that he is a Propitiation for our Sins, that be bath loved us and washed us from our Sins in his own Blood, and that by his Blood he hath redeem'd us to God? And did our bleffed Lord himself defign nothing but to restore the Religion of Nature, when he told the Jews, that the good Shepherd laid down his Life for the Sheep, John x. that the Son of Man came to give his Life a Ranfom for many, Mat. xx. 28. that they must eat his Flefh and drink his Blood if they would have eternal Life, John vi. 53, &c. for his Flesh was that Bread which he gave for the Life of the World, and his Blood is Drink indeed; that his Body was broken and his Blood fhed for the Remiffion of their Sins, Matt. xxvi. 28. 1 Cor. xi. 24. Did ever Men teach the plain Dictates of Reafon or the Law of Nature concerning our Duty to God and one another, and our Hopes of his Acceptance, in fuch dark and diftant Language? And could they ever defire or exped their Hearers fhould underftand them, and fhould by this preaching be taught to build their Hopes of Eternal Happiness upon the Belief and Practice of Natural Religion? Are fuch Perfons as these the fitteft to make divine Meffengers of Truth and Duty to an ignorant World, and to guard them against all fuperftitious Fancies and erroneous Conceits about divine things?

I fuppofe, or may guess, there are many things will be faid by fome of the Friends of

Agrippa

Agrippa to reconcile the Readers of the New Teftament to his abfurd and perverted Sense of it. As

First, That when our Saviour tells the Jews, John vi. 54, that they must eat his Flesh and drink his Blood if they would have eternal Life, he only imitates the manner of the Oriental Nations and the Stile of the Jewish Writers, while his Design is merely to invite them to receive his Doctrine and become his Difciples; for it was their ancient Custom to reprefent Wisdom and Knowledge as the Food of the Soul, Prov. ix. 5. Wisdom crieth in the Streets, Come, eat of my Bread and drink of the Wine which I have mingled. Philo the Jew often speaks of Prudence, Wisdom and Virtue as that spiritual Meat and Drink which nourisheth the Soul. But to this I answer, That tho' the wife Men among the Jews represent Knowledge as the Meat and Drink of the Soul, and invite their Disciples to feed upon Wisdom or to drink in their Precepts of Virtue, yet is it the way of their Doctors to reprefent their own Fleb as the Meat of Souls, or their own Blood as proper Drink for them? Do they ever fay, that their Flefh is living Bread which they give for the Life of the World? Do they ever tell their Disciples, that their Flesh is Meat indeed, or their Blood Drink indeed? Do they pronounce, If ye eat not my Flefb and drink not my Blood, ye have no Life in you?

you? or do they promise, He that eateth me fball live by me? Did you ever read such Language among the Divine Prophets of the: Jews? Could it ever be faid, Except ye eat the Flesh of Isaiah, or drink Jeremiah's Blood, ye have no Life? Were the Jews ever invited to feed upon the Flesh of Mofes or Elias, the Founder or the Reftorer of their Religion, or to drink the Blood of Daniel or David? From all this I think I may infer, that tho' our Saviour's Words may include a receiving of his Inftructions as a divine Prophet or Teacher, yet in these strong Expreffions he designs something more than merely an Invitation to hear and receive the Leffons of Wisdom and Virtue which he teaches. And fince thefe Expreffions of our Saviour concerning eating his Flefb and drinking his Blood found very harsh and abfurd in the literal Senfe of them, we must then seek out the plaineft and trueft figurative Sense: Now this is very near at hand, and might be obvious to thofe among them who had read the Jewish Prophets with Care. When he tells them that the living Bread is his Flefh which he gives for the Life of the World, John vi. 51. it gives an Intimation that his Flesh or Body was to be broken and die as a proper Sacrifice of Atonement for our Guilt, which deferved Death; which was not proper to be spoken too publickly and plainly in his Life-time : And further, that his Blood

was

Sect. II. was to be fhed for the Remiffion of our Sins and to procure Life for us: And that we muft not only receive his Doctrine, but we muft truft in his Atonement for our Remiffion, and feed upon this Sacrifice by Faith, as the Jews eat part of their Sacrifices; and that we muft live upon it by trufting therein.* And fince the Meffiah was foretold to

be

Obj. Does not our Lord exprefsly fay, Except ye eat my Flef and drink my Blood, there is no Life in you? But if Faith in his Blood, or trufting in his atoning Sacrifice, was not neceffary to Salvation in that Day, as I fuppofe will be readily granted, then eating his Flesh in that Day could never fignify trufting in bis atoning Sacrifice.

To this I anfwer, that Chrift having promised to give his Flesh for the Life of the World, v. 57, promifed therein to make his Flefh a Sacrifice to take away Sin and to give Life to the World, and intimated alfo that when this was done, and when he should be preached to men under this Character of a Sin-Offering, then eating and drinking his Flesh and Blood, or Faith in his Sacrifice, would be required in order to Spiritual and Eternal Life. Our Saviour foretelling and defcribing in figurative Language his bloody Death, which was to make Atonement for Sin, foretels and defcribes also that Faith in him which should then be esteemed neceffary to Salvation, under those Figures of eating his Flesh and drinking his Blood. I grant the Expreffions are in the Prefent Tenfe, but this is frequent in the Prophètic Language when future things are defign'd.

But 'till this Event fhould be accomplished and this Doctrine more plainly preached to Men, a general Truft in the Perfon of Chrift for all the Benefits which are to be derived from him, may be reprefented by eating and drinking, as all that was needful and fuffici ent to make Men fpiritually alive And let it be obfer.

be made an Offering for Sin by the Prophets, and fince feeding upon Sin-offerings was common to the Jewish Religion, Lev. vi. 25, 26. the thoughtful Hearers might arrive at fomething of the Senfe and Meaning of our Saviour in this figurative Language.

But fuppofe the Jews when he firft fpake it could not well understand him, confider they had abused his Perfon, and derided his Doctrine, and having fo far rejected the Light, they deferved to be left in Darkness, *amidst Figures and Parables, as Chrift himfelf declares, Mark iv. 11, 12.

I add yet further, there are feveral Things which Chrift in his Life-time spake in Prophetick or Parabolick Language, for this Reason, as I hinted before, that they were not fit and proper to be spoken too plainly at that Seafon; but he left the Expreffions to be explained by the Events. The Death of Chrift, which was not far off, and the Miniftry of the Apostles quickly afterward

ved that even this amounts to fomething more than mere receiving his Doctrine, for it is a feeding or living upon him and trufting in his Perfon as an All-fufficient Saviour, and a vital Union with him, as our Body lives by our Food being united to us.

All this Answer may be reduced to a fhorter Compafs by explaining the Words of Chrift thus; Ex"cept ye are made Partakers of my atoning Sacrifice "or Sin-Offering, by trufting therein fo far as it is evi"dently revealed and preached to the World, whether

in a more or lefs explicit manner, ye have no fpiri"tual nor eternal Life in you."