The Christian Life Part 2 Volume 2, Section 13
SECT XIII. That Iesus Christ is this Mediator, of whom we have been treating.
HAving in the foregoing Sections explain'd at large the nature and Offices of the Mediator between God and men, all that now remains is to prove, that Jesus Christ, the Author of our Religion, is the Person whom God hath ordained and constituted this Mediator between him and us. And that he is so, he himself openly averr'd whilst he was upon Earth, and afterwards proclaimed it to the World by the Mouth of his Apostles; but this singly by it self is no argument at all of the truth of the thing; because a deceiver might have aver'd the same thing, and since there were sundry pretenders to this Office as well as he, it was necessary there should be some other evidence of his being invested with it, besides his pretending to it; otherwise it would have been impossible for us to distinguish him from those that falsly pretended to it, and accordingly he himself tells us, Iohn 5.31. If I bear witness of my self my witness is not true, i. e. If I can produce no other testimony of my being the Mediator than my own bare word, you have no reason at all to believe me; and therefore he tells us that he had not only Iohn's Witness to it who was his forerunner, but also a much greater than Iohn's even the Witness of his Father, ver. 32, 33. 36, 37. Now there are Three ways by which the Father Testified for him; all which do abundantly evince his being the true Mediator. First, by sundry ancient predictions of him which were all exactly accomplished in him, for the Testimony of Iesus, saith S. Iohn, is the spirit of Prophesie, Rev. 19.10. Secondly, by sundry Voices from Heaven, by which the Father proclaimed him his well-beloved Son. Thirdly, by Miracles, which by the power of God he frequently wrought in his own Person, while he was upon Earth, and in the persons of his followers after his ascension into Heaven. To treat of all which would require a Volume by it self: and therefore for the first of these ways I shall refer the English Reader to the Reverend Mr. Kidders Demonstration of the Messias, wherein the Testimony of Prophesie is handled at large with very great strength and clearness of Judgment. And as for the second way of Gods bearing Witness to Jesus, viz. by Voices from Heaven, I refer the Reader to our Learned D. Hammonds reasonableness of the Christian Religion at the end of his Practical Catechism, it being my intent to insist only upon the Third and last way, of Gods attesting Jesus to be the Mediator, viz. by Miracles; for this way our Saviour himself most insists on and appeals to. So in the aforecited Ioh. 5.36. But I have a greater witness than that of John; for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do bear witness of me that the Father hath sent me. So also Iohn 10.25. The works which I do in my Fathers Name, they bear witness of me; And in Iohn 15.24. Our Saviour makes the inexcusable aggravation of the Iews infidelity to be this, that they would not be convinced by all those miraculous works which he had done among them; If I had not done among them the works which none other man did they had not had sin, but now have they both seen and hated me and my Father. In these and sundry other places our Saviour appeals to those miraculous works which he did, as to a certain Testimony from God that he was the only true Messias or Mediator between God and men. And indeed, seeing the great aim and design of our Saviours Mediation is to advance the Honour of God and the perfection of Souls; and seeing how admirably it is framed and contrived to promote those blessed ends; Miracles are a most certain attestation of the truth of it. For though the Scripture tells us of false Miracles wrought by the power of evil Spirits, and History furnishes us with innumerable instances of it; yet it is against all reason to imagin that ever evil Spirits would exert their power to attest a Doctrine so infinitely repugnant to their own temper and interest. Had the design of our Saviours Mediation been to alienate mens minds from God and Goodness, we might have justly concluded all his miraculous works to be nothing but Magical Tricks performed by confederacy with the Devil. For how could we have imagined either that God or any good Spirit would ever have employed his power to propagate a Doctrine so infinitely repugnant to his Will and nature, seeing it is equally incredible either that a bad Religion should be the Will of a good God, or that the God of truth should bear false witness to a lie; and therefore we always find that those false Miracles effected by evil Spirits, whereof the Scripture and History make mention were always wrought to deprave mens minds with vicious principles, and to seduce men from God to superstition and Idolatry, or to confirm them in it; but that an impious spirit should ever work Miracles to promote true Piety, to inspire mens minds with great and worthy thoughts of God and sutable affections towards him, that a malicious, proud, unjust and revengeful Spirit should by miraculous Signs endeavour to reduce the World to the practice of Charity, humility, justice, patience, meekness and equanimity is infinitely incredible; and therefore since the Doctrine of our Saviours Mediation doth above all the Religions that ever were professed in the World, most powerfully oblige us to these and all other instances of Piety and Vertue, we may depend upon it, that though the Devil had known it to be a Lye, he would never have been so great a fool as to cheat the World into the belief of it; for though he loves to deceive, yet there is nothing in nature he more hates than to deceive men into Piety and Vertue, because hereby he deceives himself, and betrays his own interest in the World. The Miracles of our Saviour therefore being all designed to attest a most pure and heavenly Doctrine, a Doctrine that is throughout exactly conformable to the Nature of God, and infinitely abhorrent to the Genius of Devils must necessarily be the effects of a Divine power; because to work Miracles for the attestation of such a Doctrine could be neither agreeable to any other nature nor serviceable to any other interest but Gods.
Now of all the miraculous testimonies which God gave to our Saviour there is none to which he did so often appeal, and upon which he did so much stake the credit of his Doctrine, as that of his own Resurrection from the dead: for thus when he had performed that heroick act of Zeal, whipping the Money Changers out of the Temple, and the Jews required some sign of him, by what authority he did it, he bad them destroy this Temple, pointing to his own body, and in three days I will raise it up again, John 2.19. So also when the Pharisees desired him to give them some sign of his being the true Messias, he tells them, that no other sign should be given them but only the sign of the Prophet Jonas, for as Jonas was three days and three nights in the Whales belly, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, which necessarily implies, that after that he should rise again, Mark 8.12. and accordingly we find that after he was risen and ascended, the principal business of his Apostles was to testifie his Resurrection to the World; for so Acts 1.22. S. Peter makes this to be the reason why it was necessary that one should be chosen into the Apostolate, to supply the room of Iudas that he might be a witness with them of Christs Resurrection; and in Acts 4.33. we are told, that with great power the Apostles gave witness of the Resurrection of the Lord Iesus, and still when they were to prove any Article of the Christian Faith, this they urge as the great argument. Thus from the Resurrection of Christ S. Paul proves the general Resurrection, 1 Cor. 15. so also Acts 17.31. he proves that God hath appointed a day wherein he will judge the World in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained, viz. Christ Jesus, by this very topick, whereof he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead; and 1 Pet. 1.3. that Apostle makes Christs Resurrection from the dead to be the great motive of credibility by which God had begotten them again into a lively hope of future happiness; so also Acts 2.36. Therefore (saith the same Apostle, i. e. because God had raised him from the dead, ver. 24.) let all the house of Israel know that God hath made this same Iesus both Lord and Christ; and Rom. 1.4. he is said to be declared the Son of God by the Resurrection from the dead; yea, so undoubted an argument is this of Christs being the true Messias or Mediator, that the Jews themselves were convinced that they must either allow him to be so, or else outface the truth of his Resurrection, which put them upon all possible ways of stifling the report of it, knowing that if once it obtained credit in the World, the last error would be worse than the first, Mat. 27.64. from all which it is evident, that it was taken for granted, not only by Christ himself and his Apostles, but even by his most avowed Enemies, that supposing his Resurrection to be true, it would from thence undeniably follow that he was the Messias or Mediator.
