Vindication of the Truth of the Christian Religion, Religious treatise · Section 3 · Chapter 2

Vindication of the Truth of the Christian Religion · Religious treatise · Section 3 · Chapter 2

p. 162CHAP. II.

The firſt Center of Truth: a particular conſideration of the Miracles of Jeſus Chriſt.

WE dare ſay that ſuch is the nature of theſe Miracles, that the compoſers of the Goſpel durſt not, could not, would not have forged them, had they been really falſe.

I ſay they durſt not, becauſe they could not but have been publickly known. To prove this I ſhall lay down four Examples of them, which are I. The Hiſtory of Zachariah the Father of John the Baptiſt. II. The Hiſtory of the Maſſacre of the young Children of Bethlehem. III. The miraculous feeding of ſeveral thouſands at ſeveral times in the Wilderneſs, with a few Loaves and ſome ſmall Fiſhes. IV. And Laſtly, the ſupernatural prodigies which happened at the death of Jeſus Christ himſelf.

As to the Firſt, we may obſerve that the Subject upon whom this great Miracle was wrought is a Prieſt; a Prieſt who daily performed the functions of his Miniſterial office, and was then actually burning Incenſe in the Temple of Jeruſalem, at a very remarkable time, during which the people who expected him, were very intent at their Prayers to God in the outward Part or Porch of the Temple, whilſt he himſelf was in the Holy Place.

Now tho' the Hiſtorian had obſerved only concerning the Birth of John the Baptiſt, that Zachariah and Elizabeth his Wife were far advanced in years, and that the latter till then was thought Barren, yet that event would have employed ſomething ſo extraordinary and ſurpriſing, that one might have been almoſt poſitive that the Evangeliſt durſt not have p. 163been ſo bold as to forge it, againſt the publick knowledge which all the Jews muſt then have had of it. How then durſt any one have affirmed that Zachariah wholly loſt the uſe of his Tongue whilſt he was in the Temple; that all the people were Eye-Witneſſes of it; and that he remained Speechleſs, till the time was come wherein he was obliged to give a name to that wonderful Child which God had given him in his old age, notwithſtanding the Barrenneſs of his Wife? Suppoſing the Goſpel wherein this matter of fact is related, was compoſed long after that Event: ſtill it is true that St. Luke compoſed his Goſpel before his Book of the Acts of the Holy Apoſtles, and that he compoſed the Book of Acts ſomtime before the deſtruction of Jeruſalem, as we have in another place already obſerved, and as it is without doubt true. Then ſuppoſing alſo forty, fifty, or ſixty years, if you will, had paſt ſince all theſe things had happened, and before St. Luke compoſed his Goſpel; can forty, fifty, or ſixty years be ſufficient to perſwade ſeveral thouſands of people, nay all the Inhabitants of that great and flouriſhing City of Jeruſalem, that they had ſeen either with their own eyes, or that their Forefathers had ſeen one of their Prieſts wholly deprived of the uſe of his tongue, becauſe he had ſeen a Viſion in the Holy Place, and yet that he recovered it preciſely and exactly at the time he was obliged to give a name to his Child?

Certainly, had none but Zachariah's Relations been acquainted with the Event of thoſe things, yet it would have argued raſhneſs in any man to invent any thing falſe concerning them. For what an extravagance would it have been in any one to pretend to invent it, againſt the publick Knowledge of a whole and very numerous Nation, ſo ſolemnly aſſembled together, and ſo intent upon that Event, p. 164nay ſo ſurpriſed at that prodigy, or if you will (according to the Incredulous) ſo fully ſatisfied that there was nothing in it but a vain Chimaera and deluſion. And the people, ſays the Hiſtorian, waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried ſo long in the Temple. And when he came out, he could not ſpeak unto them: and they perceived that he had ſeen a Viſion in the Temple: for he beckened unto them, and remained Speechleſs, Luke 1. 21, 22.

But the manner in which Zacharias was healed is no leſs ſurpriſing. And it came to paſs, ſays the Evangeliſt, that on the eighth day they came to Circumciſe the Child, and they called him Zachariah after the name of his Father. And his Mother anſwered and ſaid, not ſo, but he ſhall be called John. And they ſaid unto her, there is none of thy Kindred that is called by that name. And they made ſigns to his Father, how he would have him called. And he asked for a Writing Table, and wrote ſaying, his name is John. And they marvelled all. And his Mouth was opened immediately, and his Tongue looſed, and he ſpake, and praiſed God. And fear came on all that dwel't round about them: and all theſe ſayings were noiſed abroad throughout all the Country of Judea, Luke 1. 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65.

Thus it appears this Hiſtory conſiſts of two Parts, the firſt whereof was known to all the City of Jeruſalem, and the other was ſpread abroad throughout all the Country of Judea, and certainly it is abſolutely impoſſible any one ſhould have in the leaſt deſigned to impoſe upon the World in that Reſpect, againſt that double knowledge they muſt have had of that matter of fact.

