepi tb K.vpiB tivx yiv x ttxo ex-
civuv xxYixoe.' Xj isspi tkv Svvxyeuv xvtb ^ 'mspi
TYIS SiSxaxxXiaSy us -zijxpx tuv xvto'thtIuv tws
^UilS TB XoyB 'Z(TXpC-iXY!(pUS 0 FIoAvxxp'^OS, XTTYlf-
yeKXe Tat/Ta a-vyfuvx txis ypx<pxis' txvIx >^
TOTS Six to eAeos tb ©ea to S'zs- eyoi yeyovos
Q-ZtTBSxlUS YIXBOV, Viroy.VYIIJiXTl^oy.SVQS xvlx BX sv
yjxpT-fi, xA?i ev tyi eyri xxpSiXy Xj a« Six tyiv
"yxptv TB ©SB yvYKTias avlx xvxyxpvxuyxi, &C.
Irena;us apud Eufebium, lib, v,
" membei-

[ "8 ]
member thofe things better than fuch
as are more recent : What we learn
in our youth, grows up with the
mind, and intimately unites with it.
So that I can tell the place where
the bleffed Polycarp did fit when he
difcourfed, his going and returning,
the manner of his life, and the form
of his body, and the difcourfes he
made to the multitude, and how
he would declare the converfation
and intimacy he had with John and
others, who had feen the Lord, and
how he remembered their fayings,
and what he heard from them con
cerning the Lord, of his miracles
and his dodrine, as he received them
from thofe, who, with their own
eyes, beheld the Lord of life ; Po
lycarp declared thefe things confb-
nant with the Scriptures. Thefe, by
the mercy of God affifting me, I
then diligently heard, committing " them

["9]
*' them not to paper, but writing^hem
" on my heart ; and, by the grace of
" God^ I will ever continue to employ
*' my mind in the fincere and genuine
" recolledion of them,"
'J'here appears, in this extrad, fuch
fimplicity, and goodnefs, and warmth
of heart, as, one would think, fhould
affed every reader, capable of being
moved by fuch excellent qualities, and
render it impoffible for him to think
that thefe are the men who have im
pofed upon the world falfe fads, and
fpurious gofpels, and carried' on their
hypocrify to death ; being not only
ready to dye for their opinions, but as
one of their worft adverfaries chufes
to exprefs it of one of them *, even
afpired unto martyrdom.
Before I proceed to Juftin Martyr,
I would obferve, that if fome falfe cir-
* Origen. See philofophical works, as
they are called. cum-

[ I20 ]
cumftances have been added to the
true account of the death of Polycarp,
he is not to be cenfiired for them :
Whatever form the flames might have
affiimed ; whether there was a pigeon
feen to fly at that time, as it were out
of the flame, or out of his fide; and
whether the fire was extinguifhed, by the
faint's blood gufhing from a wound he
received in the flames : Whether there
were any extraordinary appearances, or
no, that gave occafion for thefe reports,
the credit and charader of the man
who fuffered cannot be impeached by
them, no more than the life or death
of Julius Caefar can be difputed, be
caufe of the omens and prodigies that
are reported to have foretold and at
tended his death. A very little know
lege of human nature will readily ac
count for fuch reports, on fuch melan
choly occafions : And whilft fome in-
fift upon the credibility of fuch rela
tions

>

[ "1 ]
tions, others make a contrary ufe of
^hem } for if the firft believe too much,
the others believe nothing at all. But
to proceed,
Juftin the martyr was born at Nea-
polis in Samaria, and {b well informed
of the dodrines of the apoftles, that,
in his epiftle to Diognetus, he ftiles
himfelf their difciple. He was one of
the moft early, and moft learned, wri
ters of the eaftern church. He was
a very able, diligent, and impartial
fearcher after truth. With this view,
like other antient fages, he travelled
into ,^gypt, and having examined all
the various fyftems of philofophy, pre
ferred that of Plato to the reft. About
the year of Chrift 132. and the 16th
of Trajan, he wa.s converted to the
Chriftian faith. He gives a very par
ticular account of the manner and
motives of his converfion, in his own
writings. As h^ was walking by the
R fea

[ 122 ] ^
fea fide, he meets a grave man, who
difcourfes with him about philofophy
and religion, and being induced, by
his means, to confider the religion of
the Chriftians, he declares it to be
the only true philofophy. About the
beginning of the reign of Antoninus
Pius, he came to Rome, and dwelt
upon the Collis Viminalis near the Ti-
mothine baths. Here he is faid to
have written his firft apology for the
Chriftians, and to have oppofed the
rank errors of Marcion and others. Af
ter this he revifits the Eaft, was at Ephe-
fus, and returns once more to Rome
again. In his fecond apology for the
Chriftians, he particularly exclaims
againft the injuftice and barbarity of
putting men to death, merely for be
ing called Chriftians, without fo much
as accufing them of any crimes. He
had a famous difJ3ute with Trypho
the Jew, in which he fhewed him felf

[ 123 ]
felf to be well, ver fed in the prophetic
writings,' though, perhaps, no great
critic in the Hebrew ; for he is charg
ed with having given a falfe etymo
logy of the word Satanas, One of
his worft enemies was Crefcens, the
philofopher, a very bad man, but who
had influence enough over a fuperfti
tious emperor to procure the imprifbn-
ment and death of Juftin, about the
165th year of Chrift.
That he was a moft fincere, honeft,
and impartial man, a friend to reafon,
and a lover of truth, is evident from
this paffage, in his firft apology,
" * Reafon advifes thofe who are true
*« philo-
' Tas XXTX aA/jGflar eucreCas xxi (piAocro(pBS
fjLovov T xAyi^ss Tiyxv XXI q'spyav 0. Aoyos vrrxyo-
pSV£<, IJJXpXITBJJiSVBS So^XlS tluxKxlUV S^XXoXB^CiV,
XV (DxvXxi uaiy. Ou yxp y.ovov fz-Yi ^tsSfxi tois
xSixus TI -TATpx^xTiv Yl S'oyjj.xTifTxcnv 0 ao}(ppwv
Xoyos VTTxyopevei' xXX ex -wxvtos TpoirB xxi T^rpo
TYIS exvTB "^u-^^ns tov (plXxXYIDYl, x' XV ' SrxVXTGS
XTeiXYilxi, TX Sixxix Xeyciv ts xxi 'srpxTleiv
R 2 xipci-

