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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/14780-0.txt b/14780-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f4e5d01 --- /dev/null +++ b/14780-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13066 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14780 *** + +EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY + +by + +WILLIAM PALEY, D.D. + +A New Edition + +London: Printed by W. Clowes and Sons, Stamford Street + +1851 + + + + + + + +THE HONOURABLE AND RIGHT REVEREND + +JAMES YORK, D.D., LORD BISHOP OF ELY + +My LORD, + +When, five years ago, an important station in the University of +Cambridge awaited your Lordship's disposal, you were pleased to offer it +to me. The circumstances under which this offer was made demand a public +acknowledgment. I had never seen your Lordship; I possessed no +connection which could possibly recommend me to your favour; I was known +to you only by my endeavour, in common with many others, to discharge my +duty as a tutor in the University; and by some very imperfect, but +certainly well-intended, and, as you thought, useful publications since. +In an age by no means wanting in examples of honourable patronage, +although this deserve not to be mentioned in respect of the object of +your Lordship's choice, it is inferior to none in the purity and +disinterestedness of the motives which suggested it. + +How the following work may be received, I pretend not to foretell. My +first prayer concerning it is, that it may do good to any: my second +hope, that it may assist, what it hath always been my earnest wish to +promote, the religious part of an academical education. If in this +latter view it might seem, in any degree, to excuse your Lordship's +judgment of its author, I shall be gratified by the reflection that, to +a kindness flowing from public principles, I have made the best public +return in my power. + +In the mean time, and in every event, I rejoice in the opportunity here +afforded me of testifying the sense I entertain of your Lordship's +conduct, and of a notice which I regard as the most flattering +distinction of my life. + + I am, MY LORD, + With sentiments of gratitude and respect, + Your Lordship's faithful + And most obliged servant, + +WILLIAM PALEY. + + + + + +CONTENTS + +Preparatory Considerations--Of the antecedent Credibility of Miracles. + +PART 1. + +OF THE DIRECT HISTORICAL EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY, AND WHEREIN IT IS +DISTINGUISHED FROM THE EVIDENCE ALLEGED FOR OTHER MIRACLES. + +Proposition stated + +PROPOSITION I. + +That there is satisfactory Evidence, that many professing to be original +Witnesses of the Christian Miracles passed their Lives in Labours, +Dangers, and Sufferings, voluntarily undergone in Attestation of the +Accounts which they delivered, and solely in consequence of their Belief +of those Accounts; and that they submitted, from the same Motives, to +new Rules of Conduct. + +CHAPTER I + +Evidence of the Suffering of the first Propagators of Christianity, from +the Nature of the Case. + +CHAPTER II + +Evidence of the Sufferings of the first Propagators of Christianity, +from Profane Testimony. + +CHAPTER III + +Indirect Evidence of the Sufferings of the first Propagators of +Christianity, from the Scriptures and other ancient Christian Writings. + +CHAPTER IV + +Direct Evidence of the same. + +CHAPTER V + +Observations upon the preceding Evidence. + +CHAPTER VI + +That the Story for which the first Propagators of Christianity suffered +was miraculous. + +CHAPTER VII + +That it was, in the main, the Story which we have now proved by indirect +Considerations. + +CHAPTER VIII + +The same proved from the Authority of our Historical Scriptures. + +CHAPTER IX + +Of the Authenticity of the historical Scriptures, in eleven Sections + + +SECT. 1 Quotations of the historical Scriptures by ancient Christian + Writers. +SECT. 2 Of the peculiar Respect with which they were quoted. +SECT. 3 The Scriptures were in very early Times collected into a + distinct Volume. +SECT. 4 And distinguished by appropriate Names and Titles of Respect. +SECT. 5 Were publicly read and expounded in the religious Assemblies of + the early Christians. +SECT. 6 Commentaries, &c., were anciently written upon the Scriptures. +SECT. 7 They were received by ancient Christians of different Sects and + persuasions. +SECT. 8 The four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, thirteen Epistles + of St. Paul, the first Epistle of John, and the first of Peter, + were received without doubt by those who doubted concerning + the other Books of our present Canon. +SECT. 9 Our present Gospels were considered by the adversaries of + Christianity as containing the Accounts upon which the Religion + was founded. +SECT. 10 Formal Catalogues of authentic Scriptures were published, in + all which our present Gospels were included. +SECT. 11 The above Propositions cannot be predicated of those Books + which are commonly called Apocryphal Books of the New + Testament. + +Recapitulation. + +CHAPTER X. + +OF THE DIRECT HISTORICAL EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY, AND WHEREIN IT IS +DISTINGUISHED FROM THE EVIDENCE ALLEGED FOR OTHER MIRACLES. + +PROPOSITION II. + +CHAPTER I + +That there is not satisfactory Evidence, that Persons pretending to be +original Witnesses of any other similar Miracles have acted in the same +Manner, in Attestation of the Accounts which they delivered, and solely +in consequence of their Belief of the Truth of those Accounts. + +CHAPTER II + +Consideration of some specific Instances + + +PART II. + +OF THE AUXILIARY EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY, + +CHAPTER I + +Prophecy + +CHAPTER II + +The Morality of the Gospel + +CHAPTER III + +The Candour of the Writers of the New Testament + +CHAPTER IV + +Identity of Christ's Character + +CHAPTER V + +Originality of our Saviour's Character + +CHAPTER VI + +Conformity of the Facts occasionally mentioned or referred to in +Scripture with the State of things in these Times, as represented by +foreign and independent Accounts. + +CHAPTER VII + +Undesigned Coincidences. + +CHAPTER VIII + +Of the History of the Resurrection. + +CHAPTER IX + +Of the Propagation of Christianity. +SECT. 2 Reflections upon the preceding Account. +SECT. 3 Of the Religion of Mahomet. + + +PART III + +A BRIEF CONSIDERATION OF SOME POPULAR OBJECTIONS. + +CHAPTER I + +The Discrepancies between the several Gospels. + +CHAPTER II + +Erroneous Opinions imputed to the Apostles. + +CHAPTER III + +The Connection of Christianity with the Jewish History. + +CHAPTER IV + +Rejection of Christianity. + +CHAPTER V + +That the Christian Miracles are not recited, or appealed to, by early +Christian Writers themselves, so fully or frequently as might have been +expected. + +CHAPTER VI + +Want of Universality in the Knowledge and Reception of Christianity, and +of greater Clearness in the Evidence. + +CHAPTER VII + +Supposed effects of Christianity. + +CHAPTER VIII + +Conclusion. + + + + + +PREPARATORY CONSIDERATIONS. + +I deem it unnecessary to prove that mankind stood in need of a +revelation because I have met with no serious person who thinks that, +even under the Christian revelation, we have too much light, or any +degree of assurance which is superfluous. I desire, moreover, that in +judging of Christianity, it may be remembered that the question lies +between this religion and none: for, if the Christian religion be not +credible, no one, with whom we have to do, will support the pretensions +of any other. + +Suppose, then, the world we live in to have had a Creator; suppose it to +appear, from the predominant aim and tendency of the provisions and +contrivances observable in the universe, that the Deity, when he formed +it, consulted for the happiness of his sensitive creation; suppose the +disposition which dictated this counsel to continue; suppose a part of +the creation to have received faculties from their Maker, by which they +are capable of rendering a moral obedience to his will, and of +voluntarily pursuing any end for which he has designed them; suppose the +Creator to intend for these, his rational and accountable agents, a +second state of existence, in which their situation will be by their +behaviour in the first state, by which suppose (and by no other) the +objection to the divine government in not putting a difference between +the good and the bad, and the inconsistency of this confusion with the +care and benevolence discoverable in the works of the Deity is done +away; suppose it to be of the utmost importance to the subjects of this +dispensation to know what is intended for them, that is, suppose the +knowledge of it to be highly conducive to the happiness of the species, +a purpose which so many provisions of nature are calculated to promote: +Suppose, nevertheless, almost the whole race, either by the imperfection +of their faculties, the misfortune of their situation, or by the loss of +some prior revelation, to want this knowledge, and not to be likely, +without the aid of a new revelation, to attain it; under these +circumstances, is it improbable that a revelation should be made? Is it +incredible that God should interpose for such a purpose? Suppose him to +design for mankind a future state; is it unlikely that he should +acquaint him with it? + +Now in what way can a revelation be made, but by miracles? In none which +we are able to conceive. Consequently, in whatever degree it is +probable, or not very improbable, that a revelation should be +communicated to mankind at all: in the same degree is it probable, or +not very improbable, that miracles should be wrought. Therefore, when +miracles are related to have been wrought in the promulgating of a +revelation manifestly wanted, and, if true, of inestimable value, the +improbability which arises from the miraculous nature of the things +related is not greater than the original improbability that such a +revelation should be imparted by God. + +I wish it, however, to be correctly understood, in what manner, and to +what extent, this argument is alleged. We do not assume the attributes +of the Deity, or the existence of a future state, in order to prove the +reality of miracles. That reality always must be proved by evidence. We +assert only, that in miracles adduced in support of revelation there is +not any such antecedent improbability as no testimony can surmount. And +for the purpose of maintaining this assertion, we contend, that the +incredibility of miracles related to have been wrought in attestation of +a message from God, conveying intelligence of a future state of rewards +and punishments, and teaching mankind how to prepare themselves for that +state, is not in itself greater than the event, call it either probable +or improbable, of the two following propositions being true: namely, +first, that a future state of existence should be destined by God for +his human creation; and, secondly, that, being so destined, he should +acquaint them with it. It is not necessary for our purpose, that these +propositions be capable of proof, or even that, by arguments drawn from +the light of nature, they can be made out to be probable; it is enough +that we are able to say concerning them, that they are not so violently +improbable, so contradictory to what we already believe of the divine +power and character, that either the propositions themselves, or facts +strictly connected with the propositions (and therefore no further +improbable than they are improbable), ought to be rejected at first +sight, and to be rejected by whatever strength or complication of +evidence they be attested. + +This is the prejudication we would resist. For to this length does a +modern objection to miracles go, viz., that no human testimony can in +any case render them credible. I think the reflection above stated, +that, if there be a revelation, there must be miracles, and that, under +the circumstances in which the human species are placed, a revelation is +not improbable, or not to any great degree, to be a fair answer to the +whole objection. + +But since it is an objection which stands in the very threshold our +argument, and, if admitted, is a bar to every proof, and to all future +reasoning upon the subject, it may be necessary, before we proceed +further, to examine the principle upon which it professes to be founded; +which principle is concisely this, That it is contrary to experience +that a miracle should be true, but not contrary to experience that +testimony should be false. + +Now there appears a small ambiguity in the term "experience," and in the +phrases, "contrary to experience," or "contradicting experience," which +it may be necessary to remove in the first place. Strictly speaking, the +narrative of a fact is then only contrary to experience, when the fact +is related to have existed at a time and place, at which time and place +we being present did not perceive it to exist; as if it should be +asserted, that in a particular room, and at a particular hour of a +certain day, a man was raised from the dead, in which room, and at the +time specified, we, being present and looking on, perceived no such +event to have taken place. Here the assertion is contrary to experience +properly so called; and this is a contrariety which no evidence can +surmount. It matters nothing, whether the fact be of a miraculous +nature, or not. But although this be the experience, and the +contrariety, which Archbishop Tillotson alleged in the quotation with +which Mr. Hume opens his Essay, it is certainly not that experience, nor +that contrariety, which Mr. Hume himself intended to object. And short +of this I know no intelligible signification which can be affixed to the +term "contrary to experience," but one, viz., that of not having +ourselves experienced anything similar to the thing related, or such +things not being generally experienced by others. I say "not generally" +for to state concerning the fact in question, that no such thing was +ever experienced, or that universal experience is against it, is to +assume the subject of the controversy. + +Now the improbability which arises from the want (for this properly is a +want, not a contradiction) of experience, is only equal to the +probability there is, that, if the thing were true, we should experience +things similar to it, or that such things would be generally +experienced. Suppose it then to be true that miracles were wrought on +the first promulgation of Christianity, when nothing but miracles could +decide its authority, is it certain that such miracles would be repeated +so often, and in so many places, as to become objects of general +experience? Is it a probability approaching to certainty? Is it a +probability of any great strength or force? Is it such as no evidence +can encounter? And yet this probability is the exact converse, and +therefore the exact measure, of the improbability which arises from the +want of experience, and which Mr. Hume represents as invincible by human +testimony. + +It is not like alleging a new law of nature, or a new experiment in +natural philosophy; because, when these are related, it is expected +that, under the same circumstances, the same effect will follow +universally; and in proportion as this expectation is justly +entertained, the want of a corresponding experience negatives the +history. But to expect concerning a miracle, that it should succeed upon +a repetition, is to expect that which would make it cease to be a +miracle, which is contrary to its nature as such, and would totally +destroy the use and purpose for which it was wrought. + +The force of experience as an objection to miracles is founded in the +presumption, either that the course of nature is invariable, or that, if +it be ever varied, variations will be frequent and general. Has the +necessity of this alternative been demonstrated? Permit us to call the +course of nature the agency of an intelligent Being, and is there any +good reason for judging this state of the case to be probable? Ought we +not rather to expect that such a Being, on occasions of peculiar +importance, may interrupt the order which he had appointed, yet, that +such occasions should return seldom; that these interruptions +consequently should be confined to the experience of a few; that the +want of it, therefore, in many, should be matter neither of surprise nor +objection? + +But, as a continuation of the argument from experience, it is said that, +when we advance accounts of miracles, we assign effects without causes, +or we attribute effects to causes inadequate to the purpose, or to +causes of the operation of which we have no experience of what causes, +we may ask, and of what effects, does the objection speak? If it be +answered that, when we ascribe the cure of the palsy to a touch, of +blindness to the anointing of the eyes with clay, or the raising of the +dead to a word, we lay ourselves open to this imputation; we reply that +we ascribe no such effects to such causes. We perceive no virtue or +energy in these things more than in other things of the same kind. They +are merely signs to connect the miracle with its end. The effect we +ascribe simply to the volition of Deity; of whose existence and power, +not to say of whose Presence and agency, we have previous and +independent proof. We have, therefore, all we seek for in the works of +rational agents--a sufficient power and an adequate motive. In a word, +once believe that there is a God, and miracles are not incredible. + +Mr. Hume states the ease of miracles to be a contest of opposite +improbabilities, that is to say, a question whether it be more +improbable that the miracle should be true, or the testimony false: and +this I think a fair account of the controversy. But herein I remark a +want of argumentative justice, that, in describing the improbability of +miracles, he suppresses all those circumstances of extenuation, which +result from our knowledge of the existence, power, and disposition of +the Deity; his concern in the creation, the end answered by the miracle, +the importance of that end, and its subserviency to the plan pursued in +the work of nature. As Mr. Hume has represented the question, miracles +are alike incredible to him who is previously assured of the constant +agency of a Divine Being, and to him who believes that no such Being +exists in the universe. They are equally incredible, whether related to +have been wrought upon occasion the most deserving, and for purposes the +most beneficial, or for no assignable end whatever, or for an end +confessedly trifling or pernicious. This surely cannot be a correct +statement. In adjusting also the other side of the balance, the strength +and weight of testimony, this author has provided an answer to every +possible accumulation of historical proof by telling us that we are not +obliged to explain how the story of the evidence arose. Now I think that +we are obliged; not, perhaps, to show by positive accounts how it did, +but by a probable hypothesis how it might so happen. The existence of +the testimony is a phenomenon; the truth of the fact solves the +phenomenon. If we reject this solution, we ought to have some other to +rest in; and none, even by our adversaries, can be admired, which is not +inconsistent with the principles that regulate human affairs and human +conduct at present, or which makes men then to have been a different +kind of beings from what they are now. + +But the short consideration which, independently of every other, +convinces me that there is no solid foundation in Mr. Hume's conclusion, +is the following. When a theorem is proposed to a mathematician, the +first thing he does with it is to try it upon a simple case, and if it +produce a false result, he is sure that there must be some mistake in +the demonstration. Now to proceed in this way with what may be called +Mr. Hume's theorem. If twelve men, whose probity and good sense I had +long known, should seriously and circumstantially relate to me an +account of a miracle wrought before their eyes, and in which it was +impossible that they should be deceived: if the governor of the country, +hearing a rumour of this account, should call these men into his +presence, and offer them a short proposal, either to confess the +imposture, or submit to be tied up to a gibbet; if they should refuse +with one voice to acknowledge that there existed any falsehood or +imposture in the case: if this threat were communicated to them +separately, yet with no different effect; if it was at last executed; if +I myself saw them, one after another, consenting to be racked, burnt, or +strangled, rather than live up the truth of their account;--still if Mr. +Hume's rule be my guide, I am not to believe them. Now I undertake to +say that there exists not a sceptic in the world who would not believe +them, or who would defend such incredulity. + +Instances of spurious miracles supported by strong apparent testimony +undoubtedly demand examination; Mr. Hume has endeavoured to fortify his +argument by some examples of this kind. I hope in a proper place to show +that none of them reach the strength or circumstances of the Christian +evidence. In these, however, consists the weight of his objection; in +the principle itself, I am persuaded, there is none. + + + + + +PART I. + +OF THE DIRECT HISTORICAL EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY, AND WHEREIN IT IS +DISTINGUISHED FROM THE EVIDENCE ALLEGED FOR OTHER MIRACLES. + +The two propositions which I shall endeavour to establish are these: + +I. That there is satisfactory evidence that many professing to be +original witnesses of the Christian miracles passed their lives in +labours, dangers, and sufferings, voluntarily undergone in attestation +of the accounts which they delivered, and solely in consequence of their +belief of those accounts; and that they also submitted, from the same +motives, to new rules of conduct. + +2. That there is not satisfactory evidence that persons professing to be +original witnesses of other miracles, in their nature as certain as +these are, have ever acted in the same manner, in attestation of the +accounts which they delivered, and properly in consequence of their +belief of those accounts. + +The first of these prepositions, as it forms the argument will stand at +the head of the following nine chapters. + + + + + +CHAPTER I + +There is satisfactory evidence that many, professing to be original +witness of the Christian miracles, passed their lives in labours, +dangers, and sufferings, voluntarily undergone in attestation of the +accounts which they delivered, and solely in consequence of their of +belief of those accounts; and that they also submitted, from the same +motives, to new rules of conduct. + +To support this proposition, two points are necessary to be made out: +first, that the Founder of the institution, his associates and immediate +followers, acted the part which the proposition imputes to them: +secondly, that they did so in attestation of the miraculous history +recorded in our Scriptures, and solely in consequence of their belief of +the truth of this history. + +Before we produce any particular testimony to the activity and +sufferings which compose the subject of our first assertion, it will be +proper to consider the degree of probability which the assertion derives +from the nature of the case, that is, by inferences from those parts of +the case which, in point of fact, are on all hands acknowledged. + +First, then, the Christian Religion exists, and, therefore, by some +means or other, was established. Now it either owes the principle of its +establishment, i. e. its first publication, to the activity of the +Person who was the founder of the institution, and of those who were +joined with him in the undertaking, or we are driven upon the strange +supposition, that, although they might lie by, others would take it up; +although they were quiet and silent, other persons busied themselves in +the success and propagation of their story. This is perfectly +incredible. To me it appears little less than certain, that, if the +first announcing of the religion by the Founder had not been followed up +by the zeal and industry of his immediate disciples, the attempt must +have expired in its birth. Then as to the kind and degree of exertion +which was employed, and the mode of life to which these persons +submitted, we reasonably suppose it to be like that which we observe in +all others who voluntarily become missionaries of a new faith. Frequent, +earnest, and laborious preaching, constantly conversing with religious +persons upon religion, a sequestration from the common pleasures, +engagements, and varieties of life, and an addiction to one serious +object, compose the habits of such men. I do not say that this mode of +life is without enjoyment, but I say that the enjoyment springs from +sincerity. With a consciousness at the bottom of hollowness and +falsehood, the fatigue and restraint would become insupportable. I am +apt to believe that very few hypocrites engage in these undertakings; +or, however, persist in them long. Ordinarily speaking, nothing can +overcome the indolence of mankind, the love which is natural to most +tempers of cheerful society and cheerful scenes, or the desire, which is +common to all, of personal ease and freedom, but conviction. + +Secondly, it is also highly probable, from the nature of the case, that +the propagation of the new religion was attended with difficulty and +danger. As addressed to the Jews, it was a system adverse, not only to +their habitual opinions but to those opinions upon which their hopes, +their partialities, their pride, their consolation, was founded. This +people, with or without reason, had worked themselves into a persuasion, +that some signal and greatly advantageous change was to be effected in +the condition of their country, by the agency of a long-promised +messenger from heaven.* The rulers of the Jews, their leading sect, +their priesthood, had been the authors of this persuasion to the common +people. So that it was not merely the conjecture of theoretical divines, +or the secret expectation of a few recluse devotees, but it was become +the popular hope and Passion, and, like all popular opinions, undoubting +and impatient of contradiction. They clung to this hope under every +misfortune of their country, and with more tenacity as their dangers and +calamities increased. To find, therefore, that expectations so +gratifying were to be worse than disappointed; that they were to end in +the diffusion of a mild unambitious religion, which, instead of +victories and triumphs, instead of exalting their nation and institution +above the rest of the world, was to advance those whom they despised to +an equality with themselves, in those very points of comparison in which +they most valued their own distinction, could be no very pleasing +discovery to a Jewish mind; nor could the messengers of such +intelligence expect to be well received or easily credited. The doctrine +was equally harsh and novel. The extending of the kingdom of God to +those who did not conform to the law of Moses was a notion that had +never before entered into the thoughts of a Jew. + +_________ + +* "Pererebuerat oriento toto vetus et contans opinio, esse in fatis, ut +eo tempore Judaea profecti rerum potirsatur." Sueton. Vespasian. cap. +4--8. + +"Pluribus persuasio inerat, antiquis sacerdotum literis contineri, eo +ipso tempore fore, ut valesecret oriens, profectique Judaea rerum +potirentur." Tacit. Hist. lib. v. cap. 9--13. +_________ + + +The character of the new institution was, in other respects also, +ungrateful to Jewish habits and principles. Their own religion was in a +high degree technical. Even the enlightened Jew placed a great deal of +stress upon the ceremonies of his law, saw in them a great deal of +virtue and efficacy; the gross and vulgar had scarcely anything else; +and the hypocritical and ostentatious magnified them above measure, as +being the instruments of their own reputation and influence. The +Christian scheme, without formally repealing the Levitical code, lowered +its estimation extremely. In the place of strictness and zeal in +performing the observances which that code prescribed, or which +tradition had added to it, the new sect preached up faith, +well-regulated affections, inward purity, and moral rectitude of +disposition, as the true ground, on the part of the worshipper, of merit +and acceptance with God. This, however rational it may appear, or +recommending to us at present, did not by any means facilitate the plan +then. On the contrary, to disparage those qualities which the highest +characters in the country valued themselves most upon, was a sure way of +making powerful enemies. As if the frustration of the national hope was +not enough, the long-esteemed merit of ritual zeal and punctuality was +to be decried, and that by Jews preaching to Jews. + +The ruling party at Jerusalem had just before crucified the Founder of +the religion. That is a fact which will not be disputed. They, +therefore, who stood forth to preach the religion must necessarily +reproach these rulers with an execution which they could not but +represent as an unjust and cruel murder. This would not render their +office more easy, or their situation more safe. + +With regard to the interference of the Roman government which was then +established in Judea, I should not expect, that, despising as it did the +religion of the country, it would, if left to itself, animadvert, either +with much vigilance or much severity, upon the schisms and controversies +which arose within it. Yet there was that in Christianity which might +easily afford a handle of accusation with a jealous government. The +Christians avowed an unqualified obedience to a new master. They avowed +also that he was the person who had been foretold to the Jews under the +suspected title of King. The spiritual nature of this kingdom, the +consistency of this obedience with civil subjection, were distinctions +too refined to be entertained by a Roman president, who viewed the +business at a great distance, or through the medium of very hostile +representations. Our histories accordingly inform us, that this was the +turn which the enemies of Jesus gave to his character and pretensions in +their remonstrances with Pontius Pilate. And Justin Martyr, about a +hundred years afterwards, complains that the same mistake prevailed in +his time: "Ye, having heard that we are waiting for a kingdom, suppose +without distinguishing that we mean a human kingdom, when in truth we +speak of that which is with God."* And it was undoubtedly a natural +source of calumny and misconstruction. + +_________ + +* Ap. Ima p. 16. Ed. Thirl. +_________ + + +The preachers of Christianity had, therefore, to contend with prejudice +backed by power. They had to come forward to a disappointed people, to a +priesthood possessing a considerable share of municipal authority, and +actuated by strong motives of opposition and resentment; and they had to +do this under a foreign government, to whose favour they made no +pretensions, and which was constantly surrounded by their enemies. The +well-known, because the experienced, fate of reformers, whenever the +reformation subverts some reigning opinion, and does not proceed upon a +change that has already taken place in the sentiments of a country, will +not allow, much less lead us to suppose that the first propagators of +Christianity at Jerusalem and in Judea, under the difficulties and the +enemies they had to contend with, and entirely destitute as they were of +force, authority, or protection, could execute their mission with +personal ease and safety. + +Let us next inquire, what might reasonably be expected by the preachers +of Christianity when they turned themselves to the heathen public. Now +the first thing that strikes us is, that the religion they carried with +them was exclusive. It denied without reserve the truth of every article +of heathen mythology, the existence of every object of their worship. It +accepted no compromise, it admitted no comprehension. It must prevail, +if it prevailed at all, by the overthrow of every statue, altar, and +temple in the world, It will not easily be credited, that a design, so +bold as this was, could in any age be attempted to be carried into +execution with impunity. + +For it ought to be considered, that this was not setting forth, or +magnifying the character and worship of some new competitor for a place +in the Pantheon, whose pretensions might he discussed or asserted +without questioning the reality of any others: it was pronouncing all +other gods to be false, and all other worship vain. From the facility +with which the polytheism of ancient nations admitted new objects of +worship into the number of their acknowledged divinities, or the +patience with which they might entertain proposals of this kind, we can +argue nothing as to their toleration of a system, or of the publishers +and active propagators of a system, which swept away the very foundation +of the existing establishment. The one was nothing more than what it +would be, in popish countries, to add a saint to the calendar; the other +was to abolish and tread under foot the calendar itself. + +Secondly, it ought also to be considered, that this was not the case of +philosophers propounding in their books, or in their schools, doubts +concerning the truth of the popular creed, or even avowing their +disbelief of it. These philosophers did not go about from place to place +to collect proselytes from amongst the common people; to form in the +heart of the country societies professing their tenets; to provide for +the order, instruction and permanency of these societies; nor did they +enjoin their followers to withdraw themselves from the public worship of +the temples, or refuse a compliance with rites instituted by the laws.* +These things are what the Christians did, and what the philosophers did +not; and in these consisted the activity and danger of the enterprise. + +_________ + +* The best of the ancient philosophers, Plato, Cicero, and Epictetus, +allowed, or rather enjoined, men to worship the gods of the country, and +in the established form. See passages to this purpose collected from +their works by Dr. Clarke, Nat. and Rev. Rel. p. 180. ed. v--Except +Socrates, they all thought it wiser to comply with the laws than to +contend. +_________ + + +Thirdly, it ought also to be considered, that this danger proceeded not +merely from solemn acts and public resolutions of the state, but from +sudden bursts of violence at particular places, from the licence of the +populace, the rashness of some magistrates and negligence of others; +from the influence and instigation of interested adversaries, and, in +general, from the variety and warmth of opinion which an errand so novel +and extraordinary could not fail of exciting. I can conceive that the +teachers of Christianity might both fear and suffer much from these +causes, without any general persecution being denounced against them by +imperial authority. Some length of time, I should suppose, might pass, +before the vast machine of the Roman empire would be put in motion, or +its attention be obtained to religious controversy: but, during that +time, a great deal of ill usage might be endured, by a set of +friendless, unprotected travellers, telling men, wherever they came, +that the religion of their ancestors, the religion in which they had +been brought up, the religion of the state, and of the magistrate, the +rites which they frequented, the pomp which they admired, was throughout +a system of folly and delusion. + +Nor do I think that the teachers of Christianity would find protection +in that general disbelief of the popular theology, which is supposed to +have prevailed amongst the intelligent part of the heathen public. It is +by no means true that unbelievers are usually tolerant. They are not +disposed (and why should they?) to endanger the present state of +things, by suffering a religion of which they believe nothing to be +disturbed by another of which they believe as little. They are ready +themselves to conform to anything; and are, oftentimes, amongst the +foremost to procure conformity from others, by any method which they +think likely to be efficacious. When was ever a change of religion +patronized by infidels? How little, not withstanding the reigning +scepticism, and the magnified liberality of that age, the true +principles of toleration were understood by the wisest men amongst them, +may be gathered from two eminent and uncontested examples. The younger +Pliny, polished as he was by all the literature of that soft and elegant +period, could gravely pronounce this monstrous judgment:--"Those who +persisted in declaring themselves Christians, I ordered to be led away +to punishment, (i. e. to execution,) for I DID NOT DOUBT, whatever it +was that they confessed, that contumacy and inflexible obstinacy ought +to be punished." His master Trajan, a mild and accomplished prince, +went, nevertheless, no further in his sentiments of moderation and +equity than what appears in the following rescript:--"The Christians are +not to be sought for; but if any are brought before you, and convicted, +they are to be punished." And this direction he gives, after it had been +reported to him by his own president, that, by the most strict +examination, nothing could be discovered in the principles of these +persons, but "a bad and excessive superstition," accompanied, it seems, +with an oath or mutual federation, "to allow themselves in no crime or +immoral conduct whatever." The truth is, the ancient heathens considered +religion entirely as an affair of state, as much under the tuition of +the magistrate as any other part of the police. The religion of that age +was not merely allied to the state; it was incorporated into it. Many of +its offices were administered by the magistrate. Its titles of pontiffs, +augurs, and flamens, were borne by senators, consuls, and generals. +Without discussing, therefore, the truth of the theology, they resented +every affront put upon the established worship, as a direct opposition +to the authority of government. + +Add to which, that the religious systems of those times, however ill +supported by evidence, had been long established. The ancient religion +of a country has always many votaries, and sometimes not the fewer, +because its origin is hidden in remoteness and obscurity. Men have a +natural veneration for antiquity, especially in matters of religion. +What Tacitus says of the Jewish was more applicable to the heathen +establishment: "Hi ritus, quoquo modo inducti, antiquitate defenduntur." +It was also a splendid and sumptuous worship. It had its priesthood, its +endowments, its temples. Statuary, painting, architecture, and music, +contributed their effect to its ornament and magnificence. It abounded +in festival shows and solemnities, to which the common people are +greatly addicted, and which were of a nature to engage them much more +than anything of that sort among us. These things would retain great +numbers on its side by the fascination of spectacle and pomp, as well as +interest many in its preservation by the advantage which they drew from +it. "It was moreover interwoven," as Mr. Gibbon rightly represents it, +"with every circumstance of business or pleasure, of public or private +life, with all the offices and amusements of society." On the due +celebration also of its rites, the people were taught to believe, and +did believe, that the prosperity of their country in a great measure +depended. + +I am willing to accept the account of the matter which is given by Mr. +Gibbon: "The various modes of worship which prevailed in the Roman world +were all considered by the people as equally true, by the philosopher as +equally false, and by the magistrate as equally useful:" and I would ask +from which of these three classes of men were the Christian missionaries +to look for protection or impunity? Could they expect it from the +people, "whose acknowledged confidence in the public religion" they +subverted from its foundation? From the philosopher, who, "considering +all religious as equally false," would of course rank theirs among the +number, with the addition of regarding them as busy and troublesome +zealots? Or from the magistrate, who, satisfied with the "utility" of +the subsisting religion, would not be likely to countenance a spirit of +proselytism and innovation:--a system which declared war against every +other, and which, if it prevailed, must end in a total rupture of public +opinion; an upstart religion, in a word, which was not content with its +own authority, but must disgrace all the settled religions of the world? +It was not to be imagined that he would endure with patience, that the +religion of the emperor and of the state should be calumniated and borne +down by a company of superstitious and despicable Jews. + +Lastly; the nature of the case affords a strong proof, that the original +teachers of Christianity, in consequence of their new profession, +entered upon a new and singular course of life. We may be allowed to +presume, that the institution which they preached to others, they +conformed to in their own persons; because this is no more than what +every teacher of a new religion both does, and must do, in order to +obtain either proselytes or hearers. The change which this would produce +was very considerable. It is a change which we do not easily estimate, +because, ourselves and all about us being habituated to the institutions +from our infancy, it is what we neither experience nor observe. After +men became Christians, much of their time was spent in prayer and +devotion, in religious meetings, in celebrating the Eucharist, in +conferences, in exhortations, in preaching, in an affectionate +intercourse with one another, and correspondence with other societies. +Perhaps their mode of life, in its form and habit, was not very unlike +the Unitas Fratrum, or the modern methodists. Think then what it was to +become such at Corinth, at Ephesus, at Antioch, or even at Jerusalem. +How new! How alien from all their former habits and ideas, and from +those of everybody about them! What a revolution there must have been of +opinions and prejudices to bring the matter to this! + +We know what the precepts of the religion are; how pure, how benevolent, +how disinterested a conduct they enjoin; and that this purity and +benevolence are extended to the very thoughts and affections. We are +not, perhaps, at liberty to take for granted that the lives of the +preachers of Christianity were as perfect as their lessons; but we are +entitled to contend, that the observable part of their behaviour must +have agreed in a great measure with the duties which they taught. There +was, therefore, (which is all that we assert,) a course of life pursued +by them, different from that which they before led. And this is of great +importance. Men are brought to anything almost sooner than to change +their habit of life, especially when the change is either inconvenient, +or made against the force of natural inclination, or with the loss of +accustomed indulgences. It is the most difficult of all things to +convert men from vicious habits to virtuous ones, as every one may judge +from what he feels in himself, as well as from what he sees in others.* +It is almost like making men over again. + +_________ + +* Hartley's Essays on Man, p. 190. +_________ + + +Left then to myself, and without any more information than a knowledge +of the existence of the religion, of the general story upon which it is +founded, and that no act of power, force, and authority was concerned in +its first success, I should conclude, from the very nature and exigency +of the case, that the Author of the religion, during his life, and his +immediate disciples after his death, exerted themselves in spreading and +publishing the institution throughout the country in which it began, and +into which it was first carried; that, in the prosecution of this +purpose, they underwent the labours and troubles which we observe the +propagators of new sects to undergo; that the attempt must necessarily +have also been in a high degree dangerous; that, from the subject of the +mission, compared with the fixed opinions and prejudices of those to +whom the missionaries were to address themselves, they could hardly fail +of encountering strong and frequent opposition; that, by the hand of +government, as well as from the sudden fury and unbridled licence of the +people, they would oftentimes experience injurious and cruel treatment; +that, at any rate, they must have always had so much to fear for their +personal safety, as to have passed their lives in a state of constant +peril and anxiety; and lastly, that their mode of life and conduct, +visibly at least, corresponded with the institution which they +delivered, and, so far, was both new, and required continual +self-denial. + + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +There is satisfactory evidence that many, professing to be original +witnesses of the Christian miracles, passed their lives in labours, +dangers and sufferings, voluntarily undergone in attestation of the +accounts which they delivered, and solely in consequence of their belief +of those accounts; and that they also submitted, from the same motives, +to new rules of conduct. + +After thus considering what was likely to happen, we are next to inquire +how the transaction is represented in the several accounts that have +come down to us. And this inquiry is properly preceded by the other, +forasmuch as the reception of these accounts may depend in part on the +credibility of what they contain. + +The obscure and distant view of Christianity, which some of the heathen +writers of that age had gained, and which a few passage in their +remaining works incidentally discover to us, offers itself to our notice +in the first place: because, so far as this evidence goes, it is the +concession of adversaries; the source from which it is drawn is +unsuspected. Under this head, a quotation from Tacitus, well known to +every scholar, must be inserted, as deserving particular attention. The +reader will bear in mind that this passage was written about seventy +years after Christ's death, and that it relates to transactions which +took place about thirty years after that event--Speaking of the fire +which happened at Rome in the time of Nero, and of the suspicions which +were entertained that the emperor himself was concerned in causing it, +the historian proceeds in his narrative and observations thus:-- + +"But neither these exertions, nor his largesses to the people, nor his +offerings to the gods, did away the infamous imputation under which Nero +lay, of having ordered the city to be set on fire. To put an end, +therefore, to this report, he laid the guilt, and inflicted the most +cruel punishments, upon a set of people, who were holden in abhorrence +for their crimes, and called by the vulgar, Christians. The founder of +that name was Christ, who suffered death in the reign of Tiberius, under +his procurator, Pontius Pilate--This pernicious superstition, thus +checked for a while, broke out again; and spread not only over Judea, +where the evil originated, but through Rome also, whither everything bad +upon the earth finds its way and is practised. Some who confessed their +sect were first seized, and afterwards, by their information, a vast +multitude were apprehended, who were convicted, not so much of the crime +of burning Rome, as of hatred to mankind. Their sufferings at their +execution were aggravated by insult and mockery; for some were disguised +in the skins of wild beasts, and worried to death by dogs; some were +crucified; and others were wrapped in pitched shirts,* and set on fire +when the day closed, that they might serve as lights to illuminate the +night. Nero lent his own gardens for these executions, and exhibited at +the same time a mock Circensian entertainment; being a spectator of the +whole, in the dress of a charioteer, sometimes mingling with the crowd +on foot, and sometimes viewing the spectacle from his car. This conduct +made the sufferers pitied; and though they were criminals, and deserving +the severest punishments, yet they were considered as sacrificed, not so +much out of a regard to the public good, as to gratify the cruelty of +one man." + +_________ + +* This is rather a paraphrase, but is justified by what the Scholiast +upon Juvenal says; "Nero maleficos homines taeda et papyro et cera +supervestiebat, et sic ad ignem admoveri jubebat." Lard. Jewish and +Heath. Test. vol. i. p. 359. +_________ + + +Our concern with this passage at present is only so far as it affords a +presumption in support of the proposition which we maintain, concerning +the activity and sufferings of the first teachers of Christianity. Now, +considered in this view, it proves three things: 1st, that the Founder +of the institution was put to death; 2dly, that in the same country in +which he was put to death, the religion, after a short check, broke out +again and spread; 3dly, that it so spread as that, within thirty-four +years from the Author's death, a very great number of Christians (ingens +eorum multitudo) were found at Rome. From which fact, the two following +inferences may be fairly drawn: first, that if, in the space of +thirty-four years from its commencement, the religion had spread +throughout Judea, had extended itself to Rome, and there had numbered a +great multitude of converts, the original teachers and missionaries of +the institution could not have been idle; secondly, that when the Author +of the undertaking was put to death as a malefactor for his attempt, the +endeavours of his followers to establish his religion in the same +country, amongst the same people, and in the same age, could not but be +attended with danger. + +Suetonius, a writer contemporary with Tacitus, describing the +transactions of the same reign, uses these words: "Affecti suppliciis +Christiani genus hominum superstitionis novae et maleficae." (Suet. +Nero. Cap. 16) "The Christians, a set of men of a new and mischievous +(or magical) superstition, were punished." + +Since it is not mentioned here that the burning of the city was the +pretence of the punishment of the Christians, or that they were the +Christians of Rome who alone suffered, it is probable that Suetonius +refers to some more general persecution than the short and occasional +one which Tacitus describes. + +Juvenal, a writer of the same age with the two former, and intending, it +should seem, to commemorate the cruelties exercised under Nero's +government, has the following lines: (Sat. i. ver. 155) + +"Pone Tigellinum, taeda lucebis in illa, +Qua stantes ardent, qui fixo gutture fumant, +Et latum media sulcum deducit arena" (Forsan "deducis.") + +"Describe Tigellinus (a creature of Nero), and you shall suffer the same +punishment with those who stand burning in their own flame and smoke, +their head being held up by a stake fixed to their chin, till they make +a long stream of blood and melted sulphur on the ground." + +If this passage were considered by itself, the subject of allusion might +be doubtful; but, when connected with the testimony of Suetonius, as to +the actual punishment of the Christians by Nero, and with the account +given by Tacitus of the species of punishment which they were made to +undergo, I think it sufficiently probable that these were the executions +to which the poet refers. + +These things, as has already been observed, took place within thirty-one +years after Christ's death, that is, according to the course of nature, +in the life-time, probably, of some of the apostles, and certainly in +the life-time of those who were converted by the apostles, or who were +converted in their time. If then the Founder of the religion was put to +death in the execution of his design; if the first race of converts to +the religion, many of them, suffered the greatest extremities for their +profession; it is hardly credible, that those who came between the two, +who were companions of the Author of the institution during his life, +and the teachers and propagators of the institution after his death, +could go about their undertaking with ease and safety. + +The testimony of the younger Pliny belongs to a later period; for, +although he was contemporary with Tacitus and Suetonius, yet his account +does not, like theirs, go back to the transactions of Nero's reign, but +is confined to the affairs of his own time. His celebrated letter to +Trajan was written about seventy years after Christ's death; and the +information to be drawn from it, so far as it is connected with our +argument, relates principally to two points: first, to the number of +Christians in Bithynia and Pontus, which was so considerable as to +induce the governor of these provinces to speak of them in the following +terms: "Multi, omnis aetatis, utriusque sexus etiam;--neque enim +civitates tantum, sed vicos etiam et agros, superstitionis istius +contagio pervagata est." "There are many of every age and of both +sexes;--nor has the contagion of this superstition seized cities only, +but smaller towns also, and the open country." Great exertions must have +been used by the preachers of Christianity to produce this state of +things within this time. Secondly, to a point which has been already +noticed, and, which I think of importance to be observed, namely, the +sufferings to which Christians were exposed, without any public +persecution being denounced against them by sovereign authority. For, +from Pliny's doubt how he was to act, his silence concerning any +subsisting law on the subject, his requesting the emperor's rescript, +and the emperor, agreeably to his request, propounding a rule for his +direction without reference to any prior rule, it may be inferred that +there was, at that time, no public edict in force against the +Christians. Yet from this same epistle of Pliny it appears "that +accusations, trials, and examinations, were, and had been, going on +against them in the provinces over which he presided; that schedules +were delivered by anonymous informers, containing the names of persons +who were suspected of holding or of favouring the religion; that, in +consequence of these informations, many had been apprehended, of whom +some boldly avowed their profession, and died in the cause; others +denied that they were Christians; others, acknowledging that they had +once been Christians, declared that they had long ceased to be such." +All which demonstrates that the profession of Christianity was at that +time (in that country at least) attended with fear and danger: and yet +this took place without any edict from the Roman sovereign, commanding +or authorizing the persecution of Christians. This observation is +further confirmed by a rescript of Adrian to Minucius Fundanus, the +proconsul of Asia (Lard. Heath. Test. vol. ii. p. 110): from which +rescript it appears that the custom of the people of Asia was to proceed +against the Christians with tumult and uproar. This disorderly practice, +I say, is recognised in the edict, because the emperor enjoins, that, +for the future, if the Christians were guilty, they should be legally +brought to trial, and not be pursued by importunity and clamour. + +Martial wrote a few years before the younger Pliny: and, as his manner +was, made the suffering of the Christians the subject of his ridicule. + +In matutina nuper spectatus arena +Mucius, imposuit qui sua membra focis, +Si patiens fortisque tibi durusque videtur, +Abderitanae pectora plebis habes; +Nam cum dicatur, tunica praesente molesta, +Ure* manum: plus est dicere, Non facio. + +*Forsan "thure manum." + +Nothing, however, could show the notoriety of the fact with more +certainty than this does. Martial's testimony, as well indeed as +Pliny's, goes also to another point, viz, that the deaths of these men +were martyrdom in the strictest sense, that is to say, were so +voluntary, that it was in their power, at the time of pronouncing the +sentence, to have averted the execution, by consenting to join in +heathen sacrifices. + +The constancy, and by consequence the sufferings, of the Christians of +this period, is also referred to by Epictetus, who imputes their +intrepidity to madness, or to a kind of fashion or habit; and about +fifty years afterwards, by Marcus Aurelius, who ascribes it to +obstinacy. "Is it possible (Epictetus asks) that a man may arrive at +this temper, and become indifferent to those things from madness or from +habit, as the Galileans?" "Let this preparation of the mind (to die) +arise from its own judgment, and not from obstinacy like the +Christians." (Epict. I. iv. C. 7.) (Marc. Aur. Med. 1. xi. c. 3.) + + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +There is satisfactory evidence that many, professing to be original +witnesses of the Christian miracles, passed there lives in labours, +dangers, and sufferings, voluntarily undergone in attestation of the +accounts which they delivered, and solely in consequence of their belief +of those accounts; and that they also submitted, from the same motives, +to new rules of conduct. + +Of the primitive condition of Christianity, a distant only and general +view can be acquired from heathen writers. It is in our own books that +the detail and interior of the transaction must be sought for. And this +is nothing different from what might be expected. Who would write a +history of Christianity, but a Christian? Who was likely to record the +travels, sufferings, labours, or successes of the apostles, but one of +their own number, or of their followers? Now these books come up in +their accounts to the full extent of the proposition which we maintain. +We have four histories of Jesus Christ. We have a history taking up the +narrative from his death, and carrying on an account of the propagation +of the religion, and of some of the most eminent persons engaged in it, +for a space of nearly thirty years. We have, what some may think still +more original, a collection of letters, written by certain principal +agents in the business upon the business, and in the midst of their +concern and connection with it. And we have these writings severally +attesting the point which we contend for, viz. the sufferings of the +witnesses of the history, and attesting it in every variety of form in +which it can be conceived to appear: directly and indirectly, expressly +and incidentally, by assertion, recital, and allusion, by narratives of +facts, and by arguments and discourses built upon these facts, either +referring to them, or necessarily presupposing them. + +I remark this variety, because, in examining ancient records, or indeed +any species of testimony, it is, in my opinion, of the greatest +importance to attend to the information or grounds of argument which are +casually and undesignedly disclosed; forasmuch as this species of proof +is, of all others, the least liable to be corrupted by fraud or +misrepresentation. + +I may be allowed therefore, in the inquiry which is now before us, to +suggest some conclusions of this sort, as preparatory to more direct +testimony. + +1. Our books relate, that Jesus Christ, the founder of the religion, +was, in consequence of his undertaking, put to death, as a malefactor, +at Jerusalem. This point at least will be granted, because it is no more +than what Tacitus has recorded. They then proceed to tell us that the +religion was, notwithstanding, set forth at this same city of Jerusalem, +propagated thence throughout Judea, and afterwards preached in other +parts of the Roman Empire. These points also are fully confirmed by +Tacitus, who informs us that the religion, after a short check, broke +out again in the country where it took its rise; that it not only spread +throughout Judea, but had reached Rome, and that it had there great +multitudes of converts: and all this within thirty years after its +commencement. Now these facts afford a strong inference in behalf of the +proposition which we maintain. What could the disciples of Christ expect +for themselves when they saw their master put to death? Could they hope +to escape the dangers in which he had perished? If they had persecuted +me, they will also persecute you, was the warning of common sense. With +this example before their eyes, they could not be without a full sense +of the peril of their future enterprise. + + +2. Secondly, all the histories agree in representing Christ as +foretelling the persecution of his followers:-- +"Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you, and +ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake." (Matt. xxiv. 9.) + +"When affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately +they are offended." (Mark iv. 17. See also chap. x. 30.) + +"They shall lay hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to +the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers +for my name's sake:--and ye shall be betrayed both by parents and +brethren, and kinsfolks and friends, and some of you shall they cause to +be put to death." (Luke xxi. 12--16. See also chap. xi. 49.) + +"The time cometh, that he that killed you will think that he doeth God +service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not +known the Father, nor me. But these things have I told you, that when +the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them." (John +xvi. 4. See also chap. xv. 20; xvi. 33.) + +I am not entitled to argue from these passages, that Christ actually did +foretell these events, and that they did accordingly come to pass; +because that would be at once to assume the truth of the religion: but I +am entitled to contend that one side or other of the following +disjunction is true; either that the Evangelists have delivered what +Christ really spoke, and that the event corresponded with the +prediction; or that they put the prediction into Christ's mouth, because +at the time of writing the history, the event had turned out so to be: +for, the only two remaining suppositions appear in the highest degree +incredible; which are, either that Christ filled the minds of his +followers with fears and apprehensions, without any reason or authority +for what he said, and contrary to the truth of the case; or that, +although Christ had never foretold any such thing, and the event would +have contradicted him if he had, yet historians who lived in the age +when the event was known, falsely, as well as officiously, ascribed +these words to him. + +3. Thirdly, these books abound with exhortations to patience, and with +topics of comfort under distress. + +"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or +distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? +Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that +loved us." (Rom. viii. 35-37.) + +"We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, +but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not +destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, +that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body;--knowing +that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise us up also by Jesus, +and shall present us with you---For which cause we faint not; but, though +our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For +our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far +more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." (2 Cor. iv. 8, 9, 10, 14, 16, +17.) + +"Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the +Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. Behold, +we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, +and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of +tender mercy." (James v. 10, 11.) + +"Call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were +illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions partly whilst ye +were made a gazing-stock both by reproaches and afflictions, and partly +whilst ye became companions of them that were so used; for ye had +compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your +goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an +enduring substance. Cast not away, therefore, your confidence, which +hath great recompense of reward; for ye have need of patience, that, +after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise." (Heb. +x. 32-36.) + +"So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God, for your +patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye +endure. Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that +ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom for which ye also suffer." (2 +Thess. i. 4, 5.) + +"We rejoice in hope of the glory of God; and not only so, but we glory +in tribulations also; knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and +patience experience, and experience hope." (Rom. v. 3, 4.) + +"Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to +try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you; but rejoice, +inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings.--Wherefore let them +that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their +souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator." (1 Pet. iv. 12, +13, 19.) + +What could all these texts mean, if there was nothing in the +circumstances of the times which required patience,--which called for +the exercise of constancy and resolution? Or will it be pretended, that +these exhortations (which, let it be observed, come not from one author, +but from many) were put in merely to induce a belief in after-ages, that +the Christians were exposed to dangers which they were not exposed to, +or underwent sufferings which they did not undergo? If these books +belong to the age to which they lay claim, and in which age, whether +genuine or spurious, they certainly did appear, this supposition cannot +be maintained for a moment; because I think it impossible to believe +that passages, which must be deemed not only unintelligible, but false, +by the persons into whose hands the books upon their publication were to +come, should nevertheless be inserted, for the purpose of producing an +effect upon remote generations. In forgeries which do not appear till +many ages after that to which they pretend to belong, it is possible +that some contrivance of that sort may take place; but in no others can +it be attempted. + + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +There is satisfactory evidence that many professing to be original +witnesses of the Christian miracles, passed their lives in labours, +dangers, and sufferings, voluntarily undergone in attestation of the +accounts which they delivered, and solely in consequence of their belief +of those accounts; and that they also submitted, from the same motives, +to new rules of conduct. + +The account of the treatment of the religion, and of the exertions of +its first preachers, as stated in our Scriptures (not in a professed +history of persecutions, or in the connected manner in which I am about +to recite it, but dispersedly and occasionally, in the course of a mixed +general history, which circumstance, alone negatives the supposition of +any fraudulent design), is the following: "That the Founder of +Christianity, from the commencement of his ministry to the time of his +violent death, employed himself wholly in publishing the institution in +Judea and Galilee; that, in order to assist him in this purpose, he made +choice, out of the number of his followers, of twelve persons, who might +accompany him as he travelled from place to place; that, except a short +absence upon a journey in which he sent them two by two to announce his +mission, and one of a few days, when they went before him to Jerusalem, +these persons were steadily and constantly attending upon him; that they +were with him at Jerusalem when he was apprehended and put to death; and +that they were commissioned by him, when his own ministry was concluded, +to publish his Gospel, and collect disciples to it from all countries of +the world." The account then proceeds to state, "that a few days after +his departure, these persons, with some of his relations, and some who +had regularly frequented their society, assembled at Jerusalem; that, +considering the office of preaching the religion as now devolved upon +them, and one of their number having deserted the cause, and, repenting +of his perfidy, having destroyed himself, they proceeded to elect +another into his place, and that they were careful to make their +election out of the number of those who had accompanied their master +from the first to the last, in order, as they alleged, that he might be +a witness, together with themselves, of the principal facts which they +were about to produce and relate concerning him; ( Acts i. 12, 22.) that +they began their work at Jerusalem by publicly asserting that this +Jesus, whom the rulers and inhabitants of that place had so lately +crucified, was, in truth, the person in whom all their prophecies and +long expectations terminated; that he had been sent amongst them by God; +and that he was appointed by God the future judge of the human species; +that all who were solicitous to secure to themselves happiness after +death, ought to receive him as such, and to make profession of their +belief, by being baptised in his name." (Acts xi.) + +The history goes on to relate, "that considerable numbers accepted this +proposal, and that they who did so formed amongst themselves a strict +union and society; (Acts iv. 32.) that the attention of the Jewish +government being soon drawn upon them, two of the principal persons of +the twelve, and who also had lived most intimately and constantly with +the Founder of the religion, were seized as they were discoursing to the +people in the temple; that after being kept all night in prison, they +were brought the next day before an assembly composed of the chief +persons of the Jewish magistracy and priesthood; that this assembly, +after some consultation, found nothing, at that time, better to be done +towards suppressing the growth of the sect, than to threaten their +prisoners with punishment if they persisted; that these men, after +expressing, in decent but firm language, the obligation under which they +considered themselves to be, to declare what they knew, 'to speak the +things which they had seen and heard,' returned from the council, and +reported what had passed to their companions; that this report, whilst +it apprized them of the danger of their situation and undertaking, had +no other effect upon their conduct than to produce in them a general +resolution to persevere, and an earnest prayer to God to furnish them +with assistance, and to inspire them with fortitude, proportioned to the +increasing exigency of the service." ( Acts iv.) A very short time after +this, we read "that all the twelve apostles were seized and cast into +prison; ( Acts v. 18.) that, being brought a second time before the +Jewish Sanhedrim, they were upbraided with their disobedience to the +injunction which had been laid upon them, and beaten for their +contumacy; that, being charged once more to desist, they were suffered +to depart; that however they neither quitted Jerusalem, nor ceased from +preaching, both daily in the temple, and from house to house (Acts v. +42.) and that the twelve considered themselves as so entirely and +exclusively devoted to this office, that they now transferred what may +be called the temporal affairs of the society to other hands."* + +_________ + +* I do not know that it has ever been insinuated that the Christian +mission, in the hands of the apostles, was a scheme for making a +fortune, or for getting money. But it may nevertheless be fit to remark +upon this passage of their history, how perfectly free they appear to +have been from any pecuniary or interested views whatever. The most +tempting opportunity which occurred of making gain of their converts, +was by the custody and management of the public funds, when some of the +richer members, intending to contribute their fortunes to the common +support of the society, sold their possessions, and laid down the prices +at the apostles' feet. Yet, so insensible or undesirous were they of the +advantage which that confidence afforded, that we find they very soon +disposed of the trust, by putting it into the hands, not of nominees of +their own, but of stewards formally elected for the purpose by the +society at large. + +We may add also, that this excess of generosity, which cast private +property into the public stock, was so far from being required by the +apostles, or imposed as a law of Christianity, that Peter reminds +Ananias that he had been guilty, in his behaviour, of an officious and +voluntary prevarication; "for whilst," says he, "thy estate remained +unsold, was it not thine own? And after it was sold, was it not in thine +own power?" +_________ + + +Hitherto the preachers of the new religion seem to have had the common +people on their side; which is assigned as the reason why the Jewish +rulers did not, at this time, think it prudent to proceed to greater +extremities. It was not long, however, before the enemies of the +institution found means to represent it to the people as tending to +subvert their law, degrade their lawgiver, and dishonour their +temple. (Acts vi. 12.) And these insinuations were dispersed with so much +success as to induce the people to join with their superiors in the +stoning of a very active member of the new community. + +The death of this man was the signal of a general persecution, the +activity of which may be judged of from one anecdote of the time:--"As +for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and +taking men and women committed them to prison." (Acts viii. 3.) This +persecution raged at Jerusalem with so much fury as to drive most of the +new converts out of the place,* except the twelve apostles. The converts +thus "scattered abroad," preached the religion wherever they came; and +their preaching was, in effect, the preaching of the twelve; for it was +so far carried on in concert and correspondence with them, that when +they heard of the success of their emissaries in a particular country, +they sent two of their number to the place, to complete and confirm the +mission. + +_________ + +*Acts viii. I. "And they were all scattered abroad;" but the term "all" +is not, I think, to be taken strictly as denoting more than the +generality; in like manner as in Acts ix. 35: "And all that dwelt at +Lydda and Saron saw him, and turned to the Lord." +_________ + + +An event now took place, of great importance in the future history of +the religion. The persecution which had begun at Jerusalem followed the +Christians to other cities, ( Acts ix.) in which the authority of the +Jewish Sanhedrim over those of their own nation was allowed to be +exercised. A young man, who had signalized himself by his hostility to +the profession, and had procured a commission from the council at +Jerusalem to seize any converted Jews whom he might find at Damascus, +suddenly became a proselyte to the religion which he was going about to +extirpate. The new convert not only shared, on this extraordinary +change, the fate of his companions, but brought upon himself a double +measure of enmity from the party which he had left. The Jews at +Damascus, on his return to that city, watched the gates night and day, +with so much diligence, that he escaped from their hands only by being +let down in a basket by the wall. Nor did he find himself in greater +safety at Jerusalem, whither he immediately repaired. Attempts were +there also soon set on foot to destroy him; from the danger of which he +was preserved by being sent away to Cilicia, his native country. + +For some reason not mentioned, perhaps not known, but probably connected +with the civil history of the Jews, or with some danger* which engrossed +the public attention, an intermission about this time took place in the +sufferings of the Christians. This happened, at the most, only seven or +eight, perhaps only three or four years after Christ's death, within +which period, and notwithstanding that the late persecution occupied +part of it, churches, or societies of believers, had been formed in all +Judea, Galilee, and Samaria; for we read that the churches in these +countries "had now rest and were edified, and, walking in the fear of +the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied." (Acts +ix 31.) The original preachers of the religion did not remit their +labours or activity during this season of quietness; for we find one, +and he a very principal person among them, passing throughout all +quarters. We find also those who had been before expelled from Jerusalem +by the persecution which raged there, travelling as far as Poenice, +Cyprus, and Antioch; (Acts xi. 19.) and lastly, we find Jerusalem again +in the centre of the mission, the place whither the preachers returned +from their several excursions, where they reported the conduct and +effects of their ministry, where questions of public concern were +canvassed and settled, whence directions were sought, and teachers sent +forth. + +_________ + +* Dr. Lardner (in which he is followed also by Dr. Benson) ascribes the +cessation of the persecution of the Christians to the attempt of +Caligula to set up his own statue in the temple of Jerusalem, and to the +consternation thereby excited in the minds of the Jewish people; which +consternation for a season superseded every other contest. +_________ + + +The time of this tranquillity did not, however, continue long. Herod +Agrippa, who had lately acceded to the government of Judea, "stretched +forth his hand to vex certain of the church." (Acts xii. 1.) He began +his cruelty by beheading one of the twelve original apostles, a kinsman +and constant companion of the Founder of the religion. Perceiving that +this execution gratified the Jews, he proceeded to seize, in order to +put to death, another of the number,--and him, like the former, +associated with Christ during his life, and eminently active in the +service since his death. This man was, however, delivered from prison, +as the account states miraculously, (Acts xii. 3--17.) and made his +escape from Jerusalem. + +These things are related, not in the general terms under which, in +giving the outlines of the history, we have here mentioned them, but +with the utmost particularity of names, persons, places, and +circumstances; and, what is deserving of notice, without the smallest +discoverable propensity in the historian, to magnify the fortitude, or +exaggerate the sufferings, of his party. When they fled for their lives, +he tells us. When the churches had rest, he remarks it. When the people +took their part, he does not leave it without notice. When the apostles +were carried a second time before the Sanhedrim, he is careful to +observe that they were brought without violence. When milder counsels +were suggested, he gives us the author of the advice and the speech +which contained it. When, in consequence of this advice, the rulers +contented themselves with threatening the apostles, and commanding them +to be beaten with stripes, without urging at that time the persecution +further, the historian candidly and distinctly records their +forbearance. When, therefore, in other instances, he states heavier +persecutions, or actual martyrdoms, it is reasonable to believe that he +states them because they were true, and not from any wish to aggravate, +in his account, the sufferings which Christians sustained, or to extol, +more than it deserved, their patience under them. + +Our history now pursues a narrower path. Leaving the rest of the +apostles, and the original associates of Christ, engaged in the +propagation of the new faith, (and who there is not the least reason to +believe abated in their diligence or courage,) the narrative proceeds +with the separate memoirs of that eminent teacher, whose extraordinary +and sudden conversion to the religion, and corresponding change of +conduct, had before been circumstantially described. This person, in +conjunction with another, who appeared among the earlier members of +the society at Jerusalem, and amongst the immediate adherents of the +twelve apostles, (Acts iv. 36.) set out from Antioch upon the express +business of carrying the new religion through the various provinces of +the Lesser Asia. (Acts xiii. 2.) During this expedition, we find that in +almost every place to which they came, their persons were insulted, and +their lives endangered. After being expelled from Antioch in Pisidia, +they repaired to Iconium. (Acts xiii. 51.) At Iconium, an attempt was +made to stone them; at Lystra, whither they fled from Iconium, one of +them actually was stoned and drawn out of the city for dead. (Acts xiv. +19.) These two men, though not themselves original apostles, were acting +in connection and conjunction with the original apostles; for, after the +completion of their journey, being sent on a particular commission to +Jerusalem, they there related to the apostles (Acts xv. 12--26.) and +elders the events and success of their ministry, and were in return +recommended by them to the churches, "as men who had hazarded their +lives in the cause." + +The treatment which they had experienced in the first progress did not +deter them from preparing for a second. Upon a dispute, however, arising +between them, but not connected with the common subject of their +labours, they acted as wise and sincere men would act; they did not +retire in disgust from the service in which they were engaged, but, each +devoting his endeavours to the advancement of the religion, they parted +from one another, and set forward upon separate routes. The history goes +along with one of them; and the second enterprise to him was attended +with the same dangers and persecutions as both had met with in the +first. The apostle's travels hitherto had been confined to Asia. He now +crosses for the first time the Aegean sea, and carries with him, amongst +others, the person whose accounts supply the information we are +stating. (Acts xvi. 11.) The first place in Greece at which he appears to +have stopped, was Philippi in Macedonia. Here himself and one of his +companions were cruelly whipped, cast into prison, and kept there under +the most rigorous custody, being thrust, whilst yet smarting with their +wounds, into the inner dungeon, and their feet made fast in the +stocks. (Acts xvi. 23, 24, 33.) Notwithstanding this unequivocal specimen +of the usage which they had to look for in that country, they went +forward in the execution of their errand. After passing through +Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica; in which city the +house in which they lodged was assailed by a party of their enemies, in +order to bring them out to the populace. And when, fortunately for their +preservation, they were not found at home, the master of the house was +dragged before the magistrate for admitting them within his doors. (Acts +xvii. 1--5.) Their reception at the next city was something better: but +neither had they continued long before their turbulent adversaries the +Jews, excited against them such commotions amongst the inhabitants as +obliged the apostle to make his escape by a private journey to +Athens. (Acts xvii. 13.) The extremity of the progress was Corinth. His +abode in this city, for some time, seems to have been without +molestation. At length, however, the Jews found means to stir up an +insurrection against him, and to bring him before the tribunal of the +Roman president. (Acts xviii. 12.) It was to the contempt which that +magistrate entertained for the Jews and their controversies, of which he +accounted Christianity to be one, that our apostle owed his +deliverance. (Acts xviii. 15.) + +This indefatigable teacher, after leaving Corinth, returned by Ephesus +into Syria; and again visited Jerusalem, and the society of Christians +in that city, which, as hath been repeatedly observed, still continued +the centre of the mission. (Acts xviii. 22.) It suited not, however, with +the activity of his zeal to remain long at Jerusalem. We find him going +thence to Antioch, and, after some stay there, traversing once more the +northern provinces of Asia Minor. (Acts xviii. 23.) This progress ended +at Ephesus: in which city, the apostle continued in the daily exercise +of his ministry two years, and until his success, at length, excited the +apprehensions of those who were interested in the support of the +national worship. Their clamour produced a tumult, in which he had +nearly lost his life. (Acts xix. 1, 9, 10.) Undismayed, however, by the +dangers to which he saw himself exposed, he was driven from Ephesus only +to renew his labours in Greece. After passing over Macedonia, he thence +proceeded to his former station at Corinth. (Acts xx. 1, 2.) When he had +formed his design of returning by a direct course from Corinth into +Syria, he was compelled by a conspiracy of the Jews, who were prepared +to intercept him on his way, to trace back his steps through Macedonia +to Philippi, and thence to take shipping into Asia. Along the coast of +Asia, he pursued his voyage with all the expedition he could command, in +order to reach Jerusalem against the feast of Pentecost. (Acts xx. 16.) +His reception at Jerusalem was of a piece with the usage he had +experienced from the Jews in other places. He had been only a few days +in that city, when the populace, instigated by some of his old opponents +in Asia, who attended this feast, seized him in the temple, forced him +out of it, and were ready immediately to have destroyed him, had not the +sudden presence of the Roman guard rescued him out of their hands. (Acts +xxi. 27--33.) The officer, however, who had thus seasonably interposed, +acted from his care of the public peace, with the preservation of which +he was charged, and not from any favour to the apostle, or indeed any +disposition to exercise either justice or humanity towards him; for he +had no sooner secured his person in the fortress, than he was proceeding +to examine him by torture. (Acts xxii 24.) + +From this time to the conclusion of the history, the apostle remains in +public custody of the Roman government. After escaping assassination by +a fortunate discovery of the plot, and delivering himself from the +influence of his enemies by an appeal to the audience of the +emperor, (Acts xxv. 9, 11.) he was sent, but not until he had suffered +two years' imprisonment, to Rome. (Acts xxiv. 27.) He reached Italy after +a tedious voyage, and after encountering in his passage the perils of a +desperate shipwreck. (Acts xxvii.) But although still a prisoner, and his +fate still depending, neither the various and long-continued sufferings +which he had undergone, nor the danger of his present situation, +deterred him from persisting in preaching the religion: for the +historian closes the account by telling us that, for two years, he +received all that came unto him in his own hired house, where he was +permitted to dwell with a soldier that guarded him, "preaching the +kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus +Christ, with all confidence." + +Now the historian, from whom we have drawn this account, in the part of +his narrative which relates to Saint Paul, is supported by the strongest +corroborating testimony that a history can receive. We are in possession +of letters written by Saint Paul himself upon the subject of his +ministry, and either written during the period which the history +comprises, or, if written afterwards, reciting and referring to the +transactions of that period. These letters, without borrowing from the +history, or the history from them, unintentionally confirm the account +which the history delivers, in a great variety of particulars. What +belongs to our present purpose is the description exhibited of the +apostle's sufferings: and the representation, given in our history, of +the dangers and distresses which he underwent not only agrees in general +with the language which he himself uses whenever he speaks of his life +or ministry, but is also, in many instances, attested by a specific +correspondency of time, place, and order of events. If the historian put +down in his narrative, that at Philippi the apostle "was beaten with +many stripes, cast into prison, and there treated with rigour and +indignity;" (Acts xvi. 23, 24.) we find him, in a letter to a +neighbouring church, (I Thess. ii. 2.) reminding his converts that, +"after he had suffered before, and was shamefully entreated at Philippi, +he was bold, nevertheless, to speak unto them (to whose city he next +came) the Gospel of God." If the history relates that, (Acts xvii. 5.) +at Thessalonica, the house in which the apostle was lodged, when he +first came to that place, was assaulted by the populace, and the master +of it dragged before the magistrate for admitting such a guest within +his doors; the apostle, in his letter to the Christians of Thessalonica, +calls to their remembrance "how they had received the Gospel in much +affliction." (1 Thess. i. 6.) If the history deliver an account of an +insurrection at Ephesus, which had nearly cost the apostle his life, we +have the apostle himself, in a letter written a short time after his +departure from that city, describing his despair, and returning thanks +for his deliverance. (Acts xix. 2 Cor. i. 8--10.) If the history inform +us, that the apostle was expelled from Antioch in Pisidia, attempted to +be stoned at Iconium, and actually stoned at Lystra; there is preserved +a letter from him to a favourite convert, whom, as the same history +tells us, he first met with in these parts; in which letter he appeals +to that disciple's knowledge "of the persecutions which befell him at +Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra." (Acts xiii. 50; xiv. 5, 19. 2 Tim. 10, +11.) If the history make the apostle, in his speech to the Ephesian +elders, remind them, as one proof of the disinterestedness of his views, +that, to their knowledge, he had supplied his own and the necessities of +his companions by personal labour; (Acts xx. 34.) we find the same +apostle, in a letter written during his residence at Ephesus, asserting +of himself, "that even to that hour he laboured, working with his own +hands." (1 Cor. iv 11, 12.) + +These coincidences, together with many relative to other parts of the +apostle's history, and all drawn from independent sources, not only +confirm the truth of the account, in the particular points as to which +they are observed, but add much to the credit of the narrative in all +its parts; and support the author's profession of being a contemporary +of the person whose history he writes, and, throughout a material +portion of his narrative, a companion. + +What the epistles of the apostles declare of the suffering state of +Christianity the writings which remain of their companions and immediate +followers expressly confirm. + +Clement, who is honourably mentioned by Saint Paul in his epistle to the +Philippians, (Philipp. iv. 3.) hath left us his attestation to this +point, in the following words: "Let us take (says he) the examples of +our own age. Through zeal and envy, the most faithful and righteous +pillars of the church have been persecuted even to the most grievous +deaths. Let us set before our eyes the holy apostles. Peter, by unjust +envy, underwent not one or two, but many sufferings; till at last, being +martyred, he went to the place of glory that was due unto him. For the +same cause did Paul, in like manner, receive the reward of his patience. +Seven times he was in bonds; he was whipped, was stoned; he preached +both in the East and in the West, leaving behind him the glorious report +of his faith; and so having taught the whole world righteousness, and +for that end travelled even unto the utmost bounds of the West, he at +last suffered martyrdom by the command of the governors, and departed +out of the world, and went unto his holy place, being become a most +eminent pattern of patience unto all ages. To these holy apostles were +joined a very great number of others, who, having through envy +undergone, in like manner, many pains and torments, have left a glorious +example to us. For this, not only men, but women, have been persecuted; +and, having suffered very grievous and cruel punishments, have finished +the course of their faith with firmness." (Clem. ad Cor. c. v. vi. Abp. +Wake's Trans.) + +Hermas, saluted by Saint Paul in his epistle to the Romans, in a piece +very little connected with historical recitals, thus speaks: "Such as +have believed and suffered death for the name of Christ, and have +endured with a ready mind, and have given up their lives with all their +hearts." (Shepherd of Hermas, c. xxviii.) + +Polycarp, the disciple of John (though all that remains of his works be +a very short epistle), has not left this subject unnoticed. "I exhort +(says he) all of you, that ye obey the word of righteousness, and +exercise all patience, which ye have seen set forth before your eyes, +not only in the blessed Ignatius, and Lorimus, and Rufus, but in others +among yourselves, and in Paul himself and the rest of the apostles; +being confident in this, that all these have not run in vain, but in +faith and righteousness; and are gone to the place that was due to them +from the Lord, with whom also they suffered. For they loved not this +present world, but him who died, and was raised again by God for us." +(Pol. ad Phil c. ix.) + +Ignatius, the contemporary of Polycarp, recognises the same topic, +briefly indeed, but positively and precisely. "For this cause, (i. e. +having felt and handled Christ's body at his resurrection, and being +convinced, as Ignatius expresses it, both by his flesh and spirit,) they +(i. e. Peter, and those who were present with Peter at Christ's +appearance) despised death, and were found to be above it." (19. Ep. +Smyr. c. iii.) + +Would the reader know what a persecution in those days was, I would +refer him to a circular letter, written by the church of Smyrna soon +after the death of Polycarp, who it will be remembered, had lived with +Saint John; and which letter is entitled a relation of that bishop's +martyrdom. "The sufferings (say they) of all the other martyrs were +blessed and generous, which they underwent according to the will of God. +For so it becomes us, who are more religious than others, to ascribe +the power and ordering of all things unto Him. And, indeed, who can +choose but admire the greatness of their minds, and that admirable +patience and love of their Master, which then appeared in them? Who, +when they were so flayed with whipping that the frame and structure of +their bodies were laid open to their very inward veins and arteries, +nevertheless endured it. In like manner, those who were condemned to the +beasts, and kept a long time in prison, underwent many cruel torments, +being forced to lie upon sharp spikes laid under their bodies, and +tormented with divers other sorts of punishments; that so, if it were +possible, the tyrant, by the length of their sufferings, might have +brought them to deny Christ." (Rel. Mor. Pol. c. ii.) + + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +There is satisfactory evidence that many, professing to be original +witnesses of the Christian miracles, passed their lives in labours, +dangers, and sufferings, voluntarily undergone in attestation of the +accounts which they delivered, and solely in consequence of their belief +of those accounts; and that they also submitted, from the same motives, +to new rules of conduct. + +On the history, of which the last chapter contains an abstract, there +are a few observations which it may be proper to make, by way of +applying its testimony to the particular propositions for which we +contend. + +I. Although our Scripture history leaves the general account of the +apostles in an early part of the narrative, and proceeds with the +separate account of one particular apostle, yet the information which +it delivers so far extends to the rest, as it shows the nature of the +service. When we see one apostle suffering persecution in the discharge +of this commission, we shall not believe, without evidence, that the +same office could, at the same time, be attended with ease and safety to +others. And this fair and reasonable inference is confirmed by the +direct attestation of the letters, to which we have so often referred. +The writer of these letters not only alludes, in numerous passages, to +his own sufferings, but speaks of the rest of the apostles as enduring +like sufferings with himself. "I think that God hath set forth us the +apostles last, as it were, appointed to death; for we are made a +spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men; even unto this +present hour, we both hunger and thirst, and are naked, and are +buffeted, and have no certain dwelling-place; and labour, working with +our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it; +being defamed, we entreat: we are made as the filth of the earth, and as +the offscouring of all things unto this day." (I Cor. iv. 9, et seq.) +Add to which, that in the short account that is given of the other +apostles in the former part of the history, and within the short period +which that account comprises, we find, first, two of them seized, +imprisoned, brought before the Sanhedrim, and threatened with further +punishment; (Acts iv. 3, 21.) then, the whole number imprisoned and +beaten; (Acts v. 18, 40.) soon afterwards, one of their adherents stoned +to death, and so hot a persecution raised against the sect as to drive +most of them out of the place; a short time only succeeding, before one +of the twelve was beheaded, and another sentenced to the same fate; and +all this passing in the single city of Jerusalem, and within ten years +after the Founder's death, and the commencement of the institution. + +II. We take no credit at present for the miraculous part of the +narrative, nor do we insist upon the correctness of single passages of +it. If the whole story be not a novel, a romance; the whole action a +dream; if Peter, and James, and Paul, and the rest of the apostles +mentioned in the account, be not all imaginary persons; if their letters +be not all forgeries, and, what is more, forgeries of names and +characters which never existed; then is there evidence in our hands +sufficient to support the only fact we contend for (and which, I repeat +again, is, in itself, highly probable), that the original followers of +Jesus Christ exerted great endeavours to propagate his religion, and +underwent great labours, dangers, and sufferings, in consequence of +their undertaking. + +III. The general reality of the apostolic history is strongly confirmed +by the consideration, that it, in truth, does no more than assign +adequate causes for effects which certainly were produced; and describe +consequences naturally resulting from situations which certainly +existed. The effects were certainly there, of which this history sets +forth the cause, and origin, and progress. It is acknowledged on all +hands, because it is recorded by other testimony than that of the +Christians themselves, that the religion began to prevail at that time, +and in that country. It is very difficult to conceive how it could +begin without the exertions of the Founder and his followers, in +propagating the new persuasion. The history now in our hands describes +these exertions, the persons employed, the means and endeavours made use +of, and the labours undertaken in the prosecution of this purpose. +Again, the treatment which the history represents the first propagators +of the religion to have experienced was no other than what naturally +resulted from the situation in which they were confessedly placed. It is +admitted that the religion was adverse, in great degree, to the reigning +opinions, and to the hopes and wishes of the nation to which it was +first introduced; and that it overthrew, so far as it was received, the +established theology and worship of every other country. We cannot feel +much reluctance in believing that when the messengers of such a system +went about not only publishing their opinions, but collecting +proselytes, and forming regular societies of proselytes, they should +meet with opposition in their attempts, or that this opposition should +sometimes proceed to fatal extremities. Our history details examples of +this opposition, and of the sufferings and dangers which the emissaries +of the religion underwent, perfectly agreeable to what might reasonably +be expected, from the nature of their undertaking, compared with the +character of the age and country in which it was carried on. + +IV. The records before us supply evidence of what formed another member +of our general proposition, and what, as hath already been observed, is +highly probable, and almost a necessary consequence of their new +profession, viz., that, together with activity and courage in +propagating the religion, the primitive followers of Jesus assumed, upon +their conversion, a new and peculiar course of private life. Immediately +after their Master was withdrawn from them, we hear of their "continuing +with one accord in prayer and supplication;" (Acts i. 14.) of their +"continuing daily with one accord in the temple" (Acts ii. 46.) Of "many +being gathered together praying." (Acts xii. 12.) We know that strict +instructions were laid upon the converts by their teachers. Wherever +they came, the first word of their preaching was, "Repent!" We know that +these injunctions obliged them to refrain from many species of +licentiousness, which were not, at that time, reputed criminal. We know +the rules of purity, and the maxims of benevolence, which Christians +read in their books; concerning which rules it is enough to observe, +that, if they were, I will not say completely obeyed, but in any degree +regarded, they could produce a system of conduct, and, what is more +difficult to preserve, a disposition of mind, and a regulation of +affections, different from anything to which they had hitherto been +accustomed, and different from what they would see in others. The change +and distinction of manners, which resulted from their new character, is +perpetually referred to in the letters of their teachers. "And you hath +he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in times +past ye walked, according to the course of this world, according to the +prince of the power of the air, the Spirit that now worketh in the +children of disobedience; among whom also we all had our conversation in +times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the +flesh, and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even +as others." (Eph. ii 1-3. See also Tit. iii. 3.)--"For the time past of +our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when +we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, +banquetings, and abominable idolatries; wherein they think it strange +that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot." (1 Pet. iv. 3, +4.) Saint Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians, after +enumerating, as his manner was, a catalogue of vicious characters, adds, +"Such were some of you; but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified." (1 +Cor. vi. 11.) In like manner, and alluding to the same change of +practices and sentiments, he asked the Roman Christians, "what fruit +they had in those things, whereof they are now ashamed?" (Rom. vi. 21.) +The phrases which the same writer employs to describe the moral +condition of Christians, compared with their condition before they +became Christians, such as "newness of life," being "freed from sin," +being "dead to sin;" "the destruction of the body of sin, that, for the +future, they should not serve sin;" "children of light and of the day," +as opposed to "children of darkness and of the night;" "not sleeping as +others;" imply, at least, a new system of obligation, and, probably, a +new series of conduct, commencing with their conversion. + +The testimony which Pliny bears to the behaviour of the new sect in his +time, and which testimony comes not more than fifty years after that of +St. Paul, is very applicable to the subject under consideration. The +character which this writer gives of the Christians of that age, and +which was drawn from a pretty accurate inquiry, because he considered +their moral principles as the point in which the magistrate was +interested, is as follows:--He tells the emperor, "that some of those +who had relinquished the society, or who, to save themselves, pretended +that they had relinquished it, affirmed that they were wont to meet +together on a stated day, before it was light, and sang among themselves +alternately a hymn to Christ as a God; and to bind themselves by an +oath, not to the commission of any wickedness, but that they would not +be guilty of theft, or robbery, or adultery; that they would never +falsify their word, or deny a pledge committed to them, when called upon +to return it." This proves that a morality, more pure and strict than +was ordinary, prevailed at that time in Christian societies. And to me +it appears, that we are authorised to carry his testimony back to the +age of the apostles; because it is not probable that the immediate +hearers and disciples of Christ were more relaxed than their successors +in Pliny's time, or the missionaries of the religion than those whom +they taught. + + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +There is satisfactory evidence that many professing to be original +witnesses of the Christian miracles, passed their lives in labours, +dangers, and sufferings, voluntarily undergone in attestation of the +accounts which they delivered, and solely in consequence of their belief +of those accounts; and that they also submitted, from the same motives, +to new rules of conduct. + +When we consider, first, the prevalency of the religion at this hour; +secondly, the only credible account which can be given of its origin, +viz. the activity of the Founder and his associates; thirdly, the +opposition which that activity must naturally have excited; fourthly, +the fate of the Founder of the religion, attested by heathen writers, +as well as our own; fifthly, the testimony of the same writers to the +sufferings of Christians, either contemporary with, or immediately +succeeding, the original settlers of the institution; sixthly, +predictions of the suffering of his followers ascribed to the Founder +of the religion, which ascription alone proves, either that such +predictions were delivered and fulfilled, or that the writers of +Christ's life were induced by the event to attribute such predictions +to him; seventhly, letters now in our possession, written by some +of the principal agents in the transaction, referring expressly to +extreme labours, dangers, and sufferings, sustained by themselves +and their companions; lastly, a history purporting to be written +by a fellow-traveller of one of the new teachers, and, by its +unsophisticated correspondency with letters of that person still extant, +proving itself to be written by some one well acquainted with the +subject of the narrative, which history contains accounts of travels, +persecutions, and martyrdoms, answering to what the former reasons lead +us to expect: when we lay together these considerations, which taken +separately are, I think correctly such as I have stated them in the +preceding chapters, there cannot much doubt remain upon our minds but +that a number of persons at that time appeared in the world, publicly +advancing an extraordinary story, and for the sake of propagating the +belief of that story, voluntarily incurring great personal dangers, +traversing seas and kingdoms, exerting great industry, and sustaining +great extremities of ill usage and persecution. It is also proved that +the same persons, in consequence of their persuasion, or pretended +persuasion, of the truth of what they asserted, entered upon a course of +life in many respects new and singular. + +From the clear and acknowledged parts of the case, I think it to be +likewise in the highest degree probable, that the story for which these +persons voluntarily exposed themselves to the fatigues and hardships +which they endured was a miraculous story; I mean, that they pretended +to miraculous evidence of some kind or other. They had nothing else to +stand upon. The designation of the person, that is to say, that Jesus of +Nazareth, rather than any other person, was the Messiah, and as such the +subject of their ministry, could only be founded upon supernatural +tokens attributed to him. Here were no victories, no conquests, no +revolutions, no surprising elevation of fortune, no achievements of +valour, of strength, or of policy, to appeal to; no discoveries in any +art or science, no great efforts of genius or learning to produce. A +Galilean peasant was announced to the world as a divine lawgiver. A +young man of mean condition, of a private and simple life, and who had +wrought no deliverance for the Jewish nation, was declared to be their +Messiah. This, without ascribing to him at the same time some proofs of +his mission, (and what other but supernatural proofs could there be?) +was too absurd a claim to be either imagined, or attempted, or credited. +In whatever degree, or in whatever part, the religion was argumentative, +when it came to the question, "Is the carpenter's son of Nazareth the +person whom we are to receive and obey?" there was nothing but the +miracles attributed to him by which his pretensions could be maintained +for a moment. Every controversy and every question must presuppose +these: for, however such controversies, when they did arise, might and +naturally would, be discussed upon their own grounds of argumentation, +without citing the miraculous evidence which had been asserted to attend +the Founder of the religion (which would have been to enter upon +another, and a more general question), yet we are to bear in mind, that +without previously supposing the existence or the pretence of such +evidence, there could have been no place for the discussion of the +argument at all. Thus, for example, whether the prophecies, which the +Jews interpreted to belong to the Messiah, were or were not applicable +to the history of Jesus of Nazareth, was a natural subject of debate in +those times; and the debate would proceed without recurring at every +turn to his miracles, because it set out with supposing these; inasmuch +as without miraculous marks and tokens (real or pretended), or without +some such great change effected by his means in the public condition of +the country, as might have satisfied the then received interpretation of +these prophecies, I do not see how the question could ever have been +entertained. Apollos, we read, "mightily convinced the Jews, showing by +the Scriptures that Jesus was Christ;" (Acts xviii. 28.) but unless +Jesus had exhibited some distinction of his person, some proof of +supernatural power, the argument from the old Scriptures could have had +no place. It had nothing to attach upon. A young man calling himself the +Son of God, gathering a crowd about him, and delivering to them lectures +of morality, could not have excited so much as a doubt among the Jews, +whether he was the object in whom a long series of ancient prophecies +terminated, from the completion of which they had formed such +magnificent expectations, and expectations of a nature so opposite to +what appeared; I mean no such doubt could exist when they had the whole +case before them, when they saw him put to death for his officiousness, +and when by his death the evidence concerning him was closed. Again, the +effect of the Messiah's coming, supposing Jesus to have been he, upon +Jews, upon Gentiles, upon their relation to each other, upon their +acceptance with God, upon their duties and their expectations; his +nature, authority, office, and agency; were likely to become subjects of +much consideration with the early votaries of the religion, and to +occupy their attention and writings. I should not however expect, that +in these disquisitions, whether preserved in the form of letters, +speeches, or set treatises, frequent or very direct mention of his +miracles would occur. Still, miraculous evidence lay at the bottom of +the argument. In the primary question, miraculous pretensions and +miraculous pretensions alone, were what they had to rely upon. + +That the original story was miraculous, is very fairly also inferred +from the miraculous powers which were laid claim to by the Christians of +succeeding ages. If the accounts of these miracles be true, it was a +continuation of the same powers; if they be false, it was an imitation, +I will not say of what had been wrought, but of what had been reported +to have been wrought, by those who preceded them. That imitation should +follow reality, fiction should be grafted upon truth; that, if miracles +were performed at first, miracles should be pretended afterwards; agrees +so well with the ordinary course of human affairs, that we can have no +great difficulty in believing it. The contrary supposition is very +improbable, namely, that miracles should be pretended to by the +followers of the apostles and first emissaries of the religion, when +none were pretended to, either in their own persons or that of their +Master, by these apostles and emissaries themselves. + + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +There is satisfactory evidence that many, professing to be original +witnesses of the Christian miracles, passed their lives in labours, +dangers, and sufferings, voluntarily undergone in attestation of the +accounts which they delivered, and solely in consequence of their belief +of those accounts; and that they also submitted, from the same motives, +to new rules of conduct. + +It being then once proved, that the first propagators of the Christian +institution did exert activity, and subject themselves to great dangers +and sufferings, in consequence and for the sake of an extraordinary and, +I think, we may say, of a miraculous story of some kind or other; the +next great question is, whether the account, which our Scriptures +contain, be that story; that which these men delivered, and for which +they acted and suffered as they did? This question is, in effect, no +other than whether the story which Christians have now be the story +which Christians had then? And of this the following proofs may be +deduced from general considerations, and from considerations prior to +any inquiry into the particular reasons and testimonies by which the +authority of our histories is supported. + +In the first place, there exists no trace or vestige of any other story. +It is not, like the death of Cyrus the Great, a competition between +opposite accounts, or between the credit of different historians. There +is not a document, or scrap of account, either contemporary with the +commencement of Christianity, or extant within many ages afar that +commencement, which assigns a history substantially different from ours. +The remote, brief, and incidental notices of the affair which are found +in heathen writers, so far as they do go, go along with us. They bear +testimony to these facts--that the institution originated from Jesus; +that the Founder was put to death, as a malefactor, at Jerusalem, by the +authority of the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate; that the religion +nevertheless spread in that city, and throughout Judea; and that it was +propagated thence to distant countries; that the converts were numerous; +that they suffered great hardships and injuries for their profession; +and that all this took place in the age of the world which our books +have assigned. They go on, further, to describe the manners of +Christians in terms perfectly conformable to the accounts extant in our +books; that they were wont to assemble on a certain day; that they sang +hymns to Christ as to a God; that they bound themselves by an oath not +to commit any crime, but to abstain from theft and adultery, to adhere +strictly to their promises, and not to deny money deposited in their +hands;* that they worshipped him who was crucified in Palestine; that +this their first lawgiver had taught them that they were all brethren; +that they had a great contempt for the things of this world, and looked +upon them as common; that they flew to one another's relief; that they +cherished strong hopes of immortality; that they despised death, and +surrendered themselves to sufferings.