For then the Evangeliſt would have taken away all poſſibility of belief from his Narration by the choice of thoſe Circumſtances he inſerted into his Hiſtory. Now it does not ſeem natural for an p. 165Author who wrote the Hiſtory of Jeſus Chriſt and his Miracles, in a time wherein it was ſo ſtrictly examined, and the followers of that Sect were adjudged and condemned to Death with ſo much Severity, in a time wherein as he himſelf makes the Jews of Rome tell it to St. Paul, ſpeaking to him at the latter end of the Book of Acts Chap. 28. v. 22. For as concerning this Sect, we know that every where it is ſpoken againſt. I ſay it does not ſeem Natural that that ſame Author who knew it, …ay obſerved it himſelf, ſhould have publiſhed ſuch matters of fact, the falſity of which he would ſoon have been convinced of by twenty thouſands of people, who muſt have been preſent in the Temple with Zachariah, or at leaſt heard it related by thoſe who were there preſent.

One of the moſt dangerous errors which the Incredulous plunge themſelves in, is that they imagin that the ſame diſtance of time which is between us and thoſe matters of fact related to us, is alſo to be found between thoſe very matters of fact themſelves, and thoſe who ſo related them. And they perceive not that whereas with reſpect to us 'tis many ages ago ſince all thoſe things came to paſs, yet 'twas but a little while ſince theſe things muſt neceſſarily have happened with reſpect to the Diſciples who publiſhed them to the World, either by their preaching or writings.

Now for St. Luke to have invented ſuch matters of fact, muſt either have argued in him a certain drolling Mirth and pleaſant Gayety of Spirit, in telling ſuch ſtories ſo gravely, or elſe he muſt have had but a very mean opinion of Mens ſenſe and underſtanding in his time, to think they could ſo eaſily be deluded and impoſed upon.

The Hiſtory the Evangeliſts give us of the coming of the Wiſe-Men of the East into the City of p. 166Jeruſalem, of Herod's ſuſpicious Concern, and the cruel cautions he uſed to ſecure his own Crown, by commanding all the Young Children that were in the City of Bethlehem, and in all the Coaſts thereof to be ſlain, from two years old and under, according to the time he had diligently enquired of the Wiſe-men, I ſay this Hiſtory is much of the ſame ſtamp with that we juſt now conſider'd.

Had the Evangeliſts only told us in general, that the Wiſe-men ſaw a Star in the Eaſt, which they took to be the Star that ſignified the Birth of the King of the Jews, that would have been ſomewhat more ſuſpicious. Had they told us only that thoſe Wiſe-men came to Jeruſalem, that would not poſitively have concluded much. But when they tell us that they came publickly to Jeruſalem, not any way concealing themſelves, or the cauſe of their coming, and that the whole City was alarmed and concerned at it; Does it ſeem natural that a man ſhould fancy he could perſwade ſo great a City as Jeruſalem was, that it had been diſturbed and ſurpriſed at the arrival of Certain Wiſe-men, who were come to worſhip the King of the Jews? That a man▪ who had propoſed to himſelf to relate certain Fables whom it concerned that they ſhould paſs for true and certain matters of fact, ſhould yet pick out ſuch circumſtances as thoſe were, to vent abroad to a Nation that knew ſo very well the falſhood of them? For if we conſider who it was that related theſe things. 'Twas Matthew who was born a Jew. And who did he relate them to? Why to ſeveral thouſand Jews that had embraced Christianity, and who dwelling at Jeruſalem, knew full as well what had happened therein both in their days and in thoſe of their Fathers, as they know at Paris what was done in that City in the days of Cardinal Richelieu, or as they know at London every thing that happened in thoſe of Oliver p. 167Cromwell; and at Stockolm in thoſe of Guſtavus Adolphus: And now I pray conſider whether it be probable any man could have made the like matters of fact believ'd in any of thoſe great Cities by ſuch a ſucceſsful forgery; or whether he could have gained over to his ſide ſeveral thouſands of people by the meer ſtrength of his Fictions.

But if I grant that the Evangeliſt had boldneſs enough expreſly to denote the coming of the Wiſe-men, and the impreſſion it made on all the Inhabitants of Jeruſalem againſt their publick knowledge, nay againſt the memory of thoſe things they had then freſh in their minds; at leaſt it can't be denied but that the conſequences of that coming, and the Dependencies of that firſt event are of ſuch a Nature and Character, as not poſſibly to have been forged or invented by the moſt bold faced and impudent Writer that ever was.

There are here two or three Circumſtances ſo naturally and inſeparably united one with the other, that it is impoſſible to grant one without granting the other too. No man can doubt of the coming of the Wiſe-men to Jeruſalem, if he allows that this coming forced Herod to aſſemble the Grand Council of the Jews to know of them where the Meſſias ſhould be born: neither can he doubt of the anſwer that was made him by the Sanhedrin, if he owns that Herod ſent his men into Bethlehem, to ſlay the young Children that were there from two years old and under. So that if it can be made out that this laſt matter of fact was true, the other two will not need much proof.

