Vindication of the Truth of the Christian Religion, Religious treatise · Section 3 · Chapter 4
CHAP. IV.
The third Center of Truth. A particular Conſideration of the Aſcenſion of Jeſus Chriſt.
THE Aſcenſion of Jeſus Chriſt, is a third Center of Truth, which we ought to have continually before our eyes, in order to conſider the Arguments it contains for the Truth of the Reſurrection of Jeſus Christ our Saviour.
This Aſcenſion was preceded by ſeveral Apparitions of Jeſus Chriſt, and followed by an extraordinary Effuſion of the miraculous Gifts of the Holy Ghoſt, ſufficiently manifeſted to all the Inhabitants of the City of Jeruſalem; ſo that it ſeems to want no Illuſtration.
It rather proves it ſelf, and that too by its own proper Characters: For it is a thing unheard of, that ſeveral Perſons ſhould agree to teſtify after that manner ſo ſignal an Impoſture as that muſt have been, had not the Aſcenſion of Jeſus Chriſt been a real Event. But let us throughly conſider all the Circumſtances of it.
As the Reſurrection of Jeſus Christ juſtified the wonderful Paſſages of his Death, ſo likewiſe does his Aſcenſion juſtify thoſe of his Reſurrection: For tho' one ſhould ſuſpect that the Eyes of the Diſciples might by chance have been ſuddenly dazzled, and ſo they thought they had ſeen what they in reality never ſaw, yet they had time enough to recover themſelves out of this dazzling Amazement; for it was forty days after Jeſus Chriſt was riſen from the Dead before his Aſcenſion. Had it been a Spirit that appeared to them, and frightned them, yet had they time enough to come to themſelves again, and know certainly that the Spirit they ſaw was not really their Maſter. For they ſaw him and heard him: They handled him, they eat and drank with him. Had it been thro' the obſcurity of a darkſome Night that they had imagined they had ſeen ſome Repreſentation of their Maſter, inſtead of a true and full ſight of him, they could not long continue in their Error: But it was in full day that they ſaw the Stone rolled away from the Sepulcher: 'Twas in full bright day that Chriſt ſo often manifeſted himſelf to them, and diſcourſed with them, and afterwards aſcended into heaven before their eyes.
Had the force of their Deſires, their Fears, or Affections, diſturbed their Senſes, we ſhould have leſs Reaſon to wonder at it, tho even in that caſe the thing would ſeem altogether unaccountable, it being morally impoſſible that the Senſes of ſo many People ſhould all at once be ſo confined to one wonderful Object, and ſo diſturbed at the ſame time. But they had time enough to get out of their Confuſion and Aſtoniſhment; and their Minds were very ſedate and at eaſe when Chriſt made them Eye-Witneſſes of his glorious Aſcenſion. In a word, had it been a private and ſilent Interview, we might have much more Reaſon to doubt; but Christ appeared to his Diſciples with a particular Deſign to diſcourſe with them. He gave them ſeveral Inſtructions; he forbad them to depart from Jeruſalem, until they had received the Gifts of the Holy Ghoſt. He made them ſeveral Promiſes, and ſuch ſurpriſing ones, that they are fit only for a God to make, and a God to perform: for he promiſed that he would be with them even unto the End of the World. He inſtituted two Sacraments; he commanded them to baptiſe all Nations in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghoſt, as well as to commemorate his Death in the Paſſover. Nor was that all. He had many long and coherent Diſcourſes with them. He ſpoke to them, and they anſwered him. They were at firſt incredulous; but he convinced them of the Truth of his Reſurrection, notwithſtanding their Scruples and their Infidelity. He rebuked them ſeveral times for their little Faith; at leaſt they tell us ſo. The Evangeliſts relate what Chriſt ſaid to Thomas, and what Anſwer Thomas made: And both their ſpeeches were too ſurpriſing to be ſo ſoon forgotten. Thomas being ſtruck at the Wonders of his Reſurrection, was the firſt that gave Chriſt a Name which he was not wont to bear in the Stage of his Humiliation, calling him, My Lord, and my God, John 20. 28.