[ 124 ]
" philofophers, and truly religious to
" love and honour truth alone, refufmg
" to follow the dodrines of the an- ,
" tients, if they are wrong. For right
*' reafon not only counfels us not to
*' follow what is wrong, in dodrine
" or pradice, but that by all m^ans
" it becomes a lover of truth, though
" death threaten him, to make it his
*' choice to fay and to do what is juft,
" ,.. .there are who take the name, and
" put on the appearance of philofo-
^' phers, but who do nothing Worthy
" fuch a charader,"
Of the morals and behaviour of
Chriftians, in his time, he fpeaks thus.
*' * As our hopes are not confined
** to the prefent ftate of things, we are

" not

xic£'.ci:c/.i Sci- p. 4- •••XXI yxo toi (ptXoaoipixs ovoy.x
X.XI c^YlfJ.X iTTiycx'^QV.C/.l TtVSS 01 bSsv X^lOV TYIS VTHO-
c.'_i<jfMi-irpxT,B(ji, p, 9. edid. Sty. Thirlbius.
'* AA/. tiTH BX, €iS TO I'vy Tas sXttiSxs S'/Qy.iVy
xixic'dvTon' B TTi'^poy'iixxyev tb xcu -zirxvTus xiro-
bxveiv

[ "S ]
" iiot mlich difturbed about thofe who
" put us to death, for we know we
*^ muft die. But of all men we affift
" you moft, and contend moft for
" peace, who teach, that it is impof-
" fible for the wicked, the covetous,
" the infidious, or the virtuous, to be
*' hid from God ; and that every one
" fhall depart to everlafting puhifh-
" ment, or falvation, according to the
" merit of his adions. If all men
^xveiv oCpeiXoyevB' xpuyqt S' vyiv xax crvyyx')(pi
¦mpos apYivYiv e&ysv -mxvTOW yxXXov xvvpuTruv, ot
Txvrx So^x^oyev, us Xx^env Qsov, xxxoSpyov, ti
TrXeovsxlYiVj » em^B^oVy ri evapSTov, xSvvxIov siroi,
XXI ixxe^oy sir xiuvixv xoXxaiv '1 cruTnpixv xxt
x^ixv TUV 'Zirpx^suv ¦mopsve&xi' ei yxP ttxvtss xv-
bpuToi TaUTa syivuaxov, bx xv tis tyiv xxxixv 'ur'po?
o7.iyov YTp&iTo, yivuaxuv 'mopsvs^xi sir xiuvixv Six
TTVpOS XXTxSlXVVy xXX' SX 'STXl'loS TfOTTB IXUTOV
Gvva^s -XXI exoayci xpSTn, ottus tuv -rnxox ©ga
t:;;:^}^ a-^aGwy, xxi tuv xoXx<^Yipiuv xTTYiXXxfysvos
CiYI. p. 1 6.
Here inftead of svxpslov-, who has fallen in
to very bad company, I would chufe to
read evxpov accurfed. See Hefychius. " knew

[ 126 ]
" knew thefe things, not one would
" chufe the alternative, to be bad for
** a little feafon, when he knows that
*' he muft undergo the fentence of fire
*' In an everlafting ftate ; but, on the
" contrary, by all means, reftrain him-
" felf, and put on the ornaments of
" virtue, that he may obtain good
" things from God, and be delivered
** from places of torment,"
And in another place,
" * Many men and women of fixty
" and feventy years of age, who have
" learned Chrift from their youth, re-
" main incorrupt and pure : And it is
" our boaft, that we can fhew fuch of
Kcu iroXXoi Tivss xcu TToAAai, S^yixovtbt cu
yai e'-SoyYixoi'iBTxiy oi ex tsjxiSuv syx^YiTSv^nnxv
TU XpiTfc', x^^Qcpoi SixySvBai" xcu. ev^oyxi v.xtx
izo-v '}i':ci avkcuTTUv toibtbs Se-t^xt, ti yxo xax
?.S') iysv TO xvxpiuyiiiov 7rA/i6os tuv s^ xxoXxaixs
ySTxZxXovTuv X.CU Ta'-zTa yxuovTuv ^ h yxo tbs
Syixxibs^ bSs TBi au(^po]'xs-, ets y.ST^votxv exxXi-
c<iv 0 Xp/<7-05, aA/.cc Tas aTfCciS, ^ai xxo'/.xc^bs,
xxi xSixBS. p. 22.
every

[ 127 ]
" every rank and age ; not to mention
" the innumerable multitude of thofe,
" who are taught thefe things, leaving
'' off intemperance. For Chrift did
*' not call the juft. and chafte to repent,
" but the ungodly, the incontinent and
*' unjuft," " * And becaufe we refufe to facri-
" fice to thole, to whom we had for-
" merly done, we are made to fuffer
" extremeft tortures ; and being ex-
" pofed to death, we rejoice, trufting
" that God will raife us up. through
" his Chrift, and render us incorrupt-
" ible, impaffible, and immortal."
That any good ftatefman, or fkilful
politician, or true philofopher, fhould
, oppofe fuch men, or their principles,
. * HycHS Se J-srep y/ii ^va-ix^eiv ois txjxXxi e^vo-
ysv,, VTsoyevoyev Tas g^^axas Tiyupixs xxi uxvx-
TByevoi ^x'lpoysvj 'unq'svovTSS oti xvxc^Yiaa -nyxS
0 QSOS Six TB "KpiTB XVTBy XXl x(poaplBSj xxi
XTTx^iis XUI a^xvxTBS TTOiYiacu p, 230. is

[ "8 ]
is impoffible ; but the abettors of fu-
perftition and tyranny, not being the
friends of fociety, truth, or virtue, can
not he fuppofed capable of proteding
and promoting that which is neceffary
to their fupport, and certainly de-
ftrudive of their own wicked fchemes.
Hence it was that the enemies of thefe
apoftolic men met with a very dif
ferent treatment from the pagan go
vernors ; for Simon, Menander, their
followers, and " at this time," fays
Juftin, *' * Marcion of Pontus, whq
" teaches that there is another God
* MxpXlUVX Se TIVX YloVTiXOVy OS XXI vvv STL
sq'i SiSxcTXuv TBS itreiBoyevBS xXXov tivx voy.i^av
ya^ovx TB SYiyiBpyB ^eov  ttxvtss oi xtto tbtuv
opyuyevoi "KpiTixvoi xxXbvtxi^ ov TpoTov xou oi
8 xoivuvBvrss TUV XVTUV SoyyxTuv Tots (piXoa-Q"
(pOliy TO eTTixxTYifopBysvov ovoyx TYIS ^tXoaofixs
xoivov e^Bo-iv' ei Se xxi tx Sva(pYiyx sxeivx yv^o-
AoyByevx epyx 'urpxTlBdiy Xv^vixs yiv xvxTpoTTYiVy
xxt Tas xvsSyiv yi^eiSy xxi xv^puTreiuv (rxpxuv |8o-
/)a?, B yivosaxoysv' xXX' oti yn SiuxovTxi, yri"
Se ipoyevovTxi vcp liyuv,, xxv Six tx SoyyxTXy
eTTK^-xye^x. P'43. ApoLog. i. " greater