Now I affirm that the Evangeliſt durſt not aſſert this laſt matter of fact, had it been utterly falſe. For what! Since the reign of Herod ſurnamed the Great was ſo well known, that the leaſt of his Actions was publickly talk'd of; how could any one p. 168have preſumed to impute falſly to him a Maſſacre ſo notable and extraordinary as that muſt have been? The City of Bethlehem had not as yet been deſtroyed, when the Evangeliſt wrote thoſe things; and therefore ſuppoſing the things falſe, there were ſo many Witneſſes of the Falſity, as there were Inhabitants yet living in that City. That City was not ſo far diſtant from Jeruſalem, but that thoſe Chriſtians who dwelt in the latter might have very well known the certain Truth of them. Beſides, there was a very great Commerce between thoſe two Places; and the time from the Birth of Jeſus Chriſt to that in which this Goſpel was compoſed, was not ſo long as to have given occaſion to ſo improbable a Fiction. Suppoſe a Man in theſe latter Days ſhould take upon him to make us believe that one of the preſent Kings in Europe, or if you will, of thoſe who reigned forty or fifty Years ago, cauſed two or three thouſand Children to be ſlain in their Cradle, that ſo he might involve in that Maſſacre the Ruin of a Child, whoſe Deſtiny he ſuſpected would prove fatal to him: Certainly it is not very probable we ſhould credit ſuch a Fable, or that any one durſt pretend to publiſh it; nay, had ſo much as the leaſt Thoughts of it. But then 'tis much more improbable, that any one ſhould endeavour to perſwade thoſe Men to the Belief of it who lived in that Kingdom, or in thoſe very Places where ſuch a thing was ſuppoſed to have happened.

But to come a little nearer to the Death of Jeſus Christ. The Evangeliſts repreſent him to us as having lived thirty Years obſcurely in the World. Now had it been their Deſign to put us off with Stories, they might have perſwaded us, that Jeſus Christ, during his abode here, had been often wrap'd up into Heaven, or tranſported into far p. 169Countries, where he had done many Signs and Wonders; nay they might have told us too, that for the ſpace of thirty Years he had continually wrought very ſenſible and wonderful Miracles in the midſt of the Jews: For it was as eaſy for them to ſuppoſe ſuch a thing as all the reſt. Yet it appears that the Evangeliſts include all his Miracles in the three laſt Years of his Life: And what is the Reaſon of it? Becauſe they wrote nothing but Truth. But we ſhall not here inſiſt much upon this Conſideration.

What is moſt certain is, That the Evangeliſts having delivered in their Writings, that Jeſus Chriſt had done a great many Signs and Wonders before a great number of Witneſſes, and having ſet down the Time and Place when and where they were done, they muſt neceſſarily have been void of all Shame, as well as Reaſon, to relate ſuch things as theſe, if they were falſe. They tell us, That Jeſus Chriſt, with a few Loaves and ſome ſmall Fiſhes, miraculouſly fed in the Wilderneſs, at one time, five thouſand; and at another, three thouſand men; beſides Women and Children. Now I am at a ſtand to imagine how it can be thought natural for one Man to undertake to perſwade ſeveral thouſands, that they had been wonderfully fed, and not only to relate the bare matter of fact it ſelf, but alſo bring in Chriſt reproaching the Multitude, that they followed him not purely for the ſake of his Miracles, but the Loaves he fed them with; and then the Multitude excuſing themſelves, and ſaying, that Moſes had fed their Forefathers, and that he muſt alſo feed them, if he would have them believe in him; as alſo Jeſus Chriſt bidding them on this Occaſion to labour not for the meat which periſheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlaſting life, Joh. 6. 27. and to that end promiſing to give them p. 170his Fleſh to eat, and his Blood to drink: All which Expreſſions are indeed very extraordinary in themſelves, and ſuch as no Man ever made uſe of before him.

But there are matters of fact related in the Goſpel more extraordinary and ſurpriſing than theſe▪ There is nothing ſo remarkable, and which ſtrikes us ſo much with Aſtoniſhment, as the Deſcription the Evangeliſts give us of the Prodigies that attended the Death of Christ: And behold, ſay they, the vail of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent, and the graves were opened, and many bodies of ſaints which ſlept aroſe, and came out of the graves after his reſurrection, and went into the holy City, and appeared unto many, Matth. 27. 51, 52, 53.

