The Divinity of the Christian Religion, Chapter 4

The Divinity of the Christian Religion · Chapter 4

p. 115CHAP. IV.

The accomplishment of Prophecies concerning the Messiah, in Jesus of Nazareth, is an unanswerable proof that he was sent from God to redeem the World. The circumstances of his Birth, the actions of his Life, his Sufferings and Death clearly foretold. The irreparable destruction of the State of the Jews was foretold as the just punishment for their rejecting of the Messiah. That terrible Event is a continual Proof that Jesus Christ was what he declar'd himself to be, the Son of p. 116God. The Converting of the Gentile World to the Knowledge and Service of the true God by the Messiah was foretold in the Scriptures; and is visibly fulfill'd. The Accomplishment of this Prophecy by the most unlikely means, against the strongest Opposition, is manifestly the effect of Divine Power, and is sufficient to convince the Jewish and Heathen Infidelity of the truth of Christianity.

THE Accomplishment of Prophecies concerning the MESSIAH his coming into the World, the Work he should do, his Sufferings, and the Consequences of them, afford undeniable proof that Jesus of Nazareth came from God for our Salvation. Prescience of things to come, and independent on the setled course and p. 117order of Natural Causes, is an incommunicable Prerogative of God. His Eye only can pierce the thick vail of futurity. He has an open unconfin'd prospect of all things that were, are, and shall be. Such perfection of Knowledge transcends Angelical Minds. 'Tis more easy for the Devil by an adventurous imitation to counterfeit Miracles, than to give a clear and distinct prediction of things to come that depend on free Agents. From hence it was that he gave responsals ambiguously, to conceal his ignorance of future events, and left those who consulted his Oracles dubious and hovering in what sense to understand them. God alone could instruct the Prophets to foretel things at such a distance, especially considering some of them are supernatural, and others p. 118contingent from the wavering of second Causes. Now the several Prophecies of Jesus Christ if united together, make such an entire description of him, that they seem rather Historical Narratives of what is past, than Predictions of what was to come. According to the Prophecies, he was born of a Virgin, a branch of the almost extinguish'd Family of David, born in Bethlehem, usher'd in by a forerunner, meek, lowly, just, and a worker of Miracles. Therefore when John the Baptist sent some of his Disciples to enquire whether he was the Messiah that should come: Our Saviour gave no direct Answer in words, but referred them to his Works, that gave a full and real testimony concerning him, Go, tell John the things which ye do hear and see; the Blind receive p. 119their Sight, the Lame walk, the Lepers are cleansed, the Deaf hear, the Dead are raised up, and the Poor have the Gospel preached to them: That comparing his Miraculous Operations for the recovery of humane Bodies, with the Prophecies, there being a perfect Agreement between them, and both undoubtedly from God, They might by that clear and certain Caracter acknowledg him to be the Promised Messiah. 'Tis an Observation of St. Austin, That the Son of GodPraevidens Dominus Iesus impios quosdam futuros, qui miraculis ejus calumnientur, Magicis artibus tribuendo, Prophetas ante praemisit. Numquid si Magus erat, & Magicis artibus fecit, ut coleretur & mortuus, Magus erat antequam natus? O Homo mortue & vermiscendo calumniose, Prophetas audi, Prop…tas Lege. Tract. in Joan. foreseeing the perverse Interpretations that his Enemies would make use of to darken the lustre of his Miracles, accusing him as a solemn Magician that wrought by p. 120force of Inchantment, that such a false Perswasion might not prevail, sent the Prophets before his coming into the World. From hence the Saint argues to repress those impious calumnies: If by Magical Arts he did such Wonders as to conciliate Divine Honour to him even since his Death, was he a Magician before he was born? and did he know the succession of all things in his Life before he lived, that by an impossible Miracle he predicted them to Moses, David, Esay, Daniel and others? Having thus argued, the Saint turns himself to those Infidels, as Christ to the Pharisees, looking round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, and said, O dead wretch, hear the Prophets.

