Vindication of the Truth of the Christian Religion, Religious treatise · Section 4 · Introduction – Subsection 1
Several Portraitures in which it may be conſidered.
HItherto we have inſiſted as it were upon the Shell and Bark of Religion; we have examined the proofs taken from matters of fact, being the firſt that offered themſelves to our mind: It ſeems therefore now Expedient we ſhould diſcover as it were the Subſtance and Spirit of Chriſtianity, and ſo proceed to thoſe other proofs drawn from the Nature of it, and that by ſhewing the truth of it by it's Beauties and proper Excellencies. But becauſe this is too copious a Subject for us who ſtudy Brevity, we ſhall endeavour to reduce what we have to ſay into as ſmall a Compaſs as we can; and ſince we cannot allow our Reflexions their due and proper Extent, to give at leaſt ſome Plan or Draught of the ſame, as ſhall ſupply that defect.
And tho the Chriſtian Religion may be conſidered under ſeveral different Faces, becauſe in this reſpect 'tis like unto its Object, which has no Bounds to confine it's Extent; yet methinks we may give an Idea juſt and adequate enough to our preſent deſign, by conſidering it in eleven different Draughts or Portraitures. I. In the Multitude of Teſtimonies given in favour of it; which we ſhall touch upon curſorily, becauſe we have already partly examined them all II. In its eſſential oppoſition to all falſe Religions that ever were. III. In it's Effects, which can only juſtly be referred to a Divine and Supernatural Cauſe. IV. In the Purity of its end. V. In it's Suitableneſs to the Heart of Man, which it undertakes to reform. VI. In the Relation it has to the Glory of God, which it ſhould advance. VII. In it's Morality. VIII. In it's Myſteries. IX. In the conformity of it's Myſteries to the light of Reaſon. X. In that exact proportion it bears to the Jewiſh Religion. XI. And laſtly, in that proportion it bears to Natural Religion.
I hope theſe Portraitures will, like ſo many degrees of Light, wonderfully illuminate the Minds of the incredulous, and diſcover to them the truth and certainty of the Chriſtian Religion, by the ſublimity and excellencies of it.
I. Portraiture of the Chriſtian Religion, as it is conſidered in the multitude of Teſtimonies given in favour of it.
THough Teſtimonies be ſomewhat foreign and exterior to the Chriſtian Religion, and therefore may ſeem improper to diſcover the Perfection of it: Yet it will appear they do diſcover it, if we but carefully unite them together, and ſo conſider well their joynt union and agreement.
We can't but have a very great Idea of a Religion which the Wiſdom of God has been pleas'd to confirm unto us by Nine ſeveral Teſtimonies, each whereof would have been ſingly ſufficient to diſcover the Truth of it.
The firſt is that of the Prophets, who all teſtified of Jeſus Chriſt by a long and continued ſeries of Prophecies, ſome far plainer than the reſt; for ſome of the Prophets ſaw almoſt as clear in the Night (as I may ſo ſpeak) of ſhadows and figurative Types, as we can in the Day, of their exact accompliſhment, as has been already ſhewn.
The ſecond is that of John the Baptiſt, ſo much the more certain becauſe it was foretold in the old Teſtament, and Chriſt and his Diſciples continually refer'd the Jews to that Teſtimony; ſo much the more conſiderable, becauſe we can't ſuſpect John the Baptiſt of having been guilty of any baſe complacency towards the Jews, or mean deſigns for his own Intereſt; The Wiſdom of God having been pleas'd to ſet him above ſuch Suſpicions, by the Auſterity of his Manners and his unuſual way of living, ſet down in the Goſpel with ſuch a ſtrange and particular Deſcription.
The third is that of the Apoſtles, thoſe witneſſes, whoſe Conſtancy was tried by the ſevereſt Puniſhments inflicted upon them; yet they boldly reſiſted the Violence offered them by ſo many Torments they endur'd, Torments ſufficient to extort even from the greateſt Malefactors a confeſſion of their Crimes: Yet here is the difference between Them and common Offenders; that the latter are compell'd unwillingly to undergo the Torture, but the Diſciples of our Lord rejoyc'd in being thought worthy to ſuffer. Malefactors indeed know certainly they ſhall be executed, if they confeſs the Truth; but the Diſciples of Jeſus would have had much more reaſon to fear Death, had they diſguiſed the Truth by any cloſe Deceit.