[ 129 ]
*' greater than the Creator .,.. all thefe
*'¦ fpawns are called Chriftians, in like
*' manner as men profeffing- different
" fyftems are rieverthelefs called by one
" common name philofophers. But
J whether they are guilty of fuch in-
" famous pradices, as are fabuloufly
" reported, as putting out the lights,
** promifcuous embraces, feeding on
" human flefh, we do not know ; but
" we do know they are not perfecut-
" ed, nor put to death by you, Ajrhat-
" ever opinions they maintain."
Nothing could be more falfe than
thefe accufations were againft real
Chriftians, as is evident from the tefti
mony of Pliny ; and fo far were they
from feeding upon human flefli, that,
as Tertullian obferves, " *' they did not
* Ne animalium quidem fanguinem in
epulis efciilentis habemus. Tertul. Apologetico.
S *' fo

[ ISO ]
" fo much as fuffer the blood of ani-
** mais to be brought upon their
" tables." After all that may have been faid in
favour of the honefty, and diligence, and
learning of Juftin, it has not been fuf
ficient to proted him againft the feverc
cenfures of hypercritical men, for hav
ing inferted fome things in his writings,
which they mightily difapprove of.
Not to repeat the falfe derivation of
Satanas *, he is found to bear tefti
mony
* Juftin Martyr's derivation of Satanas from
Sata and Nas, is not fo unaccountable as fome
have imagined it to be. For both thefe words
(or, to fpeak more properly, parts of the fame
word) may eafily be derived from the Oriental
Languages, agreeably to the notion of xtto<^x-
T«5, here afligned them, as will appear from
what follows : Sata.
Heb, n^lJ', declinavit, deflexit, divertit.
Syr. ^^XD, '23D, the fame; from whence
^a^io ;^s,^s. j-.^TiNoS Avertere fe pojl Sa-
tanam, Gr.

[«3' ]
mony to the cells in the ifland of
Pharos, where dwelt the tranflators of
the
Gr. f^ST pecTrticrxv oTricra tb Xarxva. i Tim.V.
If- The Arab. Isi likewife feems to favour the
notion of xtto^'xtyis. It fignifies, Dijiitif,
longius remotus fuit, limites exceffit ; but the
Heb, and Syr, are fufficient, as particularly
mentioned by the father,  t>i leSxavy xxi
Xvpuy (puvy. Nas.
Heb. riDJ, Tentavitj probavit. NlJiJ, Dei
eepit, feduxit.
Syr. |m fj Tentavif, exploravit ; often ap
ply 'd to the Devil, or Satan, in the N. T.
Arab, \_-«w, RetroceJJtt, recefjit, &c.
The Greek, after Nas^ immediately adds,
£| a }j epyvveix ofis exXriBYi, alluding perhaps to
Gen. iii. 13. ?JK'BTT, The ferpent beguiled me ;
('JNT*!, from the above-mentioned N^J;) and
hence our author, Apolog. I, p. 46. edit.
Thirlb. makes o<piSy o-alaras, and SixSoXos, fy-
nonymous terms. — ApxYiys%s tuv xxxuv Sxi-
y.ovuv o(pis xxXeiTxiy xxi axTxvxSy xxi SixfSoXos.
Irenaeus (lib, V. cap. 21. p. 43 3. edit.Grabe)
gives the fame interpretation of Satan, as Juftin
Martyr does here i-r-Satana enim verbum He-
braice apojiatam fgnificat j though he does
S 2 hot

['32 ]
the Jewifh bible, called the Septuagint,
xjr Seventy, from the fuppofed num
ber of perfons employed in tranflating
.it. . If Juftin had advanced any thing
here upon his own authority, or ha<i,
like modern antiquarians, built up a
palace for thefe holy interpreters, out
of fome undiftinguifhable ruins, let
him have anfwered for his own inge
nuity, or have been left to the mercy
of a modern . critic ; but, it happens,
that, in this place, he refers his readers
to the information of others ; and ex
prefly declares he received the know
lege of thefe things from the inhabi
tants; who told him that the veftigia
not mention the Hebrew verb ; but this his
editor, Dr, Grabe, fupplies ; Si fequamur in-
terpretaiionem. Irenai, deducendum erit a'
riKB', quod divertciefgni/icat feu deficere.
The reader is obliged to Dr. Hunt, the
learned profeflbr of Heb. and Arab, at Oxford,
for this note, or

[ 133 ]
or remains of certain little houfes he
faw in Pharos of Alexandria, were
the places where , the interpreters did
live. ' -
In his ^firft: apology r he charges the
Romans.with having ,erededr a ftatue
to Simon Magus; and appeals to the
ftatue ftanding on the 'banks of the
Tiber, with this infcription, Simoni
fanEio deo. I fhall not undertake to de
fend Juftin, in the manner his late editor
has done ; who, having faid all that
could beTaid, in favour of his author,
againft thofe who afferted this ftatue
to have been ereded to^the Etrurian
Hercules, fays, " * if his opinion is
*' afked, he muft own that he had
" aded the part of an advocate, rather
* Siquis autem quEerat quid de hac re ipfe
fentiam, patroni me potius quam judicis partes
egifle negare non poftum, quasque dixi non
tam veritatis gratia quam Juftini dixifle, &c.
D. 4.2. " than

C 134 ]
" than a judge, and had not regarded
** truth fb much as the defence of his
** author." But if he had caft his eye
upon this paflage in the fecond apo
logy, " * no man is to be preferred
" to the trutlj," he muft have feen
that Juftin would not have fubmitted
to fuch defence.
Juftin, being no more a critic in La
tin than in Hebrew, might eafily be
^^ceived in reading Semoni for Simoni ;
or receive it from fome other Chriftian,
without knowing more of the matter
than what was reported by others. If
he had been a Roman, the miftake
had been lefs pardonable ; but if taken
up in the fevereft manner, it is evident
he did not intend to deceive any one ;
for he addreffes himfelf to tiie Senate,
who could not but know what gods
they had admitted into their general
* AAA' bti ye -urpo tyis xXrfyeixS tiJutitSos
.4!U!Yi^. p. 122. 1, 20.
pan-