But above all, His Death and Passion (the substance of the Gospel) p. 121is most exquisitly drawn with the lines of his own Blood. Daniel Dan. 9. 26. Zech. 11. 12.Dan 9:26Zech 11:12foretels the time; Zachary as if present at the execrable contract between Judas and the High-Priests, tels us exactly the price of the Treason, and then as if transported to Calvary, he saw his Side open'd with the Spear, and notes it in these words, they shall look on Psal. 22.Ps 22him whom they have pierced. David, as if he had stood at the foot of the Cross in the hour of his Sufferings, relates the manner of them in the Person of our Crucified Redeemer; They peirced my Hands and my Feet: Then the disjoynting of his Parts by the Torture; I may tell all my Bones, they look and stare upon me: His hanging naked on the Cross, they part my Garments among them, and cast lots upon my Vesture: the bitter draught they offer'd p. 122him, they gave me also Gall for my Meat, and in my thirst they gave me Vinegar to drink: The blasphemous derision of the Priests and People the spectators of his Death, All that see me, laugh me to scorn, they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted in the Lord that he would deliver him; let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him: His words spoken in the heighth of his distress, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? The Prophet Isaiah represents the Ignominy and Torments of his Passion, I gave my back to the Isa. chap. 52, 53.Isa 52:53smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I hid not my face from shame and spitting: and by the eyes of his mind saw him crucified between two Thieves; He was named with Transgressors: and as present at his most affectionate dying prayer for his enemies, Father p. 123forgive them, they know not what they do; observe, that he made intercession for Transgressors. Thus as several Painters that would draw divers Copies from the same excellent Original, are intent to view its various Aspects, some directly, some on this and the other side: so the Prophets, as if they had been the Spectators of his cruel Sufferings, copied from the life, every one that part that the Holy Spirit assigned to them. Now how was it possible, if not instructed by Omniscience, that being so distant in time and place, and so long before the Accomplishment, they should concur in such an exact description of what should befal the Messiah? Men are not Prophets by the light of Reason: as Nature is not subjected to their power to work Miracles, neither p. 124is Futurity open to their view, to compose an History of things to come. The Death of Christ depended on several Causes; Men, Devils, and God himself concurr'd for divers Ends in the same Event. The two prime Conspirators against his Life, Lucifer and Caiphas, were moved both from Reasons of State to secure their own. The Devil to maintain his cruel Empire which for so many Ages he had usurp'd in the World. For our Saviour having with Authority cast out Legions of his ministring Spirits from those who were miserably possest by them, he was in fear of losing his Power. Besides, he foresaw that if Christ were the Son of God, the killing of him would bring such a crimson guilt upon the Jews, that no less punishment than their Rejection would p. 125follow: And so God should lose his peculiar People. Caiaphas excited the Council to devote him as a Sacrifice to preserve their Nation from ruine: for their safety depending on their homage to the Romans, to prevent the jealousies that might arise by the fame of his mighty Works, and by the Peoples attendance on him, that were fed by his Miracles, they concluded on it as a necessary expedient, that Christ should dy, and all suspicions be removed with him. Thus Men and Devils were the instruments, but God appointed that great Event. The storm fell from Heaven upon Him for our Sins. 'Tis therefore expresly said, He was delivered by the determinate Counsel and foreknowledge of God; who over-ruled the train of disorders, the work of their cruel malice, for contrary ends than p. 126were design'd by them: For the Devils were cast out of their Kingdom, the Jews depriv'd of their Liberty, and the Kingdom of Christ establish'd for ever. Now who could read in the Mind of God his free Decrees? even the Angels of Light that always see his face, cannot without a revelation of them. None but the Spirit that searches the deep things of God, could make the discovery? And who could foresee that the Messiah so often promised to the Jews, so impatiently expected, and ardently desir'd, should be so fiercely rejected by them? that his Death should be the effect as of his own love, so of their hatred? None but God to whom all the periods of time are equally present, and who is more intimate with the Counsels and Passions of p. 127Men than their own Souls are, could predict it. He communicated some rays of his Prescience to holy Men, who foretold that obscurest Contingency. From hence it follows that the clear Testimonies of the Prophets exactly fulfill'd in Jesus Christ, are an unanswerable demonstration that He was the expected Deliverer to restore the World.