In the management of this Argument therefore I shall endeavour these two things:
First, To prove the truth and reality of this miraculous attestation which God gave to our Saviour, viz. by raising him from the dead.
Secondly, To shew what an excellent convincing argument this is of the Truth of his Doctrine or Mediation.
I. I shall endeavour to prove the truth and reality of this miraculous attestation, which God gave to our Saviour, viz. by raising him from the dead; which being a matter of Fact, independent from all necessary causes, is capable of no other proof to those who were not Eye-witnesses of it but only that of Credible Testimony. Thus that Iulius Cesar was killed in the Senate-house is a matter of Fact, the truth of which is acknowledged by all the World, and that man would be accounted little better than mad that should make the least doubt of it; and yet we have no other way of proving this, but only by the concurrent Testimony of credible Historians, which being as great an evidence as the matter is capable of, is as much as any reasonable man can require to induce him to believe it. For although Testimony be the only evidence by which matters of Fact can be proved, yet it is such an evidence as hath force enough in it to induce any reasonable man to believe its proposals, and there are ten thousand things which we do as firmly assent to upon the evidence of Testimony as to any propositions upon the evidence of Mathematical Demonstration. If therefore the Resurrection of our Saviour be but sufficiently attested, that is as good an Argument of the truth of it as the nature of the thing will bear, and when it is made but as apparent that a thing is, as it could possibly be if it really were, there is no farther proof of it can be reasonably expected, and if notwithstanding this men will not believe, it is impossible that any reason should convince them: but in this Testimony of our Saviours Resurrection there is as much evidence and Credibility as there can be in any Testimony whatsoever. For to give a Testimony the utmost force of Credibility six things are required. First, That they that give it should be certainly informed of the truth of what they do attest. Secondly, That there should be a concurrence of a sufficient number of Witnesses. Thirdly, That there should be no visible reason to suspect their truth and integrity. Fourthly, That there should be no apparent Motive to induce them to give false Witness. Fifthly, That they give some great security for the truth of what they say. And Sixthly, That they also produce some certain sign or token of the reality of their Testimony. And when all these circumstances do concur in a Testimony, they render it as highly credible as it is possible for a Testimony to be. Now in that Testimony which we have of our Saviours Resurrection there was, as I shall shew in the particulars, a full concurrence of them all. For
I. They who testified it were certainly informed whether it were true or no, for they declare that they were Eye and Ear Witnesses of it, Acts 3.15. and relate at large the familiar conversation they had with him after his Resurrection, Acts 10.41. and they tell the Story of it with so many circumstances that it is impossible they should be deceived. For at his Resurrection they find the Stone rolled away from the mouth of his Sepulchre and no body therein, although it was guarded by Soldiers, so that it was impossible for any body to steal him away; and that it was his own body wherein he arose and no aerial Phantasm evidently appears by what he did to convince S. Thomas who would not believe, unless he might put his hand into the hole of his side, and see the print of the Nails that pierced his hands, to which our Saviour readily condescended: and so far were the Apostles from being over-credulous, that when he appeared to them after his Resurrection, it is said that they suspected him to be a Spirit or walking Ghost, and to convince them of their mistake, he was fain to appeal to the judgment of their senses, handle me, and see me, saith he, for a Spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have, Luk. 24.39. and afterwards more fully to satisfie their yet scrupulous minds, he eat and drank in the midst of them, ver. 43. Now the more suspicious and incredulous they were at first, the greater evidence it is, that they were throughly informed of what they testified, that there was an undeniable evidence in the thing, else how could it have satisfied such scrupulous and incredulous persons, and that they were far from being willing to be abused themselves, or from having any design to abuse the world. And that their outward sense was not imposed upon by the strength of their Imagination is evident in that he conversed with them forty days together, which was too long a time for their senses to mistake an image of their fancies for a reality. For how is it conceivable that so many persons as pretended to see him after his Resurrection, should for forty days together imagine that they saw him, heard him, eat and drank with him, when in reality all this Scene of things was nothing but a dream or specter of their own fancies; that their fancies should create and represent a person to them frequently appearing to them preaching and instructing them, giving out Commissions, and administring holy Ordinances to them; that their fancies should draw them out to the Mount of Olives after a Specter, that was visible no where but upon the Stage of their own Imaginations, and there represent it carried up into Heaven on a Cloud? Surely, if they were in their Wits, it was impossible for them to believe such a train of things to be real, had they been only the images of their fancies; and yet that they were in their Wits is as apparent as the Sun, both from their unanimous consent in the relation of the Fact with all its circumstances, and from those wise and sober Writings which they left behind them, which abound with excellent Morals, solid and coherent Reasonings, strong and powerful perswasions, without the least intermixture either of flat impertinence or ranting Enthusiasm: which is a plain demonstration that they were certainly informed concerning the matter of Fact which they testified whether it were true or false.