We ſhall not here inſiſt on each particular Circumſtance that attended this miraculous matter of fact; neither ſhall we nicely examine the Reſurrection of thoſe Saints whoſe Bodies came out of their Graves, and appeared unto many in the City of Jeruſalem. It will be ſufficient for us to conſider only thoſe Prodigies which drew the eyes of the whole World, and could not but univerſally cauſe a publick Conſternation, and make a fearful Impreſſion on the Minds of Men. Now I affirm, it cannot naturally enter, I ſhall not ſay into the Mind of a ſincere honeſt Man, but even into that of an Impoſtor, to imagine he could ever be capable of making others believe things ſo notoriouſly known, as thoſe we now have under Conſideration muſt have been, had they been falſe.

'Tis not many Years ago ſince a certain Man was Executed at Paris for calling himſelf the Holy Ghoſt, who had a few Diſciples, and ſome Followers: but his Sect was ſoon buried, together with him, in his Grave. Now let us ſuppoſe, if you will, that his p. 171Diſciples had preach'd after his Death, and compoſed a new Goſpel, filled only with the Doctrine and Precepts of that Man, who was thought by them to be no leſs than a divine Perſon: I ask then (whatſoever Extravagance you may ſuppoſe them to have been guilty of) whether you can conceive it could have entred into their Minds to perſwade the People of Paris, that the very Day on which that Man who called himſelf the Holy Ghoſt died, the Church of Noſtre Dame was either thrown down or demoliſhed, that its Altars and Statues were broken down; that there happened an Eclipſe of the Sun, the greateſt that ever was known, accompanied with ſuch a mighty Earthquake, that even the Rocks were rent; and that all theſe Wonders wrought ſo great an Impreſſion upon the Mind of a certain Captain that guarded the Body of the executed Perſon, that he believed in him? Doubtleſs theſe whimſical Men could not have taken a more effectual way, not only to hinder others from believing their Report, but even to undeceive all thoſe who might till then have been led away by that pernicious Sect, than to inſert in the Goſpel they were to compoſe of the Doctrine of their Maſter, ſuch Circumſtances as would have contradicted the publick Knowledge and freſh Remembrance every body had of things ſo lately done, and to advance ſuch matters of fact as would immediately have been proved to be falſe by the publick Teſtimony every body could give of them. Now all this may be very well applied to the Diſciples of Jeſus Chriſt. For ſuppoſing thoſe Diſciples were very great Impoſtors, we cannot reaſonably aſcribe to them any other Deſign than that of deceiving Men, by making them receive Falſhood for Truth: And it is ſufficient if they had that Deſign, and were not wholly void of Reaſon, to make us think they could not have p. 172had …e Boldneſs to invent ſuch Circumſtances as theſe, and afterwards publiſh them to the World.

But after all, was there not a very numerous Church … in Jeruſalem when that Goſpel was compoſed? And did not that Church conſiſt of many thouſands of People who dwelt at Jeruſalem, and knew perfectly well whatever had happened at the Death of Jeſus Christ? Certainly no Man can doub… … it, unleſs he has a mind voluntarily to … himſelf. Thoſe very Chriſtians then of Jeruſalem ſaw all thoſe things which happened at the Death of Chriſt: for they were the Men that had been converted by the preaching of St. Peter, and the other Apoſtles; and who, being prick'd to the Heart, cried out, Men and brethren, what ſhall we do? Acts 2. 37. They had ſeen then that the Sun was not eclipſed, that the Rocks rent not, that there happened no Earthquake, no ſurpriſing and ſupernatural Prodigy at the Death of Chriſt: And if they ſaw none of theſe things, they could not but look upon the Report of the Evangeliſts as a ſcandalous Lye and notorious Falſhood, deſign'd to ſeduce them from their rational Belief, and perſwade them out of their Senſes. But it is farther obſervable, that not one only, but three Evangeliſts, have written theſe things; who, as appears evidently, did not compoſe their Goſpels together, but ſeparately, and at different times, and yet all agree in their Relation of that notable Circumſtance of the Death of Chriſt. And no doubt but they all agreed alſo in the Relation of it, when they preached the Goſpel by word of Mouth.

Who then can reaſonably believe, that when the Diſciples preach'd the Goſpel in Jeruſalem, in order to eſtabliſh a Chriſtian Church there, their Deſign was to perſwade the Jews that they muſt not believe their own Eyes? and that what they had p. 173ſeen, was not that thing which they had ſeen? Who can imagine that thoſe very Jews themſelves who were preſent and aſſiſted at the Death of Jeſus Chriſt, ſhould ſuffer themſelves inſenſibly to be perſwaded that that fabulous Recital was a very true Narration, and believe that really to have happened which they certainly knew never came to paſs? Who can even ſuppoſe that the Apoſtles could fancy themſelves able to make the Jews look upon a crucified Man as the Object of their Adoration and Worſhip, by propoſing to their Belief the moſt impudent and apparent Lyes that ever were invented ſince the Beginning of the World?