The fourth Teſtimony is that of the three Perſons which bare record in Heaven, the Father when he declared in Jordan, that Jeſus Christ was his well beloved Son, in whom he was well pleaſed; and in another place, I have glorified him, and will glorifie him again: The Son, when he teſtified of himſelf by his Miracles: And the Holy Ghoſt, when he confirmed the Teſtimony of the Son by the Effuſion of his extraordinary and miraculous Gifts upon the Diſciples.
The fifth is that of the Conſcience of Men, which acknowledges freely that the Chriſtian Religion can remove our Fears, comfort us in our Afflictions, humble our Minds in the midſt of plenty, and ſtrengthen them in poverty; in a word, ſanctifie us by delivering us from our ſins; and ſo conſequently ſupply all our wants and neceſſities.
The ſixth is that ev'n of the Enemies of our Religion, who have been forced to ſpeak favourably on our ſide. The Jews and Gentiles have teſtified in our behalf, the Wiſdom of Providence, and the convincing force of Truth having obliged them tacitly to own that Truth, againſt which they had declared themſelves ſuch inveterate and implacable Enemies. The ancient Jews believed that the famous Gem. tract. San. Cap. 11.prophecy Jacob uttered upon his Death-bed, The Scepter ſhall, &c. was to be underſtood of the Meſſias: This their own Writings teſtify, and their Talmud acknowledges, that that Man of Sorrows and acquainted with Grief, who was to be bruiſed for our iniquities, and from Gem. tract. San. Lib. 12.whom they hid their faces as from a Leper, was the true Meſſias. Nay, they are forced to have recourſe to the extravagant Fiction of a double Meſſias; and ev'n by that they pay a kind of homage to the Truth. The Samaritans were of Opinion, that the Meſſias was ſhortly to appear in the World, as is evident by the diſcourſe of Chriſt with the Woman of Samaria. And this the Jews were ſo ſtrongly perſwaded of, that ſome of them choſe rather to own Herod the Great for the Meſſias, tho an Idumaean and wicked Prince, than renounce an Opinion they were prepoſſeſs'd with, and which was ſo deeply rooted in their Minds. Others led away by the ſame Opinion, caſt their Eyes upon one Agrippa, deſcended from Herod, who was engaged in the Roman party. Others alſo inſtigated by the ſame hopes, followed a certain Robber into the Wilderneſs. And the Jews ſeeing their City juſt ready to be laid in Aſhes, imagined that their Meſſias was juſt upon manifeſting himſelf. Nay, the mercileſs Ring-leaders of thoſe factious Wretches, who tore one another in pieces during the devaſtation of Judea, ſo obſtinately ſought after one another's Ruin, only becauſe they expected to vanquiſh the Romans, and ſo become the Conquerours of the World, that were to fulfil ancient Prophecies. Few Ages after, they turned to one Barkokebas a villainous Robber, only becauſe they thought him the Meſſias, according to their Computation of the years of his coming. Joſephus, a great Man and well verſed in the Scriptures, imagined as well as others that the Time prefix'd for his coming was accompliſhed; or if he did not really think ſo himſelf, he took at leaſt an occaſion from that Opinion commonly approved of in the Eaſt, to ingratiate himſelf with Veſpaſian. Herod the Great himſelf terrified and amazed by all theſe Reports, made his fearful apprehenſion remarkable by a deluge of Blood. Then did the Jews acknowledge that in the days of the Meſſias there would be no Government; No Magiſtrates, nor any Commonwealth left in Iſrael. But Gem. Tract. San. Cap 11.afterwards the neceſſity of maintaining their Opinion againſt us, made them have recourſe to ſeveral different Evaſions. Not many Ages after the coming of Jeſus Chriſt into the World, when they found that their Meſſias did not appear, ſome of them began to ſay that he had hid himſelf; others that he was come already in the Perſon of Hezekiah; others that his coming was put off, by reaſon of the crying ſins of the People; nay, they went on to that degree of impiety and irreligion, as to pronounce them curſed who ſhould calculate the years of the coming of the Meſſias. From all which we ſee plainly that by theſe their Confeſſions and Shifts, they in a manner bear witneſs (tho unwillingly and without deſign) to the Chriſtian Faith.
