Vindication of the Truth of the Christian Religion, Religious treatise · Section 2 · Chapter 16
CHAP. XVI.
Where we further examine thoſe Difficulties which may be raiſed againſt our principles.
THoſe who regard not the Maſter of the Houſe, doubtleſs will not reſpect the perſon of his Servants. The Incredulous no doubt have many things to object againſt the Diſciples of Jeſus Chriſt. They will ask why the number of them was ſo ſmall, wherefore he choſe them ſo poor and ignorant; ſince your famous Teachers, ſuch as the Phariſees amongſt the Jews; the Stoicks amongſt the Heathens, wo…ld have probably gained his Sect more credit and reſpect: Wherefore was he attended with Publicans and Sinners, nay even with Harlots? And Laſtly, Why ſhould we rather believe the teſtimony of the Diſciples concerning their Maſter, than that of thoſe men whom the Jews employ'd to ſignify that Jeſus a Galilean was an Impoſtor, and that his Diſciples had taken away his Body by night from the Sepulchre wherein he had been laid. Juſtin is the man who ſpeaks of thoſe choſen by the Synagogue to ſpread abroad this report, in his Dialogue againſt Tryphon.
It will be eaſie for us not only to anſwer all their objections, but even to draw from them ſeveral very conſiderable advantages to our Cauſe.
For as to the Firſt, We anſwer that beſides the twelve Diſciples, commonly called Apoſtles, which Jeſus Chriſt had choſe to himſelf in the beginning, he alſo ſent ſeventy others, who were not only eyewitneſſes to all his Actions, but alſo the very inſtruments he made uſe of to advance his Kingdom: that the truth of his Reſurrection was teſtify'd and ſeen by above five hundred brethren at once, and that the miraculous gifts which fell on the Diſciples after the Aſcenſion of their Maſter, and the Miracles which God wrought by their hands, had as many witneſſes, as their were people that believed there preaching.
As to the ſecond, we anſwer, that the choice of ſuch vile contemptible inſtruments as God was pleaſed to make uſe of for the Execution of the greateſt and moſt noble deſign, is one of the moſt conſiderable proofs that every thing here was ſolely tranſacted by the finger of God. Had he choſe for his Miniſters the Princes and Potentates of the World, ſome would perhaps have aſcribed the wonders of Chriſtian Morality to Policy, and the deſign of keeping people in obedience, by obliging them to a charitable Union among themſelves. Had he choſe Philoſophers, ſome would have aſcribed their heroical ſelfdenial to the ſingularity and pride of their Sect, or to thoſe elevated thoughts which Philoſophy had inſpired them with. Had he choſe Orators, ſome would have thought that they might have ſeduced men by the charms of their Eloquence. Had he choſe very Powerful and Rich men, ſome would have attributed the ſucceſs of their preaching to their liberalities. He choſe therefore mean and contemptible perſons, who had ever lived in great ſimplicity, and labour'd under an obſcure condition, to ſhew more clearly that the ſucceſs of the Goſpel was the work of God and not of Men.
In anſwer to the third Objection we aſſert, that tho' Jeſus Chriſt was uſually attended with Publicans and Sinners; yet they were Sinners converted by the efficacy of his Doctrine, they were Publicans regenerated, whoſe teſtimony of the Chriſtian Religion was the more authentick, as it more plainly evinced that this Religion was the only one truly capable of ſanctifying Mankind. Certainly I cannot perceive a more evident ſign of the Divinity of our Saviours Miſſion than to ſee that he acted with ſo much efficacy, that ſinful women came, and waſh'd his feet with repentant tears, and wiped them with their Hairs; that one word of his could draw Levi from the receit of Cuſtom, oblige Peter, and Andrew, to follow him, to forſake their Nets, their Boat, and even their Father Zebedee.
But ſome will ſay, if Jeſus Chriſt made his Diſciples utterly renounce all worldly advantages, 'twas meerly by the hopes he gave them of a bleſſed and eternal life, and conſequently it was to their advantage thus to renounce them. I grant it: but then I ſay this conſideration makes for us, and is more than ſufficient to give an invincible Demonſtration of the Truth of the Chriſtian Religion. For if the Diſciples did verily expect an everlaſting Life from Jeſus Chriſt; and if it was purely on the account of that intereſt, the greateſt indeed of all our Intereſts, and of that hope, far ſtronger than all their paſſions, that they ſuffered ſuch torments for the name of Jeſus (as we muſt either believe it, or look upon the Diſciples as ſo many Fools or mad Men) I ſay if the Diſciples hoped for eternal life from him, it neceſſarily follows thence, that they ſincerely believed him to be what he profeſsd himſelf to be; ſince they could not expect eternal life from an Impoſtor. And if they believed his calling to be true, they likewiſe believed his Miracles and Reſurrection to be ſo too. And if they thought his Miracles and Reſurrection true, it follows thence that they were neceſſarily ſo; it being impoſſible that the Diſciples ſhould have deceived themſelves in certain matters of fact which required only ſeeing, hearing and feeling.
Let the Incredulous uſe what Shifts and Evaſions they pleaſe, I dare ſay they can bring nothing but abſurd impertinencies in anſwer to this argument, which we look upon to have the force of Demonſtration. If the Apoſtles expected everlaſting life from Jeſus Chriſt, it follows thence that they could not look upon him as an Impoſtor, nor abet his Impoſture, nor be Impoſtors themſelves, as they neceſſarily muſt have been, were not the Chriſtian Religion infallibly true. Now 'tis moſt certain that the Diſciples did hope for everlaſting life from Jeſus Chriſt, becauſe he never propoſed any other object to their Faith, he foretold them nothing but Croſſes and tribulations in this life, publickly declaring that his Kingdom was not of this World; beſides Experience and Reaſon taught them the very ſame thing; they themſelves declared in all their Epiſtles that they expected nothing but croſſes and tribulations in this life, comparing it to a Warfare, a Wreſtling, the World to a Field of Battel; calling themſelves the Champions of Jeſus Chriſt; and continually rejoycing that they were to ſuffer in hopes of the Crown that was reſerv'd for them.