2. The universal and irreparable Destruction of the State of the Jews, foretold as the just punishment of their rejecting the Messiah, is another illustrious proof of the Divinity of his Person and Doctrine.

To represent all the Characters of that Vengeance as they are set down by Josephus, an Eye-Witness and Historian of it, would lengthen this Discourse beyond the p. 128limits intended. It is sufficient to observe,

1. That all the severe Scourges of God met in a direful conjunction against them. The most affrighting Prodigies were his forerunners; A flaming-Sword brandish'd in the Heavens, and Monsters born on the Earth: And War, Famine, Pestilence, and Fire were his Attendants. Those who escap't the Sword were consum'd by Famine; and those who were preserved from cruel War and Famine, were swept away by the Pestilence, or devour'd by the merciless Flames. Wherever they turn'd their eyes, Death in terrible shapes appear'd.

2. All these Judgments were inflicted at once upon them in the heaviest degrees. The Sword never made a greater destruction of Men p. 129than in Jerusalem: here were Rivers of Blood, there Mountains of Carcasses. In some places nothing but silence and horrour amongst the dead, in others the crys and groans of the dying. Innumerable were massacred by the rage of Sedition amongst themselves. And when the mild Conquerour would have spared them, yet by an unparallel'd fierceness they would rather perish in an obstinate resistance. The Famine was so extreme, as compell'd even tender Mothers to eat the flesh of their miserable Children. The Fire consum'd the City from one end to the other, without leaving any part entire. The Temple, the Sanctuary of Religion, and Image of Heaven, where God so long had dwelt, had been serv'd and prais'd, and rendred his Oracles, was not exempted p. 130from the fury of the Fire.

3. Their Calamity was extreme and irreparable. The first Desolation by the Chaldeans, so compassionately recorded by Jeremiah, was not comparable in the degrees and continuance to this second by the Romans, of which CHRIST himself was the Chief Mourner, and made lamentation. Then they were transported together, and not to a very rigorous nor perpetual servitude in Babylon. After seventy years they recover'd their Liberty, and were restored to their Native Land. But in the last, the Captives were dispers'd among divers People; a sad Prognostick that they should never be joyned again in one Society. The Ruines of the Nation were so great, that the pieces of it are scatter'd all over the World. Where p. 131ever a Jew is found, there is a stone of ruin'd Jerusalem never to be rebuilt. In short, that wretched Nation is rent into innumerable parts, and expos'd to the contempt and hatred of all. As the Body of a Traitor is quarter'd, and the parts hung up in several places of publick view, to signify the horrour of his Crimes in the severity of his Punishment: God has taken away all the marks of his Alliance with them. No distinction of their Tribes remain, no observance of their legal Ceremonies, no Priests, no Altars, no Sacrifices, no Prophets nor Miracles; in short, there is no true Worship among them, no God but angry and revenging their bloody impieties. And which is most worthy of consideration, the Romans that conquer'd them have lost their Empire, and the p. 132Nations which were subdued by their Arms, have recovered their Liberty: But the Jews after sixteen hundred years are still miserable. Now is not this Judgment of God upon them a dreadful proof of the extremity of their Wickedness in crucifying JESUS CHRIST, and that consequently he was, as he declar'd himself to be, the Son of God, and that his Office and Doctrine were from Heaven. Never before did the Wrath of God break forth in such a fierce manner against a sinful Nation. Therefore 'tis represented under the Image of the final Doom, when Justice arm'd with flames shall devour the Ungodly, and the whole World become a Theatre of Terrors. And never was any other Nation guilty of such an high provocation: for the Son of God descended but p. 133once among Men to be personally crucified. The singularity of the punishment is a visible instructive sign of their transcendent Crime. Immediately upon their pronouncing the capital Sentence against him on Earth, their utter Ruine was pronounc'd in Heaven. And the execution of the Sentence was deferr'd no longer, but till the Elect of that People were brought in, and by the Preaching and excellent Miracles of the Apostles, the Resurrection of Christ, and the truth of the Gospel were confirm'd, and thereby a beginning and form given to the new Christian Church. Now they have written on their foreheads in very legible characters, the Fatal Curse which their Fathers pronounc'd concerning Jesus Christ, His Blood be on Us, and our Children. When p. 134with indignation for their Idolatry, broke the Tables of the Law, God reestablish'd them, but when for a greater guilt God himself broke them, there is no possible Redintegration.