+ + +_________ + +* See Pliny's Letter--Bonnet, in his lively way of expressing himself, +says,--"Comparing Pliny's Letter with the account of the Acts, it seems +to me that I had not taken up another author, but that I was still +reading the historian of that extraordinary society." This is strong; +but there is undoubtedly an affinity, and all the affinity that could be +expected. + ++ "It is incredible, what expedition they use when any of their friends +are known to be in trouble. In a word, they spare nothing upon such an +occasion;--for these miserable men have no doubt they shall be immortal +and live for ever; therefore they contemn death, and many surrender +themselves to sufferings. Moreover, their first lawgiver has taught them +that they are all brethren, when once they have turned and renounced the +gods of the Greeks, and worship this Master of theirs who was crucified, +and engage to live according to his laws. They have also a sovereign +contempt for all the things of this world, and look upon them as +common." Lucian, de Morte Peregrini, t. i. p. 565, ed. Graev. +_________ + + +This is the account of writers who viewed the subject at a great +distance; who were uninformed and uninterested about it. It bears the +characters of such an account upon the face of it, because it describes +effects, namely the appearance in the world of a new religion, and the +conversion of great multitudes to it, without descending, in the +smallest degree, to the detail of the transaction upon which it was +founded, the interior of the institution, the evidence or arguments +offered by those who drew over others to it. Yet still here is no +contradiction of our story; no other or different story set up against +it: but so far a confirmation of it as that, in the general points on +which the heathen account touches, it agrees with that which we find in +our own books. + +The same may be observed of the very few Jewish writers of that and the +adjoining period, which have come down to us. Whatever they omit, or +whatever difficulties we may find in explaining the omission, they +advance no other history of the transaction than that which we +acknowledge. Josephus, who wrote his Antiquities, or History of the +Jews, about sixty years after the commencement of Christianity, in a +passage generally admitted as genuine, makes mention of John under the +name of John the Baptist; that he was a preacher of virtue; that he +baptized his proselytes; that he was well received by the people; that +he was imprisoned and put to death by Herod; and that Herod lived in a +criminal cohabitation with Herodias, his brother's wife. (Antiq. I. +xviii. cap. v. sect. 1, 2.) In another passage allowed by many, although +not without considerable question being moved about it, we hear of +"James, the brother of him who was called Jesus, and of his being put to +death." (Antiq. I. xx. cap. ix. sect. 1.) In a third passage, extant in +every copy that remains of Josephus's history, but the authenticity of +which has nevertheless been long disputed, we have an explicit testimony +to the substance of our history in these words:--"At that time lived +Jesus, a wise man, if he may be called a man, for he performed many +wonderful works. He was a teacher of such men as received the truth with +pleasure. He drew over to him many Jews and Gentiles. This was the +Christ; and when Pilate, at the instigation of the chief men among us +had condemned him to the cross, they who before had conceived an +affection for him did not cease to adhere to him; for, on the third day, +he appeared to them alive again, the divine prophets having foretold +these and many wonderful things concerning him. And the sect of the +Christians, so called from him, subsists to this time." (Antiq. I. +xviii. cap. iii. sect 3.) Whatever become of the controversy concerning +the genuineness of this passage; whether Josephus go the whole length of +our history, which, if the passage be sincere, he does; or whether he +proceed only a very little way with us, which, if the passage be +rejected, we confess to be the case; still what we asserted is true, +that he gives no other or different history of the subject from ours, no +other or different account of the origin of the institution. And I think +also that it may with great reason be contended, either that the passage +is genuine, or that the silence of Josephus was designed. For, although +we should lay aside the authority of our own books entirely, yet when +Tacitus, who wrote not twenty, perhaps not ten, years after Josephus, in +his account of a period in which Josephus was nearly thirty years of +age, tells us, that a vast multitude of Christians were condemned at +Rome; that they derived their denomination from Christ, who, in the +reign of Tiberius, was put to death, as a criminal, by the procurator, +Pontius Pilate; that the superstition had spread not only over Judea, +the source of the evil but it had reached Rome also:--when Suetonius, an +historian contemporary with Tacitus, relates that, in the time of +Claudius, the Jews were making disturbances at Rome, Christus being +their leader: and that, during the reign of Nero, the Christians were +punished; under both which emperors Josephus lived: when Pliny, who +wrote his celebrated epistle not more than thirty years after the +publication of Josephus's history, found the Christians in such numbers +in the province of Bithynia as to draw from him a complaint that the +contagion had seized cities, towns, and villages, and had so seized them +as to produce a general desertion of the public rites; and when, as has +already been observed, there is no reason for imagining that the +Christians were more numerous in Bithynia than in many other parts of +the Roman empire; it cannot, I should suppose, after this, be believed, +that the religion, and the transaction upon which it was founded, were +too obscure to engage the attention of Josephus, or to obtain a place in +his history. Perhaps he did not know how to represent the business, and +disposed of his difficulties by passing it over in silence. Eusebius +wrote the life of Constantine, yet omits entirely the most remarkable +circumstance in that life, the death of his son Crispus; undoubtedly for +the reason here given. The reserve of Josephus upon the subject of +Christianity appears also in his passing over the banishment of the Jews +by Claudius, which Suetonius, we have seen, has recorded with an express +reference to Christ. This is at least as remarkable as his silence about +the infants of Bethlehem.* Be, however, the fact, or the cause of the +omission in Josephus,+ what it may, no other or different history on the +subject has been given by him, or is pretended to have been given. + +_________ + +* Michaelis has computed, and, as it should seem, fairly enough; that +probably not more than twenty children perished by this cruel +precaution. Michaelis's Introduction to the New Testament, translated by +Marsh; vol. i. c. ii. sect. 11. + ++ There is no notice taken of Christianity in the Mishna, a collection +of Jewish traditions compiled about the year 180; although it contains a +Tract "De cultu peregrino," of strange or idolatrous worship; yet it +cannot be disputed but that Christianity was perfectly well known in the +world at this time. There is extremely little notice of the subject in +the Jerusalem Talmud, compiled about the year 300, and not much more in +the Babylonish Talmud, of the year 500; although both these works are of +a religions nature, and although, when the first was compiled, +Christianity was on the point of becoming the religion of the state, +and, when the latter was published, had been so for 200 years. +_________ + + +But further; the whole series of Christian writers, from the first age +of the institution down to the present, in their discussions, apologies, +arguments, and controversies, proceed upon the general story which our +Scriptures contain, and upon no other. The main facts, the principal +agents, are alike in all. This argument will appear to be of great +force, when it is known that we are able to trace back the series of +writers to a contact with the historical books of the New Testament, and +to the age of the first emissaries of the religion, and to deduce it, by +an unbroken continuation, from that end of the train to the present. + +The remaining letters of the apostles, (and what more original than +their letters can we have?) though written without the remotest design +of transmitting the history of Christ, or of Christianity, to future +ages, or even of making it known to their contemporaries, incidentally +disclose to us the following circumstances:--Christ's descent and +family; his innocence; the meekness and gentleness of his character (a +recognition which goes to the whole Gospel history); his exalted nature; +his circumcision; his transfiguration; his life of opposition and +suffering; his patience and resignation; the appointment of the +Eucharist, and the manner of it; his agony; his confession before +Pontius Pilate; his stripes, crucifixion, and burial; his resurrection; +his appearance after it, first to Peter, then to the rest of the +apostles; his ascension into heaven; and his designation to be the +future judge of mankind; the stated residence of the apostles at +Jerusalem; the working of miracles by the first preachers of the Gospel, +who were also the hearers of Christ;* the successful propagation of the +religion; the persecution of its followers; the miraculous conversion of +Paul; miracles wrought by himself, and alleged in his controversies with +his adversaries, and in letters to the persons amongst whom they were +wrought; finally, that MIRACLES were the signs of an apostle.+ + +_________ + +* Heb. ii. 3. "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation, +which, at the first, began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed +unto us by them that heard him, God also be bearing them witness, both +with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy +Ghost?" I allege this epistle without hesitation; for, whatever doubts +may have been raised about its author, there can be none concerning the +age in which it was written. No epistle in the collection carries about +it more indubitable marks of antiquity than this does. It speaks for +instance, throughout, of the temple as then standing and of the worship +of the temple as then subsisting.--Heb. viii. 4: "For, if he were on +earth, he should not be a priest, seeing there are priests that offer +according to the law."--Again, Heb. xiii. 10: "We have an altar whereof +they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle." + ++ Truly the signs of as apostle were wraught among you in all patience, +in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.' 2 Cor. xii. 12. +_________ + + +In an epistle bearing the name of Barnabas, the companion of Paul, +probably genuine, certainly belonging to that age, we have the +sufferings of Christ, his choice of apostles and their number, his +passion, the scarlet robe, the vinegar and gall, the mocking and +piercing, the casting lots for his coat, (Ep. Bar. c. vii.) his +resurrection on the eighth, (i. e. the first day of the week,[Ep. Bar. +c. vi.]) and the commemorative distinction of that day, his +manifestation after his resurrection, and, lastly, his ascension. We +have also his miracles generally but positively referred to in the +following words:--"Finally, teaching the people of Israel, and doing +many wonders and signs among them, he preached to them, and showed the +exceeding great love which he bare towards them." (Ep. Bar. c. v.) + +In an epistle of Clement, a hearer of St. Paul, although written for a +purpose remotely connected with the Christian history, we have the +resurrection of Christ, and the subsequent mission of the apostles, +recorded in these satisfactory terms: "The apostles have preached to us +from our Lord Jesus Christ from God:--For, having received their +command, and being thoroughly assured by the resurrection of our Lord +Jesus Christ, they went abroad, publishing that the kingdom of God was +at hand." (Ep. Clem. Rom. c. xlii.) We find noticed, also, the humility, +yet the power of Christ, (Ep. Clem. Rom. c. xvi.) his descent from +Abraham--his crucifixion. We have Peter and Paul represented as faithful +and righteous pillars of the church; the numerous sufferings of Peter; +the bonds, stripes, and stoning of Paul, and more particularly his +extensive and unwearied travels. + +In an epistle of Polycarp, a disciple of St. John, though only a brief +hortatory letter, we have the humility, patience, sufferings, +resurrection, and ascension of Christ, together with the apostolic +character of St. Paul, distinctly recognised. (Pol. Ep. Ad Phil. C. v. +viii. ii. iii.) Of this same father we are also assured, by Irenaeus, +that he (Irenaeus) had heard him relate, "what he had received from +eye-witnesses concerning the Lord, both concerning his miracles and his +doctrine." (Ir. ad Flor. 1 ap. Euseb. l. v. c. 20.) + +In the remaining works of Ignatius, the contemporary of Polycarp, larger +than those of Polycarp, (yet, like those of Polycarp, treating of +subjects in nowise leading to any recital of the Christian history,) the +occasional allusions are proportionably more numerous. The descent of +Christ from David, his mother Mary, his miraculous conception, the star +at his birth, his baptism by John, the reason assigned for it, his +appeal to the prophets, the ointment poured on his head, his sufferings +under Pontius Pilate and Herod the tetrarch, his resurrection, the +Lord's day called and kept in commemoration of it, and the Eucharist, in +both its Parts,--are unequivocally referred to. Upon the resurrection, +this writer is even circumstantial. He mentions the apostles' eating and +drinking with Christ after he had risen, their feeling and their +handling him; from which last circumstance Ignatius raises this just +reflection;--"They believed, being convinced both by his flesh and +spirit; for this cause, they despised death, and were found to be above +it." (Ad Smyr. c. iii.) + +Quadratus, of the same age with Ignatius, has left us the following +noble testimony:--"The works of our Saviour were always conspicuous, for +they were real; both those that were healed, and those that were raised +from the dead; who were seen not only when they were healed or raised, +but for a long time afterwards; not only whilst he dwelled on this +earth, but also after his departure, and for a good while after it, +insomuch that some of them have reached to our times." (Ap. Euseb. H. E. +l. iv. c. 3.) + +Justin Martyr came little more than thirty years after Quadratus. From +Justin's works, which are still extant, might be collected a tolerably +complete account of Christ's life, in all points agreeing with that +which is delivered in our Scriptures; taken indeed, in a great measure, +from those Scriptures, but still proving that this account, and no +other, was the account known and extant in that age. The miracles in +particular, which form the part of Christ's history most material to be +traced, stand fully and distinctly recognised in the following +passage:--"He healed those who had been blind, and deaf, and lame from +their birth; causing, by his word, one to leap, another to hear, and a +third to see: and, by raising the dead, and making them to live, he +induced, by his works, the men of that age to know him." (Just. Dial. +cum Tryph. p. 288, ed. Thirl.) + +It is unnecessary to carry these citations lower, because the history, +after this time, occurs in ancient Christian writings as familiarly as +it is wont to do in modern sermons;--occurs always the same in +substance, and always that which our evangelists represent. + +This is not only true of those writings of Christians which are genuine, +and of acknowledged authority; but it is, in a great measure, true of +all their ancient writings which remain; although some of these may have +been erroneously ascribed to authors to whom they did not belong, or may +contain false accounts, or may appear to be undeserving of credit, or +never indeed to have obtained any. Whatever fables they have mixed with +the narrative, they preserve the material parts, the leading facts, as +we have them; and, so far as they do this, although they be evidence of +nothing else, they are evidence that these points were fixed, were +received and acknowledged by all Christians in the ages in which the +books were written. At least, it may be asserted, that, in the places +where we were most likely to meet with such things, if such things had +existed, no reliques appear of any story substantially different from +the present, as the cause, or as the pretence, of the institution. + +Now that the original story, the story delivered by the first preachers +of the institution, should have died away so entirely as to have left no +record or memorial of its existence, although so many records and +memorials of the time and transaction remain; and that another story +should have stepped into its place, and gained exclusive possession of +the belief of all who professed, themselves disciples of the +institution, is beyond any example of the corruption of even oral +tradition, and still less consistent with the experience of written +history: and this improbability, which is very great, is rendered still +greater by the reflection, that no such change as the oblivion of one +story, and the substitution of another, took place in any future period +of the Christian aera. Christianity hath travelled through dark and +turbulent ages; nevertheless it came out of the cloud and the storm, +such, in substance, as it entered in. Many additions were made to the +primitive history, and these entitled to different degrees of credit; +many doctrinal errors also were from time to time grafted into the +public creed; but still the original story remained, and remained the +same. In all its principal parts, it has been fixed from the beginning. + +Thirdly: The religious rites and usages that prevailed amongst the early +disciples of Christianity were such as belonged to, and sprung out of, +the narrative now in our hands; which accordancy shows, that it was the +narrative upon which these persons acted, and which they had received +from their teachers. Our account makes the Founder of the religion +direct that his disciples should be baptized: we know that the first +Christians were baptized, Our account makes him direct that they should +hold religious assemblies: we find that they did hold religious +assemblies. Our accounts make the apostles assemble upon a stated day of +the week: we find, and that from information perfectly independent of +our accounts, that the Christians of the first century did observe +stated days of assembling. Our histories record the institution of the +rite which we call the Lord's Supper, and a command to repeat it in +perpetual succession: we find, amongst the early Christians, the +celebration of this rite universal. And, indeed, we find concurring in +all the above-mentioned observances, Christian societies of many +different nations and languages, removed from one another by a great +distance of place and dissimilitude of situation. It is also extremely +material to remark, that there is no room for insinuating that our books +were fabricated with a studious accommodation to the usages which +obtained at the time they were written; that the authors of the books +found the usages established, and framed the story to account for their +original. The Scripture accounts, especially of the Lord's Supper, are +too short and cursory, not to say too obscure, and in this view, +deficient, to allow a place for any such suspicion.* + +_________ + +* The reader who is conversant in these researches, by comparing the +short Scripture accounts of the Christian rites above-mentioned with the +minute and circumstantial directions contained in the pretended +apostolical constitutions, will see the force of this observation; the +difference between truth and forgery. +_________ + + +Amongst the proofs of the truth of our proposition, viz. That the story +which we have now is, in substance, the story which the Christians had +then, or, in other words, that the accounts in our Gospels are, as to +their principal parts, at least, the accounts which the apostles and +original teachers of the religion delivered, one arises from observing, +that it appears by the Gospels themselves that the story was public at +the time; that the Christian community was already in possession of the +substance and principal parts of the narrative. The Gospels were not the +original cause of the Christian history being believed, but were +themselves among the consequences of that belief. This is expressly +affirmed by Saint Luke, in his brief, but, as I think, very important +and instructive preface:--"Forasmuch (says the evangelist) as many have +taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which +are most surely believed amongst us, even as they delivered them unto +us, which, from the beginning, were eye-witnesses and ministers of the +word; it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all +things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent +Theophilus, that thou mightest know the certainty of those things +wherein thou hast been instructed."--This short introduction testifies, +that the substance of the history which the evangelist was about to +write was already believed by Christians; that it was believed upon the +declarations of eye-witnesses and ministers of the word; that it formed +the account of their religion in which Christians were instructed; that +the office which the historian proposed to himself was to trace each +particular to its origin, and to fix the certainty of many things which +the reader had before heard of. In Saint John's Gospel the same point +appears hence, that there are some principal facts to which the +historian refers, but which he does not relate. A remarkable instance of +this kind is the ascension, which is not mentioned by St. John in its +place, at the conclusion of his history, but which is plainly referred +to in the following words of the sixth chapter; "What and if ye shall +see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?" (Also John iii. 31; +and xvi. 28.) And still more positively in the words which Christ, +according to our evangelist, spoke to Mary after his resurrection, +"Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go unto my +brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, +unto my God and your God." (John xx. 17.) This can only be accounted for +by the supposition that St. John wrote under a sense of the notoriety of +Christ's ascension, among those by whom his book was likely to be read. +The same account must also be given of Saint Matthew's omission of the +same important fact. The thing was very well known, and it did not occur +to the historian that it was necessary to add any particulars concerning +it. It agrees also with this solution, and with no other, that neither +Matthew nor John disposes of the person of our Lord in any manner +whatever. Other intimations in St. John's Gospel of the then general +notoriety of the story are the following: His manner of introducing his +narrative (ch. i. ver. 15.)--"John bare witness of him, and cried, +saying" evidently presupposes that his readers knew who John was. His +rapid parenthetical reference to John's imprisonment, "for John was not +yet cast into prison," (John iii, 24.) could only come from a writer +whose mind was in the habit of considering John's imprisonment as +perfectly notorious. The description of Andrew by the addition "Simon +Peter's brother," (John i. 40.) takes it for granted, that Simon Peter +was well known. His name had not been mentioned before. The evangelist's +noticing the prevailing misconstruction of a discourse, (John xxi. 24.) +which Christ held with the beloved disciple, proves that the characters +and the discourse were already public. And the observation which these +instances afford is of equal validity for the purpose of the present +argument, whoever were the authors of the histories. + + +These four circumstances:--first, the recognition of the account in its +principal parts by a series of succeeding writers; secondly, the total +absence of any account of the origin of the religion substantially +different from ours; thirdly, the early and extensive prevalence of +rites and institutions, which resulted from our account; fourthly, our +account bearing in its construction proof that it is an account of facts +which were known and believed at the time, are sufficient, I conceive, +to support an assurance, that the story which we have now is, in general, +the story which Christians had at the beginning. I say in general; by +which term I mean, that it is the same in its texture, and in its +principal facts. For instance, I make no doubt, for the reasons above +stated, but that the resurrection of the Founder of the religion was +always a part of the Christian story. Nor can a doubt of this remain +upon the mind of any one who reflects that the resurrection is, in some +form or other, asserted, referred to, or assumed, in every Christian +writing, of every description which hath come down to us. + +And if our evidence stopped here, we should have a strong case to offer: +for we should have to allege, that in the reign of Tiberius Caesar, a +certain number of persons set about an attempt of establishing a new +religion in the world: in the prosecution of which purpose, they +voluntarily encountered great dangers, undertook great labours, +sustained great sufferings, all for a miraculous story, which they +published wherever they came; and that the resurrection of a dead man, +whom during his life they had followed and accompanied, was a constant +part of this story. I know nothing in the above statement which can, +with any appearance of reason, be disputed; and I know nothing, in the +history of the human species, similar to it. + + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +There is satisfactory evidence that many, professing to be original +witnesses of the Christian miracles, passed their lives in labours, +dangers, and sufferings, voluntarily undergone in attestation of the +accounts which they delivered, and solely in consequence of their belief +of those accounts; and that they also submitted, from the same motives, +to new rules of conduct. + +That the story which we have now is, in the main, the story which the +apostles published, is, I think, nearly certain, from the considerations +which have been proposed. But whether, when we come to the particulars, +and the detail of the narrative, the historical books of the New +Testament be deserving of credit as histories, so that a fact ought +to be accounted true, because it is found in them; or whether they are +entitled to be considered as representing the accounts which, true or +false, the apostles published; whether their authority, in either of +these views, can be trusted to, is a point which necessarily depends +upon what we know of the books, and of their authors. + +Now, in treating of this part of our argument, the first and most +material observation upon the subject is, that such was the situation of +the authors to whom the four Gospels are ascribed, that, if any one of +the four be genuine, it is sufficient for our purpose. The received +author of the first was an original apostle and emissary of the +religion. The received author of the second was an inhabitant of +Jerusalem, at the time, to whose house the apostles were wont to resort, +and himself an attendant upon one of the most eminent of that number. +The received author of the third was a stated companion and +fellow-traveller of the most active of all the teachers of the religion, +and, in the course of his travels, frequently in the society of the +original apostles. The received author of the fourth, as well as of the +first, was one of these apostles. No stronger evidence of the truth of a +history can arise from the situation of the historian than what is here +offered. The authors of all the histories lived at the time and upon the +spot. The authors of two of the histories were present at many of the +scenes which they describe; eye-witnesses of the facts, ear-witnesses of +the discourses; writing from personal knowledge and recollection; and, +what strengthens their testimony, writing upon a subject in which their +minds were deeply engaged, and in which, as they must have been very +frequently repeating the accounts to others, the passages of the history +would be kept continually alive in their memory. Whoever reads the +Gospels (and they ought to be read for this particular purpose) will +find in them not merely a general affirmation of miraculous powers, but +detailed circumstantial accounts of miracles, with specifications of +time, place, and persons; and these accounts many and various. In the +Gospels, therefore, which bear the names of Matthew and John, these +narratives, if they really proceeded from these men, must either be true +as far as the fidelity of human recollection is usually to be depended +upon, that is, must be true in substance and in their principal parts, +(which is sufficient for the purpose of proving a supernatural agency,) +or they must be wilful and mediated falsehoods. Yet the writers who +fabricated and uttered these falsehoods, if they be such, are of the +number of those who, unless the whole contexture of the Christian story +be a dream, sacrificed their ease and safety in the cause, and for a +purpose the most inconsistent that is possible with dishonest +intentions. They were villains for no end but to teach honesty, and +martyrs without the least prospect of honour or advantage. + +The Gospels which bear the names of Mark and Luke, although not the +narratives of eye-witnesses, are, if genuine, removed from that only by +one degree. They are the narratives of contemporary writers, or writers +themselves mixing with the business; one of the two probably living in +the place which was the principal scene of action; both living in habits +of society and correspondence with those who had been present at the +transactions which they relate. The latter of them accordingly tells us +(and with apparent sincerity, because he tells it without pretending to +personal knowledge, and without claiming for his work greater authority +than belonged to it) that the things which were believed amount +Christians came from those who from the beginning were eye-witnesses and +ministers of the word; that he had traced accounts up to their source; +and that he was prepared to instruct his reader in the certainty of the +things which he related.* Very few histories lie so close to their +facts; very few historians are so nearly connected with the subject of +their narrative, or possess such means of authentic information, as +these. + +_________ + +* Why should not the candid and modest preface of this historian be +believed, as well as that which Dion Cassius prefixes to his Life of +Commodus? "These things and the following I write, not from the report +of others, but from my own knowledge and observation." I see no reason +to doubt but that both passages describe truly enough the situation of +the authors. +_________ + + +The situation of the writers applies to the truth of the facts which +they record. But at present we use their testimony to a point somewhat +short of this, namely, that the facts recorded in the Gospels, whether +true or false, are the facts, and the sort of facts which the original +preachers of the religion allege. Strictly speaking, I am concerned only +to show, that what the Gospels contain is the same as what the apostles +preached. Now, how stands the proof of this point? A set of men went +about the world, publishing a story composed of miraculous accounts, +(for miraculous from the very nature and exigency of the case they must +have been,) and upon the strength of these accounts called upon mankind +to quit the religions in which they had been educated, and to take up, +thenceforth, a new system of opinions, and new rules of action. What is +more in attestation of these accounts, that is, in support of an +institution of which these accounts were the foundation, is, that the +same men voluntarily exposed themselves to harassing and perpetual +labours, dangers, and sufferings. We want to know what these accounts +were. We have the particulars, i. e. many particulars, from two of their +own number. We have them from an attendant of one of the number, and +who, there is reason to believe, was an inhabitant of Jerusalem at the +time. We have them from a fourth writer, who accompanied the most +laborious missionary of the institution in his travels; who, in the +course of these travels, was frequently brought into the society of the +rest; and who, let it be observed, begins his narrative by telling us +that he is about to relate the things which had been delivered by those +who were ministers of the word, and eye-witnesses of the facts. I do not +know what information can be more satisfactory than this. We may, +perhaps, perceive the force and value of it more sensibly if we reflect +how requiring we should have been if we had wanted it. Supposing it to +be sufficiently proved, that the religion now professed among us owed +its original to the preaching and ministry of a number of men, who, +about eighteen centuries ago, set forth in the world a new system of +religious opinions, founded upon certain extraordinary things which they +related of a wonderful person who had appeared in Judea; suppose it to +be also sufficiently proved, that, in the course and prosecution of +their ministry, these men had subjected themselves to extreme hardships, +fatigue, and peril; but suppose the accounts which they published had +not been committed to writing till some ages after their times, or at +least that no histories but what had been composed some ages afterwards +had reached our hands; we should have said, and with reason, that we +were willing to believe these under the circumstances in which they +delivered their testimony, but that we did not, at this day, know with +sufficient evidence what their testimony was. Had we received the +particulars of it from any of their own number, from any of those who +lived and conversed with them, from any of their hearers, or even from +any of their contemporaries, we should have had something to rely upon. +Now, if our books be genuine, we have all these. We have the very +species of information which, as it appears to me, our imagination would +have carved out for us, if it had been wanting. + +But I have said that if any one of the four Gospels be genuine, we have +not only direct historical testimony to the point we contend for, but +testimony which, so far as that point is concerned, cannot reasonably be +rejected. If the first Gospel was really written by Matthew, we have the +narrative of one of the number, from which to judge what were the +miracles, and the kind of miracles, which the apostles attributed to +Jesus. Although, for argument's sake, and only for argument's sake, we +should allow that this Gospel had been erroneously ascribed to Matthew; +yet, if the Gospel of St. John be genuine, the observation holds with no +less strength. Again, although the Gospels both of Matthew and John +could be supposed to be spurious, yet, if the Gospel of Saint Luke were +truly the composition of that person, or of any person, be his name what +it might, who was actually in the situation in which the author of that +Gospel professes himself to have been, or if the Gospel which bear the +name of Mark really proceeded from him; we still, even upon the lowest +supposition, possess the accounts of one writer at least, who was not +only contemporary with the apostles, but associated with them in their +ministry; which authority seems sufficient, when the question is simply +what it was which these apostles advanced. + +I think it material to have this well noticed. The New Testament +contains a great number of distinct writings, the genuineness of any one +of which is almost sufficient to prove the truth of the religion: it +contains, however, four distinct histories, the genuineness of any one +of which is perfectly sufficient. + +If, therefore, we must be considered as encountering the risk of error +in assigning the authors of our books, we are entitled to the advantage +of so many separate probabilities. And although it should appear that +some of the evangelists had seen and used each other's works, this +discovery, whist it subtracts indeed from their characters as +testimonies strictly independent, diminishes, I conceive, little either +their separate authority, (by which I mean the authority of any one that +is genuine,) or their mutual confirmation. For, let the most +disadvantageous supposition possible be made concerning them; let it be +allowed, what I should have no great difficulty in admitting, that Mark +compiled his history almost entirely from those of Matthew and Luke; and +let it also for a moment be supposed that were not, in fact, written by +Matthew and Luke; yet, if it be true that Mark, a contemporary of the +apostles, living, in habits of society with the apostles, a +fellow-traveller and fellow-labourer with some of them; if, I say, it be +true, that this person made the compilation, it follows, that the +writings from which he made it existed in the time of the apostles, and +not only so, but that they were then in such esteem and credit, that a +companion of the apostles formed a history out of them. Let the Gospel +of Mark be called an epitome of that of Matthew; if a person in the +situation in which Mark is described to have been actually made the +epitome, it affords the strongest possible attestation to the character +of the original. + +Again, parallelisms in sentences, in word, and in the order of words, +have been traced out between the Gospel of Matthew and that of Luke; +which concurrence cannot easily be explained, otherwise than by +supposing, either that Luke had consulted Matthew's history, or, what +appears to me in nowise incredible, that minutes of some of Christ's +discourses, as well as brief memoirs of some passages of his life, had +been committed to writing at the time; and that such written accounts +had by both authors been occasionally admitted into their histories. +Either supposition is perfectly consistent with the acknowledged +formation of St. Luke's narrative, who professes not to write as an +eye-witness, but to have investigated the original of every account +which he delivers: in other words, to have collected them from such +documents and testimonies as he, who had the best opportunities of +making inquiries, judged to be authentic. Therefore, allowing that this +writer also, in some instances, borrowed from the Gospel which we call +Matthew's and once more allowing for the sake of stating the argument, +that that Gospel was not the production of the author to whom we +ascribe it; yet still we have in St. Luke's Gospel a history given by a +writer immediately connected with the transaction with the witnesses of +it with the persons engaged in it, and composed from materials which +that person, thus situated, deemed to be safe source of intelligence; in +other words, whatever supposition be made concerning any or all the +other Gospels, if Saint Luke's Gospel be genuine, we have in it a +credible evidence of the point which we maintain. The Gospel according +to Saint John appears to be, and is on all hands allowed to be, an +independent testimony, strictly and properly so called. Notwithstanding +therefore, any connexion or supposed connexion, between one of the +Gospels, I again repeat what I before said, that if any one of the four +be genuine, we have, in that one, strong reason, from the character and +situation of the writer, to believe that we possess the accounts which +the original emissaries of the religion delivered. + +Secondly: In treating of the written evidences of Christianity, next to +their separate, we are to consider their aggregate authority. Now, there +is in the evangelic history a cumulation of testimony which belongs +hardly to any other history, but which our habitual mode of reading the +Scriptures sometimes causes us to overlook. When a passage, in any wise +relating to the history of Christ is read to us out of the epistle of +Clemens Romanus, the epistles of Ignatius, of Polycap, or from any other +writing of that age, we are immediately sensible of the confirmation +which it affords to the Scripture account. Here is a new witness. Now, +if we had been accustomed to read the Gospel of Matthew alone, and had +known that of Luke only as the generality of Christians know the +writings of the apostolical fathers, that is, had known that such a +writing was extant and acknowledged; when we came, for the first time, +to look into what it contained, and found many of the facts which +Matthew recorded, recorded also there, many other facts of a similar +nature added, and throughout the whole work the same general series of +transactions stated, and the same general character of the person who +was the subject of the history preserved, I apprehend that we should +feel our minds strongly impressed by this discovery of fresh evidence. +We should feel a renewal of the same sentiment in first reading the +Gospel of Saint John. That of Saint Mark perhaps would strike us as an +abridgment of the history with which we were already acquainted; but we +should naturally reflect, that if that history was abridged by such a +person as Mark, or by any person of so early an age, it afforded one of +the highest possible attestations to the value of the work. This +successive disclosure of proof would leave us assured, that there must +have been at least some reality in a story which not one, but many, had +taken in hand to commit to writing. The very existence of four separate +histories would satisfy us that the subject had a foundation; and when, +amidst the variety which the different information of the different +writers had supplied to their accounts, or which their different choice +and judgment in selecting their materials had produced, we observed many +facts to stand the same in all; of these facts, at least, we should +conclude, that they were fixed in their credit and publicity. If, after +this, we should come to the knowledge of a distinct history, and that +also of the same age with the rest, taking up the subject where the +others had left it, and carrying on a narrative of the effects produced +in the world by the extraordinary causes of which we had already been +informed, and which effects subsist at this day, we should think the +reality of the original story in no little degree established by this +supplement. If subsequent inquiries should bring to our knowledge, one +after another, letters written by some of the principal agents in the +business, upon the business, and during the time of their activity and +concern in it, assuming all along and recognising the original story, +agitating the questions that arose out of it, pressing the obligations +which resulted from it, giving advice and directions to these who acted +upon it; I conceive that we should find, in every one of these, a still +further support to the conclusion we had formed. At present, the weight +of this successive confirmation is, in a great measure; unperceived by +us. The evidence does not appear to us what it is; for, being from our +infancy accustomed to regard the New Testament as one book, we see in it +only one testimony. The whole occurs to us as a single evidence; and its +different parts not as distinct attestations, but as different portions +only of the same. Yet in this conception of the subject we are certainly +mistaken; for the very discrepancies among the several documents which +form our volume prove, if all other proof were wanting, that in their +original composition they were separate, and most of them independent +productions. + +If we dispose our ideas in a different order, the matter stands +thus:--Whilst the transaction was recent, and the original witnesses +were at hand to relate it; and whilst the apostles were busied in +preaching and travelling, in collecting disciples, in forming and +regulating societies of converts, in supporting themselves against +opposition; whilst they exercised their ministry under the harassings of +frequent persecutions, and in a state of almost continual alarm, it is +not probable that, in this engaged, anxious, and unsettled condition of +life, they would think immediately of writing histories for the +information of the public or of posterity.* But it is very probable, +that emergencies might draw from some of them occasional letters upon +the subject of their mission, to converts, or to societies of +converts, with which they were connected; or that they might address +written discourses and exhortations to the disciples of the institution +at large, which would be received and read with a respect proportioned +to the character of the writer. Accounts in the mean time would get +abroad of the extraordinary things that had been passing, written with +different degrees of information and correctness. The extension of the +Christian society, which could no longer be instructed: by a personal +intercourse with the apostles, and the possible circulation of imperfect +or erroneous narratives, would soon teach some amongst them the +expediency of sending forth authentic memoirs of the life and doctrine +of their Master. When accounts appeared authorised by the name, and +credit, and situation of the writers, recommended or recognised by the +apostles and first preachers of the religion, or found to coincide with +what the apostles and first preachers of the religion had taught, other +accounts would fall into disuse and neglect; whilst these, maintaining +their reputation (as, if genuine and well founded, they would do) under +the test of time, inquiry, and contradiction, might be expected to make +their way into the hands of Christians of all countries of the world. + +________ + +* This thought occurred to Eusebius: "Nor were the apostles of Christ +greatly concerned about the writing of books, being engaged in a more +excellent ministry which is above all human power." Eccles. Hist. 1. +iii. c. 24.--The same consideration accounts also for the paucity of +Christian writings in the first century of its aera. +_________ + + +This seems the natural progress of the business; and with this the +records in our possession, and the evidence concerning them correspond. +We have remaining, in the first place, many letters of the kind above +described, which have been preserved with a care and fidelity answering +to the respect with which we may suppose that such letters would be +received. But as these letters were not written to prove the truth of +the Christian religion, in the sense in which we regard that question; +nor to convey information of facts, of which those to whom the letters +were written had been previously informed; we are not to look in them +for anything more than incidental allusions to the Christian history. We +are able, however, to gather from these documents various particular +attestations which have been already enumerated; and this is a species +of written evidence, as far as it goes, in the highest degree +satisfactory, and in point of time perhaps the first. But for our more +circumstantial information, we have, in the next place, five direct +histories, bearing the names of persons acquainted, by their situation, +with the truth of what they relate, and three of them purporting, in the +very body of the narrative, to be written by such persons; of which +books we know, that some were in the hands of those who were +contemporaries of the apostles, and that, in the age immediately +posterior to that, they were in the hands, we may say, of every one, and +received by Christians with so much respect and deference, as to be +constantly quoted and referred to by them, without any doubt of the +truth of their accounts. They were treated as such histories, proceeding +from such authorities, might expect to be treated. In the preface to one +of our histories, we have intimations left us of the existence of some +ancient accounts which are now lost. There is nothing in this +circumstance that can surprise us. It was to be expected, from the +magnitude and novelty of the occasion, that such accounts would swarm. +When better accounts came forth, these died away. Our present histories +superseded others. They soon acquired a character and established a +reputation which does not appear to have belonged to any other: that, at +least, can be proved concerning them which cannot be proved concerning +any other. + +But to return to the point which led to these reflections. By +considering our records in either of the two views in which we have +represented them, we shall perceive that we possess a connection of +proofs, and not a naked or solitary testimony; and that the written +evidence is of such a kind, and comes to us in such a state, as the +natural order and progress of things, in the infancy of the institution, +might be expected to produce. + +Thirdly: The genuineness of the historical books of the New Testament is +undoubtedly a point of importance, because the strength of their +evidence is augmented by our knowledge of the situation of their +authors, their relation to the subject, and the part which they +sustained in the transaction; and the testimonies which we are able to +produce compose a firm ground of persuasion, that the Gospels were +written by the persons whose names they bear. Nevertheless, I must be +allowed to state, that to the argument which I am endeavouring to +maintain, this point is not essential; I mean, so essential as that the +fate of the argument depends upon it. The question before us is, whether +the Gospels exhibit the story which the apostles and first emissaries of +the religion published, and for which they acted and suffered in the +manner in which, for some miraculous story or other, they did act and +suffer. Now let us suppose that we possess no other information +concerning these books than that they were written by early disciples of +Christianity; that they were known and read during the time, or near the +time, of the original apostles of the religion; that by Christians whom +the apostles instructed, by societies of Christians which the apostles +founded, these books were received, (by which term "received" I mean +that they were believed to contain authentic accounts of the +transactions upon which the religion rested, and accounts which were +accordingly used, repeated, and relied upon,) this reception would be a +valid proof that these books, whoever were the authors of them, must +have accorded with what the apostles taught. A reception by the first +race of Christians, is evidence that they agreed with what the first +teachers of the religion delivered. In particular, if they had not +agreed with what the apostles themselves preached, how could they have +gained credit in churches and societies which the apostles +established? + +Now the fact of their early existence, and not only of their existence, +but their reputation, is made out by some ancient testimonies which do +not happen to specify the names of the writers: add to which, what hath +been already hinted, that two out of the four Gospels contain averments +in the body of the history, which, though they do not disclose the +names, fix the time and situation of the authors, viz., that one was +written by an eye-witness of the sufferings of Christ, the other by a +contemporary of the apostles. In the Gospel of St. John (xix. 35), +describing the crucifixion, with the particular circumstance of piercing +Christ's side with a spear, the historian adds, as for himself, "and he +that saw it bare record, and his record is true, and he knoweth that he +saith true, that ye might believe." Again (xxi. 24), after relating a +conversation which passed between Peter and "the disciple," as it is +there expressed, "whom Jesus loved," it is added, "this is the disciple +which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things." This +testimony, let it be remarked, is not the less worthy of regard, because +it is, in one view, imperfect. The name is not mentioned; which, if a +fraudulent purpose had been intended, would have been done. The third of +our present Gospels purports to have been written by the person who +wrote the Acts of the Apostles; in which latter history, or rather +latter part of the same history, the author, by using in various places +the first person plural, declares himself to have been a contemporary of +all, and a companion of one, of the original preachers of the religion. + + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +There is satisfactory evidence that many, professing to be original +witnesses of the Christian miracles, passed their lives in labours, +dangers, and sufferings, voluntarily undergone in attestation of the +accounts which they delivered, and solely in consequence of their belief +of those accounts; and that they also submitted, from the same motives, +to new rules of conduct. + +OF THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE SCRIPTURES. + +Not forgetting, therefore, what credit is due to the evangelical +history, supposing even any one of the four Gospels to be genuine; what +credit is due to the Gospels, even supposing nothing to be known +concerning them but that they were written by early disciples of the +religion, and received with deference by early Christian churches; more +especially not forgetting what credit is due to the New Testament in its +capacity of cumulative evidence; we now proceed to state the proper and +distinct proofs, which show not only the general value of these records, +but their specific authority, and the high probability there is that +they actually came from the persons whose names they bear. + +There are, however, a few preliminary reflections, by which we may draw +up with more regularity to the propositions upon which the close and +particular discussion of the subject depends. Of which nature are the +following: + +I. We are able to produce a great number of ancient manuscripts, found +in many different countries, and in countries widely distant from each +other, all of them anterior to the art of printing, some Certainly seven +or eight hundred years old, and some which have been preserved probably +above a thousand years.* We have also many ancient versions of these +books, and some of them into languages which are not at present, nor for +many ages have been, spoken in any part of the world. The existence of +these manuscripts and versions proves that the Scriptures were not the +production of any modern contrivance. It does away also the uncertainty +which hangs over such publications as the works, real or pretended, of +Ossian and Rowley, in which the editors are challenged to produce their +manuscripts and to show where they obtained their copies. The number of +manuscripts, far exceeding those of any other book, and their wide +dispersion, afford an argument, in some measure to the senses, that the +Scriptures anciently, in like manner as at this day, were more read and +sought after than any other books, and that also in many different +countries. The greatest part of spurious Christian writings are utterly +lost, the rest preserved by some single manuscript. There is weight also +in Dr. Bentley's observation, that the New Testament has suffered less +injury by the errors of transcribers than the works of any profane +author of the same size and antiquity; that is, there never was any +writing, in the preservation and purity of which the world was so +interested or so careful. + +_________ + +* The Alexandrian manuscript, now in the British Museum, was written +probably in the fourth or fifth century. +_________ + + +II. An argument of great weight with those who are judges of the proofs +upon which it is founded, and capable, through their testimony, of being +addressed to every understanding, is that which arises from the style +and language of the New Testament. It is just such a language as might +be expected from the apostles, from persons of their age and in their +situation, and from no other persons. It is the style neither of classic +authors, nor of the ancient Christian fathers, but Greek coming from men +of Hebrew origin; abounding, that is, with Hebraic and Syriac idioms, +such as would naturally be found in the writings of men who used a +language spoken indeed where they lived, but not the common dialect of +the country. This happy peculiarity is a strong proof of the genuineness +of these writings: for who should forge them? The Christian fathers were +for the most part totally ignorant of Hebrew, and therefore were not +likely to insert Hebraisms and Syriasms into their writings. The few who +had a knowledge of the Hebrew, as Justin Martyr, Origen, and Epiphanius, +wrote in a language which hears no resemblance to that of the New +Testament. The Nazarenes, who understood Hebrew, used chiefly, perhaps +almost entirely, the Gospel of Saint Matthew, and therefore cannot be +suspected of forging the rest of the sacred writings. The argument, at +any rate, proves the antiquity of these books; that they belonged to the +age of the apostles; that they could be composed, indeed, in no other.* + +_________ + +* See this argument stated more at large in Michaelis's Introduction, +(Marsh's translation,) vol. i. c. ii. sect. 10, from which these +observations are taken. +_________ + + +III. Why should we question the genuineness of these books? Is it for +that they contain accounts of supernatural events? I apprehend that +this, at the bottom, is the real, though secret, cause of our hesitation +about them: for had the writings inscribed with the names of Matthew and +John related nothing but ordinary history, there would have been no +more doubt whether these writings were theirs than there is concerning +the acknowledged works of Josephus or Philo; that is, there would have +been no doubt at all. Now it ought to be considered that this reason, +however it may apply to the credit which is given to a writer's judgment +or veracity, affects the question of genuineness very indirectly. The +works of Bede exhibit many wonderful relations: but who, for that +reason, doubts that they were written by Bede? The same of a multitude +of other authors. To which may be added that we ask no more for our +books than what we allow to other books in some sort similar to ours: we +do not deny the genuineness of the Koran; we admit that the history of +Apollonius Tyanaeus, purporting to be written by Philostratus, was +really written by Philostratus. + +IV. If it had been an easy thing in the early times of the institution +to have forged Christian writings, and to have obtained currency and +reception to the forgeries, we should have had many appearing in the +name of Christ himself. No writings would have been received with so +much avidity and respect as these: consequently none afforded so great a +temptation to forgery. Yet have we heard but of one attempt of this +sort, deserving of the smallest notice, that in a piece of a very few +lines, and so far from succeeding, I mean, from obtaining acceptance and +reputation, or an acceptance an reputation in anywise similar to that +which can be proved to have attended the books of the New Testament, +that it is not so much as mentioned by any writer of the first three +centuries. The learned reader need not be informed that I mean the +epistle of Christ to Abgarus, king of Edessa, found at present in the +work of Eusebius,* as a piece acknowledged by him, though not without +considerable doubt whether the whole passage be not an interpolation, as +it is most certain, that, after the publication of Eusebius's work, this +epistle was universally rejected.+ + +_________ + +* Hist. Eccl. lib. i. c. 15. ++ Augustin, A.D. 895 (De Consens. Evan. c. 34), had heard that the +Pagans pretended to be possessed of an epistle of Christ to Peter and +Paul; but he had never seen it, and appears to doubt of the existence of +any such piece either genuine or spurious. No other ancient writer +mentions it. He also, and he alone, notices, and that in order to condemn +it, an epistle ascribed to Christ by the Manichees, A.D. 270, and a short +hymn attributed to him by the Priscillianists, A.D. 378 (cont. Faust. Man. +Lib xxviii, c,4). The lateness of the writer who notices these things, the +manner in which he notices them, and above all, the silence of every +preceding writer, render them unworthy on of consideration. +_________ + + +V. If the ascription of the Gospels to their respective authors had been +arbitrary or conjectural, they would have been ascribed to more eminent +men. This observation holds concerning the first three Gospels, the +reputed authors of which were enabled, by their situation, to obtain +true intelligence, and were likely to deliver an honest account of what +they knew, but were persons not distinguished in the history by +extraordinary marks of notice or commendation. Of the apostles, I hardly +know any one of whom less is said than of Matthew, or of whom the little +that is said is less calculated to magnify his character. Of Mark, +nothing is said in the Gospels; and what is said of any person of that +name in the Acts, and in the epistles, in no part bestows praise or +eminence upon him. The name of Luke is mentioned only in St Paul's +epistles,* and that very transiently. The judgment, therefore, which +assigned these writings to these authors proceeded, it may be presumed, +upon proper knowledge and evidence, and not upon a voluntary choice of +names. + +VI. Christian writers and Christian churches appear to have soon arrived +at a very general agreement upon the subject, and that without the +interposition of any public authority. When the diversity of opinion +which prevailed, and prevails among Christians in other points, is +considered, their concurrence in the canon of Scripture is remarkable, +and of great weight, especially as it seems to have been the result of +private and free inquiry. We have no knowledge of any interference of +authority in the question before the council of Laodicea in the year +363. Probably the decree of this council rather declared than regulated +the public judgment, or, more properly speaking, the judgment of some +neighbouring churches; the council itself consisting of no more than +thirty or forty bishops of Lydia and the adjoining countries.+ Nor does +its authority seem to have extended further; for we find numerous +Christian writers, after this time, discussing the question, "What books +were entitled to be received as Scripture," with great freedom, upon +proper grounds of evidence, and without any reference to the decision at +Laodicea. + +_________ + +* Col. iv. 14. 2Tim. iv. 11. Philem. 24. ++ Lardner, Cred. vol. viii. P.291, et seq. +_________ + + +These considerations are not to be neglected: but of an argument +concerning the genuineness of ancient writings, the substance, +undoubtedly, and strength, is ancient testimony. + +This testimony it is necessary to exhibit somewhat in detail; for when +Christian advocates merely tell us that we have the same reason for +believing the Gospels to be written by the evangelists whose names they +bear as we have for believing the Commentaries to be Caesar's, the +Aeneid Virgil's, or the Orations Cicero's, they content themselves with +an imperfect representation. They state nothing more than what is true, +but they do not state the truth correctly. In the number, variety, and +early date of our testimonies, we far exceed all other ancient books. +For one which the most celebrated work of the most celebrated +Greek or Roman writer can allege, we produce many. But then it is more +requisite in our books than in theirs to separate and distinguish them +from spurious competitors. The result, I am convinced, will be +satisfactory to every fair inquirer: but this circumstance renders an +inquiry necessary. + +In a work, however, like the present, there is a difficulty in finding a +place for evidence of this kind. To pursue the details of proof +throughout, would be to transcribe a great part of Dr. Lardner's eleven +octavo volumes: to leave the argument without proofs is to leave it +without effect; for the persuasion produced by this species of evidence +depends upon a view and induction of the particulars which compose it. + +The method which I propose to myself is, first, to place before the +reader, in one view, the propositions which comprise the several heads +of our testimony, and afterwards to repeat the same propositions in so +many distinct sections, with the necessary authorities subjoined to +each.* + +_________ + +* The reader, when he has the propositions before him, will observe that +the argument, if he should omit the sections, proceeds connectedly from +this point. +_________ + + +The following, then, are the allegations upon the subject which are +capable of being established by proof:-- + +I. That the historical books of the New Testament, meaning thereby the +four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, are quoted, or alluded to, by +a series of Christian writers, beginning with those who were +contemporary with the apostles, or who immediately followed them, and +proceeding in close and regular succession from their time to the present. + +II. That when they are quoted, or alluded to, they are quoted or alluded +to with peculiar respect, as books 'sui generis'; as possessing an +authority which belonged to no other books, and as conclusive in all +questions and controversies amongst Christians. + +III. That they were, in very early times, collected into a distinct +volume. + +IV. That they were distinguished by appropriate names and titles of +respect. + +V. That they were publicly read and expounded in the religious +assemblies of the early Christians. + +VI. That commentaries were written upon them, harmonies formed out of +them, different copies carefully collated, and versions of them made +into different languages. + +VII. That they were received by Christians of different sects, by many +heretics as well as Catholics, and usually appealed to by both sides in +the controversies which arose in those days. + +VIII. That the four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, thirteen Epistles +of Saint Paul, the first epistle of John, and the first of-Peter, were +received without doubt by those who doubted concerning the other books +which are included in our present canon. + +IX. That the Gospels were attacked by the early adversaries of +Christianity, as books containing the accounts upon which the religion +was founded. + +X. That formal catalogues of authentic Scriptures were published; in all +which our present sacred histories were included. + +XI. That these propositions cannot be affirmed of any other books +claiming to be books of Scripture; by which are meant those books which +are commonly called apocryphal books of the New Testament. + + + + + +SECTION I. + +The historical books of the New Testament, meaning thereby the four +Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, are quoted, or alluded to, by a +series of Christian writers, beginning with those who were contemporary +with the apostles, or who immediately followed them, and proceeding in +close and regular succession from their time to the present. + +The medium of proof stated in this proposition is, of all others, the +most unquestionable, the least liable to any practices of fraud, and is +not diminished by the lapse of ages. Bishop Burnet, in the History of +his Own Times, inserts various extracts from Lord Clarendon's History. +One such insertion is a proof that Lord Clarendon's History was extant +at the time when Bishop Burnet wrote, that it had been read by Bishop +Burnet, that it was received by Bishop Burnet as a work of Lord +Clarendon, and also regarded by him as an authentic account of the +transactions which it relates; and it will be a proof of these points a +thousand years hence, or as long as the books exist. Quintilian having +quoted as Cicero's, (Quint, lib. xl. c. l.) that well known trait of +dissembled vanity:--"Si quid est in me ingenii, Judices, quod sentio +quam sit exiguum;"--the quotation would be strong evidence, were there +any doubt, that the oration, which opens with this address, actually +came from Cicero's pen. These instances, however simple, may serve to +point out to a reader who is little accustomed to such researches the +nature and value of the argument. + +The testimonies which we have to bring forward under this proposition +are the following:-- + +I. There is extant an epistle ascribed to Barnabas,* the companion of +Paul. It is quoted as the epistle of Barnabas, by Clement of Alexandria, +A.D. CXCIV; by Origen, A.D. CCXXX. It is mentioned by Eusebius, A.D. +CCCXV, and by Jerome, A.D. CCCXCII, as an ancient work in their time, +bearing the name of Barnabas, and as well known and read amongst +Christians, though not accounted a part of Scripture. It purports to +have been written soon after the destruction of Jerusalem, during the +calamities which followed that disaster; and it bears the character of +the age to which it professes to belong. + +_________ + +* Lardner, Cred. edit. 1755, vol. i. p. 23, et seq. The reader will +observe from the references, that the materials of these sections are +almost entirely extracted from Dr. Lardner's work; my office consisted +in arrangement and selection. +_________ + + +In this epistle appears the following remarkable passage:--"Let us, +therefore, beware lest it come upon us, as it is written; There are many +called, few chosen." From the expression, "as it is written," we infer +with certainty, that at the time when the author of this epistle lived, +there was a book extant, well known to Christians, and of authority +amongst them, containing these words:--"Many are called, few chosen." +Such a book is our present Gospel of Saint Matthew, in which this text +is twice found, (Matt xx. 16; xxii. 14.) and is found in no other book +now known. There is a further observation to be made upon the terms of +the quotation. The writer of the epistle was a Jew. The phrase "it is +written" was the very form in which the Jews quoted their Scriptures. It +is not probable, therefore, that he would have used this phrase, and +without qualification, of any book but what had acquired a kind of +Scriptural authority. If the passage remarked in this ancient writing +had been found in one of Saint Paul's Epistles, it would have been +esteemed by every one a high testimony to Saint Matthew's Gospel. It +ought, therefore, to be remembered, that the writing in which it is +found was probably by very few years posterior to those of Saint Paul. + +Beside this passage, there are also in the epistle before us several +others, in which the sentiment is the same with what we meet with in +Saint Matthew's Gospel, and two or three in which we recognize the same +words. In particular, the author of the epistle repeats the precept, +"Give to every one that asketh thee;" (Matt. v. 42.) and saith that +Christ chose as his apostles, who were to preach the Gospel, men who +were great sinners, that he might show that he came "not to call the +righteous, but sinners to repentance." (Matt. Ix. 13.) + +II. We are in possession of an epistle written by Clement, bishop of +Rome, (Lardner, Cred. vol. p. 62, et seq.) whom ancient writers, without +any doubt or scruple, assert to have been the Clement whom Saint Paul +mentions, Phil. iv. 3; "with Clement also, and other my +fellow-labourers, whose names are in the book of life." This epistle is +spoken of by the ancients as an epistle acknowledged by all; and, as +Irenaeus well represents its value, "written by Clement, who had seen +the blessed apostles, and conversed with them; who had the preaching of +the apostles still sounding in his ears, and their traditions before his +eyes." It is addressed to the church of Corinth; and what alone may seem +almost decisive of its authenticity, Dionysius, bishop of Corinth, about +the year 170, i. e. about eighty or ninety years after the epistle was +written, bears witness, "that it had been wont to be read in that church +from ancient times." + +This epistle affords, amongst others, the following valuable +passages:--"Especially remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, which he +spake teaching gentleness and long-suffering: for thus he said:* Be ye +merciful, that ye may obtain mercy; forgive, that it my be forgiven unto +you; as you do, so shall it be done unto you; as you give, so shall it +be given unto you; as ye judge, so shall ye be judged; as ye show +kindness, so shall kindness be shown unto you; with what measure ye mete, +with the same shall it be measured to you. By this command, and by these +rules, let us establish ourselves, that we may always walk obediently +to his holy words." + +_________ + +* "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." Matt. v. +7.--"Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven; give, and it shall be given unto +you." Luke vi. 37, 38.--"Judge not, that ye be not judged; for with what +judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it +shall be measured to you again." Matt. vii. 1, 2. +_________ + + +Again; "Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, for he said, Woe to that +man by whom offences come; it were better for him that he had not been +born, than that he should offend one of my elect; it were better for him +that a millstone should be tied about his neck, and that he should be +drowned in the sea, than that he should offend one of my little ones."* + +_________ + +* Matt. xviii. 6. "But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which +believe in me, it were better for him that a mill-stone were hanged +about his neck, and that he were cast into the sea." The latter part of +the passage in Clement agrees exactly with Luke xvii. 2; "It were better +for him that a mill-stone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into +the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones." +_________ + + +In both these passages we perceive the high respect paid to the words of +Christ as recorded by the evangelists; "Remember the words of the Lord +Jesus;--by this command, and by these rules, let us establish ourselves, +that we may always walk obediently to his holy words." We perceive also +in Clement a total unconsciousness of doubt whether these were the real +words of Christ, which are read as such in the Gospels. This observation +indeed belongs to the whole series of testimony, and especially to the +most ancient part of it. Whenever anything now read in the Gospels is +met with in an early Christian writing, it is always observed to stand +there as acknowledged truth, i. e. to be introduced without hesitation, +doubt, or apology. It is to be observed also, that, as this epistle was +written in the name of the church of Rome, and addressed to the church +of Corinth, it ought to be taken as exhibiting the judgment not only of +Clement, who drew up the letter, but of these churches themselves, at +least as to the authority of the books referred to. + +It may be said that, as Clement has not used words of quotation, it is +not certain that he refers to any book whatever. The words of Christ +which he has put down, he might himself have heard from the apostles, or +might have received through the ordinary medium of oral tradition. This +has been said: but that no such inference can be drawn from the absence +of words of quotation, is proved by the three following +considerations:--First, that Clement, in the very same manner, namely, +without any mark of reference, uses a passage now found in the epistle +to the Romans; (Rom. i. 29.) which passage, from the peculiarity of the +words which compose it, and from their order, it is manifest that he +must have taken from the book. The same remark may be repeated of some +very singular sentiments in the Epistle to the Hebrews. Secondly, that +there are many sentences of Saint Paul's First Epistle to the +Corinthians standing in Clement's epistle without any sign of quotation, +which yet certainly are quotations; because it appears that Clement had +Saint Paul's epistle before him, inasmuch as in one place he mentions it +in terms too express to leave us in any doubt:--"Take into your hands +the epistle of the blessed apostle Paul." Thirdly, that this method of +adopting words of Scripture without reference or acknowledgment was, as +will appear in the sequel, a method in general use amongst the most +ancient Christian writers.--These analogies not only repel the +objection, but cast the presumption on the other side, and afford a +considerable degree of positive proof, that the words in question have +been borrowed from the places of Scripture in which we now find them. +But take it if you will the other way, that Clement had heard these +words from the apostles or first teachers of Christianity; with respect +to the precise point of our argument, viz. that the Scriptures contain +what the apostles taught, this supposition may serve almost as well. + +III. Near the conclusion of the epistle to the Romans, Saint Paul, +amongst others, sends the following salutation: "Salute Asyncritus, +Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, and the brethren which are with +them." Of Hermas, who appears in this catalogue of Roman Christians as +contemporary with Saint Paul, a book bearing the name, and it is most +probably rightly, is still remaining. It is called the Shepherd, +(Lardner, Cred. vol. i. p. 111.) or pastor of Hermas. Its antiquity is +incontestable, from the quotations of it in Irenaeus, A.D. 178; Clement +of Alexandria, A.D. 194; Tertullian, A.D. 200; Origen, A.D. 230. The +notes of time extant in the epistle itself agree with its title, and +with the testimonies concerning it, for it purports to have been written +during the life-time of Clement. + +In this place are tacit allusions to Saint Matthew's, Saint Luke's, and +Saint John's Gospels; that is to say, there are applications of thoughts +and expressions found in these Gospels, without citing the place or +writer from which they were taken. In this form appear in Hermas the +confessing and denying of Christ; (Matt. x. :i2, 33, or, Luke xli. 8, +9.) the parable of the seed sown (Matt. xiii. 3, or, Luke viii. 5); the +comparison of Christ's disciples to little children; the saying "he that +putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery" (Luke +xvi. 18.); The singular expression, "having received all power from his +Father," in probable allusion to Matt. xxviii. 18; and Christ being the +"gate," or only way of coming "to God," in plain allusion to John xiv. +6; x. 7, 9. There is also a probable allusion to Acts v. 32. + +This piece is the representation of a vision, and has by many been +accounted a weak and fanciful performance. I therefore observe, that the +character of the writing has little to do with the purpose for which we +adduce it. It is the age in which it was composed that gives the value +to its testimony. + +IV. Ignatius, as it is testified by ancient Christian writers, became +bishop of Antioch about thirty-seven years after Christ's ascension; +and, therefore, from his time, and place, and station, it is probable +that he had known and conversed with many of the apostles. Epistles of +Ignatius are referred to by Polycarp, his contemporary. Passages found +in the epistles now extant under his name are quoted by Irenaeus, A.D. +178; by Origen, A.D. 230; and the occasion of writing the epistles is +given at large by Eusebius and Jerome. What are called the smaller +epistles of Ignatius are generally deemed to be those which were read by +Irenaeus, Origen, and Eusebius (Lardner, Cred. vol. i. p. 147.). + +In these epistles are various undoubted allusions to the Gospels of +Saint Matthew and Saint John; yet so far of the same form with those in +the preceding articles, that, like them, they are not accompanied with +marks of quotation. + +Of these allusions the following are clear specimens: + +Matt.*: "Christ was baptized of John, that all righteousness might be +fulfilled by him." "Be ye wise as serpents in all things, and harmless +as a dove." + +John+: "Yet the Spirit is not deceived, being from God: for it knows +whence it comes and whither it goes." "He (Christ) is the door of the +Father, by which enter in Abraham and Isaac, and Jacob, and the +apostles, and the church." + +_________ + +* Chap. iii. 15. "For thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness." +Chap. x. 16. "Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." + ++ Chap. iii. 8. "The wind bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the +sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it +goeth; so is everyone that is born of the Spirit." Chap. x. 9. "I am the +door; by me if any man enter in he shall be saved." +_________ + + +As to the manner of quotation, this is observable;--Ignatius, in one +place, speaks of St. Paul in terms of high respect, and quotes his +Epistle to the Ephesians by name; yet, in several other places, he +borrows words and sentiments from the same epistle without mentioning +it; which shows that this was his general manner of using and applying +writings then extant, and then of high authority. + +V. Polycarp (Lardner, Cred. vol. i. 192.) had been taught by the +apostles; had conversed with many who had seen Christ; was also by the +apostles appointed bishop of Smyrna. This testimony concerning Polycarp +is given by Irenaeus, who in his youth had seen him:--"I can tell the +place," saith Irenaeus, "in which the blessed Polycarp sat and taught, +and his going out and coming in, and the manner of his life, and the +form of his person, and the discourses he made to the people, and how he +related his conversation with John, and others who had seen the Lord, +and how he related their sayings, and what he had heard concerning the +Lord, both concerning his miracles and his doctrine, as he had received +them from the eyewitnesses of the word of life: all which Polycarp +related agreeable to the Scriptures." + +Of Polycarp, whose proximity to the age and country and persons of the +apostles is thus attested, we have one undoubted epistle remaining. And +this, though a short letter, contains nearly forty clear allusions to +books of the New Testament; which is strong evidence of the respect +which Christians of that age bore for these books. + +Amongst these, although the writings of St. Paul are more frequently +used by Polycarp than any other parts of Scripture, there are copious +allusions to the Gospel of St. Matthew, some to passages found in the +Gospels both of Matthew and Luke, and some which more nearly resemble +the words in Luke. + +I select the following as fixing the authority of the Lord's prayer, and +the use of it amongst the primitive Christians: "If therefore we pray +the Lord, that he will forgive us, we ought also to forgive." + +"With supplication beseeching the all-seeing God not to lead us into +temptation." + +And the following, for the sake of repeating an observation already +made, that words of our Lord found in our Gospels were at this early day +quoted as spoken by him; and not only so, but quoted with so little +question or consciousness of doubt about their being really his words, +as not even to mention, much less to canvass, the authority from which +they were taken: + +"But remembering what the Lord said, teaching, Judge not, that ye be not +judged; forgive, and ye shall be forgiven; be ye merciful, that ye may +obtain mercy; with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you +again." (Matt. vii. 1, 2; v. 7; Luke vi. 37, 38.) + +Supposing Polycarp to have had these words from the books in which we +now find them, it is manifest that these books were considered by him, +and, as he thought, considered by his readers, us authentic accounts of +Christ's discourses; and that that point was incontestible [sic]. + +The following is a decisive, though what we call a tacit reference to +St. Peter's speech in the Acts of the Apostles:--"whom God hath raised, +having loosed the pains of death." (Acts ii. 24.) + +VI. Papias, (Lardner, Cred. vol. i. p. 239.) a hearer of John, and +companion of Polycarp, as Irenaeus attests, and of that age, as all +agree, in a passage quoted by Eusebius, from a work now lost, expressly +ascribes the respective Gospels to Matthew and Mark; and in a manner +which proves that these Gospels must have publicly borne the names of +these authors at that time, and probably long before; for Papias does +not say that one Gospel was written by Matthew, and another by Mark; +but, assuming this as perfectly well known, he tells us from what +materials Mark collected his account, viz. from Peter's preaching, and +in what language Matthew wrote, viz. in Hebrew. Whether Papias was well +informed in this statement, or not; to the point for which I produce +this testimony, namely, that these books bore these names at this time, +his authority is complete. + +The writers hitherto alleged had all lived and conversed with some of +the apostles. The works of theirs which remain are in general very short +pieces, yet rendered extremely valuable by their antiquity; and none, +short as they are, but what contain some important testimony to our +historical Scriptures.* + +_________ + +* That the quotations are more thinly strewn in these than in the +writings of the next and of succeeding ages, is in a good measure +accounted for by the observation, that the Scriptures of the New +Testament had not yet, nor by their recency hardly could have, become a +general part of Christian education; read as the Old Testament was by +Jews and Christians from their childhood, and thereby intimately mixing, +as that had long done, with all their religious ideas, and with their +language upon religious subjects. In process of time, and as soon +perhaps as could be expected, this came to be the case. And then we +perceive the effect, in a proportionably greater frequency, as well as +copiousness of allusion.--Mich. Introd. c. ii. sect. vi. +_________ + + +VII. Not long after these, that is, not much more than twenty years +after the last, follows Justin Martyr (Lardner, Cred. vol. i. p. 258.). +His remaining works are much larger than any that have yet been noticed. +Although the nature of his two principal writings, one of which was +addressed to heathens, and the other was a conference with a Jew, did +not lead him to such frequent appeals to Christian books as would have +appeared in a discourse intended for Christian readers; we nevertheless +reckon up in them between twenty and thirty quotations of the Gospels +and Acts of the Apostles, certain, distinct, and copious: if each verse +be counted separately, a much greater number; if each expression, a very +great one.* + +_________ + +* "He cites our present canon, and particularly our four Gospels, +continually, I dare say, above two hundred times." Jones's New and Full +Method. Append. vol. i. p. 589, ed. 1726. +_________ + + +We meet with quotations of three of the Gospels within the compass of +half a page: "And in other words he says, Depart from me into outer +darkness, which the Father hath prepared for Satan and his angels," +(which is from Matthew xxv. 41.) "And again he said, in other words, I +give unto you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and venomous +beasts, and upon all the power of the enemy." (This from Luke x. 19.) +"And before he was crucified, he said, The Son of Man must suffer many +things, and be rejected of the Scribes and Pharisees, and be crucified, +and rise again the third day." (This from Mark viii. 31.) + +In another place Justin quotes a passage in the history of Christ's +birth, as delivered by Matthew and John, and fortifies his quotation by +this remarkable testimony: "As they have taught, who have written the +history of all things concerning our Saviour Jesus Christ; and we +believe them." Quotations are also found from the Gospel of Saint John. +What moreover seems extremely material to be observed is, that in all +Justin's works, from which might be extracted almost a complete life of +Christ, there are but two instances in which he refers to anything as +said or done by Christ, which is not related concerning him in our +present Gospels: which shows, that these Gospels, and these, we may say, +alone, were the authorities from which the Christians of that day drew +the information upon which they depended. One of these instances is of a +saying of Christ, not met with in any book now extant.+ + +_________ + ++ "Wherefore also our Lord Jesus Christ has said, In whatsoever I shall +find you, in the same I will also judge you." Possibly Justin designed +not to quote any text, but to represent the sense of many of our Lord's +sayings. Fabrieius has observed, that this saying has been quoted by +many writers, and that Justin is the only one who ascribes it to our +Lord, and that perhaps by a slip of his memory. Words resembling these +are read repeatedly in Ezekiel; "I will judge them according to their +ways;" (chap. vii. 3; xxxiii. 20.) It is remarkable that Justin had just +before expressly quoted Ezekiel. Mr. Jones upon this circumstance founded +a conjecture, that Justin wrote only "the Lord hath said," intending to +quote the words of God, or rather the sense of those words in Ezekiel; +and that some transcriber, imagining these to be the words of Christ, +inserted in his copy the addition "Jesus Christ." Vol. 1. p. 539. +_________ + + +The other of a circumstance in Christ's baptism, namely, a fiery or +luminous appearance upon the water, which, according to Epiphanius, is +noticed in the Gospel of the Hebrews: and which might be true: but +which, whether true or false, is mentioned by Justin, with a plain mark +of diminution when compared with what he quotes as resting upon +Scripture authority. The reader will advert to this distinction: "and +then, when Jesus came to the river Jordan, where John was baptizing, as +Jesus descended into the water, a fire also was kindled in Jordan: and +when he came up out of the water, (the apostles of this our Christ have +written), that the Holy Ghost lighted upon him as a dove." + +All the references in Justin are made without mentioning the author; +which proves that these books were perfectly notorious, and that there +were no other accounts of Christ then extant, or, at least, no other so +received and credited as to make it necessary to distinguish these from +the rest. + +But although Justin mentions not the author's name, he calls the books, +"Memoirs composed by the Apostles;" "Memoirs composed by the Apostles +and their Companions;" which descriptions, the latter especially, +exactly suit with the titles which the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles +now bear. + +VIII. Hegesippus (Lardner, Cred. vol. i. p. 314.) came about thirty +years after Justin. His testimony is remarkable only for this +particular; that he relates of himself that, travelling from Palestine +to Rome, he visited, on his journey, many bishops; and that, "in every +succession, and in every city, the same doctrine is taught, which the +Law and the Prophets, and the Lord teacheth." This is an important +attestation, from good authority, and of high antiquity. It is generally +understood that by the word "Lord," Hegesippus intended some writing or +writings, containing the teaching of Christ; in which sense alone the +term combines with the other term "Law and Prophets," which denote +writings; and together with them admit of the verb "teacheth" in the +present tense. Then, that these writings were some or all of the books +of the New Testament, is rendered probable from hence, that in the +fragments of his works, which are preserved in Eusebius, and in a writer +of the ninth century, enough, though it be little, is left to show, that +Hegesippus expressed divers thing in the style of the Gospels, and of +the Acts of the Apostles; that he referred to the history in the second +chapter of Matthew, and recited a text of that Gospel as spoken by our +Lord. + +IX. At this time, viz. about the year 170, the churches of Lyons and +Vienne, in France, sent a relation of the sufferings of their martyrs to +the churches of Asia and Phrygia. (Lardner, Cred. vol. i. p. 332.) The +epistle is preserved entire by Eusebius. And what carries in some +measure the testimony of these churches to a higher age, is, that they +had now for their bishop, Pothinus, who was ninety years old, and whose +early life consequently must have immediately joined on with the times +of the apostles. In this epistle are exact references to the Gospels of +Luke and John, and to the Acts of the Apostles; the form of reference +the same as in all the preceding articles. That from Saint John is in +these words: "Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by the Lord, that +whosoever killeth you, will think that he doeth God service." (John xvi. +2.) + +X. The evidence now opens upon us full and clear. Irenaeus (Lardner, +vol. i. p. 344.) succeeded Pothinus as bishop of Lyons. In his youth he +had been a disciple of Polycarp, who was a disciple of John. In the time +in which he lived, he was distant not much more than a century from the +publication of the Gospels; in his instruction only by one step +separated from the persons of the apostles. He asserts of himself and +his contemporaries, that they were able to reckon up, in all the +principal churches, the succession of bishops from the first. (Adv. +Haeres. 1. iii. c. 3.) I remark these particulars concerning Irenaeus +with more formality than usual, because the testimony which this writer +affords to the historical books of the New Testament, to their +authority, and to the titles which they bear, is express, positive, and +exclusive. One principal passage, in which this testimony is contained, +opens with a precise assertion of the point which we have laid down as +the foundation of our argument, viz., that the story which the Gospels +exhibit is the story which the apostles told. "We have not received," +saith Irenaeus, "the knowledge of the way of our salvation by any others +than those by whom the Gospel has been brought to us. Which Gospel they +first preached, and afterwards, by the will of God, committed to +writing, that it might be for time to come the foundation and pillar of +our faith.--For after that our Lord arose from the dead, and they (the +apostles) were endowed from above with the power of the Holy Ghost +coming down upon them, they received a perfect knowledge of all things. +They then went forth to all the ends of the earth, declaring to men the +Message of heavenly peace, having all of them, and every one, alike the +Gospel of God. Matthew then, among the Jews, wrote a Gospel in their own +language, while Peter and Paul were preaching the Gospel at Rome, and +founding a church there: and after their exit, Mark also, the disciple +and interpreter of Peter, delivered to us in writing the things that had +been preached by Peter and Luke, the companion of Paul, put down in a +book the Gospel preached by him (Paul). Afterwards John, the disciple of +the Lord, who also leaned upon his breast, he likewise published a +Gospel while he dwelt at Ephesus in Asia." If any modern divine should +write a book upon the genuineness of the Gospels, he could not assert it +more expressly, or state their original more distinctly, than Irenaeus +hath done within little more than a hundred years after they were +published. + +The correspondency, in the days of Irenaeus, of the oral and written +tradition, and the deduction of the oral tradition through various +channels from the age of the apostles, which was then lately passed, +and, by consequence, the probability that the books truly delivered what +the apostles taught, is inferred also with strict regularity from +another passage of his works. "The tradition of the apostles," this +father saith, "hath spread itself over the whole universe; and all they +who search after the sources of truth will find this tradition to be +held sacred in every church, We might enumerate all those who have been +appointed bishops to these churches by the apostles, and all their +successors, up to our days. It is by this uninterrupted succession that +we have received the tradition which actually exists in the church, as +also the doctrines of truth, as it was preached by the apostles." (Iren. +in Haer. I. iii. c. 3.) The reader will observe upon this, that the same +Irenaeus, who is now stating the strength and uniformity of the +tradition, we have before seen recognizing, in the fullest manner, the +authority of the written records; from which we are entitled to +conclude, that they were then conformable to each other. + +I have said that the testimony of Irenaeus in favour of our Gospels is +exclusive of all others. I allude to a remarkable passage in his works, +in which, for some reasons sufficiently fanciful, he endeavours to show +that there could he neither more nor fewer Gospels than four. With his +argument we have no concern. The position itself proves that four, and +only four, Gospels were at that time publicly read and acknowledged. +That these were our Gospels, and in the state in which we now have them, +is shown from many other places of this writer beside that which we have +already alleged. He mentions how Matthew begins his Gospel, bow Mark +begins and ends his, and their supposed reasons for so doing. He +enumerates at length the several passages of Christ's history in Luke, +which are not found in any of the other evangelists. He states the +particular design with which Saint John composed his Gospel, and +accounts for the doctrinal declarations which precede the narrative. + +To the book of the Acts of the Apostles, its author, and credit, the +testimony of Irenaeus is no less explicit. Referring to the account of +Saint Paul's conversion and vocation, in the ninth chapter of that book, +"Nor can they," says he, meaning the parties with whom he argues, "show +that he is not to be credited, who has related to us the truth with the +greatest exactness." In another place, he has actually collected the +several texts, in which the writer of the history is represented as +accompanying Saint Paul; which leads him to deliver a summary of almost +the whole of the last twelve chapters of the book. + +In an author thus abounding with references and allusions to the +Scriptures, there is not one to any apocryphal Christian writing +whatever. This is a broad line of distinction between our sacred books +and the pretensions of all others. + +The force of the testimony of the period which we have considered is +greatly strengthened by the observation, that it is the testimony, and +the concurring testimony, of writers who lived in countries remote from +one another. Clement flourished at Rome, Ignatius at Antioch, Polycarp +at Smyrna, Justin Martyr in Syria, and Irenaeus in France. + +XI. Omitting Athenagoras and Theophilus, who lived about this +time; (Lardner, vol. i. p. 400 & 422.) in the remaining works of the +former of whom are clear references to Mark and Luke; and in the works +of the latter, who was bishop of Antioch, the sixth in succession from +the apostles, evident allusions to Matthew and John, and probable +allusions to Luke (which, considering the nature of the compositions, +that they were addressed to heathen readers, is as much as could be +expected); observing also, that the works of two learned Christian +writers of the same age, Miltiades and Pantaenus, (Lardner, vol. i. p.413, +450.) are now lost: of which Miltiades Eusebius records, that his +writings "were monuments of zeal for the Divine Oracles;" and which +Pantaenus, as Jerome testifies, was a man of prudence and learning, both +in the Divine Scriptures and secular literature, and had left many +commentaries upon the Holy Scriptures then extant. Passing by these +without further remark, we come to one of the most voluminous of ancient +Christian writers, Clement of Alexandria (Lardner, vol. ii. p. 469.). +Clement followed Irenaeus at the distance of only sixteen years, and +therefore may be said to maintain the series of testimony in an +uninterrupted continuation. + +In certain of Clement's works, now lost, but of which various parts are +recited by Eusebius, there is given a distinct account of the order in +which the four Gospels were written. The Gospels which contain the +genealogies were (he says) written first; Mark's next, at the instance +of Peter's followers; and John's the last; and this account he tells us +that he had received from presbyters of more ancient times. This +testimony proves the following points; that these Gospels were the +histories of Christ then publicly received and relied upon; and that the +dates, occasions, and circumstances, of their publication were at that +time subjects of attention and inquiry amongst Christians. In the works +of Clement which remain, the four Gospels are repeatedly quoted by the +names of their authors, and the Acts of the Apostles is expressly +ascribed to Luke. In one place, after mentioning a particular +circumstance, he adds these remarkable words: "We have not this passage +in the four Gospels delivered to us, but in that according to the +Egyptians;" which puts a marked distinction between the four Gospels and +all other histories, or pretended histories, of Christ. In another part +of his works, the perfect confidence with which he received the Gospels +is signified by him in these words: "That this is true appears from +hence, that it is written in the Gospel according to Saint Luke;" and +again, "I need not use many words, but only to allege the evangelic +voice of the Lord." His quotations are numerous. The sayings of Christ, +of which he alleges many, are all taken from our Gospels; the single +exception to this observation appearing to be a loose quotation of a +passage in Saint Matthew's Gospel.* + +_________ + +* "Ask great things and the small shall be added unto you." Clement +rather chose to expound the words of Matthew (chap. vi. 33), than +literally to cite them; and this is most undeniably proved by another +place in the same Clement, where he both produces the text and these +words am an exposition:--"Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven and its +righteousness, for these are the great things; but the small things, and +things relating to this life, shall be added unto you." Jones's New and +Full Method, vol. i. p. 553. +_________ + + +XII. In the age in which they lived, (Lardner, vol. ii. p. 561.) +Tertullian joins on with Clement. The number of the Gospels then +received, the names of the evangelists, and their proper descriptions, +are exhibited by this writer in one short sentence:--"Among the apostles +John and Matthew teach us the faith; among apostolical men, Luke and +Mark refresh it." The next passage to be taken from Tertullian affords +as complete an attestation to the authenticity of our books as can be +well imagined. After enumerating the churches which had been founded by +Paul at Corinth, in Galatia, at Philippi, Thessalonica, and Ephesus; the +church of Rome established by Peter and Paul, and other churches derived +from John; he proceeds thus:--"I say, then, that with them, but not with +them only which are apostolical, but with all who have fellowship with +them in the same faith, is that Gospel of Luke received from its first +publication, which we so zealously maintain:" and presently afterwards +adds, "The same authority of the apostolical churches will support the +other Gospels which we have from them and according to them, I mean +John's and Matthew's; although that likewise which Mark published may be +said to be Peter's, whose interpreter Mark was." In another place +Tertullian affirms, that the three other Gospels were in the hands of +the churches from the beginning, as well as Luke's. This noble testimony +fixes the universality with which the Gospels were received and their +antiquity; that they were in the hands of all, and had been so from the +first. And this evidence appears not more than one hundred and fifty +years after the publication of the books. The reader must be given to +understand that, when Tertullian speaks of maintaining or defending +(tuendi) the Gospel of Saint Luke, he only means maintaining or +defending the integrity of the copies of Luke received by Christian +churches, in opposition to certain curtailed copies used by Marcion, +against whom he writes. + +This author frequently cites the Acts of the Apostles under that title, +once calls it Luke's Commentary, and observes how Saint Paul's epistles +confirm it. + +After this general evidence, it is unnecessary to add particular +quotations. These, however, are so numerous and ample as to have led Dr. +Lardner to observe, "that there are more and larger quotations of the +small volume of the New Testament in this one Christian author, than +there are of all the works of Cicero in writers of all characters for +several ages." (Lardner, vol ii. p. 647.) + +Tertullian quotes no Christian writing as of equal authority with the +Scriptures, and no spurious books at all; a broad line of distinction, +we may once more observe, between our sacred books and all others. + +We may again likewise remark the wide extent through which the +reputation of the Gospels, and of the Acts of the Apostles had spread, +and the perfect consent, in this point, of distant and independent +societies. It is now only about one hundred and fifty years since Christ +was crucified; and within this period, to say nothing of the apostolical +fathers who have been noticed already, we have Justin Martyr at +Neapolis, Theophilus at Antioch, Irenaeus in France, Clement at +Alexandria, Tertullian at Carthage, quoting the same books of historical +Scriptures, and I may say, quoting these alone. + +XIII. An interval of only thirty years, and that occupied by no small +number of Christian writers, (Minucius Felix, Apollonius, Caius, Asterius +Urbanus Alexander bishop of Jerusalem, Hippolytus, Ammonius Julius +Africanus) whose works only remain in fragments and quotations, and in +every one of which is some reference or other to the Gospels (and in one +of them, Hippolytus, as preserved in Theodoret, is an abstract of the +whole Gospel history), brings us to a name of great celebrity in +Christian antiquity, Origen (Lardner, vol. iii. p. 234.) of Alexandria, +who in the quantity of his writings exceeded the most laborious of the +Greek and Latin authors. Nothing can be more peremptory upon the subject +now under consideration, and, from a writer of his learning and +information, more satisfactory, than the declaration of Origen, +preserved, in an extract from his works, by Eusebius; "That the four +Gospels alone are received without dispute by the whole church of God +under heaven:" to which declaration is immediately subjoined a brief +history of the respective authors to whom they were then, as they are +now, ascribed. The language holden concerning the Gospels, throughout +the works of Origen which remain, entirely corresponds with the +testimony here cited. His attestation to the Acts of the Apostles is no +less Positive: "And Luke also once more sounds the trumpet, relating the +acts of the apostles." The universality with which the Scriptures were +then read is well signified by this writer in a passage in which he has +occasion to observe against Celsus, "That it is not in any private +books, or such as are read by a few only, and those studious persons, +but in books read by everybody, That it is written, The invisible things +of God from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood +by things that are made." It is to no purpose to single out quotations +of Scripture from such a writer as this. We might as well make a +selection of the quotations of Scripture in Dr. Clarke's Sermons. They +are so thickly sown in the works of Origen, that Dr. Mill says, "If we +had all his works remaining, we should have before us almost the whole +text of the Bible." (Mill, Proleg. esp. vi. p. 66.) + +Origen notices, in order to censure, certain apocryphal Gospels. He also +uses four writings of this sort; that is, throughout his large works he +once or twice, at the most, quotes each of the four; but always with +some mark, either of direct reprobation or of caution to his readers, +manifestly esteeming them of little or no authority. + +XIV. Gregory, bishop of Neocaesaea, and Dionysius of Alexandria, were +scholars of Origen. Their testimony, therefore, though full and +particular, may be reckoned a repetition only of his. The series, +however, of evidence is continued by Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, who +flourished within twenty years after Origen. "The church," said this +father, "is watered, like Paradise, by four rivers, that is, by four +Gospels." The Acts of the Apostles is also frequently quoted by Cyprian +under that name, and under the name of the "Divine Scriptures." In his +various writings are such constant and copious citations of Scripture, +as to place this part of the testimony beyond controversy. Nor is there, +in the works of this eminent African bishop, one quotation of a spurious +or apocryphal Christian writing. + +XV. Passing over a crowd* of writers following Cyprian at different +distances, but all within forty years of his time; and who all, in the +perfect remains of their works, either cite the historical Scriptures of +the New Testament, or speak of them in terms of profound respect: I +single out Victorin, bishop of Pettaw, in Germany, merely on account of +the remoteness of his situation from that of Origen and Cyprian, who +were Africans; by which circumstance his testimony, taken in conjunction +with theirs, proves that the Scripture histories, and the same +histories, were known and received from one side of the Christian world +to the other. This bishop (Lardner, vol. v. p. 214.) lived about the +year 290: and in a commentary upon this text of the Revelation, "The +first was like a lion, the second was like a calf, the third like a man, +and the fourth like a flying eagle," he makes out that by the four +creatures are intended the four Gospels; and, to show the propriety of +the symbols, he recites the subject with which each evangelist opens his +history. The explication is fanciful, but the testimony positive. He +also expressly cites the Acts of the Apostles. + +_________ + +* Novatus, Rome, A.D. 251; Dionysius, Rome, A.D. 259; Commodian, A.D. +270; Anatolius, Laodicea, A.D. 270; Theognostus A.D. 282; Methodius +Lycia, A.D. 290; Phileas, Egypt, A.D. 296. +_________ + + +XVI. Arnobius and Lactantius (Lardner, vol. viii. p. 43, 201.), about +the year 300, composed formal arguments upon the credibility of the +Christian religion. As these arguments were addressed to Gentiles, the +authors abstain from quoting Christian books by name, one of them giving +this very reason for his reserve; but when they came to state, for the +information of their readers, the outlines of Christ's history, it is +apparent that they draw their accounts from our Gospels, and from no +other sources; for these statements exhibit a summary of almost +everything which is related of Christ's actions and miracles by the four +evangelists. Arnobius vindicates, without mentioning their names, the +credit of these historians; observing that they were eye-witnesses of +the facts which they relate, and that their ignorance of the arts of +composition was rather a confirmation of their testimony, than an +objection to it. Lactantius also argues in defence of the religion, from +the consistency, simplicity, disinterestedness, and sufferings of the +Christian historians, meaning by that term our evangelists. + +XVII. We close the series of testimonies with that of Eusebius, (Lardner, +vol. viii. p. 33.) bishop of Caesarea who flourished in the year 315, +contemporary with, or posterior only by fifteen years to, the authors +last cited. This voluminous writer, and most diligent collector of the +writings of others, beside a variety of large works, composed a history +of the affairs of Christianity from its origin to his own time. His +testimony to the Scriptures is the testimony of a man much conversant in +the works of Christian authors, written during the first three centuries +of its era, and who had read many which are now lost. In a passage of +his Evangelical Demonstration, Eusebius remarks, with great nicety, the +delicacy of two of the evangelists, in their manner of noticing any +circumstance which regarded themselves; and of Mark, as writing under +Peter's direction, in the circumstances which regarded him. The +illustration of this remark leads him to bring together long quotations +from each of the evangelists: and the whole passage is a proof that +Eusebius, and the Christians of those days, not only read the Gospels, +but studied them with attention and exactness. In a passage of his +ecclesiastical History, he treats, in form, and at large, of the +occasions of writing the four Gospels, and of the order in which they +were written. The title of the chapter is, "Of the Order of the +Gospels;" and it begins thus: "Let us observe the writings of this +apostle John, which are not contradicted by any: and, first of all, must +be mentioned, as acknowledged by all, the Gospel according to him, +well-known to all the churches under heaven; and that it has been justly +placed by the ancients the fourth in order, and after the other three, +may be made evident in this manner."