[ '35 ]
pantheon. And no one argument he
makes ufe of, in defence of Chriftiani
ty or Chriftians, at all depends upon
the exiftence of this ftatue. It would
have been a reproach to the Romans
to have deified the forcerer, and that
is the moft that can be made of it.
But, as if this was not fufficient for
abufe, as indeed it is little enough, a
French critic has been very liberal of
his cenfures againft all preachers, mo
dern as well as antient, becaufe Juftin
and Gregory Nazianzen had offended
him, by being fuppofed to have faid
what they never did fay, or, at leaft,
what cannot be found in any of their
writings. It was the more unfortunate
for Juftin, who was himfelf a philo
fopher, that he fhould be charged with
fuch a crime, which was no lefs than
the making Ariftotle to have drowned
himfelf in the Euripus, when it was
well known he died on the fhore. But
A. neither

[ '36 ]
neidier Juftin nor Gregory report any
fuch thing. The miftake was Faber's,
and therefore he fhould have treated.
it, as being his own, with more gentle-
nefs. " * In Greece, aS at prefent,
" the holy orators, if it be right to
" diftinguifh thefe pulpitrCracks and
" cymbals of the mob, by fuch a
" name, commonly rieported that Ari-
*' ftotle, becaufe he could not difcover
" the caufe of the tides that rife and
" fall feven times a day, in the Eu-
*' ripus, threw himfelf, miferable as
* In Grsecia, quemadmodum hodieque fit,
oratores facri, fi tamen tanto nomine ilia pul-
pitorum crepitacula, & plebiculae cymbala,
cohoneftari oporteat, vulgo didtitabant Ariftor
telem, cum illius feptense in dies fingulos re-
ciprocationis caufam non potuiflTet cognofcere,
ibi tum mifellum fefe in Euripum dedifle prse-
cipitem,& in maximam malam crucem abiiflTe.
Juftinus cognomento Martyr,' & Gregorius
Nazianzenus, qui primi, aut inter primos, banc
fabulain olim in fcripta fua retulerunt,
Jan. Fabri Epift. p. i.

[ 137 ]
" he was, headlong into it, and pe-
" riflied. Juftin, called the Martyr,
" and Gregory Nazianzen, were the
*' firft, or among the firft, who men-
** tion this in their writings." But
the truth is, the fupercilious noify
critic, and not the pulpit- crack, is
here guilty of a very grofs miftake,
the more unpardonable, as it is moft
abufive, and without foundation. For
all that Juftin fays, in his cohor tation
^to the Greeks, is that *' when * (Ari-
" ftotle) could not difcover the nature
*' of the Euripus in Chalcis [the mer
" tropolis of Euboea] greatly dejeded
*' with difgrace and fhame, he depart-
" ed this life," Gregory Nazianzen
fays no more ; and there is not a word
in either of thefe authors to fupport
the calumny of Le Fevre. On which
account Monf Bayle, no great patron
* OuSe TYIV TB "EvplTTB (pVaiV TB OVTOS Sv'KxX-
xtSt yvuvxi SvvYi^eis Six ttoXXyiv xSo^ixv Jjj xi%u^
VW Xt^TTYI^eiS ySTSfYI TB (ilB.
T of

[ 138 ]
of the fathers of the church, makes
this very pertinent refledion, in his
notes upon the life of Ariftode, that
<' * fome men, not having the regard
" they ought to have for the fathers,
*' have charged them vvith too much
'* credulity." This it is to condemn without read
ing, and this fhould teach us not to de
pend abfolutely upon the authority of
other men, who, becaufe they have ac
quired the charader of critics, impe-
rioufly demand univerfal aflent to their
vain conjedures, and often groundlefs
affertions. And here I would obferve, once for
all ; that if right notions of the Deity,
and every moral relation and duty ; if
an uniform condud, built upon that
foundation ; if fincerity, even unto
'^ Plufieurs perfonnes, n' aiant pas pour les
peres de I'eglife tout le refpedt qu'il faudroit,
fe plaifent a les taxer d'une aveugle credulite. death,

[^39]
death; if free enquiry, right choice,
goodnefs, firmnefs, are proofs of fenfe
and wifdom, the citations already pro
duced from Juftin, and other Chriftian
writers, muft fhew them to have been
as wife and fenfible, as good and pious*
The philofopher Juftin preferred the
Chrifldan religion, becaufe it appeared
to him to be the true philofophy ; and
Clemens, for the information it gave
of the future ftate of the foul of man.
And fo far were they from being fu
perftitious, that they judged with free
dom, and condemned, and were con
demned by, the fuperftition of their
days. But Juftin, Irenseus, Papias, and
others, were Chiliafts, and believed in the
Millennium. They pretended to have
received this notion from the apoftles
themfelves ; and in fome late works,
called philofophical, it is faid, we fhould
either receive this, or give up other
T 2 apofto-

[ UO 1
apoftolical traditions : If we do not
believe they received this dodrine from
their mafters, it will not be eafy to
determine what they received from
them ; or there can be no dependence
upon thefe primitive men. And how
they will anfwer this, who are unwilling
to admit of any Millennium, I can
no more conceive, than I can account
for the admitting the revelations of
St. John to be divine, and yet deny
what they fo manifeftly contain. The
Scriptures exprefly declare, that men
are to rife again at two periods ; the
firft is the refurredion of the juft, " the
*^ fouls of them that were beheaded
" for the witnefs of Jefus, and for the
" word of God ; and which had not
*' worfhiped the beaft, neither his image,
*' neither had received his mark upon
" their foreheads, or in their hands :
"and they lived and reigned with
" Chrift a thoufand years. But the
" reft

[ HI ]
'* reft of the dead lived not again un-
" til the thoufand years were finifhed.
" This is the firft refurredion. Bleffed
" and holy is he, that hath part in
" the firft refurredion! on fuch the
" fecond death hath no power ; but
" they fhall be priefts of God and of
" Chrift, and fhall reign with him a
" thoufand years." Revel, xx.
. However, in receiving this as an apo
ftolic dodrine, it is not neceffary to ad
mit the fenfual pleafures of Cerinthus,
nor the many ftrange notions that the
Chiliafts have added to this account of
a firft and fecond refurredion. It was
not the dodrine of the Millennium, or
the belief that the juft were to reign
with Chrift a thoufand years before
the fecond refurredion, that difgraced
the' Millennaries, but the delights and
enjoyments they conneded with it;
which, according to fome, were fo fen
fual.