As for the Heathens, beſides the authentick Teſtimony of Pliny the younger Tertul. Apolog. 5.concerning the Innocence of the Chriſtians, and beſides that of Tiberius concerning Jeſus Christ, whom he would have inſerted among the Gods, being himſelf aſtoniſhed at the ſurpriſing Wonders which he had heard of him; we all know, that there See a diſcourſe concerning Univerſal Hiſtory by the Biſhop of Meaux.have been ſeveral famous Emperors who were not able to conceal from the World their favourable Opinions of the Chriſtian Religion; that ſome of them had for Inſcriptions in their publick Edifices ſeveral Maxims of the Goſpel; that others would have conſecrated Churches for the Uſe of the Chriſtians; and laſtly, that others profeſſed themſelves Admirers of the Morality of Christ.
But what ſhall we ſay of the Jews and Gentiles, who not being able to deny Chriſt's Miracles, were forced to refer them, ſome to a Magick Power, and others to a certain I know not what myſterious Pronunciation of the word Jehovah. So ſtrange a thing it is that ev'n the very Enemies of our Religion ſhould thus teſtify of it, and yet ſcarce perceive it.
The ſeventh Teſtimony is that of ſeveral ſtrange Events, which the Wiſdom of God ſo ordered that they firmly eſtabliſh the Truth of Christianity. Of theſe there are ſeveral very remarkable; but it ſhall ſuffice at preſent to mention Three only, which among the reſt deſerve a particular Conſideration; the Firſt is, the Deſtruction of the four Monarchies, which had ſorely afflicted and haraſs'd God's People, at the end of which the Kingdom of Heaven was immediately to be eſtabliſhed; the Second, the entire Deſtruction of the Jewiſh Government, and the ſignal Devaſtation of the holy Land, an Effect of the divine Wrath pour'd out upon that Nation; the Third and laſt, the Settlement of the Chriſtian Church, or the Calling of the Gentiles, attended with ſo many Circumſtances as plainly ſhew that nothing but the hand of God could perfect ſo great a Work.
The Eighth is that Teſtimony given of Chriſt by the Revelation of Moſes: And the Ninth that which is given of him by Natural Religion: But of theſe two Teſtimonies we ſhall not ſpeak at preſent, for as much as we deſign to end this Work with a particular Conſideration of them.
In the mean time, 'tis plain the Chriſtian Religion muſt be true, becauſe it was confirmed by the Teſtimony of ſo many authentick Perſons which can't be ſuſpected of Deceit: And it would be extravagantly ridiculous to imagine, that the Prophets ſhould have ſo clear an inſight into Futurity, meerly to countenance and authorize a Fiction; that John the Baptiſt having been at firſt taken by the Jews for the Meſſias, ſhould renounce the Honour which that Title would have conferred upon him, only out of Love and Complaiſance to an Impoſtor; that the Apostles and the reſt of the Diſciples ſhould ſo readily ſacrifice their Eſtates, Reputation, Repoſe, and Life it ſelf to a Perſon they knew to be a falſe Christ; that the Heavens ſhould countenance a Flam and a Lye by working ſuch ſignal and ſenſible Miracles; that the Heart of Man ſhould have found every thing that can ſupply it's Wants and Neceſſities in a meer Cheat; that ev'n the Enemies of our Religion ſhould countenance and approve of our falſe Prejudices; that all Events ſhould ſo exactly coincide with an erroneous Impoſture; and that the Revelation of Moſes and Natural Religion ſhould thus teſtify ſo palpable a Fiction.
To this we may add the Neceſſity and Importance of the Chriſtian Religion, ſince the Wiſdom of God leads us to it by ſo many different ways; as alſo the admirable Perfection and Tranſcendency of it, ſince in a manner Heaven and Earth, the Time paſt and preſent, Events ordinary and natural, as well as thoſe ſupernatural and miraculous, ſince the Prophets and Apostles who were altogether unknown to one another, have agreed unanimouſly to reveal it, and propoſe it to us as an Object for it's tranſcendent excellency worthy of our greateſt Admiration.