--Eusebius then proceeds to show +that John wrote the last of the four, and that his Gospel was intended +to supply the omissions of the others; especially in the part of our +Lord's ministry which took place before the imprisonment of John the +Baptist. He observes, "that the apostles of Christ were not studious of +the ornaments of composition, nor indeed forward to write at all, being +wholly occupied with their ministry." + +This learned author makes no use at all of Christian writings, forged +with the names of Christ's apostle, or their companions. We close this +branch of our evidence here, because, after Eusebius, there is no room +for any question upon the subject; the works of Christian writers being +as full of texts of Scripture, and of references to Scripture, as the +discourses of modern divines. Future testimonies to the books of Scripture +could only prove that they never lost their character or authority. + +SECTION II. + +When the Scriptures are quoted, or alluded to, they are quoted with +peculiar respect, as books sui generis; as possessing an authority which +belonged to no other books, and as conclusive in all questions and +controversies amongst Christians. + +Beside the general strain of reference and quotation, which uniformly +and strongly indicates this distinction, the following may be regarded +as specific testimonies: + +I. Theophilus, (Lardner, Cred. part ii. vol. i. p. 429.) bishop of +Antioch, the sixth in succession from the apostles, and who flourished +little more than a century after the books of the New Testament were +written, having occasion to quote one of our Gospels, writes thus: +"These things the Holy Scriptures teach us, and all who were moved by +the Holy Spirit, among whom John says, In the beginning was the Word, +and the Word was with God." Again: "Concerning the righteousness which +the law teaches, the like things are to be found in the prophets and the +Gospels, because that all, being inspired, spoke by one and the same +Spirit of God." (Lardner, Cred. part ii. vol. i. p. 448.) No words can +testify more strongly than these do, the high and peculiar respect in +which these books were holden. + +II. A writer against Artemon, (Lardner, Cred. part ii. vol. iii. p. 40.) +who may be supposed to come about one hundred and fifty-eight years +after the publication of the Scripture, in a passage quoted by +Eusebius, uses these expressions: "Possibly what they (our adversaries) +say, might have been credited, if first of all the Divine Scriptures did +not contradict them; and then the writings of certain brethren more +ancient than the times of Victor." The brethren mentioned by name are +Justin, Miltiades, Tatian, Clement, Irenaeus, Melito, with a general +appeal to many more not named. This passage proves, first, that there +was at that time a collection called Divine Scriptures; secondly, that +these Scriptures were esteemed of higher authority than the writings of +the most early and celebrated Christians. + +III. In a piece ascribed to Hippolytus, (Lardner, Cred. vol. iii. p. +112.) who lived near the same time, the author professes, in giving his +correspondent instruction in the things about which he inquires, "to +draw out of the sacred-fountain, and to set before him from the Sacred +Scriptures what may afford him satisfaction." He then quotes immediately +Paul's epistles to Timothy, and afterwards many books of the New +Testament. This preface to the quotations carries in it a marked +distinction between the Scriptures and other books. + +IV. "Our assertions and discourses," saith Origen, (Lardner, Cred. vol. +iii. pp. 287-289.) "are unworthy of credit; we must receive the +Scriptures as witnesses." After treating of the duty of prayer, he +proceeds with his argument thus: "What we have said, may be proved from +the Divine Scriptures." In his books against Celsus we find this +passage: "That our religion teaches us to seek after wisdom, shall be +shown, both out of the ancient Jewish Scriptures which we also use, and +out of those written since Jesus, which are believed in the churches to +be divine." These expressions afford abundant evidence of the peculiar +and exclusive authority which the Scriptures possessed. + +V. Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, (Lardner, Cred. vol. vi. p. 840.) whose +age lies close to that of Origen, earnestly exhorts Christian teachers, +in all doubtful cases, "to go back to the fountain; and, if the truth +has in any case been shaken, to recur to the Gospels and apostolic +writings."--"The precepts of the Gospel," says he in another place, "are +nothing less than authoritative divine lessons, the foundations of our +hope, the supports of our faith, the guides of our way, the safeguards +of our course to heaven." + +VI. Novatus, (Lardner, Cred. vol. v. p. 102.) a Roman contemporary with +Cyprian, appeals to the Scriptures, as the authority by which all +errors were to be repelled, and disputes decided. "That Christ is not +only man, but God also, is proved by the sacred authority of the Divine +Writings."--"The Divine Scripture easily detects and confutes the frauds +of heretics."--"It is not by the fault of the heavenly Scriptures, which +never deceive." Stronger assertions than these could not be used. + +VII. At the distance of twenty years from the writer last cited, +Anatolius (Lardner, Cred. vol. v. p. 146.), a learned Alexandrian, and +bishop of Laedicea, speaking of the rule for keeping Easter, a question +at that day agitated with much earnestness, says of those whom he +opposed, "They can by no means prove their point by the authority of the +Divine Scripture." + +VIII. The Arians, who sprung up about fifty years after this, argued +strenuously against the use of the words consubstantial, and essence, +and like phrases; "because they were not in Scripture." (Lardner, Cred. +vol. vii. pp. 283-284.) And in the same strain one of their advocates +opens a conference with Augustine, after the following manner: "If you +say what is reasonable, I must submit. If you allege anything from the +Divine Scriptures which are common to both, I must hear. But +unscriptural expressions (quae extra Scripturam sunt) deserve no +regard." + +Athanasius, the great antagonist of Arianism, after having enumerated +the books of the Old and New Testament, adds, "These are the fountain +of salvation, that he who thirsts may be satisfied with the oracles +contained in them. In these alone the doctrine of salvation is +proclaimed. Let no man add to them, or take anything from them." +(Lardner, Cred. vol. xii. p. 182.) + +IX. Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem (Lardner, Cred. vol. viii. p. 276.), who +wrote about twenty years after the appearance of Arianism, uses these +remarkable words: "Concerning the divine and holy mysteries of faith, +not the least article ought to be delivered without the Divine +Scriptures." We are assured that Cyril's Scriptures were the same as +ours, for he has left us a catalogue of the books included under that +name. + +X. Epiphanius, (Lardner, Cred. vol. viii. p. 314.) twenty years after +Cyril, challenges the Arians, and the followers of Origen, "to produce +any passage of the Old and New Testament favouring their sentiments." + +XI. Poebadius, a Gallic bishop, who lived about thirty years after the +council of Nice, testifies, that "the bishops of that council first +consulted the sacred volumes, and then declared their faith." (Lardner, +Cred. vol. ix. p. 52.) + +XII. Basil, bishop of Caesarea, in Cappadocia, contemporary with +Epiphanius, says, that "hearers instructed in the Scriptures ought to +examine what is said by their teachers, and to embrace what is agreeable +to the Scriptures, and to reject what is otherwise." (Lardner, Cred. +vol. ix. p. 124.) + +XIII. Ephraim, the Syrian, a celebrated writer of the same times, bears +this conclusive testimony to the proposition which forms the subject of +our present chapter: "the truth written in the Sacred Volume of the +Gospel is a perfect rule. Nothing can be taken from it nor added to it, +without great guilt." (Lardner, Cred. vol. ix. p. 202.) + +XIV. If we add Jerome to these, it is only for the evidence which he +affords of the judgment of preceding ages. Jerome observes, concerning +the quotations of ancient Christian writers, that is, of writers who +were ancient in the year 400, that they made a distinction between +books; some they quoted as of authority, and others not: which +observation relates to the books of Scripture, compared with other +writings, apocryphal or heathen. (Lardner, Cred. vol. x. pp. 123-124.) + +SECTION III. + +The Scriptures were in very early times collected into a distinct +volume. + +Ignatius, who was bishop of Antioch within forty years after the +Ascension, and who had lived and conversed with the apostles, speaks of +the Gospel and of the apostles in terms which render it very probable +that he meant by the Gospel the book or volume of the Gospels, and by +the apostles the book or volume of their Epistles. His words in one +place are, (Lardner, Cred. part ii. vol. i. p. 180.) "Fleeing to the +Gospel as the flesh of Jesus, and to the apostles as the presbytery of +the church;" that is, as Le Clere interprets them, "in order to +understand the will of God, he fled to the Gospels, which he believed no +less than if Christ in the flesh had been speaking to him; and to the +writings of the apostles, whom he esteemed as the presbytery of the +whole Christian church." It must be observed, that about eighty years +after this we have direct proof, in the writings of Clement of +Alexandria, (Lardner, Cred. part ii. vol. ii. p. 516.) that these two +names, "Gospel," and "Apostles," were the names by which the writings of +the New Testament, and the division of these writings, were usually +expressed. + +Another passage from Ignatius is the following:--"But the Gospel has +somewhat in it more excellent, the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ, +his passion and resurrection." (Lardner, Cred. part ii. vol. ii. p. +182.) + +And a third: "Ye ought to hearken to the Prophets, but especially to the +gospel, in which the passion has been manifested to us, and the +resurrection perfected." In this last passage, the Prophets and the +Gospel are put in conjunction; and as Ignatius undoubtedly meant by the +prophets a collection of writings, it is probable that he meant the same +by the Gospel, the two terms standing in evident parallelism with each +other. + +This interpretation of the word "Gospel," in the passages above quoted +from Ignatius, is confirmed by a piece of nearly equal antiquity, the +relation of the martyrdom of Polycarp by the church of Smyrna. "All +things," say they, "that went before, were done, that the Lord might +show us a martyrdom according to the Gospel, for he expected to be +delivered up as the Lord also did." (Ignat. Ep. c.i.) And in another +place, "We do not commend those who offer themselves, forasmuch as the +Gospel, teaches us no such thing." (Ignat. Ep. c. iv.) In both these +places, what is called the Gospel seems to be the history of Jesus +Christ, and of his doctrine. + +If this be the true sense of the passages, they are not only evidences +of our proposition, by strong and very ancient proofs of the high esteem +in which the books of the New Testament were holden. + +II. Eusebius relates, that Quadratus and some others, who were the +immediate successors of the apostles, travelling abroad to preach +Christ, carried the Gospels with them, and delivered them to their +converts. The words of Eusebius are: "Then travelling abroad, they +performed the work of evangelists, being ambitious to preach Christ, and +deliver the Scripture of the divine Gospels." (Lardner, Cred. part ii. +vol. i. p. 236.) Eusebius had before him the writings both of Quadratus +himself, and of many others of that age, which are now lost. It is +reasonable, therefore to believe that he had good grounds for his +assertion. What is thus recorded of the Gospels took place within sixty, +or at the most seventy, years after they were published: and it is +evident that they must, before this time (and, it is probable, long +before this time), have been in general use and in high esteem in the +churches planted by the apostles, inasmuch as they were now, we find, +collected into a volume: and the immediate successors of the apostles, +they who preached the religion of Christ to those who had not already +heard it, carried the volume with them, and delivered it to their +converts. + +III. Irenaeus, in the year 178, (Lardner, Cred. part ii. vol. i. p. 383.) +puts the evangelic and apostolic writings in connexion with the Law and +the Prophets, manifestly intending by the one a code or collection of +Christian sacred writings, as the other expressed the code or collection +of Jewish sacred writings. And, + +IV. Melito, at this time bishop of Sardis, writing to one Onesimus, +tells his correspondent, (Lardner, Cred. vol. i. p. 331.) that he had +procured an accurate account of the books of the Old Testament. The +occurrence in this message of the term Old Testament has been brought to +prove, and it certainly does prove, that there was then a volume or +collection of writings called the New Testament. + +V. In the time of Clement of Alexandria, about fifteen years after the +last quoted testimony, it is apparent that the Christian Scriptures were +divided into two parts, under the general titles of the Gospels and +Apostles; and that both these were regarded as of the highest authority. +One out of many expressions of Clement, alluding to this distribution, +is the following: "There is a consent and harmony between the Law and +the Prophets, the Apostles and the Gospel." (Lardner, Cred. vol. ii. p. +516.) + +VI. The same division, "Prophets, Gospels, and Apostles," appears in +Tertullian, the contemporary of Clement. The collection of the Gospels +is likewise called by this writer the "Evangelic Instrument;" the whole +volume the "New Testament;" and the two parts, the "Gospels and +Apostles." (Lardner, Cred. vol. ii. pp. 631,574 & 632.) + +VII. From many writers also of the third century, and especially from +Cyprian, who lived in the middle of it, it is collected that the +Christian Scriptures were divided into two cedes or volumes, one called +the "Gospels or Scriptures of the Lord," the other the "Apostles, or +Epistles of the Apostles" (Lardner, Cred. vol. iv. p. 846.) + +VIII. Eusebius, as we have already seen, takes some pains to show that +the Gospel of Saint John had been justly placed by the ancients, "the +fourth in order, and after the other three." (Lardner, Cred. vol. viii. +p. 90.) These are the terms of his proposition: and the very +introduction of such an argument proves incontestably, that the four +Gospels had been collected into a volume, to the exclusion of every +other: that their order in the volume had been adjusted with much +consideration; and that this had been done by those who were called +ancients in the time of Eusebius. + +In the Diocletian persecution, in the year 303, the Scriptures were +sought out and burnt:(Lardner, Cred. vol. vii. pp. 214 et seq.) many +suffered death rather than deliver them up; and those who betrayed them +to the persecutors were accounted as lapsed and apostate. On the other +hand, Constantine, after his conversion, gave directions for multiplying +copies of the Divine Oracles, and for magnificently adorning them at the +expense of the imperial treasury. (Lardner, Cred. vol. vii. p. 432.) What +the Christians of that age so richly embellished in their prosperity, +and, which is more, so tenaciously preserved under persecution, was the +very volume of the New Testament which we now read. + + +SECTION IV. + +Our present Sacred Writings were soon distinguished by appropriate names +and titles of respect. + +Polycarp. "I trust that ye are well exercised in the Holy +Scriptures;--as in these Scriptures it is said, Be ye angry and sin not, +and let not the sun go down upon your wrath." (Lardner, Cred. vol. i. p. +203.) This passage is extremely important; because it proves that, in +the time of Polycarp, who had lived with the apostles, there were +Christian writings distinguished by the name of "Holy Scriptures," or +Sacred Writings. Moreover, the text quoted by Polycarp is a text found +in the collection at this day. What also the same Polycarp hath +elsewhere quoted in the same manner, may be considered as proved to +belong to the collection; and this comprehends Saint Matthew's and, +probably, Saint Luke's Gospel, the Acts of the Apostles, ten epistles of +Paul, the First Epistle of Peter, and the First of John. (Lardner, Cred. +vol. i. p. 223.) In another place, Polycarp has these words: "Whoever +perverts the Oracles of the Lord to his own lusts, and says there is +neither resurrection nor judgment, he is the first born of Satan." +(Lardner, Cred. vol. i. p. 223.)--It does not appear what else Polycarp +could mean by the "Oracles of the Lord," but those same "Holy +Scriptures," or Sacred Writings, of which he had spoken before. + +II. Justin Martyr, whose apology was written about thirty years after +Polycarp's epistle, expressly cites some of our present histories under +the title of Gospel, and that not as a name by him first ascribed to +them, but as the name by which they were generally known in his time. +His words are these:--"For the apostles in the memoirs composed by them, +which are called Gospels, have thus delivered it, that Jesus commanded +them to take bread, and give thanks." (Lardner, Cred. vol. i. p. 271.) +There exists no doubt, but that, by the memoirs above-mentioned, Justin +meant our present historical Scriptures; for throughout his works he +quotes these and no others. + +III. Dionysius, bishop of Corinth, who came thirty years after Justin, +in a passage preserved in Eusebius (for his works are lost), speaks "of +the Scriptures of the Lord." (Lardner, Cred. vol. i. p. 298.) + +IV. And at the same time, or very nearly so, by Irenaeus, bishop of +Lyons in France, (The reader will observe the remoteness of these two +writers in country and situation) they are called "Divine +Scriptures,"--"Divine Oracles,"--"Scriptures of the Lord,"--"Evangelic +and Apostolic writings." (Lardner, Cred. vol. i. p. 343, et seq.) The +quotations of Irenaeus prove decidedly, that our present Gospels, and +these alone, together with the Acts of the Apostles, were the historical +books comprehended by him under these appellations. + +V. Saint Matthew's Gospel is quoted by Theophilus, bishop of Antioch, +contemporary with Irenaeus, under the title of the "Evangelic voice;" +(Lardner, Cred. vol. i. p. 427.) and the copious works of Clement of +Alexandria, published within fifteen years of the same time, ascribe +to the books of the New Testament the various titles of "Sacred +Books,"--"Divine Scriptures,"--"Divinely inspired Scriptures,"-- +"Scriptures of the Lord,"--"the true Evangelical Canon." +(Lardner, Cred. vol. ii. p. 515.) + +VI. Tertullian, who joins on with Clement, beside adopting most of the +names and epithets above noticed, calls the Gospels "our Digesta," in +allusion, as it should seem, to some collection of Roman laws then +extant. (Lardner, Cred. vol. ii. p. 630.) + +VII. By Origen, who came thirty years after Tertullian, the same, and +other no less strong titles, are applied to the Christian Scriptures: +and, in addition thereunto, this writer frequently speaks of the "Old +and New Testament,"--"the Ancient and New Scriptures,"--"the Ancient and +New Oracles." (Lardner, Cred. vol. iii. p. 230.) + +VIII. In Cyprian, who was not twenty years later, they are "Books of the +Spirit,"--"Divine Fountains,"--"Fountains of the Divine Fulness." +(Lardner, Cred. vol. iv. p. 844.) + +The expressions we have thus quoted are evidences of high and peculiar +respect. They all occur within two centuries from the publication of the +books. Some of them commence with the companions of the apostles; and +they increase in number and variety, through a series of writers +touching upon one another, and deduced from the first age of the +religion. + +SECTION V. + +Our Scriptures were publicly read and expounded in the religious +assemblies of the early Christians. Justin MARTYR, who wrote in the year +140, which was seventy or eighty years after some, and less, probably, +after others of the Gospels were published, giving, in his first apology +an account, to the Emperor, of the Christian worship has this remarkable +passage: + +"The Memoirs of the Apostles, or the Writings of the Prophets, are read +according as the time allows: and, when the reader has ended, the +president makes a discourse, exhorting to the imitation of so excellent +things." (Lardner, Cred. vol. i. p. 273.) + +A few short observations will show the value of this testimony. + +1. The "Memoirs of the Apostles," Justin in another place expressly +tells us, are what are called "Gospels:" and that they were the Gospels +which we now use, is made certain by Justin's numerous quotations of +them, and his silence about any others. + +2. Justin describes the general usage of the Christian church. + +3. Justin does not speak of it as recent or newly instituted, but in the +terms in which men speak of established customs. + +II. Tertullian, who followed Justin at the distance of about fifty +years, in his account of the religious assemblies of Christians as they +were conducted in his time, says, "We come together to recollect the +Divine Scriptures; we nourish our faith, raise our hope, confirm our +trust, by the Sacred Word." (Lardner, Cred. vol. ii. p. 628.) + +III. Eusebius records of Origen, and cites for his authority the letters +of bishops contemporary with Origen, that when he went into Palestine +about the year 216, which was only sixteen years after the date of +Tertullian's testimony, he was desired by the bishops of that country to +discourse and expound the Scriptures publicly in the church, though he +was not yet ordained a presbyter. (Lardner, Cred. vol. iii. p. 68.) This +anecdote recognises the usage, not only of reading, but of expounding +the Scriptures; and both as subsisting in full force. Origen also +himself bears witness to the same practice: "This," says he, "we do, +when the Scriptures are read in the church, and when the discourse for +explication is delivered to the people." (Lardner, Cred. vol. iii. p. +302.) And what is a still more ample testimony, many homilies of his +upon the Scriptures of the New Testament, delivered by him in the +assemblies of the church, are still extant. + +IV. Cyprian, whose age was not twenty years lower than that of Origen, +gives his people an account of having ordained two persons, who were +before confessors, to be readers; and what they were to read appears by +the reason which he gives for his choice; "Nothing," says Cyprian, "can +be more fit than that he who has made a glorious confession of the Lord +should read publicly in the church; that he who has shown himself +willing to die a martyr should read the Gospel of Christ by which +martyrs are made." (Lardner, Cred. vol. iv. p. 842.) + +V. Intimations of the same custom may be traced in a great number of +writers in the beginning and throughout the whole of the fourth century. +Of these testimonies I will only use one, as being, of itself, express +and full. Augustine, who appeared near the conclusion of the century, +displays the benefit of the Christian religion on this very account, the +public reading of the Scriptures in the churches, "where," says he, "is +a consequence of all sorts of people of both sexes; and where they hear +how they ought to live well in this world, that they may deserve to live +happily and eternally in another." And this custom he declares to be +universal: "The canonical books of Scripture being read every where, the +miracles therein recorded are well known to all people." (Lardner, Cred. +vol. x. p. 276, et seq.) + +It does not appear that any books, other than our present Scriptures +were thus publicly read, except that the epistle of Clement was read in +the church of Corinth, to which it had been addressed, and in some +others; and that the Shepherd of Hennas was read in many churches. Nor +does it subtract much from the value of the argument, that these two +writings partly come within it, because we allow them to be the genuine +writings of apostolical men. There is not the least evidence, that any +other Gospel than the four which we receive was ever admitted to this +distinction. + +SECTION VI. + +Commentaries were anciently written upon the Scriptures; harmonies +formed out of them; different copies carefully collated; and versions +made of them into different languages. + +No greater proof can be given of the esteem in which these books were +holden by the ancient Christians, or of the sense then entertained of +their value and importance, than the industry bestowed upon them. And +it ought to be observed that the value and importance of these books +consisted entirely in their genuineness and truth. There was nothing in +them, as works of taste or as compositions, which could have induced any +one to have written a note upon them. Moreover, it shows that they were +even then considered as ancient books. Men do not write comments upon +publications of their own times: therefore the testimonies cited under +this head afford an evidence which carries up the evangelic writings +much beyond the age of the testimonies themselves, and to that of their +reputed authors. + +I. Tatian, a follower of Justin Martyr, and who flourished about the +year 170, composed a harmony, or collation of the Gospels, which he +called Diatessaron, of the four. The title, as well as the work, is +remarkable; because it shows that then, as now, there were four, and +only four, Gospels in general use with Christians. And this was little +more than a hundred years after the publication of some of them. +(Lardner, Cred. vol. i. p. 307.) + +II. Pantaenus, of the Alexandrian school, a man of great reputation and +learning, who came twenty years after Tatian, wrote many commentaries +upon the Holy Scriptures, which, as Jerome testifies, were extant in his +time. (Lardner, Cred. vol. i. p. 455.) + +III. Clement of Alexandria wrote short explications of many books of the +Old and New Testament. (Lardner, Cred. vol. ii. p. 462.) + +IV. Tertullian appeals from the authority of a later version, then in +use, to the authentic Greek. (Lardner, Cred. vol. ii. p. 638.) + +V. An anonymous author, quoted by Eusebius, and who appears to have +written about the year 212, appeals to the ancient copies of the +Scriptures, in refutation of some corrupt readings alleged by the +followers of Artemon. (Lardner, Cred. vol. iii. p. 46.) + +VI. The same Eusebius, mentioning by name several writers of the church +who lived at this time, and concerning whom he says, "There still remain +divers monuments of the laudable industry of those ancient and +ecclesiastical men," (i. e. of Christian writers who were considered as +ancient in the year 300,) adds, "There are, besides, treatises of many +others, whose names we have not been able to learn, orthodox and +ecclesiastical men, as the interpretations of the Divine Scriptures +given by each of them show." (Lardner, Cred. vol. ii. p. 551.) + +VII. The last five testimonies may be referred to the year 200; +immediately after which, a period of thirty years gives us Julius +Africanus, who wrote an epistle upon the apparent difference in the +genealogies in Matthew and Luke, which he endeavours to reconcile by the +distinction of natural and legal descent, and conducts his hypothesis +with great industry through the whole series of generations. (Lardner, +Cred. vol. iii. p. 170.) + +Ammonius, a learned Alexandrian, who composed, as Tatian had done, a +harmony of the four Gospels, which proves, as Tatian's work did, that +there were four Gospels, and no more, at this time in use in the church. +It affords also on instance of the zeal of Christians for those +writings, and of their solicitude about them. (Lardner, Cred. vol. iii. +p. 122.) + +And, above both these, Origen, who wrote commentaries, or homilies, upon +most of the books included in the New Testament, and upon no other books +but these. In particular, he wrote upon Saint John's Gospel, very +largely upon Saint Matthew's, and commentaries, or homilies, upon the +Acts of the Apostles. (Lardner, Cred. vol. iii. pp. 352, 192, 202 & 245.) + +VIII. In addition to these, the third century likewise +contains--Dionysius of Alexandria, a very learned man, who compared, +with great accuracy, the accounts in the four Gospels of the time of +Christ's resurrection, adding a reflection which showed his opinion of +their authority: "Let us not think that the evangelists disagree or +contradict each other, although there be some small difference; but let +us honestly and faithfully endeavour to reconcile what we read." +(Lardner, Cred. vol. iv. p. 166.) + +Victorin, bishop of Pettaw, in Germany, who wrote comments upon Saint +Matthew's Gospel. (Lardner, Cred. vol. iv. p. 195.) + +Lucian, a presbyter of Antioch; and Hesychius, an Egyptian bishop, who +put forth editions of the New Testament. + +IX. The fourth century supplies a catalogue* of fourteen writers, who +expended their labours upon the books of the New Testament, and whose +works or names are come down to our times; amongst which number it may +be sufficient, for the purpose of showing the sentiments and studies of +learned Christians of that age, to notice the following: + +_________ + +* Eusebius ...... A.D. 315 +Juvencus, Spain ..... 330 +Theodore, Thrace .... 334 +Hilary, Poletiers .... 340 +Fortunatus ..... 354 +Apollinarius of Loadicea 362 +Damasus, Rome ..... 366 +Gregory, Nyssen .... 371 +Didimus of Alex, . . . . 370 +Ambrose of Milan ..... 374 +Diodore of Tarsus ..... 378 +Gaudent of Brescia .... 387 +Theodore of Cilicia .... 395 +Jerome ........ 392 +Chrysostom ...... 398 +_________ + + +Eusebius, in the very beginning of the century, wrote expressly upon the +discrepancies observable in the Gospels, and likewise a treatise, in +which he pointed out what things are related by four, what by three, +what by two, and what by one evangelist. (Lardner, Cred. vol. viii. p. +46.) This author also testifies what is certainly a material piece of +evidence, "that the writings of the apostles had obtained such an esteem +as to be translated into every language both of Greeks and Barbarians, +and to be diligently studied by all nations." (Lardner, Cred. vol. viii. +p. 201.) This testimony was given about the year 300; how long before +that date these translations were made does not appear. + +Damasus, bishop of Rome, corresponded with Saint Jerome upon the +exposition of difficult texts of Scripture; and, in a letter still +remaining, desires Jerome to give him a clear explanation of the word +Hosanna, found in the New Testament; "He (Damasus) having met with very +different interpretations of it in the Greek and Latin commentaries of +Catholic writers which he had read." (Lardner, Cred. vol. ix. P. 108) +This last clause shows the number and variety of commentaries then +extant. + +Gregory of Nyssen, at one time, appeals to the most exact copies of +Saint Mark's Gospel; at another time, compares together, and proposes to +reconcile, the several accounts of the Resurrection given by the four +Evangelists; which limitation proves that there were no other histories +of Christ deemed authentic beside these, or included in the same +character with these. This writer observes, acutely enough, that "the +disposition of the clothes in the sepulchre, the napkin that was about +our Saviour's head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped +together in a place by itself, did not bespeak the terror and hurry of +thieves, and therefore refutes the story of the body being +stolen." (Lardner, Cred. vol. ix. p. 163.) + +Ambrose, bishop of Milan, remarked various readings in the Latin copies +of the New Testament, and appeals to the original Greek; + +And Jerome, towards the conclusion of this century, put forth an edition +of the New Testament in Latin, corrected, at least as to the Gospels, by +Greek copies, and "those (he says) ancient." + +Lastly, Chrysostom, it is well known, delivered and published a great +many homilies, or sermons, upon the Gospels and the Acts of the +Apostles. + +It is needless to bring down this article lower, but it is of importance +to add, that there is no example of Christian writers of the first three +centuries composing comments upon any other books than those which are +found in the New Testament, except the single one of Clement of +Alexandria commenting upon a book called the Revelation of Peter. + +Of the ancient versions of the New Testament, one of the most valuable +is the Syriac. Syriac was the language of Palestine when Christianity +was there first established. And although the books of Scripture were +written in Greek, for the purpose of a more extended circulation than +within the precincts of Judea, yet it is probable that they would soon +be translated into the vulgar language of the country where the religion +first prevailed. Accordingly, a Syriac translation is now extant, all +along, so far as it appears, used by the inhabitants of Syria, bearing +many internal marks of high antiquity, supported in its pretensions by +the uniform tradition of the East, and confirmed by the discovery of +many very ancient manuscripts in the libraries of Europe, It is about +200 years since a bishop of Antioch sent a copy of this translation into +Europe to be printed; and this seems to be the first time that the +translation became generally known to these parts of the world. The +bishop of Antioch's Testament was found to contain all our books, except +the second epistle of Peter, the second and third of John, and the +Revelation; which books, however, have since been discovered in that +language in some ancient manuscripts of Europe. But in this collection, +no other book, besides what is in ours, appears ever to have had a +place. And, which is very worthy of observation, the text, though +preserved in a remote country, and without communication with ours, +differs from ours very little, and in nothing that is important (Jones +on the Canon, vol. i. e. 14.). + + +SECTION VII. + +Our Scriptures were received by ancient Christians of different sects +and persuasions, but many Heretics as well as Catholics, and were +usually appealed to by both sides in the controversies which arose in +those days. + +The three most ancient topics of controversy amongst Christians were, +the authority of the Jewish constitution, the origin of evil, and the +nature of Christ. Upon the first of these we find, in very early times, +one class of heretics rejecting the Old Testament entirely; another +contending for the obligation of its law, in all its parts, throughout +its whole extent, and over every one who sought acceptance with God. +Upon the two latter subjects, a natural, perhaps, and venial, but a +fruitless, eager, and impatient curiosity, prompted by the philosophy +and by the scholastic habits of the age, which carried men much into +bold hypotheses and conjectural solutions, raised, amongst some who +professed Christianity, very wild and unfounded opinions. I think there +is no reason to believe that the number of these bore any considerable +proportion to the body of the Christian church; and, amidst the disputes +which such opinions necessarily occasioned, it is a great satisfaction +to perceive what, in a vast plurality of instances, we do perceive, all +sides recurring to the same Scriptures. + +*I. Basilides lived near the age of the apostles, about the year 120, or, +perhaps, sooner. (Lardner, vol. ix. p. 271.) He rejected the Jewish +institution, not as spurious, but as proceeding from a being inferior to +the true God; and in other respects advanced a scheme of theology widely +different from the general doctrine of the Christian church, and which, +as it gained over some disciples, was warmly opposed by Christian +writers of the second and third century. In these writings there is +positive evidence that Basilides received the Gospel of Matthew; and +there is no sufficient proof that he rejected any of the other three: on +the contrary, it appears that he wrote a commentary upon the Gospel, so +copious as to be divided into twenty-four books. (Lardner, vol. ix. ed. +1788, p. 305, 306.) + +_________ + +* The materials of the former part of this section are taken from Dr. +Lardner's History of the Heretics of the first two centuries, published +since his death, with additions, by the Rev. Mr. Hogg, of Exeter, and +inserted into the ninth volume of his works, of the edition of 1778. +_________ + + +II. The Valentinians appeared about the same time. Their heresy +consisted in certain notions concerning angelic natures, which can +hardly be rendered intelligible to a modern reader. They seem, however, +to have acquired as much importance as any of the separatists of that +early age. Of this sect, Irenaeus, who wrote A.D. 172, expressly records +that they endeavoured to fetch arguments for their opinions from the +evangelic and apostolic writings. Heracleon, one of the most celebrated +of the sect, and who lived probably so early as the year 125, wrote +commentaries upon Luke and John. Some observations also of his upon +Matthew are preserved by Origen. Nor is there any reason to doubt that +he received the whole New Testament. (Lardner, vol. ix. ed. 1788, pp. +350-351; vol. i. p. 383; vol. ix. ed. 1788, p. 352-353.) + +III. The Carpocratians were also an early heresy, little, if at all, +later than the two preceding. Some of their opinions resembled what we +at this day mean by Socinianism. With respect to the Scriptures, they +are specifically charged, by Irenaeus and by Epiphanius, with +endeavouring to pervert a passage in Matthew, which amounts to a +positive proof that they received that Gospel. Negatively, they are not +accused, by their adversaries, of rejecting any part of the New +Testament. (Lardner, vol. ix. ed. 1788, pp. 309 & 318.) + +IV. The Sethians, A.D. 150; the Montanists, A.D. 156; the Marcosigns, +A.D. 160; Hermogenes, A.D. 180; Praxias, A.D. 196; Artemon, A.D. 200; +Theodotus, A.D. 200; all included under the denomination of heretics, +and all engaged in controversies with Catholic Christians, received the +Scriptures of the New Testament. (Lardner, vol. ix. ed. 1788, pp. 455, +482, 348, 473, 433, 466.) + +V. Tatian, who lived in the year 172, went into many extravagant +opinions, was the founder of a sect called Encratites, and was deeply +involved in disputes with the Christians of that age; yet Tatian so +received the four Gospels as to compose a harmony from them. + +VI. From a writer quoted by Eusebius, of about the year 200, it is +apparent that they who at that time contended for the mere humanity of +Christ, argued from the Scriptures; for they are accused by this writer +of making alterations in their copies in order to favour their +opinions. (Lardner, vol. iii. P. 46.) + +VII. Origen's sentiments excited great controversies,--the bishops of +Rome and Alexandria, and many others, condemning, the bishops of the +east espousing them; yet there is not the smallest question but that +both the advocates and adversaries of these opinions acknowledged the +same authority of Scripture. In his time, which the reader will remember +was about one hundred and fifty years after the Scriptures were +published, many dissensions subsisted amongst Christians, with which +they were reproached by Celsus; yet Origen, who has recorded this +accusation without contradicting it, nevertheless testifies, that the +four Gospels were received without dispute, by the whole church of God +under heaven. (Lardner, vol. iv. ed. 1788, p. 642.) + +VIII. Paul of Samosata, about thirty years after Origen, so +distinguished himself in the controversy concerning the nature of Christ +as to be the subject of two councils or synods, assembled at Antioch, +upon his opinions. Yet he is not charged by his adversaries with +rejecting any book of the New Testament. On the contrary, Epiphanius, +who wrote a history of heretics a hundred years afterwards, says, that +Paul endeavoured to support his doctrine by texts of Scripture. And +Vincentius Lirinensis, A.D. 434, speaking of Paul and other heretics of +the same age, has these words: "Here, perhaps, some one may ask whether +heretics also urge the testimony of Scripture. They urge it, indeed, +explicitly and vehemently; for you may see them flying through every +book of the sacred law." (Lardner, vol. ix. p. 158.) + +IX. A controversy at the same time existed with the Noetians or +Sabellians, who seem to have gone into the opposite extreme from that of +Paul of Samosata and his followers. Yet according to the express +testimony of Epiphanius, Sabellius received all the Scriptures. And with +both sects Catholic writers constantly allege the Scriptures, and reply +to the arguments which their opponents drew from particular texts. + +We have here, therefore, a proof, that parties who were the most +opposite and irreconcilable to one another acknowledged the authority of +Scripture with equal deference. + +X. And as a general testimony to the same point, may be produced what +was said by one of the bishops of the council of Carthage, which was +holden a little before this time:--"I am of opinion that blasphemous and +wicked heretics, who pervert the sacred and adorable words of the +Scripture, should be execrated." Undoubtedly, what they perverted they +received. (Lardner, vol. ix. p. 839.) + +XI. The Millennium, Novatianism, the baptism of heretics, the keeping of +Easter, engaged also the attention and divided the opinions of +Christians, at and before that time (and, by the way, it may be +observed, that such disputes, though on some accounts to be blamed, +showed how much men were in earnest upon the subject.); yet every one +appealed for the grounds of his opinion to Scripture authority. +Dionysius of Alexandria, who flourished A.D. 247, describing a +conference or public disputation, with the Millennarians of Egypt, +confesses of them, though their adversary, "that they embrace whatever +could be made out by good arguments, from the Holy Scriptures." +(Lardner, vol. iv. p. 666.) Novatus, A.D. 251, distinguished by some +rigid sentiments concerning the reception of those who had lapsed, and +the founder of a numerous sect, in his few remaining works quotes the +Gospel with the same respect as other Christians did; and concerning his +followers, the testimony of Socrates, who wrote about the year 440, is +positive, viz. "That in the disputes between the Catholics and them, +each side endeavoured to support itself by the authority of the Divine +Scriptures" (Lardner, vol. v. p. 105.) + +XII. The Donatists, who sprung up in the year 328, used the same +Scriptures as we do. "Produce," saith Augustine, "some proof from the +Scriptures, whose authority is common to us both" (Lardner, vol. vii. p. +243.) + +XIII. It is perfectly notorious, that in the Arian controversy, which +arose soon after the year 300, both sides appealed to the same +Scriptures, and with equal professions of deference and regard. The +Arians, in their council of Antioch, A.D. 341, pronounce that "if any +one, contrary to the sound doctrine of the Scriptures, say, that the Son +is a creature, as one of the creatures, let him be an anathema." +(Lardner, vol. vii. p. 277.) They and the Athanasians mutually accuse +each other of using unscriptural phrases; which was a mutual +acknowledgment of the conclusive authority of Scripture. + +XIV. The Priscillianists, A.D. 378, the Pelagians, A.D. 405 received the +same Scriptures as we do. (Lardner, vol. ix. p. 325; vol. xi p. 52.) + +XV. The testimony of Chrysostom, who lived near the year 400, is so +positive in affirmation of the proposition which we maintain, that it +may form a proper conclusion of the argument. "The general reception of +the Gospels is a proof that their history is true and consistent; for, +since the writing of the Gospels, many heresies have arisen, holding +opinions contrary to what is contained in them, who yet receive the +Gospels either entire or in part." (Lardner, vol. x. p. 316.) I am not +moved by what may seem a deduction from Chrysostom's testimony, the +words, "entire or in part;" for if all the parts which were ever +questioned in our Gospels were given up, it would not affect the +miraculous origin of the religion in the smallest degree: e.g. + +Cerinthus is said by Epiphanius to have received the Gospel of Matthew, +but not entire. What the omissions were does not appear. The common +opinion, that he rejected the first two chapters, seems to have been a +mistake. (Lardner, vol. ix. ed. 1788, p. 322.) It is agreed, however, by +all who have given any account of Cerinthus, that he taught that the +Holy Ghost (whether he meant by that name a person or a power) descended +upon Jesus at his baptism; that Jesus from this time performed many +miracles, and that he appeared after his death. He must have retained +therefore the essential parts of the history. + +Of all the ancient heretics, the most extraordinary was Marcion. +(Lardner, vol. ix. sect. ii. c. x. Also Michael vol. i. c. i. sect. +xviii.) One of his tenets was the rejection of the Old Testament, as +proceeding from an inferior and imperfect Deity; and in pursuance of +this hypothesis, he erased from the New, and that, as it should seem, +without entering into any critical reasons, every passage which +recognised the Jewish Scriptures. He spared not a text which +contradicted his opinion. It is reasonable to believe that Marcion +treated books as he treated texts: yet this rash and wild +controversialist published a recension, or chastised edition of Saint +Luke's Gospel, containing the leading facts, and all which is necessary +to authenticate the religion. This example affords proof that there were +always some points, and those the main points, which neither wildness +nor rashness, neither the fury of opposition nor the intemperance of +controversy, would venture to call in question. There is no reason to +believe that Marcion, though full of resentment against the Catholic +Christians, ever charged them with forging their books. "The Gospel of +Saint Matthew, the Epistle to the Hebrews, with those of Saint Peter and +Saint James, as well as the Old Testament in general" he said, "were +writings not for Christians but for Jews." This declaration shows the +ground upon which Marcion proceeded in his mutilation of the Scriptures, +viz., his dislike of the passages or the books. Marcion flourished about +the year 130.* + +_________ + +* I have transcribed this sentence from Michaelis (p. 38), who has not, +however, referred to the authority upon which he attributes these words +to Marcion. +_________ + + +Dr. Lardner, in his General Review, sums up this head of evidence in the +following words:--"Noitus, Paul of Samosata, Sabellius, Marcelins, +Photinus, the Novatiana, Donatists, Manicheans (This must be with an +exception, however, of Faustus, who lived so late us the year 354), +Priscillianists, beside Artemon, the Audians, the Arians, and divers +others, all received most of all the same books of the New Testament +which the Catholics received; and agreed in a like respect for them as +written by apostles, or their disciples and companions." (Lardner, vol. +iii. p. 12.--Dr. Lardner's future inquiries supplied him with many other +instances.) + +SECTION VIII. + +The four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, thirteen Epistles of Saint +Paul the First Epistle of John, and the First of Peter, were received +without doubt by those who doubted concerning the other books which are +included in our present Canon. + +I state this proposition, because, if made out, it shows that the +authenticity of their books was a subject amongst the early Christians +of consideration and inquiry; and that, where there was cause of doubt, +they did doubt; a circumstance which strengthens very much their +testimony to such books as were received by them with full acquiescence. + +I. Jerome, in his account of Caius, who was probably a presbyter of +Rome, and who flourished near the year 200, records of him, that, +reckoning up only thirteen epistles of Paul, he says the fourteenth, +which is inscribed to the Hebrews, is not his: and then Jerome adds, +"With the Romans to this day it is not looked upon as Paul's." This +agrees in the main with the account given by Eusebius of the same +ancient author and his work; except that Eusebius delivers his own +remark in more guarded terms: "And indeed to this very time, by some of +the Romans, this epistle is not thought to be the apostle's." (Lardner, +vol. iii. p. 240.) + +II. Origen, about twenty years after Caius, quoting the Epistle to the +Hebrews, observes that some might dispute the authority of that epistle; +and therefore proceeds to quote to the same point, as undoubted books of +Scripture, the Gospel of Saint Matthew, the Acts of the Apostles, and +Paul's First Epistle to the Thessalonians. (Lardner, vol. iii. p. 246.) +and in another place, this author speaks of the Epistle to the Hebrews +thus: "The account come down to us is various; some saying that Clement +who was bishop of Rome, wrote this epistle; others, that it was Luke, +the same who wrote the Gospel and the Acts." Speaking also, in the same +paragraph, of Peter, "Peter," says he, "has left one epistle, +acknowledged; let it be granted likewise that he wrote a second, for it +is doubted of." And of John, "He has also left one epistle, of a very +few lines; grant also a second and a third, for all do not allow them to +be genuine." Now let it be noted, that Origen, who thus discriminates, +and thus confesses his own doubts and the doubts which subsisted in his +time, expressly witnesses concerning the four Gospels, "that they alone +are received without dispute by the whole church of God under heaven." +(Lardner, vol. iii. p. 234.) + +III. Dionysius of Alexandria, in the year 247, doubts concerning the +Book of Revelation, whether it was written by Saint John; states the +grounds of his doubt, represents the diversity of opinion concerning it, +in his own time, and before his time. (Lardner, vol. iv. p. 670.) Yet +the same Dionysius uses and collates the four Gospels in a manner which +shows that he entertained not the smallest suspicion of their authority, +and in a manner also which shows that they, and they alone, were +received as authentic histories of Christ. (Lardner, vol. iv. p. 661.) + +IV. But this section may be said to have been framed on purpose to +introduce to the reader two remarkable passages extant in Eusebius's +Ecclesiastical History. The first passage opens with these words:--"Let +us observe the writings of the apostle John which are uncontradicted: +and first of all must be mentioned, as acknowledged of all, the Gospel +according to him, well known to all the churches under heaven." The +author then proceeds to relate the occasions of writing the Gospels, and +the reasons for placing Saint John's the last, manifestly speaking of +all the four as parallel in their authority, and in the certainty of +their original. (Lardner, vol. viii. p. 90.) The second passage is taken +from a chapter, the title of which is, "Of the Scriptures universally +acknowledged, and of those that are not such." Eusebius begins his +enumeration in the following manner:--"In the first place are to be +ranked the sacred four Gospels; then the book of the Acts of the +Apostles; after that are to be reckoned the Epistles of Paul. In the +next place, that called the First Epistle of John, and the Epistle of +Peter, are to be esteemed authentic. After this is to be placed, if it +be thought fit, the Revelation of John, about which we shall observe the +different opinions at proper seasons. Of the controverted, but yet well +known or approved by the most, are, that called the Epistle of James, +and that of Jude, and the Second of Peter, and the Second and Third of +John, whether they are written by the evangelist, or another of the same +name." (Lardner, vol. viii. p. 39.) He then proceeds to reckon up five +others, not in our canon, which he calls in one place spurious, in +another controverted, meaning, as appears to me, nearly the same thing +by these two words.* + + +_________ + +* That Eusebius could not intend, by the word +rendered 'spurious' what we at present mean by it, is evident from a +clause in this very chapter where, speaking of the Gospels of Peter, and +Thomas and Matthias, and some others, he says, "They the are not so much +as to be reckoned among the spurious, but are altogether absurd and +impious." (Lardner, vol. viii. p. 99.) +_________ + + +It is manifest from this passage, that the four Gospels, and the Acts of +the Apostles (the parts of Scripture with which our concern principally +lies), were acknowledged without dispute, even by those who raised +objections, or entertained doubts, about some other parts of the same +collection. But the passage proves something more than this. The author +was extremely conversant in the writings of Christians which had been +published from the commencement of the institution to his own time: and +it was from these writings that he drew his knowledge of the character +and reception of the books in question. That Eusebius recurred to this +medium of information, and that he had examined with attention this +species of proof, is shown, first, by a passage in the very chapter we +are quoting, in which, speaking of the books which he calls spurious, +"None," he says, "of the ecclesiastical writers, in the succession of +the apostles, have vouchsafed to make any mention of them in their +writings;" and, secondly, by another passage of the same work, wherein, +speaking of the First Epistle of Peter, "This," he says, "the presbyters +of ancient times have quoted in their writings as undoubtedly genuine;" +(Lardner, vol. viii. p. 99.) and then, speaking of some other writings +bearing the name of Peter, "We know," he says, "that they have not been +delivered down to us in the number of Catholic writings, forasmuch as no +ecclesiastical writer of the ancients, or of our times, has made use of +testimonies out of them." "But in the progress of this history," the +author proceeds, "we shall make it our business to show, together with +the successions from the apostles, what ecclesiastical writers, in every +age, have used such writings as these which are contradicted, and what +they have said with regard to the Scriptures received in the New +Testament, and acknowledged by all, and with regard to those which are +not such." (Lardner, vol. viii. p. 111) + +After this it is reasonable to believe that when Eusebius states the +four Gospels, and the Acts of the Apostles, as uncontradicted, +uncontested, and acknowledged by all; and when he places them in +opposition, not only to those which were spurious, in our sense of that +term, but to those which were controverted, and even to those which were +well known and approved by many, yet doubted of by some; he represents +not only the sense of his own age, but the result of the evidence which +the writings of prior ages, from the apostles' time to his own, had +furnished to his inquiries. The opinion of Eusebius and his +contemporaries appears to have been founded upon the testimony of +writers whom they then called ancient: and we may observe, that such of +the works of these writers as have come down to our times entirely +confirm the judgment, and support the distinction which Eusebius +proposes. The books which he calls "books universally acknowledged" are +in fact used and quoted in time remaining works of Christian writers, +during the 250 years between the apostles' time and that of Eusebius, +much more frequently than, and in a different manner from, those the +authority of which, he tells us, was disputed. + +SECTION IX. + +Our historical Scriptures were attacked by the early adversaries of +Christianity, as containing the accounts upon which the Religion was +founded. + +Near the middle of the second century, Celsus, a heathen philosopher, +wrote a professed treatise against Christianity. To this treatise +Origen, who came about fifty years after him, published an answer, in +which he frequently recites his adversary's words and arguments. The +work of Celsus is lost; but that of Origen remains. Origen appears to +have given us the words of Celsus, where he professes to give them, very +faithfully; and amongst other reasons for thinking so, this is one, that +the objection, as stated by him from Celsus, is sometimes stronger than +his own answer. I think it also probable that Origen, in his answer, has +retailed a large portion of the work of Celsus: + +"That it may not be suspected," he says, "that we pass by any chapters +because we have no answers at hand, I have thought it best, according to +my ability, to confute everything proposed by him, not so much +observing the natural order of things, as the order which he has taken +himself." (Orig. cont. Cels. I. i. sect. 41.) + +Celsus wrote about one hundred years after the Gospels were published; +and therefore any notices of these books from him are extremely +important for their antiquity. They are, however, rendered more so by +the character of the author; for the reception, credit, and notoriety of +these books must have been well established amongst Christians, to have +made them subjects of animadversion and opposition by strangers and by +enemies. It evinces the truth of what Chrysostom, two centuries +afterwards, observed, that "the Gospels, when written, were not hidden +in a corner or buried in obscurity, but they were made known to all the +world, before enemies as well as others, even as they are now." (In +Matt. Hom. I. 7.) + +1. Celsus, or the Jew whom he personates, uses these words:--"I could +say many things concerning the affairs of Jesus, and those, too, +different from those written by the disciples of Jesus; but I purposely +omit them." (Lardner, Jewish and Heathen Test. vol. ii. p. 274.) Upon +this passage it has been rightly observed, that it is not easy to +believe, that if Celsus could have contradicted the disciples upon good +evidence in any material point, he would have omitted to do so, and that +the assertion is, what Origen calls it, a mere oratorical flourish. + +It is sufficient, however, to prove that, in the time of Celsus, there +were books well known, and allowed to be written by the disciples of +Jesus, which books contained a history of him. By the term disciples, +Celsus does not mean the followers of Jesus in general; for them he +calls Christians, or believers, or the like; but those who had been +taught by Jesus himself, i.e. his apostles and companions. + +2. In another passage, Celsus accuses the Christians of altering the +Gospel. (Lardner, Jewish and Heathen Test. Vol. ii. p. 275.) The +accusation refers to some variations in the readings of particular +passages: for Celsus goes on to object, that when they are pressed hard, +and one reading has been confuted, they disown that, and fly to another. +We cannot perceive from Origen, that Celsus specified any particular +instances, and without such specification the charge is of no value. But +the true conclusion to be drawn from it is, that there were in the hands +of the Christians histories which were even then of some standing: for +various readings and corruptions do not take place in recent +productions. + +The former quotation, the reader will remember, proves that these books +were composed by the disciples of Jesus, strictly so called; the present +quotation shows, that though objections were taken by the adversaries of +the religion to the integrity of these books, none were made to their +genuineness. + +3. In a third passage, the Jew whom Celsus introduces shuts up an +argument in this manner:--"these things then we have alleged to you out +of your own writings, not needing any other weapons." (Lardner, vol. ii. +p. 276.) It is manifest that this boast proceeds upon the supposition +that the books over which the writer affects to triumph possessed an +authority by which Christians confessed themselves to be bound. + +4. That the books to which Celsus refers were no other than our present +Gospels, is made out by his allusions to various passages still found in +these Gospels. Celsus takes notice of the genealogies, which fixes two +of these Gospels; of the precepts, Resist not him that injures you, and +if a man strike thee on the one cheek, offer to him the other also; of +the woes denounced by Christ; of his predictions; of his saying, That it +is impossible to serve two masters; ( Lardner, vol. ii. pp. 276-277.) Of +the purple robe, the crown of thorns, and the reed in his hand; of the +blood that flowed from the body of Jesus upon the cross, which +circumstance is recorded by John alone; and (what is instar omnium for +the purpose for which we produce it) of the difference in the accounts +given of the resurrection by the evangelists, some mentioning two angels +at the sepulchre, ethers only one. (Lardner, vol. ii. pp. 280, 281, & +283.) + +It is extremely material to remark, that Celsus not only perpetually +referred to the accounts of Christ contained in the four Gospels, but +that he referred to no other accounts; that he founded none of his +objections to Christianity upon any thing delivered in spurious Gospels. +(The particulars, of which the above are only a few, are well collected +by Mr. Bryant, p. 140.) + +II. What Celsus was in the second century, Porphyry became in the third. +His work, which was a large and formal treatise against the Christian +religion, is not extant. We must be content, therefore, to gather his +objections from Christian writers, who have noticed in order to answer +them; and enough remains of this species of information to prove +completely, that Porphyry's animadversions were directed against the +contents of our present Gospels, and of the Acts of the Apostles; +Porphyry considering that to overthrow them was to overthrow the +religion. Thus he objects to the repetition of a generation in Saint +Matthew's genealogy; to Matthew's call; to the quotation of a text from +Isaiah, which is found in a psalm ascribed to Asaph; to the calling of +the lake of Tiberius a sea; to the expression of Saint Matthew, "the +abomination of desolation;" to the variation in Matthew and Mark upon +the text, "the voice of one crying in the wilderness," Matthew citing it +from Isaias, Mark from the Prophets; to John's application of the term +"Word;" to Christ's change of intention about going up to the feast of +Tabernacles (John vii. 8); to the judgment denounced by Saint Peter upon +Ananias and Sapphira, which he calls an "imprecation of death." (Jewish +and Heathen Test. Vol. iii. p. 166, et seq.) + +The instances here alleged serve, in some measure, to show the nature of +Porphyry's objections, and prove that Porphyry had read the Gospels with +that sort of attention which a writer would employ who regarded them as +the depositaries of the religion which he attacked. Besides these +specifications, there exists, in the writings of ancient Christians, +general evidence that the places of Scripture upon which Porphyry had +remarked were very numerous. + +In some of the above-cited examples, Porphyry, speaking of Saint +Matthew, calls him your Evangelist; he also uses the term evangelists in +the plural number. What was said of Celsus is true likewise of Porphyry, +that it does not appear that he considered any history of Christ except +these as having authority with Christians. + +III. A third great writer against the Christian religion was the emperor +Julian, whose work was composed about a century after that of Porphyry. + +In various long extracts, transcribed from this work by Cyril and +Jerome, it appears, (Jewish and Heathen Test. vol. iv. p. 77, et seq.) +that Julian noticed by name Matthew and Luke, in the difference between +their genealogies of Christ that he objected to Matthew's application of +the prophecy, "Out of Egypt have I called my son" (ii. 15), and to that +of "A virgin shall conceive" (i. 23); that he recited sayings of Christ, +and various passages of his history, in the very words of the +evangelists; in particular, that Jesus healed lame and blind people, and +exorcised demoniacs in the villages of Bethsaida and Bethany; that he +alleged that none of Christ's disciples ascribed to him the creation of +the world, except John; that neither Paul, nor Matthew, nor Luke, nor +Mark, have dared to call Jesus God; that John wrote later than the other +evangelists, and at a time when a great number of men in the cities of +Greece and Italy were converted; that he alludes to the conversion of +Cornelius and of Sergius Paulus, to Peter's vision, to the circular +letter sent by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem, which are all +recorded in the Acts of the Apostles: by which quoting of the four +Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, and by quoting no other, Julian +shows that these were the historical books, and the only historical +books, received by Christians as of authority, and as the authentic +memoirs of Jesus Christ, of his apostles, and of the doctrines taught by +them. But Julian's testimony does something more than represent the +judgment of the Christian church in his time. It discovers also his own. +He himself expressly states the early date of these records; he calls +them by the names which they now bear. He all along supposes, he nowhere +attempts to question, their genuineness. + +The argument in favour of the books of the New Testament, drawn from the +notice taken of their contents by the early writers against the +religion, is very considerable. It proves that the accounts which +Christians had then were the accounts which we have now; that our +present Scriptures were theirs. It proves, moreover, that neither Celsus +in the second, Porphyry in the third, nor Julian in the fourth century, +suspected the authenticity of these books, or ever insinuated that +Christians were mistaken in the authors to whom they ascribed them. Not +one of them expressed an opinion upon this subject different from that +which was holden by Christians. And when we consider how much it would +have availed them to have cast a doubt upon this point, if they could; +and how ready they showed themselves to be to take every advantage in +their power; and that they were all men of learning and inquiry: their +concession, or rather their suffrage, upon the subject is extremely +valuable. + +In the case of Porphyry, it is made still stronger, by the consideration +that he did in fact support himself by this species of objection when he +saw any room for it, or when his acuteness could supply any pretence for +alleging it. The prophecy of Daniel he attacked upon this very ground of +spuriousness, insisting that it was written after the time of Antiochus +Epiphanes, and maintains his charge of forgery by some far-fetched +indeed, but very subtle criticisms. Concerning the writings of the New +Testament, no trace of this suspicion is anywhere to be found in him. +(Michaelis's Introduction to the New Testament, vol. i. p. 43. Marsh's +Translation.) + + + + + +SECTION X. + +Formal catalogues of authentic Scriptures were published, in all which +our present sacred histories were included. + +This species of evidence comes later than the rest; as it was not +natural that catalogues of any particular class of books should be put +forth until Christian writings became numerous; or until some writings +showed themselves, claiming titles which did not belong to them, and +thereby rendering it necessary to separate books of authority from +others. But, when it does appear, it is extremely satisfactory; the +catalogues, though numerous, and made in countries at a wide distance +from one another, differing very little, differing in nothing which is +material, and all containing the four Gospels. To this last article +there is no exception. + +I. In the writings of Origen which remain, and in some extracts +preserved by Eusebius, from works of his which are now lost, there are +enumerations of the books of Scriptures, in which the Four Gospels and +the Acts of the Apostles are distinctly and honourably specified, and in +which no books appear beside what are now received. The reader, by this +time, will easily recollect that the date of Origen's works is A.D. 230. +(Lardner, Cred. vol. iii. p. 234, et seq.; vol. viii. p. 196.) + +II. Athanasias, about a century afterwards, delivered a catalogue of the +books of the New Testament in form, containing our Scriptures and no +others; of which he says, "In these alone the doctrine of Religion is +taught; let no man add to them, or take anything from them." (Lardner, +Cred. vol. ii. p. 223.) + +III. About twenty years after Athanasius, Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem, +set forth a catalogue of the books of Scripture, publicly read at that +time in the church of Jerusalem, exactly the same as ours, except that +the "Revelation" is omitted. (Lardner, Cred. vol. ii. p. 270.) + +IV. And fifteen years after Cyril, the council of Laodicea delivered an +authoritative catalogue of canonical Scripture, like Cyril's, the same +as ours with the omission of the "Revelation." + +V. Catalogues now became frequent. Within thirty years after the last +date, that is, from the year 363 to near the conclusion of the fourth +century, we have catalogues by Epiphanius, (Lardner, Cred. vol. ii. p. +368.) by Gregory Nazianzen, by Philaster, bishop of Breseia in Italy, +(Lardner, Cred. vol. ix. p. 132 & 373.) by Amphilochius, bishop of +Iconium; all, as they are sometimes called, clean catalogues (that is, +they admit no books into the number beside what we now receive); and +all, for every purpose of historic evidence, the same as +ours. (Epiphanius omits the Acts of the Apostles. This must have been an +accidental mistake, either in him or in some copyist of his work; for +he elsewhere expressly refers to this book, and ascribes it to Luke.) + +VI. Within the same period Jerome, the most learned Christian writer of +his age, delivered a catalogue of the hooks of the New Testament, +recognising every book now received, with the intimation of a doubt +concerning the Epistle to the Hebrews alone, and taking not the least +notice of any book which is not now received. (Lardner, Cred. vol. x. p. +77.) + +VII. Contemporary with Jerome, who lived in Palestine, was St. +Augustine, in Africa, who published likewise a catalogue, without +joining to the Scriptures, as books of authority, any other +ecclesiastical writing whatever, and without omitting one which we at +this day acknowledge. (Lardner, Cred. vol. x. p. 213.) + +VIII. And with these concurs another contemporary writer, Rufen, +presbyter of Aquileia, whose catalogue, like theirs, is perfect and +unmixed, and concludes with these remarkable words: "These are the +volumes which the fathers have included in the canon, and out of which +they would have us prove the doctrine of our faith." (Lardner, Cred. +vol. x. p. 187.) + + + + + +SECTION XI. + +These propositions cannot be predicated of any of those books which are +commonly called Apocryphal Books of the New Testament. + +I do not know that the objection taken from apocryphal writings is at +present much relied upon by scholars. But there are many, who, hearing +that various Gospels existed in ancient times under the names of the +apostles, may have taken up a notion, that the selection of our present +Gospels from the rest was rather an arbitrary or accidental choice, than +founded in any clear and certain cause of preference. To these it may be +very useful to know the truth of the case. I observe, therefore:-- + +I. That, beside our Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, no Christian +history, claiming to be written by an apostle or apostolical man, is +quoted within three hundred years after the birth of Christ, by any +writer now extant or known; or, if quoted, is not quoted but with marks +of censure and rejection. + +I have not advanced this assertion without inquiry; and I doubt not but +that the passages cited by Mr. Jones and Dr. Lardner, under the several +titles which the apocryphal books bear; or a reference to the places +where they are mentioned as collected in a very accurate table, +published in the year 1773, by the Rev. J. Atkinson, will make out the +truth of the proposition to the satisfaction of every fair and competent +judgment. If there be any book which may seem to form an exception to +the observation, it is a Hebrew Gospel, which was circulated under the +various titles of, the Gospel according to the Hebrews, the Gospel of +the Nazarenes, of the Ebionites, sometimes called of the Twelve, by some +ascribed to St Matthew. This Gospel is once, and only once, cited by +Clemeus Alexandrinus, who lived, the reader will remember, in the latter +part of the second century, and which same Clement quotes one or other +of our four Gospels in almost every page of his work. It is also twice +mentioned by Origen, A.D. 230; and both times with marks of diminution +and discredit. And this is the ground upon which the exception stands. +But what is still more material to observe is, that this Gospel, in the +main, agreed with our present Gospel of Saint Matthew. (In applying to +this Gospel what Jerome in the latter end of the fourth century has +mentioned of a Hebrew Gospel, I think it probable that we sometimes +confound it with a Hebrew copy of St. Matthew's Gospel, whether an +original or version, which was then extant.) + +Now if, with this account of the apocryphal Gospels, we compare what we +have read concerning the canonical Scriptures in the preceding sections; +or even recollect that general but well-founded assertion of Dr. +Lardner, "That in the remaining works of Irenaeus, Clement of +Alexandria, and Tertullian, who all lived in the first two centuries, +there are more and larger quotations of the small volume of the New +Testament than of all the works of Cicero, by writers of all characters, +for several ages;" (Lardner, Cred. vol. xii. p. 53.) and if to this we +add that, notwithstanding the loss of many works of the primitive times +of Christianity, we have, within the above-mentioned period, the remains +of Christian writers who lived in Palestine, Syria, Asia Minor, Egypt, +the part of Africa that used the Latin tongue, in Crete, Greece, Italy, +and Gaul, in all which remains references are found to our evangelists; +I apprehend that we shall perceive a clear and broad line of division +between those writings and all others pretending to similar authority. + +II. But beside certain histories which assumed the names of apostles, +and which were forgeries properly so called, there were some other +Christian writings, in the whole or in part of an historical nature, +which, though not forgeries, are denominated apocryphal, as being of +uncertain or of no authority. + +Of this second class of writings, I have found only two which are +noticed by any author of the first three centuries without express terms +of condemnation: and these are, the one a book entitled the Preaching of +Peter, quoted repeatedly by Clemens Alexandrinus, A.D. 196; the other a +book entitled the Revelation of Peter, upon which the above-mentioned +Clemens Alexandrinus is said by Eusebius to have written notes; and +which is twice cited in a work still extant, ascribed to the same +author. + +I conceive, therefore, that the proposition we have before advanced, +even after it hath been subjected to every exception of every kind that +can be alleged, separates, by a wide interval, our historical Scriptures +from all other writings which profess to give an account of the same +subject. + +We may be permitted however to add,-- + +1. That there is no evidence that any spurious or apocryphal books +whatever existed in the first century of the Christian era, in which +century all our historical books are proved to have been extant. "There +are no quotations of any such books in the apostolical fathers, by whom +I mean Barnabas, Clement of Rome, Hermas, Ignatius, and Polycarp, whose +writings reach from about the year of our Lord 70 to the year 108 (and +some of whom have quoted each and every one of our historical +Scriptures): I say this," adds Dr. Lardner, "because I think it has been +proved." (Lardner, Cred. vol. xii. p. 158.) + +2. These apocryphal writings were not read in the churches of +Christians; + +3. Were not admitted into their volume; + +4. Do not appear in their catalogues; + +5. Were not noticed by their adversaries; + +6. Were not alleged by different parties, as of authority in their +controversies; + +7. Were not the subjects, amongst them, of commentaries, versions, +collections, expositions. + +Finally; beside the silence of three centuries, or evidence within that +time of their rejection, they were, with a consent nearly universal, +reprobated by Christian writers of succeeding ages. + +Although it be made out by these observations that the books in question +never obtained any degree of credit and notoriety which can place them +in competition with our Scriptures; yet it appears from the writings of +the fourth century, that many such existed in that century, and in the +century preceding it. It may be difficult at this distance of time to +account for their origin. + +Perhaps the most probable explication is, that they were in general +composed with a design of making a profit by the sale. Whatever treated +of the subject would find purchasers. It was an advantage taken of the +pious curiosity of unlearned Christians. With a view to the same +purpose, there were many of them adapted to the particular opinions of +particular sects, which would naturally promote their circulation +amongst the favourers of those opinions. After all, they were probably +much more obscure than we imagine. Except the Gospel according to the +Hebrews, there is none of which we hear more than the Gospel of the +Egyptians; yet there is good reason to believe that Clement, a presbyter +of Alexandria in Egypt, A.D. 184, and a man of almost universal +reading, had never seen it. (Jones, vol. i. p. 243.) A Gospel according +to Peter was another of the most ancient books of this kind; yet +Serapion, bishop of Antioch, A.D. 200, had not read it, when he heard of +such a book being in the hands of the Christians of Rhossus in Cillcia; +and speaks of obtaining a sight of this Gospel from some sectaries who +used it. (Lardner, Cred. vol. ii. p. 557.) Even of the Gospel of the +Hebrews, which confessedly stands at the head of the catalogue, Jerome, +at the end of the fourth century, was glad to procure a copy by the +favour of the Nazarenes of Berea. Nothing of this sort ever happened, or +could have happened, concerning our Gospels. + +One thing is observable of all the apocryphal Christian writings, viz. +that they proceed upon the same fundamental history of Christ and his +apostles as that which is disclosed in our Scriptures. The mission of +Christ, his power of working miracles, his communication of that power +to the apostles, his passion, death, and resurrection, are assumed or +asserted by every one of them. The names under which some of them came +forth are the names of men of eminence in our histories. What these +books give are not contradictions, but unauthorised additions. The +principal facts are supposed, the principal agents the same; which shows +that these points were too much fixed to be altered or disputed. + +If there be any book of this description which appears to have imposed +upon some considerable number of learned Christians, it is the Sibylline +oracles; but when we reflect upon the circumstances which facilitated +that imposture, we shall cease to wonder either at the attempt or its +success. It was at that time universally understood that such a +prophetic writing existed. Its contents were kept secret. This situation +afforded to some one a hint, as well as an opportunity, to give out a +writing under this name, favourable to the already established +persuasion of Christians, and which writing, by the aid and +recommendation of these circumstances, would in some degree, it is +probable, be received. Of the ancient forgery we know but little; what +is now produced could not, in my opinion, have imposed upon any one. It +is nothing else than the Gospel history woven into verse; perhaps was at +first rather a fiction than a forgery; an exercise of ingenuity, more +than an attempt to deceive. + + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +RECAPITULATION. + +The reader will now be pleased to recollect, that the two points which +form the subject of our present discussion are, first, that the Founder +of Christianity, his associates, and immediate followers, passed their +lives in labours, dangers, and sufferings; secondly, that they did so in +attestation of the miraculous history recorded in our Scriptures, and +solely in consequence of their belief of the truth of that history. + +The argument, by which these two propositions have been maintained by +us, stands thus: + +No historical fact, I apprehend, is more certain, than that the original +propagators of Christianity voluntarily subjected themselves to lives of +fatigue, danger, and suffering, in the prosecution of their undertaking. +The nature of the undertaking; the character of the persons employed in +it; the opposition of their tenets to the fixed opinions and +expectations of the country in which they first advanced them; their +undissembled condemnation of the religion of all other countries; their +total want of power, authority, or force--render it in the highest +degree probable that this must have been the case. The probability is +increased by what we know of the fate of the Founder of the institution, +who was put to death for his attempt; and by what we also know of the +cruel treatment of the converts to the institution, within thirty years +after its commencement: both which points are attested by heathen +writers, and, being once admitted, leave it very incredible that the +primitive emissaries of the religion, who exercised their ministry, +first, amongst the people who had destroyed their Master, and, +afterwards, amongst those who persecuted their converts, should +themselves escape with impunity, or pursue their purpose in ease and +safety. This probability, thus sustained by foreign testimony, is +advanced, I think, to historical certainty, by the evidence of our own +books; by the accounts of a writer who was the companion of the persons +whose sufferings he relates; by the letters of the persons themselves by +predictions of persecutions ascribed to the Founder of the religion, +which predictions would not have been inserted in his history, much less +have been studiously dwelt upon, if they had not accorded with the +event, and which, even if falsely ascribed to him, could only have been +so ascribed, because the event suggested them; lastly, by incessant +exhortations to fortitude and patience, and by an earnestness, +repetition, and urgency upon the subject, which were unlikely to have +appeared if there had not been, at the time, some extraordinary call for +the exercise of these virtues. + +It is made out also, I think, with sufficient evidence, that both the +teachers and converts of the religion, in consequence of their new +profession, took up a new course of life and behaviour. + +The next great question is, what they did this FOR. That it was for a +miraculous story of some kind or other, is to my apprehension extremely +manifest; because, as to the fundamental article, the designation of the +person, viz. that this particular person, Jesus of Nazareth, ought to be +received as the Messiah, or as a messenger from God, they neither had, +nor could have, anything but miracles to stand upon. That the exertions +and sufferings of the apostles were for the story which we have now, is +proved by the consideration that this story is transmitted to us by two +of their own number, and by two others personally connected with them; +that the particularity of the narrative proves that the writers claimed +to possess circumstantial information, that from their situation they +had full opportunity of acquiring such information, that they certainly, +at least, knew what their colleagues, their companions, their masters +taught; that each of these books contains enough to prove the truth of +the religion; that if any one of them therefore be genuine, it is +sufficient; that the genuineness, however, of all of them is made out, +as well by the general arguments which evince the genuineness of the +most undisputed remains of antiquity, as also by peculiar and specific +proofs, viz. by citations from them in writings belonging to a period +immediately contiguous to that in which they were published; by the +distinguished regard paid by early Christians to the authority of these +books; (which regard was manifested by their collecting of them into a +volume, appropriating to that volume titles of peculiar respect, +translating them into various languages, digesting them into harmonies, +writing commentaries upon them, and, still more conspicuously, by the +reading of them in their public assemblies in all parts of the world) +by an universal agreement with respect to these books, whilst doubts +were entertained concerning some others; by contending sects appealing +to them; by the early adversaries of the religion not disputing their +genuineness, but, on the contrary, treating them as the depositaries of +the history upon which the religion was founded; by many formal +catalogues of these, as of certain and authoritative writings, published +in different and distant parts of the Christian world; lastly, by the +absence or defect of the above-cited topics of evidence, when applied to +any other histories of the same subject. + +These are strong arguments to prove that the books actually proceeded +from the authors whose names they bear (and have always borne, for there +is not a particle of evidence to show that they ever went under any +other); but the strict genuineness of the books is perhaps more than is +necessary to the support of our proposition. For even supposing that, by +reason of the silence of antiquity, or the loss of records, we knew not +who were the writers of the four Gospels, yet the fact that they were +received as authentic accounts of the transaction upon which the +religion rested, and were received as such by Christians at or near the +age of the apostles, by those whom the apostles had taught, and by +societies which the apostles had founded; this fact, I say, connected +with the consideration that they are corroborative of each other's +testimony, and that they are further corroborated by another +contemporary history taking up the story where they had left it, and, in +a narrative built upon that story, accounting for the rise and +production of changes in the world, the effects of which subsist at this +day; connected, moreover, with the confirmation which they receive from +letters written by the apostles themselves, which both assume the same +general story, and, as often as occasions lead them to do so, allude to +particular parts of it; and connected also with the reflection, that if +the apostles delivered any different story it is lost; (the present and +no other being referred to by a series of Christian writers, down from +their age to our own; being like-wise recognised in a variety of +institutions, which prevailed early and universally, amongst the +disciples of the religion;) and that so great a change as the oblivion +of one story and the substitution of another, under such circumstances, +could not have taken place: this evidence would be deemed, I apprehend, +sufficient to prove concerning these books, that, whoever were the +authors of them, they exhibit the story which the apostles told, and for +which, consequently, they acted and they suffered. + +If it be so, the religion must be true. These men could not be +deceivers. By only not bearing testimony, they might have avoided all +these sufferings, and have lived quietly. Would men in such +circumstances pretend to have seen what they never saw; assert facts +which they had no knowledge of; go about lying to teach virtue; and, +though not only convinced of Christ's being an impostor, but having seen +the success of his imposture in his crucifixion, yet persist in carrying +it on; and so persist, as to bring upon themselves for nothing, and with +a full knowledge of the consequence, enmity and hatred, danger and +death? + + +========================================= + +OF THE DIRECT HISTORICAL EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. + +PROPOSITION II. + +CHAPTER I. + +Our first proposition was, That there is satisfactory evidence that many +pretending to be original witnesses of the Christian miracles, passed +their lives in labours, dangers, and sufferings, voluntarily undertaken +and undergone in attestation of the accounts which they delivered, and +solely in consequence of their belief of the truth of those accounts; +and that they also submitted, from the same motives, to new rules of +conduct. + +Our second proposition, and which now remains to be treated of, is, That +there is NOT satisfactory evidence, that persons pretending to be +original witnesses of any other similar miracles have acted in the same +manner, in attestation of the accounts which they delivered, and solely +in consequence of their belief of the truth of those accounts. + +I enter upon this part of my argument, by declaring how far my belief in +miraculous accounts goes. If the reformers in the time of Wickliffe, or +of Luther; or those of England in the time of Henry the Eighth, or of +Queen Mary; or the founders of our religious sects since, such as were +Mr. Whitfield and Mr. Wesley in our times--had undergone the life of +toil and exertion, of danger and sufferings, which we know that many of +them did undergo, for a miraculous story; that is to say, if they had +founded their public ministry upon the allegation of miracles wrought +within their own knowledge, and upon narratives which could not be +resolved into delusion or mistake; and if it had appeared that their +conduct really had its origin in these accounts, I should have believed +them. Or, to borrow an instance which will be familiar to every one of +my readers, if the late Mr. Howard had undertaken his labours and +journeys in attestation, and in consequence of a clear and sensible +miracle, I should have believed him also. Or, to represent the same +thing under a third supposition; if Socrates had professed to perform +public miracles at Athens; if the friends of Socrates, Phaedo, Cebes, +Crito, and Simmias, together with Plato, and many of his followers, +relying upon the attestations which these miracles afforded to his +pretensions, had, at the hazard of their lives, and the certain expense +of their ease and tranquillity, gone about Greece, after his death, to +publish and propagate his doctrines: and if these things had come to our +knowledge, in the same way as that in which the life of Socrates is now +transmitted to us through the hands of his companions and disciples, +that is, by writings received without doubt as theirs, from the age in +which they were published to the present, I should have believed this +likewise. And my belief would, in each case, be much strengthened, if +the subject of the mission were of importance to the conduct and +happiness of human life; if it testified anything which it behoved +mankind to know from such authority; if the nature of what it delivered +required the sort of proof which it alleged; if the occasion was adequate +to the interposition, the end worthy of the means. In the last ease, my +faith would be much confirmed if the effects of the transaction +remained; more especially if a change had been wrought, at the time, in +the opinion and conduct of such numbers as to lay the foundation of an +institution, and of a system of doctrines, which had since overspread +the greatest part of the civilized world. I should have believed, I say, +the testimony in these cases; yet none of them do more than come up to +the apostolic history. + +If any one choose to call assent to its evidence credulity, it is at +least incumbent upon him to produce examples in which the same evidence +hath turned out to be fallacious. And this contains the precise question +which we are now to agitate. + +In stating the comparison between our evidence, and what our adversaries +may bring into competition with ours, we will divide the distinctions +which we wish to propose into two kinds,--those which relate to the +proof, and those which relate to the miracles. Under the former head we +may lay out of the case:-- + +I. Such accounts of supernatural events as are found only in histories +by some ages posterior to the transaction; and of which it is evident +that the historian could know little more than his reader. Ours is +contemporary history. This difference alone removes out of our way the +miraculous history of Pythagoras, who lived five hundred years before +the Christian era, written by Porphyry and Jamblicus, who lived three +hundred years after that era; the prodigies of Livy's history; the +fables of the heroic ages; the whole of the Greek and Roman, as well as +of the Gothic mythology; a great part of the legendary history of Popish +saints, the very best attested of which is extracted from the +certificates that are exhibited during the process of their +canonization, a ceremony which seldom takes place till a century after +their deaths. It applies also with considerable force to the miracles of +Apollonius Tyaneus, which are contained in a solitary history of his +life, published by Philostratus above a hundred years after his death; +and in which, whether Philostratus had any prior account to guide him, +depends upon his single unsupported assertion. Also to some of the +miracles of the third century, especially to one extraordinary instance, +the account of Gregory, bishop of Neocesarea, called Thaumaturgus, +delivered in the writings of Gregory of Nyssen, who lived one hundred +and thirty years after the subject of his panegyric. + +The value of this circumstance is shown to have been accurately +exemplified in the history of Ignatius Loyola, founder of the order of +Jesuits. (Douglas's Criterion of Miracles, p. 74.) His life, written by a +companion of his, and by one of the order, was published about fifteen +years after his death. In which life, the author, so far from ascribing +any miracles to Ignatius, industriously states the reasons why he was +not invested with any such power. The life was republished fifteen years +afterwards, with the addition of many circumstances which were the +fruit, the author says, of further inquiry, and of diligent examination; +but still with a total silence about miracles. When Ignatius had been +dead nearly sixty years, the Jesuits, conceiving a wish to have the +founder of their order placed in the Roman calendar, began, as it should +seem, for the first time, to attribute to him a catalogue of miracles +which could not then be distinctly disproved; and which there was, in +those who governed the church, a strong disposition to admit upon the +slenderest proofs. + +II. We may lay out of the case accounts published in one country, of +what passed in a distant country, without any proof that such accounts +were known or received at home. In the case of Christianity, Judea, +which was the scene of the transaction, was the centre of the mission. +The story was published in the place in which it was acted. The church +of Christ was first planted at Jerusalem itself. With that church others +corresponded. From thence the primitive teachers of the institution went +forth; thither they assembled. The church of Jerusalem, and the several +churches of Judea, subsisted from the beginning, and for many ages; +received also the same books and the same accounts as other churches +did. (The succession of many eminent bishops of Jerusalem in the first +three centuries is distinctly preserved; as Alexander, A.D. 212, who +succeeded Narcissus, then 116 years old.) + +This distinction disposes, amongst others, of the above-mentioned +miracles of Apollonius Tyaneus, most of which are related to have been +performed in India; no evidence remaining that either the miracles +ascribed to him, or the history of those miracles, were ever heard of in +India. Those of Francis Xavier, the Indian missionary, with many others +of the Romish breviary, are liable to the same objection, viz. that the +accounts of them were published at a vast distance from the supposed +scene of the wonders. (Douglas's Crit. p. 84.) + +III. We lay out of the case transient rumours. Upon the first +publication of an extraordinary account, or even of an article of +ordinary intelligence, no one who is not personally acquainted with the +transaction can know whether it be true or false, because any man may +publish any story. It is in the future confirmation, or contradiction, +of the account; in its permanency, or its disappearance; its dying away +into silence, or its increasing in notoriety; its being followed up by +subsequent accounts, and being repeated in different and independent +accounts--that solid truth is distinguished from fugitive lies. This +distinction is altogether on the side of Christianity. The story did not +drop. On the contrary, it was succeeded by a train of action and events +dependent upon it. The accounts which we have in our hands were composed +after the first reports must have subsided. They were followed by a +train of writings upon the subject. The historical testimonies of the +transaction were many and various, and connected with letters, +discourses, controversies, apologies, successively produced by the same +transaction. + +IV. We may lay out of the case what I call naked history. It has been +said, that if the prodigies of the Jewish history had been found only in +fragments of Manetho, or Berosus, we should have paid no regard to them: +and I am willing to admit this. If we knew nothing of the fact, but from +the fragment; if we possessed no proof that these accounts had been +credited and acted upon, from times, probably, as ancient as the +accounts themselves; if we had no visible effects connected with the +history, no subsequent or collateral testimony to confirm it; under +these circumstances I think that it would be undeserving of credit. But +this certainly is not our case. In appreciating the evidence of +Christianity, the books are to be combined with the institution; with +the prevalency of the religion at this day; with the time and place of +its origin, which are acknowledged points; with the circumstances of its +rise and progress, as collected from external history; with the fact of +our present books being received by the votaries of the institution from +the beginning; with that of other books coming after these, filled with +accounts of effects and consequences resulting from the transaction, or +referring to the transaction, or built upon it; lastly, with the +consideration of the number and variety of the books themselves, the +different writers from which they proceed, the different views with +which they were written, so disagreeing as to repel the suspicion of +confederacy, so agreeing as to show that they were founded in a common +original, i. e. in a story substantially the same. Whether this proof be +satisfactory or not, it is properly a cumulation of evidence, by no +means a naked or solitary record. + +V. A mark of historical truth, although only a certain way, and to a +certain degree, is particularity in names, dates, places, circumstances, +and in the order of events preceding or following the transaction: of +which kind, for instance, is the particularity in the description of St. +Paul's voyage and shipwreck, in the 27th chapter of the Acts, which no +man, I think, can read without being convinced that the writer was +there; and also in the account of the cure and examination of the blind +man in the 9th chapter of St. John's Gospel, which bears every mark of +personal knowledge on the part of the historian. (Both these chapters +ought to be read for the sake of this very observation.) I do not deny +that fiction has often the particularity of truth; but then it is of +studied and elaborate fiction, or of a formal attempt to deceive, that +we observe this. Since, however, experience proves that particularity is +not confined to truth, I have stated that it is a proof of truth only to +a certain extent, i. e. it reduces the question to this, whether we can +depend or not upon the probity of the relater? which is a considerable +advance in our present argument; for an express attempt to deceive, in +which case alone particularity can appear without truth, is charged upon +the evangelists by few. If the historian acknowledge himself to have +received his intelligence from others, the particularity of the +narrative shows, prima facie, the accuracy of his inquiries, and the +fulness of his information. This remark belongs to St. Luke's history. +Of the particularity which we allege, many examples may be found in all +the Gospels. And it is very difficult to conceive that such numerous +particularities as are almost everywhere to be met with in the +Scriptures should be raised out of nothing, or be spun out of the +imagination without any fact to go upon.* + +_________ + +* "There is always some truth where there are considerable +particularities related, and they always seem to bear some proportion to +one another. Thus, there is a great want of the particulars of time, +place, and persons in Manetho's account of the Egyptian Dynasties, +Etesias's of the Assyrian Kings, and those which the technical +chronologers have given of the ancient kingdoms of Greece; and, +agreeably thereto, the accounts have much fiction and falsehood, with +some truth: whereas Thucydides's History of the Peloponnesian War, and +Caesar's of the War in Gaul, in both which the particulars of time, +place, and persons are mentioned, are universally esteemed true to a +great degree of exactness." Hartley, vol. ii. p. 109. +_________ + + +It is to be remarked, however, that this particularity is only to be +looked for in direct history. It is not natural in references or +allusions, which yet, in other respects, often afford, as far as they +go, the most unsuspicious evidence. + +VI. We lay out of the case such stories of supernatural events as +require, on the part of the hearer, nothing more than an otiose assent; +stories upon which nothing depends, in which no interest is involved, +nothing is to be done or changed in consequence of believing them. Such +stories are credited, if the careless assent that is given to them +deserve that name, more by the indolence of the hearer, than by his +judgment: or, though not much credited, are passed from one to another +without inquiry or resistance. To this case, and to this case alone, +belongs what is called the love of the marvellous. I have never known it +carry men further. Men do not suffer persecution from the love of the +marvellous. Of the indifferent nature we are speaking of are most vulgar +errors and popular superstition: most, for instance, of the current +reports of apparitions. Nothing depends upon their being true or false. +But not, surely, of this kind were the alleged miracles of Christ and +his apostles. They decided, if true, the most important question upon +which the human mind can fix its anxiety. They claimed to regulate the +opinions of mankind upon subjects in which they are not only deeply +concerned, but usually refractory and obstinate. Men could not be +utterly careless in such a case as this. If a Jew took up the story, he +found his darling partiality to his own nation and law wounded; if a +Gentile, he found his idolatry and polytheism reprobated and condemned. +Whoever entertained the account, whether Jew or Gentile, could not avoid +the following reflection:--"If these things be true, I must give up the +opinions and principles in which I have been brought up, the religion in +which my fathers lived and died." It is not conceivable that a man +should do this upon any idle report or frivolous account, or, indeed, +without being fully satisfied and convinced of the truth and credibility +of the narrative to which he trusted. But it did not stop at opinions. +They who believed Christianity acted upon it. Many made it the express +business of their lives to publish the intelligence. It was required of +those who admitted that intelligence to change forthwith their conduct +and their principles, to take up a different course of life, to part +with their habits and gratifications, and begin a new set of rules and +system of behaviour. The apostles, at least, were interested not to +sacrifice their ease, their fortunes, and their lives for an idle tale; +multitudes beside them were induced, by the same tale, to encounter +opposition, danger, and sufferings. + +If it be said, that the mere promise of a future state would do all +this; I answer, that the mere promise of a future state, without any +evidence to give credit or assurance to it, would do nothing. A few +wandering fishermen talking of a resurrection of the dead could produce +no effect. If it be further said that men easily believe what they +anxiously desire; I again answer that in my opinion, the very contrary +of this is nearer to the truth. Anxiety of desire, earnestness of +expectation, the vastness of an event, rather causes men to disbelieve, +to doubt, to dread a fallacy, to distrust, and to examine. When our +Lord's resurrection was first reported to the apostles, they did not +believe, we are told, for joy. This was natural, and is agreeable to +experience. + +VII. We have laid out of the case those accounts which require no more +than a simple assent; and we now also lay out of the case those which +come merely in affirmance of opinions already formed. This last +circumstance is of the utmost importance to notice well. It has long +been observed, that Popish miracles happen in Popish countries; that +they make no converts; which proves that stories are accepted when they +fall in with principles already fixed, with the public sentiments, or +with the sentiments of a party already engaged on the side the miracle +supports, which would not be attempted to be produced in the face of +enemies, in opposition to reigning tenets or favourite prejudices, or +when, if they be believed, the belief must draw men away from their +preconceived and habitual opinions, from their modes of life and rules +of action. In the former case, men may not only receive a miraculous +account, but may both act and suffer on the side, and, in the cause, +which the miracle supports, yet not act or suffer for the miracle, but +in pursuance of a prior persuasion. The miracle, like any other argument +which only confirms what was before believed, is admitted with little +examination. In the moral, as in the natural world, it is change which +requires a cause. Men are easily fortified in their old opinions, driven +from them with great difficulty. Now how does this apply to the +Christian history? The miracles there recorded were wrought in the midst +of enemies, under a government, a priesthood, and a magistracy decidedly +and vehemently adverse to them, and to the pretensions which they +supported. They were Protestant miracles in a Popish country; they were +Popish miracles in the midst of Protestants. They produced a change; +they established a society upon the spot, adhering to the belief of +them; they made converts; and those who were converted gave up to the +testimony their most fixed opinions and most favourite prejudices. They +who acted and suffered in the cause acted and suffered for the miracles: +for there was no anterior persuasion to induce them, no prior reverence, +prejudice, or partiality to take hold of Jesus had not one follower when +he set up his claim. His miracles gave birth to his sect. No part of +this description belongs to the ordinary evidence of Heathen or Popish +miracles. Even most of the miracles alleged to have been performed by +Christians, in the second and third century of its era, want this +confirmation. It constitutes indeed a line of partition between the +origin and the progress of Christianity. Frauds and fallacies might mix +themselves with the progress, which could not possibly take place in the +commencement of the religion; at least, according to any laws of human +conduct that we are acquainted with. What should suggest to the first +propagators of Christianity, especially to fishermen, tax-gatherers, and +husbandmen, such a thought as that of changing the religion of the +world; what could bear them through the difficulties in which the +attempt engaged them; what could procure any degree of success to the +attempt? are questions which apply, with great force, to the setting out +of the institution--with less, to every future stage of it. + +To hear some men talk, one would suppose the setting up a religion by +miracles to be a thing of every day's experience: whereas the whole +current of history is against it. Hath any founder of a new sect amongst +Christians pretended to miraculous powers, and succeeded by his +pretensions? "Were these powers claimed or exercised by the founders of +the sects of the Waldenses and Albigenses? Did Wickliffe in England +pretend to it? Did Huss or Jerome in Bohemia? Did Luther in Germany, +Zuinglius in Switzerland, Calvin in France, or any of the reformers +advance this plea?" (Campbell on Miracles, p. 120, ed. 1766.) The French +prophets, in the beginning of the present century, (the eighteenth) +ventured to allege miraculous evidence, and immediately ruined their +cause by their temerity. "Concerning the religion of ancient Rome, of +Turkey, of Siam, of China, a single miracle cannot be named that was +ever offered as a test of any of those religions before their +establishment." (Adams on Mir. p. 75.) + +We may add to what has been observed of the distinction which we are +considering, that, where miracles are alleged merely in affirmance of a +prior opinion, they who believe the doctrine may sometimes propagate a +belief of the miracles which they do not themselves entertain. This is +the case of what are called pious frauds; but it is a case, I apprehend, +which takes place solely in support of a persuasion already established. +At least it does not hold of the apostolical history. If the apostles +did not believe the miracles, they did not believe the religion; and +without this belief, where was the piety, what place was there for +anything which could bear the name or colour of piety, in publishing and +attesting miracles in its behalf? If it be said that many promote the +belief of revelation, and of any accounts which favour that belief, +because they think them, whether well or ill founded, of public and +political utility; I answer, that if a character exist which can with +less justice than another be ascribed to the founders of the Christian +religion, it is that of politicians, or of men capable of entertaining +political views. The truth is, that there is no assignable character +which will account for the conduct of the apostles, supposing their +story to be false. If bad men, what could have induced them to take such +pains to promote virtue? If good men, they would not have gone about the +country with a string of lies in their mouths. + +In appreciating the credit of any miraculous story, these are +distinctions which relate to the evidence. There are other distinctions, +of great moment in the question, which relate to the miracles +themselves. Of which latter kind the following ought carefully to be +retained. + +I. It is not necessary to admit as a miracle what can be resolved into a +false perception. Of this nature was the demon of Socrates; the visions +of Saint Anthony, and of many others; the vision which Lord Herbert of +Cherbury describes himself to have seen; Colonel Gardiner's vision, as +related in his life, written by Dr. Doddridge. All these may be +accounted for by a momentary insanity; for the characteristic symptom of +human madness is the rising up in the mind of images not distinguishable +by the patient from impressions upon the senses. (Batty on Lunacy.) The +cases, however, in which the possibility of this delusion exists are +divided from the cases in which it does not exist by many, and those not +obscure marks. They are, for the most part, cases of visions or voices. +The object is hardly ever touched. The vision submits not to be handled. +One sense does not confirm another. They are likewise almost always +cases of a solitary witness. It is in the highest degree improbable, and +I know not, indeed, whether it hath ever been the fact, that the same +derangement of the mental organs should seize different persons at the +same time; a derangement, I mean, so much the same, as to represent to +their imagination the same objects. Lastly, these are always cases of +momentary miracles; by which term I mean to denote miracles of which the +whole existence is of short duration, in contradistinction to miracles +which are attended with permanent effects. The appearance of a spectre, +the hearing of a supernatural sound, is a momentary miracle. The +sensible proof is gone when the apparition or sound is over. But if a +person born blind be restored to sight, a notorious cripple to the use +of his limbs, or a dead man to life, here is a permanent effect produced +by supernatural means. The change indeed was instantaneous, but the +proof continues. The subject of the miracle remains. The man cured or +restored is there: his former condition was known, and his present +condition may be examined. This can by no possibility be resolved into +false perception: and of this kind are by far the greater part of the +miracles recorded in the New Testament. When Lazarus was raised from the +dead, he did not merely move, and speak, and die again; or come out of +the grave, and vanish away. He returned to his home and family, and +there continued; for we find him some time afterwards in the same town, +sitting at table with Jesus and his sisters; visited by great multitudes +of the Jews as a subject of curiosity; giving, by his presence, so much +uneasiness to the Jewish rulers as to beget in them a design of +destroying him. (John xii. 1, 2, 9, 10.) No delusion can account for +this. The French prophets in England, some time since, gave out that one +of their teachers would come to life again; but their enthusiasm never +made them believe that they actually saw him alive. The blind man whose +restoration to sight at Jerusalem is recorded in the ninth chapter of +Saint John's Gospel did not quit the place or conceal himself from +inquiry. On the contrary, he was forthcoming, to answer the call, to +satisfy the scrutiny, and to sustain the browbeating of Christ's angry +and powerful enemies. When the cripple at the gate of the temple was +suddenly cured by Peter, (Acts iii. 2.) he did not immediately relapse +into his former lameness, or disappear out of the city; but boldly and +honestly produced himself along with the apostles, when they were +brought the next day before the Jewish council. (Acts iv. 14.) Here, +though the miracle was sudden, the proof was permanent. The lameness had +been notorious, the cure continued. This, therefore, could not be the +effect of any momentary delirium, either in the subject or in the +witnesses of the transaction. It is the same with the greatest number of +the Scripture miracles. There are other cases of a mixed nature, in +which, although the principal miracle be momentary, some circumstance +combined with it is permanent. Of this kind is the history of Saint +Paul's conversion. (Acts ix.) The sudden light and sound, the vision and +the voice upon the road to Damascus, were momentary: but Paul's +blindness for three days in consequence of what had happened; the +communication made to Ananias in another place, and by a vision +independent of the former; Ananias finding out Paul in consequence of +intelligence so received, and finding him in the condition described, +and Paul's recovery of his sight upon Ananias laying his hands upon him; +are circumstances which take the transaction, and the principal miracle +as included in it, entirely out of the case of momentary miracles, or of +such as may be accounted for by false perceptions. Exactly the same +thing may be observed of Peter's vision preparatory to the call of +Cornelius, and of its connexion with what was imparted in a distant +place to Cornelius himself, and with the message despatched by Cornelius +to Peter. The vision might be a dream; the message could not. Either +communication taken separately, might be a delusion; the concurrence of +the two was impossible to happen without a supernatural cause. + +Beside the risk of delusion which attaches upon momentary miracles, +there is also much more room for imposture. The account cannot be +examined at the moment: and when that is also a moment of hurry and +confusion, it may not be difficult for men of influence to gain credit +to any story which they may wish to have believed. This is precisely the +case of one of the best attested of the miracles of Old Rome, the +appearance of Castor and Pollux in the battle fought by Posthumius with +the Latins at the lake Regillus. There is no doubt but that Posthumius, +after the battle, spread the report of such an appearance. No person +could deny it whilst it was said to last. No person, perhaps, had any +inclination to dispute it afterwards; or, if they had, could say with +positiveness what was or what was not seen by some or other of the army, +in the dismay and amidst the tumult of a battle. + +In assigning false perceptions as the origin to which some miraculous +accounts may be referred, I have not mentioned claims to inspiration, +illuminations, secret notices or directions, internal sensations, or +consciousnesses of being acted upon by spiritual influences, good or +bad, because these, appealing to no external proof, however convincing +they may be to the persons themselves, form no part of what can be +accounted miraculous evidence. Their own credibility stands upon their +alliance with other miracles. The discussion, therefore, of all such +pretensions may be omitted. + +II. It is not necessary to bring into the comparison what may be called +tentative miracles; that is, where, out of a great number of trials, +some succeed; and in the accounts of which, although the narrative of +the successful cases be alone preserved, and that of the unsuccessful +cases sunk, yet enough is stated to show that the cases produced are +only a few out of many in which the same means have been employed. This +observation bears with considerable force upon the ancient oracles and +auguries, in which a single coincidence of the event with the prediction +is talked of and magnified, whilst failures are forgotten, or +suppressed, or accounted for. It is also applicable to the cures wrought +by relics, and at the tombs of saints. The boasted efficacy of the +king's touch, upon which Mr. Hume lays some stress, falls under the same +description. Nothing is alleged concerning it which is not alleged of +various nostrums, namely, out of many thousands who have used them, +certified proofs of a few who have recovered after them. No solution of +this sort is applicable to the miracles of the Gospel. There is nothing +in the narrative which can induce, or even allow, us to believe, that +Christ attempted cures in many instances, and succeeded in a few; or +that he ever made the attempt in vain. He did not profess to heal +everywhere all that were sick; on the contrary, he told the Jews, +evidently meaning to represent his own case, that, "although many widows +were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three +years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land, yet +unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, +unto a woman that was a widow:" and that "many lepers were in Israel in +the time of Eliseus the prophet, and none of them was cleansed saving +Naaman the Syrian." (Luke iv. 25.) By which examples he gave them to +understand, that it was not the nature of a Divine interposition, or +necessary to its purpose, to be general; still less to answer every +challenge that might be made, which would teach men to put their faith +upon these experiments. Christ never pronounced the word, but the effect +followed.