t H2 3
fual, that there could be no good au*
thority for them.
To this fhort apology for theffe early
fathers, it may not be improper to add
fome account of the manners of the
firft Chriftians, as contained in the
old apologifts ; that it may be feen
whether they deferved the cruelties in-
flided on them ; whether they dif
graced or honoured the Chriftian pro
feffion ; and whether they were not the
beft fubjeds, as well as the beft of
good men, and confequently their ca-r
lumniators and tormentors, the very
worft of men : and yet the piety and
goodnefs of the one has been ridiculed,
when the tragic monfters have been
admired and applauded.
Athenagoras, who lived about the
middle of the fecond century, and
wrote his apology for the Chriftians,
betwen 165. and 170, anfwers for the
dodrines and pradices of Chriftians, in

[ 143 3
in fuch a manner, as to fhew they de
ferved the protedion, not the puniflbr
ment, of magiftrates.
" * If you afk what are the dodrines
*^ in which we are brought up ? I an-
" fwer. Love your enemies; blefsthem
" that curfe (you) ; pray for them that
" perfecute you ; that you may be the
** children of your father which is in
" heaven  If we were perfuaded that
Ti^'gs Bv riyuv 01 Xoyoi ois ev1pe(poyeoxj Xe-
•yeo vyiv' -ctyxTTxle tovs e^^pBs vyuv, evXoyei'TS
TBS xxTxpuysvBSj TiTpoa-ev^s^e v-wsp tuv Siuxov-
TUV Vy.lZSy OTTUS ySVYlSsS IfOl TB TTXTpOS VyUV TB
iv TOIS Bpxvois  Athenag. Leg. pro Chriftian.
p. 42. edit. Oxon  si yev yxp hx tov evTxv.-
vev ^lov fiujasSriu -we'ireitrye^xy xxv evTTOTTleveiv
SvflV) SBXevovTxs axpxL xcu xiyxTi^ » xepSBs n
STTi^ytxs eXxT^Bs (lege eXxTBs) ysvoyevBSy xyxp-
TCiv' eTTet Se e<psc^Yixsvxi yev ois ewoByev,, ois Xx?^b-
fjiSVy xax vvxTup xax ysh' nyepxv tov ^sov oiSxyevy
"TTXVTX Se (pus XVTOV OVTXj XOX TX SV TYI XXpSlOj
iiy.uv opxvy -meTTeiayevxy ts svTxuuiv xttxXXx-
yevTos (2iB, (iiov iTepov [iiuae^ax, xyeivoyx yi xxtx
ffqv evQ.cCiSe xax eTTBpavioVj bx eTTiyetov.
Athenag, Apolog. p. 146.
n " we

[ H4 ]
" we fhould live in this life only, it
" might be fufpeded, that we fhould
" be the fervants of flefh and blood,
" or be led by lucre, or concupifcence,
*' to fin. But fince we know that
" God is prefent with us, whenever we
*' think or fpeak, by night or day ;
" that he is all light, and fees what-
*' ever paffes in our heart ; we are
" convinced, that departing out of this
" life, we fhall live in a better ftate
" than this, in heaven, not on earth."
Theophilus, who was made bifhop
of Antioch in 169. fpeaking of the
immoralities of heathens, the adulte
ries of their gods, their cruel murders,
and tragical fcafts, as that of Thyeftes,
fays '* * Far be it from Chriftians to
'' ad
* Mxxpxv Se xTTeiYi "Kpiq^ixyois ev^uyYi^vvou ti
TOIBTO "zzrca^cM, ^xp OIS <TU(r>po(TVvn 'Wxpeqi'lVy
eyxpxTtix xcxeiTot.) y.ovoyxy.ix THp«Tcu, xyveix
^uAaojgTCM, xSixLci, SXTTopuaTMy xyxpTix expi^B-
TCW, S IXXlOO'VVYI yiXSTXTOA., VOy^S TTOXlTSViTOAy SnoTsCeiv.

[ H5 ]
'* ad, or even think, in this manner,
" with whom is modefty and the
" exercife of temperance. They allow
" but of one wife ; they preferve them-
" felves chafte : (with them) unrighte-
" oufnefs is deftroyed, fin extirpated,
" law adminiftered, religion pradifed,
" God worfhiped ; truth decides, grace
*' proteds, peace furrounds them :
" The divine word is their guide, wif-
'* dqm inftruds them. The life (Chrift)
" determines their reward, God reigns
*' over them."
Such was the religion, fuch the be
haviour, of the firft Chriftians. That
they too foon degenerated ; that error
and fuperftitioUj in time, mingled with
SrSQcreSatc, Ttjpxoj-elouj Qeos oyoXoy^.Td/.^ xXvueta
^pxJ^evei,, ^xpis uvvTYipa^ sipyivYr 4. ¦mspiaxSTleiy
XoyoS a,yios oSYiyeiy cro(pix SiSxaxei, ^cojj fSpx-
€eveiy ©gos l^xa-iXevei.
Lib, 3. Theophil. ad Autolycum.
^ Lege Tsipia-xiTrei.
U the

[ '46]
the truth, and debafed the pure fim
plicity of the gofpel- age ; and that
many weak paffages may be produced
from Chriftian writers, who, in other
refpeds, may be very valuable and
ufeful, is true : but then it muft ap^
pear, from what has been faid in favour
of the firft followers of the difciples
of them, whofe lives and charaders have
been here examined, that, however
they may have been miftaken . in the
ufe and application of any paffage in
the Scriptures, they were, by no means,
the corruptors of them ; nor did they
fraudulently deliver to the church for
apoftolic what they had never received
from the apoftles.
If, therefore, the author of works
called philofophical meant to include
thefe men in the following charge
againft the fathers, and, under the word
tradition, all that was defivered by
them, even the Gofpels, and other writ-

[ '47 ]
writings of the New Teftament, he
deferved the cenfure he has unworthi
ly caft upon others, and muft have
been " very ignorant, or very impu-
"dent*." If Toland had not publifhed his
Amyntor, and the late author of cer
tain works called philofophical had
not unworthily trod in his fteps, with
out confidering what had been fb un-
anfwerably written againft him, it
would not have been neceflary to have
faid more of the fpurious Gofpels
than this, that they were never ad
mitted into the Chriftian Church from
* " He who pretends to clear the reverend
" fathers, by whom tradition was principally
" conveyed down, from age to age, and to
" deny this charge (that ecclefiaftical tradi-
" tion has been, from the firft and pureft
" ages, founded, for the moft part, in ig-
" norance, fuperftition, enthufiafm, and fraud)
*' muft be very ignorant himfelf, or very im-
" pudent." p. 39. vol. iii.
U 2 the