The Diſciples asked him, Whether he would at that time reſtore the Kingdom unto Iſrael: but he anſwer'd them, that it was not for them to know the Times and Seaſons which the Father only had in his power. Laſtly, The Evangeliſts give us no leſs the Hiſtory of Jeſus Christ riſen from the Dead, than that of Jeſus Chriſt living and converſing before his Death among the Jews: and we affirm, we have as much reaſon to believe one as the other. For indeed, Why do we believe there was ever any ſuch Perſon as Jeſus Chriſt? We believe it certainly, becauſe it is, in humane ſpeaking, morally impoſſible that ſo many Perſons ſhould unanimouſly tell us they had ſeen him, that they diſcours'd, eat and drank with him, nay ſaw him ſuffer Death at Jeruſalem; I ſay, they would never have told us all this, ſuppoſing, there were nothing at all in it. But then ought not that ſame Reaſon to perſwade us likewiſe that Jeſus Chriſt both lived and convers'd forty days with his Diſciples, ſince ſo many Perſons ſaw him, diſcourſed, eat, and drank with him, ſaw him preſent in the midſt of their Aſſemblies, nay touched and handled him?
But (perhaps ſome will object) were that certainly true, Why then was there in thoſe days ſo many Perſons that refuſed to believe the Aſcenſion of Jeſus Chriſt? Why it is no hard matter to find the reaſon of this; 'twas becauſe if they had once acknowledged the Truth of the Aſcenſion of Jeſus Christ, they were obliged to die Martyrs for that Truth; and no doubt Men were as worldly-minded in thoſe days as they are now.
So that methinks it appears hitherto very clearly, that the Diſciples of Jeſus Chriſt were neither capable of deceiving themſelves, nor of being deceived by others, as to the Truth of the matters of fact they teſtifyed. It is a very difficult matter (I had almoſt ſaid impoſſible) that they ſhould have deceived themſelves in the Miracles of Christ which they relate, becauſe they ſo exactly ſet down the Circumſtances, the Names, Places, and the Perſons themſelves; nay, they pretend they themſelves were ſent by their Maſter into all the Parts of Judea, to work there the very ſame Miracles they atteſted. But tho' they ſhould have deceived themſelves in the Miracles of Chriſt, yet they could not poſſibly deceive themſelves in his Reſurrection. For they knew well enough what a dead Body and a living Man was, they could eaſily diſtinguiſh between them; and thoſe things are of ſuch a nature as not to be capable of Illuſion or deceit. Yet tho' we ſhould ſupoſe that the diſciples had been deceived in the Reſurrection of Chriſt, yet they could not have been impoſed upon in the laſt miraculous Event of his Aſcenſion. It could never come to paſs, that after having ſeen a Spirit, they ſhould yet converſe with him forty days; that that Spirit ſhould ſuffer himſelf to be handled, that he ſhould give them Inſtructions, make them ſeveral Promiſes, and afterwards be caught up into Heaven in their Sight, they all the while looking upon him, and adoring him as he was aſcending into Heaven, and underſtanding diſtinctly the Diſcourſe of the Angels which promiſed them, that he ſhould ſo come again in like manner, as they had ſeen him go up into Heaven.
It would be to no purpoſe here to alledge with Spinoſa, That the Evangeliſts have not exactly deſcribed all the Circumſtances of the Event they relate, and that had they taken ſpecial care to do it, it would perhaps ſo happen that the Circumſtances which they thought ſit to conceal, would make us comprehend, that thoſe which they have related proceeded from Natural Ca…ſes: For, I deſire to know what can be more expreſly declared, or more often repeated in the Goſpel, than the Reſurrection and Aſcenſion of Jeſus Christ into Heaven? And how can any Man reaſonably imagin, that it was natural, and according to the regular Courſe of ſecond Cauſes, to ſee a Man that had been crucified, and laid in a Sepulcher where a Watch was appointed to guard him, riſe out of that Sepulcher again, appear alive to ſeveral Men that touched and handled him, and afterwards aſcend into Heaven in their ſight?