If it be said, that 'tis not necessary to attribute this Ruine of the Jews to the particular Vengeance of God, but only to the Instability of humane things, wherein such disastrous Revolutions sometimes happen.

I answer, That although Divine Justice was so visible in their astonishing Destruction, that **Philost. vit. Apoll. lib. 6.Titus himself refus'd a Triumphal-Crown after his compleat Victory, declaring that he was but the Instrument of God's Anger, who was the Invisible Emperor in that bloody Expedition; yet to force an acknowledgment of it from all p. 135that are not wilfully blind, it was foretold when the Jews were in peace, and their killing the Messiah specified, as the Meritorious Cause wherein that terrible Effect was included: Thus our Saviour in the Parable of the Husbandmen and Vineyard, after they had put to death the Master's Son, he adds, What shall therefore the Lord of the Vineyard do? He will come and destroy the Husbandmen, and give the Vineyard to others. And upon his drawing near to the City of Jerusalem, he wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace, but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine Enemies shall cast a Trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the Ground, and shall not p. 136leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy Visitation. This was also foretold by Moses in all the terrible Circumstances: The Lord shall bring a Nation against thee from far, from the Deut. 28.Deut 28end of the Earth, as swift as the Eagle flyeth; a Nation whose Tongue thou shalt not understand; a Nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young: and he shall eat the fruit of thy Cattel, and the fruit of thy Land, until thou be destroyed; which also shall not leave thee either Corn, Wine, or Oyl, or the encrease of thy Kine, or flocks of thy Sheep, until he have destroyed thee: And he shall besiege thee in all thy Gates throughout all thy Land which the Lord thy God hath given thee, in the Siege, and in the straitness wherewith thine Enemies shall distress thee. Such was the Threatning, and the p. 137Event was correspondent in all the degrees of misery. Which as it demonstrates the truth of the Prophecy, so it may instruct us how fearful a thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God.