But it will concern us carefully to conſider the rending of the Vail of the Temple; for that Circumſtance is ſo very ſingular, that it is ſufficient of it ſelf to ſtop the Mouths of our incredulous Adverſaries, who tho' they ſhould ſo inconſiderately and wilfully delude themſelves, as to ſuppoſe, that the Day whereon Jeſus Christ died there happened by chance, or rather, according to the ordinary Courſe of ſecond Cauſes, a real Eclipſe, which had indeed ſeemed ſupernatural to the ignorant Vulgar, but had nothing ſupernatural in it ſelf; yet what can they ſay to the Vail of the Temple's being rent in twain from the Top to the Bottom? Could there be any natural Cauſe why it ſhould be rent preciſely and exactly at the time when Jeſus Christ ſuffered Death? or could any exterior Darkneſs produce ſuch an Effect?

Perhaps ſome will object, that the Primitive Chriſtians were ſimple and ignorant People, and that nothing could be eaſier than to delude and impoſe upon them. I grant it. But then what great Learning was required to know preciſely whether all thoſe ſo ſenſible and ſo notable Prodigies had really fell out upon the Day of Chriſt's Death?

p. 174We have already ſhewn, that among the ſeveral Circumſtances of the Life and Death of Jeſus Chriſt, there were ſeveral which the Diſciples durſt not have invented or forged, had they not been really true.

We muſt add in the ſecond place, that there were a great number of other Circumſtances which the Diſciples could not have forged had they deſign'd it. To ſay nothing of the great number of Lame People whom our Saviour cauſed to walk, of the Sick of the Palſy to whom he reſtored the Uſe of their Limbs, of the Deaf whom he cauſed to hear, and of many others diverſly affected with various Diſeaſes, whom he wonderfully healed to the great Amazement of whole Multitudes that followed him, and cried out, ſaying, It was never ſo ſeen in Iſrael, Matth. 9. 33. I ſay, to paſs by all theſe Miracles, I ſhall inſiſt only upon the Dead he reſtored to Life.

To raiſe a Dead Man to Life again, is certainly the moſt ſurpriſing, and which in all Countries and all Ages has been always look'd upon as the moſt impoſſible thing the Mind of Man is capable of imagining. We read only an Example or two of it in the Old Teſtament; and Men then had hardly any Notion of it. Beſides, to raiſe a Dead Man to Life is no doubtful Miracle, which may any way be reduced to natural Cauſes, but it muſt neceſſarily be granted, that nothing but a ſupernatural Power can effect it.

Yet it was by raiſing the Dead to Life again that Jeſus Chriſt was willing to teſtify of himſelf. And the Evangeliſts could not have impoſed upon Men in that reſpect: 'Tis true, they might perhaps have deluded thoſe Men that lived in a Climate and a Time very diſtant from theirs; but they could not have deceived the Jews in thoſe things p. 175that had happened in their Days, and of which they were Eye-Witneſſes. This will appear more evidently, if we conſider that the Evangeliſts (as was ſaid before) did not write their Goſpels together, nor aſſiſted one another in the Compoſure of them, and yet they agree in the Relation of almoſt the very ſame matters of fact, and the very ſame Miracles, not at all differing in the ſetting down the Times, Places, Perſons, Witneſſes, and all the Circumſtances of thoſe matters of fact which they teſtify and affirm. At Naim they tell us Jeſus Chriſt raiſed a Man to Life again that was carrying away to be buried. He commanded the Bier to ſtop, and the Dead roſe up at that very inſtant. The Man that was raiſed was the Son of a Widow. The Daughter of one Jairus being dead, he went up into her Chamber, and with a Word reſtored her to Life again, notwithſtanding the Players upon Muſical Inſtruments, the Mourners, Attendants, and other ſorts of People, whoſe Buſineſs it was, according to the Cuſtom of thoſe Days, to look after the Obſequies of the Dead, had at firſt laughed him to ſcorn. Laſtly, He raiſed Lazarus from the Dead in Bethany, before ſeveral Jews, and in the Preſence of Martha and Mary, Lazarus's Siſters. He raiſed him to Life again four Days after he had been dead, and when he began already to ſtink. Such are the Things which the Jews learn in a Book that was compoſed in their Days, and which gives them the Hiſtory of a Man whom they ſaw giving up the Ghoſt after he had been nailed on a Croſs, and of his Miracles alſo that he wrought in the midſt of them.

Now theſe matters of fact are, in my Opinion, ſo circumſtantially told, that one muſt preſently diſcover the Cheat, if there be any: for the Names both of the Places and the Perſons themſelves, are p. 176very exactly related. Every body knew too well, whereabouts lay the City of Naim: And the raiſing of a dead Man to Life, was too conſiderable an Event for any one to need any long Enquiry to be ſatisfied about it. Jairus was a Man very well known, and lived in a very good Repute: he had many Friends and Relations, ſo that nothing could be eaſier than to enquire whether his Daughter had really been raiſed from the Dead. Bethany was not above fifteen Furlongs diſtant from Jeruſalem; and Lazarus himſelf was an Inhabitant of Bethany. He was then living, or at leaſt his Siſters were; or if neither of them all were alive, yet there were ſtill a ſufficient number of Jews ſurviving, who had both ſeen and converſed with him after his Reſurrection.