[ '48 ]
the days of Polycarp, to the prefent
time. But there are forty of them I Yes,
and more too. And if there had been
forty times forty Gofpels, I cannot fee
how they could leffen the credit that
is certainly due to the four Genuine
Gofpels. The more Gofpels there are,
the more evidence there will be, if they
are antient Gofpels, of the common
fads related by all. And it will be
very hard to account for fo many
counterfeits, without allowing fome to
have been original. And if they were
contrived by the Ebionites, and fome
early fedaries, who did not admit the
dodrines and authority of the imme
diate difciples of Jefus ; we, who are
the followers of thofe difciples, and of
them only, who pretend to have their
writings, and their account of things,
can have nothing to do with any other ;
no piore than he, who declares himfelf an

[ 149 3
an enemy to the Qqd of Mof^$ and
of Paul can, whatever he may pretend,
have any real concern for any revela
tion at all.
But let what remains of thefe Gof
pels be read, as they are coUeded by
Fabricius in his Codex Apocryphus,
or by Mr. Jones in his Canon of the
New Teftament ; let them fpeak for
themfelves, and let any man prefer
them to the four Genuine Gofpels if
he can : for I do not think it is dif^
puted, at prefent, whether the adver-
fary fhould be obliged to believe all
that the church thought proper to re -
jed. The conteft with thefe men is not
about believing too much, but too
little. And therefore it will be time
enough to difpute about the Apocry-r
pha, when they have admitted any
thing to be canonical.
What credit is due to Polycarp and
Irenseus, has been already fhewn ; and if

[ 'SO ]
if they admitted the four Gofpels, it is
the ftrongeft evidence that can be given
in their favour. The latter fays ex
prefly, that there neither was, nor could
be, more than four Gofpels. Neque
plura nee minus quam quatuor * pof-
funt efle evangelia, lib. iii. c. 1 1 . And
Polycarp, in that excellent fragment
* Irenajus has been ridiculed for this afier-
tion, by the author of works called philofo
phical. He compares the four Gofpels to the
four pillars of a houfe, the quarters of the
world, and to the cherubim. And if this
was a fault in Irenaeus, it was not peculiar
to him, it was rather the vice of the age.
There was a Pythagoric quaternary, TeTpxy!]vs
To-vBxyopixYi, ogdoads, and many other numeri
cal fancies. Philo wrote a book about the vir
tue of numbers, -z/repL xoi^ywv, now loft. Phi
lofophers, and Jews, and Heretics, and or
thodox Chriftians, all played with numbers ;
and oue or two men fliould not be condemn'd
fingly for what was almoft univerfal. But
as he ufes sixolu;, a word of fimilituds, what
he fays of the parallel circumftances of other
things having four parts, ftiould be confidered
rather as a comparifon than a demonftration. pre-

[ 'S' ]
preferved by Vidor Capuanus, and
cited by Feuardentius, in his notes on
the third book of Irenaeus, gives a
rational account of the defign each
of the evangelifts had in writing his
Gofpel. << * Matthew, writing to the He-
" brews, has inferted the genealogy of
" Chrift, that he might fliew Chrift
" to be defcended of that race, from
* MatthjBus, ut Hebrseis fcribens, genea-
logisB Chrifti ordinem texuit, ut oftenderet
ab ea Chrift um defcendifle progenie, de qua
eum nafciturura univerfi prophetae cecinerant.
Johannes autem, ad Ephefum conftitutus,
qui legem tanquam ex gentibus ignorabant,
a caufa noftrse redemptionis evangelii fumpfit
exordiurri, quas caufa ex eo apparet, quod
filium fuum Deus pro noftra falute voluit
incarnari. Lucas vero a Zacharise facerdotio
incipit, ut ejus filii miraculo nativitatis, &
tanti prsedicatoris officio divinitatem Chrifti
gentibus declararet. Unde & Marcus an-
tiqui prophetici myfterii competentia adventui
Chrifti declarat, ut non nova fed antiquitus
pro lata ejus prasdicatio probaretur,
2 " whence

[ '5^ ]
^ whence all the prophets had foretold
" he was to be born. But John, who
** was fixed at Ephefus, where the Law
" was not known by the Gentiles, be-
*' gan his Gofpel with the caufe of our
" redemption ; which caufe was ma-
" nifeft from this, that God will'd his
" fon to be incarnate for our falvation.
" But Luke begins with the priefthood
** of Zacharias, that, by the miracle
** of his fon's nativity, and the office
" of fo great a preacher, he might
'* make known the divinity of Chrift.
** And Mark, therefore, fets forth
" fome antient paffages of prophetic
*' myftery, agreeing to the coming of
" Chrift, that his preaching might not
" feem a novelty, but be confomable
" to what had been antiently deli*
" vered." Then Tertullian, who lived at the
end of thp firft, and beginning of the
fecond

t '53 ]
fecond century, in his fourth book
againft Marcion, fays exprefly, that
" we have our faith from the apoftles
" John and Matthew, and the apo-
" ftolic Luke and Mark." Nobis fidem
ex apoftolis Johannes 8c Matthaeus in-
finuant, ex apoftolicis Lucas & Marcus
inftaurant. After him Clemens of Alexandria
objeds * to any other than the four
Gofpels. Origen fays, over and over again, that
" there are no more than four Gof-
" pels received by the church." And
after him every Chriftian writer fays
the fame thing.
Thefe are the only Gofpels that arc
cited as Scripture, by the moft antient
Chriftian writers, as may be feen in
Mr, Jones's Canon, and the learned
* Er TOIS TTxpxSeSoyevois riyiv TeTxpmv Evxy-
TsXiois ovx s^oysv TO pYuoy. Strom, i.iii.
' That is not faid in the four Golpels we
* have delivered to us.' X and