* + +_________ + +*One, and only one, instance may be produced in which the disciples of +Christ do seem to have attempted a cure, and not to have been able to +perform it. The story is very ingenuously related by three of the +evangelists. (Matt. xvii. 14. Mark ix. 14. Luke ix. 33.) The patient was +afterwards healed by Christ himself; and the whole transaction seems to +have been intended, as it was well suited, to display the superiority of +Christ above all who performed miracles in his name, a distinction +which, during his presence in the world, it might be necessary to +inculcate by some such proof as this. +_________ + + +It was not a thousand sick that received his benediction, and a few that +were benefited; a single paralytic is let down in his bed at Jesus's +feet, in the midst of a surrounding multitude; Jesus bid him walk, and +he did so. (Mark ii. 3.) A man with a withered hand is in the synagogue; +Jesus bid him stretch forth his hand in the presence of the assembly, +and it was "restored whole like the other." (Matt. xii. 10.) There was +nothing tentative in these cures; nothing that can be explained by the +power of accident. + +We may observe, also, that many of the cures which Christ wrought, such +as that of a person blind from his birth; also many miracles besides +cures, as raising the dead, walking upon the sea, feeding a great +multitude with a few loaves and fishes, are of a nature which does not +in anywise admit of the supposition of a fortunate experiment. + +III. We may dismiss from the question all accounts in which, allowing +the phenomenon to be real, the fact to be true, it still remains +doubtful whether a miracle were wrought. This is the case with the +ancient history of what is called the thundering legion, of the +extraordinary circumstances which obstructed the rebuilding of the +temple at Jerusalem by Julian; the circling of the flames and fragrant +smell at the martyrdom of Polycarp; the sudden shower that extinguished +the fire into which the Scriptures were thrown in the Diocletian +persecution; Constantine's dream; his inscribing in consequence of it +the cross upon his standard and the shields of his soldiers; his +victory, and the escape of the standard-bearer; perhaps, also, the +imagined appearance of the cross in the heavens, though this last +circumstance is very deficient in historical evidence. It is also the +case with the modern annual exhibition of the liquefaction of the blood +of Saint Januarius at Naples. It is a doubt, likewise, which ought to be +excluded by very special circumstances from those narratives which +relate to the supernatural cure of hypochondriacal and nervous +complaints, and of all diseases which are much affected by the +imagination. The miracles of the second and third century are, usually, +healing the sick and casting out evil spirits, miracles in which there +is room for some error and deception. We hear nothing of causing the +blind to see, the lame to walk, the deaf to hear, the lepers to be +cleansed. (Jortin's Remarks, vol. ii. p. 51.) There are also instances in +Christian writers of reputed miracles, which were natural operations, +though not known to be such at the time; as that of articulate speech +after the loss of a great part of the tongue. + +IV. To the same head of objection, nearly, may also be referred accounts +in which the variation of a small circumstance may have transformed some +extraordinary appearance, or some critical coincidence of events, into a +miracle; stories, in a word, which may be resolved into exaggeration. The +miracles of the Gospel can by no possibility be explained away in this +manner. Total fiction will account for anything; but no stretch of +exaggeration that has any parallel in other histories, no force of fancy +upon real circumstances, could produce the narratives which we now have. +The feeding of the five thousand with a few loaves and fishes surpasses +all bounds of exaggeration. The raising of Lazarus, of the widow's son +at Nain, as well as many of the cures which Christ wrought, come not +within the compass of misrepresentation. I mean that it is impossible to +assign any position of circumstances however peculiar, any accidental +effects however extraordinary, any natural singularity, which could +supply an origin or foundation to these accounts. + +Having thus enumerated several exceptions which may justly be taken to +relations of miracles, it is necessary, when we read the Scriptures, to +bear in our minds this general remark; that although there be miracles +recorded in the New Testament, which fall within some or other of the +exceptions here assigned, yet that they are united with others, to which +none of the same exceptions extend, and that their credibility stands +upon this union. Thus the visions and revelations which Saint Paul +asserts to have been imparted to him may not, in their separate +evidence, be distinguishable from the visions and revelations which many +others have alleged. But here is the difference. Saint Paul's +pretensions were attested by external miracles wrought by himself, and +by miracles wrought in the cause to which these visions relate; or, to +speak more properly, the same historical authority which informs us of +one informs us of the other. This is not ordinarily true of the visions +of enthusiasts, or even of the accounts in which they are contained. +Again, some of Christ's own miracles were momentary; as the +transfiguration, the appearance and voice from Heaven at his baptism, a +voice from the clouds on one occasion afterwards (John xii. 28), and +some others. It is not denied, that the distinction which we have +proposed concerning miracles of this species applies, in diminution of +the force of the evidence, as much to these instances as to others. But +this is the case not with all the miracles ascribed to Christ, nor with +the greatest part, nor with many. Whatever force therefore there may be +in the objection, we have numerous miracles which are free from it; and +even those to which it is applicable are little affected by it in their +credit, because there are few who, admitting the rest, will reject them. +If there be miracles of the New Testament which come within any of the +other heads into which we have distributed the objections, the same +remark must be repeated. And this is one way in which the unexampled +number and variety of the miracles ascribed to Christ strengthen the +credibility of Christianity. For it precludes any solution, or +conjecture about a solution, which imagination, or even which experience +might suggest, concerning some particular miracles, if considered +independently of others. The miracles of Christ were of various kinds,* +and performed in great varieties of situation, form, and manner; at +Jerusalem, the metropolis of the Jewish nation and religion; in +different parts of Judea and Galilee; in cities and villages; in +synagogues, in private houses; in the street, in highways; with +preparation, as in the case of Lazarus; by accident, as in the case of +the widow's son of Nain; when attended by multitudes, and when alone +with the patient; in the midst of his disciples, and in the presence of +his enemies; with the common people around him, and before Scribes and +Pharisees, and rulers of the synagogues. + +_________ + +* Not only healing every species of disease, but turning water into wine +(John ii.); feeding multitudes with a few loaves and fishes (Matt. xiv. +15; Mark vi. 35; Luke ix. 12; John vi. 5); walking on the sea (Matt. +xiv. 25); calming a storm (Matt. viii. 26; Luke viii. 24); a celestial +voice at his baptism, and miraculous appearance (Matt. iii. 16; +afterwards John xii. 28); his transfiguration (Matt. xvii. 18; Mark ix. +2; Luke ix. 28; 2 Peter i. 16, 17); raising the dead in three distinct +instances (Matt. ix. 18; Mark v. 22; Luke vii. 14; viii. 41; John xi.). +_________ + + +I apprehend that, when we remove from the comparison the cases which are +fairly disposed of by the observations that have been stated, many cases +will not remain. To those which do remain, we apply this final +distinction; "that there is not satisfactory evidence that persons +pretending to be original witnesses of the miracles passed their lives +in labours, dangers, and sufferings, voluntarily undertaken and +undergone in attestation of the accounts which they delivered, and +properly in consequence of their belief of the truth of those accounts." + +CHAPTER II. + +But they with whom we argue have undoubtedly a right to select their own +examples. The instances with which Mr. Hume has chosen to confront the +miracles of the New Testament, and which, therefore, we are entitled to +regard as the strongest which the history of the world could supply to +the inquiries of a very acute and learned adversary, are the three +following: + +I. The cure of a blind and of a lame man of Alexandria, by the emperor +Vespasian, as related by Tacitus; + +II. The restoration of the limb of an attendant in a Spanish church, as +told by Cardinal de Retz; and, + +III. The cures said to be performed at the tomb of the abbe Paris in the +early part of the eighteenth century. + +I. The narrative of Tacitus is delivered in these terms: "One of the +common people of Alexandria, known to be diseased in his eyes, by the +admonition of the god Serapis, whom that superstitious nation worship +above all other gods, prostrated himself before the emperor, earnestly +imploring from him a remedy for his blindness, and entreating that he +would deign to anoint with his spittle his cheeks and the balls of his +eyes. Another, diseased in his hand, requested, by the admonition of the +same god, that he might be touched by the foot of the emperor. Vespasian +at first derided and despised their application; afterwards, when they +continued to urge their petitions, he sometimes appeared to dread the +imputation of vanity; at other times, by the earnest supplication of the +patients, and the persuasion of his flatterers, to be induced to hope +for success. At length he commanded an inquiry to be made by the +physicians, whether such a blindness and debility were vincible by human +aid. The report of the physicians contained various points: that in the +one, the power of vision was not destroyed, but would return if the +obstacles were removed; that in the other, the diseased joints might be +restored, if a healing power were applied; that it was, perhaps, +agreeable to the gods to do this; that the emperor was elected by divine +assistance; lastly, that the credit of the success would be the +emperor's, the ridicule of the disappointment would fall upon the +patients. Vespasian believing that everything was in the power of his +fortune, and that nothing was any longer incredible, whilst the +multitude which stood by eagerly expected the event, with a countenance +expressive of joy, executed what he was desired to do. Immediately the +hand was restored to its use, and light returned to the blind man. They +who were present relate both these cures, even at this time, when there +is nothing to be gained by lying." (Tacit. Hist. lib. iv.) + +Now, though Tacitus wrote this account twenty-seven years after the +miracle is said to have been performed, and wrote at Rome of what passed +at Alexandria, and wrote also from report; and although it does not +appear that he had examined the story or that he believed it, (but +rather the contrary,) yet I think his testimony sufficient to prove that +such a transaction took place: by which I mean, that the two men in +question did apply to Vespasian; that Vespasian did touch the diseased +in the manner related; and that a cure was reported to have followed the +operation. But the affair labours under a strong and just suspicion, +that the whole of it was a concerted imposture brought about by +collusion between the patients, the physician, and the emperor. This +solution is probable, because there was everything to suggest, and +everything to facilitate such a scheme. The miracle was calculated to +confer honour upon the emperor, and upon the god Serapis. It was +achieved in the midst of the emperor's flatterers and followers; in a +city and amongst a populace before-hand devoted to his interest, and to +the worship of the god: where it would have been treason and blasphemy +together to have contradicted the fame of the cure, or even to have +questioned it. And what is very observable in the account is, that the +report of the physicians is just such a report as would have been made +of a case in which no external marks of the disease existed, and which, +consequently, was capable of being easily counterfeited; viz. that in +the first of the patients the organs of vision were not destroyed, that +the weakness of the second was in his joints. The strongest circumstance +in Tacitus's narration is, that the first patient was "notus tabe +oculorum," remarked or notorious for the disease in his eyes. But this +was a circumstance which might have found its way into the story in its +progress from a distant country, and during an interval of thirty years; +or it might be true that the malady of the eyes was notorious, yet that +the nature and degree of the disease had never been ascertained; a case +by no means uncommon. The emperor's reserve was easily affected: or it +is possible he might not be in the secret. There does not seem to be +much weight in the observation of Tacitus, that they who were present +continued even then to relate the story when there was nothing to be +gained by the lie. It only proves that those who had told the story for +many years persisted in it. The state of mind of the witnesses and +spectators at the time is the point to be attended to. Still less is +there of pertinency in Mr. Hume's eulogium on the cautious and +penetrating genius of the historian; for it does not appear that the +historian believed it. The terms in which he speaks of Serapis, the +deity to whose interposition the miracle was attributed, scarcely suffer +us to suppose that Tacitus thought the miracle to be real: "by the +admonition of the god Serapis, whom that superstitious nation (dedita +superstitionibus gens) worship above all other gods." To have brought +this supposed miracle within the limits of comparison with the miracles +of Christ, it ought to have appeared that a person of a low and private +station, in the midst of enemies, with the whole power of the country +opposing him, with every one around him prejudiced or interested against +his claims and character, pretended to perform these cures, and required +the spectators, upon the strength of what they saw, to give up their +firmest hopes and opinions, and follow him through a life of trial and +danger; that many were so moved as to obey his call, at the expense both +of every notion in which they had been brought up, and of their ease, +safety, and reputation; and that by these beginnings a change was +produced in the world, the effects of which remain to this day: a case, +both in its circumstances and consequences, very unlike anything we find +in Tacitus's relation. + +II. The story taken from the Memoirs of Cardinal de Retz, which is the +second example alleged by Mr. Hume, is this: "In the church of Saragossa +in Spain, the canons showed me a man whose business it was to light the +lamps; telling me, that he had been several years at the gate with one +leg only. I saw him with two." (Liv. iv. A.D. 1654.) + +It is stated by Mr. Hume, that the cardinal who relates this story did +not believe it; and it nowhere appears that he either examined the limb, +or asked the patient, or indeed any one, a single question about the +matter. An artificial leg, wrought with art, would be sufficient, in a +place where no such contrivance had ever before been heard of, to give +origin and currency to the report. The ecclesiastics of the place would, +it is probable, favour the story, inasmuch as it advanced the honour of +their image and church. And if they patronized it, no other person at +Saragossa, in the middle of the last century, would care to dispute it. +The story likewise coincided not less with the wishes and preconceptions +of the people than with the interests of their ecclesiastical rulers: so +that there was prejudice backed by authority, and both operating upon +extreme ignorance, to account for the success of the imposture. If, as I +have suggested, the contrivance of an artificial limb was then new, it +would not occur to the cardinal himself to suspect it; especially under +the carelessness of mind with which he heard the tale, and the little +inclination he felt to scrutinize or expose its fallacy. + +III. The miracles related to have been wrought at the tomb of the abbe +Paris admit in general of this solution. The patients who frequented the +tomb were so affected by their devotion, their expectation, the place, +the solemnity, and, above all, by the sympathy of the surrounding +multitude, that many of them were thrown into violent convulsions, which +convulsions, in certain instances, produced a removal of disorder, +depending upon obstruction. We shall, at this day, have the less +difficulty in admitting the above account, because it is the very same +thing as hath lately been experienced in the operations of animal +magnetism: and the report of the French physicians upon that mysterious +remedy is very applicable to the present consideration, viz. that the +pretenders to the art, by working upon the imaginations of their +patients, were frequently able to produce convulsions; that convulsions +so produced are amongst the most powerful, but, at the same time, most +uncertain and unmanageable applications to the human frame which can be +employed. + +Circumstances which indicate this explication, in the case of the +Parisian miracles, are the following: + +1. They were tentative. Out of many thousand sick, infirm, and diseased +persons who resorted to the tomb, the professed history of the miracles +contains only nine cures. + +2. The convulsions at the tomb are admitted. + +3. The diseases were, for the most part, of that sort which depends upon +inaction and obstruction, as dropsies, palsies, and some tumours. + +4. The cures were gradual; some patients attending many days, some several +weeks, and some several months. + +5. The cures were many of them incomplete. + +6. Others were temporary. (The reader will find these particulars +verified in the detail, by the accurate inquiries of the present bishop +of Sarum, in his Criterion of Miracles, p. 132, et seq.) + +So that all the wonder we are called upon to account for is, that out of +an almost innumerable multitude which resorted to the tomb for the cure +of their complaints, and many of whom were there agitated by strong +convulsions, a very small proportion experienced a beneficial change in +their constitution, especially in the action of the nerves and glands. + +Some of the cases alleged do not require that we should have recourse to +this solution. The first case in the catalogue is scarcely +distinguishable from the progress of a natural recovery. It was that of +a young man who laboured under an inflammation of one eye, and had lost +the sight of the other. The inflamed eye was relieved, but the blindness +of the other remained. The inflammation had before been abated by +medicine; and the young man, at the time of his attendance at the tomb, +was using a lotion of laudanum. And, what is a still more material part +of the case, the inflammation, after some interval, returned. Another +case was that of a young man who had lost his sight by the puncture of +an awl, and the discharge of the aqueous humour through the wound. The +sight, which had been gradually returning, was much improved during his +visit to the tomb, that is, probably in the same degree in which the +discharged humour was replaced by fresh secretions. And it is +observable, that these two are the only cases which, from their nature, +should seem unlikely to be affected by convulsions. + +In one material respect I allow that the Parisian miracles were +different from those related by Tacitus, and from the Spanish miracle of +the cardinal de Retz. They had not, like them, all the power and all the +prejudice of the country on their side to begin with. They were alleged +by one party against another, by the Jansenists against the Jesuits. +These were of course opposed and examined by their adversaries. The +consequence of which examination was that many falsehoods were detected, +that with something really extraordinary much fraud appeared to be +mixed. And if some of the cases upon which designed misrepresentation +could not be charged were not at the time satisfactorily accounted for, +it was because the efficacy of strong spasmodic affections was not then +sufficiently known. Finally, the cause of Jansenism did not rise by the +miracles, but sunk, although the miracles had the anterior persuasion of +all the numerous adherents of that cause to set out with. + +These, let us remember, are the strongest examples which the history of +ages supplies. In none of them was the miracle unequivocal; by none of +them were established prejudices and persuasions overthrown; of none of +them did the credit make its way, in opposition to authority and power; +by none of them were many induced to commit themselves, and that in +contradiction to prior opinions, to a life of mortification, danger, and +sufferings; none were called upon to attest them at the expense of their +fortunes and safety.* + +_________ + +* It may be thought that the historian of the Parisian miracles, M. +Montgeron, forms an exception to this last assertion. He presented his +book (with a suspicion, as it should seem, of the danger of what he was +doing) to the king; and was shortly afterwards committed to prison; from +which he never came out. Had the miracles been unequivocal, and had M. +Montgeron been originally convinced by them, I should have allowed this +exception. It would have stood, I think, alone in the argument of our +adversaries. But, beside what has been observed of the dubious nature of +the miracles, the account which M. Montgeron has himself left of his +conversion shows both the state of his mind and that his persuasion was +not built upon external miracles.--"Scarcely had he entered the +churchyard when he was struck," he tells us, "with awe and reverence, +having never before heard prayers pronounced with so much ardour and +transport as he observed amongst the supplicants at the tomb. Upon this, +throwing himself on his knees, resting his elbows on the tombstone and +covering his face with his hands, he spake the following prayer. O thou, +by whose intercession so many miracles are said to be performed, if it +be true that a part of thee surviveth the grave, and that thou hast +influence with the Almighty, have pity on the darkness of my +understanding, and through his mercy obtain the removal of it." Having +prayed thus, "many thoughts," as he sayeth, "began to open themselves to +his mind; and so profound was his attention that he continued on his +knees four hours, not in the least disturbed by the vast crowd of +surrounding supplicants. During this time, all the arguments which he +ever heard or read in favour of Christianity occurred to him with so +much force, and seemed so strong and convincing, that he went home fully +satisfied of the truth of religion in general, and of the holiness and +power of that person who," as he supposed, "had engaged the Divine +Goodness to enlighten his understanding so suddenly." (Douglas's Crit of +Mir. p. 214.) + +_________ + + + + + +PART II. + +OF THE AUXILIARY EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY + +CHAPTER I. + +PROPHECY. + +Isaiah iii. 13; liii. "Behold, my servant shall deal prudently; he shall +be exalted and extolled, and be very high. As many were astonished at +thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than +the sons of men: so shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut +their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they +see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider. Who hath +believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he +shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry +ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there +is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of +men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid, as it +were, our faces from him: he was despised, and we esteemed him not. +Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did +esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded +for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the +chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are +healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to +his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He +was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is +brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers +is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from +judgment; and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out +of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he +stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in +his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in +his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to +grief. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see +his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall +prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall +be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; +for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a +portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; +because he hath poured out his soul unto death; and he was numbered with +the transgressors, and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession +for the transgressors." + +These words are extant in a book purporting to contain the predictions +of a writer who lived seven centuries before the Christian era. + +That material part of every argument from prophecy, namely, that the +words alleged were actually spoken or written before the fact to which +they are applied took place, or could by any natural means be foreseen, +is, in the present instance, incontestable. The record comes out of the +custody of adversaries. The Jews, as an ancient father well observed, +are our librarians. The passage is in their copies as well as in ours. +With many attempts to explain it away, none has ever been made by them +to discredit its authenticity. + +And what adds to the force of the quotation is, that it is taken from a +writing declaredly prophetic; a writing professing to describe such +future transactions and changes in the world as were connected with the +fate and interests of the Jewish nation. It is not a passage in an +historical or devotional composition, which, because it turns out to be +applicable to some future events, or to some future situation of +affairs, is presumed to have been oracular. The words of Isaiah were +delivered by him in a prophetic character, with the solemnity belonging +to that character: and what he so delivered was all along understood by +the Jewish reader to refer to something that was to take place after the +time of the author. The public sentiments of the Jews concerning the +design of Isaiah's writings are set forth in the book of +Ecclesiasticus:* "He saw by an excellent spirit what should come to pass +at the last, and he comforted them that mourned in Sion. He showed what +should come to pass for ever, and secret things or ever they came." + +_________ + +* Chap. xlviii. ver. 24. +_________ + + +It is also an advantage which this prophecy possesses, that it is +intermixed with no other subject. It is entire, separate, and +uninterruptedly directed to one scene of things. + +The application of the prophecy to the evangelic history is plain and +appropriate. Here is no double sense; no figurative language but what is +sufficiently intelligible to every reader of every country. The +obscurities (by which I mean the expressions that require a knowledge of +local diction, and of local allusion) are few, and not of great +importance. Nor have I found that varieties of reading, or a different +construing of the original, produce any material alteration in the sense +of the prophecy. Compare the common translation with that of Bishop +Lowth, and the difference is not considerable. So far as they do differ, +Bishop Lowth's corrections, which are the faithful result of an accurate +examination, bring the description nearer to the New Testament history +than it was before. In the fourth verse of the fifty-third chapter, what +our bible renders "stricken" he translates "judicially stricken:" and in +the eighth verse, the clause "he was taken from prison and from +judgment," the bishop gives "by an oppressive judgment he was taken +off." The next words to these, "who shall declare his generation?" are +much cleared up in their meaning by the bishop's version; "his manner of +life who would declare?" i. e. who would stand forth in his defence? The +former part of the ninth verse, "and he made his grave with the wicked, +and with the rich in his death," which inverts the circumstances of +Christ's passion, the bishop brings out in an order perfectly agreeable +to the event; "and his grave was appointed with the wicked, but with the +rich man was his tomb." The words in the eleventh verse, "by his +knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many," are, in the bishop's +version, "by the knowledge of him shall my righteous servant justify +many." + +It is natural to inquire what turn the Jews themselves give to this +prophecy.* There is good proof that the ancient Rabbins explained it of +their expected Messiah:+ but their modern expositors concur, I think, in +representing it as a description of the calamitous state, and intended +restoration, of the Jewish people, who are here, as they say, exhibited +under the character of a single person. I have not discovered that their +exposition rests upon any critical arguments, or upon these in any other +than in a very minute degree. + +_________ + +* "Vaticinium hoc Esaiae est carnificina Rabbinorum, de quo aliqui +Judaei mihi confessi sunt, Rabbinos suos ex propheticis scripturis +facile se extricare potuisse, modo; Esaias tacuisset." Hulse, Theol. +Jud. P. 318, quoted by Poole, in loc. + ++ Hulse, Theol. Jud. p. 430. +_________ + + +The clause in the ninth verse, which we render "for the transgression of +my people was he stricken," and in the margin, "was the stroke upon +him," the Jews read "for the transgression of my people was the stroke +upon them." And what they allege in support of the alteration amounts +only to this, that the Hebrew pronoun is capable of a plural as well as +of a singular signification; that is to say, is capable of their +construction as well as ours.* And this is all the variation contended +for; the rest of the prophecy they read as we do. The probability, +therefore, of their exposition is a subject of which we are as capable +of judging as themselves. This judgment is open indeed to the good sense +of every attentive reader. The application which the Jews contend for +appears to me to labour under insuperable difficulties; in particular, +it may be demanded of them to explain in whose name or person, if the +Jewish people he the sufferer, does the prophet speak, when he says, "He +hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him +stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted; but he was wounded for our +transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of +our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed." Again, the +description in the seventh verse, "he was oppressed and he was +afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; he is brought as a lamb to the +slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not +his mouth," quadrates with no part of the Jewish history with which we +are acquainted. The mention of the "grave" and the "tomb," in the ninth +verse, is not very applicable to the fortunes of a nation; and still +less so is the conclusion of the prophecy in the twelfth verse, which +expressly represents the sufferings as voluntary, and the sufferer as +interceding for the offenders; "because he hath poured out his soul unto +death, and he was numbered with the transgressors, and he bare the sin +of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." + +_________ + +* Bishop Lowth adopts in this place the reading of the seventy, which +gives smitten to death, "for the transgression of my people was he +smitten to death." The addition of the words "to death" makes an end of +the Jewish interpretation of the clause. And the authority upon which +this reading (though not given by the present Hebrew text) is adopted, +Dr. Kennicot has set forth by an argument not only so cogent, but so +clear and popular, that I beg leave to transcribe the substance of it +into this note:--"Origen, after having quoted at large this prophecy +concerning the Messiah, tells us that, having once made use of this +passage, in a dispute against some that were accounted wise amongst the +Jews, one of them replied that the words did not mean one man, but one +people, the Jews, who were smitten of God, and dispersed among the +Gentiles for their conversion; that he then urged many parts of this +prophecy to show the absurdity of this interpretation, and that he +seemed to press them the hardest by this sentence,--'for the +transgression of my people was he smitten to death.'" Now as Origen, the +author of the Hexapla, must have understood Hebrew, we cannot suppose +that he would have urged this last text as so decisive, if the Greek +version had not agreed here with the Hebrew text; nor that these wise +Jews would have been at all distressed by this quotation, unless the +Hebrew text had read agreeably to the words "to death," on which the +argument principally depended; for by quoting it immediately, they would +have triumphed over him, and reprobated his Greek version. This, +whenever they could do it was their constant practice in their disputes +with the Christians. Origen himself, who laboriously compared the Hebrew +text with the Septuagint, has recorded the necessity of arguing with the +Jews from such passages only as were in the Septuagint agreeable to the +Hebrew. Wherefore, as Origen had carefully compared the Greek version of +the Septuagint with the Hebrew text; and as he puzzled and confounded +the learned Jews, by urging upon them the reading "to death" in this +place; it seems almost impossible not to conclude, both from Origen's +argument and the silence of his Jewish adversaries, that the Hebrew text +at that time actually had the word agreeably to the version of the +seventy. Lowth's Isaiah, p. 242. +_________ + + +There are other prophecies of the Old Testament, interpreted by +Christians to relate to the Gospel history, which are deserving both of +great regard and of a very attentive consideration: but I content myself +with stating the above, as well because I think it the clearest and the +strongest of all, as because most of the rest, in order that their value +might be represented with any tolerable degree of fidelity, require a +discussion unsuitable to the limits and nature of this work. The reader +will find them disposed in order, and distinctly explained, in Bishop +Chandler's treatise on the subject; and he will bear in mind, what has +been often, and, I think, truly, urged by the advocates of Christianity, +that there is no other eminent person to the history of whose life so +many circumstances can be made to apply. They who object that much has +been done by the power of chance, the ingenuity of accommodation, and +the industry of research, ought to try whether the same, or anything +like it, could be done, if Mahomet, or any other person, were proposed +as the subject of Jewish prophecy. + + +II. A second head of argument from prophecy is founded upon our Lord's +predictions concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, recorded by three +out of the four evangelists. + +Luke xxi. 5-25. "And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned +with goodly stones and gifts, he said, As for these things which ye +behold, the days will come in which there shall not be left one stone +upon another, that shall not be thrown down. And they asked him, saying, +Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when +these things shall come to pass? And he said, Take heed that ye be not +deceived; for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the +time draweth near; go ye not therefore after them. But when ye shall +hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must +first come to pass; but the end is not by-and-by. Then said he unto +them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and +great earth-quakes shall be in divers places, and famines and +pestilences; and fearful sights, and great signs shall there be from +heaven. But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and +persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, +being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake. And it shall +turn to you for a testimony. Settle it therefore in your hearts not to +meditate before what ye shall answer: for I will give you a mouth and +wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor +resist. And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and +kinsfolk, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to +death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. But there +shall not an hair of your head perish. In your patience possess ye your +souls. And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know +that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judea +flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart +out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. For +these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be +fulfilled. But woe unto them that are with child and to them that give +suck in those days: for there shall be great distress in the land, and +wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, +and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be +trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be +fulfilled." + +In terms nearly similar, this discourse is related in the twenty-fourth +chapter of Matthew and the thirteenth of Mark. The prospect of the same +evils drew from our Saviour, on another occasion, the following +affecting expressions of concern, which are preserved by St. Luke (xix. +41--44): "And when he was come near, he beheld the city and wept over +it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, +the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine +eyes. For the day shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a +trench about thee, and compass thee round and keep thee in on every +side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within +thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because +thou knowest not the time of thy visitation"--These passages are direct +and explicit predictions. References to the same event, some plain, some +parabolical, or otherwise figurative, are found in divers other +discourses of our Lord. (Matt. xxi. 33-46; xxii. 1-7. Mark xii. 1-12. +Luke xiii. 1-9; xx. 9-20; xxi. 5-13.) + +The general agreement of the description with the event, viz. with the +ruin of the Jewish nation, and the capture of Jerusalem under Vespasian, +thirty-six years after Christ's death, is most evident; and the +accordancy in various articles of detail and circumstances has been +shown by many learned writers. It is also an advantage to the inquiry, +and to the argument built upon it, that we have received a copious +account of the transaction from Josephus, a Jewish and contemporary +historian. This part of the case is perfectly free from doubt. The only +question which, in my opinion, can be raised upon the subject is, +whether the prophecy was really delivered before the event? I shall +apply, therefore, my observations to this point solely. + +1. The judgment of antiquity, though varying in the precise year of the +publication of the three Gospels, concurs in assigning them a date prior +to the destruction of Jerusalem. (Lardner, vol. xiii.) + +2. This judgment is confirmed by a strong probability arising from the +course of human life. The destruction of Jerusalem took place in the +seventieth year after the birth of Christ. The three evangelists, one of +whom was his immediate companion, and the other two associated with his +companions, were, it is probable, not much younger than he was. They +must, consequently, have been far advanced in life when Jerusalem was +taken; and no reason has been given why they should defer writing their +histories so long. + +3. (Le Clerc, Diss. III. de Quat. Evang. num. vii. p. 541.) If the +evangelists, at the time of writing the Gospels, had known of the +destruction of Jerusalem, by which catastrophe the prophecies were +plainly fulfilled, it is most probable that, in recording the +predictions, they would have dropped some word or other about the +completion; in like manner as Luke, after relating the denunciation of a +dearth by Agabus, adds, "which came to pass in the days of Claudius +Caesar;" (Acts xi. 28.) whereas the prophecies are given distinctly in +one chapter of each of the first three Gospels, and referred to in +several different passages of each, and in none of all these places does +there appear the smallest intimation that the things spoken of had come +to pass. I do admit that it would have been the part of an impostor, who +wished his readers to believe that this book was written before the +event, when in truth it was written after it, to have suppressed any +such intimation carefully. But this was not the character of the authors +of the Gospel. Cunning was no quality of theirs. Of all writers in the +world, they thought the least of providing against objections. Moreover, +there is no clause in any one of them that makes a profession of their +having written prior to the Jewish wars, which a fraudulent purpose +would have led them to pretend. They have done neither one thing nor the +other; they have neither inserted any words which might signify to the +reader that their accounts were written before the destruction of +Jerusalem, which a sophist would have done; nor have they dropped a hint +of the completion of the prophecies recorded by them, which an +undesigning writer, writing after the event, could hardly, on some or +other of the many occasions that presented themselves, have missed of +doing. + +4. The admonitions* which Christ is represented to have given to his +followers to save themselves by flight are not easily accounted for on +the supposition of the prophecy being fabricated after the event. Either +the Christians, when the siege approached, did make their escape from +Jerusalem, or they did not: if they did, they must have had the prophecy +amongst them: if they did not know of any such prediction at the time of +the siege, if they did not take notice of any such warning, it was an +improbable fiction, in a writer publishing his work near to that time +(which, on any, even the lowest and most disadvantageous supposition, +was the case with the gospels now in our hands), and addressing his work +to Jews and to Jewish converts (which Matthew certainly did), to state +that the followers of Christ had received admonition of which they made +no use when the occasion arrived, and of which experience then recent +proved that those who were most concerned to know and regard them were +ignorant or negligent. Even if the prophecies came to the hands of the +evangelists through no better vehicle than tradition, it must have been +by a tradition which subsisted prior to the event. And to suppose that +without any authority whatever, without so much as even any tradition to +guide them, they had forged these passages, is to impute to them a +degree of fraud and imposture from every appearance of which their +compositions are as far removed as possible. + +_________ + +* "When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the +desolation thereof is nigh; then let them which are in Judea flee to the +mountains; then let them which are in the midst of it depart out, and +let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto."--Luke xxi. 20, +21. +"When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then let them which +be in Judea flee unto the mountains; let him which is on the house-top +not come down to take anything out of his house; neither let him which +is in the field return back to take his clothes."--Matt. xiv. 18. +_________ + + +5. I think that, if the prophecies had been composed after the event, +there would have been more specification. The names or descriptions of +the enemy, the general, the emperor, would have been found in them. The +designation of the time would have been more determinate. And I am +fortified in this opinion by observing that the counterfeited prophecies +of the Sibylline oracles, of the twelve patriarchs, and, I am inclined +to believe, most others of the kind, are mere transcripts of the +history, moulded into a prophetic form. + +It is objected that the prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem is +mixed or connected with expressions which relate to the final judgment +of the world; and so connected as to lead an ordinary reader to expect +that these two events would not be far distant from each other. To which +I answer, that the objection does not concern our present argument. If +our Saviour actually foretold the destruction of Jerusalem, it is +sufficient; even although we should allow that the narration of the +prophecy had combined what had been said by him on kindred subjects, +without accurately preserving the order, or always noticing the +transition of the discourse. + + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE MORALITY OF THE GOSPEL. + +Is stating the morality of the Gospel as an argument of its truth, I am +willing to admit two points; first, that the teaching of morality was +not the primary design of the mission; secondly, that morality, neither +in the Gospel, nor in any other book, can be a subject, properly +speaking, of discovery. + +If I were to describe in a very few words the scope of Christianity as a +revelation,* I should say that it was to influence the conduct of human +life, by establishing the proof of a future state of reward and +punishment,--"to bring life and immortality to light." The direct +object, therefore, of the design is, to supply motives, and not rules; +sanctions, and not precepts. And these were what mankind stood most in +need of. The members of civilised society can, in all ordinary cases, +judge tolerably well how they ought to act: but without a future state, +or, which is the same thing, without credited evidence of that state, +they want a motive to their duty; they want at least strength of motive +sufficient to bear up against the force of passion, and the temptation +of present advantage. Their rules want authority. The most important +service that can be rendered to human life, and that consequently which +one might expect beforehand would be the great end and office of a +revelation from God, is to convey to the world authorised assurances of +the reality of a future existence. And although in doing this, or by the +ministry of the same person by whom this is done, moral precepts or +examples, or illustrations of moral precepts, may be occasionally given +and be highly valuable, yet still they do not form the original purpose +of the mission. + +_________ + +* Great and inestimably beneficial effects may accrue from the mission +of Christ, and especially from his death, which do not belong to +Christianity as a revelation: that is, they might have existed, and they +might have been accomplished, though we had never, in this life, been +made acquainted with them. These effects may be very extensive; they may +be interesting even to other orders of intelligent beings. I think it is +a general opinion, and one to which I have long come, that the +beneficial effects of Christ's death extend to the whole human species. +It was the redemption of the world. "He is the propitiation for our +sins, and not for ours only, but for the whole world;" 1 John ii. 2. +Probably the future happiness, perhaps the future existence of the +species, and more gracious terms of acceptance extended to all, might +depend upon it or be procured by it. Now these effects, whatever they +be, do not belong to Christianity as a revelation; because they exist +with respect to those to whom it is not revealed. +_________ + + +Secondly; morality, neither in the Gospel nor in any other book, can be +a subject of discovery, properly so called. By which proposition I mean +that there cannot, in morality, be anything similar to what are called +discoveries in natural philosophy, in the arts of life, and in some +sciences; as the system of the universe, the circulation of the blood, +the polarity of the magnet, the laws of gravitation, alphabetical +writing, decimal arithmetic, and some other things of the same sort; +facts, or proofs, or contrivances, before totally unknown and unthought +of. Whoever, therefore, expects in reading the New Testament to be +struck with discoveries in morals in the manner in which his mind was +affected when he first came to the knowledge of the discoveries above +mentioned: or rather in the manner in which the world was affected by +them, when they were first published; expects what, as I apprehend, the +nature of the subject renders it impossible that he should meet with. +And the foundation of my opinion is this, that the qualities of actions +depend entirely upon their effects, which effects must all along have +been the subject of human experience. + +When it is once settled, no matter upon what principle, that to do good +is virtue, the rest is calculation. But since the calculation cannot be +instituted concerning each particular action, we establish intermediate +rules; by which proceeding, the business of morality is much +facilitated, for then it is concerning our rules alone that we need +inquire, whether in their tendency they be beneficial; concerning our +actions, we have only to ask whether they be agreeable to the rules. We +refer actions to rules, and rules to public happiness. Now, in the +formation of these rules, there is no place for discovery, properly so +called, but there is ample room for the exercise of wisdom, judgment, +and prudence. + +As I wish to deliver argument rather than panegyric, I shall treat of +the morality of the Gospel in subjection to these observations. And +after all, I think it such a morality as, considering from whom it came, +is most extraordinary; and such as, without allowing some degree of +reality to the character and pretensions of the religion, it is +difficult to account for: or, to place the argument a little lower in +the scale, it is such a morality as completely repels the supposition of +its being the tradition of a barbarous age or of a barbarous people, of +the religion being founded in folly, or of its being the production of +craft; and it repels also, in a great degree, the supposition of its +having been the effusion of an enthusiastic mind. + +The division under which the subject may be most conveniently treated is +that of the things taught, and the manner of teaching. + +Under the first head, I should willingly, if the limits and nature of my +work admitted of it, transcribe into this chapter the whole of what has +been said upon the morality of the Gospel by the author of The Internal +Evidence of Christianity; because it perfectly agrees with my own +opinion, and because it is impossible to say the same things so well. +This acute observer of human nature, and, as I believe, sincere convert +to Christianity, appears to me to have made out satisfactorily the two +following positions, viz.-- + +I. That the Gospel omits some qualifies which have usually engaged the +praises and admiration of mankind, but which, in reality, and in their +general effects, have been Prejudicial to human happiness. + +II. That the Gospel has brought forward some virtues which possess the +highest intrinsic value, but which have commonly been overlooked and +contemned. + +The first of these propositions he exemplifies in the instances of +friendship, patriotism, active courage; in the sense in which these +qualities are usually understood, and in the conduct which they often +produce. + +The second, in the instances of passive courage or endurance of +sufferings, patience under affronts and injuries, humility, +irresistance, placability. + +The truth is, there are two opposite descriptions of character under +which mankind may generally be classed. The one possesses rigour, +firmness, resolution; is daring and active, quick in its sensibilities, +jealous of its fame, eager in its attachments, inflexible in its +purpose, violent in its resentments. + +The other meek, yielding, complying, forgiving; not prompt to act, but +willing to suffer; silent and gentle under rudeness and insult, suing +for reconciliation where others would demand satisfaction, giving way to +the pushes of impudence, conceding and indulgent to the prejudices, the +wrong-headedness, the intractability of those with whom it has to deal. + +The former of these characters is, and ever hath been, the favourite of +the world. It is the character of great men. There is a dignity in it +which universally commands respect. + +The latter is poor-spirited, tame, and abject. Yet so it hath happened, +that with the Founder of Christianity this latter is the subject of his +commendation, his precepts, his example; and that the former is so in no +part of its composition. This, and nothing else, is the character +designed in the following remarkable passages: "Resist not evil: but +whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other +also; and if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, +let him have thy cloak also: and whosoever shall compel thee to go a +mile, go with him twain: love your enemies, bless them that curse you, +do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use +you and persecute you." This certainly is not commonplace morality. It +is very original. It shows at least (and it is for this purpose we +produce it) that no two things can be more different than the Heroic and +the Christian characters. + +Now the author to whom I refer has not only marked this difference more +strongly than any preceding writer, but has proved, in contradiction to +first impressions, to popular opinion, to the encomiums of orators and +poets, and even to the suffrages of historians and moralists, that the +latter character possesses the most of true worth, both as being most +difficult either to be acquired or sustained, and as contributing most +to the happiness and tranquillity of social life. The state of his +argument is as follows: + +I. If this disposition were universal, the case is clear; the world +would be a society of friends. Whereas, if the other disposition were +universal, it would produce a scene of universal contention. The world +could not hold a generation of such men. + +II. If, what is the fact, the disposition be partial; if a few be +actuated by it, amongst a multitude who are not; in whatever degree it +does prevail, in the same proportion it prevents, allays, and terminates +quarrels, the great disturbers of human happiness, and the great sources +of human misery, so far as man's happiness and misery depend upon man. +Without this disposition enmities must not only be frequent, but, once +begun, must be eternal: for, each retaliation being a fresh injury, and +consequently requiring a fresh satisfaction, no period can be assigned +to the reciprocation of affronts, and to the progress of hatred, but +that which closes the lives, or at least the intercourse, of the parties. + +I would only add to these observations, that although the former of the +two characters above described may be occasionally useful; although, +perhaps, a great general, or a great statesman, may be formed by it, and +these may be instruments of important benefits to mankind, yet is this +nothing more than what is true of many qualities which are acknowledged +to be vicious. Envy is a quality of this sort: I know not a stronger +stimulus to exertion; many a scholar, many an artist, many a soldier, +has been produced by it; nevertheless, since in its general effects it +is noxious, it is properly condemned, certainly is not praised, by sober +moralists. + +It was a portion of the same character as that we are defending, or +rather of his love of the same character, which our Saviour displayed in +his repeated correction of the ambition of his disciples; his frequent +admonitions that greatness with them was to consist in humility; his +censure of that love of distinction and greediness of superiority which +the chief persons amongst his countrymen were wont, on all occasions, +great and little, to betray. "They (the Scribes and Pharisees) love the +uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and +greetings in the markets, and to be called of men Rabbi, Rabbi. But be +not ye called Rabbi, for one is your Master, even Christ, and all ye are +brethren: and call no man your father upon the earth, for one is your +father, which is in heaven; neither be ye called master, for one is your +Master, even Christ; but he that is greatest among you shall be your +servant; and whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased, and he that +shall humble himself shall be exalted." (Matt. xxiii. 6. See also Mark +xii. 39; Luke xx. 46; xiv. 7.) I make no further remark upon these +passages (because they are, in truth, only a repetition of the doctrine, +different expressions of the principle, which we have already stated), +except that some of the passages, especially our Lord's advice to the +guests at an entertainment, (Luke iv. 7.) seem to extend the rule to +what we call manners; which was both regular in point of consistency, +and not so much beneath the dignity of our Lord's mission as may at +first sight be supposed, for bad manners are bad morals. + +It is sufficiently apparent that the precepts we have tired, or rather +the disposition which these precepts inculcate, relate to personal +conduct from personal motives; to cases in which men act from impulse, +for themselves and from themselves. When it comes to be considered what +is necessary to be done for the sake of the public, and out of a regard +to the general welfare (which consideration, for the most part, ought +exclusively to govern the duties of men in public stations), it comes to +a case to which the rules do not belong. This distinction is plain; and +if it were less so the consequence would not be much felt: for it is +very seldom that in time intercourse of private life men act with public +views. The personal motives from which they do act the rule regulates. + +The preference of time patient to the heroic cheer, which we have here +noticed, and which the reader will find explained at large in the work +to which we have referred him, is a peculiarity in the Christian +institution, which I propose as an argument of wisdom, very much beyond +the situation and natural character of the person who delivered it. + +II. A second argument, drawn from the morality of the New Testament, is +the stress which is laid by our Saviour upon the regulation of the +thoughts; and I place this consideration next to the other because they +are connected. The other related to the malicious passions; this to the +voluptuous. Together, they comprehend the whole character. + +"Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, +fornications," &c. "These are the things which defile a man." (Matt. xv. +19.) + +"Wo unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the +outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of +extortion and excess.--Ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed +appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and +of all uncleanness; even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, +but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity" (Matt. xxiii. 25, 27) + +And more particularly that strong expression, (Matt. v. 28.) "Whosoever +looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her +already in his heart." + +There can be no doubt with any reflecting mind but that the propensities +of our nature must be subject to regulation; but the question is, where +the check ought to be placed, upon the thought, or only upon the action? +In this question our Saviour, in the texts here quoted, has pronounced a +decisive judgment. He makes the control of thought essential. Internal +purity with him is everything. Now I contend that this is the only +discipline which can succeed; in other words, that a moral system which +prohibits actions, but leaves the thoughts at liberty, will be +ineffectual, and is therefore unwise. I know not how to go about the +proof of a point which depends upon experience, and upon a knowledge of +the human constitution, better than by citing the judgment of persons +who appear to have given great attention to the subject, and to be well +qualified to form a true opinion about it. Boerhaave, speaking of this +very declaration of our Saviour, "Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust +after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart," and +understanding it, as we do, to contain an injunction to lay the check +upon the thoughts, was wont to say that "our Saviour knew mankind better +than Socrates." Hailer, who has recorded this saying of Boerhaave, adds +to it the following remarks of his own:--(Letters to his Daughter.) "It +did not escape the observation of our Saviour that the rejection of +any evil thoughts was the best defence against vice: for when a +debauched person fills his imagination with impure pictures, the +licentious ideas which he recalls fail not to stimulate his desires with +a degree of violence which he cannot resist. This will be followed by +gratification, unless some external obstacle should prevent him from the +commission of a sin which he had internally resolved on." "Every moment +of time," says our author, "that is spent in meditations upon sin +increases the power of the dangerous object which has possessed our +imagination." I suppose these reflections will be generally assented to. + +III. Thirdly, had a teacher of morality been asked concerning a general +principle of conduct, and for a short rule of life; and had he +instructed the person who consulted him, "constantly to refer his +actions to what he believed to be the will of his Creator, and +constantly to have in view not his own interest and gratification alone, +but the happiness and comfort of those about him," he would have been +thought, I doubt not, in any age of the world, and in any, even the most +improved state of morals, to have delivered a judicious answer; because, +by the first direction, he suggested the only motive which acts steadily +and uniformly, in sight and out of sight, in familiar occurrences and +under pressing temptations; and in the second he corrected what of all +tendencies in the human character stands most in need of correction, +selfishness, or a contempt of other men's conveniency and satisfaction. +In estimating the value of a moral rule, we are to have regard not only +to the particular duty, but the general spirit; not only to what it +directs us to do, but to the character which a compliance with its +direction is likely to form in us. So, in the present instance, the rule +here recited will never fail to make him who obeys it considerate not only +of the rights, but of the feelings of other men, bodily and mental, in +great matters and in small; of the ease, the accommodation, the +self-complacency of all with whom he has any concern, especially of all +who are in his power, or dependent upon his will. + +Now what, in the most applauded philosopher of the most enlightened age +of the world, would have been deemed worthy of his wisdom, and of his +character, to say, our Saviour hath said, and upon just such an occasion +as that which we have feigned. + +"Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting +him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? +Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy +heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind; this is the first +and great commandment: and the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love +thy neighbour as thyself: on these two commandments hang all the law and +the prophets." (Matt. xxii. 35-40.) + +The second precept occurs in St. Matthew (xix. 16), on another occasion +similar to this; and both of them, on a third similar occasion, in Luke +(x. 27). In these two latter instances the question proposed was, "What +shall I do to inherit eternal life?" + +Upon all these occasions I consider the words of our Saviour as +expressing precisely the same thing as what I have put into the mouth of +the moral philosopher. Nor do I think that it detracts much from the +merit of the answer, that these precepts are extant in the Mosaic code: +for his laying his finger, if I may so say, upon these precepts; his +drawing them out from the rest of that voluminous institution; his +stating of them, not simply amongst the number, but as the greatest and +the sum of all the others; in a word, his proposing of them to his +hearers for their rule and principle, was our Saviour's own. + +And what our Saviour had said upon the subject appears to me to have +fixed the sentiment amongst his followers. + +Saint Paul has it expressly, "If there be any other commandment, it is +briefly comprehended in this saying, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as +thyself;" (Rom. xiii. 9.) and again, "For all the law is fulfilled in +one word, even in this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." (Gal. +v. 14.) + +Saint John, in like manner, "This commandment have we from him, that he +who loveth God love his brother also." (1 John iv. 21.) + +Saint Peter, not very differently: "Seeing that ye have purified your +souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit, unto unfeigned love of +the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently." +(I Peter i, 22.) + +And it is so well known as to require no citations to verify it, that +this love, or charity, or, in other words, regard to the welfare of +others, runs in various forms through all the preceptive parts of the +apostolic writings. It is the theme of all their exhortations, that with +which their morality begins and ends, from which all their details and +enumerations set out, and into which they return. + +And that this temper, for some time at least, descended in its purity to +succeeding Christians, is attested by one of the earliest and best of +the remaining writings of the apostolical fathers, the epistle of the +Roman Clement. The meekness of the Christian character reigns throughout +the whole of that excellent piece. The occasion called for it. It was to +compose the dissensions of the church of Corinth. And the venerable hearer +of the apostles does not fall short, in the display of this principle, of +the finest passages of their writings. He calls to the remembrance of the +Corinthian church its former character in which "ye were all of you," he +tells them, "humble-minded, not boasting of anything, desiring rather to +be subject than to govern, to give than to receive, being content with the +portion God had dispensed to you and hearkening diligently to his word; +ye were enlarged in your bowels, having his sufferings always before your +eyes. Ye contended day and night for the whole brotherhood, that with +compassion and a good conscience the number of his elect might be saved. +Ye were sincere, and without offence towards each other. Ye bewailed +every one his neighbour's sins, esteeming their defects your own." His +prayer for them was for the "return of peace, long-suffering, and +patience." (Ep. Clem. Rom. c. 2 & 53; Abp. Wake's Translation.) And his +advice to those who might have been the occasion of difference in the +society is conceived in the true spirit, and with a perfect knowledge of +the Christian character: "Who is there among you that is generous? who +that is compassionate? Who that has any charity? Let him say, If this +sedition, this contention, and these schisms be upon my account, I am +ready to depart, to go away whithersoever ye please, and do whatsoever +ye shall command me; only let the flock of Christ be in peace with the +elders who are set over it. He that shall do this shall get to himself a +very great honour in the Lord; and there is no place but what will he +ready to receive him; for the earth is the Lord's and the fullness +thereof. These things they who have their conversation towards God, not +to be repented of, both have done, and will always be ready to do." (Ep. +Clem. Rom. c. 54; Abp. Wake's Translation.) + +This sacred principle, this earnest recommendation of forbearance, +lenity, and forgiveness, mixes with all the writings of that age. There +are more quotations in the apostolical fathers of texts which relate to +these points than of any other. Christ's sayings had struck them. "Not +rendering," said Polycarp, the disciple of John, "evil for evil, or +railing for railing, or striking for striking, or cursing for cursing." +Again, speaking of some whose behaviour had given great offence, "Be ye +moderate," says he, "on this occasion, and look not upon such as +enemies, but call them back as suffering and erring members, that ye +save your whole body." (Pol. Ep. ad Phil. c. 2 & 11.) + +"Be ye mild at their anger," saith Ignatius, the companion of Polycarp, +"humble at their boastings, to their blasphemies return your prayers, to +their error your firmness in the faith; when they are cruel, be ye +gentle; not endeavouring to imitate their ways, let us be their brethren +in all kindness and moderation: but let us be followers of the Lord; for +who was ever more unjustly used, more destitute, more despised?" + +IV. A fourth quality by which the morality of the Gospel is +distinguished is the exclusion of regard to fame and reputation. + +"Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them, +otherwise ye have no reward of your father which is in heaven." "When +thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut the door, +pray to thy father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in +secret shall reward thee openly." (Matt. vi. 1 & 6.) + +And the rule, by parity of reason, is extended to all other virtues. + +I do not think that either in these or in any other passage of the New +Testament, the pursuit of fame is stated as a vice; it is only said that +an action, to be virtuous, must be independent of it. I would also +observe that it is not publicity, but ostentation, which is prohibited; +not the mode, but the motive of the action, which is regulated. A good +man will prefer that mode, as well as those objects of his beneficence, +by which he can produce the greatest effect; and the view of this +purpose may dictate sometimes publication, and sometimes concealment. +Either the one or the other may be the mode of the action, according as +the end to be promoted by it appears to require. But from the motive, +the reputation of the deed, and the fruits and advantage of that +reputation to ourselves, must be shut out, or, in whatever proportion +they are not so, the action in that proportion fails of being virtuous. + +This exclusion of regard to human opinion is a difference not so much in +the duties to which the teachers of virtue would persuade mankind, as in +the manner and topics of persuasion. And in this view the difference is +great. When we set about to give advice, our lectures are full of the +advantages of character, of the regard that is due to appearances and to +opinion; of what the world, especially of what the good or great, will +think and say; of the value of public esteem, and of the qualities by +which men acquire it. Widely different from this was our Saviour's +instruction; and the difference was founded upon the best reasons. For, +however the care of reputation, the authority of public opinion, or even +of the opinion of good men, the satisfaction of being well received and +well thought of, the benefit of being known and distinguished, are +topics to which we are fain to have recourse in our exhortations; the +true virtue is that which discards these considerations absolutely, and +which retires from them all to the single internal purpose of pleasing +God. This at least was the virtue which our Saviour taught. And in +teaching this, he not only confined the views of his followers to the +proper measure and principle of human duty, but acted in consistency +with his office as a monitor from heaven. + +Next to what our Saviour taught, may be considered the manner of his +teaching; which was extremely peculiar, yet, I think, precisely adapted +to the peculiarity of his character and situation. His lessons did not +consist of disquisitions; of anything like moral essays, or like +sermons, or like set treatises upon the several points which he +mentioned. When he delivered a precept, it was seldom that he added any +proof or argument; still more seldom that he accompanied it with what +all precepts require, limitations and distinctions. His instructions +were conceived in short, emphatic, sententious rules, in occasional +reflections, or in round maxims. I do not think that this was a natural, +or would have been a proper method for a philosopher or a moralist; or +that it is a method which can be successfully imitated by us. But I +contend that it was suitable to the character which Christ assumed, and +to the situation in which, as a teacher, he was placed. He produced +himself as a messenger from God. He put the truth of what he taught upon +authority. (I say unto you, Swear not at all; I say auto you, Resist not +evil; I say unto you, Love your enemies.--Matt. v. 34, 39, 44.) In the +choice, therefore, of his mode of teaching, the purpose by him to be +consulted was impression: because conviction, which forms the principal +end of our discourses, was to arise in the minds of his followers from a +different source, from their respect to his person and authority. Now, +for the purpose of impression singly and exclusively, (I repeat again, +that we are not here to consider the convincing of the understanding,) I +know nothing which would have so great force as strong ponderous maxims, +frequently urged and frequently brought back to the thoughts of the +hearers. I know nothing that could in this view be said better, than "Do +unto others as ye would that others should do unto you:" "The first and +great commandment is, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God: and the second +is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." It must also +be remembered, that our Lord's ministry, upon the supposition either of +one year or three, compared with his work, was of short duration; that, +within this time, he had many places to visit, various audiences to +address; that his person was generally besieged by crowds of followers; +that he was, sometimes, driven away from the place where he was teaching +by persecution, and at other times thought fit to withdraw himself from +the commotions of the populace. Under these circumstances, nothing +appears to have been so practicable, or likely to be so efficacious, as +leaving, wherever he came, concise lessons of duty. These circumstances +at least show the necessity he was under of comprising what he delivered +within a small compass. In particular, his sermon upon the mount ought +always to be considered with a view to these observations. The question +is not, whether a fuller, a more accurate, a more systematic, or a more +argumentative discourse upon morals might not have been pronounced; but +whether more could have been said in the same room better adapted to +the exigencies of the hearers, or better calculated for the purpose of +impression? Seen in this light, it has always appeared to me to be +admirable. Dr. Lardner thought that this discourse was made up of what +Christ had said at different times, and on different occasions, several +of which occasions are noticed in St Luke's narrative. + +I can perceive no reason for this opinion. I believe that our Lord +delivered this discourse at one time and place, in the manner related by +Saint Matthew, and that he repeated the same rules and maxims at +different times, as opportunity or occasion suggested; that they were +often in his mouth, and were repeated to different audiences, and in +various conversations. + +It is incidental to this mode of moral instruction, which proceeds not +by proof but upon authority, not by disquisition but by precept, that +the rules will be conceived in absolute terms, leaving the application +and the distinctions that attend it to the reason of the hearer. It is +likewise to be expected that they will be delivered in terms by so much +the more forcible and energetic, as they have to encounter natural or +general propensities. It is further also to be remarked, that many of +those strong instances which appear in our Lord's sermon, such as, "If +any man will smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also:" +"If any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him +have thy cloak also:" "Whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with +him twain:" though they appear in the form of specific precepts, are +intended as descriptive of disposition and character. A specific +compliance with the precepts would be of little value, but the +disposition which they inculcate is of the highest. He who should +content himself with waiting for the occasion, and with literally +observing the rule when the occasion offered, would do nothing, or worse +than nothing: but he who considers the character and disposition which +is hereby inculcated, and places that disposition before him as the +model to which he should bring his own, takes, perhaps, the best +possible method of improving the benevolence, and of calming and +rectifying the vices of his temper. + +If it be said that this disposition is unattainable, I answer, so is all +perfection: ought therefore a moralist to recommend imperfections? One +excellency, however, of our Saviour's rules is, that they are either +never mistaken, or never so mistaken as to do harm. I could feign a +hundred cases in which the literal application of the rule, "of doing to +others as we would that others should do unto us," might mislead us; but +I never yet met with the man who was actually misled by it. +Notwithstanding that our Lord bade his followers, "not to resist evil," +and to "forgive the enemy who should trespass against them, not till +seven times, but till seventy times seven," the Christian world has +hitherto suffered little by too much placability or forbearance. I would +repeat once more, what has already been twice remarked, that these rules +were designed to regulate personal conduct from personal motives, and +for this purpose alone. I think that these observations will assist us +greatly in placing our Saviour's conduct as a moral teacher in a proper +point of view; especially when it is considered, that to deliver moral +disquisitions was no part of his design,--to teach morality at all was +only a subordinate part of it; his great business being to supply what +was much more wanting than lessons of morality, stronger moral +sanctions, and clearer assurances of a future judgment.* + +_________ + +* Some appear to require in a religious system, or in the books which +profess to deliver that system, minute directions for every case and +occurrence that may arise. This, say they, is necessary to render a +revelation perfect, especially one which has for its object the +regulation of human conduct. Now, how prolix, and yet how incomplete and +unavailing, such an attempt must have been, is proved by one notable +example: "The Indoo and Mussulman religions are institutes of civil law, +regulating the minutest questions, both of property and of all questions +which come under the cognizance of the magistrate. And to what length +details of this kind are necessarily carried when once begun, may be +understood from an anecdote of the Mussulman code, which we have +received from the most respectable authority, that not less than +seventy-five thousand traditional precepts have been promulgated." +(Hamilton's translation of Hedays, or Guide.) +_________ + + +The parables of the New Testament are, many of them, such as would have +done honour to any book in the world: I do not mean in style and +diction, but in the choice of the subjects, in the structure of the +narratives, in the aptness, propriety, and force of the circumstances +woven into them; and in some, as that of the Good Samaritan, the +Prodigal Son, the Pharisee and the Publican, in an union of pathos and +simplicity, which in the best productions of human genius is the fruit +only of a much exercised and well cultivated judgment. + +The Lord's Prayer, for a succession of solemn thoughts, for fixing the +attention upon a few great points, for suitableness to every condition, +for sufficiency, for conciseness without obscurity, for the weight and +real importance of its petitions, is without an equal or a rival. + +From whence did these come? Whence had this man his wisdom? Was our +Saviour, in fact, a well instructed philosopher, whilst he is +represented to us as an illiterate peasant? Or shall we say that some +early Christians of taste and education composed these pieces and +ascribed them to Christ? Beside all other incredibilities in this +account, I answer, with Dr. Jortin, that they could not do it. No +specimens of composition which the Christians of the first century have +left us authorise us to believe that they were equal to the task. And +how little qualified the Jews, the countrymen and companions of Christ, +were to assist him in the undertaking, may be judged of from the +traditions and writings of theirs which were the nearest to that age. +The whole collection of the Talmud is one continued proof into what +follies they fell whenever they left their Bible; and how little capable +they were of furnishing out such lessons as Christ delivered. + +But there is still another view in which our Lord's discourses deserve +to be considered; and that is, in their negative character,--not in what +they did, but in what they did not, contain. Under this head the +following reflections appear to me to possess some weight. + +I. They exhibit no particular description of the invisible world. The +future happiness of the good, and the misery of the bad, which is all we +want to be assured of, is directly and positively affirmed, and is +represented by metaphors and comparisons, which were plainly intended as +metaphors and comparisons, and as nothing more. As to the rest, a solemn +reserve is maintained. The question concerning the woman who had been +married to seven brothers, "Whose shall she be on the resurrection?" was +of a nature calculated to have drawn from Christ a more circumstantial +account of the state of the human species in their future existence. He +cuts short, however, the inquiry by an answer, which at once rebuked +intruding curiosity, and was agreeable to the best apprehensions we are +able to form upon the subject, viz. "That they who are accounted worthy +of that resurrection, shall be as the angels of God in heaven." I lay a +stress upon this reserve, because it repels the suspicion of enthusiasm: +for enthusiasm is wont to expatiate upon the condition of the departed, +above all other subjects, and with a wild particularity. It is moreover +a topic which is always listened to with greediness. The teacher, +therefore, whose principal purpose is to draw upon himself attention, is +sure to be full of it. The Koran of Mahomet is half made up of it. + +II. Our Lord enjoined no austerities. He not only enjoined none as +absolute duties, but he recommended none as carrying men to a higher +degree of Divine favour. Place Christianity, in this respect, by the +side of all institutions which have been founded in the fanaticism +either of their author or of his first followers: or, rather, compare in +this respect Christianity, as it came from Christ, with the same +religion after it fell into other hands--with the extravagant merit very +soon ascribed to celibacy, solitude, voluntary poverty; with the rigours +of an ascetic, and the vows of a monastic life; the hair-shirt, the +watchings, the midnight prayers, the obmutescence, the gloom and +mortification of religious orders, and of those who aspired to religious +perfection. + +III. Our Saviour uttered no impassioned devotion. There was no heat in +his piety, or in the language in which he expressed it; no vehement or +rapturous ejaculations, no violent urgency, in his prayers. The Lord's +Prayer is a model of calm devotion. His words in the garden are +unaffected expressions of a deep, indeed, but sober piety. He never +appears to have been worked up into anything like that elation, or that +emotion of spirits which is occasionally observed in most of those to +whom the name of enthusiast can in any degree be applied. I feel a +respect for Methodists, because I believe that there is to be found +amongst them much sincere piety, and availing though not always +well-informed Christianity: yet I never attended a meeting of theirs but +I came away with the reflection, how different what I heard was from +what I read! I do not mean in doctrine, with which at present I have no +concern, but in manner how different from the calmness, the sobriety, +the good sense, and I may add, the strength and authority of our Lord's +discourses! + +IV. It is very usual with the human mind to substitute forwardness and +fervency in a particular cause for the merit of general and regular +morality; and it is natural, and politic also, in the leader of a sect +or party, to encourage such a disposition in his followers. Christ did +not overlook this turn of thought; yet, though avowedly placing himself +at the head of a new institution, he notices it only to condemn it. "Not +every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom +of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. +Many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in +thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done +many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto you, I never knew +you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." (Matt. vii. 21, 22.) So far +was the Author of Christianity from courting the attachment of his +followers by any sacrifice of principle, or by a condescension to the +errors which even zeal in his service might have inspired. This was a +proof both of sincerity and judgment. + +V. Nor, fifthly, did he fall in with any of the depraved fashions of his +country, or with the natural bias of his own education. Bred up a Jew, +under a religion extremely technical, in an age and amongst a people +more tenacious of the ceremonies than of any other part of that +religion, he delivered an institution containing less of ritual, and +that more simple, than is to be found in any religion which ever +prevailed amongst mankind. We have known, I do allow, examples of an +enthusiasm which has swept away all external ordinances before it. But +this spirit certainly did not dictate our Saviour's conduct, either in +his treatment of the religion of his country, or in the formation of his +own institution. In both he displayed the soundness and moderation of +his judgment. He censured an overstrained scrupulousness, or perhaps an +affectation of scrupulousness, about the Sabbath: but how did he censure +it? not by contemning or decrying the institution itself, but by +declaring that "the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath;" +that is to say, that the Sabbath was to be subordinate to its purpose, +and that that purpose was the real good of those who were the subjects +of the law. The same concerning the nicety of some of the Pharisees, in +paying tithes of the most trifling articles, accompanied with a neglect +of justice, fidelity, and mercy. He finds fault with them for misplacing +their anxiety. He does not speak disrespectfully of the law of tithes, +nor of their observance of it; but he assigns to each class of duties +its proper station in the scale of moral importance. All this might be +expected perhaps from a well-instructed, cool, and judicious +philosopher, but was not to be looked for from an illiterate Jew; +certainly not from an impetuous enthusiast. + +VI. Nothing could be more quibbling than were the comments and +expositions of the Jewish doctors at that time; nothing so puerile as +their distinctions. Their evasion of the fifth commandment, their +exposition of the law of oaths, are specimens of the bad taste in morals +which then prevailed. Whereas, in a numerous collection of our Saviour's +apophthegms, many of them referring to sundry precepts of the Jewish +law, there is not to be found one example of sophistry, or of false +subtlety, or of anything approaching thereunto. + +VII. The national temper of the Jews was intolerant, narrow-minded, and +excluding. In Jesus, on the contrary, whether we regard his lessons or +his example, we see not only benevolence, but benevolence the most +enlarged and comprehensive. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, the +very point of the story is, that the person relieved by him was the +national and religious enemy of his benefactor. Our Lord declared the +equity of the Divine administration, when he told the Jews, (what, +probably, they were surprised to hear,) "That many should come from the +east and west, and should sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in +the kingdom of heaven; but that the children of the kingdom should be +cast into outer darkness." (Matt. viii. 11.) His reproof of the hasty +zeal of his disciples, who would needs call down fire from heaven to +revenge an affront put upon their Master, shows the lenity of his +character, and of his religion: and his opinion of the manner in which +the most unreasonable opponents ought to be treated, or at least of the +manner in which they ought not to be treated. The terms in which his +rebuke was conveyed deserve to be noticed:--"Ye know not what manner of +spirit ye are of." (Luke ix. 55.) + +VIII. Lastly, amongst the negative qualities of our religion, as it came +out of the hands of its Founder and his apostles, we may reckon its +complete abstraction from all views either of ecclesiastical or civil +policy; or, to meet a language much in fashion with some men, from the +politics either of priests or statesmen. Christ's declaration, that "his +kingdom was not of this world," recorded by Saint John; his evasion of +the question, whether it was lawful or not to give tribute unto Caesar, +mentioned by the three other evangelists; his reply to an application +that was made to him, to interpose his authority in a question of +property; "Man, who made me a ruler or a judge over you?" ascribed to +him by St. Luke; his declining to exercise the office of a criminal +judge in the case of the woman taken in adultery, as related by John, +are all intelligible significations of our Saviour's sentiments upon +this head. And with respect to politics, in the usual sense of that +word, or discussions concerning different forms of government, +Christianity declines every question upon the subject. Whilst +politicians are disputing about monarchies, aristocracies, and +republics, the Gospel is alike applicable, useful, and friendly to them +all; inasmuch, as, 1stly, it tends to make men virtuous, and as it is +easier to govern good men than bad men under any constitution; as, +2ndly, it states obedience to government, in ordinary cases, to be not +merely a submission to force, but a duty of conscience; as, 3rdly, it +induces dispositions favourable to public tranquillity, a Christian's +chief care being to pass quietly through this world to a better; as, +4thly, it prays for communities, and, for the governors of communities, +of whatever description or denomination they be, with a solicitude and +fervency proportioned to the influence which they possess upon human +happiness. All which, in my opinion, is just as it should be. Had there +been more to be found in Scripture of a political nature, or convertible +to political purposes, the worst use would have been made of it, on +whichever side it seemed to lie. + +When, therefore, we consider Christ as a moral teacher (remembering that +this was only a secondary part of his office; and that morality, by the +nature of the subject, does not admit of discovery, properly so +called)--when we consider either what he taught, or what he did not +teach, either the substance or the manner of his instruction; his +preference of solid to popular virtues, of a character which is commonly +despised to a character which is universally extolled; his placing, in +our licentious vices, the check in the right place, viz. upon the +thoughts; his collecting of human duty into two well-devised rules, his +repetition of these rules, the stress he laid upon them, especially in +comparison with positive duties, and his fixing thereby the sentiments +of his followers; his exclusion of all regard to reputation in our +devotion and alms, and by parity of reason in our other virtues;--when +we consider that his instructions were delivered in a form calculated +for impression, the precise purpose in his situation to be consulted; +and that they were illustrated by parables, the choice and structure of +which would have been admired in any composition whatever;--when we +observe him free from the usual symptoms of enthusiasm, heat and +vehemence in devotion, austerity in institutions, and a wild +particularity in the description of a future state; free also from the +depravities of his age and country; without superstition amongst the +most superstitious of men, yet not decrying positive distinctions or +external observances, but soberly calling them to the principle of their +establishment, and to their place in the scale of human duties; without +sophistry or trifling, amidst teachers remarkable for nothing so much as +frivolous subtleties and quibbling expositions; candid and liberal in +his judgment of the rest of mankind, although belonging to a people who +affected a separate claim to Divine favour, and in consequence of that +opinion prone to uncharitableness, partiality, and restriction;--when +we find in his religion no scheme of building up a hierarchy, or of +ministering to the views of human governments;--in a word, when we +compare Christianity, as it came from its Author, either with other +religions, or with itself in other hands, the most reluctant +understanding will be induced to acknowledge the probity, I think also +the good sense, of those to whom it owes its origin; and that some +regard is due to the testimony of such men, when they declare their +knowledge that the religion proceeded from God; and when they appeal for +the truth of their assertion, to miracles which they wrought, or which +they saw. + +Perhaps the qualities which we observe in the religion may be thought to +prove something more. They would have been extraordinary had the +religion come from any person; from the person from whom it did come, +they are exceedingly so. What was Jesus in external appearance? A Jewish +peasant, the son of a carpenter, living with his father and mother in a +remote province of Palestine, until the time that he produced himself in +his public character. He had no master to instruct or prompt him; he had +read no books but the works of Moses and the prophets; he had visited no +polished cities; he had received no lessons from Socrates or +Plato,--nothing to form in him a taste or judgment different from that +of the rest of his countrymen, and of persons of the same rank of life +with himself. Supposing it to be true, which it is not, that all his +points of morality might be picked out of Greek and Roman writings, they +were writings which he had never seen. Supposing them to be no more than +what some or other had taught in various times and places, he could not +collect them together. + +Who were his coadjutors in the undertaking,--the persons into whose +hands the religion came after his death? A few fishermen upon the lake +of Tiberias, persons just as uneducated, and, for the purpose of framing +rules of morality, as unpromising as himself. Suppose the mission to be +real, all this is accounted for; the unsuitableness of the authors to +the production, of the characters to the undertaking, no longer +surprises us: but without reality, it is very difficult to explain how +such a system should proceed from such persons. Christ was not like any +other carpenter; the apostles were not like any other fishermen. + +But the subject is not exhausted by these observations. That portion of +it which is most reducible to points of argument has been stated, and, I +trust, truly. There are, however, some topics of a more diffuse nature, +which yet deserve to be proposed to the reader's attention. + +The character of Christ is a part of the morality of the Gospel: one +strong observation upon which is, that, neither as represented by his +followers, nor as attacked by his enemies, is he charged with any +personal vice. This remark is as old as Origen: "Though innumerable lies +and calumnies had been forged against the venerable Jesus, none had +dared to charge him with an intemperance." (Or. Ep. Cels. 1. 3, num. 36, +ed. Bened.) Not a reflection upon his moral character, not an imputation +or suspicion of any offence against purity and chastity, appears for +five hundred years after his birth. This faultlessness is more peculiar +than we are apt to imagine. Some stain pollutes the morals or the +morality of almost every other teacher, and of every other lawgiver.* +Zeno the stoic, and Diogenes the cynic, fell into the foulest +impurities; of which also Socrates himself was more than suspected. +Solon forbade unnatural crimes to slaves. Lycurgus tolerated theft as a +part of education. Plato recommended a community of women. Aristotle +maintained the general right of making war upon barbarians. The elder +Cato was remarkable for the ill usage of his slaves; the younger gave up +the person of his wife. One loose principle is found in almost all the +Pagan moralists; is distinctly, however, perceived in the writings of +Plato, Xenophon, Cicero, Seneca, Epictetus; and that is, the allowing, +and even the recommending to their disciples, a compliance with the +religion, and with the religious rites, of every country into which they +came. In speaking of the founders of new institutions we cannot forget +Mahomet. His licentious transgressions of his own licentious rules; his +abuse of the character which he assumed, and of the power which he had +acquired, for the purposes of personal and privileged indulgence; his +avowed claim of a special permission from heaven of unlimited +sensuality, is known to every reader, as it is confessed by every writer +of the Moslem story. + +_________ + +* See many instances collected by Grotius, de Veritate Christianae +Religionis, in the notes to his second book, p. 116. Pocock's edition. +_________ + + +Secondly, in the histories which are left us of Jesus Christ, although +very short, and although dealing in narrative, and not in observation or +panegyric, we perceive, beside the absence of every appearance of vice, +traces of devotion, humility, benignity, mildness, patience, prudence. I +speak of traces of these qualities, because the qualities themselves are +to be collected from incidents; inasmuch as the terms are never used of +Christ in the Gospels, nor is any formal character of him drawn in any +part of the New Testament. + +Thus we see the devoutness of his mind in his frequent retirement to +solitary prayer; (Matt. xiv. 23. Luke ix. 28. Matt. xxvi. 36.) in his +habitual giving of thanks; (Matt. xi. 25. Mark viii. 6. John vi. 23. Luke +xxii. 17.) in his reference of the beauties and operations of nature to +the bounty of Providence; (Matt. vi, 26--28.) in his earnest addresses to +his Father, more particularly that short but solemn one before the +raising of Lazarus from the dead; (John xi. 41.) and in the deep piety of +his behaviour in the garden on the last evening of his life:(Matt. xxvi. +86--47.) his humility in his constant reproof of contentions for +superiority:(Mark ix. 33.) the benignity and affectionateness of his +temper in his kindness to children; (Mark x. 16.) in the tears which he +shed over his falling country, (Luke xix. 41.) and upon the death of his +friend; (John xi. 35.) in his noticing of the widow's mite; (Mark xii. +42.) in his parables of the good Samaritan, of the ungrateful servant, +and of the Pharisee and publican, of which parables no one but a man of +humanity could have been the author: the mildness and lenity of his +character is discovered in his rebuke of the forward zeal of his +disciples at the Samaritan village; (Luke ix. 55.) in his expostulation +with Pilate; (John xix. 11.) in his prayer for his enemies at the moment +of his suffering, (Luke xxiii. 34.) which, though it has been since very +properly and frequently imitated, was then, I apprehend, new. His +prudence is discerned, where prudence is most wanted, in his conduct on +trying occasions, and in answers to artful questions. Of these the +following are examples:--His withdrawing in various instances from the +first symptoms of tumult, (Matt. xiv. 22. Luke v. 15, 16. John v. 13; vi. +15.) and with the express care, as appears from Saint Matthew, (Chap. +xii. 19.) of carrying on his ministry in quietness; his declining of +every species of interference with the civil affairs of the country, +which disposition is manifested by his behaviour in the case of the +woman caught in adultery, (John viii. 1.) and in his repulse of the +application which was made to him to interpose his decision about a +disputed inheritance:(Luke xii. 14.) his judicious, yet, as it should +seem, unprepared answers, will be confessed in the case of the Roman +tribute (Matt. xxii. 19.) in the difficulty concerning the interfering +relations of a future state, as proposed to him in the instance of a +woman who had married seven brethren; (Matt. xxii. 28.) and more +especially in his reply to those who demanded from him an explanation of +the authority by which he acted, which reply consisted in propounding a +question to them, situated between the very difficulties into which they +were insidiously endeavouring to draw him. (Matt. xxi. 23, et seq.) + +Our Saviour's lessons, beside what has already been remarked in them, +touch, and that oftentimes by very affecting representations, upon some +of the most interesting topics of human duty, and of human meditation; +upon the principles by which the decisions of the last day will be +regulated; (Matt. xxv. 31, et seq.) upon the superior, or rather the +supreme importance of religion; ( Mark viii. 35. Matt. vi. 31--33. Luke +xii. 4, 5, 16--21.) upon penitence, by the most pressing calls, and the +most encouraging invitations; (Luke xv.) upon self-denial, (Matt. v. 29.) +watchfulhess, (Mark xiii. 37. Matt. xxiv. 42; xxv. 13.) placability, (Luke +xvii. 4. Matt. xviii. 33, et seq.) confidence in God, (Matt. vi. 25--30.) +the value of spiritual, that is, of mental worship, (John iv. 23, 24.) +the necessity of moral obedience, and the directing of that obedience to +the spirit and principle of the law, instead of seeking for evasions in +a technical construction of its terms. (Matt. v. 21.) + +If we extend our argument to other parts of the New Testament, we may +offer, as amongst the best and shortest rules of life, or, which is the +same thing, descriptions of virtue, that have ever been delivered, the +following passages:-- + +"Pure religion, and undefiled, before God and the Father, is this; to +visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself +unspotted from the world." (James i. 27.) + +"Now the end of the commandment is charity, out of a pure heart and a +good conscience, and faith unfeigned." (I Tim. i. 5.) + +"For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, +teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live +soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world." (Tit. ii. 11, +12.) + +Enumerations of virtues and vices, and those sufficiently accurate and +unquestionably just, are given by St. Paul to his converts in three +several epistles. (Gal. v. 19. Col. iii. 12. 1 Cor. xiii.) + +The relative duties of husbands and wives, of parents and children, of +masters and servants, of Christian teachers and their flocks, of +governors and their subjects, are set forth by the same writer, (Eph. v. +33; vi. 1--5. 