Had all theſe miraculous Reſurrections we have ſet down been falſe, 'tis certain the Jewiſh Doctors and Elders who took all the Care imaginable either to ſuborn falſe Witneſſes againſt Jeſus Chriſt, or corrupt one of his Diſciples, either to make him paſs for a Glutton and a Wine Bibber, a Friend of Publicans and Sinners, or for a Sorcerer, who caſt out Devils only by Beelzebub the Prince of the Devils; I ſay, it is certain that theſe Jewiſh Doctors could never have failed of preſently convincing thoſe Goſpels of Impoſture and Deceit, as ſoon as they ſhould have been publiſhed. For to do this, 'twas only requiſite they ſhould go out of the City of Jeruſalem, and viſit thoſe Places where thoſe pretended Miracles were ſuppoſed to have been effected; not but that there were too, in Jeruſalem, Men of Bethlehem, of Gadara, of Naim, of Bethany, of Capernaum, and of other Places where Miracles were wrought, of whom they might have enquir'd the Certainty of them. But tho' the Hatred of the Enemies of Chriſtianity ſhould not have been of it p. 177ſelf ſufficient to diſcover the Cheat, yet at leaſt thoſe Chriſtian Proſelytes who dwelt at Jeruſalem, and were Members of that flouriſhing Church eſtabliſhed there, muſt have had the Curioſity either to ſee thoſe very Men whom Jeſus Chriſt had raiſed to Life again, or at leaſt to ſee thoſe who had been Eye-Witneſſes to the Reſurrection, or to ſpeak to their Relations and Friends, or to viſit thoſe Places where thoſe Matters were ſaid to have been brought to paſs. Accordingly the Goſpel tells us of a very great number of Jews who went to Bethany, on purpoſe to ſee Lazarus, who had been raiſed from the Dead: Of which We have the leſs Reaſon to doubt, who ſince thoſe days have ſeen almoſt an infinite number of People undertake a Voyage into the Holy Land, not with a Curioſity to ſee Men that had been raiſed to Life again, or to hear whole Cities teſtify of that Event; but purely to viſit thoſe Places where all thoſe matters came to paſs, and to behold thoſe Mountains and Rocks which are thought to have been honoured with the Preſence of the Son of God. But Men went daily from Jeruſalem to Bethany; ſo that every thing that was done in Bethany, was very well known at Jeruſalem. Although therefore neither the Jews, the profeſt Enemies of the Chriſtians, nor the Chriſtians, zealous for the Honour of their Maſter, ſhould have taken no manner of care to inſtruct themſelves in theſe things; yet ſince they were Inhabitants of Jeruſalem, they muſt neceſſarily have very diſtinctly known the Miracles that Christ wrought in Bethany; and conſequently, they muſt have preſently rejected, as a manifeſt Forgery, the Hiſtory of the Reſurrection of Lazarus, had it been utterly falſe.

And this Argument is ſo much the ſtronger and more convincing, ſince the Evangeliſts relate not only one or two Miracles of our Saviour's, but p. 178their Goſpel is a continued Series of miraculous Circumſtances, or rather a Catalogue of the Sick that were healed, of the Blind reſtored to Sight, and of the Dead raiſed up to Life again. So that the very firſt Impreſſion which this Goſpel commonly makes upon Mens minds, is, that Jeſus Chriſt, for the ſpace of three Years, or three Years and an half, as long as his Office laſted, wrought more ſurprizing Miracles than have been either ſeen or known ſince the Beginning of the World. And ſo to believe the Goſpel, is firmly to believe, that Chriſt work'd thoſe Miracles which are ſo often and ſo circumſtantially repeated in it, and ſo inſeparable from the other Parts and Accidents of his Life. It muſt not then be affirmed, that the Primitive Chriſtians embraced Chriſtianity without enquiring in the leaſt into the Miracles of Chriſt: for that implies a Contradiction. Neither muſt we ſay, that they believed thoſe Miracles without a due Examination of them. Such Things as theſe indeed require no very great Examination; but they could not avoid examining them had they endeavour'd it: for 'tis not wholly left to my Choice either to know or not to know the Things which are done in the Place which I inhabit: neither does it wholly depend upon me to believe or not to believe certain matters of fact that are contradictory to publick Knowledge. And tho' a Man, under Pretence of Religion or otherwiſe, ſhould endeavour to make me believe he had raiſed a dead Man to Life again in a Village a few Miles diſtant from the Place I dwell in, whom I might have both ſeen and known after his Reſurrection; or if I had not ſeen him my ſelf, many others had both ſeen and known, and many went to ſee: I ſay, all this is no more left to my Choice to know or not to know, than it is left to my Choice to be Mad or in my Senſes.