3. The converting of the Gentile World to the saving Knowledg of God by the Messiah was foretold in the Scriptures. The beams of this glorious Truth were gradually dispens'd to the Israelites as their weak understandings could sustain it. When the Covenant was made with Abraham God declared in express terms, In thy Seed shall all the Nations of the World be blessed. That Seed was the Messiah, not the people of the Jews descended from Abraham: for they were so far from being a universal Blessing to the World, that on p. 138the contrary, they vainly presum'd that God for their sakes despis'd the rest of Mankind. And indeed before the coming of Christ they were an inclosed Garden, the peculiar People of God, and without the compass of Judea Sin reign'd absolutely and universally. Now that Promise clearly signifies, that the Favour and Blessing of God that he conferr'd upon Abraham in making known to him his Will, and promising to be his God, and of his Posterity, should one day be extended to all Nations, by calling them to his Knowledg and Service. To this agrees the Prophesie of Jacob: The Scepter shall not depart from Juda, nor the Lawgiver Gen. 49. 10.Gen 49:10from between his feet, till Shilo come, and to him shall the gathering of the People be: that is, the Gentiles shall be converted from their Idols p. 139to the true God by the Messiah, whom the Jews acknowledg to be signified by that Title. And Moses introduces God as complaining of the Idolatry and Ingratitude of the Jews, and declaring They have moved me to jealousie with that which is not God, they have provoked me to Deut. 32. 21.Deut 32:21anger with their vanities, and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a People, and I will provoke them to anger with a foolish Nation. The external Covenant between God and his People is represented by the union of Marriage, to signifie the Duty they owe to God, the highest honour, the most ardent affections, and the benefits they receive from him. Therefore when the Jews gave Divine Adoration, the highest respects of Religion, to Idols, they provok'd God to jealousy; and he threatens he would p. 140break his Alliance with them, and give his Heart and Love to those which were not a People; And by the Law of Counter-Passion they should be provok'd to Jealousy. 'Tis very visible these expressions signify the calling of the Gentiles. And David by the same Inspiration, in many Psalms celebrates the Kingdom of the Messiah. In Psal. 22. he is introduc'd, speaking, My praise shall be of thee in the great Congregation; all the ends of the World shall remember, and turn unto the Lord; all the kindreds of the Nations shall worship before thee. And in the 67 Psal. God be merciful to us, and blessus, and cause his Face to shine upon us. Selah. That thy way may be known upon Earth, and thy saving health among all Nations. Let the people praise thee O God, let all the people praise thee. The Prophet Esay p. 141in his Revelations clearly speaks of the great design of God to bring the Gentiles to his service. Thus in the second Chapter 'tis prophesied; And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the Mountain of the Lords House shall be established in the tops of the Mountains, and shall be exalted above the Hills. And many People shall go and say, Come ye, let us go up to the Mountain of the Lord, to the House of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the Lord, and the Sword of the Lord out of Jerusalem.

And among all the rest none is more clear and express than what is recorded in Isa. 49. There first the Messiah is represented as declaring his Commission from God to go to the People of Israel; The Lord hath called me from the womb, p. 142from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my Name, and he said unto me, Thou art my Servant, in whom I will be glorified. And after complains of the obstinacy of the ingrateful Synagogue; Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought & in vain, yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with God. And immediately after 'tis added, And now saith the Lord that form'd me from the Womb to be his Servant, to bring Jacob again to him, though Israel be not gather'd, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength. And he said, it is a light thing that thou shouldst be my servant, to raise up the Tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel; I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou maist be my Salvation to the ends of the Earth. This Oracle is precise and full; for it p. 143speaks of the Nations in opposition to the Tribes of Israel, and directly foretels that the Jews would neglect the instructions of the Messiah, and that upon their Infidelity God would by the Messiah give saving knowledge to all Nations. And in the same sense he speaks in the 54th Chapter: Sing, O Barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud thou that didst not travel with Child: for more are the Children of the desolate than of the married, saith the Lord. Who is the desolate and barren, but the Gentiles without God in the World, whiles the Jews were honour'd and blest in the Mystical Marriage with him? And who are the Children of the forsaken that should be far more numerous than those of the married, but the Believers of the Christian Church, in opposition p. 144to the Jewish Church? And the other succeeding Prophets concur in this prediction. Malachy the last speaks of it in such express terms, as are capable to convince any that does not wilfully renounce the use of his Eyes and Understanding. After God is introduc'd rejecting the Jews, and their Temple Service; I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of Hosts, neither will I accept an Offering at your hands. He adds, to signifie the calling of a new Church, for from the rising of the Sun to the going down of the same, my Name shall be great among the Gentiles, and in every place Incense shall be offer'd to my Name, and a pure Offering, for my Name shall be great among the Heathen, saith the Lord of Hosts. Thus that great wonder was clearly foretold by the Prophets, and as a work to be performed p. 145by the glorious Power of God. And accordingly it is accomplish'd. For who but God could have inspir'd the Apostles to undertake an Enterprise so contrary to Humane Prudence, being equally dangerous and impossible? And who else could have made it successful beyond all imagination? When the Pride of Pharoah was humbled, and his Strength broken by the most despicable creatures, even the Magicians were compelled to acknowledge it to be the Finger of God: but his Arm was revealed when the Spiritual Pharoah with all his Powers of Darkness were overcome by such weak Instruments. What furious Winds from all parts of the World conspir'd to extinguish the first springing Light of the Gospel? The Heathen Emperours destroyed innumerable p. 146Persons, presuming to drown the Memory of Christ in the Blood of the Christians. But such were the Faith and Love of Believers of all conditions to their Crucified Redeemer, that with the same joy they ran to suffer the most terrible punishments, as if they had been to receive Crowns. In vain the strongest Combinations were made against the Truth. For the knowledge of the only true God, and his incarnate Son Jesus Christ, overcame Impiety with all its Idols, and Ignorance with all its numerous Masters. What is become of all the Heathen Deities, so honour'd, so fear'd, so obstinately defended? Where are their Altars, their Statues, their Sacrilegious Priests and Sacrifices? They are buried in the ruines of their own Temples, in the darkness of p. 147eternal oblivion. Where are all the Sects of Philosophers, the Platonists, the Peripateticks, the Stoicks, the Epicureans, and the rest that fill'd Greece with their Fame, and so many Volumes with their Fancies and Errour? Like a Torrent that rouls down with great noise from the top of a Mountain; so for a time the Speculations of their lofty Minds poured along in a floud of swelling froathy Eloquence; but now (and for how many Ages since?) the very channel is dryed up wherein they ran, so that scarce any visible ruines remain in Athens it self of the Schools where they taught. The greatest among them, ‖‖foreign Chrys. de laad. Paul 4.Plato, adorn'd with the title of Divine, could never see his Commonwealth, fram'd by him with so much study, to be establish'd in one City. Whereas if p. 148we consider the Gospel of Christ, 'tis hard to determine whether the Doctrine be more simple, or theforeign Ibid. Apostles the first Masters of it to outward appearance; Yet without Learning or humane strength, in a short space they triumphed over the Eloquence of the Greeks, the Power of the Romans, the Rage of Barbarous Nations. They abrogated Laws, chang'd Customs, and renewed the face of the World. In this the Prophetick Parable was fulfill'd, The Kingdom of Heaven, that is, the dispensation of the Gospel, is like to a grain of Mustardseed; one of the smallest grains, but of that spirit and quality that it suddenly springs up and spreads abroad.