2 Cor. vi. 6, 7. Rom. xiii.) not indeed with the +copiousness, the detail, or the distinctness of a moralist who should in +these days sit down to write chapters upon the subject, but with the +leading rules and principles in each; and, above all, with truth and +with authority. + +Lastly, the whole volume of the New Testament is replete with piety; +with what were almost unknown to heathen moralists, devotional virtues, +the most profound veneration of the Deity, an habitual sense of his +bounty and protection, a firm confidence in the final result of his +counsels and dispensations, a disposition to resort upon all occasions +to his mercy for the supply of human wants, for assistance in danger, +for relief from pain, for the pardon of sin. + + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE CANDOUR OF THE WRITERS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. + +I make this candour to consist in their putting down many passages, and +noticing many circumstances, which no writer whatever was likely to have +forged; and which no writer would have chosen to appear in his book who +had been careful to present the story in the most unexceptionable form, +or who had thought himself at liberty to carve and mould the particulars +of that story according to his choice, or according to his judgment of +the effect. + +A strong and well-known example of the fairness of the evangelists +offers itself in their account of Christ's resurrection, namely, in +their unanimously stating that after he was risen he appeared to his +disciples alone. I do not mean that they have used the exclusive word +alone; but that all the instances which they have recorded of his +appearance are instances of appearance to his disciples; that their +reasonings upon it, and allusions to it, are confined to this +supposition; and that by one of them Peter is made to say, "Him God +raised up the third day, and showed him openly, not to all the people, +but to witnesses chosen before of God, even to us who did eat and drink +with him after he rose from the dead." (Acts x. 40, 41.) The most common +understanding must have perceived that the history of the resurrection +would have come with more advantage if they had related that Jesus +appeared, after he was risen, to his foes as well as his friends, to the +scribes and Pharisees, the Jewish council, and the Roman governor: or +even if they had asserted the public appearance of Christ in general +unqualified terms, without noticing, as they have done, the presence of +his disciples on each occasion, and noticing it in such a manner as to +lead their readers to suppose that none but disciples were present. They +could have represented in one way as well as the other. And if their +point had been to have their religion believed, whether true or false; +if they had fabricated the story ab initio; or if they had been disposed +either to have delivered their testimony as witnesses, or to have worked +up their materials and information as historians, in such a manner as to +render their narrative as specious and unobjectionable as they could; in +a word, if they had thought of anything but of the truth of the case, as +they understood and believed it; they would in their account of Christ's +several appearances after his resurrection, at least have omitted this +restriction. At this distance of time, the account as we have it is +perhaps more credible than it would have been the other way; because +this manifestation of the historians' candour is of more advantage to +their testimony than the difference in the circumstances of the account +would have been to the nature of the evidence. But this is an effect +which the evangelists would not foresee: and I think that it was by no +means the case at the time when the books were composed. + +Mr. Gibbon has argued for the genuineness of the Koran, from the +confessions which it contains, to the apparent disadvantage of the +Mahometan cause. (Vol. ix. c. 50, note 96.) The same defence vindicates +the genuineness of our Gospels, and without prejudice to the cause at +all. + +There are some other instances in which the evangelists honestly relate +what they must have perceived would make against them. + +Of this kind is John the Baptist's message preserved by Saint Matthew +(xi. 2) and Saint Luke (vii. 18): "Now when John had heard in the prison +the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, and said unto him, +Art thou he that should come, or look we for another?" To confess, still +more to state, that John the Baptist had his doubts concerning the +character of Jesus, could not but afford a handle to cavil and +objection. But truth, like honesty, neglects appearances. The same +observation, perhaps, holds concerning the apostacy of Judas.* + +_________ + +* I had once placed amongst these examples of fair concession the +remarkable words of Saint Matthew in his account of Christ's appearance +upon the Galilean mountain: "And when they saw him they worshipped him; +but some doubted." (Chap. xxviii. 17.) I have since, however, been +convinced, by what is observed concerning this passage in Dr. +Townshend's Discourse (Page 177.) upon the Resurrection, that the +transaction, as related by Saint Matthew, was really this: "Christ +appeared first at a distance; the greater part of the company, the +moment they saw him, worshipped, but some as yet, i.e. upon this first +distant view of his person, doubted; whereupon Christ came up to them, +and spake to them,"+ &c.: that the doubt, therefore, was a doubt only at +first for a moment, and upon his being seen at a distance, and was +afterwards dispelled by his nearer approach, and by his entering into +conversation with them. + ++ Saint Matthew's words are: kai proselthon o Iesous elalesen autois +[and having come toward them, Jesus spoke]. This intimates that when he +first appeared it was at a distance, at least from many of the +spectators. Ib. p. 197. +_________ + + +John vi. 66. "From that time, many of his disciples went back, and +walked no more with him." Was it the part of a writer who dealt in +suppression and disguise to put down this anecdote? Or this, which +Matthew has preserved (xii. 58)? "He did not many mighty works there, +because of their unbelief." + +Again, in the same evangelist (v. 17, 18): "Think not that I am come to +destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to +fulfil; for, verily, I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one +jot, or one tittle, shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be +fulfilled." At the time the Gospels were written, the apparent tendency +of Christ's mission was to diminish the authority of the Mosaic code, +and it was so considered by the Jews themselves. It is very improbable, +therefore, that, without the constraint of truth, Matthew should have +ascribed a saying to Christ, which, primo intuitu, militated with the +judgment of the age in which his Gospel was written. Marcion thought +this text so objectionable, that he altered the words, so as to invert +the sense. (Lardner, Cred., vol. xv. p. 422.) + +Once more (Acts xxv. 18): "They brought none accusation against him of +such things as I supposed; but had certain questions against him of +their own superstition, and of one Jesus which was dead, whom Paul +affirmed to be alive." Nothing could be more in the character of a Roman +governor than these words. But that is not precisely the point I am +concerned with. A mere panegyrist, or a dishonest narrator, would not +have represented his cause, or have made a great magistrate represent +it, in this manner, i.e. in terms not a little disparaging, and +bespeaking, on his part, much unconcern and indifference about the +matter. The same observation may be repeated of the speech which is +ascribed to Gallio (Acts xviii. 15): "If it be a question of words and +names, and of your law, look ye to it; for I will be no judge of such +matters." + +Lastly, where do we discern a stronger mark of candour, or less +disposition to extol and magnify, than in the conclusion of the same +history? in which the evangelist, after relating that Paul, on his first +arrival at Rome, preached to the Jews from morning until evening, adds, +"And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not." + +The following, I think, are passages which were very unlikely to have +presented themselves to the mind of a forger or a fabulist. + +Matt. xxi. 21. "Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto +you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is +done unto the fig-tree, but also, if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be +thou removed, and be thou east into the sea, it shall be done; all +things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, it shall be done." +(See also chap. xvii. 20. Luke xvii. 6.) It appears to me very +improbable that these words should have been put into Christ's mouth, if +he had not actually spoken them. The term "faith," as here used, is +perhaps rightly interpreted of confidence in that internal notice by +which the apostles were admonished of their power to perform any +particular miracle. And this exposition renders the sense of the text +more easy. But the words undoubtedly, in their obvious construction, +carry with them a difficulty which no writer would have brought upon +himself officiously. + +Luke ix. 59. "And he said unto another, Follow me: but he said, Lord, +suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the +dead bury their dead, but go thou and preach the kingdom of God." (See +also Matt. viii. 21.) This answer, though very expressive of the +transcendent importance of religious concerns, was apparently harsh and +repulsive; and such as would not have been made for Christ if he had not +really used it. At least some other instance would bare been chosen. + +The following passage, I, for the same reason, think impossible to have +been the production of artifice, or of a cold forgery:--"But I say unto +you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be +in danger of the judgment; and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, +shall be in danger of the council; but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, +shall be in danger of hell-fire (Gehennae)." Matt. v. 22. It is +emphatic, cogent, and well calculated for the purpose of impression; but +is inconsistent with the supposition of art or wariness on the part of +the relator. + +The short reply of our Lord to Mary Magdalen, after his resurrection +(John xx. 16, 17), "Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended unto my +Father," in my opinion must have been founded in a reference or allusion +to some prior conversation, for the want of knowing which his meaning is +hidden from us. This very obscurity, however, is a proof of genuineness. +No one would have forged such an answer. + +John vi. The whole of the conversation recorded in this chapter is in +the highest degree unlikely to be fabricated, especially the part of our +Saviour's reply between the fiftieth and the fifty-eighth verse. I need +only put down the first sentence: "I am the living bread which came down +from heaven: if any man eat of this bread he shall live for ever: and +the bread that I will give him is my flesh, which I will give for the +life of the world." Without calling in question the expositions that +have been given of this passage, we may be permitted to say, that it +labours under an obscurity, in which it is impossible to believe that +any one, who made speeches for the persons of his narrative, would have +voluntarily involved them. That this discourse was obscure, even at the +time, is confessed by the writer who had preserved it, when he tells us, +at the conclusion, that many of our Lord's disciples, when they had +heard this, said, "This is a hard saying; who can hear it?" + +Christ's taking of a young child, and placing it in the midst of his +contentious disciples (Matt. xviii. 2), though as decisive a proof as +any could be of the benignity of his temper, and very expressive of the +character of the religion which he wished to inculcate, was not by any +means an obvious thought. Nor am I acquainted with anything in any +ancient writing which resembles it. + +The account of the institution of the eucharist bears strong internal +marks of genuineness. If it had been feigned, it would have been more +full; it would have come nearer to the actual mode of celebrating the +rite as that mode obtained very early in the Christian churches; and it +would have been more formal than it is. In the forged piece called the +Apostolic Constitutions, the apostles are made to enjoin many parts of +the ritual which was in use in the second and third centuries, with as +much particularity as a modern rubric could have done. Whereas, in the +history of the Lord's Supper, as we read it in Saint Matthew's Gospel, +there is not so much as the command to repeat it. This, surely, looks +like undesignedness. I think also that the difficulty arising from the +conciseness of Christ's expression, "This is my body," would have been +avoided in a made-up story. I allow that the explication of these words +given by Protestants is satisfactory; but it is deduced from a diligent +comparison of the words in question with forms of expression used in +Scripture, and especially by Christ upon other occasions. No writer +would arbitrarily and unnecessarily have thus cast in his reader's way a +difficulty which, to say the least, it required research and erudition +to clear up. + +Now it ought to be observed that the argument which is built upon these +examples extends both to the authenticity of the books, and to the +truth of the narrative; for it is improbable that the forger of a +history in the name of another should have inserted such passages into +it: and it is improbable, also, that the persons whose names the books +hear should have fabricated such passages; or even have allowed them a +place in their work, if they had not believed them to express the truth. + +The following observation, therefore, of Dr. Lardner, the most candid of +all advocates, and the most cautious of all inquirers, seems to be well +founded:--"Christians are induced to believe the writers of the Gospel +by observing the evidences of piety and probity that appear in their +writings, in which there is no deceit, or artifice, or cunning, or +design." "No remarks," as Dr. Beattie hath properly said, "are thrown in +to anticipate objections; nothing of that caution which never fails to +distinguish the testimony of those who are conscious of imposture; no +endeavour to reconcile the reader's mind to what may be extraordinary in +the narrative." + +I beg leave to cite also another author, (Duchal, pp. 97, 98.) who has +well expressed the reflection which the examples now brought forward +were intended to suggest. "It doth not appear that ever it came into the +mind of these writers to consider how this or the other action would +appear to mankind, or what objections might be raised upon them. But +without at all attending to this, they lay the facts before you, at no +pains to think whether they would appear credible or not. If the reader +will not believe their testimony, there is no help for it: they tell +the truth and attend to nothing else. Surely this looks like sincerity, +and that they published nothing to the world but that they believed +themselves." + +As no improper supplement to this chapter, I crave a place here for +observing the extreme naturalness of some of the things related in the +New Testament. + +Mark ix. 23. "Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are +possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child +cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine +unbelief." This struggle in the father's heart, between solicitude for +the preservation of his child, and a kind of involuntary distrust of +Christ's power to heal him, is here expressed with an air of reality +which could hardly be counterfeited. + +Again (Matt. xxi. 9), the eagerness of the people to introduce Christ +into Jerusalem, and their demand, a short time afterwards, of his +crucifixion, when he did not turn out what they expected him to be, so +far from affording matter of objection, represents popular favour in +exact agreement with nature and with experience, as the flux and reflux +of a wave. + +The rulers and Pharisees rejecting Christ, whilst many of the common +people received him, was the effect which, in the then state of Jewish +prejudices, I should have expected. And the reason with which they who +rejected Christ's mission kept themselves in countenance, and with which +also they answered the arguments of those who favoured it, is precisely +the reason which such men usually give:--"Have any of the Scribes or +Pharisees believed on him?" (John vii. 48.) + +In our Lord's conversation at the well (John iv. 29), Christ had +surprised the Samaritan woman with an allusion to a single particular in +her domestic situation, "Thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou +now hast is not thy husband." The woman, soon after this, ran back to +the city, and called out to her neighbours, "Come, see a man which told +me all things that ever I did." This exaggeration appears to me very +natural; especially in the hurried state of spirits into which the woman +may be supposed to have been thrown. + +The lawyer's subtilty in running a distinction upon the word neighbour, +in the precept, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself," was no less +natural than our Saviour's answer was decisive and satisfactory. (Luke +x. 20.) The lawyer of the New Testament, it must be observed, was a +Jewish divine. + +The behaviour of Gallio (Acts xviii. 12-17), and of Festus (xxv. 18, +19), have been observed upon already. + +The consistency of Saint Paul's character throughout the whole of his +history (viz. the warmth and activity of his zeal, first against, and +then for, Christianity) carries with it very much of the appearance of +truth. + +There are also some properties, as they may be called, observable in the +Gospels; that is, circumstances separately suiting with the situation, +character, and intention of their respective authors. + +Saint Matthew, who was an inhabitant of Galilee, and did not join +Christ's society until some time after Christ had come into Galilee to +preach, has given us very little of his history prior to that period. +Saint John, who had been converted before, and who wrote to supply +omissions in the other Gospels, relates some remarkable particulars +which had taken place before Christ left Judea, to go into Galilee. +(Hartley's Observations, vol. ii. p. 103.) + +Saint Matthew (xv. 1) has recorded the cavil of the Pharisees against +the disciples of Jesus, for eating "with unclean hands." Saint Mark has +also (vii. 1) recorded the same transaction (taken probably from Saint +Matthew), but with this addition: "For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, +except they wash their hands often, eat not, holding the tradition of +the elders: and when they come from the market, except they wash, they +eat not: and many other things there be which they have received to +hold, as the washing of cups and pots, brazen vessels, and of tables." +Now Saint Matthew was not only a Jew himself, but it is evident, from +the whole structure of his Gospel, especially from his numerous +references to the Old Testament, that he wrote for Jewish readers. The +above explanation, therefore, in him, would have been unnatural, as not +being wanted by the readers whom he addressed. But in Mark, who, +whatever use he might make of Matthew's Gospel, intended his own +narrative for a general circulation, and who himself travelled to +distant countries in the service of the religion, it was properly added. + + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +IDENTITY OF CHRIST'S CHARACTER. + +THE argument expressed by this title I apply principally to the +comparison of the first three Gospels with that of Saint John. It is +known to every reader of Scripture that the passages of Christ's history +preserved by Saint John are, except his passion and resurrection, for +the most part different from those which are delivered by the other +evangelists. And I think the ancient account of this difference to be +the true one, viz., that Saint John wrote after the rest, and to supply +what he thought omissions in their narratives, of which the principal +were our Saviour's conferences with the Jews of Jerusalem, and his +discourses to his apostles at his last supper. But what I observe in the +comparison of these several accounts is, that, although actions and +discourses are ascribed to Christ by Saint John in general different +from what are given to him by the other evangelists, yet, under this +diversity, there is a similitude of manner, which indicates that the +actions and discourses proceeded from the same person. I should have +laid little stress upon the repetition of actions substantially alike, +or of discourses containing many of the same expressions, because that +is a species of resemblance which would either belong to a true history, +or might easily be imitate in a false one. Nor do I deny that a dramatic +writer is able to sustain propriety and distinction of character through +a great variety of separate incidents and situations. But the +evangelists were not dramatic writers; nor possessed the talents of +dramatic writers; nor will it, I believe, be suspected that they studied +uniformity of character, or ever thought of any such thing in the person +who was the subject of their histories. Such uniformity, if it exist, +is on their part casual; and if there be, as I contend there is, a +perceptible resemblance of manner, in passages, and between discourses, +which are in themselves extremely distinct, and are delivered by +historians writing without any imitation of, or reference to, one +another, it affords a just presumption that these are what they profess +to be, the actions and the discourses of the same real person; that the +evangelists wrote from fact, and not from imagination. + +The article in which I find this agreement most strong is in our +Saviour's mode of teaching, and in that particular property of it which +consists in his drawing of his doctrine from the occasion; or, which is +nearly the same thing, raising reflections from the objects and +incidents before him, or turning a particular discourse then passing +into an opportunity of general instruction. + +It will be my business to point out this manner in the first three +evangelists; and then to inquire whether it do not appear also in several +examples of Christ's discourses preserved by Saint John. + +The reader will observe in the following quotations that the Italic +letter contains the reflection; the common letter the incident or +occasion from which it springs. + +Matt. xii. 47--50. "Then they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy +brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. But he answered and +said unto him that told him, Who is my mother; and who are my brethren? +And he stretched forth his hand towards his disciples, and said, Behold +my mother and my brethren: for whosoever shall do the will of my Father +which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother." + +Matt. xvi. 5. "And when his disciples were come to the other side, they +had forgotten to take bread; then Jesus said unto them, Take heed, and +beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. And they +reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no +bread.--How is it that ye do not understand, that I speak it not to you +concerning bread, that ye shall beware of the leaven of the Pharisees +and of the Sadducees? Then understood they how that he bade them not +beware of the leaven of bread, but of the DOCTRINE of the Pharisees and +of the Sadducees." + +Matt. xv. 1, 2; 10, 11; 15--20. "Then came to Jesus scribes and +Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, Why do thy disciples +transgress the traditions of the elders? for they wash not their hands +when they eat bread.--And he called the multitude, and said unto them, +Hear and understand: Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man, +but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth the man.--Then +answered Peter, and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable. And +Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? Do ye not understand +that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is +cast out into the draught? but those things which proceed out of the +mouth come forth from the heart, and they defile the man: for out of the +heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, +false witness, blasphemies; these are the things which defile a man: BUT +TO EAT WITH UNWASHEN HANDS DEFILETH NOT A MAN." Our Saviour, on +this occasion, expatiates rather more at large than usual, and his +discourse also is more divided; but the concluding sentence brings +back the whole train of thought to the incident in the first verse, +viz. the objurgatory question of the Pharisees, and renders it evident +that the whole sprang from that circumstance. + +Mark x. 13, 14, 15. "And they brought young children to him, that he +should touch them; and his disciples rebuked those that brought them: +but when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, +Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of +such is the kingdom of God: verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not +receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter +therein." + +Mark i. 16, 17. "Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon +and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea, for they were +fishers: and Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you +fishers of men." + +Luke xi. 27. "And it came to pass as he spake these things, a certain +woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is +the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked: but he +said, Yea, rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep +it." + +Luke xiii. 1--3. "There were present at that season some that told him +of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices; +and Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye, that these Galileans +were sinners above all the Galileans, because they suffered such things? +I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." + +Luke xiv. 15. "And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard +these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in +the kingdom of God. Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great +supper, and bade many," &c. The parable is rather too long for +insertion, but affords a striking instance of Christ's manner of raising +a discourse from the occasion. Observe also in the same chapter two +other examples of advice, drawn from the circumstances of the +entertainment and the behaviour of the guests. + +We will now see how this manner discovers itself in Saint John's history +of Christ. + +John vi. 25. "And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, +they said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither? Jesus answered them +and said, Verily I say unto you, ye seek me not because ye saw the +miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves and were filled. Labour +not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto +everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you." + +John iv. 12. "Art thou greater than our father Abraham, who gave us the +well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus +answered, and said unto her (the woman of Samaria), Whosoever drinketh +of this water shall thirst again; but whosoever drinketh of the water +that I shall give him, shall never thirst; but the water that I shall +give him shall be in him a well of water, springing up into everlasting +life." + +John iv. 31. "In the mean while, his disciples prayed him, saying, +Master, eat; but he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not +of. Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought +him aught to eat? Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of +Him that sent me, and to finish his work." + +John ix. 1--5. "And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind +from his birth: and his disciples asked him, saying, Who did sin, this +man or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath +this man sinned, nor his parents, but that the works of God should be +made manifest in him. I must work the works of Him that sent me while it +is day; the night cometh when no man can work. As long as I am in the +world, I am the light of the world." + +John ix. 35--40. "Jesus heard that they had cast him (the blind man +above mentioned) out: and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost +thou believe on the Son of God? And he answered and said, Who is he, +Lord, that I might believe on him? And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast +both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. And he said, Lord, I +believe; and he worshipped him. And Jesus said. For judgment I am come +into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which +see might be made blind." + +All that the reader has now to do, is to compare the series of examples +taken from Saint John with the series of examples taken from the other +evangelists, and to judge whether there be not a visible agreement of +manner between them. In the above-quoted passages, the occasion is +stated, as well as the reflection. They seem, therefore, the most proper +for the purpose of our argument. A large, however, and curious +collection has been made by different writers, (Newton on Daniel, p. 148, +note a. Jottin, Dis., p. 218. Bishop Law's Life of Christ.) of instances +in which it is extremely probable that Christ spoke in allusion to some +object, or some occasion then before him, though the mention of the +occasion, or of the object, be omitted in the history. I only observe that +these instances are common to Saint John's Gospel with the other three. + +I conclude this article by remarking, that nothing of this manner is +perceptible in the speeches recorded in the Acts, or in any other but +those which are attributed to Christ, and that, in truth, it was a very +unlikely manner for a forger or fabulist to attempt; and a manner very +difficult for any writer to execute, if he had to supply all the +materials, both the incidents and the observations upon them, out of his +own head. A forger or a fabulist would have made for Christ, discourses +exhorting to virtue and dissuading from vice in general terms. It would +never have entered into the thoughts of either, to have crowded together +such a number of allusions to time, place, and other little circumstances, +as occur, for instance, in the sermon on the mount, and which nothing but +the actual presence of the objects could have suggested (See Bishop Law's +Life of Christ). + +II. There appears to me to exist an affinity between the history of +Christ's placing a little child in the midst of his disciples, as +related by the first three evangelists, (Matt. xviii. 1. Mark ix. 33. +Luke ix. 46.) and the history of Christ's washing his disciples' feet, +as given by Saint John. (Chap. xiii. 3.) In the stories themselves there +is no resemblance. But the affinity which I would point out consists in +these two articles: First, that both stories denote the emulation which +prevailed amongst Christ's disciples, and his own care and desire to +correct it; the moral of both is the same. Secondly, that both stories +are specimens of the same manner of teaching, viz., by action; a mode of +emblematic instruction extremely peculiar, and, in these passages, +ascribed, we see, to our Saviour by the first three evangelists, and by +Saint John, in instances totally unlike, and without the smallest +suspicion of their borrowing from each other. + +III. A singularity in Christ's language which runs through all the +evangelists, and which is found in those discourses of Saint John that +have nothing similar to them in the other Gospels, is the appellation of +"the Son of man;" and it is in all the evangelists found under the +peculiar circumstance of being applied by Christ to himself, but of +never being used of him, or towards him, by any other person. It occurs +seventeen times in Matthew's Gospel, twenty times in Mark's, twenty-one +times in Luke's and eleven times in John's, and always with this +restriction. + +IV. A point of agreement in the conduct of Christ, as represented by his +different historians, is that of his withdrawing himself out of the way +whenever the behaviour of the multitude indicated a disposition to +tumult. + +Matt. xiv. 22. "And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get +into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the +multitude away. And when he had sent the multitude away, he went up into +a mountain apart to pray." + +Luke v. 15, 16. "But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him, +and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of +their infirmities; and he withdrew himself into the wilderness and +prayed." With these quotations compare the following from Saint John: +Chap. v. 13. "And he that was healed wist not who it was, for Jesus had +conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place." + +Chap. vi. 15. "When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and +take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain +himself alone." + +In this last instance, Saint John gives the motive of Christ's conduct, +which is left unexplained by the other evangelists, who have related the +conduct itself. + +V. Another, and a more singular circumstance in Christ's ministry, was +the reserve which, for some time, and upon some occasions at least, he +used in declaring his own character, and his leaving it to be collected +from his works rather than his professions. Just reasons for this +reserve have been assigned. (See Locke's Reasonableness of Christianity.) +But it is not what one would have expected. We meet with it in Saint +Matthew's Gospel (chap. xvi. 20): "Then charged he his disciples that +they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ." Again, and upon a +different occasion, in Saint Mark's (chap. iii. 11): "And unclean +spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, +Thou art the Son of God: and he straitly charged them that they should +not make him known." Another instance similar to this last is recorded +by Saint Luke (chap. iv. 41). What we thus find in the three +evangelists, appears also in a passage of Saint John (chap. x. 24, 25): +"Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost +thou make us to doubt: If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly." The +occasion here was different from any of the rest; and it was indirect. +We only discover Christ's conduct through the upbraidings of his +adversaries. But all this strengthens the argument. I had rather at any +time surprise a coincidence in some oblique allusion than read it in +broad assertions. + +VI. In our Lord's commerce with his disciples, one very observable +particular is the difficulty which they found in understanding him when +he spoke to them of the future part of his history, especially of what +related to his passion or resurrection. This difficulty produced, as was +natural, a wish in them to ask for further explanation: from which, +however, they appear to have been sometimes kept back by the fear of +giving offence. All these circumstances are distinctly noticed by Mark +and Luke, upon the occasion of his informing them (probably for the +first time) that the Son of man should be delivered into the hands of +men. "They understood not," the evangelists tell us, "this saying, and +it was hid from them, that they perceived it not; and they feared to ask +him of that saying." Luke ix. 45; Mark ix. 32. In Saint John's Gospel we +have, on a different occasion, and in a different instance, the same +difficulty of apprehension, the same curiosity, and the same +restraint:--"A little while and ye shall not see me; and again, a little +while and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father. Then said some of +his disciples among themselves, What is this that he saith unto us? A +little while and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while and ye +shall see me: and, Because I go to the Father? They said, therefore, +What is this that he saith? A little while? We cannot tell what he +saith. Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and said unto +them,--" &c. John xvi. 16, et seq. + +VII. The meekness of Christ during his last sufferings, which is +conspicuous in the narratives of the first three evangelists, is +preserved in that of Saint John under separate examples. The answer +given by him, in Saint John, (Chap. xviii. 20, 21.) when the high priest +asked him of his disciples and his doctrine; "I spake openly to the +world: I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the +Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing. Why askest thou +me? ask them which heard me what I have said unto them," is very much of +a piece with his reply to the armed party which seized him, as we read +it in Saint Mark's Gospel, and in Saint Luke's:(Mark xiv. 48. Luke xxii. +52.) "Are you come out as against a thief, with swords and with staves +to take me? I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and ye took me +not." In both answers we discern the same tranquillity, the same +reference to his public teaching. His mild expostulation with Pilate, on +two several occasions, as related by Saint John, (Chap. xviii. 34; xix. +11.) is delivered with the same unruffled temper as that which conducted +him through the last scene of his life, as described by his other +evangelists. His answer, in Saint John's Gospel, to the officer who +struck him with the palm of his hand, "If I have spoken evil, bear +witness of the evil; but if well, why smitest thou me?" (Chap. xviii. +23.) was such an answer as might have been looked for from the person +who, as he proceeded to the place of execution, bid his companions (as +we are told by Saint Luke; Chap. xxiii. 28.) weep not for him, but for +themselves, their posterity, and their country; and who, whilst he was +suspended upon the cross, prayed for his murderers, "for they know not," +said he, "what they do." The urgency also of his judges and his +prosecutors to extort from him a defence to the accusation, and his +unwillingness to make any (which was a peculiar circumstance), appears +in Saint John's account, as well as in that of the other +evangelists. (See John xix. 9. Matt. xxvii. 14. Luke xxiii. 9.) + +There are, moreover, two other correspondencies between Saint John's +history of the transaction and theirs, of a kind somewhat different from +those which we have been now mentioning. + +The first three evangelists record what is called our Saviour's agony, +i.e. his devotion in the garden immediately before he was apprehended; +in which narrative they all make him pray "that the cup might pass from +him." This is the particular metaphor which they all ascribe to him. +Saint Matthew adds, "O, my Father, if this cup may not pass away from +me, except I drink it, thy will be done." (Chap, xxvi. 42.) Now Saint +John does not give the scene in the garden: but when Jesus was seized, +and some resistance was attempted to be made by Peter, Jesus, according +to his account, checked the attempt, with this reply: "Put up thy sword +into the sheath; the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not +drink it?" (Chap. xviii. 11.) This is something more than +consistency---it is coincidence; because it is extremely natural that +Jesus, who, before he was apprehended, had been praying his Father that +"that cup might pass from him," yet with such a pious retraction of his +request as to have added, "If this cup may not pass from me, thy will be +done;" it was natural, I say, for the same person, when he actually was +apprehended, to express the resignation to which he had already made up +his thoughts, and to express it in the form of speech which he had +before used, "The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink +it?" This is a coincidence between writers in whose narratives there is +no imitation, but great diversity. + +A second similar correspondency is the following: Matthew and Mark make +the charge upon which our Lord was condemned to be a threat of +destroying the temple; "We heard him say, I will destroy this temple +made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without +hands:" (Mark xiv. 58.) but they neither of them inform us upon what +circumstance this calumny was founded. Saint John, in the early part of +the history, (Chap. ii. 19.) supplies us with this information; for he +relates, that on our Lord's first journey to Jerusalem, when the Jews +asked him "What sign showest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these +things? He answered, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise +it up." This agreement could hardly arise from anything but the truth of +the case. From any care or design in Saint John to make his narrative +tally with the narratives of other evangelists, it certainly did not +arise, for no such design appears, but the absence of it. + +A strong and more general instance of agreement is the following.--The +first three evangelists have related the appointment of the twelve +apostles; (Matt. x. 1. Mark iii. 14. Luke vi. 12.) and have given a +catalogue of their names in form. John, without ever mentioning the +appointment, or giving the catalogue, supposes, throughout his whole +narrative, Christ to be accompanied by a select party of disciples; the +number of these to be twelve; (Chap. vi. 70.) and whenever he happens to +notice any one as of that number, (Chap. xx, 24; vi. 71.) it is one +included in the catalogue of the other evangelists: and the names +principally occurring in the course of his history of Christ are the +names extant in their list. This last agreement, which is of +considerable moment, runs through every Gospel, and through every +chapter of each. All this bespeaks reality. + + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +ORIGINALITY OF OUR SAVIOUR'S CHARACTER. + +The Jews, whether right or wrong, had understood their prophecies to +foretell the advent of a person who by some supernatural assistance +should advance their nation to independence, and to a supreme degree of +splendour and prosperity. This was the reigning opinion and expectation +of the times. Now, had Jesus been an enthusiast, it is probable that his +enthusiasm would have fallen in with the popular delusion, and that, +while he gave himself out to be the person intended by these +predictions, he would have assumed the character to which they were +universally supposed to relate. + +Had he been an impostor, it was his business to have flattered the +prevailing hopes, because these hopes were to be the instruments of his +attraction and success. + +But what is better than conjectures is the fact, that all the pretended +Messiahs actually did so. We learn from Josephus that there were many of +these. Some of them, it is probable, might be impostors, who thought +that an advantage was to be taken of the state of public opinion. +Others, perhaps, were enthusiasts, whose imagination had been drawn to +this particular object by the language and sentiments which prevailed +around them. But whether impostors or enthusiasts, they concurred in +producing themselves in the character which their countrymen looked for, +that is to say, as the restorers and deliverers of the nation, in that +sense in which restoration and deliverance were expected by the Jews. + +Why therefore Jesus, if he was, like them, either an enthusiast or +impostor, did not pursue the same conduct as they did, in framing his +character and pretensions, it will be found difficult to explain. A +mission, the operation and benefit of which was to take place in another +life, was a thing unthought of as the subject of these prophecies. That +Jesus, coming to them as their Messiah, should come under a character +totally different from that in which they expected him; should deviate +from the general persuasion, and deviate into pretensions absolutely +singular and original--appears to be inconsistent with the imputation of +enthusiasm or imposture, both which by their nature I should expect +would, and both which, throughout the experience which this very subject +furnishes, in fact, have followed the opinions that obtained at the +time. + +If it be said that Jesus, having tried the other plan, turned at length +to this; I answer, that the thing is said without evidence; against +evidence; that it was competent to the rest to have done the same, yet +that nothing of this sort was thought of by any. + + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +One argument which has been much relied upon (but not more than its just +weight deserves) is the conformity of the facts occasionally mentioned +or referred to in Scripture with the state of things in those times, as +represented by foreign and independent accounts; which conformity +proves, that the writers of the New Testament possessed a species of +local knowledge which could belong only to an inhabitant of that country +and to one living in that age. This argument, if well made out by +examples, is very little short of proving the absolute genuineness of +the writings. It carries them up to the age of the reputed authors, to +an age in which it must have been difficult to impose upon the Christian +public forgeries in the names of those authors, and in which there is no +evidence that any forgeries were attempted. It proves, at least, that +the books, whoever were the authors of them, were composed by persons +living in the time and country in which these things were transacted; +and consequently capable, by their situation, of being well informed of +the facts which they relate. And the argument is stronger when applied +to the New Testament, than it is in the case of almost any other +writings, by reason of the mixed nature of the allusions which this book +contains. The scene of action is not confined to a single country, but +displayed in the greatest cities of the Roman empire. Allusions are made +to the manners and principles of the Greeks, the Romans, and the Jews. +This variety renders a forgery proportionably more difficult, especially +to writers of a posterior age. A Greek or Roman Christian who lived in +the second or third century would have been wanting in Jewish +literature; a Jewish convert in those ages would have been equally +deficient in the knowledge of Greece and Rome. (Michaelis's Introduction +to the New Testament [Marsh's translation], c. ii. sect. xi.) + +This, however, is an argument which depends entirely upon an induction +of particulars; and as, consequently, it carries with it little force +without a view of the instances upon which it is built, I have to request +the reader's attention to a detail of examples, distinctly and +articulately proposed. In collecting these examples I have done no more +than epitomise the first volume of the first part of Dr. Lardner's +Credibility of the Gospel History. And I have brought the argument +within its present compass, first, by passing over some of his sections +in which the accordancy appeared to me less certain, or upon subjects +not sufficiently appropriate or circumstantial; secondly, by contracting +every section into the fewest words possible, contenting myself for the +most part with a mere apposition of passages; and, thirdly, by omitting +many disquisitions, which, though learned and accurate, are not +absolutely necessary to the understanding or verification of the +argument. + +The writer principally made use of in the inquiry is Josephus. Josephus +was born at Jerusalem four years after Christ's ascension. He wrote his +history of the Jewish war some time after the destruction of Jerusalem, +which happened in the year of our Lord LXX, that is, thirty-seven years +after the ascension; and his history of the Jews he finished in the year +xciii, that is, sixty years after the ascension. At the head of each +article I have referred, by figures included in brackets, to the page of +Dr. Lardner's volume where the section from which the abridgment is made +begins. The edition used is that of 1741. + +I. [p. 14.] Matt. ii. 22. "When he (Joseph) heard that Archclaus did +reign in Judea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go +thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned +aside into the parts of Galilee." + +II. In this passage it is asserted that Archclaus succeeded Herod in +Judea; and it is implied that his power did not extend to Galilee. Now +we learn from Josephus that Herod the Great, whose dominion included all +the land of Israel, appointed Archelaus his successor in Judea, and +assigned the rest of his dominions to other sons; and that this +disposition was ratified, as to the main parts of it, by the Roman +emperor (Ant. lib. xvi. c. 8, sect. 1.). + +Saint Matthew says that Archclaus reigned, was king, in Judea. Agreeably +to this, we are informed by Josephus, not only that Herod appointed +Archclaus his successor in Judea, but that he also appointed him with +the title of King; and the Greek verb basileuei, which the evangelist +uses to denote the government and rank of Archclaus, is used likewise by +Josephus (De Bell. lib. i. c. 3,3, sect. 7.). + +The cruelty of Archelaus's character, which is not obscurely intimated +by the evangelist, agrees with divers particulars in his history +preserved by Josephus:--"In the tenth year of his government, the chief +of the Jews and Samaritans, not being able to endure his cruelty and +tyranny, presented complaints against him to Caesar." (Ant, lib. xii. +13, sect. 1.) + +II. [p. 19.] Luke iii. 1. "In the fifteenth year of the reign of +Tiberius Caesar--Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip +tetrarch of Iturea, and of the region of Trachonitis--the word of God +came unto John." + +By the will of Herod the Great, and the decree of Augustus thereupon, +his two sons were appointed, one (Herod Antipus) tetrarch of Galilee and +Peraea, and the other (Philip) tetrarch of Trachonitis and the +neighbouring countries. (Ant. lib. xvii. c. 8, sect. 1.) We have, +therefore, these two persons in the situations in which Saint Luke +places them; and also, that they were in these situations in the +fifteenth year of Tiberius; in other words, that they continued in +possession of their territories and titles until that time, and +afterwards, appears from a passage of Josephus, which relates of Herod, +"that he was removed by Caligula, the successor of Tiberius;" (Ant. lib. +xviii. c. 8, sect. 2.) and of Philip, that he died in the twentieth year +of Tiberius, when he had governed Trachonitis and Batanea and Gaulanitis +thirty-seven years. (Ant. lib. xviii. c. 5, sect. 6.) + +III. [p. 20.] Mark vi. 17. "Herod had sent forth, and laid hold upon +John, and bound him in prison, for Heredias' sake, his brother Philip's +wife: for he had married her." (See also Matt. xiv. 1--13; Luke iii. +19.) + +With this compare Joseph. Antiq. 1. xviii. c. 6, sect. 1:--"He (Herod +the tetrareh) made a visit to Herod his brother.--Here, failing in love +with Herodias, the wife of the said Herod, he ventured to make her +proposals of marriage."* + +_________ + +* The affinity of the two accounts is unquestionable; but there is a +difference in the name of Herodias's first husband, which in the +evangelist is Philip; in Josephus, Herod. The difficulty, however, will +not appear considerable when we recollect how common it was in those +times for the same persons to bear two names. "Simon, which is called +Peter; Lebbeus, whose surname is Thaddeus; Thomas, which is called +Didymus; Simeon, who was called Niger; Saul, who was also called Paul." +The solution is rendered likewise easier in the present case by the +consideration that Herod the Great had children by seven or eight wives; +that Josephus mentions three of his sons under the name of Herod; that +it is nevertheless highly probable that the brothers bore some +additional name by which they were distinguished from one another. +Lardner, vol. ii. p. 897. +_________ + + +Again, Mark vi. 22. "And when the daughter of the said Herodias came in +and danced." + +With this also compare Joseph. Antiq. 1. xviii. c. 6, sect. 4. "Herodias +was married to Herod, son of Herod the Great. They had a daughter, whose +name was Salome; after whose birth Herodias, in utter violation of the +laws of her country, left her husband, then living, and married Herod +the tetrarch of Galilee, her husband's brother by the father's side." + +IV. [p. 29.] Acts xii. 1. "Now, about that time, Herod the king +stretched forth his hands, to vex certain of the church." + +In the conclusion of the same chapter, Herod's death is represented to +have taken place soon after this persecution. The accuracy of our +historian, or, rather, the unmeditated coincidence which truth of its +own accord produces, is in this instance remarkable. There was no +portion of time for thirty years before, nor ever afterwards, in which +there was a king at Jerusalem, a person exercising that authority in +Judea, or to whom that title could be applied, except the last three +years of this Herod's life, within which period the transaction recorded +in the Acts is stated to have taken place. This prince was the grandson +of Herod the Great. In the Acts he appears under his family-name of +Herod; by Josephus he was called Agrippa. For proof that he was a king, +properly so called, we have the testimony of Josephus, in full and +direct terms:--"Sending for him to his palace, Caligula put a crown upon +his head, and appointed him king of the tetrarchie of Philip, intending +also to give him the tetrarchie of Lysanias." (Antiq. xviii. c. 7, sect. +10.) And that Judea was at last, but not until the last, included in his +dominions, appears by a subsequent passage of the same Josephus, wherein +he tells us that Claudius, by a decree, confirmed to Agrippa the +dominion which Caligula had given him; adding also Judea and Samaria, in +the utmost extent, as possessed by his grandfather Herod (Antiq. xix. c. +5, sect. 1.). + +V. [p. 32.] Acts xii. 19--23. "And he (Herod) went down from Judea to +Cesarea, and there abode. And on a set day Herod, arrayed in royal +apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them: and the +people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man; +and immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God +the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost." + +Joseph. Antiq. lib. xix. c. 8, sect. 2. "He went to the city of Cesarea. +Here he celebrated shows in honour of Caesar. On the second day of the +shows, early in the morning, he came into the theatre, dressed in a robe +of silver, of most curious workmanship. The rays of the rising sun, +reflected from such a splendid garb, gave him a majestic and awful +appearance. They called him a god; and intreated him to be propitious to +them, saying, Hitherto we have respected you as a man; but now we +acknowledge you to be more than mortal. The king neither reproved these +persons, nor rejected the impious flattery. Immediately after this he +was seized with pains in his bowels, extremely violent at the very +first. He was carried therefore with all haste to his palace. These +pains continually tormenting him, he expired in five days' time." + +The reader will perceive the accordancy of these accounts in various +particulars. The place (Cesarea), the set day, the gorgeous dress, the +acclamations of the assembly, the peculiar turn of the flattery, the +reception of it, the sudden and critical incursion of the disease, are +circumstances noticed in both narratives. The worms mentioned by Saint +Luke are not remarked by Josephus; but the appearance of these is a +symptom not unusually, I believe, attending the disease which Josephus +describes, viz., violent affections of the bowels. + +VI. [p. 41.] Acts xxiv. 24. "And after certain days, when Felix came +with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul." + +Joseph. Antiq. lib. xx. c. 6, sect. 1, 2. "Agrippa gave his sister +Drusilla in marriage to Azizus, king of the Emesenes, when he had +consented to be circumcised.--But this marriage of Drusilla with Azizus +was dissolved in a short time after, in this manner:--When Felix was +procurator of Judea, having had a sight of her, he was mightily taken +with her.--She was induced to transgress the laws of her country, and +marry Felix." + +Here the public station of Felix, the name of his wife, and the singular +circumstance of her religion, all appear in perfect conformity with the +evangelist. + +VII. [p. 46.] Acts xxv. 13. "And after certain days king Agrippa and +Berenice came to Cesarea to salute Festus." By this passage we are in +effect told that Agrippa was a king, but not of Judea; for he came to +salute Festus, who at this time administered the government of that +country at Cesarea. + +Now, how does the history of the age correspond with this account? The +Agrippa here spoken of was the son of Herod Agrippa, mentioned in the +last article; but that he did not succeed to his father's kingdom, nor +ever recovered Judea, which had been a part of it, we learn by the +information of Josephus, who relates of him that when his father was +dead Claudius intended at first to have put him immediately in +possession of his father's dominions; but that, Agrippa being then but +seventeen years of age, the emperor was persuaded to alter his mind, and +appointed Cuspius Fadus prefect of Judea and the whole kingdom; (Antiq. +xi. c. 9 ad fin.) which Fadus was succeeded by Tiberius Alexander, +Cumanus, Felix, Festus. (Antiq. xx. de Bell. lib. ii.) But that, though +disappointed of his father's kingdom, in which was included Judea, he +was, nevertheless, rightly styled King Agrippa, and that he was in +possession of considerable territories, bordering upon Judea, we gather +from the same authority: for, after several successive donations of +country, "Claudius, at the same time that he sent Felix to be procurator +of Judea, promoted Agrippa from Chalcis to a greater kingdom, giving to +him the tetrarchie which had been Philip's; and he added, moreover, the +kingdom of Lysanias, and the province that had belonged to Varus." (De +Bell. lib. li. c. 12 ad fin.) + +Saint Paul addresses this person as a Jew: "King Agrippa, believest thou +the prophets? I know that thou believest." As the son of Herod Agrippa, +who is described by Josephus to have been a zealous Jew, it is +reasonable to suppose that he maintained the same profession. But what +is more material to remark, because it is more close and circumstantial, +is, that Saint Luke, speaking of the father (Acts xii. 1--3), calls him +Herod the, king, and gives an example of the exercise of his authority +at Jerusalem: speaking of the son (xxv. 13), he calls him king, but not +of Judea; which distinction agrees correctly with the history. + +VIII. [p. 51.] Acts xiii. 6. "And when they had gone through the isle +(Cyprus) to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a +Jew, whose name was Bar-jesus, which was with the deputy of the country, +Sergius Paulus, a prudent man." + +The word which is here translated deputy, signifies and upon this word +our observation is founded. The provinces of the Roman empire were of +two kinds; those belonging the emperor, in which the governor was called +proprietor; those belonging to the senate, in which the governor was +proconsul. And this was a regular distinction. Now it appears from Dio +Cassius, (Lib. liv. ad A. U. 732.) that the province of Cyprus, which, in +original distribution, was assigned to the emperor, had transferred to +the senate, in exchange for some others; and after this exchange, the +appropriate title of the Roman was proconsul. + +Ib. xviii. 12. [p. 55.] "And when Gallio was deputy (proconsul) of +Achaia." + +The propriety of the title "proconsul" is in this still more critical. +For the province of Achaia, after passing from the senate to the +emperor, had been restored again by the emperor Claudius to the senate +(and consequently its government had become proconsular) only six or +seven years before the time in which this transaction is said to have +taken place. (Suet. in Claud. c. xxv. Dio, lib. lxi.) And what confines +with strictness the appellation to the time is, that Achaia under the +following reign ceased to be a Roman province at all. + +IX. [p. 152.] It appears, as well from the general constitution of a +Roman province, as from what Josephus delivers concerning the state of +Judea in particular, (Antiq. lib. xx. c. 8, sect. 5; c. 1, sect. 2.) that +the power of life and death resided exclusively in the Roman governor; +but that the Jews, nevertheless, had magistrates and a council, invested +with a subordinate and municipal authority. This economy is discerned in +every part of the Gospel narrative of our Saviour's crucifixion. + +X. [p. 203.] Acts ix. 31. "Then had the churches rest throughout all +Judea and Galilee and Samaria." + +This rest synchronises with the attempt of Caligula to place his statue +in the temple of Jerusalem; the threat of which outrage produced amongst +the Jews a consternation that, for a season, diverted their attention +from every other object. (Joseph. de Bell lib. Xi. c. 13, sect. 1, 3, 4.) + +XI. [p. 218.] Acts xxi. 30. "And they took Paul, and drew him out of the +temple; and forthwith the doors were shut. And as they went about to +kill him, tidings came to the chief captain of the band that all +Jerusalem was in an uproar. Then the chief captain came near, and took +him and commanded him to be bound with two chains, and demanded who he +was, and what he had done; and some cried one thing, and some another, +among the multitude: and, when he could not know the certainty for the +tumult, he commanded him to be carried into the castle. And when he came +upon the stairs, so it was, that he was borne of the soldiers for the +violence of the people." + +In this quotation we have the band of Roman soldiers at Jerusalem, their +office (to suppress tumults), the castle, the stairs, both, as it should +seem, adjoining to the temple. Let us inquire whether we can find these +particulars in any other record of that age and place. + +Joseph. de. Ball. lib. v. e. 5, sect. 8. "Antonia was situated at the +angle of the western and northern porticoes of the outer temple. It was +built upon a rock fifty cubits high, steep on all sides.--On that side +where it joined to the porticoes of the temple, there were stairs +reaching to each portico, by which the guard descended; for there was +always lodged here a Roman legion; and posting themselves in their +armour in several places in the porticoes, they kept a watch on the +people on the feast-days to prevent all disorders; for as the temple was +a guard to the city, so was Antonia to the temple." + +XII. [p. 224.] Acts iv. 1. "And as they spake unto the people, the +priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon +them." Here we have a public officer, under the title of captain of the +temple, and he probably a Jew, as he accompanied the priests and +Sadducees in apprehending the apostles. + +Joseph. de Bell. lib. ii. c. 17, sect. 2. "And at the temple, Eleazer, +the son of Ananias the high priest, a young man of a bold and resolute +disposition, then captain, persuaded those who performed the sacred +ministrations not to receive the gift or sacrifice of any stranger." + +XIII. [p. 225.] Acts xxv. 12. "Then Festus, when he had conferred with +the council, answered, Hast thou appealed unto Caesar? unto Caesar shalt +thou go." That it was usual for the Roman presidents to have a council +consisting of their friends, and other chief Romans in the province, +appears expressly in the following passage of Cicero's oration against +Verres:--"Illud negare posses, aut nunc negabis, te, concilio tuo +dimisso, viris primariis, qui in consilio C. Sacerdotis fuerant, tibique +esse volebant, remotis, de re judicata judicasse?" + +XIV. [p. 235.] Acts xvi. 13. "And (at Philippi) on the Sabbath we went +out of the city by a river-side, where prayer was wont to be made," or +where a proseuche, oratory, or place of prayer was allowed. The +particularity to be remarked is, the situation of the place where prayer +was wont to be made, viz. by a river-side. + +Philo, describing the conduct of the Jews of Alexandria, on a certain +public occasion, relates of them, that, "early in the morning, flocking +out of the gates of the city, they go to the neighbouring shores, (for +the proseuchai were destroyed,) and, standing in a most pure place, they +lift up their voices with one accord." (Philo in Flacc. p. 382.) + +Josephus gives us a decree of the city of Halicarnassus, permitting the +Jews to build oratories; a part of which decree runs thus:--"We ordain +that the Jews, who are willing, men and women, do observe the Sabbaths, +and perform sacred rites, according to the Jewish laws, and build +oratories by the sea-side." (Joseph. Antiq. lib. xiv. c. 10, sect, 24.) + +Tertullian, among other Jewish rites and customs, such as feasts, +sabbaths, fasts, and unleavened bread, mentions "orationes literales," +that is, prayers by the river-side. (Tertull. ad Nat, lib. i. c. 13.) + +XV. [p. 255.] Acts xxvi. 5. "After the most straitest sect of our +religion, I lived a Pharisee." + +Joseph. de Bell. lib. i. c. 5, sect. 2. "The Pharisees were reckoned the +most religious of any of the Jews, and to be the most exact and skilful +in explaining the laws." + +In the original, there is an agreement not only in the sense but in the +expression, it being the same Greek adjective which is rendered "strait" +in the Acts, and "exact" in Josephus. + +XVI. [p. 255.] Mark vii. 3,4. "The Pharisees and all the Jews, except +they wash, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders; and many other +things there be which they have received to hold." + +Joseph. Antiq. lib. xiii. c. 10, sect. 6. "The Pharisees have delivered +up to the people many institutions, as received from the fathers, which +are not written in the law of Moses." + +XVII. [p. 259.] Acts xxiii. 8. "For the Sadducees say, that there is no +resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit; but the Pharisees confess +both." + +Joseph. de Bell. lib. ii. c. 8, sect. 14. "They (the Pharisees) believe +every soul to be immortal, but that the soul of the good only passes +into another body, and that the soul of the wicked is punished with +eternal punishment." On the other hand (Antiq. lib. xviii. e. 1, sect. +4), "It is the opinion of the Sadducees that souls perish with the +bodies." + +XVIII. [p. 268.] Acts v. 17. "Then the high priest rose up, and all +they that were with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees), and were +filled with indignation." Saint Luke here intimates that the high priest +was a Sadducee; which is a character one would not have expected to meet +with in that station. This circumstance, remarkable as it is, was not +however without examples. + +Joseph. Antiq. lib. xiii. c. 10, sect. 6, 7. "John Hyreanus, high priest +of the Jews, forsook the Pharisees upon a disgust, and joined himself to +the party of the Sadducees." This high priest died one hundred and seven +years before the Christian era. + +Again (Antiq. lib. xx. e. 8, sect. 1), "This Ananus the younger, who, as +we have said just now, had received the high priesthood, was fierce and +haughty in his behaviour, and, above all men, hold and daring, and, +moreover, was of the sect of the Sadducees." This high priest lived +little more than twenty years after the transaction in the Acts. + +XIX. [p. 282.] Luke ix. 51. "And it came to pass, when the time was come +that he should be received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to +Jerusalem, and sent messengers before his face. And they went, and +entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him. And +they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to +Jerusalem." + +Joseph. Antiq. lib. xx. c. 5, sect. 1. "It was the custom of the +Galileans, who went up to the holy city at the feasts, to travel through +the country of Samaria. As they were in their journey, some inhabitants +of the village called Ginaea, which lies on the borders of Samaria and +the great plain, falling upon them, killed a great many of them." + +XX. [p. 278.] John iv. 20. "Our fathers," said the Samaritan woman, +"worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that Jerusalem is the place +where men ought to worship." + +Joseph. Antiq. lib. xviii. c. 5, sect. 1. "Commanding them to meet him +at mount Gerizzim, which is by them (the Samaritans) esteemed the most +sacred of all mountains." + +XXI. [p. 312.] Matt. xxvi. 3. "Then assembled together the chief +priests, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high +priest, who was called Caiaphas." That Caiaphas was high priest, and +high priest throughout the presidentship of Pontius Pilate, and +consequently at this time, appears from the following account:--He was +made high priest by Valerius Gratus, predecessor of Pontius Pilate, and +was removed from his office by Vitellius, president of Syria, after +Pilate was sent away out of the province of Judea. Josephus relates the +advancement of Caiaphas to the high priesthood in this manner: "Gratus +gave the high priesthood to Simon, the son of Camithus. He, having +enjoyed this honour not above a year, was succeeded by Joseph, who is +also called Caiaphas." (Antiq. lib. xviii. c. 2, sect. 2.) After this, +Gratus went away for Rome, having been eleven years in Judea; and +Pontius Pilate came thither as his successor. Of the removal of Caiaphas +from his office, Josephus likewise afterwards informs us: and connects +it with a circumstance which fixes the time to a date subsequent to the +determination of Pilate's government--"Vitellius," he tells us; "ordered +Pilate to repair to Rome: and after that, went up himself to Jerusalem, +and then gave directions concerning several matters. And having done +these things he took away the priesthood from the high priest Joseph, +who is called Caiaphas." (Antiq. lib. xvii. c. 5, sect 3.) + +XXII. (Michaelis, c. xi. sect. 11.) Acts xxiii. 4. "And they that stood +by said, Revilest thou God's high priest? Then said Paul, I wist not, +brethren, that he was the high priest?" Now, upon inquiry into the +history of the age, it turns out that Ananias, of whom this is spoken, +was, in truth, not the high priest, though he was sitting in judgment in +that assumed capacity. The case was, that he had formerly holden the +office, and had been deposed; that the person who succeeded him had been +murdered; that another was not yet appointed to the station; and that +during the vacancy, he had, of his own authority, taken upon himself the +discharge of the office. (Joseph. Antiq. 1. xx. c. 5, sect. 2; c. 6, +sect. 2; c. 9, sect. 2.) This singular situation of the high priesthood +took place during the interval between the death of Jonathan, who was +murdered by order of Felix, and the accession of Ismael, who was +invested with the high priesthood by Agrippa; and precisely in this +interval it happened that Saint Paul was apprehended, and brought before +the Jewish council. + +XXIII. [p. 323.] Matt. xxvi. 59. "Now the chief priests and elders, and +all the council, sought false witness against him." + +Joseph. Antiq. lib. xviii. e. 15, sect. 3, 4. "Then might be seen the +high priests themselves with ashes on their heads and their breasts +naked." + +The agreement here consists in speaking of the high priests or chief +priests (for the name in the original is the same) in the plural number, +when in strictness there was only one high priest: which may be +considered as a proof that the evangelists were habituated to the manner +of speaking then in use, because they retain it when it is neither +accurate nor just. For the sake of brevity, I have put down from +Josephus only a single example of the application of this title in the +plural number; but it is his usual style. + +Ib. [p. 871.] Luke ill. 1. "Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of +Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Juries, and Herod +being tetrarch of Galilee, Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, +the word of God came unto John." There is a passage in Josephus very +nearly parallel to this, and which may at least serve to vindicate the +evangelist from objection, with respect to his giving the title of high +priest specifically to two persons at the same time: "Quadratus sent two +others of the most powerful men of the Jews, as also the high priests +Jonathan and Ananias." (De Bell. lib. ix. c. 12, sect. 6.) That Annas +was a person in an eminent station, and possessed an authority +coordinate with, or next to, that of the high print properly so called, +may he inferred from Saint John's Gospel, which in the history of +Christ's crucifixion relates that "the soldiers led him away to Annas +first." (xviii.13.) And this might be noticed as an example of +undesigned coincidence in the two evangelists. + +Again, [p. 870.] Acts iv. 6. Annas is called the high priest, though +Caiaphas was in the office of the high priesthood. In like manner in +Josephus, (Lib. ii. c. 20, sect. 3.) "Joseph the son of Gorion, and the +high priest Ananus, were chosen to be supreme governors of all things in +the city." Yet Ananus, though here called the high priest Ananus, was +not then in the office of the high priesthood. The truth is, there is an +indeterminateness in the use of this title in the Gospel:(Mark xiv. 53.) +sometimes it is applied exclusively to the person who held the office at +the time; sometimes to one or two more, who probably shared with him +some of the powers or functions of the office; and sometimes to such of +the priests as were eminent by their station or character; and there is +the very same indeterminateness in Josephus. + +XXIV. [p. 347.] John xix. 19, 20. "And Pilate wrote a title, and put it +on the cross." That such was the custom of the Romans on these occasions +appears from passages of Suetonius and Dio Cassius: "Pattrem +familias--canibus objecit, cure hoc titulo, Impie locutus parmularius." +Suet. Domit. cap. x. And in Dio Cassius we have the following: "Having +led him through the midst of the court or assembly, with a writing +signifying the cause of his death, and afterwards crucifying him." Book +liv. + +Ib. "And it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin." That it was also +usual about this time in Jerusalem to set up advertisements in different +languages, is gathered from the account which Josephus gives of an +expostulatory message from Titus to the Jews when the city was almost in +his hands; in which he says, Did ye not erect pillars with inscriptions +on them, in the Greek and in our language, "Let no one pass beyond these +bounds"? + +XXV. [p. 352.] Matt. xxvii. 26. "When he had scourged Jesus, he +delivered him to be crucified." + +The following passages occur in Josephus: + +"Being beaten, they were crucified opposite to the citadel." (P. 1247, +edit. 24 Huds.) + +"Whom, having first scourged with whips, he crucified." (P. 1080, edit. +45.) + +"He was burnt alive, having been first beaten." (P. 1327, edit. 43.) + +To which may he added one from Livy, lib. xi. c. 5. "Pro ductique omnes, +virgisqus caesi, ac securi percussi." + +A modern example may illustrate the use we make of this instance. The +preceding of a capital execution by the corporal punishment of the +sufferer is a practice unknown in England, but retained, in some +instances at least, as appears by the late execution of a regicide in +Sweden. This circumstance, therefore, in the account of an English +execution, purporting to come from an English writer, would not only +bring a suspicion upon the truth of the account, but would in a +considerable degree impeach its pretensions of having been written by +the author whose name it bore. Whereas, the same circumstance in the +account of a Swedish execution would verify the account, and support the +authenticity of the book in which it was found, or, at least, would +prove that the author, whoever he was, possessed the information and the +knowledge which he ought to possess. + +XXVI. [p. 353.] John xix. 16. "And they took Jesus, and led him away; +and he bearing his cross went forth." + +Plutarch, De iis qui sero puniuntur, p. 554; a Paris, 1624. "Every kind +of wickedness produces its own particular torment; just as every +malefactor, when he is brought forth to execution, carries his own +cross." + +XXVII. John xix. 32. "Then came the soldiers and brake the legs of the +first, and of the other which was crucified with him." + +Constantine abolished the punishment of the cross: in commending which +edict, a heathen writer notices this very circumstance of breaking the +legs: "Eo pius, ut etiam vetus veterrimumque supplicium, patibulum, et +cruribus suffringendis, primus removerit." Aur. Vict Ces. cap. xli. + +XXVIII. [p. 457.] Acts iii. 1. "Now Peter and John went up together into +the temple, at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour." + +Joseph. Antiq. lib xv. e. 7, sect. 8. "Twice every day, in the morning +and at the ninth hour, the priests perform their, duty at the altar." + +XXIX. [p. 462.] Acts xv. 21. "For Moses of old time hath, in every city, +them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath-day." + +Joseph. contra Ap. 1. ii. "He (Moses) gave us the law, the most +excellent of all institutions; nor did he appoint that it should be +heard once only, or twice, or often, but that, laying aside all other +works, we should meet together every week to hear it read, and gain a +perfect understanding of it." + +XXX. [p. 465.] Acts xxi. 23. "We have four men which have a vow on them; +them take, and purify thyself with them that they may shave their +heads." + +Joseph. de Bell. 1. xi. c. 15. "It is customary for those who have been +afflicted with some distemper, or have laboured under any other +difficulties, to make a vow thirty days before they offer sacrifices, to +abstain from wine, and shave the hair of their heads." + +Ib. v. 24. "Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges +with them, that they may shave their heads." + +Joseph. Antiq. 1. xix. c. 6. "He (Herod Agrippa) coming to Jerusalem, +offered up sacrifices of thanksgiving, and omitted nothing that was +prescribed by the law. For which reason he also ordered a good number of +Nazarites to be shaved." We here find that it was an act of piety +amongst the Jews to defray for those who were under the Nazaritic vow +the expenses which attended its completion; and that the phrase was, +"that they might be saved." The custom and the expression are both +remarkable, and both in close conformity with the Scripture account. + +XXXI. [p. 474.] 2 Cor. xi. 24. "Of the Jews, five times received I forty +stripes save one." + +Joseph. Antiq. iv. c. 8, sect. 21. "He that acts contrary hereto let him +receive forty stripes, wanting one, from the officer." + +The coincidence here is singular, because the law allowed forty +stripes:--"Forty stripes he may give him and not exceed." Deut. xxv. 3. +It proves that the author of the Epistle to the Corinthians was guided +not by books, but by facts; because his statement agrees with the actual +custom, even when that custom deviated from the written law, and from +what he must have learnt by consulting the Jewish code, as set forth in +the Old Testament. + +XXXII. [p. 490.] Luke iii. 12. "Then came also publicans to be +baptized." From this quotation, as well as from the history of Levi or +Matthew (Luke v. 29), and of Zaccheus (Luke xix. 2), it appears that the +publicans or tax-gatherers were, frequently at least, if not always, +Jews: which, as the country was then under a Roman government, and the +taxes were paid to the Romans, was a circumstance not to be expected. +That it was the truth, however, of the case appears from a short passage +of Josephus. + +De Bell. lib. ii. c. 14, sect. 45. "But Florus not restraining these +practices by his authority, the chief men of the Jews, among whom was +John the publican, not knowing well what course to take, wait upon +Florus and give him eight talents of silver to stop the building." + +XXXIII. [p. 496.] Acts xxii. 25. "And as they bound him with thongs, +Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to +scourge a man that is a Roman and uncondemned?" + +"Facinus est vinciri civem Romanum; scelus verberari." Cic. in Verr. + +"Caedebatur virgis, in medio foro Messanae, civis Romanus, Judices: cum +interea nullus gemitus, nulla vox alia, istius miseri inter dolorem +crepitumque plagarum audiebatur, nisi haec, Civis Romanus sum." + +XXXIV. [p. 513] Acts xxii. 27. "Then the chief captain came, and said +unto him (Paul), Tell me, Art thou a Roman? He said Yea." The +circumstance to be here noticed is, that a Jew was a Roman citizen. + +Joseph. Antiq. lib. xiv. c. 10, sect. 13. "Lucius Lentulna, the consul, +declared, I have dismissed from the service the Jewish Roman citizens, +who observe the rites of the Jewish religion at Ephesus." + +Ib. ver. 28. "And the chief captain answered, with a great sum obtained +I this freedom." + +Dio Cassius, lib. lx. "This privilege, which had been bought formerly at +a great price, became so cheap, that it was commonly said a man might be +made a Roman citizen for a few pieces of broken glass." + +XXXV. [p. 521.] Acts xxviii. 16. "And when we came to Rome the centurion +delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard; but Paul was +suffered to dwell by himself, with a soldier that kept him." + +With which join vet. 20. "For the hope of Israel, I am bound with this +chain." + +"Quemadmedum cadem catean et custodiam et militem copulat; sic ista, +quae tam dissimilia sunt, pariter incedunt." Seneca, Ep. v. + +"Proconsul estimare solet, utrum in carcerera recipienda sit persona, an +militi tradenda." Ulpian. l. i. sect. De Custod. et Exhib. Reor. + +In the confinement of Agrippa by the order of Tiberius, Antonia managed +that the centurion who presided over the guards, and the soldier to whom +Agrippa was to be bound, might be men of mild character. (Joseph. Antiq. +lib. xviii. c. 7, sect. 5.) After the accession of Caligula, Agrippa +also, like Paul, was suffered to dwell, yet as a prisoner, in his own +house. + +XXXVI. [p. 531.] Acts xxvii. 1. "And when it was determined that we +should sail into Italy, they delivered Paul, and certain other +prisoners, unto one named Julius." Since not only Paul, but certain +other prisoners were sent by the same ship into Italy, the text must be +considered as carrying with it an intimation that the sending of persons +from Judea to be tried at Rome was an ordinary practice. That in truth +it was so, is made out by a variety of examples which the writings of +Josephus furnish: and, amongst others, by the following, which comes +near both to the time and the subject of the instance in the Acts. +"Felix, for some slight offence, bound and sent to Rome several priests +of his acquaintance, and very good and honest men, to answer for +themselves to Caesar." Joseph. in Vit. sect. 3. + +XXXVII. [p. 539.] Acts xi. 27. "And in these days came prophets from +Jerusalem unto Antioch; and there stood up one of them, named Agabus, +and signified by the Spirit that there should be a great dearth +throughout all the world (or all the country); which came to pass in the +days of Claudius Caesar." + +Joseph. Antiq. 1. xx. c. 4, sect. 2. "In their time (i. e. about the +fifth or sixth year of Claudius) a great dearth happened in Judea." + +XXXVIII. [p. 555.] Acts xviii. 1, 2. "Because that Claudius had +commanded all Jews to depart from Rome." + +Suet. Gland. c. xxv. "Judeos, impulsero Chresto assidue tumultuantes, +Roma expulit." + +XXXIX. [p. 664.] Acts v. 37. "After this man, rose up Judas of Galilee, +in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him." + +Joseph. de Bell. 1. vii. "He (viz. the person who in another place is +called, by Josephus, Judas the Galilean, or Judas of Galilee) persuaded +not a few to enrol themselves when Cyrenius the censor was sent into +Judea." + +XL. [p. 942.] Acts xxi. 38. "Art not thou that Egyptian which, before +these days, madest an uproar, and leddest out into the wilderness four +thousand men that were murderers?" + +Joseph. de Bell. 1. ii. c. 13, sect. 5. "But the Egyptian false prophet +brought a yet heavier disaster upon the Jews; for this impostor, coming +into the country, and gaining the reputation of a prophet, gathered +together thirty thousand men, who were deceived by him. Having brought +them round out of the wilderness, up to the mount of Olives, he intended +from thence to make his attack upon Jerusalem; but Felix, coming +suddenly upon him with the Roman soldiers, prevented the attack.--A +great number, or (as it should rather be rendered) the greatest part, of +those that were with him were either slain or taken prisoners." + +In these two passages, the designation of this impostor, an "Egyptian," +without the proper name, "the wilderness ;" his escape, though his +followers were destroyed; the time of the transaction, in the +presidentship of Felix, which could not be any long time before the +words in Luke are supposed to have been spoken; are circumstances of +close correspondency. There is one, and only one, point of disagreement, +and that is, in the number of his followers, which in the Acts are +called four thousand, and by Josephus thirty thousand: but, beside that +the names of numbers, more than any other words, are liable to the +errors of transcribers, we are in the present instance under the less +concern to reconcile the evangelist with Josephus, as Josephus is not, +in this point, consistent with himself. For whereas, in the passage here +quoted, he calls the number thirty thousand, and tells us that the +greatest part, or a great number (according as his words are rendered) +of those that were with him were destroyed; in his Antiquities he +represents four hundred to have been killed upon this occasion, and two +hundred taken prisoners:(Lib. xx. c. 7, sect. 6.) which certainly was +not the "greatest part," nor "a great part," nor "a great number," out +of thirty thousand. It is probable, also, that Lysias and Josephus spoke +of the expedition in its different stages: Lysias, of those who followed +the Egyptian out of Jerusalem; Josephus, of all who were collected about +him afterwards, from different quarters. + +XLI. (Lardner's Jewish and Heathen Testimonies, vol. iii p. 21.) Acts +xvii. 22. "Then Paul stood in the midst of Marshill, and said, Ye men of +Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious; for, as +I passed by and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this +inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, +him declare I unto you." + +Diogenes Laertius, who wrote about the year 210, in his history of +Epimenides, who is supposed to have flourished nearly six hundred years +before Christ, relates of him the following story: that, being invited +to Athens for the purpose, he delivered the city from a pestilence in +this manner;--"Taking several sheep, some black, others white, he had +them up to the Areopagus, and then let them go where they would, and +gave orders to those who followed them, wherever any of them should lie +down, to sacrifice it to the god to whom it belonged; and so the plague +ceased.--Hence," says the historian, "it has come to pass, that to this +present time may be found in the boroughs of the Athenians ANONYMOUS +altars: a memorial of the expiation then made." (In Epimenide, l. i. +segm. 110.) These altars, it may be presumed, were called anonymous +because there was not the name of any particular deity inscribed upon +them. + +Pausanias, who wrote before the end of the second century, in his +description of Athens, having mentioned an altar of Jupiter Olympius, +adds, "And nigh unto it is an altar of unknown gods." (Paus. l. v. p. +412.) And in another place, he speaks "of altars of gods called +unknown." (Paus. l. i. p. 4.) + +Philostratus, who wrote in the beginning of the third century; records +it as an observation of Apollonius Tyanseus, "That it was wise to speak +well of all the gods, especially at Athens, where altars of unknown +demons were erected." (Philos. Apoll. Tyan. l. vi. c. 3.) + +The author of the dialogue Philoparis by many supposed to have been +Lucian, who wrote about the year 170, by others some anonymous Heathen +writer of the fourth century, makes Critias swear by the unknown god of +Athens; and, near time end of the dialogue, has these words, "But let us +find out the unknown god at Athens, and, stretching our hands to heaven, +offer to him our praises and thanksgivings." (Lucian. in Philop. tom. +ii. Graev. pp. 767, 780.) + +This is a very curious and a very important coincidence. It appears +beyond controversy, that altars with this inscription were existing at +Athens at the time when Saint Paul is alleged to have been there. It +seems also (which is very worthy of observation) that this inscription +was peculiar to the Athenians. There is no evidence that there were +altars inscribed "to the unknown god" in any other country. Supposing +the history of Saint Paul to have been a fable, how is it possible that +such a writer as the author of the Acts of the Apostles was should hit +upon a circumstance so extraordinary, and introduce it by an allusion so +suitable to Saint Paul's office and character? + + +The examples here collected will be sufficient, I hope, to satisfy us +that the writers of the Christian history knew something of what they +were writing about. The argument is also strengthened by the following +considerations: + +I. That these agreements appear not only in articles of public history, +but sometimes in minute, recondite, and very peculiar circumstances, in +which, of all others, a forger is most likely to have been found +tripping. + +II. That the destruction of Jerusalem, which took place forty years +after the commencement of the Christian institution, produced such a +change in the state of the country, and the condition of the Jews, that +a writer who was unacquainted with the circumstances of the nation +before that event would find it difficult to avoid mistakes, in +endeavouring to give detailed accounts of transactions connected with +those circumstances, forasmuch as he could no longer have a living +exemplar to copy from. + +III. That there appears, in the writers of the New Testament, a +knowledge of the affairs of those times which we do not find in authors +of later ages. In particular, "many of the Christian writers of the +second and third centuries, and of the following ages, had false notions +concerning the state of Judea between the nativity of Jesus and the +destruction of Jerusalem." (Lardner, part i. vol. ii. p. 960.) Therefore +they could not have composed our histories. + +Amidst so many conformities we are not to wonder that we meet with some +difficulties. The principal of these I will put down, together with the +solutions which they have received. But in doing this I must be +contented with a brevity better suited to the limits of my volume than +to the nature of a controversial argument. For the historical proofs of +my assertions, and for the Greek criticisms upon which some of them are +founded, I refer the reader to the second volume of the first part of +Dr. Lardner's large work. + +I. The taxing during which Jesus was born was "first made," as we read, +according to our translation, in Saint Luke, "whilst Cyrenius was +governor of Syria." (Chap. ii. ver. 2.) Now it turns out that Cyrenius +was not governor of Syria until twelve, or at the soonest, ten years +after the birth of Christ; and that a taxing census, or assessment, was +made in Judea, in the beginning of his government, The charge, +therefore, brought against the evangelist is, that, intending to refer +to this taxing, he has misplaced the date of it by an error of ten or +twelve years. + +The answer to the accusation is founded in his using the word +"first:"--"And this taxing was first made:" for, according to the +mistake imputed to the evangelist, this word could have no signification +whatever; it could have had no place in his narrative; because, let it +relate to what it will, taxing, census, enrolment, or assessment, it +imports that the writer had more than one of those in contemplation. It +acquits him therefore of the charge: it is inconsistent with the +supposition of his knowing only of the taxing in the beginning of +Cyrenius's government. And if the evangelist knew (which this word +proves that he did) of some other taxing beside that, it is too much, +for the sake of convicting him of a mistake, to lay it down as certain +that he intended to refer to that. + +The sentence in Saint Luke may be construed thus: "This was the first +assessment (or enrolment) of Cyrenius, governor of Syria;"* the words +"governor of Syria" being used after the name of Cyrenius as his +addition or title. And this title, belonging to him at the time of +writing the account, was naturally enough subjoined to his name, though +acquired after the transaction which the account describes. A modern +writer who was not very exact in the choice of his expressions, in +relating the affairs of the East Indies, might easily say that such a +thing was done by Governor Hastings; though, in truth, the thing had +been done by him before his advancement to the station from which he +received the name of governor. And this, as we contend, is precisely the +inaccuracy which has produced the difficulty in Saint Luke. + +_________ + +* If the word which we render "first" be rendered "before," which it +has been strongly contended that the Greek idiom shows of, the whole +difficulty vanishes: for then the passage would be,--"Now this taxing +was made before Cyreulus was governor of Syria;" which corresponds with +the chronology. But I rather choose to argue, that however the word +"first" be rendered, to give it a meaning at all, it militates with the +objection. In this I think there can be no mistake. +_________ + + +At any rate it appears from the form of the expression that he had two +taxings or enrolments in contemplation. And if Cyrenius had been sent +upon this business into Judea before he became governor of Syria +(against which supposition there is no proof, but rather external +evidence of an enrolment going on about this time under some person or +other +), then the census on all hands acknowledged to have been made by +him in the beginning of his government would form a second, so as to +occasion the other to be called the first. + +_________ + ++ Josephus (Antiq. xvii. c. 2, sect. 6.) has this remarkable message: +"When therefore the whole Jewish nation took an oath to be faithful to +Caesar, and the interests of the king." This transaction corresponds in +the course of the history with the time of Christ's birth. What is +called a census, and which we render taxing, was delivering upon oath an +account of their property. This might be accompanied with an oath of +fidelity, or might be mistaken by Josephus for it. +_________ + + +II. Another chronological objection arises upon a date assigned in the +beginning of the third chapter of Saint Luke. (Lardner, part i. vol. ii. +p. 768.) "Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius +Caesar,--Jesus began to be about thirty years of age:" for, supposing +Jesus to have been born as Saint Matthew and Saint Luke also himself +relate, in the time of Herod, he must, according to the dates given in +Josephus and by the Roman historians, have been at least thirty-one +years of age in the fifteenth year of Tiberius. If he was born, as Saint +Matthew's narrative intimates, one or two years before Herod's death, he +would have been thirty-two or thirty-three years old at that time. + +This is the difficulty: the solution turns upon an alteration in the +construction of the Greek. Saint Luke's words in the original are +allowed, by the general opinion of learned men, to signify, not "that +Jesus began to be about thirty years of age," but "that he was about +thirty years of age when he began his ministry." This construction being +admitted, the adverb "about" gives us all the latitude we want, and more +especially when applied, as it is in the present instance, to a decimal +number; for such numbers, even without this qualifying addition, are +often used in a laxer sense than is here contended for.* + +_________ + +* Livy, speaking of the peace which the conduct of Romulus had procured to +the state, during the whole reign of his successor (Numa), has these +words: "Ab illo enim profectis viribus datis tautum valuit, ut, in +quaaraginta deiade annos, tutam proem haberet:" yet afterwards in the +same chapter, "Romulus," he says, "septera et triginta regnavit annos. +Numa tres et quadraginta." (Liv. Hist. c. i. sect. 16.) +_________ + + +III. Acts v. 36. "For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting +himself to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, +joined themselves: who were slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were +scattered and brought to nought." + +Josephus has preserved the account of an impostor of the name of +Theudas, who created some disturbances, and was slain; but according to +the date assigned to this man's appearance (in which, however, it is +very possible that Josephus may have been mistaken), (Michaelis's +Introduction to the New Testament [Marsh's translation], vol. i. p. 61.) +it must have been, at the least, seven years after Gamaliel's speech, of +which this text is a part, was delivered. It has been replied to the +objection, (Lardner, part i. vol. ii. p. 92.) that there might be two +impostors of this name: and it has been observed, in order to give a +general probability to the solution, that the same thing appears to have +happened in other instances of the same kind. It is proved from +Josephus, that there were not fewer than four persons of the name of +Simon within forty years, and not fewer than three of the name of Judas +within ten years, who were all leaders of insurrections: and it is +likewise recorded by this historian, that upon the death of Herod the +Great (which agrees very well with the time of the commotion referred to +by Gamaliel, and with his manner of stating that time, "before these +days") there were innumerable disturbances in Judea. (Antiq. 1. 17, c. +12. sect. 4.) Archbishop Usher was of opinion, that one of the three +Judases above mentioned was Gamaliel's Theudas; (Annals, p. 797.) and +that with a less variation of the name than we actually find in the +Gospel, where one of the twelve apostles is called, by Luke, Judas; and +by Mark, Thaddeus. (Luke vi. 16. Mark iii. 18.) Origen, however he came +at his information, appears to have believed that there was an impostor +of the name of Theudas before the nativity of Christ. (Orig. cont Cels. +p. 44.) + +IV. Matt. xxiii. 34. "Wherefore, behold I send unto you prophets, and +wise men, and scribes, and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and +some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them +from city to city; that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed +upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of +Zacharias, son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the +altar." + +There is a Zacharias whose death is related in the second book of +Chronicles,* in a manner which perfectly supports our Saviour's +allusion. But this Zacharias was the son of Jehoiada. + +_________ + +* "And the Spirit of God came upon Zacharias, the son of Jehoiada the +priest, which stood above the people, and mid unto them, Thus saith God, +Why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord that ye cannot prosper? +Because ye hive forsaken the Lord, he hath also forsaken you. And they +conspired against him, and stoned him with stones, at the commandment of +the king, in the court of the house of the Lord." 2 Chron. xxiv. 20, 21. +_________ + + +There is also Zacharias the prophet; who was the son of Barachiah, and +is so described in the superscription of his prophecy, but of whose +death we have no account. + +I have little doubt but that the first Zacharias was the person spoken +of by our Saviour; and that the name of the father has been since added +or changed, by some one who took it from the title of the prophecy, +which happened to be better known to him than the history in the +Chronicles. + +There is likewise a Zacharias, the son of Baruch, related by Josephus to +have been slain in the temple a few years before the destruction of +Jerusalem. It has been insinuated that the words put into our Saviour's +mouth contain a reference to this transaction, and were composed by some +writer who either confounded the time of the transaction with our +Saviour's age, or inadvertently overlooked the anachronism. + +Now, suppose it to have been so; suppose these words to have been +suggested by the transaction related in Josephus, and to have been +falsely ascribed to Christ; and observe what extraordinary coincidences +(accidentally as it must in that case have been) attend the forger's +mistake. + +First, that we have a Zacharias in the book of Chronicles, whose death, +and the manner of it, corresponds with the allusion. + +Secondly, that although the name of this person's father be erroneously +put down in the Gospel, yet we have a way of accounting for the error by +showing another Zacharias in the Jewish Scriptures much better known +than the former, whose patronymic was actually that which appears in the +text. + +Every one who thinks upon the subject will find these to be +circumstances which could not have met together in a mistake which did +not proceed from the circumstances themselves. + +I have noticed, I think, all the difficulties of this kind. They are +few: some of them admit of a clear, others of a probable solution. The +reader will compare them with the number, the variety, the closeness, +and the satisfactoriness, of the instances which are to be set against +them; and he will remember the scantiness, in many cases, of our +intelligence, and that difficulties always attend imperfect information. + + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +UNDESIGNED COINCIDENCES. + +Between the letters which bear the name of Saint Paul in our collection +and his history in the Acts of the Apostles there exist many notes of +correspondency. The simple perusal of the writings is sufficient to +prove that neither the history was taken from the letters, nor the +letters from the history. And the undesignedness of the agreements +(which undesignedness is gathered from their latency, their minuteness, +their obliquity, the suitableness of the circumstances in which they +consist to the places in which those circumstances occur, and the +circuitous references by which they are traced out) demonstrates that +they have not been produced by meditation, or by any fraudulent +contrivance. But coincidences, from which these causes are excluded, and +which are too close and numerous to be accounted for by accidental +concurrences of fiction, must necessarily have truth for their +foundation. This argument appeared to my mind of so much value +(especially for its assuming nothing beside the existence of the books), +that I have pursued it through Saint Paul's thirteen epistles, in a work +published by me four years ago, under the title of Horae Paulinae. I am +sensible how feebly any argument which depends upon an induction of +particulars is represented without examples. On which account I wished +to have abridged my own volume, in the manner in which I have treated +Dr. Lardner's in the preceding chapter. But, upon making the attempt, I +did not find it in my power to render the articles intelligible by fewer +words than I have there used. I must be content, therefore, to refer the +reader to the work itself. And I would particularly invite his attention +to the observations which are made in it upon the first three epistles. +I persuade myself that he will find the proofs, both of agreement, and +undesignedness, supplied by these epistles, sufficient to support the +conclusion which is there maintained, in favour both of the genuineness +of the writings and the truth of the narrative. + +It remains only, in this place, to point out how the argument bears upon +the general question of the Christian history. + +First, Saint Paul in these letters affirms, in unequivocal terms, his +own performance of miracles, and, what ought particularly to be +remembered, "That miracles were the signs of an Apostle." (Rom. xv. 18, +19. 2 Cor. xii. 12.) If this testimony come from Saint Paul's own hand, +it is invaluable. And that it does so, the argument before us fixes in +my mind a firm assurance. + +Secondly, it shows that the series of action represented in the epistles +of Saint Paul was real; which alone lays a foundation for the +proposition which forms the subject of the first part of our present +work, viz. that the original witnesses of the Christian history devoted +themselves to lives of toil, suffering, and danger, in consequence of +their belief of the truth of that history, and for the sake of +communicating the knowledge of it to others. + +Thirdly, it proves that Luke, or whoever was the author of the Acts of +the Apostles (for the argument does not depend upon the name of the +author, though I know no reason for questioning it), was well acquainted +with Saint Paul's history; and that he probably was, what he professes +himself to be, a companion of Saint Paul's travels; which, if true, +establishes, in a considerable degree, the credit even of his Gospel, +because it shows that the writer, from his time, situation, and +connexions, possessed opportunities of informing himself truly +concerning the transactions which he relates. I have little difficulty +in applying to the Gospel of Saint Luke what is proved concerning the +Acts of the Apostles, considering them as two parts of the same history; +for though there are instances of second parts being forgeries, I know +none where the second part is genuine, and the first not so. + +I will only observe, as a sequel of the argument, though not noticed in +my work, the remarkable similitude between the style of Saint John's +Gospel and of Saint John's Epistle. The style of Saint John's is not at +all the style of Saint Paul's Epistles, though both are very singular; +nor is it the style of Saint James's or of Saint Peter's Epistles: but +it bears a resemblance to the style of the Gospel inscribed with Saint +John's name, so far as that resemblance can be expected to appear, which +is not in simple narrative, so much as in reflections, and in the +representation of discourses. Writings so circumstanced prove +themselves, and one another, to be genuine. This correspondency is the +more valuable, as the epistle itself asserts, in Saint John's manner, +indeed, but in terms sufficiently explicit, the writer's personal +knowledge of Christ's history: "That which was from the beginning, which +we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked +upon, and our hands have handled, of the word of life; that which we +have seen and heard, declare we unto you." (Ch. i. ver. 1--3.)Who would +not desire, who perceives not the value of an account delivered by a +writer so well informed as this? + + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +OF THE HISTORY OF THE RESURRECTION. + +The history of the resurrection of Christ is a part of the evidence of +Christianity: but I do not know whether the proper strength of this +passage of the Christian history, or wherein its peculiar value, as a +head of evidence, consists, be generally understood. It is not that, as +a miracle, the resurrection ought to be accounted a more decisive +proof of supernatural agency than other miracles are; it is not that, as +it stands in the Gospels, it is better attested than some others; it is +not, for either of these reasons, that more weight belongs to it than to +other miracles, but for the following, viz., That it is completely +certain that the apostles of Christ, and the first teachers of +Christianity, asserted the fact. And this would have been certain, if +the four Gospels had been lost, or never written. Every piece of +Scripture recognizes the resurrection. Every epistle of every apostle, +every author contemporary with the apostles, of the age immediately +succeeding the apostles, every writing from that age to the present +genuine or spurious, on the side of Christianity or against it, concur +in representing the resurrection of Christ as an article of his history, +received without doubt or disagreement by all who called themselves +Christians, as alleged from the beginning by the propagators of the +institution, and alleged as the centre of their testimony. Nothing, I +apprehend, which a man does not himself see or hear can be more certain +to him than this point. I do not mean that nothing can be more certain +than that Christ rose from the dead; but that nothing can be more +certain than that his apostles, and the first teachers of Christianity, +gave out that he did so. In the other parts of the Gospel narrative, a +question may be made, whether the things related of Christ be the very +things which the apostles and first teachers of the religion delivered +concerning him? And this question depends a good deal upon the evidence +we possess of the genuineness, or rather perhaps of the antiquity, +credit, and reception of the books. On the subject of the resurrection, +no such discussion is necessary, because no such doubt can be +entertained. The only points which can enter into our consideration are, +whether the apostles knowingly published a falsehood, or whether they +were themselves deceived; whether either of these suppositions be +possible. The first, I think, is pretty generally given up. The nature +of the undertaking, and of the men; the extreme unlikelihood that such +men should engage in such a measure as a scheme; their personal toils, +and dangers and sufferings in the cause; their appropriation of their +whole time to the object; the warm and seemingly unaffected zeal and +earnestness with which they profess their sincerity exempt +their memory from the suspicion of imposture. The solution more +deserving of notice is that which would resolve the conduct of the +apostles into enthusiasm; which would class the evidence of Christ's +resurrection with the numerous stories that are extant of the +apparitions of dead men. There are circumstances in the narrative, as it +is preserved in our histories, which destroy this comparison entirely. +It was not one person but many, who saw him; they saw him not only +separately but together, not only by night but by day, not at a distance +but near, not once but several times; they not only saw him, but touched +him, conversed with him, ate with him, examined his person to satisfy +their doubts. These particulars are decisive: but they stand, I do +admit, upon the credit of our records. I would answer, therefore, the +insinuation of enthusiasm, by a circumstance which arises out of the +nature of the thing; and the reality of which must be confessed by all +who allow, what I believe is not denied, that the resurrection of +Christ, whether true or false, was asserted by his disciples from the +beginning; and that circumstance is, the non-production of the dead +body. It is related in the history, what indeed the story of the +resurrection necessarily implies, that the corpse was missing out of the +sepulchre: it is related also in the history, that the Jews reported +that the followers of Christ had stolen it away.* And this account, +though loaded with great improbabilities, such as the situation of the +disciples, their fears for their own safety at the time, the +unlikelihood of their expecting to succeed, the difficulty of actual +success,+ and the inevitable consequence of detection and failure, was, +nevertheless, the most credible account that could be given of the +matter. But it proceeds entirely upon the supposition of fraud, as all +the old objections did. What account can be given of the body, upon the +supposition of enthusiasm? It is impossible our Lord's followers could +believe that he was risen from the dead, if his corpse was lying before +them. No enthusiasm ever reached to such a pitch of extravagancy as +that: a spirit may be an illusion; a body is a real thing, an object of +sense, in which there can be no mistake. All accounts of spectres leave +the body in the grave. And although the body of Christ might be removed +by fraud, and for the purposes of fraud, yet without any such intention, +and by sincere but deluded men (which is the representation of the +apostolic character we are now examining), no such attempt could be +made. The presence and the absence of the dead body are alike +inconsistent with the hypothesis of enthusiasm: for if present, it must +have cured their enthusiasm at once; if absent, fraud, not enthusiasm, +must have carried it away. + +_________ + +* "And this saying," Saint Matthew writes, "is commonly reported amongst +the Jews until this day" (chap. xxviii. 