p. 179For the better apprehending the Strength of this Argument, I ſhall make this Suppoſition. What if we, being fully perſwaded that Chriſt did all thoſe Miracles the Goſpel relates, had gone up to the City of Jeruſalem in the time of the Apoſtles themſelves, and reach'd thither juſt at the Evening of that Day of Pentecost on which St. Peter Converted ſo many People, by convincing them that he had received the Holy Ghoſt: I dare maintain firſt, that we could not have forborn examining ſuch Things which made ſo great a Noiſe; then ſecondly I affirm, that however willing we might have been to delude and impoſe upon our ſelves, we could not have been ſo much as twenty four Hours at Jeruſalem, without knowing very diſtinctly the certain Truth of all thoſe matters of fact. It would have been no very great Trouble for us to have enquired how Lazarus did, and his two Siſters Mary and Martha; and tho' by chance they might have been all three dead, to have deſired to ſpeak with their Friends and Relations, or with thoſe that had ſeen Lazarus, and eaten with him both before and after his Reſurrection. In like manner we might have eaſily ſpoken with the Friends and Relations of Jairus, and with thoſe too of other People whom Chriſt had healed, or raiſed from the Dead in the different Parts of Judea and Galilee: and that was ſo much the more eaſy becauſe Commerce was much more ſtirring between the Metropolis of Judea and the other Cities of the Holy Land, than between the Metropolis and the other Cities of the other Provinces; the Jews being wont to go up to Jeruſalem at leaſt on every ſolemn Feaſt-day. Nay farther, we might have enquired about the Truth or Falſhood of thoſe wonderful Prodigies which, as the Goſpel tells us, attended the Death of Chriſt: And ſince it was impoſſible that ſeveral thouſand Witneſſes p. 180ſhould have been impoſed upon concerning ſo great a number of evident and ſenſible matters of fact, ſo in like manner it would have been abſolutely impoſſible we ſhould have become Chriſtians only for twenty four hours, after we had left Jeruſalem, ſuppoſing thoſe matters of fact had been utterly falſe.

I have already ſhewn that the Life and Death of Jeſus Chriſt were attended with ſuch wonderful Circumſtances, as the Evangeliſts durſt not have preſumed to invent had they been utterly falſe, neither had the Power to forge, or make one ſingle Perſon believe them, had they deſign'd to impoſe upon Mens Belief. There remains only for our full Conviction in this matter, to ſhew that they would not have forged them, had it been wholly left to their Choice.

I ſhall not here alledge that the Miracles of Jeſus Chriſt, according to the Recital of the Evangeliſts, were attended with ſuch Circumſtances, and ſo many ſtrange Events, that it is inconceivable the Diſciples ſhould take any Pleaſure in inventing them: ſuch is, for Example, the tempting of our Saviour; a ſtrange and moſt ſcandalous Paſſage indeed to all thoſe who are not fully acquainted with the true Myſtery of it, ſince it repreſents Chriſt to us as being in the hands of the Devil, who ſported himſelf with his Weakneſs tho' he was not able to overcome his Virtue; one while placing him upon the Pinacle of the Temple, whence he adviſed him to caſt himſelf down, another while upon an exceeding high Mountain, from whence he ſhewed him all the Kingdoms of the World, and the Glory of them. Now to ſee a Man in the hands of Satan, would be a Sight that would ſhock us, to ſee a juſt Man, would be an Object more terrible; but to ſee a Prophet himſelf, would be a Wonder that would create Horror in us. What muſt it be p. 181then to ſee a Divine Perſon in his Clutches, or rather one that is both God and Man, one that was called by way of Eminence, the Just, the Holy, the Man without Sin or Blemiſh, the greateſt of all the Prophets, in …ine, the Son of God himſelf? He muſt neceſſarily be much miſtaken, that can imagine that ſuch Thoughts as theſe could have naturally offered themſelves to any Man's Mind, much leſs to the Mind of Ignorant People, who judge of Things by the Prejudices they are generally poſſeſt with. 'Tis true indeed, Chriſt is repreſented to us in the Goſpel as ſurrounded with Angels who miniſtred unto him after his Temptation; but yet that Circumſtance is ſo far from removing that which may ſeem offenſive and ſurpriſing in that Event, that it rather makes it the more ſtrange and incomprehenſible; nothing ſo ill befitting a Man who was but juſt now in the Power of the Devil, and carried about by him wherever he pleaſed, as to be immediately after waited upon by Angels. Add to this, the uniting of ſo many mean Circumſtances with ſo many glorious ones that occur in his Nativity, in his Life, and in his Death, to inſtance in Chriſt's lying in a Manger, whilſt he was praiſed by the Hoſts of Heaven; his having not a Hole wherein to lay his Head, whilſt at the ſame time he commanded the Fiſhes of the Sea to bring him Mony to pay Tribute to thoſe who asked it of him; his ſhewing a great deal of Fear, nay even apparent Weakneſs, whilſt he ſhook the whole Frame of the World, and made the Earth tremble, and the Sky to become dark; his begging of his Father that the Cup of his Sufferings might paſs away from him, when at the ſame time he ſo well had prepared himſelf for Death, as to have inſtituted a Sacrament for a Commemoration of it, unto the End of the World, his complaining that his heavenly Father had forſook him, whilſt he promiſed Heaven to a Thief that glorified p. 182him upon the Croſs. An hundred other myſterious Contrarieties there are, which Divine Providence inſpired the Evangeliſts to write againſt their profeſt Opinions, againſt the Biaſs of their Paſſions, and their natural Ideas, that their Goſpel might have a more extraordinary and more divine Character.