As to the Fourth Objection, we anſwer that we are willing to compare the Witneſſes of the Synagogue with thoſe Writings of Jeſus Chriſt. The Witneſſes of the Synagogue teſtify'd that which was unknown to them, that which they had not ſeen, and which they therefore could have no certain Knowledge of. For who can believe the report of the Watch? If they really ſaw any one taking away the body of Jeſus why did they not prevent it? But if they did not ſee it, how can their Teſtimony be valid? But as for the Diſciples of the Lord, they teſtifi'd thoſe matters of fact which their Eyes were Witneſſes to. That which we have ſeen, ſay they, with our Eyes, which we have heard with our Ears, and our Hands have handled of the Word of Life, declare we unto you, 1 John 1. 1. The former Witneſſes were Soldiers, the latter Martyrs. The former endeavoured to perſwade men by force, the latter perſwaded them maugre all the violence offered to them. To be ſuch a witneſs as the Apoſtles were, there is need of Conſtancy and perſwaſion. To be ſuch a one as thoſe ſuborned by the Synagogue, there is need only of fury and violence. But was there never a one of either party that recanted his Opinion? Yes without doubt, and this conſideration alone is ſufficient to decide the Controverſy.
Saul a ſervant of the Synagogue going one day to Damaſcus, not only to teſtify that Jeſus Chriſt had been a Seducer, but alſo to perſecute all thoſe that believed on him, was on a ſudden changed, and became a Diſciple of him whom before he went about ſo furiouſly to perſecute. Judas on the contrary a Diſciple and Apoſtle of Jeſus Chriſt, renounced his Maſter, and deliver'd him to the Jews who put him to Death. Here are two ſeveral witneſſes who ſeem to recant their opinion, but conſider the different end of their Recantation.
Saul was a Phariſee, the Son of a Phariſee, and conſequently a Member of a Sect particularly exaſperated againſt Jeſus Chriſt. He had obtained letters from the Sanhedrin or grand Councel at Jeruſalem, to the Synagogues of Damaſcus to demand aſſiſtance from them againſt the Chriſtians that dwelt therein, whom he had purpoſed to himſelf to drag along to Priſon, and to put to Death, as he had done ſeveral others before. He was therefore on his journey, and drew nigh unto Damaſcus: he was upon the point of ſatisfying his rage and fury; but on a ſudden he is altogether changed. What was there that could have obliged this Witneſs thus to recant? What proffers were then made to him, or who was then in a condition to make him any? What unexpected force ſo ſuddenly overthrew all the deſigns and prejudices of a man that was juſt going to ſhed the blood of Christians? He went about afterwards preaching that he had ſeen Jeſus Chriſt, that a great light ſhone round about him, that the Myſteries of the Kingdom of Heaven were revealed unto him. He affirmed that God had ſet him forth unto the World, and that he became a Spectacle unto Men and Angels, 1 Cor. 4. 9.
If men will not credit his report, let them try him by torments, and ſee what effect they will have upon him. Let them load him with Chains, and caſt him into Priſon, let them expoſe him to Wild beaſts at Epheſus; let the Elements, Men, and Devils be all at once ſet againſt him; let them ſcourge him, drag him along, ſtone him, let them bring him from Jeruſalem to Ceſarea, from Ceſarea to Rome, increaſe and prolong his Afflictions, Saul the Witneſs of the Synagogue 'tis true recanted his opinion; but Paul the Witneſs of Jeſus will never recant his.
Having ſeen the ſtrange alteration which happened to the Perſon of the Miniſter of the Synagogue, let us reflect a little on that which happened to the Perſon of the Apoſtle of Jeſus Chriſt. Judas betrayed his Maſter, and received for his reward thirty pieces of Silver. But how comes it to paſs he was ſo much diſturbed after he had done it? The Jews, the Romans, the People, the Doctors, the Magiſtrates and Judges, all favoured his crime, and let him go unpuniſhed; yet the remorſe of his own Conſcience tormented him to that degree that he could not reſt any where; and at length not being able to overcome his Deſpair, he made away with himſelf: and the Wiſdom of God ſo ordered it, that the Jews themſelves preſerv'd the memory of that aſtoniſhing event, by buying with that mony a field which is ſince called Aceldama, becauſe it was the price of blood. What a ſtrange difference we find in theſe two Perſons of Judas and Saul? Judas killed himſelf in the midſt of his Proſperity; but Saul rejoyced in the midſt of his afflictions. Judas prevailed upon by the Synagogue could not be comforted by the ſame, but died in deſpair. Paul became the Diſciple and Witneſs of Jeſus, and to him the Croſs of Jeſus was matter of the greateſt joy. God forbid, ſays he Gal. 6. 14 that I ſhould glory, ſave in the Croſs of my Saviour Chriſt, by whom the World is crucified unto me, and I unto the World. Will any one believe that Judas was his own Executioner meerly out of remorſe for having betray'd an Impoſtor to the Jews? Or that St. Paul derived from the ſenſe of his infidelity, the courage he ſhewed in all his ſufferings. Certainly it may be very properly ſaid, that they were both the Martyrs of God, but only with this difference that Judas was ſo againſt his will, but Paul voluntarily. If the conſtancy of the one teſtify'd in behalf of Jeſus Christ, the deſpair of the other was no ſmall honour to him. And the only difference is this, that Paul was properly a Martyr, but Judas in ſpite of himſelf a witneſs of the Truth of Religion.