15). The evangelist may be +thought good authority as to this point, even by those who do not admit +his evidence in every other point: and this point is sufficient to prove +that the body was missing. It has been rightly, I think, observed by Dr. +Townshend (Dis. upon the Res. p. 126), that the story of the guards +carried collusion upon the face of it:--"His disciples came by night, +and stole him away while we slept." Men in their circumstances would not +have made such an acknowledgment of their negligence without previous +assurances of protection and impunity. + ++ "Especially at the full moon, the city full of people, many probably +passing the whole night, as Jesus and his disciples had done, in the +open air, the sepulchre so near the city as to be now enclosed within +the walls." Priestley on the Resurr. p. 24. +_________ + + +But further, if we admit, upon the concurrent testimony of all the +histories, so much of the account as states that the religion of Jesus +was set up at Jerusalem, and set up with asserting, in the very place in +which he had been buried, and a few days after he had been buried, his +resurrection out of the grave, it is evident that, if his body could +have been found, the Jews would have produced it, as the shortest and +completest answer possible to the whole story. The attempt of the +apostles could not have survived this refutation a moment. If we also +admit, upon the authority of Saint Matthew, that the Jews were +advertised of the expectation of Christ's followers, and that they had +taken due precaution in consequence of this notice, and that the body +was in marked and public custody, the observation receives more force +still. For notwithstanding their precaution and although thus prepared +and forewarned; when the story of the resurrection of Christ came forth, +as it immediately did; when it was publicly asserted by his disciples, +and made the ground and basis of their preaching in his name, and +collecting followers to his religion, the Jews had not the body to +produce; but were obliged to meet the testimony of the apostles by an +answer not containing indeed any impossibility in itself, but absolutely +inconsistent with the supposition of their integrity; that is, in other +words, inconsistent with the supposition which would resolve their +conduct into enthusiasm. + + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE PROPAGATION OF CHRISTIANITY. + +In this argument, the first consideration is the fact--in what degree, +within what time, and to what extent, Christianity actually was +propagated. + +The accounts of the matter which can be collected from our books are as +follow: A few days after Christ's disappearance out of the world, we +find an assembly of disciples at Jerusalem, to the number of "about one +hundred and twenty;" (Acts i. 15.) which hundred and twenty were +probably a little association of believers, met together not merely as +believers in Christ, but as personally connected with the apostles, and +with one another. Whatever was the number of believers then in +Jerusalem, we have no reason to be surprised that so small a company +should assemble: for there is no proof that the followers of Christ were +yet formed into a society; that the society was reduced into any order; +that it was at this time even understood that a new religion (in the +sense which that term conveys to us) was to be set up in the world, or +how the professors of that religion were to be distinguished from the +rest of mankind. The death of Christ had left, we may suppose, the +generality of his disciples in great doubt, both as to what they were to +do, and concerning what was to follow. + +This meeting was holden, as we have already said, a few days after +Christ's ascension: for ten days after that event was the day of +Pentecost, when, as our history relates, (Acts ii. 1.) upon a signal +display of divine agency attending the persons of the apostles, there +were added to the society "about three thousand souls." (Acts ii. 41.) +But here, it is not, I think, to be taken, that these three thousand +were all converted by this single miracle; but rather that many who +before were believers in Christ became now professors of Christianity; +that is to say, when they found that a religion was to be established, a +society formed and set up in the name of Christ, governed by his laws, +avowing their belief in his mission, united amongst themselves, and +separated from the rest of the world by visible distinctions; in +pursuance of their former conviction, and by virtue of what they had +heard and seen, and known of Christ's history, they publicly became +members of it. + +We read in the fourth chapter (verse 4) of the Acts, that soon after +this, "the number of the men," i. e. the society openly professing their +belief in Christ, "was about five thousand." So that here is an increase +of two thousand within a very short time. And it is probable that there +were many, both now and afterwards, who, although they believed in +Christ, did not think it necessary to join themselves to this society; +or who waited to see what was likely to become of it. Gamaliel, whose +advice to the Jewish council is recorded Acts v. 34, appears to have +been of this description; perhaps Nicodemus, and perhaps also Joseph of +Arimathea. This class of men, their character and their rank, are +likewise pointed out by Saint John, in the twelfth chapter of his +Gospel: "Nevertheless, among the chief rulers also many believed on him, +but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should +be put out of the synagogue, for they loved the praise of men more than +the praise of God." Persons such as these might admit the miracles of +Christ, without being immediately convinced that they were under +obligation to make a public profession of Christianity at the risk of +all that was dear to them in life, and even of life itself.* + +_________ + +* "Beside those who professed, and those who rejected and opposed, +Christianity, there were in all probability multitudes between both, +neither perfect Christians nor yet unbelievers. They had a favourable +opinion of the Gospel, but worldly considerations made them unwilling to +own it. There were many circumstances which inclined them to think that +Christianity was a divine revelation, but there were many inconveniences +which attended the open profession of it; and they could not find in +themselves courage enough to bear them to disoblige their friends and +family, to ruin their fortunes, to lose their reputation, their liberty, +and their life, for the sake of the new religion. Therefore they were +willing to hope, that if they endeavoured to observe the great +principles of morality which Christ had represented as the principal +part, the sum and substance of religion; if they thought honourably of +the Gospel; if they offered no injury to the Christians; if they did +them all the services that they could safely perform, they were willing +to hope that God would accept this, and that He would excuse and forgive +the rest." Jortin's Dis. on the Christ. Rel. p. 91, ed. 4. +_________ + + +Christianity, however, proceeded to increase in Jerusalem by a progress +equally rapid with its first success; for in the next chapter of our +history, we read that "believers were the more added to the Lord, +multitudes both of men and women." And this enlargement of the new +society appears in the first verse of the succeeding chapter, wherein we +are told, that "when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there +arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews because their +widows were neglected;" (Acts v. 14; vi. 1) and afterwards, in the same +chapter, it is declared expressly, that "the number of the disciples +multiplied in Jerusalem greatly, and that a great company of the priests +were obedient to the faith." + +This I call the first period in the propagation of Christianity. It +commences with the ascension of Christ, and extends, as may be collected +from incidental notes of time, (Vide Pearson's Antiq. 1. xviii. c. 7. +Benson's History of Christ, b. i. p. 148.) to something more than one +year after that event. During which term, the preaching of Christianity, +so far as our documents inform us, was confined to the single city of +Jerusalem. And how did it succeed there? The first assembly which we +meet with of Christ's disciples, and that a few days after his removal +from the world, consisted of "one hundred and twenty." About a week +after this, "three thousand were added in one day;" and the number of +Christians publicly baptized, and publicly associating together, was +very soon increased to "five thousand." "Multitudes both of men and +women continued to be added;" "disciples multiplied greatly," and "many +of the Jewish priesthood as well as others, became obedient to the +faith;" and this within a space of less than two years from the +commencement of the institution. + +By reason of a persecution raised against the church at Jerusalem, the +converts were driven from that city, and dispersed throughout the +regions of Judea and Samaria. (Acts viii. l.) Wherever they came, they +brought their religion with them: for our historian informs us, (Acts +viii. 4.) that "they that were scattered abroad went everywhere +preaching the word." The effect of this preaching comes afterwards to be +noticed, where the historian is led, in the course of his narrative, to +observe that then (i. e. about three years posterior to this, [Benson, +b. i. p. 207.]) the churches had rest throughout all Judea and Galilee +and Samaria, and were edified, and walking in the fear of the Lord, and +in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied. This was the work of +the second period, which comprises about four years. + +Hitherto the preaching of the Gospel had been confined to Jews, to +Jewish proselytes, and to Samaritans. And I cannot forbear from setting +down in this place an observation of Mr. Bryant, which appears to me to +be perfectly well founded;--"The Jews still remain: but how seldom is it +that we can make a single proselyte! There is reason to think, that +there were more converted by the apostles in one day than have since +been won over in the last thousand years." (Bryant on the Truth of the +Christian Religion, p. 112.) It was not yet known to the apostles that +they were at liberty to propose the religion to mankind at large. That +"mystery," as Saint Paul calls it, (Eph. iii. 3--6.) and as it then was, +was revealed to Peter by an especial miracle. It appears to have been +(Benson, book ii. p. 236.) about seven years after Christ's ascension +that the Gospel was preached to the Gentiles of Cesarea. A year after +this a great multitude of Gentiles were converted at Antioch in Syria. +The expressions employed by the historian are these:--"A great number +believed, and turned to the Lord;" "much people was added unto the +Lord;" "the apostles Barnabas and Paul taught much people." (Acts xi. +21, 24, 26.) Upon Herod's death, which happened in the next +year, (Benson, book ii, p. 289.) it is observed, that "the word of God +grew and multiplied." (Acts xii. 24.) Three years from this time, upon +the preaching of Paul at Iconium, the metropolis of Lycaonia, "a great +multitude both of Jews and Greeks believed:" (Acts xiv. 1.) and +afterwards, in the course of this very progress, he is represented as +"making many disciples" at Derbe, a principal city in the same district. +Three years (Benson's History of Christ, book iii. p. 50.) after this, +which brings us to sixteen after the ascension, the apostles wrote a +public letter from Jerusalem to the Gentile converts in Antioch, Syria, +and Cilicia, with which letter Paul travelled through these countries, +and found the churches "established in the faith, and increasing in +number daily." (Acts xvi. 5.) From Asia the apostle proceeded into +Greece, where, soon after his arrival in Macedonia, we find him at +Thessalonica: in which city, "some of the Jews believed, and of the +devout Greeks a great multitude." (Acts xvii. 4.) We meet also here with +an accidental hint of the general progress of the Christian mission, in +the exclamation of the tumultuous Jews of Thessalonica, "that they who +had turned the world upside down were come thither also." (Acts xvii. +6.) At Berea, the next city at which Saint Paul arrives, the historian, +who was present, inform us that "many of the Jews believed." (Acts xvii. +12.) The next year and a half of Saint Paul's ministry was spent at +Corinth. Of his success in that city we receive the following +intimations; "that many of the Corinthians believed and were baptized;" +and "that it was revealed to the Apostle by Christ, that be had much +people in that city." (Acts xviii, 8--10.) Within less than a year after +his departure from Corinth, and twenty-five (Benson, book iii. p, 160.) +years after the ascension, Saint Paul fixed his station at Ephesus for +the space of two years (Acts xix. 10.) and something more. The effect of +his ministry in that city and neighbourhood drew from the historian a +reflection how "mightily grew the word of God and prevailed." (Acts xix. +20.) And at the conclusion of this period we find Demetrius at the head +of a party, who were alarmed by the progress of the religion, +complaining, that "not only at Ephesus, but also throughout all Asia +(i. e. the province of Lydia, and the country adjoining to Ephesus), this +Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people." (Acts xix. 26.) Beside +these accounts, there occurs, incidentally, mention of converts at Rome, +Alexandria, Athens, Cyprus, Cyrene, Macedonia, Philippi. + +This is the third period in the propagation of Christianity, setting off +in the seventh year after the ascension, and ending at the +twenty-eighth. Now, lay these three periods together, and observe how +the progress of the religion by these accounts is represented. The +institution, which properly began only after its Author's removal from +the world, before the end of thirty years, had spread itself through +Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, almost all the numerous districts of the +Lesser Asia, through Greece, and the islands of the Aegean Sea, the +seacoast of Africa, and had extended itself to Rome, and into Italy. At +Antioch, in Syria, at Joppa, Ephesus, Corinth, Thessalonica, Berea, +Iconium, Derbe, Antioch in Pisidia, at Lydda, Saron, the number of +converts is intimated by the expressions, "a great number," "great +multitudes," "much people." Converts are mentioned, without any +designation of their number,* at Tyre, Cesarea, Troas, Athens, Philippi, +Lystra, Damascus. During all this time Jerusalem continued not only the +centre of the mission, but a principal seat of the religion; for when +Saint Paul returned thither at the conclusion of the period of which we +are now considering the accounts, the other apostles pointed out to him, +as a reason for his compliance with their advice, "how many thousands +(myriads, ten thousands) there were in that city who believed."+ + +_________ + +* Considering the extreme conciseness of many parts of the history, the +silence about the number of converts is no proof of their paucity; for +at Philippi, no mention whatever is made of the number, yet Saint Paul +addressed an epistle to that church. The churches of Galatia, and the +affairs of those churches, were considerable enough to be the subject of +another letter, and of much of Saint Paul's solicitude; yet no account +is preserved in the history of his success, or even of his preaching in +that country, except the slight notice which these words convey:--"When +they had gone throughout Phrygia, and the region of Galatia, they +assayed to go into Bithynia." Acts xvi. 6. + ++ Acts xxi. 20. +_________ + + +Upon this abstract, and the writing from which it is drawn, the +following observations seem material to be made: + +I. That the account comes from a person who was himself concerned in a +portion of what he relates, and was contemporary with the whole of it; +who visited Jerusalem, and frequented the society of those who had +acted, and were acting the chief parts in the transaction. I lay down +this point positively; for had the ancient attestations to this valuable +record been less satisfactory than they are, the unaffectedness and +simplicity with which the author notes his presence upon certain +occasions, and the entire absence of art and design from these notices, +would have been sufficient to persuade my mind that, whoever he was, he +actually lived in the times, and occupied the situation, in which he +represents himself to be. When I say, "whoever he was," I do not mean to +cast a doubt upon the name to which antiquity hath ascribed the Acts of +the Apostles (for there is no cause, that I am acquainted with, for +questioning it), but to observe that, in such a case as this, the time +and situation of the author are of more importance than his name; and +that these appear from the work itself, and in the most unsuspicious +form. + +II. That this account is a very incomplete account of the preaching and +propagation of Christianity; I mean, that if what we read in the history +be true, much more than what the history contains must be true also. +For, although the narrative from which our information is derived has +been entitled the Acts of the Apostles, it is, in fact, a history of the +twelve apostles only during a short time of their continuing together at +Jerusalem; and even of this period the account is very concise. The work +afterwards consists of a few important passages of Peter's ministry, of +the speech and death of Stephen, of the preaching of Philip the deacon; +and the sequel of the volume, that is, two thirds of the whole, is taken +up with the conversion, the travels, the discourses, and history of the +new apostle, Paul; in which history, also, large portions of time are +often passed over with very scanty notice. + +III. That the account, so far as it goes, is for this very reason more +credible. Had it been the author's design to have displayed the early +progress of Christianity, he would undoubtedly have collected, or at +least have set forth, accounts of the preaching of the rest of the +apostles, who cannot without extreme improbability be supposed to have +remained silent and inactive, or not to have met with a share of that +success which attended their colleagues. + +To which may be added, as an observation of the same kind, + +IV. That the intimations of the number of converts, and of the success +of the preaching of the apostles, come out for the most part +incidentally: are drawn from the historian by the occasion, such as the +murmuring of the Grecian converts; the rest from persecution; Herod's +death; the sending of Barnabas to Antioch, and Barnabas calling Paul to +his assistance; Paul coming to a place and finding there disciples; the +clamour of the Jews; the complaint of artificers interested in the +support of the popular religion; the reason assigned to induce Paul to +give satisfaction to the Christians of Jerusalem. Had it not been for +these occasions it is probable that no notice whatever would have been +taken of the number of converts in several of the passages in which that +notice now appears. All this tends to remove the suspicion of a design +to exaggerate or deceive. + +PARALLEL TESTIMONIES with the history are the letters of Saint Paul, and +of the other apostles, which have come down to us. Those of Saint Paul +are addressed to the churches of Corinth, Philippi, Thessalonica, the +church of Galatia, and, if the inscription be right, of Ephesus; his +ministry at all which places is recorded in the history: to the church +of Colosse, or rather to the churches of Colosse and Laodicea jointly, +which he had not then visited. They recognise by reference the churches +of Judea, the churches of Asia, and "all the churches of the Gentiles." +(Thess ii. 14.) In the Epistle to the Romans (Rom. xv. 18, 19.) the +author is led to deliver a remarkable declaration concerning the extent +of his preaching, its efficacy, and the cause to which he ascribes +it,--"to make the Gentiles obedient by word and deed, through mighty +signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from +Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the +Gospel of Christ." In the epistle to the Colossians, (Col. i. 23.) we +find an oblique but very strong signification of the then general state +of the Christian mission, at least as it appeared to Saint Paul:--"If ye +continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved away from +the hope of the Gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to +every creature which is under heaven;" which Gospel, he had reminded +them near the beginning of his letter (Col. i. 6.), "was present with +them, as it was in all the world." The expressions are hyperbolical; but +they are hyperboles which could only be used by a writer who entertained +a strong sense of the subject. The first epistle of Peter accosts the +Christians dispersed throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and +Bithynia. + +It comes next to be considered how far these accounts are confirmed or +followed up by other evidence. + +Tacitus, in delivering a relation, which has already been laid before +the reader, of the fire which happened at Rome in the tenth year of Nero +(which coincides with the thirtieth year after Christ's ascension), +asserts that the emperor, in order to suppress the rumours of having +been himself the author of the mischief, procured the Christians to be +accused. Of which Christians, thus brought into his narrative, the +following is so much of the historian's account as belongs to our +present purpose: "They had their denomination from Christus, who, in the +reign of Tiberius, was put to death as a criminal by the procurator +Pontius Pilate. This pernicious superstition, though checked for a +while, broke out again, and spread not only over Judea, but reached the +city also. At first they only were apprehended who confessed themselves +of that sect; afterwards vast multitude were discovered by them." This +testimony to the early propagation of Christianity is extremely +material. It is from an historian of great reputation, living near the +time; from a stranger and an enemy to the religion; and it joins +immediately with the period through which the Scripture accounts extend. +It establishes these points: that the religion began at Jerusalem; that +it spread throughout Judea; that it had reached Rome, and not only so, +but that it had there obtained a great number of converts. This was +about six years after the time that Saint Paul wrote his Epistle to the +Romans, and something more than two years after he arrived there +himself. The converts to the religion were then so numerous at Rome, +that of those who were betrayed by the information of the persons first +persecuted, a great multitude (multitudo ingens) were discovered and +seized. + +It seems probable, that the temporary check which Tacitus represents +Christianity to have received (repressa in praesens) referred to the +persecution of Jerusalem which followed the death of Stephen (Acts +viii.); and which, by dispersing the converts, caused the institution, +in some measure, to disappear. Its second eruption at the same place, +and within a short time, has much in it of the character of truth. It +was the firmness and perseverance of men who knew what they relied +upon. + +Next in order of time, and perhaps superior in importance is the +testimony of Pliny the Younger. Pliny was the Roman governor of Pontus +and Bithynia, two considerable districts in the northern part of Asia +Minor. The situation in which he found his province led him to apply to +the emperor (Trajan) for his direction as to the conduct he was to hold +towards the Christians. The letter in which this application is +contained was written not quite eighty years after Christ's ascension. +The president, in this letter, states the measures he had already +pursued, and then adds, as his reason for resorting to the emperor's +counsel and authority, the following words:--"Suspending all judicial +proceedings, I have recourse to you for advice; for it has appeared to +me a matter highly deserving consideration, especially on account of the +great number of persons who are in danger of suffering: for many of all +ages, and of every rank, of both sexes likewise, are accused, and will +be accused. Nor has the contagion of this superstition seized cities +only, but the lesser towns also, and the open country. Nevertheless it +seemed to me that it may be restrained and corrected. It is certain that +the temples, which were almost forsaken, begin to be more frequented; +and the sacred solemnities, after a long intermission, are revived. +Victims, likewise, are everywhere (passim) bought up; whereas, for some +time, there were few to purchase them. Whence it is easy to imagine that +numbers of men might be reclaimed if pardon were granted to those that +shall repent." (C. Plin. Trajano Imp. lib. x. ep. xcvii.) + +It is obvious to observe, that the passage of Pliny's letter here +quoted, proves, not only that the Christians in Pontus and Bithynia were +now numerous, but that they had subsisted there for some considerable +time. "It is certain," he says, "that the temples, which were almost +forsaken (plainly ascribing this desertion of the popular worship to the +prevalency of Christianity), begin to be more frequented; and the sacred +solemnities, after a long intermission, are revived." There are also two +clauses in the former part of the letter which indicate the same thing; +one, in which he declares that he had "never been present at any trials +of Christians, and therefore knew not what was the usual subject of +inquiry and punishment, or how far either was wont to be urged." The +second clause is the following: "Others were named by an informer, who, +at first, confessed themselves Christians, and afterwards denied it; the +rest said they had been Christians some three years ago, some longer, +and some about twenty years." It is also apparent, that Pliny speaks of +the Christians as a description of men well known to the person to whom +he writes. His first sentence concerning them is, "I have never been +present at the trials of Christians." This mention of the name of +Christians, without any preparatory explanation, shows that it was a +term familiar both to the writer of the letter and the person to whom it +was addressed. Had it not been so, Pliny would naturally have begun his +letter by informing the emperor that he had met with a certain set of +men in the province called Christians. + +Here then is a very singular evidence of the progress of the Christian +religion in a short space. It was not fourscore years after the +crucifixion of Jesus when Pliny wrote this letter; nor seventy years +since the apostles of Jesus began to mention his name to the Gentile +world. Bithynia and Pontus were at a great distance from Judea, the +centre from which the religion spread; yet in these provinces +Christianity had long subsisted, and Christians were now in such numbers +as to lead the Roman governor to report to the emperor that they were +found not only in cities, but in villages and in open countries; of all +ages, of every rank and condition; that they abounded so much as to have +produced a visible desertion of the temples; that beasts brought to +market for victims had few purchasers; that the sacred solemnities were +much neglected:--circumstances noted by Pliny for the express purpose of +showing to the emperor the effect and prevalency of the new institution. + +No evidence remains by which it can be proved that the Christians were +more numerous in Pontus and Bithynia than in other parts of the Roman +empire; nor has any reason been offered to show why they should be so. +Christianity did not begin in these countries, nor near them. I do not +know, therefore, that we ought to confine the description in Pliny's +letter to the state of Christianity in these provinces, even if no other +account of the same subject had come down to us; but, certainly, this +letter may fairly be applied in aid and confirmation of the +representations given of the general state of Christianity in the world, +by Christian writers of that and the next succeeding age. + +Justin Martyr, who wrote about thirty years after Pliny, and one hundred +and six after the ascension, has these remarkable words: "There is not a +nation, either of Greek or barbarian, or of any other name, even of +those who wander in tribes, and live in tents, amongst whom prayers and +thanksgivings are not offered to the Father and Creator of the universe +by the name of the crucified Jesus." (Dial cum Tryph.) Tertullian, who +comes about fifty years after Justin, appeals to the governors of the +Roman empire in these terms: "We were but of yesterday, and we have +filled your cities, islands, towns, and boroughs, the camp, the senate, +and the forum. They (the heathen adversaries of Christianity) lament +that every sex, age, and condition, and persons of every rank also, are +converts to that name." (Tertull. Apol. c. 37.) I do allow that these +expressions are loose, and may be called declamatory. But even +declamation hath its bounds; this public boasting upon a subject which +must be known to every reader was not only useless but unnatural, unless +the truth of the case, in a considerable degree, corresponded with the +description; at least, unless it had been both true and notorious, that +great multitudes of Christians, of all ranks and orders, were to be +found in most parts of the Roman empire. The same Tertullian, in another +passage, by way of setting forth the extensive diffusion of +Christianity, enumerates as belonging to Christ, beside many other +countries, the "Moors and Gaetulians of Africa, the borders of Spain, +several nations of France, and parts of Britain inaccessible to the +Romans, the Sarmatians, Daci, Germans, and Scythians;" (Ad Jud. c. 7.) +and, which is more material than the extent of the institution, the +number of Christians in the several countries in which it prevailed is +thus expressed by him: "Although so great a multitude, that in almost +every city we form the greater part, we pass our time modestly and in +silence." (Ad Scap. c. iii.) A Clemens Alexandrinus, who preceded +Tertullian by a few years, introduced a comparison between the success +of Christianity and that of the most celebrated philosophical +institutions: "The philosophers were confined to Greece, and to their +particular retainers; but the doctrine of the Master of Christianity not +remain in Judea, as philosophy did in Greece, but is throughout the +whole world, in every nation, and village, and city, both of Greeks and +barbarians, converting both whole houses and separate individuals, +having already brought over to the truth not a few of the philosophers +themselves. If the Greek philosophy he prohibited, it immediately +vanishes; whereas, from the first preaching of our doctrine, kings and +tyrants, governors and presidents, with their whole train, and with the +populace on their side, have endeavoured with their whole might to +exterminate it, yet doth it flourish more and more." (Clem. AI. Strora. +lib. vi. ad fin.) Origen, who follows Tertullian at the distance of only +thirty years, delivers nearly the same account: "In every part of the +world," says he, "throughout all Greece, and in all other nations, there +are innumerable and immense multitudes, who, having left the laws of +their country, and those whom they esteemed gods, have given themselves +up to the law of Moses, and the religion of Christ: and this +not without the bitterest resentment from the idolaters, by whom they +were frequently put to torture, and sometimes to death: and it is +wonderful to observe how, in so short a time, the religion has +increased, amidst punishment and death, and every kind of torture." +(Orig. in Cels. lib. i.) In another passage, Origen draws the following +candid comparison between the state of Christianity in his time and the +condition of its more primitive ages: "By the good providence of God, +the Christian religion has so flourished and increased continually that +it is now preached freely without molestation, although there were a +thousand obstacles to the spreading of the doctrine of Jesus in the +world. But as it was the will of God that the Gentiles should have the +benefit of it, all the counsels of men against the Christians were +defeated: and by how much the more emperors and governors of provinces, +and the people everywhere strove to depress them, so much the more have +they increased and prevailed exceedingly." (Orig. cont. Cels. lib vii.) + +It is well known that, within less than eighty years after this, the +Roman empire became Christian under Constantine: and it is probable that +Constantine declared himself on the side of the Christians because they +were the powerful party: for Arnobius, who wrote immediately before +Constantine's accession, speaks of "the whole world as filled with +Christ's doctrine, of its diffusion throughout all countries, of an +innumerable body of Christians in distant provinces, of the strange +revolution of opinion of men of the greatest genius,--orators, +grammarians, rhetoricians, lawyers, physicians having come over to the +institution, and that also in the face of threats, executions and +tortures." (Arnob. in Genres, 1. i. pp. 27, 9, 24, 42, 41. edit. Lug. +Bat. 1650.) + +And not more than twenty years after Constantine's entire possession of +the empire, Julius Firmiens Maternus calls upon the emperors Constantius +and Constans to extirpate the relics of the ancient religion; the +reduced and fallen condition of which is described by our author in the +following words: "Licet adhue in quibusdam regionibus idololatriae +morientia palpitont membra; tamen in eo res est, ut a Christianis +omnibus terris pestiferum hoc malum funditus amputetur:" and in another +place, "Modicum tautum superest, ut legibus vestris--extincta +idololatriae pereat funesta contagio." (De Error. Profan. Relig. c. xxi. +p. 172, quoted by Lardner, vol. viii. p. 262.) It will not be thought +that we quote this writer in order to recommend his temper or his +judgment, but to show the comparative state of Christianity and of +Heathenism at this period. Fifty years afterwards, Jerome represents the +decline of Paganism, in language which conveys the same idea of its +approaching extinction: "Solitudinem patitur et in urbe gentilitas. Dii +quondam nationum, cum bubonibus et noctuis, in solis culminibus +remanserunt." (Jer. ad Lect. ep. 5, 7.) Jerome here indulges a triumph, +natural and allowable in a zealous friend of the cause, but which could +only be suggested to his mind by the consent and universality with which +he saw; the religion received. "But now," says he, "the passion and +resurrection of Christ are celebrated in the discourses and writings of +all nations. I need not mention Jews, Greeks, and Latins. The Indians, +Persians, Goths, and Egyptians philosophise, and firmly believe the +immortality of the soul, and future recompenses, which, before, the +greatest philosophers had denied, or doubted of, or perplexed with their +disputes. The fierceness of Thracians and Scythians is now softened by +the gentle sound of the Gospel; and everywhere Christ is all in all." +(Jer. ad Lect. ep. 8, ad Heliod.) Were, therefore, the motives of +Constantine's conversion ever so problematical, the easy establishment +of Christianity, and the ruin of Heathenism, under him and his immediate +successors, is of itself a proof of the progress which had made in the +preceding period. It may be added also, "that Maxentius, the rival of +Constantine, had shown himself friendly to the Christians. Therefore of +those who were contending for worldly power and empire, one actually +favoured and flattered them, and another may be suspected to have joined himself to them partly from consideration of interest: so considerable +were they become, under external disadvantages of all sorts." (Lardner, +vol. vii. p. 380.) This at least is certain, that, throughout the whole +transaction hitherto, the great seemed to follow, not to lead, the public +opinion. + +It may help to convey to us some notion of the extent and progress of +Christianity, or rather of the character and quality of many early +Christians, of their learning and their labours, to notice the number of +Christian writers who flourished in these ages. Saint Jerome's catalogue +contains sixty-six writers within the first three centuries, and the +first six years of the fourth; and fifty-four between that time and his +own, viz. A. D. 392. Jerome introduces his catalogue with the following +just remonstrance:--"Let those who say the church has had no +philosophers, nor eloquent and learned men, observe who and what they +were who founded, established, and adorned it; let them cease to accuse +our faith of rusticity, and confess their mistake." (Jer. Prol. in Lib. +de Ser. Eccl.) Of these writers, several, as Justin, Irenaeus, Clement +of Alexandria, Tertullian, Origen, Bardesanes, Hippolitus, Eusebius, +were voluminous writers. Christian writers abounded particularly about +the year 178. Alexander, bishop of Jerusalem, founded a library in that +city, A.D. 212. Pamphilus, the friend of Origen, founded a library at +Cesarea, A.D. 294. Public defences were also set forth, by various +advocates of the religion, in the course of its first three centuries. +Within one hundred years after Christ's ascension, Quadratus and +Aristides, whose works, except some few fragments of the first, are +lost; and, about twenty years afterwards, Justin Martyr, whose works +remain, presented apologies for the Christian religion to the Roman +emperors; Quadratus and Aristides to Adrian, Justin to Antoninus Pins, +and a second to Marcus Antoninus. Melito, bishop of Sardis, and +Apollinaris, bishop of Hierapolis, and Miltiades, men of great +reputation, did the same to Marcus Antoninus, twenty years +afterwards; (Euseb. Hist. lib. iv. c. 26. See also Lardner, vol. ii. p. +666.) and ten years after this, Apollonius, who suffered martyrdom under +the emperor Commodus, composed an apology for his faith which he read in +the senate, and which was afterwards published. (Lardner, vol. ii. p. +687.) Fourteen years after the apology of Apollonius, Tertullian +addressed the work which now remains under that name to the governors of +provinces in the Roman empire; and, about the same time, Minucius Felix +composed a defence of the Christian religion, which is still extant; +and, shortly after the conclusion of this century, copious defences of +Christianity were published by Arnobius and Lactantius. + + + + + +SECTION II. + +REFLECTIONS UPON THE PRECEDING ACCOUNT. + +In viewing the progress of Christianity, our first attention is due to +the number of converts at Jerusalem, immediately after its Founder's +death; because this success was a success at the time, and upon the +spot, when and where the chief part of the history had been transacted. + +We are, in the next place, called upon to attend to the early +establishment of numerous Christian societies in Judea and Galilee; +which countries had been the scene of Christ's miracles and ministry, +and where the memory of what had passed, and the knowledge of what was +alleged, must have yet been fresh and certain. + +We are, thirdly, invited to recollect the success of the apostles and of +their companions, at the several places to which they came, both within +and without Judea; because it was the credit given to original +witnesses, appealing for the truth of their accounts to what themselves +had seen and heard. The effect also of their preaching strongly confirms +the truth of what our history positively and circumstantially relates, +that they were able to exhibit to their hearers supernatural +attestations of their mission. + +We are, lastly, to consider the subsequent growth and spread of the +religion, of which we receive successive intimations, and satisfactory, +though general and occasional, accounts, until its full and final +establishment. + +In all these several stages, the history is without a parallel for it +must be observed, that we have not now been tracing the progress, and +describing the prevalency, of an opinion founded upon philosophical or +critical arguments, upon mere of reason, or the construction of ancient +writing; (of which are the several theories which have, at different +times, possession of the public mind in various departments of science and +literature; and of one or other of which kind are the tenets also which +divide the various sects of Christianity;) but that we speak of a +system, the very basis and postulatum of which was a supernatural +character ascribed to a particular person; of a doctrine, the truth +whereof depends entirely upon the truth of a matter of fact then recent. +"To establish a new religion, even amongst a few people, or in one +single nation, is a thing in itself exceedingly difficult. To reform +some corruptions which may have spread in a religion, or to make new +regulations in it, is not perhaps so hard, when the main and principal +part of that religion is preserved entire and unshaken; and yet this +very often cannot be accomplished without an extraordinary concurrence +of circumstances, and may be attempted a thousand times without success. +But to introduce a new faith, a new way of thinking and acting, and to +persuade many nations to quit the religion in which their ancestors have +lived and died, which had been delivered down to them from time +immemorial; to make them forsake and despise the deities which they had +been accustomed to reverence and worship; this is a work of still +greater difficulty." (Jortin's Dis. on the Christ. Rel. p. 107, 4th +edit.) The resistance of education, worldly policy, and superstition, is +almost invincible. + +If men, in these days, be Christians in consequence of their education, +in submission to authority, or in compliance with fashion, let us +recollect that the very contrary of this, at the beginning, was the +case. The first race of Christians, as wall as millions who succeeded +them, became such in formal opposition to all these motives, to the +whole power and strength of this influence. Every argument, therefore, +and every instance, which sets forth the prejudice of education, and the +almost irresistible effects of that prejudice (and no persons are more +fond of expatiating upon this subject than deistical writers), in fact +confirms the evidence of Christianity. + +But, in order to judge of the argument which is drawn from the early +propagation of Christianity, I know no fairer way of proceeding than to +compare what we have seen on the subject with the success of Christian +missions in modern ages. In the East India mission, supported by the +Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, we hear sometimes of thirty, +sometimes of forty, being baptized in the course of a year, and these +principally children. Of converts properly so called, that is, of adults +voluntarily embracing Christianity, the number is extremely small. +"Notwithstanding the labour of missionaries for upwards of two hundred +years, and the establishments of different Christian nations who support +them, there are not twelve thousand Indian Christians, and those almost +entirely outcasts." (Sketches relating to the history, learning, and +manners of the Hindoos, p. 48; quoted by Dr. Robertson, Hist. Dis. +concerning Ancient India, p. 236.) + +I lament as much as any man the little progress which Christianity has +made in these countries, and the inconsiderable effect that has followed +the labours of its missionaries; but I see in it a strong proof of the +Divine origin of the religion. What had the apostles to assist them in +propagating Christianity which the missionaries have not? If piety and +zeal had been sufficient, I doubt not but that our missionaries possess +these qualities in a high degree: for nothing except piety and zeal +could engage them in the undertaking. If sanctity of life and manners +was the allurement, the conduct of these men is unblameable. If the +advantage of education and learning be looked to, there is not one of +the modern missionaries who is not, in this respect, superior to all the +apostles; and that not only absolutely, but, what is of more importance, +relatively, in comparison, that is, with those amongst whom they +exercise their office. If the intrinsic excellency of the religion, the +perfection of its morality, the purity of its precepts, the eloquence, +or tenderness, or sublimity, of various parts of its writings, were the +recommendations by which it made its way, these remain the same. If the +character and circumstances under which the preachers were introduced to +the countries in which they taught be accounted of importance, this +advantage is all on the side of the modern missionaries. They come from +a country and a people to which the Indian world look up with sentiments +of deference. The apostles came forth amongst the Gentiles under no +other name than that of Jews, which was precisely the character they +despised and derided. If it be disgraceful in India to become a +Christian, it could not be much less so to be enrolled amongst those +"quos, per flagitia invisos, vulgus Christianos appellabat." If the +religion which they had to encounter be considered, the difference, I +apprehend, will not be great. The theology of both was nearly the same: +"what is supposed to be performed by the power of Jupiter, Neptune, of +Aeolus, of Mars, of Venus, according to the mythology of the West, is +ascribed, in the East, to the agency Agrio the god of fire, Varoon the +god of oceans, Vayoo god of wind, Cama the god of love." (Baghvat Gets, +p. 94, quoted by Dr. Robertson, Ind. Dis. p. 306.) The sacred rites of +the Western Polytheism were gay, festive, and licentious; the rites of +the public religion in the East partake of the same character, with a +more avowed indecency. "In every function performed in the pagodas, as +well as in every public procession, it is the office of these women +(i. e. of women prepared by the Brahmins for the purpose) to dance before +the idol, and to sing hymns in his praise; and it is difficult to say +whether they trespass most against decency by the gestures they exhibit, +or by the verses which they recite. The walls of the pagodas were +covered with paintings in a style no less indelicate." (Others of the +deities of the East are of an austere and gloomy character, to be +propitiated by victims, sometimes by human sacrifices, and by voluntary +torments of the most excruciating kind. Voyage de Gentil. vol. i. p. +244--260. Preface to the Code of Gentoo Laws, p. 57; quoted by Dr. +Robertson, p. 320.) + +On both sides of the comparison, the popular religion had a strong +establishment. In ancient Greece and Rome it was strictly incorporated +with the state. The magistrate was the priest. The highest officers of +government bore the most distinguished part in the celebration of the +public rites. In India, a powerful and numerous caste possesses +exclusively the administration of the established worship; and are, of +consequence, devoted to its service, and attached to its interest. In +both, the prevailing mythology was destitute of any proper evidence: or +rather, in both, the origin of the tradition is run up into ages long +anterior to the existence of credible history, or of written language. +The Indian chronology computes eras by millions of years, and the life +of man by thousands "The Suffec Jogue, or age of purity, is said to +have lasted three million two hundred thousand years; and they hold that +the life of man was extended in that age to one hundred thousand years; +but there is a difference amongst the Indian writers of six millions of +years in the computation of this era." (Voyage de Gentil. vol. i. p. +244--260. Preface to the Code of Gentoo Laws, p. 57; quoted by Dr. +Robertson, p. 320.) and in these, or prior to these, is placed the +history of their divinities. In both, the established superstition held +the same place in the public opinion; that is to say, in both it was +credited by the bulk of the people, but by the learned and philosophical +part of the community either derided, or regarded by them as only fit to +be upholden for the sake of its political uses.* + +_________ + +* "How absurd soever the articles of faith may be which superstition has +adopted, or how unhallowed the rites which it prescribes, the former are +received, in every age and country with unhesitating assent, by the +great body of the people, and the latter observed with scrupulous +exactness. In our reasonings concerning opinions and practices which +differ widely from our own, we are extremely apt to err. Having been +instructed ourselves in the principles of a religion worthy in every +respect of that Divine wisdom by which they were dictated, we frequently +express wonder at the credulity of nations, in embracing systems of +belief which appear to us so directly repugnant to right reason; and +sometimes suspect that tenets so wild and extravagant do not really gain +credit with them. But experience may satisfy us, that neither our wonder +nor suspicions are well founded. No article of the public religion was +called in question by those people of ancient Europe with whose history +we are best acquainted; and no practice which it enjoined appeared +improper to them. On the other hand, every opinion that tended to +diminish the reverence of men for the gods of their country, or to +alienate them from their worship, excited, among the Greeks and Romans, +that indignant zeal which is natural to every people attached to their +religion by a firm persuasion of its truth." Ind. Dis. p. 321. That the +learned Brahmins of the East are rational Theists, and secretly reject +the established theory, and contemn the rites that were founded upon +them, or rather consider them as contrivances to be supported for their +political uses, see Dr. Robertson's Ind. Dis. p. 324-334. +_________ + + +Or if it should be allowed, that the ancient heathens believed in their +religion less generally than the present Indians do, I am far from +thinking that this circumstance would afford any facility to the work +of the apostles, above that of the modern missionaries. To me it +appears, and I think it material to be remarked, that a disbelief of the +established religion of their country has no tendency to dispose men for +the reception of another; but that, on the contrary, it generates a +settled contempt of all religious pretensions whatever. General +infidelity is the hardest soil which the propagators of a new religion +can have to work upon. Could a Methodist or Moravian promise himself a +better chance of success with a French esprit fort, who had been +accustomed to laugh at the popery of his country, than with a believing +Mahometan or Hindoo? Or are our modern unbelievers in Christianity, for +that reason, in danger of becoming Mahometans or Hindoos? It does not +appear that the Jews, who had a body of historical evidence to offer for +their religion, and who at that time undoubtedly entertained and held +forth the expectation of a future state, derived any great advantage, as +to the extension of their system, from the discredit into which the +popular religion had fallen with many of their heathen neighbours. + +We have particularly directed our observations to the state and progress +of Christianity amongst the inhabitants of India: but the history of the +Christian mission in other countries, where the efficacy of the mission +is left solely to the conviction wrought by the preaching of strangers, +presents the same idea as the Indian mission does of the feebleness and +inadequacy of human means. About twenty-five years ago was published, in +England, a translation from the Dutch of a History of Greenland and a +relation of the mission for above thirty years carried on in that +country by the Unitas Fratrum, or Moravians. Every part of that relation +confirms the opinion we have stated. Nothing could surpass, or hardly +equal, the zeal and patience of the missionaries. Yet their historian, +in the conclusion of his narrative, could find place for no reflections +more encouraging than the following:--"A person that had known the +heathen, that had seen the little benefit from the great pains hitherto +taken with them, and considered that one after another had abandoned all +hopes of the conversion of these infidels (and some thought they would +never be converted, till they saw miracles wrought as in the apostles' +days, and this the Greenlanders expected and demanded of their +instructors); one that considered this, I say, would not so much wonder +at the past unfruitfulness of these young beginners, as at their +steadfast perseverance in the midst of nothing but distress, +difficulties, and impediments, internally and externally: and that they +never desponded of the conversion of those poor creatures amidst all +seeming impossibilities." (History of Greenland, vol. ii. p. 376.) + +From the widely disproportionate effects which attend the preaching of +modern missionaries of Christianity, compared with what followed the +ministry of Christ and his apostles under circumstances either alike, or +not so unlike as to account for the difference, a conclusion is fairly +drawn in support of what our histories deliver concerning them, viz. +that they possessed means of conviction which we have not; that they had +proofs to appeal to which we want. + + + + + +SECTION III. + +OF THE RELIGION OF MAHOMET. + +The only event in the history of the human species which admits of +comparison with the propagation of Christianity is the success of +Mahometanism. The Mahometan institution was rapid in its progress, was +recent in its history, and was founded upon a supernatural or prophetic +character assumed by its author. In these articles, the resemblance with +Christianity is confessed. But there are points of difference which +separate, we apprehend, the two cases entirely. + +I. Mahomet did not found his pretensions upon miracles, properly so +called; that is, upon proofs of supernatural agency capable of being +known and attested by others. Christians are warranted in this. +assertion by the evidence of the Koran, in which Mahomet not only does +not affect the power of working miracles, but expressly disclaims it. +The following passages of that book furnish direct proofs of the truth +of what we allege:--"The infidels say, Unless a sign be sent down unto +him from his lord, we will not believe; thou art a preacher only." +(Sale's Koran, c. xiii. p. 201, ed. quarto.) Again; "Nothing hindered us +from sending thee with miracles, except that the former nations have +charged them with imposture." (C. xvii. p. 232.) And lastly; "They say, +Unless a sign be sent down unto him from his lord, we will not believe: +Answer; Signs are in the power of God alone, and I am no more than a +public preacher. Is it not sufficient for them, that we have sent down +unto them the book of the Koran to be read unto them?" (C. xxix. p. +328.) Beside these acknowledgments, I have observed thirteen distinct +places in which Mahomet puts the objection (unless a sign, &c.) into the +mouth of the unbeliever, in not one of which does he allege a miracle in +reply. His answer is, "that God giveth the power of working miracles +when and to whom he pleaseth;" (C. v. x. xiii. twice.) "that if he +should work miracles, they would not believe;" (C. vi.) "that they had +before rejected Moses, and Jesus and the Prophets, who wrought +miracles;" (C. iii. xxi. xxviii.) "that the Koran itself was a miracle." +(C. xvi.) + +The only place in the Koran in which it can be pretended that a sensible +miracle is referred to (for I do not allow the secret visitations of +Gabriel, the night-journey of Mahomet to heaven, or the presence in +battle of invisible hosts of angels, to deserve the name of sensible +miracles) is the beginning of the fifty-fourth chapter. The words are +these:--"The hour of judgment approacheth, and the moon hath been split +in sunder: but if the unbelievers see a sign, they turn aside, saying, +This is a powerful charm." The Mahometan expositors disagree in their +interpretation of this passage; some explaining it to be mention of the +splitting of the moon as one of the future signs of the approach of the +day of judgment: others referring it to a miraculous appearance which +had then taken place. (Vide Sale, in loc.) It seems to me not improbable, +that Mahomet might have taken advantage of some extraordinary halo, or +other unusual appearance of the moon, which had happened about this +time; and which supplied a foundation both for this passage, and for the +story which in after times had been raised out of it. + +After this more than silence, after these authentic confessions of the +Koran, we are not to be moved with miraculous stories related of Mahomet +by Abulfeda, who wrote his life about six hundred years after his death; +or which are found in the legend of Al-Jannabi, who came two hundred +years later.* On the contrary, from comparing what Mahomet himself wrote +and said with what was afterwards reported of him by his followers, the +plain and fair conclusion is, that when the religion was established by +conquest, then, and not till then, came out the stories of his miracles. + +_________ + +* It does not, I think, appear, that these historians had any written +accounts to appeal to more ancient than the Sonnah; which was a +collection of traditions made by order of the Caliphs two hundred years +after Mahomet's death. Mahomet died A.D. 632; Al-Bochari, one of the six +doctors who compiled the Sonnah, was born A.D. 809; died 869. Prideaux's +Life of Mahomet, p. 192, ed. 7th. +_________ + + +Now this difference alone constitutes, in my opinion, a bar to all +reasoning from one case to the other. The success of a religion founded +upon a miraculous history shows the credit which was given to the +history; and this credit, under the circumstances in which it was given, +i. e. by persons capable of knowing the truth, and interested to inquire +after it, is evidence of the reality of the history, and, by +consequence, of the truth of the religion. Where a miraculous history is +not alleged, no part of this argument can be applied. We admit that +multitudes acknowledged the pretensions of Mahomet: but, these +pretensions being destitute of miraculous evidence, we know that the +grounds upon which they were acknowledged could not be secure grounds of +persuasion to his followers, nor their example any authority to us. +Admit the whole of Mahomet's authentic history, so far as it was of a +nature capable of being known or witnessed by others, to be true (which +is certainly to admit all that the reception of the religion can be +brought to prove), and Mahomet might still be an impostor, or +enthusiast, or a union of both. Admit to be true almost any part of +Christ's history, of that, I mean, which was public, and within the +cognizance of his followers, and he must have come from God. Where +matter of fact is not in question, where miracles are not alleged, I do +not see that the progress of a religion is a better argument of its +truth than the prevalency of any system of opinions in natural religion, +morality, or physics, is a proof of the truth of those opinions. And we +know that this sort of argument is inadmissible in any branch of +philosophy what ever. + +But it will be said, if one religion could make its way without +miracles, why might not another? To which I reply, first, that this is +not the question; the proper question is not, whether a religious +institution could be set up without miracles, but whether a religion, or +a change of religion, founding itself in miracles, could succeed without +any reality to rest upon? I apprehend these two cases to be very +different: and I apprehend Mahomet's not taking this course, to be one +proof, amongst others, that the thing is difficult, if not impossible, to +be accomplished: certainly it was not from an unconsciousness of the +value and importance of miraculous evidence; for it is very observable, +that in the same volume, and sometimes in the same chapters, in which +Mahomet so repeatedly disclaims the power of working miracles himself, +he is incessantly referring to the miracles of preceding prophets. One +would imagine, to hear some men talk, or to read some books, that the +setting up of a religion by dint of miraculous pretences was a thing of +every day's experience: whereas, I believe that, except the Jewish and +Christian religion, there is no tolerably well authenticated account of +any such thing having been accomplished. + +II. The establishment of Mahomet's religion was affected by causes which +in no degree appertained to the origin of Christianity. + +During the first twelve years of his mission, Mahomet had recourse only +to persuasion. This is allowed. And there is sufficient reason from the +effect to believe that, if he had confined himself to this mode of +propagating his religion, we of the present day should never have heard +either of him or it. "Three years were silently employed in the +conversion of fourteen proselytes. For ten years, the religion advanced +with a slow and painful progress, within the walls of Mecca. The number +of proselytes in the seventh year of his mission may be estimated by the +absence of eighty-three men and eighteen women, who retired to +Aethiopia." (Gibbon's Hist. vol. ix. p. 244, et seq. ed. Dub.) Yet this +progress, such as it was, appears to have been aided by some very +important advantages which Mahomet found in his situation, in his mode +of conducting his design, and in his doctrine. + +1. Mahomet was the grandson of the most powerful and honourable family +in Mecca; and although the early death of his father had not left him a +patrimony suitable to his birth, he had, long before the commencement of +his mission, repaired this deficiency by an opulent marriage. A person +considerable by his wealth, of high descent, and nearly allied to the +chiefs of his country, taking upon himself the character of a religious +teacher, would not fail of attracting attention and followers. + +2. Mahomet conducted his design, in the outset especially, with great +art and prudence. He conducted it as a politician would conduct a plot. +His first application was to his own family. This gained him his wife's +uncle, a considerable person in Mecca, together with his cousin Ali, +afterwards the celebrated Caliph, then a youth of great expectation, and +even already distinguished by his attachment, impetuosity, and courage.* +He next expressed himself to Abu Beer, a man amongst the first of the +Koreish in wealth and influence. The interest and example of Abu Beer +drew in five other principal persons in Mecca, whose solicitations +prevailed upon five more of the same rank. This was the work of three +years; during which time everything was transacted in secret. Upon the +strength of these allies, and under the powerful protection of his +family, who, however some of them might disapprove his enterprise, or +deride his pretensions, would not suffer the orphan of their house, the +relict of their favourite brother, to be insulted, Mahomet now commenced +his public preaching. And the advance which he made during the nine or +ten remaining years of his peaceable ministry was by no means greater +than what, with these advantages, and with the additional and singular +circumstance of there being no established religion at Mecca at that +time to contend with, might reasonably have been expected. How soon his +primitive adherents were let into the secret of his views of empire, or +in what stage of his undertaking these views first opened themselves to +his own mind, it is not now easy to determine. The event however was, +that these, his first proselytes, all ultimately attained to riches and +honours, to the command of armies, and the government of kingdoms. +(Gibbon, vol. ix. p 244.) + +_________ + +* Of which Mr. Gibbon has preserved the following specimen: "When +Mahomet called out in an assembly of his family, Who among you will be +my companion, and my vizir? Ali, then only in the fourteenth year of his +age, suddenly replied, O prophet I am the man;--whosoever rises against +thee, I will dash out his teeth, tear out his eyes, break his legs, rip +up his belly. O prophet! I will be thy vizir over them." Vol. ix. p. +215. +_________ + + +3. The Arabs deduced their descent from Abraham through the line of +Ishmael. The inhabitants of Mecca, in common probably with the other +Arabian tribes, acknowledged, as I think may clearly be collected from +the Koran, one supreme Deity, but had associated with him many objects +of idolatrous worship. The great doctrine with which Mahomet set out was +the strict and exclusive unity of God. Abraham, he told them, their +illustrous ancestor; Ishmael, the father of their nation; Moses, the +lawgiver of the Jews; and Jesus, the author of Christianity--had all +asserted the same thing; that their followers had universally corrupted +the truth, and that he was now commissioned to restore it to the world. +Was it to be wondered at, that a doctrine so specious, and authorized by +names, some or other of which were holden in the highest veneration by +every description of his hearers, should, in the hands of a popular +missionary, prevail to the extent in which Mahomet succeeded by his +pacific ministry? + +4. Of the institution which Mahomet joined with this fundamental +doctrine, and of the Koran in which that institution is delivered, we +discover, I think, two purposes that pervade the whole, viz., to make +converts, and to make his converts soldiers. The following particulars, +amongst others, may be considered as pretty evident indications of these +designs: + +1. When Mahomet began to preach, his address to the Jews, to the +Christians, and to the Pagan Arabs, was, that the religion which he +taught was no other than what had been originally their own.--"We +believe in God, and that which hath been sent down unto us, and that +which hath been sent down unto Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and +Jacob, and the Tribes, and that which was delivered unto Moses and +Jesus, and that which was delivered unto the prophets from their Lord: +we make no distinction between any of them." (Sale's Koran, c. ii. p. +17.) "He hath ordained you the religion which he commanded Noah, and +which we have revealed unto thee, O Mohammed, and which we commanded +Abraham, and Moses, and Jesus, saying, Observe this religion, and be not +divided therein." (Sale's Koran, c. xlii. p. 393.) "He hath chosen you, +and hath not imposed on you any difficulty in the religion which he hath +given you, the religion of your father Abraham." (Sale's Koran, c. xxii. +p. 281.) + +2. The author of the Koran never ceases from describing the future +anguish of unbelievers, their despair, regret, penitence, and torment. +It is the point which he labours above all others. And these +descriptions are conceived in terms which will appear in no small +degree impressive, even to the modern reader of an English translation. +Doubtless they would operate with much greater force upon the minds of +those to whom they were immediately directed. The terror which they seem +well calculated to inspire would be to many tempers a powerful +application. + +3. On the other hand: his voluptuous paradise; his robes of silk, his +palaces of marble, his riven, and shades, his groves and couches, his +wines, his dainties; and, above all, his seventy-two virgins assigned to +each of the faithful, of resplendent beauty and eternal +youth--intoxicated the imaginations, and seized the passions of his +Eastern followers. + +4. But Mahomet's highest heaven was reserved for those who fought his +battles or expended their fortunes in his cause: "Those believers who +sit still at home, not having any hurt, and those who employ their +fortunes and their persons for the religion of God, shall not be held +equal. God hath preferred those who employ their fortunes and their +persons in that cause to a degree above those who sit at home. God had +indeed promised every one Paradise; but God had preferred those who +fight for the faith before those who sit still, by adding unto them a +great reward; by degrees of honour conferred upon them from him, and by +granting them forgiveness and mercy." (Sale's Koran, c. iv. p. 73.) +Again; "Do ye reckon the giving drink to the pilgrims, and the visiting +of the holy temple, to be actions as meritorious as those performed by +him who believeth in God and the last day, and fighteth for the religion +of God? They shall not be held equal with God.--They who have believed +and fled their country, and employed their substance and their persons +in the defence of God's true religion, shall be in the highest degree of +honour with God; and these are they who shall be happy. The Lord sendeth +them good tidings of mercy from him, and good will, and of gardens +wherein they shall enjoy lasting pleasures. They shall continue therein +for ever; for with God is a great reward." (Sale's Koran, c. ix. p. +151.) And, once more; "Verily God hath purchased of the true believers +their souls and their substance, promising them the enjoyment of +Paradise on condition that they fight for the cause of God: whether they +slay or be slain, the promise for the same is assuredly due by the Law +and the Gospel and the Koran." (Sale's Koran, c. ix. p. 164.)* + +_________ + +* "The sword," saith Mahomet, "is the key of heaven and of hell; a drop +of blood shed in the cause of God, a night spent in arms, is of more +avail than two months' fasting or prayer. Whosoever falls in battle, his +sins are forgiven at the day of judgment; his wounds shall be +resplendent as vermilion, and odoriferous as musk; and the loss of his +limbs shall be supplied by the wings of angels and cherubim." Gibbon, +vol. ix. p. 256. +_________ + + +5. His doctrine of predestination was applicable, and was applied by +him, to the same purpose of fortifying and of exalting the courage of +his adherents.--"If anything of the matter had happened unto us, we had +not been slain here. Answer; If ye had been in your houses, verily they +would have gone forth to fight, whose slaughter was decreed, to the +places where they died." (Sale's Koran, c. iii. p. 54.) + +6. In warm regions, the appetite of the sexes is ardent, the passion for +inebriating liquors moderate. In compliance with this distinction, +although Mahomet laid a restraint upon the drinking of wine, in the use +of women he allowed an almost unbounded indulgence. Four wives, with the +liberty of changing them at pleasure, (Sale's Koran, c. iv. p. 63.) +together with the persons of all his captives, (Gibbon, vol. ix. p. 225.) +was an irresistible bribe to an Arabian warrior. "God is minded," says +he, speaking of this very subject, "to make his religion light unto +you; for man was created weak." How different this from the +unaccommodating purity of the Gospel! How would Mahomet have succeeded +with the Christian lesson in his mouth.--"Whosoever looketh upon a woman +to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his +heart"? It must be added, that Mahomet did not venture upon the +prohibition of wine till the fourth year of the Hegira, or the +seventeenth of his mission, when his military successes had completely +established his authority. The same observation holds of the fast of the +Ramadan, (Mod. Univ. Hist. Vol. i. pp. 126 & 112.) and of the most +laborious part of his institution, the pilgrimage to Mecca. (This +latter, however, already prevailed amongst the Arabs, and had grown out +of their excessive veneration for the Caaba. Mahomot's law, in this +respect, was rather a compliance than an innovation. Sale's Prelim. +Disc. p. 122.) + +What has hitherto been collected from the records of the Musselman +history relates to the twelve or thirteen years of Mahomet's peaceable +preaching, which part alone of his life and enterprise admits of the +smallest comparison with the origin of Christianity. A new scene is now +unfolded. The city of Medina, distant about ten days' journey from +Mecca, was at that time distracted by the hereditary contentions of two +hostile tribes. These feuds were exasperated by the mutual persecutions +of the Jews and Christians, and of the different Christian sects by +which the city was inhabited. (Mod. Univ. Hist. Vol. i. p. 100.) The +religion of Mahomet presented, in some measure, a point of union or +compromise to these divided opinions. It embraced the principles which +were common to them all. Each party saw in it an honourable +acknowledgment of the fundamental truth of their own system. To the +Pagan Arab, somewhat imbued with the sentiments and knowledge of his +Jewish or Christian fellow-citizen, it offered no defensive or very +improbable theology. This recommendation procured to Mahometanism a more +favourable reception at Medina than its author had been able, by twelve +years' painful endeavours, to obtain for it at Mecca. Yet, after all, +the progress of the religion was inconsiderable. His missionary could +only collect a congregation of forty persons. It was not a religious, +but a political association, which ultimately introduced Mahomet into +Medina. Harassed, as it should seem, and disgusted by the long +continuance of factions and disputes, the inhabitants of that city saw +in the admission of the prophet's authority a rest from the miseries +which they had suffered, and a suppression of the violence and fury +which they had learned to condemn. After an embassy, therefore, composed +of believers and unbelievers, (Mod. Univ. Hist. Vol. i. p. 85.) and of +persons of both tribes, with whom a treaty was concluded of strict +alliance and support, Mahomet made his public entry, and was received as +the sovereign of Medina. + +From this time, or soon after this time, the impostor changed his +language and his conduct. Having now a town at his command, where to arm +his party, and to head them with security, he enters upon new counsels. +He now pretends that a divine commission is given him to attack the +infidels, to destroy idolatry, and to set up the true faith by the +sword. (Mod. Univ. Hist. Vol. i. p. 88.) An early victory over a very +superior force, achieved by conduct and bravery, established the renown +of his arms, and of his personal character. (Victory of Bedr, Mod. Univ. +Hist. Vol. i. p. 106.) Every year after this was marked by battles or +assassinations. The nature and activity of Mahomet's future exertions +may be estimated from the computation, that in the nine following years +of his life he commanded his army in person in eight general +engagements, (Mod. Univ. Hist. vol. i. p. 255.) and undertook, by himself +or his lieutenants, fifty military enterprises. + +From this time we have nothing left to account for, but that Mahomet +should collect an army, that his army should conquer, and that his +religion should proceed together with his conquests. The ordinary +experience of human affairs leaves us little to wonder at in any of +these effects: and they were likewise each assisted by peculiar +facilities. From all sides, the roving Arabs crowded round the standard +of religion and plunder, of freedom and victory, of arms and rapine. +Beside the highly painted joys of a carnal paradise, Mahomet rewarded +his followers in this world with a liberal division of the spoils, and +with the persons of their female captives. (Gibbon, vol. ix. p. 255.) The +condition of Arabia, occupied by small independent tribes, exposed it to +the impression, and yielded to the progress of a firm and resolute army. +After the reduction of his native peninsula, the weakness also of the +Roman provinces on the north and the west, as well as the distracted +state of the Persian empire on the east, facilitated the successful +invasion of neighbouring countries. That Mahomet's conquests should +carry his religion along with them will excite little surprise, when we +know the conditions which he proposed to the vanquished. Death or +conversion was the only choice offered to idolaters. "Strike off their +heads! strike off all the ends of their fingers!(Sale's Koran, c. viii. +p. 140.) kill the idolaters, wheresoever ye shall find them!" (Sale's +Koran, c. ix. p. 149.) To the Jews and Christians was left the somewhat +milder alternative of subjection and tribute, if they persisted in their +own religion, or of an equal participation in the rights and liberties, +the honours and privileges, of the faithful, if they embraced the +religion of their conquerors. "Ye Christian dogs, you know your option; +the Koran, the tribute, or the sword." (Gibbon, vol. ix. p. 337.) The +corrupted state of Christianity in the seventh century, and the +contentions of its sects, unhappily so fell in with men's care of their +safety or their fortunes, as to induce many to forsake its profession. +Add to all which, that Mahomet's victories not only operated by the +natural effect of conquest, but that they were constantly represented, +both to his friends and enemies, as divine declarations in his favour. +Success was evidence. Prosperity carried with it, not only influence, +but proof. "Ye have already," says he, after the battle of Bedr, "had a +miracle shown you, in two armies which attacked each other; one army +fought for God's true religion, but the other were infidels." (Sale's +Koran, c. iii. p. 36.) Again; "Ye slew not those who were slain at Bedr, +but God slew them.--If ye desire a decision of the matter between us, +now hath a decision come unto you." (Sale's Koran, c. viii. p. 141.) + +Many more passages might be collected out of the Koran to the same +effect; but they are unnecessary. The success of Mahometanism during +this, and indeed every future period of its history, bears so little +resemblance to the early propagation of Christianity, that no inference +whatever can justly be drawn from it to the prejudice of the Christian +argument. For what are we comparing? A Galilean peasant accompanied by a +few fishermen with a conqueror at the head of his army. We compare +Jesus, without force, without power, without support, without One +external circumstance of attraction or influence, prevailing against the +prejudices, the learning, the hierarchy, of his country; against the +ancient religious opinions, the pompous religious rites, the philosophy, +the wisdom, the authority, of the Roman empire, in the most polished and +enlightened period of its existence,--with Mahomet making his way +amongst Arabs; collecting followers in the midst of conquests and +triumphs, in the darkest ages and countries of the world, and when +success in arms not only operated by that command of men's wills and +persons which attend prosperous undertakings, but was considered as a +sure testimony of Divine approbation. That multitudes, persuaded by this +argument, should join the train of a victorious chief; that still +greater multitudes should, without any argument, bow down before +irresistible power--is a conduct in which we cannot see much to surprise +us; in which we can see nothing that resembles the causes by which the +establishment of Christianity was effected. + +The success, therefore, of Mahometanism stands not in the way of this +important conclusion; that the propagation of Christianity, in the +manner and under the circumstances in which it was propagated, is an +unique in the history of the species. A Jewish peasant overthrew the +religion of the world. + +I have, nevertheless, placed the prevalency of the religion amongst the +auxiliary arguments of its truth; because, whether it had prevailed or +not, or whether its prevalency can or cannot be accounted for, the +direct argument remains still. It is still true that a great number of +men upon the spot, personally connected with the history and with the +Author of the religion, were induced by what they heard and saw, and +knew, not only to change their former opinions, but to give up their +time, and sacrifice their ease, to traverse seas and kingdoms without +rest and without weariness, to commit themselves to extreme dangers, to +undertake incessant toils, to undergo grievous sufferings, and all this +solely in consequence, and in support, of their belief of facts, which, +if true, establish the truth of the religion, which, if false, they must +have known to be so. + + + + + +PART III. + +A BRIEF CONSIDERATION OF SOME POPULAR OBJECTIONS. + +CHAPTER I. + +THE DISCREPANCIES BETWEEN THE SEVERAL GOSPELS. + +I know not a more rash or unphilosophical conduct of the understanding, +than to reject the substance of a story by reason of some diversity in +the circumstances with which it is related. The usual character of human +testimony is substantial truth under circumstantial variety. This is +what the daily experience of courts of justice teaches. When accounts of +a transaction come from the mouths of different witnesses, it is seldom +that it is not possible to pick out apparent or real inconsistencies +between them. These inconsistencies are studiously displayed by an +adverse pleader, but oftentimes with little impression upon the minds of +the judges. On the contrary, a close and minute agreement induces the +suspicion of confederacy and fraud. When written histories touch upon +the same scenes of action; the comparison almost always affords ground +for a like reflection. Numerous, and sometimes important, variations +present themselves; not seldom, also, absolute and final contradictions; +yet neither one nor the other are deemed sufficient to shake the +credibility of the main fact. The embassy of the Jews to deprecate the +execution of Claudian's order to place his statute, in their temple, +Philo places in harvest, Josephus in seed time; both contemporary +writers. No reader is led by this inconsistency to doubt whether such an +embassy was sent, or whether such an order was given. Our own history +supplies examples of the same kind. In the account of the Marquis of +Argyle's death, in the reign of Charles the Second, we have a very +remarkable contradiction. Lord Clarendon relates that he was condemned +to be hanged, which was performed the same day; on the contrary, Burnet, +Woodrew, Heath, Echard, concur in stating that he was beheaded; and that +he was condemned upon the Saturday, and executed upon the Monday. (See +Biog. Britann.) Was any reader of English history ever sceptic enough to +raise from hence a question whether the Marquis of Argyle was executed +or not? Yet this ought to be left in uncertainty, according to the +principles upon which the Christian history has sometimes been attacked. +Dr. Middleton contended, that the different hours of the day assigned to +the crucifixion of Christ, by John and by the other Evangelists, did not +admit of the reconcilement which learned men had proposed: and then +concludes the discussion with this hard remark; "We must be forced, with +several of the critics, to leave the difficulty just as we found it, +chargeable with all the consequences of manifest inconsistency." +(Middleton's Reflections answered by Benson, Hist. Christ. vol. iii. p. +50.) But what are these consequences? By no means the discrediting of +the history as to the principal fact, by a repugnancy (even supposing +that repugnancy not to be resolvable into different modes of +computation) in the time of the day in which it is said to have taken +place. + +A great deal of the discrepancy observable in the Gospels arises from +omission; from a fact or a passage of Christ's life being noticed by one +writer which is unnoticed by another. Now, omission is at all times a +very uncertain ground of objection. We perceive it, not only in the +comparison of different writers, but even in the same writer when +compared with himself. There are a great many particulars, and some of +them of importance, mentioned by Josephus in his Antiquities, which, as +we should have supposed, ought to have been put down by him in their +place in the Jewish Wars. (Lardner, part i. vol. ii. p. 735, et seq.) +Suetonius, Tacitus, Dio Cassius, have, all three, written of the reign +of Tiberius. Each has mentioned many things omitted by the +rest, (Lardner, part i. vol. ii. p. 743.) yet no objection is from thence +taken to the respective credit of their histories. We have in our own +times, if there were not something indecorous in the comparison, the +life of an eminent person written by three of his friends, in which +there is very great variety in the incidents selected by them; some +apparent, and perhaps some real contradictions; yet without any +impeachment of the substantial truth of their accounts, of the +authenticity of the books, of the competent information or general +fidelity of the writers. + +But these discrepancies will be still more numerous, when men do not +write histories, but memoirs: which is, perhaps, the true name and +proper description of our Gospels: that is, when they do not undertake, +nor ever meant to deliver, in order of time, a regular and complete +account of all the things of importance which the person who is the +subject of their history did or said; but only, out of many similar +ones, to give such passages, or such actions and discourses, as offered +themselves more immediately to their attention, came in the way of their +inquiries, occurred to their recollection, or were suggested by their +particular design at the time of writing. + +This particular design may appear sometimes, but not always, nor often. +Thus I think that the particular design which Saint Matthew had in view +whilst he was writing the history of the resurrection was to attest the +faithful performance of Christ's promise to his disciples to go before +them into Galilee; because he alone, except Mark, who seems to have +taken it from him, has recorded this promise, and he alone has confined +his narrative to that single appearance to the disciples which fulfilled +it. It was the preconcerted, the great and most public manifestation of +our Lord's person. It was the thing which dwelt upon Saint Matthew's +mind, and he adapted his narrative to it. But, that there is nothing in +Saint Matthew's language which negatives other appearances, or which +imports that this his appearance to his disciples in Galilee, in +pursuance of his promise, was his first or only appearance, is made +pretty evident by Saint Mark's Gospel, which uses the same terms +concerning the appearance in Galilee as Saint Matthew uses, yet itself +records two other appearances prior to this: "Go your way, tell his +disciples and Peter, that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall +ye see him as he said unto you" (xvi. 7). We might be apt to infer from +these words, that this was the first time they were to see him; at +least, we might infer it, with as much reason as we draw the inference +from the same words in Matthew: the historian himself did not perceive +that he was leading his readers to any such conclusion; for, in the +twelfth and following verses of this chapter, he informs us of two +appearances, which, by comparing the order of events, are shown to have +been prior to the appearance in Galilee. "He appeared in another form +unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country; and they +went and told it unto the residue, neither believed they them: +afterwards he appeared unto the eleven, as they sat at meat, and +upbraided them with their unbelief, because they believed not them that +had seen him after he was risen." + +Probably the same observation, concerning the particular design which +guided the historian, may be of use in comparing many other passages of +the Gospels. + + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +ERRONEOUS OPINIONS IMPUTED TO THE APOSTLES. + +A species of candour which is shown towards every other book is +sometimes refused to the Scriptures: and that is, the placing of a +distinction between judgment and testimony. We do not usually question +the credit of a writer, by reason of an opinion he may have delivered +upon subjects unconnected with his evidence: and even upon subjects +connected with his account, or mixed with it in the same discourse or +writing, we naturally separate facts from opinions, testimony from +observation, narrative from argument. + +To apply this equitable consideration to the Christian records, much +controversy and much objection has been raised concerning the quotations +of the Old Testament found in the New; some of which quotations, it is +said, are applied in a sense and to events apparently different from +that which they bear, and from those to which they belong in the +original. It is probable, to my apprehension, that many of those +quotations were intended by the writers of the New Testament as nothing +more than accommodations. They quoted passages of their Scripture which +suited, and fell in with, the occasion before them, without always +undertaking to assert that the occasion was in the view of the author of +the words. Such accommodations of passages from old authors, from books +especially which are in every one's hands, are common with writers of +all countries; but in none, perhaps, were more to be expected than in +the writings of the Jews, whose literature was almost entirely confined +to their Scriptures. Those prophecies which are alleged with more +solemnity, and which are accompanied with a precise declaration that +they originally respected the event then related, are, I think, truly +alleged. But were it otherwise; is the judgment of the writers of the +New Testament, in interpreting passages of the Old, or sometimes, +perhaps, in receiving established interpretations, so connected either +with their veracity, or with their means of information concerning what +was passing in their own times, as that a critical mistake, even were it +clearly made out, should overthrow their historical credit?--Does it +diminish it? Has it anything to do with it? + +Another error imputed to the first Christians was the expected approach +of the day of judgment. I would introduce this objection by a remark +upon what appears to me a somewhat similar example. Our Saviour, +speaking to Peter of John, said, "If I will that he tarry till I come, +what is that to thee?"' (John xxi. 22.) These words we find had been so +misconstrued, as that a report from thence "went abroad among the +brethren, that that disciple should not die." Suppose that this had come +down to us amongst the prevailing opinions of the early Christians, and +that the particular circumstance from which the mistake sprang had been +lost (which, humanly speaking, was most likely to have been the case), +some, at this day, would have been ready to regard and quote the error +as an impeachment of the whole Christian system. Yet with how little +justice such a conclusion would have been drawn, or rather such a +presumption taken up, the information which we happen to possess enables +us now to perceive. To those who think that the Scriptures lead us to +believe that the early Christians, and even the apostles, expected the +approach of the day of judgment in their own times, the same reflection +will occur as that which we have made with respect to the more partial, +perhaps, and temporary, but still no less ancient, error concerning the +duration of Saint John's life. It was an error, it may be likewise said, +which would effectually hinder those who entertained it from acting the +part of impostors. + +The difficulty which attends the subject of the present chapter is +contained in this question; If we once admit the fallibility of the +apostolic judgment, where are we to stop, or in what can we rely upon +it? To which question, as arguing with unbelievers, and as arguing for +the substantial truth of the Christian history, and for that alone, it +is competent to the advocate of Christianity to reply, Give me the +apostles' testimony, and I do not stand in need of their judgment; give +me the facts, and I have complete security for every conclusion I want. + +But, although I think that it is competent to the Christian apologist to +return this answer, I do not think that it is the only answer which the +objection is capable of receiving. The two following cautions, founded, +I apprehend, in the most reasonable distinctions, will exclude all +uncertainty upon this head which can be attended with danger. + +First, to separate what was the object of the apostolic mission, and +declared by them to be so, from what was extraneous to it, or only +incidentally connected with it. Of points clearly extraneous to the +religion nothing need be said. Of points incidentally connected with it +something may be added. Demoniacal possession is one of these points: +concerning the reality of which, as this place will not admit the +examination, nor even the production of the argument on either side of +the question, it would be arrogance in me to deliver any judgment. And +it is unnecessary. For what I am concerned to observe is, that even they +who think it was a general, but erroneous opinion of those times; and +that the writers of the New Testament, in common with other Jewish +writers of that age, fell into the manner of speaking and of thinking +upon the subject which then universally prevailed, need not be alarmed +by the concession, as though they had anything to fear from it for the +truth of Christianity. The doctrine was not what Christ brought into the +world. It appears in the Christian records, incidentally and +accidentally, as being the subsisting opinion of the age and country in +which his ministry was exercised. It was no part of the object of his +revelation, to regulate men's opinions concerning the action of +spiritual substances upon animal bodies. At any rate it is unconnected +with testimony. If a dumb person was by a word restored to the use of +his speech, it signifies little to what cause the dumbness was ascribed; +and the like of every other cure wrought upon these who are said to have +been possessed. The malady was real, the cure was real, whether the +popular explication of the cause was well founded or not. The matter of +fact, the change, so far as it was an object of sense, or of testimony, +was in either case the same. + +Secondly, that, in reading the apostolic writings, we distinguish +between their doctrines and their arguments. Their doctrines came to +them by revelation properly so called; yet in propounding these +doctrines in their writings or discourses they were wont to illustrate, +support, and enforce them by such analogies, arguments, and +considerations as their own thoughts suggested. Thus the call of the +gentiles, that is, the admission of the Gentiles to the Christian +profession without a previous subjection to the law of Moses, was +imported to the apostles by revelation, and was attested by the miracles +which attended the Christian ministry among them. The apostles' own +assurance of the matter rested upon this foundation. Nevertheless, Saint +Paul, when treating of the subject, often a great variety of topics in +its proof and vindication. The doctrine itself must be received: but it +is not necessary, in order to defend Christianity, to defend the +propriety of every comparison, or the validity of every argument, which +the apostle has brought into the discussion. The same observation +applies to some other instances, and is, in my opinion, very well +founded; "When divine writers argue upon any point, we are always bound +to believe the conclusions that their reasonings end in, as parts of +divine revelation: but we are not bound to be able to make out, or even +to assent to all the premises made use of by them, in their whole +extent, unless it appear plainly, that they affirm the premises as +expressly as they do the conclusions proved by them." (Burnets Expos. +art. 6.) + + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE CONNEXION OF CHRISTIANITY WITH THE JEWISH HISTORY. + +Undoubtedly our Saviour assumes the divine origin of the Mosaic +institution: and, independently of his authority, I conceive it to be +very difficult to assign any other cause for the commencement or +existence of that institution; especially for the singular circumstance +of the Jews adhering to the unity when every other people slid into +polytheism; for their being men in religion, children in everything +else; behind other nations in the arts of peace and war, superior to the +most improved in their sentiments and doctrines relating to the Deity.* + +_________ + +* "In the doctrine, for example, of the unity, the eternity, the +omnipotence, the omniscience, the omnipresence, the wisdom, and the +goodness of God; in their opinions concerning providence, and the +creation, preservation, and government of the world." Campbell on Mir. +p. 207. To which we may add, in the acts of their religion not being +accompanied either with cruelties or impurities: in the religion itself +being free from a species of superstition which prevailed universally in +the popular religions of the ancient world, and which is to be found +perhaps in all religions that have their origin in human artifice and +credulity, viz. fanciful connexions between certain appearances and +actions, and the destiny of nations or individuals. Upon these conceits +rested the whole train of auguries and auspices, which formed so much +even of the serious part of the religions of Greece and Rome, and of the +charms and incantations which were practised in those countries by the +common people. From everything of this sort the religion of the Jews, +and of the Jews alone, was free. Vide. Priestley's Lectures on the Truth +of the Jewish and Christian Revelation; 1794. +_________ + + +Undoubtedly, also, our Saviour recognises the prophetic character of +many of their ancient writers. So far, therefore, we are bound as +Christians to go. But to make Christianity answerable, with its life, +for the circumstantial truth of each separate passage of the Old +Testament, the genuineness of every book, the information, fidelity, and +judgment of every writer in it, is to bring, I will not say great, but +unnecessary difficulties into the whole system. These books were +universally read and received by the Jews of our Saviour's time. He and +his apostles, in common with all other Jews, referred to them, alluded +to them, used them. Yet, except where he expressly ascribes a divine +authority to particular predictions, I do not know that we can strictly +draw any conclusion from the books being so used and applied, beside the +proof, which it unquestionably is, of their notoriety and reception at +that time. In this view, our Scriptures afford a valuable testimony to +those of the Jews. But the nature of this testimony ought to be +understood. It is surely very different from what it is sometimes +represented to be, a specific ratification of each particular fact and +opinion; and not only of each particular fact, but of the motives +assigned for every action, together with the judgment of praise or +dispraise bestowed upon them. Saint James, in his Epistle, says, "Ye +have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord." +Notwithstanding this text, the reality of Job's history, and even the +existence of such a person, have been always deemed a fair subject of +inquiry and discussion amongst Christian divines. Saint James's +authority is considered as good evidence of the existence of the book of +Job at that time, and of its reception by the Jews; and of nothing more. +Saint Paul, in his Second Epistle to Timothy, has this similitude: "Now, +as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the +truth." These names are not found in the Old Testament. And it is +uncertain whether Saint Paul took them from some apocryphal writing then +extant, or from tradition. But no one ever imagined that Saint Paul is +here asserting the authority of the writing, if it was a written account +which he quoted, or making himself answerable for the authenticity of +the tradition; much less that he so involves himself with either of +these questions as that the credit of his own history and mission should +depend upon the fact whether Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses or not. +For what reason a more rigorous interpretation should be put upon other +references it is difficult to know. I do not mean, that other passages +of the Jewish history stand upon no better evidence than the history of +Job, or of Jannes and Jambres (I think much otherwise); but I mean, that +a reference in the New Testament to a passage in the Old does not so fix +its authority as to exclude all inquiry into its credibility, or into +the separate reasons upon which that credibility is founded; and that it +is an unwarrantable as well as unsafe rule to lay down concerning the +Jewish history, what was never laid down concerning any other, that +either every particular of it must be true, or the whole false. + +I have thought it necessary to state this point explicitly, because a +fashion, revived by Voltaire, and pursued by the disciples of his +school, seems to have much prevailed of late, of attacking Christianity +through the sides of Judaism. Some objections of this class are founded +in misconstruction, some in exaggeration; but all proceed upon a +supposition, which has not been made out by argument, viz. that the +attestation which the Author and first teachers of Christianity gave to +the divine mission of Moses and the prophets extends to every point and +portion of the Jewish history; and so extends as to make Christianity +responsible, in its own credibility, for the circumstantial truth (I had +almost said for the critical exactness) of every narrative contained in +the Old Testament. + + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +REJECTION OF CHRISTIANITY. + +We acknowledge that the Christian religion, although it converted great +numbers, did not produce an universal, or even a general conviction in +the minds of men of the age and countries in which it appeared. And this +want of a more complete and extensive success is called the rejection of +the Christian history and miracles; and has been thought by some to form +a strong objection to the reality of the facts which the history +contains. + +The matter of the objection divides itself into two parts; as it relates +to the Jews, and as it relates to Heathen nations: because the minds of +these two descriptions of men may have been, with respect to +Christianity, under the influence of very different causes. The case of +the Jews, inasmuch as our Saviour's ministry was originally addressed to +them, offers itself first to our consideration. + +Now upon the subject of the truth of the Christian religion; with us +there is but one question, viz., whether the miracles were actually +wrought? From acknowledging the miracles, we pass instantaneously to the +acknowledgment of the whole. No doubt lies between the premises and the +conclusion. If we believe the works of any one of them, we believe in +Jesus. And this order of reasoning has become so universal and familiar +that we do not readily apprehend how it could ever have been otherwise. +Yet it appears to me perfectly certain, that the state of thought in the +mind of a Jew of our Saviour's age was totally different from this. +After allowing the reality of the miracle, he had a great deal to do to +persuade himself that Jesus was the Messiah. This is clearly intimated +by various passages of the Gospel history. It appears that, in the +apprehension of the writers of the New Testament, the miracles did not +irresistibly carry even those who saw them to the conclusion intended to +be drawn from them; or so compel assent, as to leave no room for +suspense, for the exercise of candour, or the effects of prejudice. And +to this point, at least, the evangelists may he allowed to be good +witnesses; because it is a point in which exaggeration or disguise would +have been the other way. Their accounts, if they could he suspected of +falsehood, would rather have magnified than diminished the effects of +the miracles. + +John vii. 21--31. "Jesus answered and said unto them, I have done one +work, and ye all marvel.--If a man on the Sabbath-day receive +circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry +at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the Sabbath-day? +Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. +Then said some of them of Jerusalem, Is not this he whom they seek to +kill? But lo, he speaketh boldly, and they say nothing to him: do the +rulers know indeed that this is the very Christ? Howbeit we know this +man, whence he is: but when Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is. +Then cried Jesus in the temple as he taught, saying, Ye both know me, +and ye know whence I am: and I am not come of myself, but He that sent +me is true, whom ye know not. But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He +hath sent me. Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on +him, because his hour was not yet come. And many of the people believed +on him and said, When Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than those +which this man hath done?" + +This passage is very observable. It exhibits the reasoning of different +sorts of persons upon the occasion of a miracle which persons of all +sorts are represented to have acknowledged as real. One sort of men +thought that there was something very extraordinary in all this; but +that still Jesus could not be the Christ, because there was a +circumstance in his appearance which militated with an opinion +concerning Christ in which they had been brought up, and of the truth of +which, it is probable, they had never entertained a particle of doubt, +viz. That "when Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is." Another +sort were inclined to believe him to be the Messiah. But even these did +not argue as we should; did not consider the miracle as of itself +decisive of the question; as what, if once allowed, excluded all further +debate upon the subject; but founded their opinion upon a kind of +comparative reasoning, "When Christ cometh, will he do more miracles +than those which this man hath done?" + +Another passage in the same evangelist, and observable for the same +purpose, is that in which he relates the resurrection of Lazarus; +"Jesus," he tells us (xi. 43, 44), "when he had thus spoken, cried with +a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth: and he that was dead came forth, +bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was bound about with +a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go." One might +have suspected, that at least all those who stood by the sepulchre, when +Lazarus was raised, would have believed in Jesus. Yet the evangelist +does not so represent it:--"Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, +and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him; but some of +them went their ways to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus +had done." We cannot suppose that the evangelist meant by this account +to leave his readers to imagine, that any of the spectators doubted +about the truth of the miracle. Far from it. Unquestionably, he states +the miracle to have been fully allowed; yet the persons who allowed it +were, according to his representation, capable of retaining hostile +sentiments towards Jesus. "Believing in Jesus" was not only to believe +that he wrought miracles, but that he was the Messiah. With us there is +no difference between these two things; with them there was the +greatest; and the difference is apparent in this transaction. If Saint +John has represented the conduct of the Jews upon this occasion truly +(and why he should not I cannot tell, for it rather makes against him +than for him), it shows clearly the principles upon which their judgment +proceeded. Whether he has related the matter truly or not, the relation +itself discovers the writer's own opinion of those principles: and that +alone possesses considerable authority. In the next chapter, we have a +reflection of the evangelist entirely suited to this state of the case: +"But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet believed they +not on him." (Chap. xii. 37.) The evangelist does not mean to impute the +defect of their belief to any doubt about the miracles, but to their not +perceiving, what all now sufficiently perceive, and what they would have +perceived had not their understandings been governed by strong +prejudices, the infallible attestation which the works of Jesus bore to +the truth of his pretensions. + +The ninth chapter of Saint John's Gospel contains a very circumstantial +account of the cure of a blind man; a miracle submitted to all the +scrutiny and examination which a sceptic could propose. If a modern +unbeliever had drawn up the interrogatories, they could hardly have been +more critical or searching. The account contains also a very curious +conference between the Jewish rulers and the patient, in which the point +for our present notice is, their resistance of the force of the miracle, +and of the conclusion to which it led, after they had failed in +discrediting its evidence. "We know that God spake unto Moses, but as +for this fellow, we know not whence he is." That was the answer which +set their minds at rest. And by the help of much prejudice, and great +unwillingness to yield, it might do so. In the mind of the poor man +restored to sight, which was under no such bias, and felt no such +reluctance, the miracle had its natural operation. "Herein," says he, +"is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, yet he hath +opened mine eyes. Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any +man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth. Since +the world began, was it not heard, that any man opened the eyes of one +that was born blind. If this man were not of God, he could do nothing." +We do not find that the Jewish rulers had any other reply to make to +this defence, than that which authority is sometimes apt to make to +argument, "Dost thou teach us?" + +If it shall be inquired how a turn of thought, so different from what +prevails at present, should obtain currency with the ancient Jews; the +answer is found in two opinions which are proved to have subsisted in +that age and country. The one was their expectation of a Messiah of a +kind totally contrary to what the appearance of Jesus bespoke him to be; +the other, their persuasion of the agency of demons in the production of +supernatural effects. These opinions are not supposed by us for the +purpose of argument, but are evidently recognised in the Jewish writings +as well as in ours. And it ought moreover to be considered, that in +these opinions the Jews of that age had been from their infancy brought +up; that they were opinions, the grounds of which they had probably few +of them inquired into, and of the truth of which they entertained no +doubt. And I think that these two opinions conjointly afford an +explanation of their conduct. The first put them upon seeking out some +excuse to themselves for not receiving Jesus in the character in which +he claimed to be received; and the second supplied them with just such +an excuse as they wanted. Let Jesus work what miracles he would, still +the answer was in readiness, "that he wrought them by the assistance of +Beelzebub." And to this answer no reply could be made, but that which +our Saviour did make, by showing that the tendency of his mission was so +adverse to the views with which this being was, by the objectors +themselves, supposed to act, that it could not reasonably be supposed +that he would assist in carrying it on. The power displayed in the +miracles did not alone refute the Jewish solution, because the +interposition of invisible agents being once admitted, it is impossible +to ascertain the limits by which their efficiency is circumscribed. We +of this day may be disposed possibly to think such opinions too absurd +to have been ever seriously entertained. I am not bound to contend for +the credibility of the opinions. They were at least as reasonable as the +belief in witchcraft. They were opinions in which the Jews of that age +had from their infancy been instructed; and those who cannot see enough +in the force of this reason to account for their conduct towards our +Saviour, do not sufficiently consider how such opinions may sometimes +become very general in a country, and with what pertinacity, when once +become so, they are for that reason alone adhered to. In the suspense +which these notions and the prejudices resulting from them might +occasion, the candid and docile and humble-minded would probably decide +in Christ's favour; the proud and obstinate, together with the giddy and +the thoughtless, almost universally against him. + +This state of opinion discovers to us also the reason of what some +choose to wonder at, why the Jews should reject miracles when they saw +them, yet rely so much upon the tradition of them in their own history. +It does not appear that it had ever entered into the minds of those who +lived in the time of Moses and the prophets to ascribe their miracles to +the supernatural agency of evil being. The solution was not then +invented. The authority of Moses and the prophets being established, and +become the foundation of the national polity and religion, it was not +probable that the later Jews, brought up in a reverence for that +religion, and the subjects of that polity, should apply to their history +a reasoning which tended to overthrow the foundation of both. + +II. The infidelity of the Gentile world, and that more especially of men +of rank and learning in it, is resolvable into a principle which, in my +judgment, will account for the inefficacy of any argument or any +evidence whatever, viz. contempt prior to examination. The state of +religion amongst the Greeks and Romans had a natural tendency to induce +this disposition. Dionysius Halicarnassensis remarks, that there were +six hundred different kinds of religions or sacred rites exercised at +Rome. (Jortin's Remarks on Eccl. Hist. Vol. i. p. 371.) The superior +classes of the community treated them all as fables. Can we wonder, +then, that Christianity was included in the number, without inquiry into +its separate merits, or the particular grounds of its pretensions? It +might be either true or false for anything they knew about it. The +religion had nothing in its character which immediately engaged their +notice. It mixed with no politics. It produced no fine writers. It +contained no curious speculations. When it did reach their knowledge, I +doubt not but that it appeared to them a very strange system,--so +unphilosophical,--dealing so little in argument and discussion, in such +arguments however and discussions as they were accustomed to entertain. +What is said of Jesus Christ, of his nature, office, and ministry, would +be in the highest degree alien from the conceptions of their theology. +The Redeemer and the destined Judge of the human race a poor young man, +executed at Jerusalem with two thieves upon a cross! Still more would +the language in which the Christian doctrine was delivered be dissonant +and barbarous to their ears. What knew they of grace, of redemption, of +justification, of the blood of Christ shed for the sins of men, of +reconcilement, of mediation? Christianity was made up of points they had +never thought of; of terms which they had never heard. + +It was presented also to the imagination of the learned Heathen under +additional disadvantage, by reason of its real, and still more of its +nominal, connexion with Judaism. It shared in the obloquy and ridicule +with which that people and their religion were treated by the Greeks and +Romans. They regarded Jehovah himself only as the idol of the Jewish +nation, and what was related of him as of a piece with what was told of +the tutelar deities of other countries; nay, the Jews were in a +particular manner ridiculed for being a credulous race; so that whatever +reports of a miraculous nature came out of that country were looked upon +by the Heathen world as false and frivolous. When they heard of +Christianity, they heard of it as a quarrel amongst this people about +some articles of their own superstition. Despising, therefore, as they +did, the whole system, it was not probable that they would enter, with +any degree of seriousness or attention, into the detail of its disputes +or the merits of either side. How little they knew, and with what +carelessness they judged of these matters, appears, I think, pretty +plainly from an example of no less weight than that of Tacitus, who, in +a grave and professed discourse upon the history of the Jews, states +that they worshipped the effigy of an ass. (Tacit. Hist. lib. v. c. 2.) +The passage is a proof how prone the learned men of those times were, +and upon how little evidence, to heap together stories which might +increase the contempt and odium in which that people was holden. The +same foolish charge is also confidently repeated by Plutarch. (Sympos. +lib. iv. quaest. 