But theſe are not the Circumſtances I mean, when I ſpeak of ſuch extraordinary ones in the Life of Chriſt, as the Diſciples would not have forg'd if they could. By them I mean all the ſenſible and extraordinary Miracles which Chriſt himſelf wrought, and his Diſciples have related to us; and theſe, I ſay, the Diſciples would not invent, had they been falſe; which I prove by theſe two invincible Arguments.

Firſt, that by their relating them, and above all, their mentioning both Places and Perſons as it appears they have done, they manifeſtly ingaged themſelves both to maintain and evince the Truth of them. Certainly they doubted not but that they ſhould be called to give an account of them, They who ſo very well kn…w how difficult it had been for them to eſcape free when their Maſter himſelf was put to Death. They knew they ſhould be compelled to maintain what they had thus affirmed, and they knew alſo they could never be able to defend their Impoſture, if they ſhould by chance be confronted with the Witneſſes they mention'd. And all this is no very hard thing for any one to foreſee; a Man, tho' not over-wiſe, may eaſily preſage theſe Things, and it is ſufficient that he be in his Senſes to make him cautious of advancing ſuch Matters as he thinks himſelf incapable to maintain, the Falſhood of which would be preſently diſcovered by the very Witneſſes he mentions, by the Places he ſets down, and the other Circumſtances of the matter of fact he thus expoſes to publick View.

p. 1832. The Second Argument which proves that the Evangeliſts would never have forg'd the like matters of fact, ſuppoſing they had been altogether falſe, is, that by counterfeiting them, they neceſſarily rendered themſelves liable to be put to a great Confuſion, when they ſhould find themſelves obliged to perform the very ſame Miracles. For, beſides that it was very natural for any one to ſay to them thus; If it be true that your Maſter has wrought ſo many ſtrange Miracles, ſurely he has alſo given you Power to do the like your ſelves; it being well known that the firſt thing they taught was, that Jeſus Chriſt had ſent them abroad with Power to perform the very ſame Works he had done. 'Twas no time therefore to uſe Shifts, or ſtand doubting and ſhuffling, they were obliged either to ſuppreſs what they knew concerning the Miracles of Jeſus Chriſt, or to perform the ſame themſelves. Chriſt himſelf, when he ſent them to preach in the different Parts of Judea, commanded them ſaying, Heal the Sick, cleanſe the Lepers, raiſe the Dead, caſt out Devils, freely you have received, freely give, Matth. 10. 8. And theſe are the Characters he gave of the calling of his Diſciples. And theſe Signs ſhall follow them that believe; in my Name ſhall they caſt out Devils, they ſhall ſpeak with new Tongues, they ſhall take up Serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it ſhall not hurt them, they ſhall lay hands on the Sick, and they ſhall recover, &c. And they went forth and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and comfirming the word with Signs, &c. Mark 16. 17, 18, 20.

Thus it appears they could not well relate what Jeſus Chriſt had done, without at the ſame time publiſhing what they themſelves were obliged to perform for the further Confirmation of the Goſpel: ſo that they did not relate the leaſt Miracle, without at the ſame time affirming they were able to do the like. It muſt therefore certainly be one of theſe two things, either p. 184that thoſe Men had utterly loſt their Reaſon, or that they ſincerely believed the Miracles of Jeſus Chriſt.

Had they thought them to be falſe, they would neither have engaged themſelves to maintain an unwarrantable Fiction, by ſetting down ſo many Circumſtances more than ſufficient to diſcover the real Truth of it; nor have rendred themſelves liable to Shame and Confuſion, by relating ſuch Miracles they were not able ſo much as to imitate, at that very time when they profeſſed themſelves abſolutely capable of doing every thing their Maſter himſelf had done.

Thus it appears to us, that the Miracles of Jeſus Chriſt are ſuch matters of fact which the Diſciples had neither the Boldneſs, the Power, nor the Will to counterfeit, ſuppoſing they never had been done. And I think this enough to convince us in this reſpect, and to make us look upon thoſe Miracles which have illuſtrated the Life and Death of Jeſus Chriſt, as a Center of Truth that will infallibly perſwade us of the Truth and the Divinity of the Chriſtanity we profeſs.