II. Another Circumstance requisite to render a Testimony highly credible is the concurrence of several Witnesses; of which we have a remarkable instance in this Testimony of our Saviours Resurrection. For if to those five hundred Brethren and upwards, who, as S. Paul tells us, saw our Saviour after he was risen, 1 Cor. 15.6. you add the Congregation of the Disciples he appeared to, when he baffled the Infidelity of S. Thomas, together with those great Assemblies that saw him in the Mount of Galilee, and upon Mount Olivet, from whence he ascended, it is not improbable but that there were some thousands of Persons that saw him after his Resurrection, among all whom we find the most exact agreement both in the matter and circumstances of what they did attest, which had it not been true, must have been morally impossible. For how could so vast a number of men have so punctually agreed in the same Story, had it been a lye? Especially, when they were so narrowly sifted, so craftily examined, and cross examined, as doubtless these men were (or at least would have been had there been any just ground to suspect them) by the Jewish Magistrates, who were all of them profest Enemies to our Saviour and his Doctrine. For had their Testimony been forged, it is not imaginable how they should foresee what Questions the Magistrates would propose to them, nor consequently how they should agree what Answers to return to their several Interrogatories; so that when they came to be examined they must of necessity have thwarted and contradicted one another, at least in some circumstances of time or place, or the like, by which means the whole forgery must have soon been unravelled, and the credit of it for ever dasht out of countenance. But that no such thing ever hapned is evident by the credit which their Testimony found, even among those who had the best opportunities of examining whether it were true or false; for the truth of Christs Doctrine depending upon the truth of this Story of his Resurrection, there can be no doubt but the Jewish Magistrates, whose interest made them Enemies to Christ, would not have been wanting, had they thought it feasible, to try all ways to disprove the truth of it; and if they did not, no other reason can be given of it but only this, that the truth of the thing was so notorious, that it would have been Ridiculous for them to attempt the disproving it; but if they did, it had been a very easie matter for them, had it been a lye, to have detected it: for the number of the Witnesses being so great, and the Jews having every day opportunity of conversing with them, they might have easily trapt them in their relations, it being impossible that among a great number of conspiring Impostors there should be always an exact harmony and agreement. For suppose that such a Story as this were told in London that a certain man dwelling at Westminster, and pretending himself to be the Son of God, and the lawful Heir of the Crown of England, had preached up a new Religion, requiring all people under pain of damnation to embrace his Doctrine, and submit to his Government, and that as a sign of the truth of all this he had publickly declared that three days after his death he would rise again; whereupon the last Friday was seven night he was put to death by the Magistrates, and notwithstanding he was buried, and his Sepulchre dammed up with a huge Stone, and a guard of Soldiers set to watch it, left his Proselytes should steal him away, yet the Sunday following he arose, and hath since been seen by several hundreds, if not some thousands of the neighbourhood, many of whom had touched and handled him, eat, and drank, and conversed familiarly with him, among whom there was Peter such a one, Thomas such a one, and Iohn such a one, naming some twenty or thirty persons well known among the neighbours, who could give a more particular account of the matter, and tell the names of most of the persons that were eye-witnesses with them; why now it cannot be supposed but that as soon as ever this formal rumour began to spread (especially if it found credit among the multitude, and the pretended witnesses of it should be so bold as to go and assert it before the King and Council, as the Apostles did before the Rulers of the Jews) I say, it cannot be supposed but that care would be taken that the matter should be immediately sifted, and the several neighbouring Justices required to call these Witnesses to account, who by pumping and examining, promising and threatning them could not fail of extorting the truth from them in a very little while. For it is impossible but they must have found them faltering in the relation of their Story, and counter-witnessing one another. Iohn would have told it with this Circumstance, and Peter with the contrary, and Thomas would have thwarted and contradicted them both, so that when they came to compare their several relations with one another, in all probability they would have found as great a confusion among them as there was in the language of the Bricklayers of Babel. And therefore though at first perhaps the Story might have seemed plausible, and a great many credulous people might have believed it, yet every day would have rendered it more suspicious, and the truth must at last have triumphed and prevailed; but yet though the Eye-witnesses of our Saviours Resurrection were thus sifted and examined over and over, their relation every one day got ground and credit even in Ierusalem it self, where the thing was transacted, and where every one might easily inform himself concerning the credit of the Relaters, and the circumstances of their relation; insomuch that forty days after it was so far from being dashed out of countenance, that at one Sermon of S. Peters there were no less than three thousand persons converted to the belief of it, and so it still grew and increased, till at last in despite of all the wit and malice of its opposers, it was imbraced and acknowledged throughout all the World; which is an undeniable evidence of the exact agreement there was in the testimony of the several Witnesses of our Saviours Resurrection.
III. Another Circumstance requisite to render a Testimony highly credible is, when there is no visible reason to suspect the honesty and integrity of the Attestors; which circumstance did also concur to credit the Testimony of our Saviours Resurrection. For that the first testifiers of it were men of a clear and unsuspected honesty, will appear to any man that seriously considers either the Doctrine which they taught, or the Genius of their followers, or the manner of their testimony, or the success it had among those who were best able to satisfie themselves whether they were honest or no. First, as for their Doctrine, there is nothing can be more contrary to lying, dissembling and Hypocritical reservation, it strictly requires plainness and simplicity of speech, and that our words should be the Images and Interpreters of our minds, it brands and stigmatizes all deceit and falshood with a most infamous Character, and irrevocably consigns all wilful Lyars to the miserable portion of the Father of Lies. If then they believed their own Doctrine, it is not to be imagined they would ever have defended it with frauds and impostures; and whether they believed it or no, it is hardly supposable, that they would have so loudly declaimed against dishonesty, had they been at least visibly dishonest themselves, since by condemning it in others they must have libelled themselves, and imblazoned to the World their own shame and infamy. And then secondly, As for the genius and temper of their disciples and followers, it's plain that there never was any thing more open and sincere: for such was the ingenuous simplicity of the Primitive Christians, that they thought it a disparagement to be put to their Oaths, thinking it sufficient for every good man to give this assurance of his truth foreign, I speak truly; and when they were most severely examined by their bloudy persecutors concerning their faith, they never either denied or concealed it, counting it a most impious thing to dissemble the truth, and though when they were questioned they could easily have either denied or evaded it, yet they scorned to live upon such base terms, to be beholden to their hypocrisie for their lives; yea so conspicuous was their Honesty to all the World that the Heathen themselves were forced to acknowledge it. For so Pliny in the account which he gave the Emperor Trajan of the Christians, tells him, That after the strictest enquiry he could make of them, even of those who had renounced Christianity, he found this to be the greatest fault they were guilty of, that they used harmlesly to meet to worship Christ, and at those meetings to bind themselves by a Sacrament that they would not do any wickedness, that they would not steal, nor Rob, nor commit Adultery, ner falsify their words, nor with-hold any thing wherewith they had been intrusted, where ever it were required at their hands. Such was the temper of the immediate Disciples of the Eye-witnesses of our Saviours Resurrection; and is it likely that the Scholars would have proved so honest had they not been taught by the Example as well as by the Doctrine of their Masters: For to be sure had the Apostles been dishonest, their immediate Disciples must needs have known something of it, and being acquainted with it, they would doubtless have resolved either not to continue their disciples, any longer, or else to have imitated them in all their secret Cheats and Knaveries; and so from the Masters to the Disciples dishonesty would have