Certainly that very Aſcenſion of Jeſus Chriſt, cannot but convince the moſt ſuſpicious and ſcrupulous Perſon, that it was an Event purely divine and ſupernatural: For otherwiſe, our Incredulous Adverſaries might imagin (ſince they are everlaſtingly raiſing Doubts) that the Body of Jeſus Christ might have been taken down from the Croſs before the Breath was gone out of it; that Joſeph of Arimathea, who was his Diſciple, tho he durſt not own it publickly, might have dreſs'd his Body, and recover'd him out of his Swoon by the ſtrength of the Remedies he gave him; that he might have laid another counterfeit Dead-body in his place, and buried it; and that afterwards Jeſ. Chriſt might have privately ſhewed himſelf to his Diſciples, not daring to appear in publick for fear of falling a ſecond time into the hands of the Jews, and ſuffering a true and real Death, inſtead of that imaginary one he had ſuffered before.
But this Fiction is abſurd and incredible, and that for ſeveral Reaſons. Firſt, Becauſe the Evangeliſts relate, that Chriſt had his Side pierced with the Lance of a Soldier, which thing alone was enough to give him his Death. Secondly, It is very improbable to think that the Jewiſh Sanhedrin, who had condemned him to die, nay who had taken ſuch care to ſet a Watch over his Sepulcher, ſhould yet ſuffer his Body to be taken down from the Croſs before the Breath was gone out of it. Laſtly, becauſe it can never be ſuppoſed that a Man who hung ſeveral Hours together on a Croſs, ſhould yet eſcape Death, and ſhew himſelf not long after ſafe and ſound to his Diſciples.
But that which will immediately remove all theſe Doubts, is, that Jeſus Chriſt not only roſe from the Dead, but alſo aſcended into Heaven in the ſight of his Diſciples. And this is ſo ſenſible and evident a matter of fact, that they could never have been impoſed upon in that reſpect.
So that it may very well be affirmed, that the Argument for the Truth of the Chriſtian Religion chiefly depends upon that Important Inquiry, whether the Diſciples deſigned to impoſe upon us, by relating to us a falſe Event, which they did not believe themſelves. Now if we can clearly prove the contrary, we ſhall invincibly demonſtrate the certain Truth of our Faith.
Let us therefore in order to it, cloſely ſtick to the Examination of that matter of fact, the moſt eſſential and the moſt important that ever was, and endeavour to diſcover whether it be poſſible we ſhould have been impoſed upon by thoſe Men, which could not deceive themſelves.
If we would ſuppoſe that the Diſciples of Jeſus Chriſt deceived us in their relation of a fictitious Event, we muſt alſo neceſſarily ſuppoſe theſe three things. 1. That their Illuſion or Impoſture muſt be a thing that was poſſible to be put in Execution. 2. That it muſt be of ſome Uſe or other to them. 3. That it muſt be ſuch as Men, and only Men make uſe of. Now it is certain, that their pretended Illuſion here in queſtion, could not have any of theſe three Qualities. 1. It could not have been poſſible, becauſe it muſt have been agreed upon by many Perſons who all knew the bare Truth of the matter of fact it ſelf. 2. It would have been of no uſe, for what could thoſe Men propoſe to themſelves in inventing ſuch a Fiction? 3. It could not be ſuch as Men uſually contrive, becauſe from the Beginning of the World till now, we never heard of any Man that invented Lyes, on purpoſe to have the pleaſure of being hanged, ſcourged, burnt, or executed upon a Scaffold.