[ '54- ]
and laborious colledions of Dr, Larde-
ner : the contrary has been afferted by
Toland ; *' but fuch unfair pradice,"
fays Mr. Jones, p, 87, vol, ii, " was
" very common with this trifling wri-
" ter." It is very remarkable, that
in the dialogue of Juftin the Martyr
with Trypho the Jew, great part of
the Gofpel fads are recited, and never
once denied by Trypho. They are fo
largely and fo often cited by Chriftian
men, in different times and places, and
were fo often read in the churches,
that it is fcarce poffible to doubt the
genuinenefs of the four Gofpels ; or to
believe them to have undergone any
confiderable change, or alteration, fince
they were firft written by the men
whofe names they bear *. Another
' * The Gofpel was indeed coirupted by
* Marcion, Valentinus, and perhaps Lucan,
' but Origen, at leaft, did not knov/ that it was
* corrupted by any other.' MsTxxa-px^xvTxs I Si

[ '55 ]
Another famous proof of the au
thenticity of the Scriptures of the New
Teftament, is taken from the old Syriac
verfion, which was made in or near
the apoftles times. The conftant belief
of the Eaftern churches, and the confent
of almoft all learned men, greatly fa
vour this argument ; as does alfo the
agreement of this verfion with the moft
antient copies of the Scripture in other
languages, and tbe omiffion of fome
paffages not found in them ; together
with the ufe of the old name Akie,
for Ptolemais (fee Pliny's Nat. Hift.
1. V, c. 19. and Stephanus 'srspi ttoXsuv),
And although the churches of Syria
received the epiftle of Jude, the fe
cond epiftle of Peter, and the fecond
and third epiftle of John as canonical,
in the fecond century, they are not
Se TO evxylsXiov xXXbs bx. oiSx, ri tbs xtto Mxo-
JtlW!'®-, xax TBS XTTO OvxXiVTlVB, OiyOA. Ss Xj
TBS XTTO Abxxvb. coutra Celfum, p, jy.
X 2 in

[ '56 ]
inferted in this old verfion, which muft
therefore have been made before they
were known to have been written.
Hence it is manifeft, that the au
thenticity of the four Gofpels does not
abfolutely depend on the canon of
Scripture, annexed to the council of
Laodicea, which is wanting in fome
very antient manufcripts, and is not
found in Jofeph the ^Egyptian's Arabic
Codex conciliorum *. Much lefs can
it depend upon that idle and ridicu
lous ftory, related in the Synod icum
of Pappus, that the bifhops affembled
at the council of Nice, to determine
what books were canonical -t*, '* laid
*^ them under the holy table, in the
* See the preface to the wOrk;s o£ the learn
ed Mr, John Gregory of Oxford,
•f* Ev yxo TU oixu tb Gsb xxtu i^xpx tjj
Iracc TpxTTsC,''! awTas 'mxpx^SySvYi 'wpocriv^xTO us
evpeUYIVCU Tas ^SOTTVeV^BS STTXVUy TOV KvplOV s'^OXr
TYia-xyevYiy xjtxs xiCSyiXbs, o ^ ^g^/orer, vttoxc^-
fubsy. Syn. 34. " houfe

[ 157]
^'^ houfe of God, and prayed that fuch
** as were divinely infpired, might be
'* found upon the tablCj and the impure
" or apocryphal underneath ; which
" was done accordingly."
To read thefe fpurious produdions,
is fufficient evidence againft them;
which were contrived to account for
things of which the true Gofpels vvere
filent, as of the nativity of Mary, and
the infant adions of our Lord; or
to fupport fome abfurd opinions that
could not be maintained upon the
principles of divine revelation.
The Gofpel of the nativity of Ma
ry, was the fame with the Protevange-
lium of St. James, which are not to
be found in Origen's, nor any other
antient catalogue of facred books.
They are not cited by any of the an
tient fathers ; were always rejeded by
them, and contain many idle and ri-
dicu-

[ '5?]
diculous ftories, and fome things abfo-
Jatdy falfe.
The Gofpel of the iiitfancy is full of
the moft abfurd ftories imaginable ;
contradids the true Gofpel, which
afferts, that the firft miracle performed
W Jefus was at the marriage-feaft
at Cana in Galilee ; is inconfiftent
with the filence of the four Gofpels,
and of all the primitive Chriftians, con
cerning any miracles performed in his
infancy, or prior to that at Cana :
And, from fome internal marks, is
known to have been written fome cen
turies later than to be of that antiquity
it boafts. The Gofpel of Nicodemus abounds
with as idle and abfurd fidions as any
of them, Per^ Simon therefore afks,
Y-a-t-il rien de plus ridicule que I'evan
gile attribuee a Nicodeme ? it contains
many contradidions, and falfe fads,
and is much later than it pretends to
be. As

[ '59 1
As for the Gofpel of St. Andrew, if
there ever was fuch a book in the
world, it is now no where to be heard
of, but in fome copies of the decree
of pope Gelafius, which condemns it
as apocryphal.
The Gofpel of Thaddsus alfo is no
where to be found but in this decree.' '
The Gofpel of St. Bartholomew k
mentioned only by Jerome and Gela^
fius, who condemn it.
The Gofpel of Barnabas, notwith
ftanding all that has been faid by To*
land, (who was capabk of faying^ <m-
doing any thing that he thought would
difcredit revelation) and others, was
not known to any writer in the four
firft centuries, but was manifeftly forged
to ferve the purpofes of the Alcoran ;
never fpeaks of Chrift, but as a pro
phet only ; and exprefly mentions Ma
homet as the paraclete by name. The

The Gofpel of Matthias was not re!-
ceived nor cited by any good writer,
but rejeded for its 'impiety and abfur-^
ditics. The Gofpel of the Nazarenes,' of
the Ebionites, of the twelve apoftles,
of Bartholomew, of Cerinthus, and
Merinthus (the fame man) and the
Gofpel according to the Hebrews, are
all corruptions of the Hebrew copy of
St. Matthew's Gofpel ; are not in any
catalogue of the facred writings ; are
iiot cited as Scripture, but rejeded as
apocryphal, by the firft Chriftian
writers ; were never read in the
Churches, and contain many things
that are falfe.
The Gofpel of Marcion was an in
terpolated copy of St. Luke's GofJ3el.
The Gofpel of Apelles, fpurious :
he was a difciple of Marcion.
The Gofpels of Hefychius and Lu
cia nusv