been propagated from one generation to another; but since the contrary happened, it's plain that the first Propagators were men of very honest and sincere minds; which will yet further appear, if we consider thirdly the manner of their Testimony, which they delivered with the greatest plainness and simplicity of speech, the greatest freedom and assurance of Spirit, and the greatest particularity, as to all its circumstances; they never went about to involve their sense in ambiguous words, or to recommend it to the World in a pompous stile, in pedantick flourishes or flattering insinuations, which is the way of all Impostors; but as men that were well assured of the truth of what they said, they exposed it to the World in the most naked and simple expressions, and so left it to recommend it self; they did not whisper their Testimony in corners, as if they were either affraid or ashamed to produce it in the open light; but with the greatest confidence and assurance they published it in the midst of Ierusalem, yea and before the Sanhedrin it self; where, if it had been false, 'twas impossible but it should be detected; and whereas 'tis the way of Impostors to reserve themselves in generals, knowing that should they descend to particulars, 'twould be hard for them to avoid discovery or contradiction; the Apostles did not only report a general story of Christs Resurrection, but related it with all its most minute and particular circumstances, nor did they Change or alter any one of them upon different examinations before different Examiners; but still persisted with the greatest constancy to themselves and harmony with each other; so that if ever there might be any thing gathered of the temper of persons from the particular manner of their discourses, we may certainly discern the greatest fidelity in the Apostles in the manner of their expressing themselves to the World. But then in the fourth and last place, the credit which they found among those who were the best able to satisfie themselves whether they were honest or no, is a further evidence of their fidelity; for had they been men of known honesty, it is not to be imagined that they could ever have obtained so much credit in a place where they were so intimately known, and among persons with whom they every day conversed with the greatest openness and freedom, especially considering how contrary their Testimony was to the genius and interest of those who gave credit to them, many of whose hands had been imbrewed in the blood of our Saviour, by which they were obliged in their own vindication, so far as in them lay, to disprove the story of his Resurrection; because if that proved true, it proved them guilty of the most monstrous impiety that ever was acted, viz. the murder of the Son of God. And is it likely that the Murderers of our Saviour would ever have believed the story of his Resurrection, which was so clear an evidence of his innocency and their own guilt, had they had any reason to suspect the veracity of those that attested it, and yet in despite of themselves great numbers of them were forced to believe it, although as soon as they did so, they were pricked at the heart with the sense of their horrid impiety, and forced to cry out in a bitter Agony of Conscience, Men and Brethren what shall we do to be saved? and as for those of them who had no hand in his murder, to be sure they were greatly prejudiced against the belief of his Resurrection, because upon that depended the truth of his Doctrine, which plainly contradicted a great part of that Religion in which they had been educated, and of which they were infinitly zealous, and therefore to be sure they would never have given credit to it, had they not had undeniable evidence of the truth and integrity of those that testified it; especially when it was so easie for them to satisfie themselves about it. For 'tis not imaginable they would ever have entertained so ungrateful a story, but upon the most strict enquiry into the credit of its relators; and if upon enquiry they had found the least flaw either in them or in their testimony, if they could have convicted them of any dishonest practices for the time past, or catched them tripping or contradicting one another in what they testified at present, they would soon have made the World ring of it, and the Iews who were dispersed through all the neighbouring Nations, would have divulged to all the World their fraudulent practices, and posted them up where ever they came for infamous Knaves and Lyars; which must have infallibly blasted the credit of their testimony, and caused it to have been hissed out of the World for a fulsom Imposture. Wherefore since no such thing ever happened, but contrariwise the credit of their report of Christs Resurrection did, in despite of all the wit and malice of its opposers, every day spread and increase even in Ierusalem it self, where the thing was acted, and where the reporters of it lived, and that not only for a few days or months, but from year to year, even till Ierusalem it self was destroyed; since, I say, all this is so evident, what greater argument can we desire of the truth and integrity of those that attested it. And supposing them to be honest, their testimony must be true, because it was not matter of opinion, in which it is possible for the wisest men to be mistaken, but matter of Fact, of which they had certain information from their own senses, and he who says that he saw such a thing, and it's evident that his senses were not imposed on, lies against his own conscience, if it be not true that he saw it.
IV. Another Circumstance requisite to render a Testimony highly credible, is, that there is no apparent motive to induce the Attestors of it to testifie falsly. For whether they are honest or no, we cannot well suppose that in a matter of importance they will testifie falsly, without some great motive inducing them thereunto: but as for the witnesses of our Saviours Resurrection, had they not been certain of the truth of it, they could have no imaginable motive to induce them to attest it; for they could never hope to reap the least advantage from it either here or hereafter; not here, for their Lord had told them beforehand, that if they would be his Disciples, they must suffer persecution; and they themselves could not but foresee that by testifying his Resurrection, they must infallibly alarm all the World against them, because the Doctrine which they confirmed by it was extremely opposite both to the present Religion and Interest of the Iews, and to the common Theology of the Gentiles; and that therefore by going about to establish it, they must in effect proclaim War against all the World, and consequently expose themselves to the utmost Rigor and Severity that the wit and malice of men could invent or inflict: which must be a very sorry motive sure to induce men in their wits to undertake the propagation of a known Imposture. But perhaps it may be thought they did all this for the glory and reputation of being the founders of a new Sect. But from whence, I beseech you, could they promise themselves success? not from their Master Iesus, who, if their testimony was not true, they could not but know was still detained under the power of the grave; not from God, whom if they testified falsly, they were conscious they wickedly belyed in suborning his power and veracity to bear witness to a falshood; not from the force and charms of their own Eloquence or Sophistry, for that they pretended not to; not from their Riches, for their Staves and Scrips were all the Treasure they carried with them; nor from any Authority or Power they had or ever were like to have; for how could such poor illiterate persons as they, ever expect to arrive to an Authority great enough to contest with all the power and wisdom of the World which was armed against them; in a word, not from any proneness they found either in Iews or Gentiles to imbrace the Doctrine which they designed by this their Testimony to confirm and assert, that being every where gainsaid and opposed by the interests and affections of both; and if their Testimony was not believed (as 'twas very unlikely it should, if it had not been true) what could they expect but to be branded to all posterity as a company of infamous Cheats and Impostors: So that unless they had been assured that their testimony was true, they had all the reason in the World to expect that it would prove the most fatal and unprofitable Lye that ever was invented or broached among mankind; since it was so far from promising them any worldly advantage, that it visibly exposed them to all the miseries and calamities of human life. And then if they knew this Story of Christs Resurrection which they attested to be a Lye, they had a great deal less reason to expect any advantage from it in the World to come; for either they believed that Religion which they sought to confirm by attesting this story, or they did not; if they did not, how could they hope to fare ever the better in the other World for endeavouring to propagate a false Religion in this; if they did, how would they hope to be made happy hereafter by telling a Lye for that Religion which excommunicates Lyars out of the Kingdom of Happiness? Since therefore if their testimony had been false, they could expect to reap no advantage from it in either World, doubtless they would never have been so mad as to assert and attest it, had they not known it to be true; for what man in his wits would ever tell a lye that hath no reason to expect any other fruit from it, but only to die for it here, and to be damned for it hereafter?