1. As to the firſt, I'll grant you if you will, that Peter with ſome other Diſciples might have taken away the Body of Jeſus Christ out of the Sepulcher, either by tricking the Watch, or taking the Advantage of their ſleeping; or laſtly, by bribing them with Mony: I'll grant you too, if you will, they might have eaſily perſwaded the whole Company of Diſciples, who were too credulous and too eager in ſwallowing of Novelties, that Jeſus Christ had appeared to them indeed, and that he was riſen from the Dead; I'll grant you likewiſe, that the other Diſciples might have imagined thereupon they had ſeen ſome Viſions, or thought they had ſeen him in ſeveral Places and on ſeveral Occaſions: but then I ask, How they could have all agreed together concerning the truth of his Aſcenſion? By what Charm or Cunning could Peter and the other Apoſtles have made them ſee that which they never ſaw or heard a Man ſpeak, whom they really never heard? By what Machine could they have cauſed the Clouds to deſcend? Or by what ſort of Inchantment could they have produced two Men in white Raiments, telling them, Ye men of Galilee, why ſtand ye gazing up into Heaven? This ſame Jeſus which is taken up from you into Heaven, ſhall ſo come in like manner as ye have ſeen him go up into Heaven, Acts 1. 11. By what ſecret Power could they have ſo deeply imprinted in the Minds of the Diſciples, the Words which Jeſus Chriſt ſpoke to them after his Reſurrection, the Reproaches he made them of their Infidelity, his Promiſe of ſending the Holy Ghoſt to them, his forbidding them to depart from the City of Jeruſalem, and the Command he gave them to Baptiſe all Nations in the Name of the Father, the Son, and Holy Ghoſt; I ſay how could they have done all this, if all theſe things were but the witty Conceits of their Imagination and Fancy?
Certainly tho St. Peter or ſome other Diſciple of Jeſus Chriſt, ſhould have formed to himſelf the Deſign and Plan of ſo Signal a Cheat, and tho he ſhould have ſet down in writing all the Articles one by one, which he was obliged to make other Men believe againſt the plain Truth, yet he could never have been ſo bold as to propoſe any ſuch thing to thoſe Men, who were prepoſſeſſed with the Opinion that Lying was a great Sin, but Truth and Sincerity, on the contrary, a great Vertue. Nay, it is even impoſſible it ſhould ever come into his Head, to frame ſo Signal an Impoſture upon ſo ſad and ſorrowful an Event as the Death of Jeſus Chriſt. Neither does it appear that his Mind or his Thoughts were any ways bent upon any ſuch Deſign. And tho he ſhould have been induced out of a Spirit of Revenge, to invent ſuch a Lye to diſcredit the Scribes and Phariſees, yet it can't be ſuppoſed he ſhould have been ſo very ſilly, as to imagin that the reſt of the Diſciples would conſent to that Impoſture, or be willing to maintain it at any rate whatever, out of meer Complaiſance to him.
Such is the Nature of Mankind, ſuch the Frame and Temper of their Hearts, that they will admit of no Falſity, unleſs covered with a ſpecious ſhew of Truth. So that when any thing is ſo evidently falſe that every Body muſt neceſſarily be ſenſible of it, we have no Thoughts of attempting to make others believe it; as for inſtance, it will never come into my Head to make other Men believe that I have Wings, and that I fly, &c.
We might here repeat what has been ſaid concerning the Reſurrection of Jeſus Chriſt: either the Diſciples looked upon Jeſus Christ before his Death as the promiſed Meſſias, or elſe they did not look upon him as ſuch. If they conſidered him as the promiſed Meſſias, they then believed his Words, and thought that he would truly riſe again; and if they did expect that he would truly riſe again, they conſequently believed he would come himſelf out of his Grave, and ſo it was not at all neceſſary they ſhould ſteal his Body away. And if they did not conſider him as the promiſed Meſſias whilſt he was alive, it muſt follow from thence, that they were Seducers and Impoſtors even before the Death of Chriſt. Now how can any one conceive that thoſe Seducers ſhould not have been terrified at the Puniſhment inflicted on their Maſter, or that ſuch a terrible Example of the moſt rigorous Juſtice deſign'd too for them, ſhould not put an end to their frontleſs Impudence? Above all, How can it be ſuppoſed that thoſe wicked and perfidious Diſciples durſt have propoſed to the other Diſciples, who were really Sincere and True, to joyn with them, and ſo teſtify that they had ſeen Jeſus Chriſt aſcending into Heaven?