This happy and stupendous success of the Disciples of Jesus Christ, consider'd in it self, is an unanswerable p. 149proof that the Christian Religion came from Heaven. For it was only possible to the Divine Power. 'Tis no wonder the Religion of Mahomet extended and establish'd its Conquests in many Countries: For that Seducer perswaded the barbarous People by force of Arms, they must be his Disciples or Slaves. And can the Mind form a clear Judgment, or the Will make a free Choice, when under a tyrannous necessity of Compliance, or losing all the Comforts of Life? Can Violence and Cruelty produce a Rational Faith? That may force them to a counterfeit complyance, but cannot make Men sincerely believe; 'tis apt to breed Form without, and Atheism within. Now that a Persecuted Religion should live and flourish in the midst of flames, is as truly admirable p. 150as if a little Stream should pass through an Arm of the Ocean, retaining its Freshness and Purity in the midst of Salt and Turbid Waters. That when the Minds of Men were prepossest with inveterate Opinions contrary to its supernatural Mysteries, and their Wills over-ruled by Carnal Affections utterly averse from its Holy Precepts, the World was captiv'd to the belief and obedience of it, is the most noble effect of Omnipotence. For other Miracles, though above the Laws of Nature, yet were on the lower order of creatures without life and sense; but this internal Miracle was wrought on the Minds and Hearts of Men. To raise the Dead, to calm a Storm, to suspend the force of Fire, to change Waters into Blood, is not so glorious a work p. 151as the converting Rebellious Souls to God, and making them a willing People to his holy Laws. And if we further consider the Prophecies so many Ages before concerning it, and observe the Harmony betwixt the Works and Word of God, there results a Demonstration as clear and strong as is possible. The Prediction and Accomplishment are equally divine. The success justifies the truth of the Prophecy, and the truth of the Prophecy justifies the Divinity of the Christian Religion. For by the Apostles and their Successors the Heathens were turned from Idols, to the Service of one God the Creator of the World: which was foretold by the Prophets, not only as a thing that should arrive, but to be performed by the Power of God. To ascribe then this glorious p. 152Work to humane Artifice, as if his Providence had been prevented by others, from doing that that he promised should be done by his own Power, is so directly contrary to his Wisdom and his Truth, that common Reason abhors the thoughts of it. Therefore the Christian Religion is Divine, having God for its Author. Thus the Truth of the Gospel is victorious over the Jewish, or the prophane Infidel.