V. Another Circumstance requisite to render a Testimony highly credible is, that the testifiers of it do give some great security for the truth of what they say; and therefore it is required by human Laws that in all great matters of Fact the Witnesses should give the security of their Oaths, or of some great pledge to be forfeited by them, in case their Testimony prove false. But never did any men give greater security of their truth, than the Witnesses of our Saviours Resurrection; for they sealed their Testimony with their Blood, and rather chose to undergo the most witty and exquisite torments, than to recant any part or circumstance of what they had seen and testified concerning it. For of all the Apostles, who were the chief Witnesses of it, there was only one that escaped a violent death, and he, as the Ecclesiastical Story tells us, had not been delivered from it but by a Miracle. And doubtless those other Disciples, who saw and conversed with our Saviour after he was risen, and together with the Apostles bore witness of it to the World, did proportionably run the same fate: And how is it imaginable that so many men should all turn so mad together as to lay down their lives for a pledge of the truth of a Story which they knew to be all a m…re cheat and imposture? Some men indeed have suffered Martyrdom for professing Propositions that were false, but then they thought them to be true; but no man in his wits ever died in the defence of an Assertion which he knew to be false. But as for the testifiers of our Saviours Resurrerection they did all of them witness upon certain information, and did assuredly know whether their Testimony were true or false; so that if Christ did not rise, as they reported, they died in the defence of a known Lye, which is such a piece of folly as doth exceed all instances of extravagance. Suppose that Aesop should have died a Martyr to his own Fables, or that the Author of the Seven Champions should have laid down his life in the defence of S. George's killing the Dragon, would not all the World have concluded them incurably distracted? But as for the Apostles, their excellent Writings are a sufficient demonstration, that they were men of very sound intellectuals, and therefore tho we should suppose them to be so wicked as to love lying for its own sake, we cannot suppose them to be so mad as to love it better than their own lives, as they must necessarily do, if their Testimony of our Saviours Resurrection were false. But supposing that one or two of them should have proved so frantick, yet it is incredible that so many hundreds of men and women should all agree together at the same time in the same mad project, viz. to throw away their lives for no other purpose but only to cheat and abuse the World, and that no one of them should be induced, by all the hopes and fears that were set before them, to confess and discover the mad conspiracy. When they began to report the Story, they could not but foresee the consequence of it, viz. that they must either recant it, and thereby proclaim themselves Impostors to the World, or else lay down their lives for it. So that had they known it to be false, it would have been a Prodigy of Impudence in them, and Folly together, not only without hope of benefit, but within prospect of a certain ruin, to have divulged a known lye to the World, and under the severest Persecutions to have persisted in it without the least regret of Conscience, or concernment for their own ease and safety. There never was the like instance among men, and I dare say there never will be so long as men love themselves, and continue in their Wits; and to imagine that of the Witnesses of our Saviours Resurrection, of which there is no parallel example among mankind, is an Argument that we have much more inclination than reason to be Infidels. This therefore is plain, that the Witnesses of Christs Resurrection gave as great a pledge of the truth of their Testimony, as it was possible for mortal men to do, and if those men may not be believed who attest a thing upon certain knowledge, and seal it with their blood, there is no credit can be given to any human Testimony; because a mans life is the greatest security that he can possibly give for his honesty.
VI. Another Circumstance requisite to render a Testimony highly credible is, that the Witnesses do give some certain sign and token that what they testifie is true; and this the Eye-witnesses of our Saviours Resurrection did. For in token that what they said was true they themselves wrought sundry Miracles in his name: for so we read of the Apostles, that they went forth and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the Word with signs following, Mar. 16.20. and that with great power, i. e. miraculous works, the Apostles gave witness of the Resurrection of the Lord Iesus, Acts 4.33. and also at Iconium the Lord gave Testimony to the word of his grace, and granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands, Acts 14.3. And the same was done by S. Stephen at Ierusasalem, Acts 6.8. and by S. Philip at Samaria, Acts 8.6, 7. and by S. Paul at Ephesus, Acts 19.11. And S. Paul assures us, That from Ierusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, the Gospel had been preached by him, with mighty signs and wonders, and by the power of the Holy Ghost, Rom. 15.19. all which things being recorded in an Age wherein, if they had been false, they might easily have been disproved, it had been the wildest project in the world for the Apostles to have pretended to them had they not been notoriously true; for they must needs think that all the World being prejudiced against them would be sure to keep a very strict and watchful eye on them, and that if upon the severest enquiry they were at any time taken tripping in this their pretence of working Miracles, their fraud will soon ring through all the World, which must unavoidably prejudice their Cause a thousand times more than all the Miracles they pretended to could advance it; and for men that had the eyes of all the World upon them falsly to pretend to work such innumerable Miracles as they did, and this not in corners, but in publick view, and to name the places where they wrought them, and where they knew there were thousands that could and would certainly detect and disprove them, would have been the most prodigious instance of impudence and folly together that ever was acted by men in their Wits. But so notoriously true was the matter of Fact, that their most inveterate Enemies amongst both Jews and Gentiles have not the confidence to deny it, although indeed they attributed it, even as the Jews did our Saviours Miracles, to the power of Magick; for so in their Talmud, Tractat. de Idol. c. 1. the Jews celebrate S. Iames the Apostle as eminent for the gift of Miracles, by whom the Nephew of Rab. Samuel being bit of a Serpent would not be cured because every Disciple of Jesus was wont to heal in his name. And Lib. Sabbat. Ierosol. they tell us of a Son of Rab. Iose, who having swallowed Poyson was cured by a Christian in the name of Jesus. And as for the Heathen Iulian himself, he confesses that S. Paul did very wonderful things, for he says, that he was the greatest and most expert Magician that ever was, vid. Cyril. Alex. lib. 3. and the same he pronounces of S. Peter also, id. lib. 9. So also Celsus frequently charges the Christians with doing their mighty works by the power of some Demon, adding a fiction of his own, viz. that they had received from Christ certain Magical Books by which they were instructed to perform all their Miracles, vid. Origen. cont. Cels. p. 302. and several other places, which is a plain confession that such Miracles were commonly performed by Christians: But that they did not perform them by any confederacy with evil Spirits, as these bad men affirm, is evident because one of their greatest and most common Miracles was dispossessing these evil Spirits of mens Bodies, and their own Temples and Oracles. For the truth of which they often provoke their Adversaries in their Writings and Apologies to come and make experiment of it. Thus S. Cyprian in his Epistle to Demetrian Proconsul of Africa, O that thou wouldst but hear and see when the Devils whom thou worshipest are adjured and tortured by us, and with the spiritual Rods and Torments of our Words are ejected out of the Bodies they possess, when howling and roaring in a human voice they confess the Iudgment to come: Do but come and see whether these things we say are not true. And a little after, If