Truly I don't ſee what any Man can alledge except one of theſe two things, either that they were all ſincere and honeſt Men, or that ſome of them were honeſt, and the reſt Cheats. If they were all ſincere and honeſt Men, as their Manners, their Diſcourſe, their Conduct, and a thouſand other Characters of them evidently ſhew, then is it abſolutely impoſſible that any ſuch Cheat could have been carried on amongſt them. But if they were all a pack of cheating treacherous Impoſtors, then it was the firſt time that ever a Society of cheating perfidious Rogues was erected, who ſeemed to have had no other Deſign than to ſanctify Mankind.
But what Man, be his Thoughts never ſo confus'd and irregular, be his Reaſon never ſo corrupt, can yet imagin that ſo many mean-ſpirited, ſimple and humble Men as the Diſciples were, ſhould immediately become the moſt Lying notorious Cheats, out of no other Deſign then to involve themſelves in ruin? If ſome of them were falſe and others ſincere, and if the latter were at all impoſed upon by the former, which is the moſt our Incredulous Adverſaries can imagin; yet even then I aſſert, that ſuch a Cheat could not have been carried on by them. For ſuppoſing Peter never ſo ſmooth and Eloquent, never ſo adroit at Diſſembling and Inſinuation, yet how could he poſſibly perſwade ſo great a number of Perſons to believe againſt their Senſes, that they had ſeen that which they really never ſaw, or handled that which they had never handled; that Jeſus duplicate page duplicate page Chriſt after having given them many Precepts and large Inſtructions, which he left very deeply imprinted in their Minds, aſcended into Heaven in their ſight? But ſhould I grant he might have perſwaded them of the Truth of his Reſurrection, yet how is it poſſible he could perſwade them of the Truth of his Aſcenſion?
Had St. Peter but ſo much as propoſed it to them whom he deſigned to delude, it would have been for that very Reaſon impoſſible but that they ſhould have found out his Deſign to cheat them. But he would not ſure preſume to propoſe to them the joint Contrivance of ſuch a fabulous Story, nor would he have found (tho he had been bold enough to have propoſed it) any that would have aſſiſted him in ſo ſenſleſs a Deſign, much leſs maintain'd his Extravagance, and leaſt of all expoſed themſelves to a thouſand Torments on purpoſe to maintain it.
2. But ſecondly, I obſerved that ſuch an Impoſture would have been of no manner of uſe to them. It is enough to have proved that it was impoſſible to be put in Execution to ſatisfie any reaſonable Man how needleſs and uſeleſs it would be to advance it. 'Tis true, there have been in all Ages and Countries ſuch Men as would have been very willing, for their own Advantage, to make others believe improbable Stories and Fictions, had the thing been but practicable: but becauſe they could not effect it without ſuch a mutual Concert among ſeveral Perſons to maintain it, as is altogether impoſſible, for that very Reaſon it never came into their Minds upon ſerious and cooler Thoughts.
It would, no doubt, be of very ſingular Advantage to thoſe Princes, who ſo earneſtly deſire to procure themſelves an extraordinary Reſpect and Veneration from their Subjects, and for that Reaſon very ſeldom appear in publick, and hardly ever ſhew themſelves to their Poople; I ſay, it would be of great Advantage to them, if they could but once perſwade their People that they were of a Divine Race, and came down from Heaven: but becauſe they judge ſuch a Deſign impracticable, they reckon it a thing altogether uſeleſs and needleſs ever to undertake it.
