I come, in the fecond place, to confider the religious inftitutions of Zoroafter. We have not fo full and authentic an hiftory of these, as to compare them properly with the Jewish or Chriftian revelations. If we fuppofe, that Zoroafter and Hyftafpes fet up the worship of one God, in a fimple manner, teaching and inculcating the practice of virtue at the fame time, this religion may be faid to have confiderable moral evidence in its favour. If, farther, we fuppofe it to be in part derived, either from the descendants of Abraham by Keturah, called Brachmans from him, or from that knowledge of the true God which the ten tribes and the Jews had then communicated to that part of the world, it will become an evidence for the Jewish religion. Thirdly, the religion of Mahomet allows and prefupposes the truth of the Jewish and Chriftian. Its rapid propagation was owing chiefly to the mixture of political interests, That part of its doctrines which is good, is manifeftly taken from the Scriptures; and this contributed to its fuccefs. However, a comparifon of Mahometifm with Chriftianity, in the several particulars of each, feems to fhew, that whenever a strict examination is made into the hiftory of Mahometifm by its profeffors, the falfhood of it will quickly be made evident to them. It could not ftand fuch a trial as Chriftianity has, fince the revival of learning in these Western parts. It seems easy to apply what has been delivered in the three laft paragraphs to the analogous particulars of the religion of Confucius, and of other religions found in the Eaft and West Indies, as far as their hiftories are fufficiently full and authentic for that purpose. Laftly, one may make the following remarks with respect to the feveral enthufiaftic fects that arife from time to time amongst Chriftians. First, that their pretences to miracles and prophecies have, in general, been detected and expofed, after fome examination and inquiry; unless the sect has begun to decline from other caufes, before a strict examination became neceffary, Secondly, that their pretended miracles were not of that evident kind, nor done in the fame open manner, &c. as the Jewish and Chrif tian miracles. Thirdly, that these pretended miracles have not produced lafting effects upon the minds of men, like the Jewish and Chriftian. Now, though a religion may fucceed for a time without true miracles, yet it feems hard to believe, that any fhould fail with them, Fourthly, the fuccefs of fects has in general been owing to their making greater pretences to purity and Gofpel perfection than establifhed churches, and to their both teaching and practifing fome neceffary duties which eftablished churches have too much neglected in the corrupted ftate of Chriftianity. And in this light they have been true in part, and have done the most important fervice to the world. Every fect of Chriftians has magnified fome great truth, not above its real value, but above the value which other fects have fet upon it; and by this means each important religious truth has had the the advantage of being fet in a full light by fome party or other, though too much neglected by the reft. And the true Catholic church and communion of faints unites all these fects, by taking what is right from each, and leaving the errors, falfhoods, and corruptions of each, to combat and destroy one another. And it may be, that mankind will be able in future generations tu fee, how every other fect, and pretence to revelation, befides those of enthufiaftic Chriftians, in whatever age or country it has appeared, has been, all other things remaining the fame, fuited in the beft poffible manner, both to particular and general purposes; and that each has prepared the way, in its proper place, for that more complete state predicted in the Scriptures under the titles of "the kingdom of Heaven," and" of righteoufnefs, of the New Jerufalem," &c. Even infidelity, atheism, and fceptifcifm, have their use. The veffels of wrath are ftill veffels belonging to the Maker and Lord of all things, and anfwering his infinitely beneficent purposes. "Offences must come," though WO be to thofe by whom they come !" Each fect, and pretence, and objection, has given, or will give, way in its time. The true and pure religion of Chrift alone grows more evident and powerful from every attack that is made upon it, and converts the bitterness and poifon of its adverfaries into nourishment for itself, and an univerfal remedy for the pains and forrows of a miferable, degenerate world. 66 THE I. General divifion of the following difcourfe, with regard to Pagan and III. Efpecially when related by the Jews: IV. And heard at a distance by those who pretend to as great miracles of their own. V. Befides that no Pagan writers of that age lived in Judea, or its confines; VI. And because many books of that age are loft. VII. An inftance of one record proved to be authentic. VIII. A fecond record of probable, though not undoubted authority. THA I. HAT I may lay before you a full ftate of the subject under our confideration, and methodize the several particulars that I touched upon in difcourfe with you; I shall first take notice of such Pagan authors as have given their teftimony to the hiftory of our Saviour; reduce thefe authors under their refpective claffes, and fhew what authority their teftimonies carry with them. Secondly, I fhall take notice of Jewish authors in the fame light. * II. There are many reasons why you should not expect that matters of fuch a wonderful nature should be taken notice of by thofe eminent Pagan writers who were contemporaries with Jefus Chrift, or by thofe who lived before his difciples had perfonally appeared among them, and afcertained the report which had gone abroad concerning a life fo full of miracles. Suppofing such things had happened at this day in Switzerland, or among the Grifons, who make a greater figure in Europe than Judea did in the Roman empire, would they be immediately believed by those who live at a great diftance from them? or would any certain account of them be tranfmitted into foreign countries, within fo fhort a space of time as that of our Saviour's public miniftry? Such The author did not live to write this fecond part. kinds kinds of news, though never fo true, feldom gain