thou wilt come, saith he, thou shalt see those whom thou worshipest for Gods stand bound and tremble as miserable Captives under our hands. Others of them appeal to the Consciences of the Heathens themselves, who had been Spectators of their miraculous Victories over these infernal Spirits. So Minutius Faelix, All these things are very well known to a great many of your selves, that your Gods are forced by us to confess themselves Devils, when by the torment of our words, and by the fire of our Prayers they are chased out of human Bodies, even Saturn and Serapis, and Jupiter, and the greatest of those Gods you worship, being overcome with sorrow are forced to acknowledge what they are, and tho it be to their shame, especially when you are present, yet they dare not lye, but being adjured by the true and only God they quake and tremble in the bodies they possess, and either leap out immediately, or vanish by degrees. Others of them offer to make the experiment even before the Tribunals of the Heathen, and to answer for the success with their own lives. So Tertullian in his Apologetick. Let any man that is apparently acted by one of your Gods be brought before your own Tribunals, and if that supposed God, being commanded by any Christian to speak, doth not confess himself to be a Devil, as not daring to lye to a Christian, take that malepert Christian and pour out his blood immediately. Yea, how often, saith he a little after, only upon our touch of and breathing upon possessed persons are these Gods you adore forced to depart out of their Bodies with grief and reluctancy, you your selves being present, and blushing at it. And these things, as Origen tells us, cont. Cels. lib. 7. were ordinarily performed even by the meanest Christians, which is a plain Argument that it was done merely by the power of Jesus, without any Conjuration or Magical Art. And can we imagine that the Devil, without any constraint from some superior power would ever have quitted that Tyranny he had so long exercised over the bodies and consciences of men, who had thitherto adored and worshiped him, or that he would ever have confessed himself to be a Devil to those men who sought the ruin of his Kingdom, and made use of his Confessions to that purpose, had he not been forced to it by the Authority of the Father of Spirits? Is it likely, he would have exerted his power to the ruin of his own interest, and the amendment of those Souls he had insnared and captivated, as he must necessarily have done should he have impowered the Witnesses of our Saviours Resurrection to confirm their Testimony by Miracles? And since they all along declared they did them in the name and by the power of Iesus, to be sure if it had not been so, the God of truth would never have impowered them to impose such a cheat upon the World. These Miracles of theirs therefore were plain signs and tokens of the truth of what they did attest, viz. that Jesus was risen from the dead, and that not only as they were so many divine seals by which God himself did confirm their Testimony, whose goodness and veracity could never have permitted him to set the seal of his miraculous power to a lye: But besides this the Apostles Miracles were so many plain demonstrations that Jesus was risen and alive, since they did them all in his name, and by his power. For how is it possible, that Jesus could have impowered them to do Miracles had he been still among the dead, and in a state of inactivity? A dead man can do nothing himself, much less can he impower others to do Miracles. So that by those miraculous Works which the Apostles did by the power of Christ they did in effect thus bespeak the World: Look here, O incredulous World, if nothing else will persuade you that our Lord is risen and alive, behold the vital operations which he exerts in us his Disciples, tho of our selves we are as impotent as you, yet no sooner do we invoke our great Masters Name, and implore his Aid, but we are presently enabled to perform mighty things beyond the power of any mortal Agent; without any other Charm but his powerful Name, we raise the Dead, bind the Devils, restore the Blind, recover the Lame, and cure all manner of Diseases; and is not this as plain a token of his being alive, as if he were now standing before you in our room, and doing all these things in his own Person? If he were dead still he could not act in us, as you see him do; and therefore if nothing else will convince ye that he is alive again, behold these mighty powers which he exerts in us, and be at length persuaded by these sensible tokens of his activity, which we produce before your eyes, that he is risen from the dead. For it is worth observing, that this gift of Miracles was never so plentifully communicated to the Apostles as after Christs Ascension into Heaven, for before he ascended he commanded them to tarry at Ierusalem till they had received the Gift of the Holy Ghost, or, which is the same thing, the Gift of Miracles, Acts 1.4, 5. and this gift, as he himself tells them, vers. 8. was to enable them to bear Testimony to him unto all the World, for he being now ascended into Heaven they could no longer produce his person to convince unbelievers of the truth of his Resurrection, and therefore to supply this defect Christ gave them the gift of Miracles, that that might be instead of his bodily presence a plain and sensible token of his being restored to life again. And indeed this was as certain a sign of it as if he had continued upon Earth, and openly conversed among men in the view of the World; for the most crrtain sign of life is action, and by what hath been said it is apparent, that Christ did not more visibly act in his own Person when he was upon Earth, than he did in the persons of his Apostles after he ascended into Heaven. These miraculous Operations therefore which they performed by the Power of Jesus, were all of them so many plain and sensible Signs and Tokens of the truth of what they did attest, viz. that Jesus was risen from the dead. So that considering all these circumstances of the Apostles Testimony, I dare boldly affirm, that from the beginning of the World to this day there never was any matter of Fact more sufficiently and credibly testified than this of the Resurrection of our Saviour; and by raising him from the dead God hath bore witness to him before all the World, that he really is what he pretended to be, the true Messias and only Mediator between himself and us.
Which brings me to the second Head I proposed, to shew what an excellent convincing Argument this is of the truth of our Saviours Doctrine and Mediation, and how effectually it justifies his pretence of being the true Messias and only Mediator. 'Tis true, all the Miracles which our Saviour wrought while he was upon Earth, were plain demonstrations of his being sent from God, and therefore to these, as I shewed before, he frequently appeals in his excellent Disputations with the unbelieving Iews; and when Iohn Baptist sent to inquire of him whether he were the Messias or no, he returns no other Answer but this, Go and shew John those things which ye see and hear, that the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the Lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have the Gospel preached unto them, Matt. 11.4, 5. But his own Resurrection being the greatest Miracle that he ever performed, to this both himself and his Apostles did most commonly appeal; insomuch that S. Paul, 1 Cor. 15.14. says, That if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and our faith vain; because this being the Grand Miracle on which Christ staked the credit of his whole Doctrine; if this had failed, there had been no reason to give any Credit to any thing that he taught. The Resurrection of Christ therefore is a certain evidence of the truth of his Doctrine; only as it was the greatest of his miraculous works, it proved his Doctrine no otherwise than his other Miracles did; but it was the highest proof of it, as it was the greatest of his Miracles. Wherefore to shew what an excellent proof of his Doctrine his Resurrection was, I shall endeavour to shew that Miracles in general, and particularly this of Christs Resurrection are the best evidences of a Divine Revelation, that the nature of the thing will bear, and this I shall do by shewing
First, that this is the most proper and convenient Evidence.
Secondly, That it is the most certain and infallible.
Thirdly, that it is the plainest and most popular.
Fourthly, That it is the shortest and most compendious.