5.) + +It is observable that all these considerations are of a nature to +operate with the greatest force upon the highest ranks; upon men of +education, and that order of the public from which writers are +principally taken: I may add also upon the philosophical as well as the +libertine character; upon the Antonines or Julian, not less than upon +Nero or Domitian; and, more particularly, upon that large and polished +class of men who acquiesced in the general persuasion, that all they had +to do was to practise the duties of morality, and to worship the Deity +more patrio; a habit of thinking, liberal as it may appear, which shuts +the door against every argument for a new religion. The considerations +above mentioned would acquire also strength from the prejudices which +men of rank and learning universally entertain against anything that +originates with the vulgar and illiterate; which prejudice is known to +be as obstinate as any prejudice whatever. + +Yet Christianity was still making its way: and, amidst so many +impediments to its progress, so much difficulty in procuring audience +and attention, its actual success is more to be wondered at, than that +it should not have universally conquered scorn and indifference, fixed +the levity of a voluptuous age, or, through a cloud of adverse +prejudications, opened for itself a passage to the hearts and +understandings of the scholars of the age. + +And the cause which is here assigned for the rejection of Christianity +by men of rank and learning among the Heathens, namely, a strong +antecedent contempt, accounts also for their silence concerning it. If +they had rejected it upon examination, they would have written about it; +they would have given their reasons. Whereas, what men repudiate upon +the strength of some prefixed persuasion, or from a settled contempt of +the subject, of the persons who propose it, or of the manner in which it +is proposed, they do not naturally write books about, or notice much in +what they write upon other subjects. + +The letters of the younger Pliny furnish an example of this silence, and +let us, in some measure, into the cause of it. From his celebrated +correspondence with Trajan, we know that the Christian religion +prevailed in a very considerable degree in the province over which he +presided; that it had excited his attention; that he had inquired into +the matter just so much as a Roman magistrate might be expected to +inquire, viz., whether the religion contained any opinions dangerous to +government; but that of its doctrines, its evidences, or its books, he +had not taken the trouble to inform himself with any degree of care or +correctness. But although Pliny had viewed Christianity in a nearer +position than most of his learned countrymen saw it in, yet he had +regarded the whole with such negligence and disdain (further than as it +seemed to concern his administration), that, in more than two hundred +and forty letters of his which have come down to us, the subject is +never once again mentioned. If, out of this number, the two letters +between him and Trajan had been lost, with what confidence would the +obscurity of the Christian religion have been argued from Pliny's +silence about it, and with how little truth! + +The name and character which Tacitus has given to Christianity, +"exitiabilis superstitio" (a pernicious superstition), and by which two +words he disposes of the whole question of the merits or demerits of the +religion, afford a strong proof how little he knew, or concerned himself +to know, about the matter. I apprehend that I shall not be contradicted, +when I take upon me to assert, that no unbeliever of the present age +would apply this epithet to the Christianity of the New Testament, or +not allow that it was entirely unmerited. Read the instructions given by +a great teacher of the religion to those very Roman converts of whom +Tacitus speaks; and given also a very few years before the time of which +he is speaking; and which are not, let it be observed, a collection of +fine sayings brought together from different parts of a large work, but +stand in one entire passage of a public letter, without the intermixture +of a single thought which is frivolous or exceptionable:--"Abhor that +which is evil, cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one +to another, with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; not +slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; rejoicing in +hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; distributing +to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality. Bless them which +persecute you; bless, and curse not. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, +and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one towards another. +Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise +in your own conceits. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things +honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in +you, live peaceably with all men. Avenge not yourselves, but rather give +place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, +saith the Lord: therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he +thirst, give him drink: for, in so doing, thou shalt heap coals of fire +on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. + +"Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power +but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever, +therefore, resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they +that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a +terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of +the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the +same: for he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do +that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for +he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that +doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but +also for conscience' sake. For, for this cause pay ye tribute also: for +they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. +Render therefore to all their dues; tribute to whom tribute is due; +custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour. + +"Owe no man anything, but to love one another; for he that loveth +another, hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit +adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear +false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other +commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, Thou shalt love +thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour; +therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. + +"And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of +sleep; for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night +is far spent, the day is at hand; let us therefore cast off the works of +darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly as +in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and +wantonness, not in strife and envying." (Romans, xii. 9--xiii. 13.) + +Read this, and then think of "exitiabilis superstitio!" Or, if we be not +allowed, in contending with Heathen authorities, to produce our books +against theirs, we may at least be permitted to confront theirs with one +another. Of this "pernicious superstition" what could Pliny find to +blame, when he was led, by his office, to institute something like an +examination into the conduct and principles of the sect? He discovered +nothing but that they were went to meet together on a stated day before +it was light, and sing among themselves a hymn to Christ as a God, and +to bind themselves by an oath, not to the commission of any wickedness, +but, not to be guilty of theft, robbery, or adultery; never to falsify +their word, nor to deny a pledge committed to them, when called upon to +return it. + +Upon the words of Tacitus we may build the following observations: + +First; That we are well warranted in calling the view under which the +learned men of that age beheld Christianity an obscure and distant view. +Had Tacitus known more of Christianity, of its precepts, duties, +constitution, or design, however he had discredited the story, he would +have respected the principle. He would have described the religion +differently, though he had rejected it. It has been very satisfactorily +shown, that the "superstition" of the Christians consisted in +worshipping a person unknown to the Roman calendar; and that the +"perniciousness" with which they were reproached was nothing else but +their opposition to the established polytheism; and this view of the +matter was just such an one as might be expected to occur to a mind +which held the sect in too much contempt to concern itself about the +grounds and reasons of their conduct. + +Secondly; We may from hence remark how little reliance can be placed +upon the most acute judgments in subjects which they are pleased to +despise; and which, of course, they from the first consider as unworthy +to be inquired into. Had not Christianity survived to tell its own +story, it must have gone down to posterity as a "pernicious +superstition;" and that upon the credit of Tacitus's account, much, I +doubt not, strengthened by the name of the writer, and the reputation of +his sagacity. + +Thirdly; That this contempt, prior to examination, is an intellectual +vice, from which the greatest faculties of mind are not free. I know +not, indeed, whether men of the greatest faculties of mind are not the +most subject to it. Such men feel themselves seated upon an eminence. +Looking down from their height upon the follies of mankind, they behold +contending tenets wasting their idle strength upon one another with the +common disdain of the absurdity of them all. This habit of thought, +however comfortable to the mind which entertain it, or however natural +to great parts, is extremely dangerous; and more apt than almost any +other disposition to produce hasty and contemptuous, and, by +consequence, erroneous judgments, both of persons and opinions. + +Fourthly; We need not be surprised at many writers of that age not +mentioning Christianity at all, when they who did mention it appear to +have entirely misconceived its nature and character; and, in consequence +of this misconception, to have regarded it with negligence and contempt. + +To the knowledge of the greatest part of the learned heathens, the facts +of the Christian history could only come by report. The books, probably, +they had never looked into. The settled habit of their minds was, and +long had been, an indiscriminate rejection of all reports of the kind. +With these sweeping conclusions truth hath no chance. It depends upon +distinction. If they would not inquire, how should they be convinced? It +might be founded in truth, though they, who made no search, might not +discover it. + +"Men of rank and fortune, of wit and abilities, are often found, even in +Christian countries, to be surprisingly ignorant of religion, and of +everything that relates to it. Such were many of the heathens. Their +thoughts were all fixed upon other things; upon reputation and glory, +upon wealth and power, upon luxury and pleasure, upon business or +learning. They thought, and they had reason to think, that the religion +of their country was fable and forgery, a heap of inconsistent lies; +which inclined them to suppose that other religions were no better. +Hence it came to pass, that when the apostles preached the Gospel, and +wrought miracles in confirmation of a doctrine every way worthy of God, +many Gentiles knew little or nothing of it, and would not take the least +pains to inform themselves about it. This appears plainly from ancient +history." (Jortin's Disc. on the Christ. Rel. p. 66, ed. 4th.) + +I think it by no means unreasonable to suppose that the heathen public, +especially that part which is made up of men of rank and education, were +divided into two classes; these who despised Christianity beforehand, +and those who received it. In correspondency with which division of +character the writers of that age would also be of two classes; those +who were silent about Christianity, and those who were Christians. "A +good man, who attended sufficiently to the Christian affairs, would +become a Christian; after which his testimony ceased to be pagan and +became Christian." (Hartley, Obs. p. 119.) + +I must also add, that I think it sufficiently proved, that the notion of +magic was resorted to by the heathen adversaries of Christianity, in +like manner as that of diabolical agency had before been by the Jews. +Justin Martyr alleges this as his reason for arguing from prophecy +rather than from miracles. Origen imputes this evasion to Celsus; Jerome +to Porphyry; and Lactantius to the heathen in general. The several +passages which contain these testimonies will be produced in the next +chapter. It being difficult, however, to ascertain in what degree this +notion prevailed, especially the superior ranks of the heathen +communities, another, and think an adequate, cause has been assigned for +their infidelity. It is probable that in many cases the two causes would +together. + + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THAT THE CHRISTIAN MIRACLES ARE NOT RECITED, OR APPEALED TO, BY EARLY +CHRISTIAN WRITERS THEMSELVES SO FULLY OR FREQUENTLY AS MIGHT HAVE BEEN +EXPECTED. + +I shall consider this objection, first, as it applies to the letters of +the apostles preserved in the New Testament; and secondly, as it applies +to the remaining writings of other early Christians. + +The epistles of the apostles are either hortatory or argumentative. So +far as they were occupied in delivering lessons of duty, rules of public +order, admonitions against certain prevailing corruptions, against vice, +or any particular species of it, or in fortifying and encouraging the +constancy of the disciples under the trials to which they were exposed, +there appears to be no place or occasion for more of these references +than we actually find. + +So far as these epistles are argumentative, the nature of the argument +which they handle accounts for the infrequency of these allusions. These +epistles were not written to prove the truth of Christianity. The +subject under consideration was not that which the miracles decided, the +reality of our Lord's mission; but it was that which the miracles did +not decide, the nature of his person or power, the design of his advent, +its effects, and of those effects the value, kind, and extent. Still I +maintain that miraculous evidence lies at the bottom of the argument. For +nothing could be so preposterous as for the disciples of Jesus to +dispute amongst themselves, or with others, concerning his office or +character; unless they believed that he had shown, by supernatural +proofs, that there was something extraordinary in both. Miraculous +evidence, therefore, forming not the texture of these arguments, but the +ground and substratum, if it be occasionally discerned, if it be +incidentally appealed to, it is exactly so much as ought take place, +supposing the history to be true. + +As a further answer to the objection, that the apostolic epistles do not +contain so frequent, or such direct and circumstantial recitals of +miracles as might be expected, I would add, that the apostolic epistles +resemble in this respect the apostolic speeches, which speeches are +given by a writer who distinctly records numerous miracles wrought by +these apostles themselves, and by the Founder of the institution in +their presence; that it is unwarrantable to contend that the omission, +or infrequency, of such recitals in the speeches of the apostles +negatives the existence of the miracles, when the speeches are given in +immediate conjunction with the history of those miracles: and that a +conclusion which cannot be inferred from the speeches without +contradicting the whole tenour of the book which contains them cannot be +inferred from letters, which in this respect are similar only to the +speeches. + +To prove the similitude which we allege, it may be remarked, that +although in Saint Luke's Gospel the apostle Peter is represented to have +been present at many decisive miracles wrought by Christ; and although +the second part of the same history ascribes other decisive miracles to +Peter himself, particularly the cure of the lame man at the gate of the +temple (Acts iii. 1), the death of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts v. 1), the +cure of Aeneas (Acts ix. 34), the resurrection of Dorcas (Acts ix. 40); +yet out of six speeches of Peter, preserved in the Acts, I know but two +in which reference is made to the miracles wrought by Christ, and only +one in which he refers to miraculous powers possessed by himself. In his +speech upon the day of Pentecost, Peter addresses his audience with +great solemnity thus: "Ye men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of +Nazareth, a man approved of God among you, by miracles, and wonders, and +signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also +know:" (Acts ii. 22.) &c. In his speech upon the conversion of +Cornelius, he delivers his testimony to the miracles performed by Christ +in these words: "We are witnesses of all things which he did, both in +the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem." (Acts x. 39.) But in this latter +speech no allusion appears to the miracles wrought by himself +notwithstanding that the miracles above enumerated all preceded the time +in which it was delivered. In his speech upon the election of +Matthias, (Acts i. 15.) no distinct reference is made to any of the +miracles of Christ's history except his resurrection. The same also may +be observed of his speech upon the cure of the lame man at the of the +temple; (Acts iii. 12.) the same in his speech before the Sanhedrim; +(Acts iv. 8.) the same in his second apology in the presence of that +assembly Stephen's long speech contains no reference whatever to +miracles, though it be expressly related of him, in the book which +preserves the speech, and almost immediately before the speech, "that he +did great wonders and miracles among the people." (Acts vi. 8.) Again, +although miracles be expressly attributed to Saint Paul in the Acts of +the Apostles, first generally, as at Iconium (Acts xiv. 3), during the +whole tour through the Upper Asia (xiv. 27; xv. 12), at Ephesus (xix. +11, 12); secondly, in specific instances, as the blindness of Elymas at +Paphos, (Acts xiii. 11.) the cure of the cripple at Lystra, (Acts xiv. 8.) +of the pythoness at Philippi, (Acts xvi. 16.) the miraculous liberation +from prison in the same city, (Acts xvi. 26.) the restoration of +Eutychus, (Acts xx. 10.) the predictions of his shipwreck, (Acts xxvii. +1.) the viper at Melita, the cure of Publius's father; (Acts xxvii. 8.) +at all which miracles, except the first two, the historian himself was +present: notwithstanding, I say, this positive ascription of miracles to +St. Paul, yet in the speeches delivered by him, and given as delivered +by him, in the same book in which the miracles are related, and the +miraculous powers asserted, the appeals to his own miracles, or indeed +to any miracles at all, are rare and incidental. In his speech at +Antioch in Pisidia, (Acts xiii. 16.) there is no allusion but to the +resurrection. In his discourse at Miletus, (Acts xx. 17.) none to any +miracle: none in his speech before Felix; (Acts xxiv. 10.) none in his +speech before Festus; (Acts xxv. 8.) except to Christ's resurrection and +his own conversion. + +Agreeably hereunto, in thirteen letters ascribed to Saint Paul, we have +incessant references to Christ's resurrection, frequent references to +his own conversion, three indubitable references to the miracles which +he wrought; (Gal. iii. 5; Rom. xv. 18, 19; 2 Cor. xii. 12.) four other +references to the same, less direct, yet highly probable; (1 Cor. ii. 4,5; +Eph. iii. 7; Gal. ii. 8; 1 Thess. i. 8.) but more copious or +circumstantial recitals we have not. The consent, therefore, between +Saint Paul's speeches and letters is in this respect sufficiently exact; +and the reason in both is the same, namely, that the miraculous history +was all along presupposed, and that the question which occupied the +speaker's and the writer's thoughts was this: whether, allowing the +history of Jesus to be true, he was, upon the strength of it, to be +received as the promised Messiah; and, if he was, what were the +consequences, what was the object and benefit of his mission? + +The general observation which has been made upon the apostolic writings, +namely, that the subject of which they treated did not lead them to any +direct recital of the Christian history, belongs to the writings of the +apostolic fathers. The epistle of Barnabas is, in its subject and +general composition, much like the epistle to the Hebrews; an +allegorical application of divers passages of the Jewish history, of +their law and ritual, to those parts of the Christian dispensation in +which the author perceived a resemblance. The epistle of Clement was +written for the sole purpose of quieting certain dissensions that had +arisen amongst the members of the church of Corinth, and of reviving in +their minds that temper and spirit of which their predecessors in the +Gospel had left them an example. The work of Hermas is a vision; quotes +neither the Old Testament nor the New, and merely falls now and then +into the language and the mode of speech which the author had read in +our Gospels. The epistles of Polycarp and Ignatius had for their +principal object the order and discipline of the churches which they +addressed. Yet, under all these circumstances of disadvantage, the great +points of the Christian history are fully recognised. This hath been +shown in its proper place. (Vide supra, pp. 48-51. [Part 1, Chapter 8]) + +There is, however, another class of writers to whom the answer above +given, viz. the unsuitableness of any such appeals or references as the +objection demands to the subjects of which the writings treated, does +not apply; and that is the class of ancient apologists, whose declared +design it was to defend Christianity, and to give the reasons of their +adherence to it. It is necessary, therefore, to inquire how the matter +of the objection stands in these. + +The most ancient apologist of whose works we have the smallest knowledge +is Quadratus. Quadratus lived about seventy years after the ascension, +and presented his apology to the Emperor Adrian. From a passage of this +work, preserved in Eusebius, it appears that the author did directly and +formally appeal to the miracles of Christ, and in terms as express and +confident as we could desire. The passage (which has been once already +stated) is as follows: "The works of our Saviour were always +conspicuous, for they were real: both they that were healed, and they +that were raised from the dead, were seen, not only when they were +healed or raised, but for a long time afterwards; not only whilst he +dwelled on this earth, but also after his departure, and for a good +while after it; insomuch as that some of them have reached to our +times," (Euseb. Hist. I. iv. c. 3.) Nothing can be more rational or +satisfactory than this. + + +Justin Martyr, the next of the Christian apologists, whose work is not +lost, and who followed Quadratus at the distance of about thirty years, +has touched upon passages of Christ's history in so many places, that a +tolerably complete account of Christ's life might be collected out of +his works. In the following quotation he asserts the performance of +miracles by Christ, in words as strong and positive as the language +possesses: "Christ healed those who from their birth were blind, and +deaf, and lame; causing, by his word, one to leap, another to hear, and +a third to see; and having raised the dead, and caused them to live, he, +by his works, excited attention, and induced the men of that age to know +him: who, however, seeing these things done, said that it was a magical +appearance, and dared to call him a magician, and a deceiver of the +people." (Just. Dial. p. 258, ed. Thirlby.) + +In his first apology, (Apolog. prim. p. 48, ib.) Justin expressly +assigns the reason for his having recourse to the argument from +prophecy, rather than alleging the miracles of the Christian history; +which reason was, that the persons with whom he contended would ascribe +these miracles to magic; "lest any of our opponents should say, What +hinders, but that he who is called Christ by us, being a man sprung from +men, performed the miracles which we attribute to him by magical art?" +The suggestion of this reason meets, as I apprehend, the very point of +the present objection; more especially when we find Justin followed in +it by other writers of that age. Irenaeus, who came about forty years +after him, notices the same evasion in the adversaries of Christianity, +and replies to it by the same argument: "But if they shall say, that the +Lord performed these things by an illusory appearance (phantasiodos), +leading these objectors to the prophecies, we will show from them, that +all things were thus predicted concerning him, and Strictly came to +pass." (Iren. I. ii. c. 57.) Lactantius, who lived a century lower, +delivers the same sentiment upon the same occasion: "He performed +miracles;--we might have supposed him to have been a magician, as ye +say, and as the Jews then supposed, if all the prophets had not with one +spirit foretold that Christ should perform these very things." (Lactant. +v. 3.) + +But to return to the Christian apologists in their order. +Tertullian:--"That person whom the Jews had vainly imagined, from the +meanness of his appearance, to be a mere man, they afterwards, in +consequence of the power he exerted, considered as a magician, when he, +with one word, ejected devils out of the bodies of men, gave sight to +the blind, cleansed the leprous, strengthened the nerves of those that +had the palsy, and lastly, with one command, restored the dead to life; +when he, I say, made the very elements obey him, assuaged the storms, +walked upon the seas, demonstrating himself to be the Word of God." +(Tertul. Apolos. p. 20; ed. Priorii, Par. 1675.) + +Next in the catalogue of professed apologists we may place Origen, who, +it is well known, published a formal defence of Christianity, in answer +to Celsus, a heathen, who had written a discourse against it. I know no +expressions by which a plainer or more positive appeal to the Christian +miracles can be made, than the expressions used by Origen; "Undoubtedly +we do think him to be the Christ, and the Son of God, because he healed +the lame and the blind; and we are the more confirmed in this persuasion +by what is written in the prophecies: 'Then shall the eyes of the blind +be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear, and the lame man shall +leap as a hart.' But that he also raised the dead, and that it is not a +fiction of those who wrote the Gospels, is evident from hence, that if +it had been a fiction, there would have been many recorded to be raised +up, and such as had been a long time in their graves. But, it not being +a fiction, few have been recorded: for instance, the daughter of the +ruler of a synagogue, of whom I do not know why he said, She is not +dead, but sleepeth, expressing something peculiar to her, not common to +all dead persons: and the only son of a widow, on whom he had +compassion, and raised him to life, after he had bid the bearers of the +corpse to stop; and the third, Lazarus, who had been buried four days." +This is positively to assert the miracles of Christ, and it is also to +comment upon them, and that with a considerable degree of accuracy and +candour. + +In another passage of the same author, we meet with the old solution of +magic applied to the miracles of Christ by the adversaries of the +religion. "Celsus," saith Origen, "well knowing what great works may be +alleged to have been done by Jesus, pretends to grant that the things +related of him are true; such as healing diseases, raising the dead, +feeding multitudes with a few leaves, of which large fragments were +left." (Orig. cont. Cels. lib. ii. sect. 48.) And then Celsus gives, it +seems, an answer to these proofs of our Lord's mission, which, as Origen +understood it, resolved the phenomena into magic; for Origen begins his +reply by observing, "You see that Celsus in a manner allows that there +is such a thing as magic." (Lardner's Jewish and Heath. Test, vol. ii. +p. 294, ed. 4to.) + +It appears also from the testimony of St. Jerome, that Porphyry, the +most learned and able of the heathen writers against Christianity, +resorted to the same solution: "Unless," says he, speaking to +Vigilantius, "according to the manner of the Gentiles and the profane, +of Porphyry and Eunomius, you pretend that these are the tricks of +demons." (Jerome cont. Vigil.) + +This magic, these demons, this illusory appearance, this comparison with +the tricks of jugglers, by which many of that age accounted so easily +for the Christian miracles, and which answers the advocates of +Christianity often thought it necessary to refute by arguments drawn +from other topics, and particularly from prophecy (to which, it seems, +these solutions did not apply), we now perceive to be gross subterfuges. +That such reasons were ever seriously urged and seriously received, is +only a proof what a gloss and varnish fashion can give to any opinion. + +It appears, therefore, that the miracles of Christ, understood as we +understand them in their literal and historical sense, were positively +and precisely asserted and appealed to by the apologists for +Christianity; which answers the allegation of the objection. + +I am ready, however, to admit, that the ancient Christian advocates did +not insist upon the miracles in argument so frequently as I should have +done. It was their lot to contend with notions of magical agency, +against which the mere production of the facts was not sufficient for +the convincing of their adversaries: I do not know whether they +themselves thought it quite decisive of the controversy. But since it is +proved, I conceive with certainty, that the sparingness with which they +appealed to miracles was owing neither to their ignorance nor their +doubt of the facts, it is, at any rate, an objection not to the truth of +the history, but to the judgment of its defenders. + + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +WANT OF UNIVERSALITY IN THE KNOWLEDGE AND RECEPTION OF CHRISTIANITY, AND +OF GREATER CLEARNESS IN THE EVIDENCE. + +Or, a Revelation which really came from God, the proof, it has been +said, would in all ages be so public and manifest, that no part of the +human species would remain ignorant of it, no understanding could fail +of being convinced by it. + +The advocates of Christianity do not pretend that the evidence of their +religion possesses these qualities. They do not deny that we can +conceive it to be within the compass of divine power to have +communicated to the world a higher degree of assurance, and to have +given to his communication a stronger and more extensive influence. For +anything we are able to discern, God could have so formed men, as to +have perceived the truths of religion intuitively; or to have carried on +a communication with the other world whilst they lived in this; or to +have seen the individuals of the species, instead of dying, pass to +heaven by a sensible translation. He could have presented a separate +miracle to each man's senses. He could have established a standing +miracle. He could have caused miracles to be wrought in every different +age and country. These and many more methods, which we may imagine if we +once give loose to our imaginations, are, so far as we can judge, all +practicable. + +The question therefore is, not whether Christianity possesses the +highest possible degree of evidence, but whether the not having more +evidence be a sufficient reason for rejecting that which we have. + +Now there appears to be no fairer method of judging concerning any +dispensation which is alleged to come from God, when question is made +whether such a dispensation could come from God or not, than by +comparing it with other things which are acknowledged to proceed from +the same counsel, and to be produced by the same agency. If the +dispensation in question labour under no defects but what apparently +belong to other dispensations, these seeming defects do not justify us +in setting aside the proofs which are offered of its authenticity, if +they be otherwise entitled to credit. + +Throughout that order then of nature, of which God is the author, what +we find is a system of beneficence: we are seldom or never able to make +out a system of optimism. I mean, that there are few cases in which, if +we permit ourselves to range in possibilities, we cannot suppose +something more perfect, and, more unobjectionable, than what we see. The +rain which descends from heaven is confessedly amongst the contrivances +of the Creator for the sustentation of the animals and vegetables which +subsist upon the surface of the earth. Yet how partially: and +irregularly is it supplied! How much of it falls upon sea, where it can +be of no use! how often is it wanted where it would be of the greatest! +What tracts of continent are rendered deserts by the scarcity of it! Or, +not to speak of extreme cases, how much sometimes do inhabited countries +suffer by its deficiency or delay!--We could imagine, if to imagine were +our business, the matter to be otherwise regulated. We could imagine +showers to fall just where and when they would do good; always +seasonable, everywhere sufficient; so distributed as not to leave a +field upon the face of the globe scorched by drought or even a plant +withering for the lack of moisture. Yet, does the difference between the +real case and the imagined case, or the seeming inferiority of the one +to the other, authorise us to say, that the present disposition of the +atmosphere is not amongst the productions or the designs of the Deity? +Does it check the inference which we draw from the confessed beneficence +of the provision? or does it make us cease to admire the contrivance? +The observation which we have exemplified in the single instance of the +rain of heaven may be repeated concerning most of the phenomena of +nature; and the true conclusion to which it leads is this--that to +inquire what the Deity might have done, could have done, or, as we even +sometimes presume to speak, ought to have done, or, in hypothetical +cases, would have done; and to build any propositions upon such +inquiries against evidence of facts, is wholly unwarrantable. It is a +mode of reasoning which will not do in natural history, which will not +do in natural religion, which cannot therefore be applied with safety to +revelation. It may have same foundation in certain speculative a priori +ideas of the divine attributes, but it has none in experience or in +analogy. The general character of the works of nature is, on the one +hand, goodness both in design and effect; and, on the other hand, a +liability to difficulty and to objections, if such objections be +allowed, by reason of seeming incompleteness or uncertainty in attaining +their end. Christianity participates of this character. The true +similitude between nature and revelation consists in this--that they +each bear strong marks of their original, that they each also bear +appearances of irregularity and defect. A system of strict optimism may, +nevertheless, be the real system in both cases. But what I contend is, +that the proof is hidden from us; that we ought not to expect to +perceive that in revelation which we hardly perceive in anything; that +beneficence, of which, we can judge, ought to satisfy us that optimism, +of which we cannot judge, ought not to be sought after. We can judge of +beneficence, because it depends upon effects which we experience, and +upon the relation between the means which we see acting and the ends +which we see produced. We cannot judge of optimism because it +necessarily implies a comparison of that which is tried with that which +is not tried; of consequences which we see with others which we imagine, +and concerning many of which, it is more than probable, we know nothing; +concerning some that we have no notion. + +If Christianity be compared with the state and progress of natural +religion, the argument of the objector will gain nothing by the +comparison. I remember hearing an unbeliever say that, if God had given +a revelation, he would have written it in the skies. Are the truths of +natural religion written in the skies, or in a language which every one +reads? or is this the case with the most useful arts, or the most +necessary sciences of human life? An Otaheitean or an Esquimaux knows +nothing of Christianity; does he know more of the principles of deism or +morality? which, notwithstanding his ignorance, are neither untrue, nor +unimportant, nor uncertain. The existence of Deity is left to be +collected from observations, which every man does not make, which every +man, perhaps, is not capable of making. Can it be argued that God does +not exist because if he did, he would let us see him, or discover +himself to man kind by proofs (such as, we may think, the nature of the +subject merited) which no inadvertency could miss, no prejudice +withstand? + +If Christianity be regarded as a providential instrument the melioration +of mankind, its progress and diffusion that of other causes by which +human life is improved diversity is not greater, nor the advance more +slow, in than we find it to be in learning, liberty, government, laws. +The Deity hath not touched the order of nature in vain. The Jewish +religion produced great and permanent effects; the Christian religion +hath done the same. It hath disposed the world to amendment: it hath put +things in a train. It is by no means improbable that it may become +universal; and that the world may continue in that stage so long as that +the duration of its reign may bear a vast proportion to the time of its +partial influence. + +When we argue concerning Christianity, that it must necessarily be true +because it is beneficial, we go, perhaps, too far on one side; and we +certainly go too far on the other when we conclude that it must be false +because it is not so efficacious as we could have supposed. The question +of its truth is to be tried upon its proper evidence, without deferring +much to this sort of argument on either side. "The evidence," as Bishop +Butler hath rightly observed, "depends upon the judgment we form of +human conduct, under given circumstances, of which it may be presumed +that we know something; the objection stands upon the supposed conduct +of the Deity, under relations with which we are not acquainted." + +What would be the real effect of that overpowering evidence which our +adversaries require in a revelation it is difficult foretell; at least +we must speak of it as of a dispensation which we have no experience. +Some consequences, however, would, it is probable, attend this economy, +which do not seem to befit a revelation that proceeded from God. One is, +that irresistible proof would restrain the voluntary powers too much; +would not answer the purpose of trial and probation; would call for no +exercise of candour, seriousness, humility, inquiry, no submission of +passion, interests, and prejudices, to moral evidence and to probable +truth; no habits of reflection; none of that previous desire to learn +and to obey the will of God, which forms perhaps the test of the +virtuous principle, and which induces men to attend, with care and +reverence, to every credible intimation of that will, and to resign +present advantages and present pleasures to every reasonable expectation +of propitiating his favour. "Men's moral probation may be, whether they +will take due care to inform themselves by impartial consideration; and, +afterwards, whether they will act, as the case requires, upon the +evidence which they have. And this we find by experience is often our +probation in our temporal capacity." (Butler's Analogy, part ii. c. 6.) + +II. These modes of communication would leave no place for the admission +of internal evidence; which ought, perhaps, to bear a considerable part +in the proof of every revelation, because it is a species of evidence +which applies itself to the knowledge, love, and practice, of virtue, +and which operates in proportion to the degree of those qualities which +it finds in the person whom it addresses. Men of good dispositions, +amongst Christians, are greatly affected by the impression which the +Scriptures themselves make upon their minds. Their conviction is much +strengthened by these impressions. And this perhaps was intended to be +one effect to be produced by the religion. It is likewise true, to +whatever cause we ascribe it (for I am not in this work at liberty to +introduce the Christian doctrine of grace or assistance, or the +Christian promise that, "if any man will do his will, he shall know of +the doctrine, whether it be of God" John vii. 17.),--it is true, I say, +that they who sincerely act, or sincerely endeavour to act, according to +what they believe, that is, according to the just result of the +probabilities, or, if you please, the possibilities in natural and +revealed religion, which they themselves perceive, and according to a +rational estimate of consequences, and, above all, according to the just +effect of those principles of gratitude and devotion which even the view +of nature generates in a well-ordered mind, seldom fail of proceeding +farther. This also may have been exactly what was designed. + +Whereas, may it not be said that irresistible evidence would confound +all characters and all dispositions? would subvert rather than promote +the true purpose of the Divine counsels; which is, not to produce +obedience by a force little short of mechanical constraint, (which +obedience would be regularity, not virtue, and would hardly perhaps +differ from that which inanimate bodies pay to the laws impressed upon +their nature), but to treat moral agents agreeably to what they are; +which is done, when light and motives are of such kinds, and are +imparted in such measures, that the influence of them depends upon the +recipients themselves? "It is not meet to govern rational free agents in +via by sight and sense. It would be no trial or thanks to the most +sensual wretch to forbear sinning, if heaven and hell were open to his +sight. That spiritual vision and fruition is our state in patria." +(Baxter's Reasons, p. 357.) There may be truth in this thought, though +roughly expressed. Few things are more improbable than that we (the +human species) should be the highest order of beings in the universe: +that animated nature should ascend from the lowest reptile to us, and +all at once stop there. If there be classes above us of rational +intelligences, clearer manifestations may belong to them. This may be +one of the distinctions. And it may be one to which we ourselves +hereafter shall attain. + + +III. But may it not also be asked, whether the perfect display of a +future state of existence would be compatible with the activity of civil +life, and with the success of human affairs? I can easily conceive that +this impression may be overdone; that it may so seize and fill the +thoughts as to leave no place for the cares and offices of men's several +stations, no anxiety for worldly prosperity, or even for a worldly +provision, and, by consequence, no sufficient stimulus to secular +industry. Of the first Christians we read, "that all that believed were +together, and had all things common; and sold their possessions and +goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need; and continuing +daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to +house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart" (Acts +ii. 44-46.) This was extremely natural, and just what might be expected +from miraculous evidence coming with full force upon the senses of +mankind: but I much doubt whether, if this state of mind had been +universal, or long-continued, the business of the world could have gone +on. The necessary art of social life would have been little cultivated. +The plough and the loom would have stood still. Agriculture, +manufactures, trade, and navigation, would not, I think, have +flourished, if they could have been exercised at all. Men would have +addicted themselves to contemplative and ascetic lives, instead of lives +of business and of useful industry. We observe that St. Paul found it +necessary frequently to recall his converts to the ordinary labours and +domestic duties of their condition; and to give them, in his own +example, a lesson of contented application to their worldly employments. + +By the manner in which the religion is now proposed, a great portion of +the human species is enabled and of these multitudes of every generation +are induced, to seek and effectuate their salvation through the medium +of Christianity, without interruption of the prosperity or of the +regular course of human affairs. + + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE SUPPOSED EFFECTS OF CHRISTIANITY. + +That a religion which under every form in which it is taught holds forth +the final reward of virtue and punishment of vice, and proposes those +distinctions of virtue and vice which the wisest and most cultivated +part of mankind confess to be just, should not be believed, is very +possible; but that, so far as it is believed, it should not produce any +good, but rather a bad effect upon public happiness, is a proposition +which it requires very strong evidence to render credible. Yet many have +been found to contend for this paradox, and very confident appeals have +been made to history and to observation for the truth of it. + +In the conclusions, however, which these writers draw from what they +call experience, two sources, I think, of mistake may be perceived. + +One is, that they look for the influence of religion in the wrong place. + +The other, that they charge Christianity with many consequences for +which it is not responsible. + +I. The influence of religion is not to be sought for in the councils of +princes, in the debates or resolutions of popular assemblies, in the +conduct of governments towards their subjects, of states and sovereigns +towards one another; of conquerors at the head of their armies, or of +parties intriguing for power at home (topics which alone almost occupy +the attention, and fill the pages of history); but must be perceived, if +perceived at all, in the silent course of private and domestic life. +Nay, even there its influence may not be very obvious to observation. If +it check, in some degree, personal dissoluteness, if it beget general +probity in the transaction of business, if it produce soft and humane +manners in the mass of the community, and occasional exertions of +laborious or expensive benevolence in a individuals, it is all the +effect which can offer itself to external notice. The kingdom of heaven +is within us. That which the substance of the religion, its hopes and +consolation, its intermixture with the thoughts by day and by night, the +devotion of the heart, the control of appetite, the steady direction of +will to the commands of God, is necessarily invisible. Yet these depend +the virtue and the happiness of millions. This cause renders the +representations of history, with respect to religion, defect and +fallacious in a greater degree than they are upon any other subject. +Religion operates most upon those of whom history knows the least; upon +fathers and mothers their families, upon men-servants and maid-servants, +upon orderly tradesman, the quiet villager, the manufacturer at his +loom, the husbandman in his fields. Amongst such, its collectively may +be of inestimable value, yet its effects, in mean time, little upon +those who figure upon the stage of world. They may know nothing of it; +they may believe nothing of it; they may be actuated by motives more +impetuous than those which religion is able to excite. It cannot, be +thought strange that this influence should elude the grasp and touch of +public history; for what is public history but register of the successes +and disappointments, the vices, the follies, and the quarrels, of those +who engage in contentions power? + +I will add, that much of this influence may be felt in times of public +distress, and little of it in times of public wealth and security. +This also increases the uncertainty of any opinions that we draw +from historical representations. The influence of Christianity is +commensurate with no effects which history states. We do not pretend +that it has any such necessary and irresistible power over the affairs +of nations as to surmount the force of other causes. + +The Christian religion also acts upon public usages and institutions, by +an operation which is only secondary and indirect. Christianity is not a +code of civil law. It can only reach public institutions through private +character. Now its influence upon private character may be considerable, +yet many public usages and institutions repugnant to its principles may +remain. To get rid of these, the reigning part of the community must +act, and act together. But it may be long before the persons who compose +this body be sufficiently touched with the Christian character to join +in the suppression of practices to which they and the public have been +reconciled by causes which will reconcile the human mind to anything, by +habit and interest. Nevertheless, the effects of Christianity, even in +this view, have been important. It has mitigated the conduct of war, and +the treatment of captives. It has softened the administration of +despotic, or of nominally despotic governments. It has abolished +polygamy. It has restrained the licentiousness of divorces. It has put +an end to the exposure of children and the immolation of slaves. It has +suppressed the combats of gladiators,* and the impurities of religions +rites. It has banished, if not unnatural vices, at least the toleration +of them. It has greatly meliorated the condition of the laborious part, +that is to say, of the mass of every community, by procuring for them a +day of weekly rest. In all countries in which it is professed it has +produced numerous establishments for the relief of sickness and poverty; +and in some, a regular and general provision by law. It has triumphed +over the slavery established in the Roman empire: it is contending, and +I trust will one day prevail, against the worse slavery of the West +Indies. + +_________ + +* Lipsius affirms (Sat. b. i. c. 12) that the gladiatorial shows +sometimes cost Europe twenty or thirty thousand lives in a month; and +that not only the men, but even the women of all ranks were passionately +fond of these shows. See Bishop Porteus, Sermon XIII. +_________ + + +A Christian writer, (Bardesanes, ap. Euseb. Praep. Evang. vi. 10.) so +early as in the second century, has testified the resistance which +Christianity made to wicked and licentious practices though established +by law and by public usage:--"Neither in Parthia do the Christians, +though Parthians, use polygamy; nor in Persia, though Persians, do they +marry their own daughters; nor among the Bactri, or Galli, do they +violate the sanctity of marriage; nor wherever they are, do they suffer +themselves to be overcome by ill-constituted laws and manners." + +Socrates did not destroy the idolatry of Athens, or produce the slighter +revolution in the manners of his country. + +But the argument to which I recur is, that the benefit of religion, +being felt chiefly in the obscurity of private stations, necessarily +escapes the observation of history. From the first general notification +of Christianity to the present day, there have been in every age many +millions, whose names were never heard of, made better by it, not only +in their conduct, but in their disposition; and happier, not so much in +their external circumstances, as in that which is inter praecordia, in +that which alone deserves the name of happiness, the tranquillity and +consolation of their thoughts. It has been since its commencement the +author of happiness and virtue to millions and millions of the human +race. Who is there that would not wish his son to be a Christian? + +Christianity also, in every country in which it is professed, hath +obtained a sensible, although not a complete influence upon the public +judgment of morals. And this is very important. For without the +occasional correction which public opinion receives, by referring to +some fixed standard of morality, no man can foretel into what +extravagances it might wander. Assassination might become as honourable +as duelling: unnatural crimes be accounted as venal as fornication is +wont to be accounted. In this way it is possible that many may be kept +in order by Christianity who are not themselves Christians. They may be +guided by the rectitude which it communicates to public opinion. Their +consciences may suggest their duty truly, and they may ascribe these +suggestions to a moral sense, or to the native capacity of the human +intellect, when in fact they are nothing more than the public opinion, +reflected from their own minds; and opinion, in a considerable degree, +modified by the lessons of Christianity. "Certain it is, and this is a +great deal to say, that the generality, even of the meanest and most +vulgar and ignorant people, have truer and worthier notions of God more +just and right apprehensions concerning his attributes and perfections, +a deeper sense of the difference of good and evil, a greater regard to +moral obligations, and to the plain and most necessary duties of life, +and a more firm and universal expectation of a future state of rewards +and punishments, than in any heathen country any considerable number of +men were found to have had." (Clarke, Ev. Nat. Rel. p. 208. ed. v.) + +After all, the value of Christianity is not to be appreciated by its +temporal effects. The object of revelation is to influence human conduct +in this life; but what is gained to happiness by that influence can only +be estimated by taking in the whole of human existence. Then, as hath +already been observed, there may be also great consequences of +Christianity which do not belong to it as a revelation. The effects upon +human salvation of the mission, of the death, of the present, of the +future agency of Christ, may be universal, though the religion be not +universally known. + +Secondly, I assert that Christianity is charged with many consequences +for which it is not responsible. I believe that religious motives have +had no more to do in the formation of nine tenths of the intolerant and +persecuting laws which in different countries have been established upon +the subject of religion, than they have had to do in England with the +making of the game-laws. These measures, although they have the +Christian religion for their subject, are resolvable into a principle +which Christianity certainly did not plant (and which Christianity could +not universally condemn, because it is not universally wrong), which +principle is no other than this, that they who are in possession of +power do what they can to keep it. Christianity is answerable for no +part of the mischief which has been brought upon the world by +persecution, except that which has arisen from conscientious +persecutors. Now these perhaps have never been either numerous or +powerful. Nor is it to Christianity that even their mistake can fairly +be imputed. They have been misled by an error not properly Christian or +religious, but by an error in their moral philosophy. They pursued the +particular, without adverting to the general consequence. Believing +certain articles of faith, or a certain mode of worship, to be highly +conducive, or perhaps essential, to salvation, they thought themselves +bound to bring all they could, by every means, into them, and this they +thought, without considering what would be the effect of such a +conclusion when adopted amongst mankind as a general rule of conduct. +Had there been in the New Testament, what there are in the Koran, +precepts authorising coercion in the propagation of the religion, and +the use of violence towards unbelievers, the case would have been +different. This distinction could not have been taken, nor this defence +made. + +I apologise for no species nor degree of persecution, but I think that +even the fact has been exaggerated. The slave-trade destroys more in a +year than the Inquisition does in a hundred or perhaps hath done since +its foundation. + +If it be objected, as I apprehend it will be, that Christianity is +chargeable with every mischief of which it has been the occasion, though +not the motive; I answer that, if the malevolent passions be there, the +world will never want occasions. The noxious element will always find a +conductor. Any point will produce an explosion. Did the applauded +intercommunity of the pagan theology preserve the peace of the Roman +world? did it prevent oppressions, proscriptions, massacres, +devastation? Was it bigotry that carried Alexander into the East, or +brought Caesar into Gaul? Are the nations of the world into which +Christianity hath not found its way, or from which it hath been +banished, free from contentions? Are their contentions less ruinous and +sanguinary? Is it owing to Christianity, or to the want of it, that the +regions of the East, the countries inter quatuor maria, peninsula of +Greece, together with a great part of the Mediterranean coast, are at +this day a desert? or that the banks of the Nile, whose constantly +renewed fertility is not to be impaired by neglect, or destroyed by the +ravages of war, serve only for the scene of a ferocious anarchy, or the +supply of unceasing hostilities? Europe itself has known no religious +wars for some centuries, yet has hardly ever been without war. Are the +calamities which at this day afflict it to be imputed to Christianity? +Hath Poland fallen by a Christian crusade? Hath the overthrow in France +of civil order and security been effected by the votaries of our +religion, or by the foes? Amongst the awful lessons which the crimes and +the miseries of that country afford to mankind this is one; that in +order to be a persecutor it is not necessary to be a bigot: that in rage +and cruelty, in mischief and destruction, fanaticism itself can be +outdone by infidelity. + +Finally, if war, as it is now carried on between nations produce less +misery and ruin than formerly, we are indebted perhaps to Christianity +for the change more than to any other cause. Viewed therefore even in +its relation to this subject, it appears to have been of advantage to +the world. It hath humanised the conduct of wars; it hath ceased to +excite them. + +The differences of opinion that have in all ages prevailed amongst +Christians fall very much within the alternative which has been stated. +If we possessed the disposition which Christianity labours, above all +other qualities, to inculcate, these differences would do little harm. +If that disposition be wanting, other causes, even were these absent, +would continually rise up to call forth the malevolent passions into +action. Differences of opinion, when accompanied with mutual charity, +which Christianity forbids them to violate, are for the most part +innocent, and for some purposes useful. They promote inquiry, +discussion, and knowledge. They help to keep up an attention to +religious subjects, and a concern about them, which might be apt to die +away in the calm and silence of universal agreement. I do not know that +it is in any degree true that the influence of religion is the greatest +where there are the fewest dissenters. + + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE CONCLUSION, + +In religion, as in every other subject of human reasoning, much depends +upon the order in which we dispose our inquiries. A man who takes up a +system of divinity with a previous opinion that either every part must +be true or the whole false, approaches the discussion with great +disadvantage. No other system, which is founded upon moral evidence, +would bear to be treated in the same manner. Nevertheless, in a certain +degree, we are all introduced to our religious studies under this +prejudication. And it cannot be avoided. The weakness of the human +judgment in the early part of youth, yet its extreme susceptibility of +impression, renders it necessary to furnish it with some opinions, and +with some principles or other. Or indeed, without much express care, or +much endeavour for this purpose, the tendency of the mind of man to +assimilate itself to the habits of thinking and speaking which prevail +around him, produces the same effect. That indifferency and suspense, +that waiting and equilibrium of the judgment, which some require in +religious matters, and which some would wish to be aimed at in the +conduct of education, are impossible to be preserved. They are not given +to the condition of human life. + +It is a consequence of this institution that the doctrines of religion +come to us before the proofs; and come to us with that mixture of +explications and inferences from which no public creed is, or can be, +free. And the effect which too frequently follows, from Christianity +being presented to the understanding in this form, is, that when any +articles, which appear as parts of it, contradict the apprehension of +the persons to whom it is proposed, men of rash and confident tempers +hastily and indiscriminately reject the whole. But is this to do +justice, either to themselves or to the religion? The rational way of +treating a subject of such acknowledged importance is, to attend, in the +first place, to the general and substantial truth of its principles, and +to that alone. When we once feel a foundation; when we once perceive a +ground of credibility in its history; we shall proceed with safety to +inquire into the interpretation of its records, and into the doctrines +which have been deduced from them. Nor will it either endanger our +faith, or diminish or alter our motives for obedience, if we should +discover that these conclusions are formed with very different degrees +of probability, and possess very different degrees of importance. + +This conduct of the understanding, dictated by every rule of right +reasoning, will uphold personal Christianity, even in those countries in +which it is established under forms the most liable to difficulty and +objection. It will also have the further effect of guarding us against +the prejudices which are wont to arise in our minds to the disadvantage +of religion, from observing the numerous controversies which are carried +on amongst its professors; and likewise of inducing a spirit of lenity +and moderation in our judgment, as well as in our treatment of those who +stand, in such controversies, upon sides opposite to ours. What is clear +in Christianity we shall find to be sufficient, and to be infinitely +valuable; what is dubious, unnecessary to be decided, or of very +subordinate importance, and what is most obscure, will teach us to bear +with the opinions which others may have formed upon the same subject. We +shall say to those who the most widely dissent from us, what Augustine +said to the worst heretics of his age; "Illi in vos saeviant, qui +nasciunt, cum quo labore verum inveniatur, et quam difficile caveantur +errores;---qui nesciunt, cure quanta difficultate sanetur oculus +interioris hominis;--qui nesciunt, quibus suspiriis et gemitibus fiat ut +ex quantulacumque parte possit intelligi Deus.". (Aug. contra. Ep. Fund. +Cap. ii. n. 2,3.) + +A judgment, moreover, which is once pretty well satisfied of the general +truth of the religion will not only thus discriminate in its doctrines, +but will possess sufficient strength to overcome the reluctance of the +imagination to admit articles of faith which are attended with +difficulty of apprehension, if such articles of faith appear to be truly +parts of the revelation. It was to be expected beforehand, that what +related to the economy and to the persons of the invisible world, which +revelation profess to do, and which, if true, it actually does, should +contain some points remote from our analogies, and from the +comprehension of a mind which hath acquired all its ideas from sense and +from experience. + +It hath been my care in the preceding work to preserve the separation +between evidences and doctrines as inviolable as I could; to remove from +the primary question all considerations which have been unnecessarily +joined with it; and to offer a defence to Christianity which every +Christian might read without seeing the tenets in which he had been +brought up attacked or decried: and it always afforded a satisfaction to +my mind to observe that this was practicable; that few or none of our +many controversies with one another affect or relate to the proofs of +our religion; that the rent never descends to the foundation. + +The truth of Christianity depends upon its leading facts, and upon them +alone. Now of these we have evidence which ought to satisfy us, at least +until it appear that mankind have ever been deceived by the same. We +have some uncontested and incontestable points, to which the history of +the human species hath nothing similar to offer. A Jewish peasant +changed the religion of the world, and that without force, without +power, without support; without one natural source or circumstance of +attraction, influence, or success. Such a thing hath not happened in any +other instance. The companions of this Person, after he himself had been +put to death for his attempt, asserted his supernatural character, +founded upon his supernatural operations: and, in testimony of the truth +of their assertions, i.e. in consequence of their own belief of that +truth, and in order to communicate the knowledge of it to others, +voluntarily entered upon lives of toil and hardship, and, with a full +experience of their danger, committed themselves to the last extremities +of persecution. This hath not a parallel. More particularly, a very few +days after this Person had been publicly executed, and in the very city +in which he was buried, these his companions declared with one voice +that his body was restored to life: that they had seen him, handled him, +ate with him, conversed with him; and, in pursuance of their persuasion +of the truth of what they told, preached his religion, with this strange +fact as the foundation of it, in the face of those who had killed him, +who were armed with the power of the country, and necessarily and +naturally disposed to treat his followers as they had treated himself; +and having done this upon the spot where the event took place, carried +the intelligence of it abroad, in despite of difficulties and +opposition, and where the nature of their errand gave them nothing to +expect but derision, insult, and outrage.--This is without example. +These three facts, I think, are certain, and would have been nearly so, +if the Gospels had never been written. The Christian story, as to these +points, hath never varied. No other hath been set up against it. Every +letter, every discourse, every controversy, amongst the followers of the +religion; every book written by them from the age of its commencement to +the present time, in every part of the world in which it hath been +professed, and with every sect into which it hath been divided (and we +have letters and discourses written by contemporaries, by witnesses of +the transaction, by persons themselves bearing a share in it, and other +writings following that again regular succession), concur in +representing these facts in this manner. A religion which now possesses +the greatest part of the civilised world unquestionably sprang up at +Jerusalem at this time. Some account must be given of its origin; some +cause assigned for its rise. All the accounts of this origin, all the +explications of this cause, whether taken from the writings of the early +followers of the religion (in which, and in which perhaps alone, it +could he expected that they should he distinctly unfolded), or from +occasional notices in other writings of that or the adjoining age, +either expressly allege the facts above stated as the means by which the +religion was set up, or advert to its commencement in a manner which +agrees with the supposition of these facts being true, and which +testifies their operation and effects. + +These prepositions alone lay a foundation for our faith; for they prove +the existence of a transaction which cannot even, in its most general +parts, be accounted for upon any reasonable supposition, except that of +the truth of the mission. But the particulars, the detail of the +miracles or miraculous pretences (for such there necessarily must have +been) upon which this unexampled transaction rested, and for which these +men acted and suffered as they did act and suffer, it is undoubtedly of +great importance to us to know. We have this detail from the +fountain-head, from the persons themselves; in accounts written by +eye-witnesses of the scene, by contemporaries and companions of those +who were so; not in one book but four, each containing enough for the +verification of the religion, all agreeing in the fundamental parts of +the history. We have the authenticity of these books established by more +and stronger proofs than belong to almost any other ancient book +whatever, and by proofs which widely distinguish them from any others +claiming a similar authority to theirs. If there were any good reason +for doubt concerning the names to which these books are ascribed (which +there is not, for they were never ascribed to any other, and we have +evidence not long after their publication of their bearing the names +which they now bear); their antiquity, of which there is no question, +their reputation and authority amongst the early disciples of the +religion, of which there is as little, form a valid proof that they +must, in the main at least, have agreed with what the first teachers of +the religion delivered. + +When we open these ancient volumes, we discover in them marks of truth, +whether we consider each in itself, or collate them with one another. +The writers certainly knew something of what they were writing about, +for they manifest an acquaintance with local circumstances, with the +history and usages of the times, which could belong only to an +inhabitant of that country, living in that age. In every narrative we +perceive simplicity and undesignedness; the air and the language of +reality. When we compare the different narratives together, we find them +so varying as to repel all suspicion of confederacy; so agreeing under +this variety as to show that the accounts had one real transaction for +their common foundation; often attributing different actions and +discourses to the Person whose history, or rather memoirs of whose +history, they profess to relate, yet actions and discourses so similar +as very much to bespeak the same character: which is a coincidence that, +in such writers as they were, could only be the consequence of their +writing from fact, and not from imagination. + +These four narratives are confined to the history of the Founder of the +religion, and end with his ministry. Since, however, it is certain that +the affair went on, we cannot help being anxious to know how it +proceeded. This intelligence hath come down to us in a work purporting +to be written by a person, himself connected with the business during +the first stages of its progress, taking up the story where the former +histories had left it, carrying on the narrative, oftentimes with great +particularity, and throughout with the appearance of good sense,* +information and candour; stating all along the origin, and the only +probable origin, of effects which unquestionably were produced, together +with the natural consequences of situations which unquestionably did +exist; and confirmed, in the substance at least of the account, by the +strongest possible accession of testimony which a history can receive, +original letters, written by the person who is the principal subject of +the history, written upon the business to which the history relates, and +during the period, or soon after the period, which the history +comprises. No man can say that this all together is not a body of strong +historical evidence. + +_________ + +* See Peter's speech upon curing the cripple (Acts iii. 18), the council +of the apostles (xv.), Paul's discourse at Athens (xvii. 22), before +Agrippa (xxvi.). I notice these passages, both as fraught with good +sense and as free from the smallest tincture of enthusiasm. +_________ + + +When we reflect that some of those from whom the books proceeded are +related to have themselves wrought miracles, to have been the subject of +miracles, or of supernatural assistance in propagating the religion, we +may perhaps be led to think that more credit, or a different kind of +credit, is due to these accounts, than what can be claimed by merely +human testimony. But this is an argument which cannot be addressed to +sceptics or unbelievers. A man must be a Christian before he can receive +it. The inspiration of the historical Scriptures, the nature, degree, +and extent of that inspiration, are questions undoubtedly of serious +discussion; but they are questions amongst Christians themselves, and +not between them and others. The doctrine itself is by no means +necessary to the belief of Christianity, which must, in the first +instance at least, depend upon the ordinary maxim of historical +credibility. (See Powell's Discourse, disc. xv. P. 245.) + +In viewing the detail of miracles recorded in these books, we find every +supposition negatived by which they can be resolved into fraud or +delusion. They were not secret, nor momentary, nor tentative, nor +ambiguous; nor performed under the sanction of authority, with the +spectators on their side, or in affirmance of tenets and practices +already established. We find also the evidence alleged for them, and +which evidence was by great numbers received, different from that upon +which other miraculous accounts rest. It was contemporary, it was +published upon the spot, it continued; it involved interests and +questions of the greatest magnitude; it contradicted the most fixed +persuasions and prejudices of the persons to whom it was addressed; it +required from those who accepted it, not a simple, indolent assent, but +a change, from thenceforward, of principles and conduct, a submission to +consequences the most serious and the most deterring, to loss and +danger, to insult, outrage, and persecution. How such a story should be +false, or, if false, how under such circumstances it should make its +way, I think impossible to be explained; yet such the Christian story +was, such were the circumstances under which it came forth, and in +opposition to such difficulties did it prevail. + +An event so connected with the religion, and with the fortunes, of the +Jewish people, as one of their race, one born amongst them, establishing +his authority and his law throughout a great portion of the civilised +world, it was perhaps to be expected should be noticed in the prophetic +writings of that nation; especially when this Person, together with his +own mission, caused also to be acknowledged the Divine original of their +institution, and by those who before had altogether rejected it. +Accordingly, we perceive in these writings various intimations +concurring in the person and history of Jesus, in a manner and in a +degree in which passages taken from these books could not be made to +concur in any person arbitrarily assumed, or in any person except him +who has been the author of great changes in the affairs and opinions of +mankind. Of some of these predictions the weight depends a good deal +upon the concurrence. Others possess great separate strength: one in +particular does this in an eminent degree. It is an entire description, +manifestly directed to one character and to one scene of things; it is +extant in a writing, or collection of writings, declaredly prophetic; +and it applies to Christ's character, and to the circumstances of his +life and death, with considerable precision, and in a way which no +diversity of interpretation hath, in my opinion, been able to confound. +That the advent of Christ, and the consequences of it, should not have +been more distinctly revealed in the Jewish sacred books, is I think in +some measure accounted for by the consideration, that for the Jews to +have foreseen the fall of their institution, and that it was to merge at +length into a more perfect and comprehensive dispensation, would have +cooled too much, and relaxed, their zeal for it, and their adherence to +it, upon which zeal and adherence the preservation in the world of any +remains, for many ages, of religious truth might in a great measure +depend. + +Of what a revelation discloses to mankind, one, and only one, question +can properly be asked--Was it of importance to mankind to know, or to be +better assured of? In this question, when we turn our thoughts to the +great Christian doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, and of a +future judgment, no doubt can possibly be entertained. He who gives me +riches or honours, does nothing; he who even gives me health, does +little, in comparison with that which lays before me just grounds for +expecting a restoration to life, and a day of account and retribution; +which thing Christianity hath done for millions. + +Other articles of the Christian faith, although of infinite importance +when placed beside any other topic of human inquiry, are only the +adjuncts and circumstances of this. They are, however, such as appear +worthy of the original to which we ascribe them. The morality of the +religion, whether taken from the precepts or the example of its Founder, +or from the lessons of its primitive teachers, derived, as it should +seem, from what had been inculcated by their Master, is, in all its +parts, wise and pure; neither adapted to vulgar prejudices, nor +flattering popular notions, nor excusing established practices, but +calculated, in the matter of its instruction, truly to promote human +happiness; and in the form in which it was conveyed, to produce +impression and effect: a morality which, let it have proceeded from any +person whatever, would have been satisfactory evidence of his good sense +and integrity, of the soundness of his understanding and the probity of +his designs: a morality, in every view of it, much more perfect than +could have been expected from the natural circumstances and character of +the person who delivered it; a morality, in a word, which is, and hath +been, most beneficial to mankind. + +Upon the greatest, therefore, of all possible occasions, and for a +purpose of inestimable value, it pleased the Deity to vouchsafe a +miraculous attestation. Having done this for the institution, when this +alone could fix its authority, or give to it a beginning, he committed +its future progress to the natural means of human communication, and to +the influence of those causes by which human conduct and human affairs +are governed. The seed, being sown, was left to vegetate; the leaven, +being inserted, was left to ferment; and both according to the laws of +nature: laws, nevertheless, disposed and controlled by that Providence +which conducts the affairs of the universe, though by an influence +inscrutable, and generally undistinguishable by us. And in this, +Christianity is analogous to most other provisions for happiness. The +provision is made; and; being made, is left to act according to laws +which, forming a part of a more general system, regulate this particular +subject in common with many others. + +Let the constant recurrence to our observation of contrivance, design, +and wisdom, in the works of nature, once fix upon our minds the belief +of a God, and after that all is easy. In the counsels of a being +possessed of the power and disposition which the Creator of the universe +must possess, it is not improbable that there should be a future state; +it is not improbable that we should be acquainted with it. A future +state rectifies everything; because, if moral agents be made, in the +last event, happy or miserable, according to their conduct in the +station and under the circumstances in which they are placed, it seems +not very material by the operation of what causes, according to what +rules, or even, if you please to call it so, by what chance or caprice +these stations are assigned, or these circumstances determined. This +hypothesis, therefore, solves all that objection to the divine care and +goodness which the promiscuous distribution of good and evil (I do not +mean in the doubtful advantages of riches and grandeur, but in the +unquestionably important distinctions of health and sickness, strength +and infirmity, bodily ease and pain, mental alacrity and depression) is +apt on so many occasions to create. This one truth changes the nature of +things; gives order to confusion; makes the moral world of a piece with +the natural. + +Nevertheless, a higher degree of assurance than that to which it is +possible to advance this, or any argument drawn from the light of +nature, was necessary, especially to overcome the shock which the +imagination and the senses received from the effects and the appearances +of death, and the obstruction which thence arises to the expectation of +either a continued or a future existence. This difficulty, although of a +nature no doubt to act very forcibly, will be found, I think, upon +reflection to reside more in our habits of apprehension than in the +subject: and that the giving way to it, when we have any reasonable +grounds or the contrary, is rather an indulging of the imagination than +anything else. Abstractedly considered, that is, considered without +relation to the difference which habit, and merely habit, produces in +our faculties and modes of apprehension, I do not see anything more in +the resurrection of a dead man than in the conception of a child; except +it be this, that the one comes into his world with a system of prior +consciousness about him, which the other does not: and no person will +say that he knows enough of either subject to perceive that this +circumstance makes such a difference in the two cases that the one +should be easy, and the other impossible; the one natural, the other not +so. To the first man the succession of the species would be as +incomprehensible as the resurrection of the dead is to us. + +Thought is different from motion, perception from impact: the +individuality of a mind is hardly consistent with the divisibility of an +extended substance; or its volition, that is, its power of originating +motion, with the inertness which cleaves to every portion of matter +which our observation or our experiments can reach. These distinctions +lead us to an immaterial principle: at least, they do this: they so +negative the mechanical properties of matter, in the constitution of a +sentient, still more of a rational, being, that no argument drawn from +the properties can be of any great weight in opposition to other +reasons, when the question respects the changes of which such: a nature +is capable, or the manner in which these changes am effected. Whatever +thought be, or whatever it depend upon the regular experience of sleep +makes one thing concerning it certain, that it can be completely +suspended, and completely restored. + +If any one find it too great a strain upon his thoughts to admit the +notion of a substance strictly immaterial, that is, from which extension +and solidity are excluded, he can find no difficulty in allowing, that a +particle as small as a particle of light, minuter than all conceivable +dimensions, may just as easily be the depositary, the organ, and the +vehicle of consciousness as the congeries of animal substance which +forms a human body, or the human brain; that, being so, it may transfer +a proper identity to whatever shall hereafter be united to it; may be +safe amidst the destruction of its integuments; may connect the natural +with the spiritual, the corruptible with the glorified body. If it be +said that the mode and means of all this is imperceptible by our senses, +it is only what is true of the most important agencies and operations. +The great powers of nature are all invisible. Gravitation, electricity, +magnetism, though constantly present, and constantly exerting their +influence; though within us, near us, and about us; though diffused +throughout all space, overspreading the surface, or penetrating the +contexture, of all bodies with which we are acquainted, depend upon +substances and actions which are totally concealed from our senses. The +Supreme Intelligence is so himself. + +But whether these or any other attempts to satisfy the imagination bear +any resemblance to the truth; or whether the imagination, which, as I +have said before, is the mere slave of habit, can be satisfied or not; +when a future state, and the revelation of a future state is not only +perfectly consistent with the attributes of the Being who governs the +universe; but when it is more; when it alone removes the appearance of +contrariety which attends the operations of his will towards creatures +capable of comparative merit and demerit, of reward and punishment; when +a strong body of historical evidence, confirmed by many internal tokens +of truth and authenticity, gives us just reason to believe that such a +revelation hath actually been made; we ought to set our minds at +rest with the assurance, that in the resources of Creative Wisdom +expedients cannot be wanted to carry into effect what the Deity hath +purposed: that either a new and mighty influence will descend upon the +human world to resuscitate extinguished consciousness; or that, amidst +the other wonderful contrivances with which the universe abounds, and by +some of which we see animal life, in many instances, assuming improved +forms of existence, acquiring new organs, new perceptions, and new +sources of enjoyment, provision is also made, though by methods secret +to us (as all the great processes of nature are), for conducting the +objects of God's moral government, through the necessary changes of +their frame, to those final distinctions of happiness and misery which +he hath declared to be reserved for obedience and transgression, for +virtue and vice, for the use and the neglect, the right and the wrong +employment of the faculties and opportunities with which he hath been +pleased, severally, to intrust and to try us. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14780 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a81af0f --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #14780 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14780) diff --git a/old/14780.txt b/old/14780.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..71c0218 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/14780.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13456 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Evidence of Christianity, by William Paley + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Evidences of Christianity + +Author: William Paley + +Release Date: January 24, 2005 [eBook #14780] +[Date last updated: February 9, 2006] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY*** + + +E-text prepared by Michael Madden + + + +EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY + +by + +WILLIAM PALEY, D.D. + +A New Edition + +London: Printed by W. Clowes and Sons, Stamford Street + +1851 + + + + + + + +THE HONOURABLE AND RIGHT REVEREND + +JAMES YORK, D.D., LORD BISHOP OF ELY + +My LORD, + +When, five years ago, an important station in the University of +Cambridge awaited your Lordship's disposal, you were pleased to offer it +to me. The circumstances under which this offer was made demand a public +acknowledgment. I had never seen your Lordship; I possessed no +connection which could possibly recommend me to your favour; I was known +to you only by my endeavour, in common with many others, to discharge my +duty as a tutor in the University; and by some very imperfect, but +certainly well-intended, and, as you thought, useful publications since. +In an age by no means wanting in examples of honourable patronage, +although this deserve not to be mentioned in respect of the object of +your Lordship's choice, it is inferior to none in the purity and +disinterestedness of the motives which suggested it. + +How the following work may be received, I pretend not to foretell. My +first prayer concerning it is, that it may do good to any: my second +hope, that it may assist, what it hath always been my earnest wish to +promote, the religious part of an academical education. If in this +latter view it might seem, in any degree, to excuse your Lordship's +judgment of its author, I shall be gratified by the reflection that, to +a kindness flowing from public principles, I have made the best public +return in my power. + +In the mean time, and in every event, I rejoice in the opportunity here +afforded me of testifying the sense I entertain of your Lordship's +conduct, and of a notice which I regard as the most flattering +distinction of my life. + + I am, MY LORD, + With sentiments of gratitude and respect, + Your Lordship's faithful + And most obliged servant, + +WILLIAM PALEY. + + + + + +CONTENTS + +Preparatory Considerations--Of the antecedent Credibility of Miracles. + +PART 1. + +OF THE DIRECT HISTORICAL EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY, AND WHEREIN IT IS +DISTINGUISHED FROM THE EVIDENCE ALLEGED FOR OTHER MIRACLES. + +Proposition stated + +PROPOSITION I. + +That there is satisfactory Evidence, that many professing to be original +Witnesses of the Christian Miracles passed their Lives in Labours, +Dangers, and Sufferings, voluntarily undergone in Attestation of the +Accounts which they delivered, and solely in consequence of their Belief +of those Accounts; and that they submitted, from the same Motives, to +new Rules of Conduct. + +CHAPTER I + +Evidence of the Suffering of the first Propagators of Christianity, from +the Nature of the Case. + +CHAPTER II + +Evidence of the Sufferings of the first Propagators of Christianity, +from Profane Testimony. + +CHAPTER III + +Indirect Evidence of the Sufferings of the first Propagators of +Christianity, from the Scriptures and other ancient Christian Writings. + +CHAPTER IV + +Direct Evidence of the same. + +CHAPTER V + +Observations upon the preceding Evidence. + +CHAPTER VI + +That the Story for which the first Propagators of Christianity suffered +was miraculous. + +CHAPTER VII + +That it was, in the main, the Story which we have now proved by indirect +Considerations. + +CHAPTER VIII + +The same proved from the Authority of our Historical Scriptures. + +CHAPTER IX + +Of the Authenticity of the historical Scriptures, in eleven Sections + + +SECT. 1 Quotations of the historical Scriptures by ancient Christian + Writers. +SECT. 2 Of the peculiar Respect with which they were quoted. +SECT. 3 The Scriptures were in very early Times collected into a + distinct Volume. +SECT. 4 And distinguished by appropriate Names and Titles of Respect. +SECT. 5 Were publicly read and expounded in the religious Assemblies of + the early Christians. +SECT. 6 Commentaries, &c., were anciently written upon the Scriptures. +SECT. 7 They were received by ancient Christians of different Sects and + persuasions. +SECT. 8 The four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, thirteen Epistles + of St. Paul, the first Epistle of John, and the first of Peter, + were received without doubt by those who doubted concerning + the other Books of our present Canon. +SECT. 9 Our present Gospels were considered by the adversaries of + Christianity as containing the Accounts upon which the Religion + was founded. +SECT. 10 Formal Catalogues of authentic Scriptures were published, in + all which our present Gospels were included. +SECT. 11 The above Propositions cannot be predicated of those Books + which are commonly called Apocryphal Books of the New + Testament. + +Recapitulation. + +CHAPTER X. + +OF THE DIRECT HISTORICAL EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY, AND WHEREIN IT IS +DISTINGUISHED FROM THE EVIDENCE ALLEGED FOR OTHER MIRACLES. + +PROPOSITION II. + +CHAPTER I + +That there is not satisfactory Evidence, that Persons pretending to be +original Witnesses of any other similar Miracles have acted in the same +Manner, in Attestation of the Accounts which they delivered, and solely +in consequence of their Belief of the Truth of those Accounts. + +CHAPTER II + +Consideration of some specific Instances + + +PART II. + +OF THE AUXILIARY EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY, + +CHAPTER I + +Prophecy + +CHAPTER II + +The Morality of the Gospel + +CHAPTER III + +The Candour of the Writers of the New Testament + +CHAPTER IV + +Identity of Christ's Character + +CHAPTER V + +Originality of our Saviour's Character + +CHAPTER VI + +Conformity of the Facts occasionally mentioned or referred to in +Scripture with the State of things in these Times, as represented by +foreign and independent Accounts. + +CHAPTER VII + +Undesigned Coincidences. + +CHAPTER VIII + +Of the History of the Resurrection. + +CHAPTER IX + +Of the Propagation of Christianity. +SECT. 2 Reflections upon the preceding Account. +SECT. 3 Of the Religion of Mahomet. + + +PART III + +A BRIEF CONSIDERATION OF SOME POPULAR OBJECTIONS. + +CHAPTER I + +The Discrepancies between the several Gospels. + +CHAPTER II + +Erroneous Opinions imputed to the Apostles. + +CHAPTER III + +The Connection of Christianity with the Jewish History. + +CHAPTER IV + +Rejection of Christianity. + +CHAPTER V + +That the Christian Miracles are not recited, or appealed to, by early +Christian Writers themselves, so fully or frequently as might have been +expected. + +CHAPTER VI + +Want of Universality in the Knowledge and Reception of Christianity, and +of greater Clearness in the Evidence. + +CHAPTER VII + +Supposed effects of Christianity. + +CHAPTER VIII + +Conclusion. + + + + + +PREPARATORY CONSIDERATIONS. + +I deem it unnecessary to prove that mankind stood in need of a +revelation because I have met with no serious person who thinks that, +even under the Christian revelation, we have too much light, or any +degree of assurance which is superfluous. I desire, moreover, that in +judging of Christianity, it may be remembered that the question lies +between this religion and none: for, if the Christian religion be not +credible, no one, with whom we have to do, will support the pretensions +of any other. + +Suppose, then, the world we live in to have had a Creator; suppose it to +appear, from the predominant aim and tendency of the provisions and +contrivances observable in the universe, that the Deity, when he formed +it, consulted for the happiness of his sensitive creation; suppose the +disposition which dictated this counsel to continue; suppose a part of +the creation to have received faculties from their Maker, by which they +are capable of rendering a moral obedience to his will, and of +voluntarily pursuing any end for which he has designed them; suppose the +Creator to intend for these, his rational and accountable agents, a +second state of existence, in which their situation will be by their +behaviour in the first state, by which suppose (and by no other) the +objection to the divine government in not putting a difference between +the good and the bad, and the inconsistency of this confusion with the +care and benevolence discoverable in the works of the Deity is done +away; suppose it to be of the utmost importance to the subjects of this +dispensation to know what is intended for them, that is, suppose the +knowledge of it to be highly conducive to the happiness of the species, +a purpose which so many provisions of nature are calculated to promote: +Suppose, nevertheless, almost the whole race, either by the imperfection +of their faculties, the misfortune of their situation, or by the loss of +some prior revelation, to want this knowledge, and not to be likely, +without the aid of a new revelation, to attain it; under these +circumstances, is it improbable that a revelation should be made? Is it +incredible that God should interpose for such a purpose? Suppose him to +design for mankind a future state; is it unlikely that he should +acquaint him with it? + +Now in what way can a revelation be made, but by miracles? In none which +we are able to conceive. Consequently, in whatever degree it is +probable, or not very improbable, that a revelation should be +communicated to mankind at all: in the same degree is it probable, or +not very improbable, that miracles should be wrought. Therefore, when +miracles are related to have been wrought in the promulgating of a +revelation manifestly wanted, and, if true, of inestimable value, the +improbability which arises from the miraculous nature of the things +related is not greater than the original improbability that such a +revelation should be imparted by God. + +I wish it, however, to be correctly understood, in what manner, and to +what extent, this argument is alleged. We do not assume the attributes +of the Deity, or the existence of a future state, in order to prove the +reality of miracles. That reality always must be proved by evidence. We +assert only, that in miracles adduced in support of revelation there is +not any such antecedent improbability as no testimony can surmount. And +for the purpose of maintaining this assertion, we contend, that the +incredibility of miracles related to have been wrought in attestation of +a message from God, conveying intelligence of a future state of rewards +and punishments, and teaching mankind how to prepare themselves for that +state, is not in itself greater than the event, call it either probable +or improbable, of the two following propositions being true: namely, +first, that a future state of existence should be destined by God for +his human creation; and, secondly, that, being so destined, he should +acquaint them with it. It is not necessary for our purpose, that these +propositions be capable of proof, or even that, by arguments drawn from +the light of nature, they can be made out to be probable; it is enough +that we are able to say concerning them, that they are not so violently +improbable, so contradictory to what we already believe of the divine +power and character, that either the propositions themselves, or facts +strictly connected with the propositions (and therefore no further +improbable than they are improbable), ought to be rejected at first +sight, and to be rejected by whatever strength or complication of +evidence they be attested. + +This is the prejudication we would resist. For to this length does a +modern objection to miracles go, viz., that no human testimony can in +any case render them credible. I think the reflection above stated, +that, if there be a revelation, there must be miracles, and that, under +the circumstances in which the human species are placed, a revelation is +not improbable, or not to any great degree, to be a fair answer to the +whole objection. + +But since it is an objection which stands in the very threshold our +argument, and, if admitted, is a bar to every proof, and to all future +reasoning upon the subject, it may be necessary, before we proceed +further, to examine the principle upon which it professes to be founded; +which principle is concisely this, That it is contrary to experience +that a miracle should be true, but not contrary to experience that +testimony should be false. + +Now there appears a small ambiguity in the term "experience," and in the +phrases, "contrary to experience," or "contradicting experience," which +it may be necessary to remove in the first place. Strictly speaking, the +narrative of a fact is then only contrary to experience, when the fact +is related to have existed at a time and place, at which time and place +we being present did not perceive it to exist; as if it should be +asserted, that in a particular room, and at a particular hour of a +certain day, a man was raised from the dead, in which room, and at the +time specified, we, being present and looking on, perceived no such +event to have taken place. Here the assertion is contrary to experience +properly so called; and this is a contrariety which no evidence can +surmount. It matters nothing, whether the fact be of a miraculous +nature, or not. But although this be the experience, and the +contrariety, which Archbishop Tillotson alleged in the quotation with +which Mr. Hume opens his Essay, it is certainly not that experience, nor +that contrariety, which Mr. Hume himself intended to object. And short +of this I know no intelligible signification which can be affixed to the +term "contrary to experience," but one, viz., that of not having +ourselves experienced anything similar to the thing related, or such +things not being generally experienced by others. I say "not generally" +for to state concerning the fact in question, that no such thing was +ever experienced, or that universal experience is against it, is to +assume the subject of the controversy. + +Now the improbability which arises from the want (for this properly is a +want, not a contradiction) of experience, is only equal to the +probability there is, that, if the thing were true, we should experience +things similar to it, or that such things would be generally +experienced. Suppose it then to be true that miracles were wrought on +the first promulgation of Christianity, when nothing but miracles could +decide its authority, is it certain that such miracles would be repeated +so often, and in so many places, as to become objects of general +experience? Is it a probability approaching to certainty? Is it a +probability of any great strength or force? Is it such as no evidence +can encounter? And yet this probability is the exact converse, and +therefore the exact measure, of the improbability which arises from the +want of experience, and which Mr. Hume represents as invincible by human +testimony. + +It is not like alleging a new law of nature, or a new experiment in +natural philosophy; because, when these are related, it is expected +that, under the same circumstances, the same effect will follow +universally; and in proportion as this expectation is justly +entertained, the want of a corresponding experience negatives the +history. But to expect concerning a miracle, that it should succeed upon +a repetition, is to expect that which would make it cease to be a +miracle, which is contrary to its nature as such, and would totally +destroy the use and purpose for which it was wrought. + +The force of experience as an objection to miracles is founded in the +presumption, either that the course of nature is invariable, or that, if +it be ever varied, variations will be frequent and general. Has the +necessity of this alternative been demonstrated? Permit us to call the +course of nature the agency of an intelligent Being, and is there any +good reason for judging this state of the case to be probable? Ought we +not rather to expect that such a Being, on occasions of peculiar +importance, may interrupt the order which he had appointed, yet, that +such occasions should return seldom; that these interruptions +consequently should be confined to the experience of a few; that the +want of it, therefore, in many, should be matter neither of surprise nor +objection? + +But, as a continuation of the argument from experience, it is said that, +when we advance accounts of miracles, we assign effects without causes, +or we attribute effects to causes inadequate to the purpose, or to +causes of the operation of which we have no experience of what causes, +we may ask, and of what effects, does the objection speak? If it be +answered that, when we ascribe the cure of the palsy to a touch, of +blindness to the anointing of the eyes with clay, or the raising of the +dead to a word, we lay ourselves open to this imputation; we reply that +we ascribe no such effects to such causes. We perceive no virtue or +energy in these things more than in other things of the same kind. They +are merely signs to connect the miracle with its end. The effect we +ascribe simply to the volition of Deity; of whose existence and power, +not to say of whose Presence and agency, we have previous and +independent proof. We have, therefore, all we seek for in the works of +rational agents--a sufficient power and an adequate motive. In a word, +once believe that there is a God, and miracles are not incredible. + +Mr. Hume states the ease of miracles to be a contest of opposite +improbabilities, that is to say, a question whether it be more +improbable that the miracle should be true, or the testimony false: and +this I think a fair account of the controversy. But herein I remark a +want of argumentative justice, that, in describing the improbability of +miracles, he suppresses all those circumstances of extenuation, which +result from our knowledge of the existence, power, and disposition of +the Deity; his concern in the creation, the end answered by the miracle, +the importance of that end, and its subserviency to the plan pursued in +the work of nature. As Mr. Hume has represented the question, miracles +are alike incredible to him who is previously assured of the constant +agency of a Divine Being, and to him who believes that no such Being +exists in the universe. They are equally incredible, whether related to +have been wrought upon occasion the most deserving, and for purposes the +most beneficial, or for no assignable end whatever, or for an end +confessedly trifling or pernicious. This surely cannot be a correct +statement. In adjusting also the other side of the balance, the strength +and weight of testimony, this author has provided an answer to every +possible accumulation of historical proof by telling us that we are not +obliged to explain how the story of the evidence arose. Now I think that +we are obliged; not, perhaps, to show by positive accounts how it did, +but by a probable hypothesis how it might so happen. The existence of +the testimony is a phenomenon; the truth of the fact solves the +phenomenon. If we reject this solution, we ought to have some other to +rest in; and none, even by our adversaries, can be admired, which is not +inconsistent with the principles that regulate human affairs and human +conduct at present, or which makes men then to have been a different +kind of beings from what they are now. + +But the short consideration which, independently of every other, +convinces me that there is no solid foundation in Mr. Hume's conclusion, +is the following. When a theorem is proposed to a mathematician, the +first thing he does with it is to try it upon a simple case, and if it +produce a false result, he is sure that there must be some mistake in +the demonstration. Now to proceed in this way with what may be called +Mr. Hume's theorem. If twelve men, whose probity and good sense I had +long known, should seriously and circumstantially relate to me an +account of a miracle wrought before their eyes, and in which it was +impossible that they should be deceived: if the governor of the country, +hearing a rumour of this account, should call these men into his +presence, and offer them a short proposal, either to confess the +imposture, or submit to be tied up to a gibbet; if they should refuse +with one voice to acknowledge that there existed any falsehood or +imposture in the case: if this threat were communicated to them +separately, yet with no different effect; if it was at last executed; if +I myself saw them, one after another, consenting to be racked, burnt, or +strangled, rather than live up the truth of their account;--still if Mr. +Hume's rule be my guide, I am not to believe them. Now I undertake to +say that there exists not a sceptic in the world who would not believe +them, or who would defend such incredulity. + +Instances of spurious miracles supported by strong apparent testimony +undoubtedly demand examination; Mr. Hume has endeavoured to fortify his +argument by some examples of this kind. I hope in a proper place to show +that none of them reach the strength or circumstances of the Christian +evidence. In these, however, consists the weight of his objection; in +the principle itself, I am persuaded, there is none. + + + + + +PART I. + +OF THE DIRECT HISTORICAL EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY, AND WHEREIN IT IS +DISTINGUISHED FROM THE EVIDENCE ALLEGED FOR OTHER MIRACLES. + +The two propositions which I shall endeavour to establish are these: + +I. That there is satisfactory evidence that many professing to be +original witnesses of the Christian miracles passed their lives in +labours, dangers, and sufferings, voluntarily undergone in attestation +of the accounts which they delivered, and solely in consequence of their +belief of those accounts; and that they also submitted, from the same +motives, to new rules of conduct. + +2. That there is not satisfactory evidence that persons professing to be +original witnesses of other miracles, in their nature as certain as +these are, have ever acted in the same manner, in attestation of the +accounts which they delivered, and properly in consequence of their +belief of those accounts. + +The first of these prepositions, as it forms the argument will stand at +the head of the following nine chapters. + + + + + +CHAPTER I + +There is satisfactory evidence that many, professing to be original +witness of the Christian miracles, passed their lives in labours, +dangers, and sufferings, voluntarily undergone in attestation of the +accounts which they delivered, and solely in consequence of their of +belief of those accounts; and that they also submitted, from the same +motives, to new rules of conduct. + +To support this proposition, two points are necessary to be made out: +first, that the Founder of the institution, his associates and immediate +followers, acted the part which the proposition imputes to them: +secondly, that they did so in attestation of the miraculous history +recorded in our Scriptures, and solely in consequence of their belief of +the truth of this history. + +Before we produce any particular testimony to the activity and +sufferings which compose the subject of our first assertion, it will be +proper to consider the degree of probability which the assertion derives +from the nature of the case, that is, by inferences from those parts of +the case which, in point of fact, are on all hands acknowledged. + +First, then, the Christian Religion exists, and, therefore, by some +means or other, was established. Now it either owes the principle of its +establishment, i. e. its first publication, to the activity of the +Person who was the founder of the institution, and of those who were +joined with him in the undertaking, or we are driven upon the strange +supposition, that, although they might lie by, others would take it up; +although they were quiet and silent, other persons busied themselves in +the success and propagation of their story. This is perfectly +incredible. To me it appears little less than certain, that, if the +first announcing of the religion by the Founder had not been followed up +by the zeal and industry of his immediate disciples, the attempt must +have expired in its birth. Then as to the kind and degree of exertion +which was employed, and the mode of life to which these persons +submitted, we reasonably suppose it to be like that which we observe in +all others who voluntarily become missionaries of a new faith. Frequent, +earnest, and laborious preaching, constantly conversing with religious +persons upon religion, a sequestration from the common pleasures, +engagements, and varieties of life, and an addiction to one serious +object, compose the habits of such men. I do not say that this mode of +life is without enjoyment, but I say that the enjoyment springs from +sincerity. With a consciousness at the bottom of hollowness and +falsehood, the fatigue and restraint would become insupportable. I am +apt to believe that very few hypocrites engage in these undertakings; +or, however, persist in them long. Ordinarily speaking, nothing can +overcome the indolence of mankind, the love which is natural to most +tempers of cheerful society and cheerful scenes, or the desire, which is +common to all, of personal ease and freedom, but conviction. + +Secondly, it is also highly probable, from the nature of the case, that +the propagation of the new religion was attended with difficulty and +danger. As addressed to the Jews, it was a system adverse, not only to +their habitual opinions but to those opinions upon which their hopes, +their partialities, their pride, their consolation, was founded. This +people, with or without reason, had worked themselves into a persuasion, +that some signal and greatly advantageous change was to be effected in +the condition of their country, by the agency of a long-promised +messenger from heaven.