credit, till fome time after they are tranfacted and expofed to the examination of the curious, who, by laying together circumftances, atteftations, and characters of thofe who are concerned in them, either receive, or reject, what at firft none but eye-witneffes could abfolutely believe or difbelieve. In a cafe of this fort, it was natural for men of sense and learning to treat the whole account as fabulous, or, at farthest, to fufpend their belief of it, until all things ftood together in their full light. III. Befides, the Jews were branded not only for fuperftitions dif ferent from all the religions of the Pagan world, but in a particular manner ridiculed for being a credulous people; so that whatever reports of fuch a nature came out of that country, were looked upon by the heathen world as falfe, frivolous, and improbable. IV. We may further obferve, that the ordinary practice of magic in those times, with the many pretended prodigies, divinations, apparitions, and local miracles among the Heathens, made them lefs attentive to such news from Judæa, till they had time to confider the nature, the occafion, and the end of our Saviour's miracles, and were awakened by many furprifing events to allow them any confideration at all. V. We are indeed told by St. Matthew, that the fame of our Saviour, during his life, went throughout all Syria, and that there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, Judæa, Decapolis, Idumæa, from beyond Jordan, and from Tyre and Sidon. Now, had there been any hiftorians of thofe times and places, we might have expected to have seen in them fome account of those wonderful tranfactions in Judæa; but there is not any fingle author extant in any kind, of that age, in any of those countries, VI. How many books have perifhed, in which poffibly there might have been mention of our Saviour! Look among the Romans, how few of their writings are come down to our times! In the space of two hundred years from our Saviour's birth, when there was such a multitude of writers in all kinds, how small is the number of authors that have made their way to the prefent age! VII. One authentic record, and that the most authentic heathen record, we are pretty fure, is loft; I mean the account fent by the governor of Judæa, under whom our Saviour was judged, condemned, and crucified. It was the custom of the Roman empire, as it is to this day in all the governments of the world, for the præfects and viceroys of diftant provinces to tranfmit to their fovereign a fummary relation of every thing remarkable in their adminiftration. That Pontius Pilate, in his account, would have touched on fo extraordinary an event in Judæa, is not to be doubted; and that he actually did, we learn from Juftin Martyr, who lived about a hundred years after our Saviour's death, refided, made converts, and fuffered martyrdom at Rome, where he was engaged with philofophers, and in a particular manner with Crefcens the Cynick, who could eafily have detected, and would not fail to have expofed him, had he he quoted a record not in being, or made any falfe citation out of it. Would the great apologift have challenged Crefcens to difpute the caufe of Christianity with him before the Roman fenate, had he forged fuch an evidence? or would Crefcens have refufed the challenge, could he have triumphed over him in the detection of such a forgery? To which we must add, that the apology, which appeals to this record, was prefented to a learned emperor and to the whole body of the Roman fenate. This father, in this apology, fpeaking of the death and fufferings of our Saviour, refers the emperor, for the truth of what he fays, to the acts of Pontius Pilate, which I have here mentioned. Tertullian, who wrote his apology about fifty years after Juftin, doubtless referred to the fame record, when he tells the governor of Rome, that the emperor Tiberius having received an account out of Palestine in Syria of the divine person who had appeared in that country, paid him a particular regard, and threatened to punish any who fhould accufe the Chriftians; nay, that the emperor would have adopted him among the deities whom he worshipped, had not the fenate refused to come into the propofal. Tertullian, who gives us this hiftory, was not only one of the most learned men of his age, but, what adds a greater weight to his authority in this case, was eminently skilful and well read in the laws of the Roman empire. Nor can it be faid, that Tertullian grounded his quotation upon the authority of Juftin Martyr, because we find he mixes it with matters of fact which are not related by that author. Eufebius mentions the fame ancient record; but, as it was not extant in his time, I fhall not inlift upon his authority in this point. If it be objected that this particular is not mentioned in any Roman hiftorian, I fhall use the fame argument in a parallel cafe, and fee whether it will carry any force with it. Ulpian, the great Roman lawyer, gathered together all the imperial edicts that had been made against the Chriftians. But did any one ever fay that there had been no fuch edicts, because they were not mentioned in the hiftories of thofe emperors? Befides, who knows but this circumstance of Tiberius was mentioned in other hiftorians that have been loft, though not to be found in any still extant? Has not Suetonius many particulars of this emperor omitted by Tacitus, and Herodian many that are not fo much as hinted at by either? As for the fpurious acts of Pilate, now extant, we know the occafion and time of their writing; and, had there not been a true and authentic record of this nature, they would never have been forged. VIII. The ftory of Agbarus, king of Edeffa, relating to the letter which he fent to our Saviour, and to that which he received from him, is a record of great authority; and though I will not infift upon it, may venture to say, that, had we fuch an evidence for any fact in Pagan hiftory, an author would be thought very unreasonable who fhould reject it. I believe you will be of my opinion, if you will perufe, with other authors, who have appeared in vindication of these letters as genuine, the additional arguments which have been made ufe of by the late famous and learned Dr. Grabe, in the fecond volume of his Spicilegium." 3 " SECTION |