I. First, That this evidence of Miracles is the most proper and convenient to prove the truth of any pretence to Revelation. For as for the intrinsick Arguments drawn from the nature and quality of the Revelation, they may prove it indeed to be wise, and good and holy, but how they should prove it to be immediately revealed from God I cannot apprehend. For as for the Moral Writings of the Heathen Philosophers they were most of them very good, and wise and holy; but yet it doth not hence follow that the Authors of them were immediately inspired when they wrote them: notwithstanding their goodness they might be, and doubtless were the dictates of their own natural reason, and so may any other Doctrine how good soever it be; and tho the Authors of such Writings may pretend to be inspired, yet that is no argument that they are. For all that I know they may pretend to it to give credit to their Doctrine, or they may think themselves inspired when they are not; so that they have no other way to convince me that what they pretend is true, but only by giving me some certain sign and token that they are really inspired from above, and no sign can reasonably convince me of this, but such a one as I have reason to believe God alone did inable them to give me; for so long as I have just reason to suspect that the sign which they give me was produced either by their own power or by the power of some other Agent besides God, it is no sign at all to me of their being inspired by God. Miracles therefore being the only signs we can reasonably believe are produced by the immediate power of God, 'tis they alone can indicate a mans being immediately inspired by God. For how can I be assured that what a man saith is immediately revealed to him by God, unless God himself give me some sign or token that he is so, and how can I know that this or that is a sign or token from God, unless it be something so extraordinary and miraculous, as, that all things considered, I may reasonably conclude 'twas God alone that produced it. I confess indeed, a Miracle singly is not sufficient to demonstrate any Doctrine to be of divine Revelation; for unless the Doctrine it self be good, at least unless it hath no apparent evil in it, there is no Miracle whatsoever can prove it to be divine. For there is no argument in the World can persuade a reasonable man to believe God against himself; but to believe a bad Doctrine to be the Will of God, because it is confirmed by Miracles, is to believe Gods Power against his Goodness; and it is not more certain that God doth will what he confirms by Miracles, than that he doth not, cannot will iniquity; nay of the two, I should rather believe a good Doctrine to be from God, barely because it is good, than that a bad Doctrine is so because it is confirmed by Miracles, it being more possible for a wicked Impostor to work a Miracle, than for a holy God to will sin. But yet the goodness of a Doctrine singly considered, and without the confirmation of Miracles, is no certain proof that 'tis of divine revelation. 'Tis true, those things in any Doctrine which are morally good and founded upon eternal reasons, may be demonstrated true by moral arguments without any additional confirmation by Miracles; but if the Doctrine contain in it any Proposition that is matter of pure Revelation, and cannot be known without it, it is hardly possible to prove such a Doctrine true without producing some miraculous sign of its truth and divinity. As for instance, how can a man know that God hath appointed Jesus to be the Mediator between himself and us, which is matter of pure revelation wholly depending on the free will of God, unless God himself give us some miraculous sign by which we may know that it is his Will and Appointment? And therefore we find that there is no Revelation or pretence of Revelation but what lays claim to this way of confirmation. Thus the Mosaick Religion was confirmed by sundry great and stupendous Miracles, and even the false Religion of the Heathen pretended to this way of confirmation also; for generally they established their superstitious Rites by Magical Tricks and Incantations, they conjured their Demons into their consecrated Images, and made the liveless Stocks to move and speak, they pretended to effect extraordinary Cures by the invocation of their Idols; they often raised the Devils they adored by their Charms and Inchantments, and made them appear in strange visible shapes to their superstitious Votaries, and by these and such like miraculous pretences they introduced all their Idolatrous Ceremonies; which is a plain evidence that they thought Miracles to be the most proper and natural arguments of the truth of any Revelation; and since the thing is capable of no better way of demonstration, it is an unreasonable thing not to be satisfied with this; for he who will not believe that a thing which may be is, without an impossible proof of its existence, is unreasonably resolved right or wrong not to believe it. So that this way of Christs proving his Doctrine by his Miracles, and particularly by his Resurrection, being the best and most proper; if we will not believe it upon this evidence, we are incurable Infidels whom no reason in the World can convince or persuade.
II. This evidence of Miracles is the most certain and infallible Medium to prove the truth of any pretence to Revelation. For if God give a man power to do Miracles in token that what he says is true, he thereby sets his own Seal to the truth of it, and if we are satisfied that the Miracle was wrought by the Power of God, and yet will not believe the Doctrine it seals, we do in effect give the lye to God himself: for a real Miracle wrought to confirm a Doctrine gives as great a certainty of the truth of that Doctrine as we can have of the truth of God, which is the foundation of all the certainty in the World; because if once it be granted that God may work a Miracle to attest a lye, we can have no security of his truth; but for all that we know every thing that he saith or doth may be an Imposture; and if so, for all we know he may have deceived our faculties too, and then there is nothing can be certain to us. The Miracles of Christ therefore, and especially this of his Resurrection, gives us as great a certainty of the truth of his Doctrine as we can have of any thing. For that he was raised by the power of God is evident, because he was really dead, his heart was pierced, and the vital bonds were broken, which rendered him utterly incapable to raise himself; and supposing that there be some Agent in Nature besides God that was powerful enough to raise him, yet we are sure the Devil would not do it, because as was shewn before, he must thereby do a thing infinitely contrary to his own temper, and apparently destructive to his Interest and Kingdom; nor would any holy Angel have done it without a special command and Commission from God, which is the same thing as if God himself had done it immediately. So that it's plain Christ's Resurrection must be effected either by the immediate Will, or by the immediate Power of God, and whether it was one way or t'other, 'twas a most certain evidence of the truth of his Doctrine, because it cannot be imagined that the God of truth would either way have raised him from the dead, had he been an Impostor, since in so doing he must have taken the most effectual course to impose a Cheat upon mankind. For whilst he was alive he promised to rise again the third day, and gave this as the great Sign to the World whereby they should know that he came from God; upon the hearing of which all unprejudiced minds (especially considering the nature of his Doctrine) had abundant reason to conclude thus with themselves, If this Man make good his word, we can no longer doubt but that he was sent from God; for to be sure he cannot rise unless God raise him, and it can never enter into our thoughts that the God of truth will raise him on purpose to delude and deceive us. When therefore he was actually risen, they could not without being guilty of the most unreasonable obstinacy, make any farther scruple of his truth and veracity.