[ i6x ]
cianus, were only corrupted copies of.
thofe received by the Church.
The Gofpel of Tatian was an har
mony of the four Gofpels;
The Gofpel of Philip, and the Gof
pel of Perfedion, were forgeries of the
Gnoftics. ^^ As was the GoJ^el of Truth a for
gery^ of the Valentinians. -
And the eternal Gofpel, as it is
called, is a forgery of the thirteenth
century. Bafilides had a Gofpel, but he was
the difciple of Menander, and a gno-
ftio; and probably the fpurious Gof
pel of Peter was the fame with that
of Bafilides, forged by fuch of the
gnoftics as were called docet(Zy heretics
of the fecond century, who held the
fijfferings of Chrift not to have been
real, but apparent only, from S^oxeiv ta
feem. It contained many, things that
Y were

[ I62 ]
were known to be falfe, and was ne
ver received into the canon.
Scythianus too had a Gofpel which
is not extant ; he was the author of the
Manichean fed. For Manes (whence
the word Manichees) was the flave
Curbicus, adopted by his miftrefs, who
l)ad the poffeffion of the wealth and
papers of Terebinthus, the difciple of
Scythianus. The Gofpel according to the ,^gyp-
tians is not to be found in any cata
logue of the facred writings ; is not
cited as Scripture, but rejeded as apo
cryphal, and contains things that are
falfe. The Gofpel of Eve was a monfter
of the gnoftics, full of ridiculous vi-r
fions, and founded upon the fuppofi-
tion of Eve's having acquired fome ex
traordinary knowlege of fpiritual mat
ters, by her converfation with the fer
pent.

['63]
p*nt, ^ It is Tnentioned by Epiphanius
only, and was not known to Gelafius. -
^ Even Judas had his Gofpel, fays a
late writer of works called philofophir^
cal ; which he might have borrowed
fi-om Toland, who had made the fame
remark ; for which he was juftly cen
fiired by Mr. Jones, in the following
manner; " Artfully faid indeed! A
" fet of impious, beaftly, prophane
** wretches, (the Caianites) abandoned
** to all the exceffes of vice ahd im-
*' morality, forged a piece, under the
*' name of Judas ; and this is to be
*' ranked in the fame clafs with thofe
" which contain the fublime dodrines,
" aad holy precepts of Chriftianity."
Dr. Grabe, in a note upon the 1 7th
chapter of the firft book of Iren2eus,men-
tions the Gofpel of Leucius, which he fays
is in the library of the college of Corpus
Chrifti in Oxford. And from him it
is mentioned by Lamius, in his book'
Y 2 De

[ 16^4- ]
De eruditione Apoftolorum ; and \^
Fabricius, in his Codex Apocryphus ;
but it is not in the catalogue of the
manufcripts of that colle-ge ; nor could
I find it, though affifted in the fearch
by a learned gentleman of that houfe. .
Whoever is defirous of knowing more
of thefe falfe Gofpels, may read the pro
legomena to Dr. Mills' edition of the
Greek Teftament, the, anfwers to To-
land's Amyntor, Itigius, Fabritius, La
mius, Bcaufbbre,and particularly a new
and fuU method of fetding the canoni
cal authority of the New Teftament, by
Mr. Jeremiati Jones, 1726, In whofe
words, p, 269. p, 1 1." I conclude,
"Did Mr, Toland, and his friends, in
*' thefe their vile attacks upon fo ex-
'/ cellent and divine a conftitution, not
" quibble and juggle, and prevaricate,*
*Vas they upon all oCcafions do, in their
*' citations out of the old records of
<* Chriftianity (a crime which they are

" ever

[ '6s 3
" ever forward to charge upon others^
" who are much more clear of it) I
" fhould i^xcufe myfelf, and the reader
"from the trouble of any remarks
"upon them, leaving them to their
" flavifh Infidelity : But when I ob-
" ferve a perfon ranfacking arid *nufter-^
** ing together all tfie filly trumpery of
*'-the antient heretics, gTofly mifrepre-
" fenting the books^he cites, only with
*' defign to fatisfy a blotted humour,
*' againft the Chriftiail Religion, I am
** obliged, by my regards to the profef^
" fion I make of the name of Jefus, to
*' lay open fuch vile impofture  One
" can fcarce tell whether his intention
" of vilifying St. Paul, or the method
" he ufeth to do fo, be the more de-
" teftable * : This, forry, unbelieving

" critic

* Much abufe has been thrown upon the
charadter of St. Paul, by the late writer fo
often mentioned in the foregoing papers -, but
he is guilty of great unfairnefs, in not taking
2 nptice

[ .66 ]
" critic governs his fkill l^ his- wicked
*' principles ; and has no other wa^
*' to judge of fpurious and genuine
*' boolcs, than their oppofition to Chril^
" tianity."
notice of what Mr. J^ocke had faid, in an
fwer to his calumnies i wl^ich he could not be
ignorant of, for he owns he had hirti in 'his
hand, .and has been ready enough: to quot^
him when it has.feemedto fervehis own puiu
pofe. But, the rational and learned' com
mentary Upbn the epiftle to the Hebrews, by
I>i-. Sykes,"is a 'fufficient anfw^er to all that
Toknd. and his Fx)llower have faid againft
this apoftle.

F I N I S.

ERRATA.
Pagt 28, Sne z6, read gofpel-bleffing — 30, /. 5, dele CO —
^3, /. 9, of Htb, >•. DU/ J /. 1 1, r. Dy — 34, feparate bifli3\i;0
from infcin — 38, join 'B to the preeeding letters — 41, dele
Sti-iyiH — 42, /. I. of the fecond quotation, r. [irnDD j /. 2,
feparate rm from IJ- j /. 3, r. pa^U/IOl ; for n3i r. nD ; /. 4,
»-, {niN — 44, /, 4, (f Heb, feparate l"? /«« I^D; arj/yor "T3'i»
r. n3 ^b— 45, /, I, r. in ; Az, r. p33nD_46, /, 19, ?-, p^ann,
««</ /. 25, r. mn after »Qll/— . 47, /. j, o/H*^. r, "laHH — 48,
/. 3 , 0/^//^^, r. "iDajM ; /. 4, r. C3"\p1 i /. 9, feparate m^l //•«;«
the foliating letters ; and nnnvU^I/rm lb — 50, /. 2 z, r. ^^'JD^r
— 51, r.a^i — 57, /, 20, r. confecraretur — 58, /. 6, ic-
fpuit — 69, /. 5, r. iTTiyfit^i — 72, /. 2, r. afcended — 73, /.
13, r.a-^vJ^ti< — 76, /. 23, STiS'iJ^oiitrtv — 112, /.21, r. ayA-
•sniTuytv — 115, laft line, r, iS'iartKai — 125, /, 15. r. iyriSa*-
My -- 1 35, /«/? line, dele the.

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