Certainly we may as well affirm that the Deſign of making other Men believe the Aſcenſion of Jeſus Chriſt againſt the real truth of the thing, and inward ſenſe of their own Conſciences, would have been altogether as uſeleſs and needleſs; becauſe it does not in the leaſt appear that the Diſciples could propoſe to themſelves any reaſonable Deſign in maintaining ſuch an incredible Story.
3. Nay it was a thing not only wholly uſeleſs, but as we obſerv'd in the third place, ſuch a one as Men dont uſually Deſign, or contrive. It could not enter into any one Man's mind, much leſs into that of ſo many different men at once, to fancy that they could perſwade other Men to credit ſuch an impudent Lye as that muſt have been, or to dare undertake to make others believe it, to think in the leaſt that they could ſucceed in ſo ſtrange a Deſign, or that others would have acted in it jointly with them, to imagin that they could be able to endure the moſt rigorous Torments, and the ſevereſt and moſt cruel Afflictions, or that the Cheat which they unanimouſly had agreed on, would have been both believed and approved of throughout the World; nay what is more, that Men ſhould repent and become Holy and Righteous out of a Reſpect and Reverence they bo…e to an Impoſtor, and that Vertue and Piety ſhould have been eſtabliſhed in all the Parts of the World by the means of an extraordinary Cheat.
To this we may add, that conſidering this Deſign of theirs another way, it is not, cannot be ſuch a one as any Man would conceive or endeavour to put in Practice. It is abſolutely impoſſible to find any Man ſo much an Enemy to himſelf, as willingly to loſe his Quiet, his Liberty, Friends, Relations and all his Acquaintance, only to aſſert and defend a Lye, that muſt unavoidably be attended by ſuch fatal and ſorrowful Conſequences. For Nature is not inſenſible of Grief and Pain. As ſhe is expoſed to Griefs and Sufferings, ſo when ſhe ſuffers 'tis with Reluctance, Complaints, Sighs, and Tears. She cannot accuſtom her ſelf to bear ſlightly Contempt or Infamy. Nothing diſturbs and exaſperates her more, nothing makes her more impatient than Mortifications and Diſgraces. How then is it poſſible ſo great a Company of People ſhould on a ſudden renounce all thoſe inviolable Sentiments of Nature which no Violence can root out, on purpoſe to maintain that they had ſeen a thing, which they really never ſaw? This is a Conſideration that cannot be too often repeated.
Laſtly, it is ſuch a Deſign as is not in the nature of Man to conceive. For, to maintain an Impoſture with ſuch Conſtancy as the Diſciples did, is ſuch a piece of extraordinary Courage as is above the Nature or Power of Man. An Impoſtor that thinks and knows himſelf to be one, whoſe Mind tells him that he acts contrary to his Natural Sentiments, cannot go long undiſcover'd. He is ſeiz'd with Remorſe, and his Conſcience is awakened. He trembles and unwarily diſcovers himſelf to the World upon the leaſt danger he meets with. He is ready to confeſs the whole Cheat, as ſoon as he is brought before his Judges, and is frighted with the Puniſhments of a ſecular Power; and he never fails of betraying himſelf, either by confeſſing the whole Buſineſs, or maintaining what he has advanced after ſo weak and fearful a manner, that he will not be long, (if but cloſely urg'd to it) before he diſcovers the whole Truth. For ſuch is the uſual Temper of Men upon ſuch an Occaſion. And if a ſingle Perſon that ſhould not act thus in this reſpect, would be looked upon as an unheard of Prodigy, how much more ſhall an infinite number of People be looked upon as ſuch? Who can imagin that ſo many Perſons ſhould either on a ſudden renounce their humane Nature, or be of a different make from all other Men ſince the Beginning of the World; For my part, I cannot conceive how it ſhould be, and therefore look upon this as a moſt ſenſible and evident Truth. But we muſt yet carry on this Conviction further, by following thoſe Notions which it has pleaſed God in his Wiſdom to put into our Mind upon this Subject.