There was about six hundred years ago a certain Iew called El David, who gave out that he was Christ, and drew a great many Proselytes after him, upon which he was apprehended and brought before an Arabian Prince, who asked him what Miracle he could do, to convince him that he was not an Impostor, to which he answered, Sir, Cut off my Head, and in a little time you shall see me alive again; which he said to prevent some greater torments which he feared would be inflicted on him for deluding the People. Whereupon the Prince replied, A greater sign than this thou canst not give, and therefore if after I have beheaded thee thou recoverest to life again, both I and all my People and all the World sure will acknowledge thee to be a Messenger from God: and presently he commanded him to be beheaded, and there was an end of the Cheat; and so there would doubtless have been of the Christian Religion, if Jesus had not been raised from the dead, for he said just as this El David did, Kill me if you please, and when you have done so, you shall see I will live again, and upon this I stake all the credit of my Doctrine. And therefore since it came to pass according to his word, we have all the Reason in the World to resolve with that Arabian Prince to believe and acknowledg him to be sent from God. For if there be a God that loves sincerity and truth, as we are sure there is, we are equally sure he will not conspire with an Impostor to cheat and delude the World; and yet this he must have done, had Jesus been a deceiver, when he fulfilled this miraculous sign of his Resurrection, upon which he suspended all the credit of his Doctrine. So that now we have the same certainty of the truth of our faith as we have of the truth of our knowledg; for the truth of our knowledg supposes that there is a God whose Goodness will not suffer us to be deceived in those things which we clearly apprehend, and the truth of our faith supposes that there is a God whose Goodness will not suffer him to deceive us in such things as he hath given us sufficient reason to believe; for he who gives me a sufficient reason to induce me to believe a false Proposition, is guilty of seducing me into a false belief: and therefore since God in raising Christ from the dead hath given us a sufficient Argument to induce us to believe that he sent him, it necessarily follows, either that he did send him, or that he is guilty of deceiving and abusing us.
III. This evidence of Miracles is the plainest and most popular to confirm a Revelation. If the Principles of revealed Religion were to be proved by natural Reason and Philosophy, the Arguments of it would be too thin and subtile for vulgar capacities, and men would never be fit to be Catechized into their Religion till they had been trained up in the Schools, and there instructed in the intrigues of Logick and Discourse; for the generality of men are capable of no other notices of things but what are immediately impressed upon them by the objects of sense, nor have they skill enough so exactly to compare simple terms as to connect them into true Propositions, and from these to deduce their true and natural Consequences. These are things that require far more leisure and skill than Mens Education and Affairs will ordinarily afford them, so that had there not been some plainer and easier way found out to prove the truth of Christianity than this, it had been a Religion fit only for the Schools of Philosophers; and the Vulgar who are not capable of close and strict discourse, and have neither time nor skill enough to trace the footsteps of truth through all the intricacies of reasoning and discourse, must have been damned to eternal infidelity; and this without doubt was one main reason why the Moral Philosophy of the Heathen had so little influence upon the People, because the Arguments by which its Principles were proved and demonstrated were too fine and subtile for vulgar apprehensions, insomuch that there were but few in comparison that could comprehend the strength and force of them; and in all probability as little effect would Christianity have found in the World, had it not been proved and demonstrated by such evidence as is adapted to all capacities. As for instance, the immortality of the Soul is one great Principle of the Christian Religion; but now had we no other way of proving this Principle than by Philosophical Arguments, how impossible would it have been to convince the Vulgar of the truth of it? For first, we must have proved that the Soul is immaterial, by shewing that its operations, such as Free-will and Reflection are incompetent with Matter; from hence we must have inferred that it is immortal by shewing that what is immaterial hath no quantitative extension, and consequently is incapable of division and corruption. Now, I beseech you, what Iargon, what unintelligible Gibberish would this appear to vulgar understandings? What an insignificant noise would such fine Speculations make in the ears of an honest Plowman? But now the miraculous Resurrection of our Saviour is so plain and intelligible a proof of it, that every man may apprehend the force of it that hath the free use of his own faculties; for it is but arguing thus, and the thing is clearly proved; Christ told the World whilst he was alive that the Soul is immortal, and that there are everlasting habitations of weal or woe prepared for her in another World; and in token that what he said was true, he promised that the third day after his death he would rise again, which he could never have verified, had not God given him power to do it, and to be sure God would never have given him this power, had not his saying been true; wherefore since God did impower him to rise again, it is plain that he thereby approved the truth of his saying, and justified his Doctrine to the World. This is such a plain and intelligible way of arguing that the shallowest minds may easily apprehend the force of it; wherefore since God designed Christianity to be a Religion as well for the Vulgar as for the more refined and elevated understandings, it was highly reasonable that the way of proving its Principles should be plain and intelligible to all capacities of men.
IV. And lastly, This evidence of Miracles is the most short and compendious way of proving the truth of Revelation. One reason why the moral Philosophy of the Heathen had so little influence on the Vulgar was because their way of proving the Principles of it was so long and tedious; for they were fain to prove them by parcels, and when they had convinced their Auditors of the truth of one Proposition they proceeded to another; and so they were fain to prove them all singly and apart by distinct and different arguments; which was so tedious a way that the vulgar had not leisure enough to attend to so great a variety of reasonings, nor yet capacity enough to retain them; but he that works a real Miracle, in token that such a Doctrine is true, proves it all at once, and needs not trouble himself to demonstrate one Proposition after another, for by giving a miraculous sign of the truth of such a Doctrine, God doth openly approve every Proposition contained in it, because it cannot be supposed that the God of truth would approve any Doctrine in the gross, if any part or Proposition of it had been false, since in so doing he must necessarily have abused our understandings, and wittingly betrayed us into a false belief, which to affirm of God is equally absurd and blasphemous. When therefore God raised our Saviour from the dead, he did by that one Act openly avow the truth of his whole Doctrine, and proclaim to all the World that every Article in it is as true as truth it self. So that now we need not trouble our selves to hunt out for several Arguments to prove the several Articles of our Faith; for this one Argument serves instead of all, that God by sundry Miracles, and particularly by raising Jesus from the dead, hath given Testimony that the Doctrine which he taught is a true revelation of his Mind and Will to the World. And thus you see what a clear and excellent evidence Christs Miracles, and especially his Resurrection is of the truth of his Doctrine: No wonder therefore that the Apostle doth so much prefer it above all other evidence, as we find he doth, 1 Cor. 2.4. For, saith he, my speech and my teaching was not with the enticing words of mans wisdom, but in demonstration of spirit and of power; that is, I did not go about to convince ye with Rhetorical Harangues or fine Philosophical Reasonings, but I clearly demonstrated the truth of what I preached by the Miracles which through the power of the Divine Spirit, I wrought amongst you. So that whether we consider the certainty of Christs Miracles, but especially of his Resurrection, or the powerful evidence which they give to his Doctrine, I doubt not but upon an impartial view of the whole it will appear that we have all the reason in the world firmly to assent to the truth of Christianity, and consequently to this Article which comprehends it all, that Iesus Christ is the Mediator between God and Man.
FINIS.