It may be argued against the Jews, that their God foretold his Messiah should convert the Nations. No other but one authorised from above could do it. Iesus Christ has done it, therefore he is the Messiah. And consequently they are either blind with prejudice, or maliciously deny the known truth. To prophane Infidels it may be p. 153urged, none but the Divine Providence could foretel so great and marvellous a change of the World, none but the Divine Power could effect it, therefore 'twas the true God that made the project and event so exactly to correspond in all things

Add further, that by comparing the Prophecies of Christ and his Kingdom with their accomplishment, the two sorts of enemies against the Gospel, are made useful to convince one another. The Pagans by the Jews, that these things were foretold, the Jews by the Pagans, that these things were fulfil'd. **Aliquando Pagani faciunt nobis hujusmodi quaestionem, cum vident quae scripta sunt sic impleri, ut negari omnino non possint. Audent, ut dicant videstis ita fieri, & tanquam praedicta sint, conscripsistis. Serm. 67. Divers.St. Austin relates that the Heathens seeing the exact agreement between the Prophecies in the Old p. 154Testament so clear in words, and their accomplishment in the New so clear in the Effects, had nothing to reply, but that they were written after the things were done, and feigned to be Predictions of antient date. As Virgil weaving Fables of Aeneas, feign'd him to be in the Elisian Fields, and to receive from Anchises a Prediction of his Descendents in a long succession and order of Men and Times; which was the story of what was actually past when he wrote it. In answer to this pretence, he breaks out with wonder and joy, O Gloria Regis nostri! the Cause is gain'd, and the Victory of Truth could not be more glorious. For whereas the many Nations in Europe, Asia, Africa, subdued by the Arms of the Romans, were compelled to observe the Rites of their Religion: p. 155The Jews only were permitted to enjoy their Sacred Books, andSparsi sunt ubi que Judaei, portantes codices, quibus Christus praedicatur. Si enim in uno loco essent terrarum, non adjuvarent testimonio praedicationem Evangelii quae fructificat toto orbe terrarum. Serm. 67. Div. Ambos inde convinco. Judaeum, quia id prophetatum, et impletum Ego cognovi: Paganū, quia ego hac non convici. their own Worship, and were dispers'd into all Countries. And thus by the admirable Counsel of God, they give credit to the Gospel among the Gentiles. For if we consider the reverence they bore to the Writings of the Prophets, that with the greatest care they have preserved them as the most precious Inheritance left by their Fathers, and their mortal hatred of Jesus Christ and his Gospel, that willingly they would spend their Blood to deface the Memorials of it, it is an invincible Argument that the Predictions concerning the state of the Christian Church recorded in their Scriptures, are sincerely delivered, and of Divine Authority. This their Malice is an advantage to the Faith of the Gospel, p. 156and by constraint they are the great Confirmers of it. This is sufficient to reduce the Heathens to silence and confusion. And the Pagan being convinc'd by the Books of the Jews, the Jew may be convinc'd by the Testimony of the Pagans: for if the Records so jealously kept by that Nation were from Divine Inspiration, if they contain Antient Prophecies which the Heathens see verified in the Gospel and the Christian Church, why do not the Jews acknowledge Jesus Christ to be the promised Messiah? If the Vail were not taken from Moses's face, and laid on their hearts, they must clearly see that the Light of the Gentiles is the Glory of Israel. 'Tis equally unreasonable to doubt with the Atheist that the Messiah was ever promised, or to believe with the Iews he is yet to come.