* The rulers of the Jews, their leading sect, +their priesthood, had been the authors of this persuasion to the common +people. So that it was not merely the conjecture of theoretical divines, +or the secret expectation of a few recluse devotees, but it was become +the popular hope and Passion, and, like all popular opinions, undoubting +and impatient of contradiction. They clung to this hope under every +misfortune of their country, and with more tenacity as their dangers and +calamities increased. To find, therefore, that expectations so +gratifying were to be worse than disappointed; that they were to end in +the diffusion of a mild unambitious religion, which, instead of +victories and triumphs, instead of exalting their nation and institution +above the rest of the world, was to advance those whom they despised to +an equality with themselves, in those very points of comparison in which +they most valued their own distinction, could be no very pleasing +discovery to a Jewish mind; nor could the messengers of such +intelligence expect to be well received or easily credited. The doctrine +was equally harsh and novel. The extending of the kingdom of God to +those who did not conform to the law of Moses was a notion that had +never before entered into the thoughts of a Jew. + +_________ + +* "Pererebuerat oriento toto vetus et contans opinio, esse in fatis, ut +eo tempore Judaea profecti rerum potirsatur." Sueton. Vespasian. cap. +4--8. + +"Pluribus persuasio inerat, antiquis sacerdotum literis contineri, eo +ipso tempore fore, ut valesecret oriens, profectique Judaea rerum +potirentur." Tacit. Hist. lib. v. cap. 9--13. +_________ + + +The character of the new institution was, in other respects also, +ungrateful to Jewish habits and principles. Their own religion was in a +high degree technical. Even the enlightened Jew placed a great deal of +stress upon the ceremonies of his law, saw in them a great deal of +virtue and efficacy; the gross and vulgar had scarcely anything else; +and the hypocritical and ostentatious magnified them above measure, as +being the instruments of their own reputation and influence. The +Christian scheme, without formally repealing the Levitical code, lowered +its estimation extremely. In the place of strictness and zeal in +performing the observances which that code prescribed, or which +tradition had added to it, the new sect preached up faith, +well-regulated affections, inward purity, and moral rectitude of +disposition, as the true ground, on the part of the worshipper, of merit +and acceptance with God. This, however rational it may appear, or +recommending to us at present, did not by any means facilitate the plan +then. On the contrary, to disparage those qualities which the highest +characters in the country valued themselves most upon, was a sure way of +making powerful enemies. As if the frustration of the national hope was +not enough, the long-esteemed merit of ritual zeal and punctuality was +to be decried, and that by Jews preaching to Jews. + +The ruling party at Jerusalem had just before crucified the Founder of +the religion. That is a fact which will not be disputed. They, +therefore, who stood forth to preach the religion must necessarily +reproach these rulers with an execution which they could not but +represent as an unjust and cruel murder. This would not render their +office more easy, or their situation more safe. + +With regard to the interference of the Roman government which was then +established in Judea, I should not expect, that, despising as it did the +religion of the country, it would, if left to itself, animadvert, either +with much vigilance or much severity, upon the schisms and controversies +which arose within it. Yet there was that in Christianity which might +easily afford a handle of accusation with a jealous government. The +Christians avowed an unqualified obedience to a new master. They avowed +also that he was the person who had been foretold to the Jews under the +suspected title of King. The spiritual nature of this kingdom, the +consistency of this obedience with civil subjection, were distinctions +too refined to be entertained by a Roman president, who viewed the +business at a great distance, or through the medium of very hostile +representations. Our histories accordingly inform us, that this was the +turn which the enemies of Jesus gave to his character and pretensions in +their remonstrances with Pontius Pilate. And Justin Martyr, about a +hundred years afterwards, complains that the same mistake prevailed in +his time: "Ye, having heard that we are waiting for a kingdom, suppose +without distinguishing that we mean a human kingdom, when in truth we +speak of that which is with God."* And it was undoubtedly a natural +source of calumny and misconstruction. + +_________ + +* Ap. Ima p. 16. Ed. Thirl. +_________ + + +The preachers of Christianity had, therefore, to contend with prejudice +backed by power. They had to come forward to a disappointed people, to a +priesthood possessing a considerable share of municipal authority, and +actuated by strong motives of opposition and resentment; and they had to +do this under a foreign government, to whose favour they made no +pretensions, and which was constantly surrounded by their enemies. The +well-known, because the experienced, fate of reformers, whenever the +reformation subverts some reigning opinion, and does not proceed upon a +change that has already taken place in the sentiments of a country, will +not allow, much less lead us to suppose that the first propagators of +Christianity at Jerusalem and in Judea, under the difficulties and the +enemies they had to contend with, and entirely destitute as they were of +force, authority, or protection, could execute their mission with +personal ease and safety. + +Let us next inquire, what might reasonably be expected by the preachers +of Christianity when they turned themselves to the heathen public. Now +the first thing that strikes us is, that the religion they carried with +them was exclusive. It denied without reserve the truth of every article +of heathen mythology, the existence of every object of their worship. It +accepted no compromise, it admitted no comprehension. It must prevail, +if it prevailed at all, by the overthrow of every statue, altar, and +temple in the world, It will not easily be credited, that a design, so +bold as this was, could in any age be attempted to be carried into +execution with impunity. + +For it ought to be considered, that this was not setting forth, or +magnifying the character and worship of some new competitor for a place +in the Pantheon, whose pretensions might he discussed or asserted +without questioning the reality of any others: it was pronouncing all +other gods to be false, and all other worship vain. From the facility +with which the polytheism of ancient nations admitted new objects of +worship into the number of their acknowledged divinities, or the +patience with which they might entertain proposals of this kind, we can +argue nothing as to their toleration of a system, or of the publishers +and active propagators of a system, which swept away the very foundation +of the existing establishment. The one was nothing more than what it +would be, in popish countries, to add a saint to the calendar; the other +was to abolish and tread under foot the calendar itself. + +Secondly, it ought also to be considered, that this was not the case of +philosophers propounding in their books, or in their schools, doubts +concerning the truth of the popular creed, or even avowing their +disbelief of it. These philosophers did not go about from place to place +to collect proselytes from amongst the common people; to form in the +heart of the country societies professing their tenets; to provide for +the order, instruction and permanency of these societies; nor did they +enjoin their followers to withdraw themselves from the public worship of +the temples, or refuse a compliance with rites instituted by the laws.* +These things are what the Christians did, and what the philosophers did +not; and in these consisted the activity and danger of the enterprise. + +_________ + +* The best of the ancient philosophers, Plato, Cicero, and Epictetus, +allowed, or rather enjoined, men to worship the gods of the country, and +in the established form. See passages to this purpose collected from +their works by Dr. Clarke, Nat. and Rev. Rel. p. 180. ed. v--Except +Socrates, they all thought it wiser to comply with the laws than to +contend. +_________ + + +Thirdly, it ought also to be considered, that this danger proceeded not +merely from solemn acts and public resolutions of the state, but from +sudden bursts of violence at particular places, from the licence of the +populace, the rashness of some magistrates and negligence of others; +from the influence and instigation of interested adversaries, and, in +general, from the variety and warmth of opinion which an errand so novel +and extraordinary could not fail of exciting. I can conceive that the +teachers of Christianity might both fear and suffer much from these +causes, without any general persecution being denounced against them by +imperial authority. Some length of time, I should suppose, might pass, +before the vast machine of the Roman empire would be put in motion, or +its attention be obtained to religious controversy: but, during that +time, a great deal of ill usage might be endured, by a set of +friendless, unprotected travellers, telling men, wherever they came, +that the religion of their ancestors, the religion in which they had +been brought up, the religion of the state, and of the magistrate, the +rites which they frequented, the pomp which they admired, was throughout +a system of folly and delusion. + +Nor do I think that the teachers of Christianity would find protection +in that general disbelief of the popular theology, which is supposed to +have prevailed amongst the intelligent part of the heathen public. It is +by no means true that unbelievers are usually tolerant. They are not +disposed (and why should they?) to endanger the present state of +things, by suffering a religion of which they believe nothing to be +disturbed by another of which they believe as little. They are ready +themselves to conform to anything; and are, oftentimes, amongst the +foremost to procure conformity from others, by any method which they +think likely to be efficacious. When was ever a change of religion +patronized by infidels? How little, not withstanding the reigning +scepticism, and the magnified liberality of that age, the true +principles of toleration were understood by the wisest men amongst them, +may be gathered from two eminent and uncontested examples. The younger +Pliny, polished as he was by all the literature of that soft and elegant +period, could gravely pronounce this monstrous judgment:--"Those who +persisted in declaring themselves Christians, I ordered to be led away +to punishment, (i. e. to execution,) for I DID NOT DOUBT, whatever it +was that they confessed, that contumacy and inflexible obstinacy ought +to be punished." His master Trajan, a mild and accomplished prince, +went, nevertheless, no further in his sentiments of moderation and +equity than what appears in the following rescript:--"The Christians are +not to be sought for; but if any are brought before you, and convicted, +they are to be punished." And this direction he gives, after it had been +reported to him by his own president, that, by the most strict +examination, nothing could be discovered in the principles of these +persons, but "a bad and excessive superstition," accompanied, it seems, +with an oath or mutual federation, "to allow themselves in no crime or +immoral conduct whatever." The truth is, the ancient heathens considered +religion entirely as an affair of state, as much under the tuition of +the magistrate as any other part of the police. The religion of that age +was not merely allied to the state; it was incorporated into it. Many of +its offices were administered by the magistrate. Its titles of pontiffs, +augurs, and flamens, were borne by senators, consuls, and generals. +Without discussing, therefore, the truth of the theology, they resented +every affront put upon the established worship, as a direct opposition +to the authority of government. + +Add to which, that the religious systems of those times, however ill +supported by evidence, had been long established. The ancient religion +of a country has always many votaries, and sometimes not the fewer, +because its origin is hidden in remoteness and obscurity. Men have a +natural veneration for antiquity, especially in matters of religion. +What Tacitus says of the Jewish was more applicable to the heathen +establishment: "Hi ritus, quoquo modo inducti, antiquitate defenduntur." +It was also a splendid and sumptuous worship. It had its priesthood, its +endowments, its temples. Statuary, painting, architecture, and music, +contributed their effect to its ornament and magnificence. It abounded +in festival shows and solemnities, to which the common people are +greatly addicted, and which were of a nature to engage them much more +than anything of that sort among us. These things would retain great +numbers on its side by the fascination of spectacle and pomp, as well as +interest many in its preservation by the advantage which they drew from +it. "It was moreover interwoven," as Mr. Gibbon rightly represents it, +"with every circumstance of business or pleasure, of public or private +life, with all the offices and amusements of society." On the due +celebration also of its rites, the people were taught to believe, and +did believe, that the prosperity of their country in a great measure +depended. + +I am willing to accept the account of the matter which is given by Mr. +Gibbon: "The various modes of worship which prevailed in the Roman world +were all considered by the people as equally true, by the philosopher as +equally false, and by the magistrate as equally useful:" and I would ask +from which of these three classes of men were the Christian missionaries +to look for protection or impunity? Could they expect it from the +people, "whose acknowledged confidence in the public religion" they +subverted from its foundation? From the philosopher, who, "considering +all religious as equally false," would of course rank theirs among the +number, with the addition of regarding them as busy and troublesome +zealots? Or from the magistrate, who, satisfied with the "utility" of +the subsisting religion, would not be likely to countenance a spirit of +proselytism and innovation:--a system which declared war against every +other, and which, if it prevailed, must end in a total rupture of public +opinion; an upstart religion, in a word, which was not content with its +own authority, but must disgrace all the settled religions of the world? +It was not to be imagined that he would endure with patience, that the +religion of the emperor and of the state should be calumniated and borne +down by a company of superstitious and despicable Jews. + +Lastly; the nature of the case affords a strong proof, that the original +teachers of Christianity, in consequence of their new profession, +entered upon a new and singular course of life. We may be allowed to +presume, that the institution which they preached to others, they +conformed to in their own persons; because this is no more than what +every teacher of a new religion both does, and must do, in order to +obtain either proselytes or hearers. The change which this would produce +was very considerable. It is a change which we do not easily estimate, +because, ourselves and all about us being habituated to the institutions +from our infancy, it is what we neither experience nor observe. After +men became Christians, much of their time was spent in prayer and +devotion, in religious meetings, in celebrating the Eucharist, in +conferences, in exhortations, in preaching, in an affectionate +intercourse with one another, and correspondence with other societies. +Perhaps their mode of life, in its form and habit, was not very unlike +the Unitas Fratrum, or the modern methodists. Think then what it was to +become such at Corinth, at Ephesus, at Antioch, or even at Jerusalem. +How new! How alien from all their former habits and ideas, and from +those of everybody about them! What a revolution there must have been of +opinions and prejudices to bring the matter to this! + +We know what the precepts of the religion are; how pure, how benevolent, +how disinterested a conduct they enjoin; and that this purity and +benevolence are extended to the very thoughts and affections. We are +not, perhaps, at liberty to take for granted that the lives of the +preachers of Christianity were as perfect as their lessons; but we are +entitled to contend, that the observable part of their behaviour must +have agreed in a great measure with the duties which they taught. There +was, therefore, (which is all that we assert,) a course of life pursued +by them, different from that which they before led. And this is of great +importance. Men are brought to anything almost sooner than to change +their habit of life, especially when the change is either inconvenient, +or made against the force of natural inclination, or with the loss of +accustomed indulgences. It is the most difficult of all things to +convert men from vicious habits to virtuous ones, as every one may judge +from what he feels in himself, as well as from what he sees in others.* +It is almost like making men over again. + +_________ + +* Hartley's Essays on Man, p. 190. +_________ + + +Left then to myself, and without any more information than a knowledge +of the existence of the religion, of the general story upon which it is +founded, and that no act of power, force, and authority was concerned in +its first success, I should conclude, from the very nature and exigency +of the case, that the Author of the religion, during his life, and his +immediate disciples after his death, exerted themselves in spreading and +publishing the institution throughout the country in which it began, and +into which it was first carried; that, in the prosecution of this +purpose, they underwent the labours and troubles which we observe the +propagators of new sects to undergo; that the attempt must necessarily +have also been in a high degree dangerous; that, from the subject of the +mission, compared with the fixed opinions and prejudices of those to +whom the missionaries were to address themselves, they could hardly fail +of encountering strong and frequent opposition; that, by the hand of +government, as well as from the sudden fury and unbridled licence of the +people, they would oftentimes experience injurious and cruel treatment; +that, at any rate, they must have always had so much to fear for their +personal safety, as to have passed their lives in a state of constant +peril and anxiety; and lastly, that their mode of life and conduct, +visibly at least, corresponded with the institution which they +delivered, and, so far, was both new, and required continual +self-denial. + + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +There is satisfactory evidence that many, professing to be original +witnesses of the Christian miracles, passed their lives in labours, +dangers and sufferings, voluntarily undergone in attestation of the +accounts which they delivered, and solely in consequence of their belief +of those accounts; and that they also submitted, from the same motives, +to new rules of conduct. + +After thus considering what was likely to happen, we are next to inquire +how the transaction is represented in the several accounts that have +come down to us. And this inquiry is properly preceded by the other, +forasmuch as the reception of these accounts may depend in part on the +credibility of what they contain. + +The obscure and distant view of Christianity, which some of the heathen +writers of that age had gained, and which a few passage in their +remaining works incidentally discover to us, offers itself to our notice +in the first place: because, so far as this evidence goes, it is the +concession of adversaries; the source from which it is drawn is +unsuspected. Under this head, a quotation from Tacitus, well known to +every scholar, must be inserted, as deserving particular attention. The +reader will bear in mind that this passage was written about seventy +years after Christ's death, and that it relates to transactions which +took place about thirty years after that event--Speaking of the fire +which happened at Rome in the time of Nero, and of the suspicions which +were entertained that the emperor himself was concerned in causing it, +the historian proceeds in his narrative and observations thus:-- + +"But neither these exertions, nor his largesses to the people, nor his +offerings to the gods, did away the infamous imputation under which Nero +lay, of having ordered the city to be set on fire. To put an end, +therefore, to this report, he laid the guilt, and inflicted the most +cruel punishments, upon a set of people, who were holden in abhorrence +for their crimes, and called by the vulgar, Christians. The founder of +that name was Christ, who suffered death in the reign of Tiberius, under +his procurator, Pontius Pilate--This pernicious superstition, thus +checked for a while, broke out again; and spread not only over Judea, +where the evil originated, but through Rome also, whither everything bad +upon the earth finds its way and is practised. Some who confessed their +sect were first seized, and afterwards, by their information, a vast +multitude were apprehended, who were convicted, not so much of the crime +of burning Rome, as of hatred to mankind. Their sufferings at their +execution were aggravated by insult and mockery; for some were disguised +in the skins of wild beasts, and worried to death by dogs; some were +crucified; and others were wrapped in pitched shirts,* and set on fire +when the day closed, that they might serve as lights to illuminate the +night. Nero lent his own gardens for these executions, and exhibited at +the same time a mock Circensian entertainment; being a spectator of the +whole, in the dress of a charioteer, sometimes mingling with the crowd +on foot, and sometimes viewing the spectacle from his car. This conduct +made the sufferers pitied; and though they were criminals, and deserving +the severest punishments, yet they were considered as sacrificed, not so +much out of a regard to the public good, as to gratify the cruelty of +one man." + +_________ + +* This is rather a paraphrase, but is justified by what the Scholiast +upon Juvenal says; "Nero maleficos homines taeda et papyro et cera +supervestiebat, et sic ad ignem admoveri jubebat." Lard. Jewish and +Heath. Test. vol. i. p. 359. +_________ + + +Our concern with this passage at present is only so far as it affords a +presumption in support of the proposition which we maintain, concerning +the activity and sufferings of the first teachers of Christianity. Now, +considered in this view, it proves three things: 1st, that the Founder +of the institution was put to death; 2dly, that in the same country in +which he was put to death, the religion, after a short check, broke out +again and spread; 3dly, that it so spread as that, within thirty-four +years from the Author's death, a very great number of Christians (ingens +eorum multitudo) were found at Rome. From which fact, the two following +inferences may be fairly drawn: first, that if, in the space of +thirty-four years from its commencement, the religion had spread +throughout Judea, had extended itself to Rome, and there had numbered a +great multitude of converts, the original teachers and missionaries of +the institution could not have been idle; secondly, that when the Author +of the undertaking was put to death as a malefactor for his attempt, the +endeavours of his followers to establish his religion in the same +country, amongst the same people, and in the same age, could not but be +attended with danger. + +Suetonius, a writer contemporary with Tacitus, describing the +transactions of the same reign, uses these words: "Affecti suppliciis +Christiani genus hominum superstitionis novae et maleficae." (Suet. +Nero. Cap. 16) "The Christians, a set of men of a new and mischievous +(or magical) superstition, were punished." + +Since it is not mentioned here that the burning of the city was the +pretence of the punishment of the Christians, or that they were the +Christians of Rome who alone suffered, it is probable that Suetonius +refers to some more general persecution than the short and occasional +one which Tacitus describes. + +Juvenal, a writer of the same age with the two former, and intending, it +should seem, to commemorate the cruelties exercised under Nero's +government, has the following lines: (Sat. i. ver. 155) + +"Pone Tigellinum, taeda lucebis in illa, +Qua stantes ardent, qui fixo gutture fumant, +Et latum media sulcum deducit arena" (Forsan "deducis.") + +"Describe Tigellinus (a creature of Nero), and you shall suffer the same +punishment with those who stand burning in their own flame and smoke, +their head being held up by a stake fixed to their chin, till they make +a long stream of blood and melted sulphur on the ground." + +If this passage were considered by itself, the subject of allusion might +be doubtful; but, when connected with the testimony of Suetonius, as to +the actual punishment of the Christians by Nero, and with the account +given by Tacitus of the species of punishment which they were made to +undergo, I think it sufficiently probable that these were the executions +to which the poet refers. + +These things, as has already been observed, took place within thirty-one +years after Christ's death, that is, according to the course of nature, +in the life-time, probably, of some of the apostles, and certainly in +the life-time of those who were converted by the apostles, or who were +converted in their time. If then the Founder of the religion was put to +death in the execution of his design; if the first race of converts to +the religion, many of them, suffered the greatest extremities for their +profession; it is hardly credible, that those who came between the two, +who were companions of the Author of the institution during his life, +and the teachers and propagators of the institution after his death, +could go about their undertaking with ease and safety. + +The testimony of the younger Pliny belongs to a later period; for, +although he was contemporary with Tacitus and Suetonius, yet his account +does not, like theirs, go back to the transactions of Nero's reign, but +is confined to the affairs of his own time. His celebrated letter to +Trajan was written about seventy years after Christ's death; and the +information to be drawn from it, so far as it is connected with our +argument, relates principally to two points: first, to the number of +Christians in Bithynia and Pontus, which was so considerable as to +induce the governor of these provinces to speak of them in the following +terms: "Multi, omnis aetatis, utriusque sexus etiam;--neque enim +civitates tantum, sed vicos etiam et agros, superstitionis istius +contagio pervagata est." "There are many of every age and of both +sexes;--nor has the contagion of this superstition seized cities only, +but smaller towns also, and the open country." Great exertions must have +been used by the preachers of Christianity to produce this state of +things within this time. Secondly, to a point which has been already +noticed, and, which I think of importance to be observed, namely, the +sufferings to which Christians were exposed, without any public +persecution being denounced against them by sovereign authority. For, +from Pliny's doubt how he was to act, his silence concerning any +subsisting law on the subject, his requesting the emperor's rescript, +and the emperor, agreeably to his request, propounding a rule for his +direction without reference to any prior rule, it may be inferred that +there was, at that time, no public edict in force against the +Christians. Yet from this same epistle of Pliny it appears "that +accusations, trials, and examinations, were, and had been, going on +against them in the provinces over which he presided; that schedules +were delivered by anonymous informers, containing the names of persons +who were suspected of holding or of favouring the religion; that, in +consequence of these informations, many had been apprehended, of whom +some boldly avowed their profession, and died in the cause; others +denied that they were Christians; others, acknowledging that they had +once been Christians, declared that they had long ceased to be such." +All which demonstrates that the profession of Christianity was at that +time (in that country at least) attended with fear and danger: and yet +this took place without any edict from the Roman sovereign, commanding +or authorizing the persecution of Christians. This observation is +further confirmed by a rescript of Adrian to Minucius Fundanus, the +proconsul of Asia (Lard. Heath. Test. vol. ii. p. 110): from which +rescript it appears that the custom of the people of Asia was to proceed +against the Christians with tumult and uproar. This disorderly practice, +I say, is recognised in the edict, because the emperor enjoins, that, +for the future, if the Christians were guilty, they should be legally +brought to trial, and not be pursued by importunity and clamour. + +Martial wrote a few years before the younger Pliny: and, as his manner +was, made the suffering of the Christians the subject of his ridicule. + +In matutina nuper spectatus arena +Mucius, imposuit qui sua membra focis, +Si patiens fortisque tibi durusque videtur, +Abderitanae pectora plebis habes; +Nam cum dicatur, tunica praesente molesta, +Ure* manum: plus est dicere, Non facio. + +*Forsan "thure manum." + +Nothing, however, could show the notoriety of the fact with more +certainty than this does. Martial's testimony, as well indeed as +Pliny's, goes also to another point, viz, that the deaths of these men +were martyrdom in the strictest sense, that is to say, were so +voluntary, that it was in their power, at the time of pronouncing the +sentence, to have averted the execution, by consenting to join in +heathen sacrifices. + +The constancy, and by consequence the sufferings, of the Christians of +this period, is also referred to by Epictetus, who imputes their +intrepidity to madness, or to a kind of fashion or habit; and about +fifty years afterwards, by Marcus Aurelius, who ascribes it to +obstinacy. "Is it possible (Epictetus asks) that a man may arrive at +this temper, and become indifferent to those things from madness or from +habit, as the Galileans?" "Let this preparation of the mind (to die) +arise from its own judgment, and not from obstinacy like the +Christians." (Epict. I. iv. C. 7.) (Marc. Aur. Med. 1. xi. c. 3.) + + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +There is satisfactory evidence that many, professing to be original +witnesses of the Christian miracles, passed there lives in labours, +dangers, and sufferings, voluntarily undergone in attestation of the +accounts which they delivered, and solely in consequence of their belief +of those accounts; and that they also submitted, from the same motives, +to new rules of conduct. + +Of the primitive condition of Christianity, a distant only and general +view can be acquired from heathen writers. It is in our own books that +the detail and interior of the transaction must be sought for. And this +is nothing different from what might be expected. Who would write a +history of Christianity, but a Christian? Who was likely to record the +travels, sufferings, labours, or successes of the apostles, but one of +their own number, or of their followers? Now these books come up in +their accounts to the full extent of the proposition which we maintain. +We have four histories of Jesus Christ. We have a history taking up the +narrative from his death, and carrying on an account of the propagation +of the religion, and of some of the most eminent persons engaged in it, +for a space of nearly thirty years. We have, what some may think still +more original, a collection of letters, written by certain principal +agents in the business upon the business, and in the midst of their +concern and connection with it. And we have these writings severally +attesting the point which we contend for, viz. the sufferings of the +witnesses of the history, and attesting it in every variety of form in +which it can be conceived to appear: directly and indirectly, expressly +and incidentally, by assertion, recital, and allusion, by narratives of +facts, and by arguments and discourses built upon these facts, either +referring to them, or necessarily presupposing them. + +I remark this variety, because, in examining ancient records, or indeed +any species of testimony, it is, in my opinion, of the greatest +importance to attend to the information or grounds of argument which are +casually and undesignedly disclosed; forasmuch as this species of proof +is, of all others, the least liable to be corrupted by fraud or +misrepresentation. + +I may be allowed therefore, in the inquiry which is now before us, to +suggest some conclusions of this sort, as preparatory to more direct +testimony. + +1. Our books relate, that Jesus Christ, the founder of the religion, +was, in consequence of his undertaking, put to death, as a malefactor, +at Jerusalem. This point at least will be granted, because it is no more +than what Tacitus has recorded. They then proceed to tell us that the +religion was, notwithstanding, set forth at this same city of Jerusalem, +propagated thence throughout Judea, and afterwards preached in other +parts of the Roman Empire. These points also are fully confirmed by +Tacitus, who informs us that the religion, after a short check, broke +out again in the country where it took its rise; that it not only spread +throughout Judea, but had reached Rome, and that it had there great +multitudes of converts: and all this within thirty years after its +commencement. Now these facts afford a strong inference in behalf of the +proposition which we maintain. What could the disciples of Christ expect +for themselves when they saw their master put to death? Could they hope +to escape the dangers in which he had perished? If they had persecuted +me, they will also persecute you, was the warning of common sense. With +this example before their eyes, they could not be without a full sense +of the peril of their future enterprise. + + +2. Secondly, all the histories agree in representing Christ as +foretelling the persecution of his followers:-- +"Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you, and +ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake." (Matt. xxiv. 9.) + +"When affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately +they are offended." (Mark iv. 17. See also chap. x. 30.) + +"They shall lay hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to +the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers +for my name's sake:--and ye shall be betrayed both by parents and +brethren, and kinsfolks and friends, and some of you shall they cause to +be put to death." (Luke xxi. 12--16. See also chap. xi. 49.) + +"The time cometh, that he that killed you will think that he doeth God +service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not +known the Father, nor me. But these things have I told you, that when +the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them." (John +xvi. 4. See also chap. xv. 20; xvi. 33.) + +I am not entitled to argue from these passages, that Christ actually did +foretell these events, and that they did accordingly come to pass; +because that would be at once to assume the truth of the religion: but I +am entitled to contend that one side or other of the following +disjunction is true; either that the Evangelists have delivered what +Christ really spoke, and that the event corresponded with the +prediction; or that they put the prediction into Christ's mouth, because +at the time of writing the history, the event had turned out so to be: +for, the only two remaining suppositions appear in the highest degree +incredible; which are, either that Christ filled the minds of his +followers with fears and apprehensions, without any reason or authority +for what he said, and contrary to the truth of the case; or that, +although Christ had never foretold any such thing, and the event would +have contradicted him if he had, yet historians who lived in the age +when the event was known, falsely, as well as officiously, ascribed +these words to him. + +3. Thirdly, these books abound with exhortations to patience, and with +topics of comfort under distress. + +"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or +distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? +Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that +loved us." (Rom. viii. 35-37.) + +"We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, +but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not +destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, +that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body;--knowing +that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise us up also by Jesus, +and shall present us with you---For which cause we faint not; but, though +our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For +our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far +more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." (2 Cor. iv. 8, 9, 10, 14, 16, +17.) + +"Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the +Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. Behold, +we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, +and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of +tender mercy." (James v. 10, 11.) + +"Call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were +illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions partly whilst ye +were made a gazing-stock both by reproaches and afflictions, and partly +whilst ye became companions of them that were so used; for ye had +compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your +goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an +enduring substance. Cast not away, therefore, your confidence, which +hath great recompense of reward; for ye have need of patience, that, +after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise." (Heb. +x. 32-36.) + +"So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God, for your +patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye +endure. Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that +ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom for which ye also suffer." (2 +Thess. i. 4, 5.) + +"We rejoice in hope of the glory of God; and not only so, but we glory +in tribulations also; knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and +patience experience, and experience hope." (Rom. v. 3, 4.) + +"Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to +try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you; but rejoice, +inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings.--Wherefore let them +that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their +souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator." (1 Pet. iv. 12, +13, 19.) + +What could all these texts mean, if there was nothing in the +circumstances of the times which required patience,--which called for +the exercise of constancy and resolution? Or will it be pretended, that +these exhortations (which, let it be observed, come not from one author, +but from many) were put in merely to induce a belief in after-ages, that +the Christians were exposed to dangers which they were not exposed to, +or underwent sufferings which they did not undergo? If these books +belong to the age to which they lay claim, and in which age, whether +genuine or spurious, they certainly did appear, this supposition cannot +be maintained for a moment; because I think it impossible to believe +that passages, which must be deemed not only unintelligible, but false, +by the persons into whose hands the books upon their publication were to +come, should nevertheless be inserted, for the purpose of producing an +effect upon remote generations. In forgeries which do not appear till +many ages after that to which they pretend to belong, it is possible +that some contrivance of that sort may take place; but in no others can +it be attempted. + + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +There is satisfactory evidence that many professing to be original +witnesses of the Christian miracles, passed their lives in labours, +dangers, and sufferings, voluntarily undergone in attestation of the +accounts which they delivered, and solely in consequence of their belief +of those accounts; and that they also submitted, from the same motives, +to new rules of conduct. + +The account of the treatment of the religion, and of the exertions of +its first preachers, as stated in our Scriptures (not in a professed +history of persecutions, or in the connected manner in which I am about +to recite it, but dispersedly and occasionally, in the course of a mixed +general history, which circumstance, alone negatives the supposition of +any fraudulent design), is the following: "That the Founder of +Christianity, from the commencement of his ministry to the time of his +violent death, employed himself wholly in publishing the institution in +Judea and Galilee; that, in order to assist him in this purpose, he made +choice, out of the number of his followers, of twelve persons, who might +accompany him as he travelled from place to place; that, except a short +absence upon a journey in which he sent them two by two to announce his +mission, and one of a few days, when they went before him to Jerusalem, +these persons were steadily and constantly attending upon him; that they +were with him at Jerusalem when he was apprehended and put to death; and +that they were commissioned by him, when his own ministry was concluded, +to publish his Gospel, and collect disciples to it from all countries of +the world." The account then proceeds to state, "that a few days after +his departure, these persons, with some of his relations, and some who +had regularly frequented their society, assembled at Jerusalem; that, +considering the office of preaching the religion as now devolved upon +them, and one of their number having deserted the cause, and, repenting +of his perfidy, having destroyed himself, they proceeded to elect +another into his place, and that they were careful to make their +election out of the number of those who had accompanied their master +from the first to the last, in order, as they alleged, that he might be +a witness, together with themselves, of the principal facts which they +were about to produce and relate concerning him; ( Acts i. 12, 22.) that +they began their work at Jerusalem by publicly asserting that this +Jesus, whom the rulers and inhabitants of that place had so lately +crucified, was, in truth, the person in whom all their prophecies and +long expectations terminated; that he had been sent amongst them by God; +and that he was appointed by God the future judge of the human species; +that all who were solicitous to secure to themselves happiness after +death, ought to receive him as such, and to make profession of their +belief, by being baptised in his name." (Acts xi.) + +The history goes on to relate, "that considerable numbers accepted this +proposal, and that they who did so formed amongst themselves a strict +union and society; (Acts iv. 32.) that the attention of the Jewish +government being soon drawn upon them, two of the principal persons of +the twelve, and who also had lived most intimately and constantly with +the Founder of the religion, were seized as they were discoursing to the +people in the temple; that after being kept all night in prison, they +were brought the next day before an assembly composed of the chief +persons of the Jewish magistracy and priesthood; that this assembly, +after some consultation, found nothing, at that time, better to be done +towards suppressing the growth of the sect, than to threaten their +prisoners with punishment if they persisted; that these men, after +expressing, in decent but firm language, the obligation under which they +considered themselves to be, to declare what they knew, 'to speak the +things which they had seen and heard,' returned from the council, and +reported what had passed to their companions; that this report, whilst +it apprized them of the danger of their situation and undertaking, had +no other effect upon their conduct than to produce in them a general +resolution to persevere, and an earnest prayer to God to furnish them +with assistance, and to inspire them with fortitude, proportioned to the +increasing exigency of the service." ( Acts iv.) A very short time after +this, we read "that all the twelve apostles were seized and cast into +prison; ( Acts v. 18.) that, being brought a second time before the +Jewish Sanhedrim, they were upbraided with their disobedience to the +injunction which had been laid upon them, and beaten for their +contumacy; that, being charged once more to desist, they were suffered +to depart; that however they neither quitted Jerusalem, nor ceased from +preaching, both daily in the temple, and from house to house (Acts v. +42.) and that the twelve considered themselves as so entirely and +exclusively devoted to this office, that they now transferred what may +be called the temporal affairs of the society to other hands."* + +_________ + +* I do not know that it has ever been insinuated that the Christian +mission, in the hands of the apostles, was a scheme for making a +fortune, or for getting money. But it may nevertheless be fit to remark +upon this passage of their history, how perfectly free they appear to +have been from any pecuniary or interested views whatever. The most +tempting opportunity which occurred of making gain of their converts, +was by the custody and management of the public funds, when some of the +richer members, intending to contribute their fortunes to the common +support of the society, sold their possessions, and laid down the prices +at the apostles' feet. Yet, so insensible or undesirous were they of the +advantage which that confidence afforded, that we find they very soon +disposed of the trust, by putting it into the hands, not of nominees of +their own, but of stewards formally elected for the purpose by the +society at large. + +We may add also, that this excess of generosity, which cast private +property into the public stock, was so far from being required by the +apostles, or imposed as a law of Christianity, that Peter reminds +Ananias that he had been guilty, in his behaviour, of an officious and +voluntary prevarication; "for whilst," says he, "thy estate remained +unsold, was it not thine own? And after it was sold, was it not in thine +own power?" +_________ + + +Hitherto the preachers of the new religion seem to have had the common +people on their side; which is assigned as the reason why the Jewish +rulers did not, at this time, think it prudent to proceed to greater +extremities. It was not long, however, before the enemies of the +institution found means to represent it to the people as tending to +subvert their law, degrade their lawgiver, and dishonour their +temple. (Acts vi. 12.) And these insinuations were dispersed with so much +success as to induce the people to join with their superiors in the +stoning of a very active member of the new community. + +The death of this man was the signal of a general persecution, the +activity of which may be judged of from one anecdote of the time:--"As +for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and +taking men and women committed them to prison." (Acts viii. 3.) This +persecution raged at Jerusalem with so much fury as to drive most of the +new converts out of the place,* except the twelve apostles. The converts +thus "scattered abroad," preached the religion wherever they came; and +their preaching was, in effect, the preaching of the twelve; for it was +so far carried on in concert and correspondence with them, that when +they heard of the success of their emissaries in a particular country, +they sent two of their number to the place, to complete and confirm the +mission. + +_________ + +*Acts viii. I. "And they were all scattered abroad;" but the term "all" +is not, I think, to be taken strictly as denoting more than the +generality; in like manner as in Acts ix. 35: "And all that dwelt at +Lydda and Saron saw him, and turned to the Lord." +_________ + + +An event now took place, of great importance in the future history of +the religion. The persecution which had begun at Jerusalem followed the +Christians to other cities, ( Acts ix.) in which the authority of the +Jewish Sanhedrim over those of their own nation was allowed to be +exercised. A young man, who had signalized himself by his hostility to +the profession, and had procured a commission from the council at +Jerusalem to seize any converted Jews whom he might find at Damascus, +suddenly became a proselyte to the religion which he was going about to +extirpate. The new convert not only shared, on this extraordinary +change, the fate of his companions, but brought upon himself a double +measure of enmity from the party which he had left. The Jews at +Damascus, on his return to that city, watched the gates night and day, +with so much diligence, that he escaped from their hands only by being +let down in a basket by the wall. Nor did he find himself in greater +safety at Jerusalem, whither he immediately repaired. Attempts were +there also soon set on foot to destroy him; from the danger of which he +was preserved by being sent away to Cilicia, his native country. + +For some reason not mentioned, perhaps not known, but probably connected +with the civil history of the Jews, or with some danger* which engrossed +the public attention, an intermission about this time took place in the +sufferings of the Christians. This happened, at the most, only seven or +eight, perhaps only three or four years after Christ's death, within +which period, and notwithstanding that the late persecution occupied +part of it, churches, or societies of believers, had been formed in all +Judea, Galilee, and Samaria; for we read that the churches in these +countries "had now rest and were edified, and, walking in the fear of +the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied." (Acts +ix 31.) The original preachers of the religion did not remit their +labours or activity during this season of quietness; for we find one, +and he a very principal person among them, passing throughout all +quarters. We find also those who had been before expelled from Jerusalem +by the persecution which raged there, travelling as far as Poenice, +Cyprus, and Antioch; (Acts xi. 19.) and lastly, we find Jerusalem again +in the centre of the mission, the place whither the preachers returned +from their several excursions, where they reported the conduct and +effects of their ministry, where questions of public concern were +canvassed and settled, whence directions were sought, and teachers sent +forth. + +_________ + +* Dr. Lardner (in which he is followed also by Dr. Benson) ascribes the +cessation of the persecution of the Christians to the attempt of +Caligula to set up his own statue in the temple of Jerusalem, and to the +consternation thereby excited in the minds of the Jewish people; which +consternation for a season superseded every other contest. +_________ + + +The time of this tranquillity did not, however, continue long. Herod +Agrippa, who had lately acceded to the government of Judea, "stretched +forth his hand to vex certain of the church." (Acts xii. 1.) He began +his cruelty by beheading one of the twelve original apostles, a kinsman +and constant companion of the Founder of the religion. Perceiving that +this execution gratified the Jews, he proceeded to seize, in order to +put to death, another of the number,--and him, like the former, +associated with Christ during his life, and eminently active in the +service since his death. This man was, however, delivered from prison, +as the account states miraculously, (Acts xii. 3--17.) and made his +escape from Jerusalem. + +These things are related, not in the general terms under which, in +giving the outlines of the history, we have here mentioned them, but +with the utmost particularity of names, persons, places, and +circumstances; and, what is deserving of notice, without the smallest +discoverable propensity in the historian, to magnify the fortitude, or +exaggerate the sufferings, of his party. When they fled for their lives, +he tells us. When the churches had rest, he remarks it. When the people +took their part, he does not leave it without notice. When the apostles +were carried a second time before the Sanhedrim, he is careful to +observe that they were brought without violence. When milder counsels +were suggested, he gives us the author of the advice and the speech +which contained it. When, in consequence of this advice, the rulers +contented themselves with threatening the apostles, and commanding them +to be beaten with stripes, without urging at that time the persecution +further, the historian candidly and distinctly records their +forbearance. When, therefore, in other instances, he states heavier +persecutions, or actual martyrdoms, it is reasonable to believe that he +states them because they were true, and not from any wish to aggravate, +in his account, the sufferings which Christians sustained, or to extol, +more than it deserved, their patience under them. + +Our history now pursues a narrower path. Leaving the rest of the +apostles, and the original associates of Christ, engaged in the +propagation of the new faith, (and who there is not the least reason to +believe abated in their diligence or courage,) the narrative proceeds +with the separate memoirs of that eminent teacher, whose extraordinary +and sudden conversion to the religion, and corresponding change of +conduct, had before been circumstantially described. This person, in +conjunction with another, who appeared among the earlier members of +the society at Jerusalem, and amongst the immediate adherents of the +twelve apostles, (Acts iv. 36.) set out from Antioch upon the express +business of carrying the new religion through the various provinces of +the Lesser Asia. (Acts xiii. 2.) During this expedition, we find that in +almost every place to which they came, their persons were insulted, and +their lives endangered. After being expelled from Antioch in Pisidia, +they repaired to Iconium. (Acts xiii. 51.) At Iconium, an attempt was +made to stone them; at Lystra, whither they fled from Iconium, one of +them actually was stoned and drawn out of the city for dead. (Acts xiv. +19.) These two men, though not themselves original apostles, were acting +in connection and conjunction with the original apostles; for, after the +completion of their journey, being sent on a particular commission to +Jerusalem, they there related to the apostles (Acts xv. 12--26.) and +elders the events and success of their ministry, and were in return +recommended by them to the churches, "as men who had hazarded their +lives in the cause." + +The treatment which they had experienced in the first progress did not +deter them from preparing for a second. Upon a dispute, however, arising +between them, but not connected with the common subject of their +labours, they acted as wise and sincere men would act; they did not +retire in disgust from the service in which they were engaged, but, each +devoting his endeavours to the advancement of the religion, they parted +from one another, and set forward upon separate routes. The history goes +along with one of them; and the second enterprise to him was attended +with the same dangers and persecutions as both had met with in the +first. The apostle's travels hitherto had been confined to Asia. He now +crosses for the first time the Aegean sea, and carries with him, amongst +others, the person whose accounts supply the information we are +stating. (Acts xvi. 11.) The first place in Greece at which he appears to +have stopped, was Philippi in Macedonia. Here himself and one of his +companions were cruelly whipped, cast into prison, and kept there under +the most rigorous custody, being thrust, whilst yet smarting with their +wounds, into the inner dungeon, and their feet made fast in the +stocks. (Acts xvi. 23, 24, 33.) Notwithstanding this unequivocal specimen +of the usage which they had to look for in that country, they went +forward in the execution of their errand. After passing through +Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica; in which city the +house in which they lodged was assailed by a party of their enemies, in +order to bring them out to the populace. And when, fortunately for their +preservation, they were not found at home, the master of the house was +dragged before the magistrate for admitting them within his doors. (Acts +xvii. 1--5.) Their reception at the next city was something better: but +neither had they continued long before their turbulent adversaries the +Jews, excited against them such commotions amongst the inhabitants as +obliged the apostle to make his escape by a private journey to +Athens. (Acts xvii. 13.) The extremity of the progress was Corinth. His +abode in this city, for some time, seems to have been without +molestation. At length, however, the Jews found means to stir up an +insurrection against him, and to bring him before the tribunal of the +Roman president. (Acts xviii. 12.) It was to the contempt which that +magistrate entertained for the Jews and their controversies, of which he +accounted Christianity to be one, that our apostle owed his +deliverance. (Acts xviii. 15.) + +This indefatigable teacher, after leaving Corinth, returned by Ephesus +into Syria; and again visited Jerusalem, and the society of Christians +in that city, which, as hath been repeatedly observed, still continued +the centre of the mission. (Acts xviii. 22.) It suited not, however, with +the activity of his zeal to remain long at Jerusalem. We find him going +thence to Antioch, and, after some stay there, traversing once more the +northern provinces of Asia Minor. (Acts xviii. 23.) This progress ended +at Ephesus: in which city, the apostle continued in the daily exercise +of his ministry two years, and until his success, at length, excited the +apprehensions of those who were interested in the support of the +national worship. Their clamour produced a tumult, in which he had +nearly lost his life. (Acts xix. 1, 9, 10.) Undismayed, however, by the +dangers to which he saw himself exposed, he was driven from Ephesus only +to renew his labours in Greece. After passing over Macedonia, he thence +proceeded to his former station at Corinth. (Acts xx. 1, 2.) When he had +formed his design of returning by a direct course from Corinth into +Syria, he was compelled by a conspiracy of the Jews, who were prepared +to intercept him on his way, to trace back his steps through Macedonia +to Philippi, and thence to take shipping into Asia. Along the coast of +Asia, he pursued his voyage with all the expedition he could command, in +order to reach Jerusalem against the feast of Pentecost. (Acts xx. 16.) +His reception at Jerusalem was of a piece with the usage he had +experienced from the Jews in other places. He had been only a few days +in that city, when the populace, instigated by some of his old opponents +in Asia, who attended this feast, seized him in the temple, forced him +out of it, and were ready immediately to have destroyed him, had not the +sudden presence of the Roman guard rescued him out of their hands. (Acts +xxi. 27--33.) The officer, however, who had thus seasonably interposed, +acted from his care of the public peace, with the preservation of which +he was charged, and not from any favour to the apostle, or indeed any +disposition to exercise either justice or humanity towards him; for he +had no sooner secured his person in the fortress, than he was proceeding +to examine him by torture. (Acts xxii 24.) + +From this time to the conclusion of the history, the apostle remains in +public custody of the Roman government. After escaping assassination by +a fortunate discovery of the plot, and delivering himself from the +influence of his enemies by an appeal to the audience of the +emperor, (Acts xxv. 9, 11.) he was sent, but not until he had suffered +two years' imprisonment, to Rome. (Acts xxiv. 27.) He reached Italy after +a tedious voyage, and after encountering in his passage the perils of a +desperate shipwreck. (Acts xxvii.) But although still a prisoner, and his +fate still depending, neither the various and long-continued sufferings +which he had undergone, nor the danger of his present situation, +deterred him from persisting in preaching the religion: for the +historian closes the account by telling us that, for two years, he +received all that came unto him in his own hired house, where he was +permitted to dwell with a soldier that guarded him, "preaching the +kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus +Christ, with all confidence." + +Now the historian, from whom we have drawn this account, in the part of +his narrative which relates to Saint Paul, is supported by the strongest +corroborating testimony that a history can receive. We are in possession +of letters written by Saint Paul himself upon the subject of his +ministry, and either written during the period which the history +comprises, or, if written afterwards, reciting and referring to the +transactions of that period. These letters, without borrowing from the +history, or the history from them, unintentionally confirm the account +which the history delivers, in a great variety of particulars. What +belongs to our present purpose is the description exhibited of the +apostle's sufferings: and the representation, given in our history, of +the dangers and distresses which he underwent not only agrees in general +with the language which he himself uses whenever he speaks of his life +or ministry, but is also, in many instances, attested by a specific +correspondency of time, place, and order of events. If the historian put +down in his narrative, that at Philippi the apostle "was beaten with +many stripes, cast into prison, and there treated with rigour and +indignity;" (Acts xvi. 23, 24.) we find him, in a letter to a +neighbouring church, (I Thess. ii. 2.) reminding his converts that, +"after he had suffered before, and was shamefully entreated at Philippi, +he was bold, nevertheless, to speak unto them (to whose city he next +came) the Gospel of God." If the history relates that, (Acts xvii. 5.) +at Thessalonica, the house in which the apostle was lodged, when he +first came to that place, was assaulted by the populace, and the master +of it dragged before the magistrate for admitting such a guest within +his doors; the apostle, in his letter to the Christians of Thessalonica, +calls to their remembrance "how they had received the Gospel in much +affliction." (1 Thess. i. 6.) If the history deliver an account of an +insurrection at Ephesus, which had nearly cost the apostle his life, we +have the apostle himself, in a letter written a short time after his +departure from that city, describing his despair, and returning thanks +for his deliverance. (Acts xix. 2 Cor. i. 8--10.) If the history inform +us, that the apostle was expelled from Antioch in Pisidia, attempted to +be stoned at Iconium, and actually stoned at Lystra; there is preserved +a letter from him to a favourite convert, whom, as the same history +tells us, he first met with in these parts; in which letter he appeals +to that disciple's knowledge "of the persecutions which befell him at +Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra." (Acts xiii. 50; xiv. 5, 19. 2 Tim. 10, +11.) If the history make the apostle, in his speech to the Ephesian +elders, remind them, as one proof of the disinterestedness of his views, +that, to their knowledge, he had supplied his own and the necessities of +his companions by personal labour; (Acts xx. 34.) we find the same +apostle, in a letter written during his residence at Ephesus, asserting +of himself, "that even to that hour he laboured, working with his own +hands." (1 Cor. iv 11, 12.) + +These coincidences, together with many relative to other parts of the +apostle's history, and all drawn from independent sources, not only +confirm the truth of the account, in the particular points as to which +they are observed, but add much to the credit of the narrative in all +its parts; and support the author's profession of being a contemporary +of the person whose history he writes, and, throughout a material +portion of his narrative, a companion. + +What the epistles of the apostles declare of the suffering state of +Christianity the writings which remain of their companions and immediate +followers expressly confirm. + +Clement, who is honourably mentioned by Saint Paul in his epistle to the +Philippians, (Philipp. iv. 3.) hath left us his attestation to this +point, in the following words: "Let us take (says he) the examples of +our own age. Through zeal and envy, the most faithful and righteous +pillars of the church have been persecuted even to the most grievous +deaths. Let us set before our eyes the holy apostles. Peter, by unjust +envy, underwent not one or two, but many sufferings; till at last, being +martyred, he went to the place of glory that was due unto him. For the +same cause did Paul, in like manner, receive the reward of his patience. +Seven times he was in bonds; he was whipped, was stoned; he preached +both in the East and in the West, leaving behind him the glorious report +of his faith; and so having taught the whole world righteousness, and +for that end travelled even unto the utmost bounds of the West, he at +last suffered martyrdom by the command of the governors, and departed +out of the world, and went unto his holy place, being become a most +eminent pattern of patience unto all ages. To these holy apostles were +joined a very great number of others, who, having through envy +undergone, in like manner, many pains and torments, have left a glorious +example to us. For this, not only men, but women, have been persecuted; +and, having suffered very grievous and cruel punishments, have finished +the course of their faith with firmness." (Clem. ad Cor. c. v. vi. Abp. +Wake's Trans.) + +Hermas, saluted by Saint Paul in his epistle to the Romans, in a piece +very little connected with historical recitals, thus speaks: "Such as +have believed and suffered death for the name of Christ, and have +endured with a ready mind, and have given up their lives with all their +hearts." (Shepherd of Hermas, c. xxviii.) + +Polycarp, the disciple of John (though all that remains of his works be +a very short epistle), has not left this subject unnoticed. "I exhort +(says he) all of you, that ye obey the word of righteousness, and +exercise all patience, which ye have seen set forth before your eyes, +not only in the blessed Ignatius, and Lorimus, and Rufus, but in others +among yourselves, and in Paul himself and the rest of the apostles; +being confident in this, that all these have not run in vain, but in +faith and righteousness; and are gone to the place that was due to them +from the Lord, with whom also they suffered. For they loved not this +present world, but him who died, and was raised again by God for us." +(Pol. ad Phil c. ix.) + +Ignatius, the contemporary of Polycarp, recognises the same topic, +briefly indeed, but positively and precisely. "For this cause, (i. e. +having felt and handled Christ's body at his resurrection, and being +convinced, as Ignatius expresses it, both by his flesh and spirit,) they +(i. e. Peter, and those who were present with Peter at Christ's +appearance) despised death, and were found to be above it." (19. Ep. +Smyr. c. iii.) + +Would the reader know what a persecution in those days was, I would +refer him to a circular letter, written by the church of Smyrna soon +after the death of Polycarp, who it will be remembered, had lived with +Saint John; and which letter is entitled a relation of that bishop's +martyrdom. "The sufferings (say they) of all the other martyrs were +blessed and generous, which they underwent according to the will of God. +For so it becomes us, who are more religious than others, to ascribe +the power and ordering of all things unto Him. And, indeed, who can +choose but admire the greatness of their minds, and that admirable +patience and love of their Master, which then appeared in them? Who, +when they were so flayed with whipping that the frame and structure of +their bodies were laid open to their very inward veins and arteries, +nevertheless endured it. In like manner, those who were condemned to the +beasts, and kept a long time in prison, underwent many cruel torments, +being forced to lie upon sharp spikes laid under their bodies, and +tormented with divers other sorts of punishments; that so, if it were +possible, the tyrant, by the length of their sufferings, might have +brought them to deny Christ." (Rel. Mor. Pol. c. ii.) + + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +There is satisfactory evidence that many, professing to be original +witnesses of the Christian miracles, passed their lives in labours, +dangers, and sufferings, voluntarily undergone in attestation of the +accounts which they delivered, and solely in consequence of their belief +of those accounts; and that they also submitted, from the same motives, +to new rules of conduct. + +On the history, of which the last chapter contains an abstract, there +are a few observations which it may be proper to make, by way of +applying its testimony to the particular propositions for which we +contend. + +I. Although our Scripture history leaves the general account of the +apostles in an early part of the narrative, and proceeds with the +separate account of one particular apostle, yet the information which +it delivers so far extends to the rest, as it shows the nature of the +service. When we see one apostle suffering persecution in the discharge +of this commission, we shall not believe, without evidence, that the +same office could, at the same time, be attended with ease and safety to +others. And this fair and reasonable inference is confirmed by the +direct attestation of the letters, to which we have so often referred. +The writer of these letters not only alludes, in numerous passages, to +his own sufferings, but speaks of the rest of the apostles as enduring +like sufferings with himself. "I think that God hath set forth us the +apostles last, as it were, appointed to death; for we are made a +spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men; even unto this +present hour, we both hunger and thirst, and are naked, and are +buffeted, and have no certain dwelling-place; and labour, working with +our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it; +being defamed, we entreat: we are made as the filth of the earth, and as +the offscouring of all things unto this day." (I Cor. iv. 9, et seq.) +Add to which, that in the short account that is given of the other +apostles in the former part of the history, and within the short period +which that account comprises, we find, first, two of them seized, +imprisoned, brought before the Sanhedrim, and threatened with further +punishment; (Acts iv. 3, 21.) then, the whole number imprisoned and +beaten; (Acts v. 18, 40.) soon afterwards, one of their adherents stoned +to death, and so hot a persecution raised against the sect as to drive +most of them out of the place; a short time only succeeding, before one +of the twelve was beheaded, and another sentenced to the same fate; and +all this passing in the single city of Jerusalem, and within ten years +after the Founder's death, and the commencement of the institution. + +II. We take no credit at present for the miraculous part of the +narrative, nor do we insist upon the correctness of single passages of +it. If the whole story be not a novel, a romance; the whole action a +dream; if Peter, and James, and Paul, and the rest of the apostles +mentioned in the account, be not all imaginary persons; if their letters +be not all forgeries, and, what is more, forgeries of names and +characters which never existed; then is there evidence in our hands +sufficient to support the only fact we contend for (and which, I repeat +again, is, in itself, highly probable), that the original followers of +Jesus Christ exerted great endeavours to propagate his religion, and +underwent great labours, dangers, and sufferings, in consequence of +their undertaking. + +III. The general reality of the apostolic history is strongly confirmed +by the consideration, that it, in truth, does no more than assign +adequate causes for effects which certainly were produced; and describe +consequences naturally resulting from situations which certainly +existed. The effects were certainly there, of which this history sets +forth the cause, and origin, and progress. It is acknowledged on all +hands, because it is recorded by other testimony than that of the +Christians themselves, that the religion began to prevail at that time, +and in that country. It is very difficult to conceive how it could +begin without the exertions of the Founder and his followers, in +propagating the new persuasion. The history now in our hands describes +these exertions, the persons employed, the means and endeavours made use +of, and the labours undertaken in the prosecution of this purpose. +Again, the treatment which the history represents the first propagators +of the religion to have experienced was no other than what naturally +resulted from the situation in which they were confessedly placed. It is +admitted that the religion was adverse, in great degree, to the reigning +opinions, and to the hopes and wishes of the nation to which it was +first introduced; and that it overthrew, so far as it was received, the +established theology and worship of every other country. We cannot feel +much reluctance in believing that when the messengers of such a system +went about not only publishing their opinions, but collecting +proselytes, and forming regular societies of proselytes, they should +meet with opposition in their attempts, or that this opposition should +sometimes proceed to fatal extremities. Our history details examples of +this opposition, and of the sufferings and dangers which the emissaries +of the religion underwent, perfectly agreeable to what might reasonably +be expected, from the nature of their undertaking, compared with the +character of the age and country in which it was carried on. + +IV. The records before us supply evidence of what formed another member +of our general proposition, and what, as hath already been observed, is +highly probable, and almost a necessary consequence of their new +profession, viz., that, together with activity and courage in +propagating the religion, the primitive followers of Jesus assumed, upon +their conversion, a new and peculiar course of private life. Immediately +after their Master was withdrawn from them, we hear of their "continuing +with one accord in prayer and supplication;" (Acts i. 14.) of their +"continuing daily with one accord in the temple" (Acts ii. 46.) Of "many +being gathered together praying." (Acts xii. 12.) We know that strict +instructions were laid upon the converts by their teachers. Wherever +they came, the first word of their preaching was, "Repent!" We know that +these injunctions obliged them to refrain from many species of +licentiousness, which were not, at that time, reputed criminal. We know +the rules of purity, and the maxims of benevolence, which Christians +read in their books; concerning which rules it is enough to observe, +that, if they were, I will not say completely obeyed, but in any degree +regarded, they could produce a system of conduct, and, what is more +difficult to preserve, a disposition of mind, and a regulation of +affections, different from anything to which they had hitherto been +accustomed, and different from what they would see in others. The change +and distinction of manners, which resulted from their new character, is +perpetually referred to in the letters of their teachers. "And you hath +he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in times +past ye walked, according to the course of this world, according to the +prince of the power of the air, the Spirit that now worketh in the +children of disobedience; among whom also we all had our conversation in +times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the +flesh, and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even +as others." (Eph. ii 1-3. See also Tit. iii. 3.)--"For the time past of +our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when +we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, +banquetings, and abominable idolatries; wherein they think it strange +that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot." (1 Pet. iv. 3, +4.) Saint Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians, after +enumerating, as his manner was, a catalogue of vicious characters, adds, +"Such were some of you; but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified." (1 +Cor. vi. 11.) In like manner, and alluding to the same change of +practices and sentiments, he asked the Roman Christians, "what fruit +they had in those things, whereof they are now ashamed?" (Rom. vi. 21.) +The phrases which the same writer employs to describe the moral +condition of Christians, compared with their condition before they +became Christians, such as "newness of life," being "freed from sin," +being "dead to sin;" "the destruction of the body of sin, that, for the +future, they should not serve sin;" "children of light and of the day," +as opposed to "children of darkness and of the night;" "not sleeping as +others;" imply, at least, a new system of obligation, and, probably, a +new series of conduct, commencing with their conversion. + +The testimony which Pliny bears to the behaviour of the new sect in his +time, and which testimony comes not more than fifty years after that of +St. Paul, is very applicable to the subject under consideration. The +character which this writer gives of the Christians of that age, and +which was drawn from a pretty accurate inquiry, because he considered +their moral principles as the point in which the magistrate was +interested, is as follows:--He tells the emperor, "that some of those +who had relinquished the society, or who, to save themselves, pretended +that they had relinquished it, affirmed that they were wont to meet +together on a stated day, before it was light, and sang among themselves +alternately a hymn to Christ as a God; and to bind themselves by an +oath, not to the commission of any wickedness, but that they would not +be guilty of theft, or robbery, or adultery; that they would never +falsify their word, or deny a pledge committed to them, when called upon +to return it." This proves that a morality, more pure and strict than +was ordinary, prevailed at that time in Christian societies. And to me +it appears, that we are authorised to carry his testimony back to the +age of the apostles; because it is not probable that the immediate +hearers and disciples of Christ were more relaxed than their successors +in Pliny's time, or the missionaries of the religion than those whom +they taught. + + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +There is satisfactory evidence that many professing to be original +witnesses of the Christian miracles, passed their lives in labours, +dangers, and sufferings, voluntarily undergone in attestation of the +accounts which they delivered, and solely in consequence of their belief +of those accounts; and that they also submitted, from the same motives, +to new rules of conduct. + +When we consider, first, the prevalency of the religion at this hour; +secondly, the only credible account which can be given of its origin, +viz. the activity of the Founder and his associates; thirdly, the +opposition which that activity must naturally have excited; fourthly, +the fate of the Founder of the religion, attested by heathen writers, +as well as our own; fifthly, the testimony of the same writers to the +sufferings of Christians, either contemporary with, or immediately +succeeding, the original settlers of the institution; sixthly, +predictions of the suffering of his followers ascribed to the Founder +of the religion, which ascription alone proves, either that such +predictions were delivered and fulfilled, or that the writers of +Christ's life were induced by the event to attribute such predictions +to him; seventhly, letters now in our possession, written by some +of the principal agents in the transaction, referring expressly to +extreme labours, dangers, and sufferings, sustained by themselves +and their companions; lastly, a history purporting to be written +by a fellow-traveller of one of the new teachers, and, by its +unsophisticated correspondency with letters of that person still extant, +proving itself to be written by some one well acquainted with the +subject of the narrative, which history contains accounts of travels, +persecutions, and martyrdoms, answering to what the former reasons lead +us to expect: when we lay together these considerations, which taken +separately are, I think correctly such as I have stated them in the +preceding chapters, there cannot much doubt remain upon our minds but +that a number of persons at that time appeared in the world, publicly +advancing an extraordinary story, and for the sake of propagating the +belief of that story, voluntarily incurring great personal dangers, +traversing seas and kingdoms, exerting great industry, and sustaining +great extremities of ill usage and persecution. It is also proved that +the same persons, in consequence of their persuasion, or pretended +persuasion, of the truth of what they asserted, entered upon a course of +life in many respects new and singular. + +From the clear and acknowledged parts of the case, I think it to be +likewise in the highest degree probable, that the story for which these +persons voluntarily exposed themselves to the fatigues and hardships +which they endured was a miraculous story; I mean, that they pretended +to miraculous evidence of some kind or other. They had nothing else to +stand upon. The designation of the person, that is to say, that Jesus of +Nazareth, rather than any other person, was the Messiah, and as such the +subject of their ministry, could only be founded upon supernatural +tokens attributed to him. Here were no victories, no conquests, no +revolutions, no surprising elevation of fortune, no achievements of +valour, of strength, or of policy, to appeal to; no discoveries in any +art or science, no great efforts of genius or learning to produce. A +Galilean peasant was announced to the world as a divine lawgiver. A +young man of mean condition, of a private and simple life, and who had +wrought no deliverance for the Jewish nation, was declared to be their +Messiah. This, without ascribing to him at the same time some proofs of +his mission, (and what other but supernatural proofs could there be?) +was too absurd a claim to be either imagined, or attempted, or credited. +In whatever degree, or in whatever part, the religion was argumentative, +when it came to the question, "Is the carpenter's son of Nazareth the +person whom we are to receive and obey?" there was nothing but the +miracles attributed to him by which his pretensions could be maintained +for a moment. Every controversy and every question must presuppose +these: for, however such controversies, when they did arise, might and +naturally would, be discussed upon their own grounds of argumentation, +without citing the miraculous evidence which had been asserted to attend +the Founder of the religion (which would have been to enter upon +another, and a more general question), yet we are to bear in mind, that +without previously supposing the existence or the pretence of such +evidence, there could have been no place for the discussion of the +argument at all. Thus, for example, whether the prophecies, which the +Jews interpreted to belong to the Messiah, were or were not applicable +to the history of Jesus of Nazareth, was a natural subject of debate in +those times; and the debate would proceed without recurring at every +turn to his miracles, because it set out with supposing these; inasmuch +as without miraculous marks and tokens (real or pretended), or without +some such great change effected by his means in the public condition of +the country, as might have satisfied the then received interpretation of +these prophecies, I do not see how the question could ever have been +entertained. Apollos, we read, "mightily convinced the Jews, showing by +the Scriptures that Jesus was Christ;" (Acts xviii. 28.) but unless +Jesus had exhibited some distinction of his person, some proof of +supernatural power, the argument from the old Scriptures could have had +no place. It had nothing to attach upon. A young man calling himself the +Son of God, gathering a crowd about him, and delivering to them lectures +of morality, could not have excited so much as a doubt among the Jews, +whether he was the object in whom a long series of ancient prophecies +terminated, from the completion of which they had formed such +magnificent expectations, and expectations of a nature so opposite to +what appeared; I mean no such doubt could exist when they had the whole +case before them, when they saw him put to death for his officiousness, +and when by his death the evidence concerning him was closed. Again, the +effect of the Messiah's coming, supposing Jesus to have been he, upon +Jews, upon Gentiles, upon their relation to each other, upon their +acceptance with God, upon their duties and their expectations; his +nature, authority, office, and agency; were likely to become subjects of +much consideration with the early votaries of the religion, and to +occupy their attention and writings. I should not however expect, that +in these disquisitions, whether preserved in the form of letters, +speeches, or set treatises, frequent or very direct mention of his +miracles would occur. Still, miraculous evidence lay at the bottom of +the argument. In the primary question, miraculous pretensions and +miraculous pretensions alone, were what they had to rely upon. + +That the original story was miraculous, is very fairly also inferred +from the miraculous powers which were laid claim to by the Christians of +succeeding ages. If the accounts of these miracles be true, it was a +continuation of the same powers; if they be false, it was an imitation, +I will not say of what had been wrought, but of what had been reported +to have been wrought, by those who preceded them. That imitation should +follow reality, fiction should be grafted upon truth; that, if miracles +were performed at first, miracles should be pretended afterwards; agrees +so well with the ordinary course of human affairs, that we can have no +great difficulty in believing it. The contrary supposition is very +improbable, namely, that miracles should be pretended to by the +followers of the apostles and first emissaries of the religion, when +none were pretended to, either in their own persons or that of their +Master, by these apostles and emissaries themselves. + + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +There is satisfactory evidence that many, professing to be original +witnesses of the Christian miracles, passed their lives in labours, +dangers, and sufferings, voluntarily undergone in attestation of the +accounts which they delivered, and solely in consequence of their belief +of those accounts; and that they also submitted, from the same motives, +to new rules of conduct. + +It being then once proved, that the first propagators of the Christian +institution did exert activity, and subject themselves to great dangers +and sufferings, in consequence and for the sake of an extraordinary and, +I think, we may say, of a miraculous story of some kind or other; the +next great question is, whether the account, which our Scriptures +contain, be that story; that which these men delivered, and for which +they acted and suffered as they did? This question is, in effect, no +other than whether the story which Christians have now be the story +which Christians had then? And of this the following proofs may be +deduced from general considerations, and from considerations prior to +any inquiry into the particular reasons and testimonies by which the +authority of our histories is supported. + +In the first place, there exists no trace or vestige of any other story. +It is not, like the death of Cyrus the Great, a competition between +opposite accounts, or between the credit of different historians. There +is not a document, or scrap of account, either contemporary with the +commencement of Christianity, or extant within many ages afar that +commencement, which assigns a history substantially different from ours. +The remote, brief, and incidental notices of the affair which are found +in heathen writers, so far as they do go, go along with us. They bear +testimony to these facts--that the institution originated from Jesus; +that the Founder was put to death, as a malefactor, at Jerusalem, by the +authority of the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate; that the religion +nevertheless spread in that city, and throughout Judea; and that it was +propagated thence to distant countries; that the converts were numerous; +that they suffered great hardships and injuries for their profession; +and that all this took place in the age of the world which our books +have assigned. They go on, further, to describe the manners of +Christians in terms perfectly conformable to the accounts extant in our +books; that they were wont to assemble on a certain day; that they sang +hymns to Christ as to a God; that they bound themselves by an oath not +to commit any crime, but to abstain from theft and adultery, to adhere +strictly to their promises, and not to deny money deposited in their +hands;* that they worshipped him who was crucified in Palestine; that +this their first lawgiver had taught them that they were all brethren; +that they had a great contempt for the things of this world, and looked +upon them as common; that they flew to one another's relief; that they +cherished strong hopes of immortality; that they despised death, and +surrendered themselves to sufferings.+ + +_________ + +* See Pliny's Letter--Bonnet, in his lively way of expressing himself, +says,--"Comparing Pliny's Letter with the account of the Acts, it seems +to me that I had not taken up another author, but that I was still +reading the historian of that extraordinary society." This is strong; +but there is undoubtedly an affinity, and all the affinity that could be +expected. + ++ "It is incredible, what expedition they use when any of their friends +are known to be in trouble. In a word, they spare nothing upon such an +occasion;--for these miserable men have no doubt they shall be immortal +and live for ever; therefore they contemn death, and many surrender +themselves to sufferings. Moreover, their first lawgiver has taught them +that they are all brethren, when once they have turned and renounced the +gods of the Greeks, and worship this Master of theirs who was crucified, +and engage to live according to his laws. They have also a sovereign +contempt for all the things of this world, and look upon them as +common." Lucian, de Morte Peregrini, t. i. p. 565, ed. Graev. +_________ + + +This is the account of writers who viewed the subject at a great +distance; who were uninformed and uninterested about it. It bears the +characters of such an account upon the face of it, because it describes +effects, namely the appearance in the world of a new religion, and the +conversion of great multitudes to it, without descending, in the +smallest degree, to the detail of the transaction upon which it was +founded, the interior of the institution, the evidence or arguments +offered by those who drew over others to it. Yet still here is no +contradiction of our story; no other or different story set up against +it: but so far a confirmation of it as that, in the general points on +which the heathen account touches, it agrees with that which we find in +our own books. + +The same may be observed of the very few Jewish writers of that and the +adjoining period, which have come down to us. Whatever they omit, or +whatever difficulties we may find in explaining the omission, they +advance no other history of the transaction than that which we +acknowledge. Josephus, who wrote his Antiquities, or History of the +Jews, about sixty years after the commencement of Christianity, in a +passage generally admitted as genuine, makes mention of John under the +name of John the Baptist; that he was a preacher of virtue; that he +baptized his proselytes; that he was well received by the people; that +he was imprisoned and put to death by Herod; and that Herod lived in a +criminal cohabitation with Herodias, his brother's wife. (Antiq. I. +xviii. cap. v. sect. 1, 2.) In another passage allowed by many, although +not without considerable question being moved about it, we hear of +"James, the brother of him who was called Jesus, and of his being put to +death." (Antiq. I. xx. cap. ix. sect. 1.) In a third passage, extant in +every copy that remains of Josephus's history, but the authenticity of +which has nevertheless been long disputed, we have an explicit testimony +to the substance of our history in these words:--"At that time lived +Jesus, a wise man, if he may be called a man, for he performed many +wonderful works. He was a teacher of such men as received the truth with +pleasure. He drew over to him many Jews and Gentiles. This was the +Christ; and when Pilate, at the instigation of the chief men among us +had condemned him to the cross, they who before had conceived an +affection for him did not cease to adhere to him; for, on the third day, +he appeared to them alive again, the divine prophets having foretold +these and many wonderful things concerning him. And the sect of the +Christians, so called from him, subsists to this time." (Antiq. I. +xviii. cap. iii. sect 3.) Whatever become of the controversy concerning +the genuineness of this passage; whether Josephus go the whole length of +our history, which, if the passage be sincere, he does; or whether he +proceed only a very little way with us, which, if the passage be +rejected, we confess to be the case; still what we asserted is true, +that he gives no other or different history of the subject from ours, no +other or different account of the origin of the institution. And I think +also that it may with great reason be contended, either that the passage +is genuine, or that the silence of Josephus was designed. For, although +we should lay aside the authority of our own books entirely, yet when +Tacitus, who wrote not twenty, perhaps not ten, years after Josephus, in +his account of a period in which Josephus was nearly thirty years of +age, tells us, that a vast multitude of Christians were condemned at +Rome; that they derived their denomination from Christ, who, in the +reign of Tiberius, was put to death, as a criminal, by the procurator, +Pontius Pilate; that the superstition had spread not only over Judea, +the source of the evil but it had reached Rome also:--when Suetonius, an +historian contemporary with Tacitus, relates that, in the time of +Claudius, the Jews were making disturbances at Rome, Christus being +their leader: and that, during the reign of Nero, the Christians were +punished; under both which emperors Josephus lived: when Pliny, who +wrote his celebrated epistle not more than thirty years after the +publication of Josephus's history, found the Christians in such numbers +in the province of Bithynia as to draw from him a complaint that the +contagion had seized cities, towns, and villages, and had so seized them +as to produce a general desertion of the public rites; and when, as has +already been observed, there is no reason for imagining that the +Christians were more numerous in Bithynia than in many other parts of +the Roman empire; it cannot, I should suppose, after this, be believed, +that the religion, and the transaction upon which it was founded, were +too obscure to engage the attention of Josephus, or to obtain a place in +his history. Perhaps he did not know how to represent the business, and +disposed of his difficulties by passing it over in silence. Eusebius +wrote the life of Constantine, yet omits entirely the most remarkable +circumstance in that life, the death of his son Crispus; undoubtedly for +the reason here given. The reserve of Josephus upon the subject of +Christianity appears also in his passing over the banishment of the Jews +by Claudius, which Suetonius, we have seen, has recorded with an express +reference to Christ. This is at least as remarkable as his silence about +the infants of Bethlehem.* Be, however, the fact, or the cause of the +omission in Josephus,+ what it may, no other or different history on the +subject has been given by him, or is pretended to have been given. + +_________ + +* Michaelis has computed, and, as it should seem, fairly enough; that +probably not more than twenty children perished by this cruel +precaution. Michaelis's Introduction to the New Testament, translated by +Marsh; vol. i. c. ii. sect. 11. + ++ There is no notice taken of Christianity in the Mishna, a collection +of Jewish traditions compiled about the year 180; although it contains a +Tract "De cultu peregrino," of strange or idolatrous worship; yet it +cannot be disputed but that Christianity was perfectly well known in the +world at this time. There is extremely little notice of the subject in +the Jerusalem Talmud, compiled about the year 300, and not much more in +the Babylonish Talmud, of the year 500; although both these works are of +a religions nature, and although, when the first was compiled, +Christianity was on the point of becoming the religion of the state, +and, when the latter was published, had been so for 200 years. +_________ + + +But further; the whole series of Christian writers, from the first age +of the institution down to the present, in their discussions, apologies, +arguments, and controversies, proceed upon the general story which our +Scriptures contain, and upon no other. The main facts, the principal +agents, are alike in all. This argument will appear to be of great +force, when it is known that we are able to trace back the series of +writers to a contact with the historical books of the New Testament, and +to the age of the first emissaries of the religion, and to deduce it, by +an unbroken continuation, from that end of the train to the present. + +The remaining letters of the apostles, (and what more original than +their letters can we have?) though written without the remotest design +of transmitting the history of Christ, or of Christianity, to future +ages, or even of making it known to their contemporaries, incidentally +disclose to us the following circumstances:--Christ's descent and +family; his innocence; the meekness and gentleness of his character (a +recognition which goes to the whole Gospel history); his exalted nature; +his circumcision; his transfiguration; his life of opposition and +suffering; his patience and resignation; the appointment of the +Eucharist, and the manner of it; his agony; his confession before +Pontius Pilate; his stripes, crucifixion, and burial; his resurrection; +his appearance after it, first to Peter, then to the rest of the +apostles; his ascension into heaven; and his designation to be the +future judge of mankind; the stated residence of the apostles at +Jerusalem; the working of miracles by the first preachers of the Gospel, +who were also the hearers of Christ;* the successful propagation of the +religion; the persecution of its followers; the miraculous conversion of +Paul; miracles wrought by himself, and alleged in his controversies with +his adversaries, and in letters to the persons amongst whom they were +wrought; finally, that MIRACLES were the signs of an apostle.+ + +_________ + +* Heb. ii. 3. "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation, +which, at the first, began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed +unto us by them that heard him, God also be bearing them witness, both +with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy +Ghost?" I allege this epistle without hesitation; for, whatever doubts +may have been raised about its author, there can be none concerning the +age in which it was written. No epistle in the collection carries about +it more indubitable marks of antiquity than this does. It speaks for +instance, throughout, of the temple as then standing and of the worship +of the temple as then subsisting.--Heb. viii. 4: "For, if he were on +earth, he should not be a priest, seeing there are priests that offer +according to the law."--Again, Heb. xiii. 10: "We have an altar whereof +they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle." + ++ Truly the signs of as apostle were wraught among you in all patience, +in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.' 2 Cor. xii. 12. +_________ + + +In an epistle bearing the name of Barnabas, the companion of Paul, +probably genuine, certainly belonging to that age, we have the +sufferings of Christ, his choice of apostles and their number, his +passion, the scarlet robe, the vinegar and gall, the mocking and +piercing, the casting lots for his coat, (Ep. Bar. c. vii.) his +resurrection on the eighth, (i. e. the first day of the week,[Ep. Bar. +c. vi.]) and the commemorative distinction of that day, his +manifestation after his resurrection, and, lastly, his ascension. We +have also his miracles generally but positively referred to in the +following words:--"Finally, teaching the people of Israel, and doing +many wonders and signs among them, he preached to them, and showed the +exceeding great love which he bare towards them." (Ep. Bar. c. v.) + +In an epistle of Clement, a hearer of St. Paul, although written for a +purpose remotely connected with the Christian history, we have the +resurrection of Christ, and the subsequent mission of the apostles, +recorded in these satisfactory terms: "The apostles have preached to us +from our Lord Jesus Christ from God:--For, having received their +command, and being thoroughly assured by the resurrection of our Lord +Jesus Christ, they went abroad, publishing that the kingdom of God was +at hand." (Ep. Clem. Rom. c. xlii.) We find noticed, also, the humility, +yet the power of Christ, (Ep. Clem. Rom. c. xvi.) his descent from +Abraham--his crucifixion. We have Peter and Paul represented as faithful +and righteous pillars of the church; the numerous sufferings of Peter; +the bonds, stripes, and stoning of Paul, and more particularly his +extensive and unwearied travels. + +In an epistle of Polycarp, a disciple of St. John, though only a brief +hortatory letter, we have the humility, patience, sufferings, +resurrection, and ascension of Christ, together with the apostolic +character of St. Paul, distinctly recognised. (Pol. Ep. Ad Phil. C. v. +viii. ii. iii.) Of this same father we are also assured, by Irenaeus, +that he (Irenaeus) had heard him relate, "what he had received from +eye-witnesses concerning the Lord, both concerning his miracles and his +doctrine." (Ir. ad Flor. 1 ap. Euseb. l. v. c. 20.) + +In the remaining works of Ignatius, the contemporary of Polycarp, larger +than those of Polycarp, (yet, like those of Polycarp, treating of +subjects in nowise leading to any recital of the Christian history,) the +occasional allusions are proportionably more numerous. The descent of +Christ from David, his mother Mary, his miraculous conception, the star +at his birth, his baptism by John, the reason assigned for it, his +appeal to the prophets, the ointment poured on his head, his sufferings +under Pontius Pilate and Herod the tetrarch, his resurrection, the +Lord's day called and kept in commemoration of it, and the Eucharist, in +both its Parts,--are unequivocally referred to. Upon the resurrection, +this writer is even circumstantial. He mentions the apostles' eating and +drinking with Christ after he had risen, their feeling and their +handling him; from which last circumstance Ignatius raises this just +reflection;--"They believed, being convinced both by his flesh and +spirit; for this cause, they despised death, and were found to be above +it." (Ad Smyr. c. iii.) + +Quadratus, of the same age with Ignatius, has left us the following +noble testimony:--"The works of our Saviour were always conspicuous, for +they were real; both those that were healed, and those that were raised +from the dead; who were seen not only when they were healed or raised, +but for a long time afterwards; not only whilst he dwelled on this +earth, but also after his departure, and for a good while after it, +insomuch that some of them have reached to our times." (Ap. Euseb. H. E. +l. iv. c. 3.) + +Justin Martyr came little more than thirty years after Quadratus. From +Justin's works, which are still extant, might be collected a tolerably +complete account of Christ's life, in all points agreeing with that +which is delivered in our Scriptures; taken indeed, in a great measure, +from those Scriptures, but still proving that this account, and no +other, was the account known and extant in that age. The miracles in +particular, which form the part of Christ's history most material to be +traced, stand fully and distinctly recognised in the following +passage:--"He healed those who had been blind, and deaf, and lame from +their birth; causing, by his word, one to leap, another to hear, and a +third to see: and, by raising the dead, and making them to live, he +induced, by his works, the men of that age to know him." (Just. Dial. +cum Tryph. p. 288, ed. Thirl.) + +It is unnecessary to carry these citations lower, because the history, +after this time, occurs in ancient Christian writings as familiarly as +it is wont to do in modern sermons;--occurs always the same in +substance, and always that which our evangelists represent. + +This is not only true of those writings of Christians which are genuine, +and of acknowledged authority; but it is, in a great measure, true of +all their ancient writings which remain; although some of these may have +been erroneously ascribed to authors to whom they did not belong, or may +contain false accounts, or may appear to be undeserving of credit, or +never indeed to have obtained any. Whatever fables they have mixed with +the narrative, they preserve the material parts, the leading facts, as +we have them; and, so far as they do this, although they be evidence of +nothing else, they are evidence that these points were fixed, were +received and acknowledged by all Christians in the ages in which the +books were written. At least, it may be asserted, that, in the places +where we were most likely to meet with such things, if such things had +existed, no reliques appear of any story substantially different from +the present, as the cause, or as the pretence, of the institution. + +Now that the original story, the story delivered by the first preachers +of the institution, should have died away so entirely as to have left no +record or memorial of its existence, although so many records and +memorials of the time and transaction remain; and that another story +should have stepped into its place, and gained exclusive possession of +the belief of all who professed, themselves disciples of the +institution, is beyond any example of the corruption of even oral +tradition, and still less consistent with the experience of written +history: and this improbability, which is very great, is rendered still +greater by the reflection, that no such change as the oblivion of one +story, and the substitution of another, took place in any future period +of the Christian aera. Christianity hath travelled through dark and +turbulent ages; nevertheless it came out of the cloud and the storm, +such, in substance, as it entered in. Many additions were made to the +primitive history, and these entitled to different degrees of credit; +many doctrinal errors also were from time to time grafted into the +public creed; but still the original story remained, and remained the +same. In all its principal parts, it has been fixed from the beginning. + +Thirdly: The religious rites and usages that prevailed amongst the early +disciples of Christianity were such as belonged to, and sprung out of, +the narrative now in our hands; which accordancy shows, that it was the +narrative upon which these persons acted, and which they had received +from their teachers. Our account makes the Founder of the religion +direct that his disciples should be baptized: we know that the first +Christians were baptized, Our account makes him direct that they should +hold religious assemblies: we find that they did hold religious +assemblies. Our accounts make the apostles assemble upon a stated day of +the week: we find, and that from information perfectly independent of +our accounts, that the Christians of the first century did observe +stated days of assembling. Our histories record the institution of the +rite which we call the Lord's Supper, and a command to repeat it in +perpetual succession: we find, amongst the early Christians, the +celebration of this rite universal. And, indeed, we find concurring in +all the above-mentioned observances, Christian societies of many +different nations and languages, removed from one another by a great +distance of place and dissimilitude of situation. It is also extremely +material to remark, that there is no room for insinuating that our books +were fabricated with a studious accommodation to the usages which +obtained at the time they were written; that the authors of the books +found the usages established, and framed the story to account for their +original. The Scripture accounts, especially of the Lord's Supper, are +too short and cursory, not to say too obscure, and in this view, +deficient, to allow a place for any such suspicion.* + +_________ + +* The reader who is conversant in these researches, by comparing the +short Scripture accounts of the Christian rites above-mentioned with the +minute and circumstantial directions contained in the pretended +apostolical constitutions, will see the force of this observation; the +difference between truth and forgery. +_________ + + +Amongst the proofs of the truth of our proposition, viz. That the story +which we have now is, in substance, the story which the Christians had +then, or, in other words, that the accounts in our Gospels are, as to +their principal parts, at least, the accounts which the apostles and +original teachers of the religion delivered, one arises from observing, +that it appears by the Gospels themselves that the story was public at +the time; that the Christian community was already in possession of the +substance and principal parts of the narrative. The Gospels were not the +original cause of the Christian history being believed, but were +themselves among the consequences of that belief. This is expressly +affirmed by Saint Luke, in his brief, but, as I think, very important +and instructive preface:--"Forasmuch (says the evangelist) as many have +taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which +are most surely believed amongst us, even as they delivered them unto +us, which, from the beginning, were eye-witnesses and ministers of the +word; it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all +things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent +Theophilus, that thou mightest know the certainty of those things +wherein thou hast been instructed."--This short introduction testifies, +that the substance of the history which the evangelist was about to +write was already believed by Christians; that it was believed upon the +declarations of eye-witnesses and ministers of the word; that it formed +the account of their religion in which Christians were instructed; that +the office which the historian proposed to himself was to trace each +particular to its origin, and to fix the certainty of many things which +the reader had before heard of. In Saint John's Gospel the same point +appears hence, that there are some principal facts to which the +historian refers, but which he does not relate. A remarkable instance of +this kind is the ascension, which is not mentioned by St. John in its +place, at the conclusion of his history, but which is plainly referred +to in the following words of the sixth chapter; "What and if ye shall +see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?" (Also John iii. 31; +and xvi. 28.) And still more positively in the words which Christ, +according to our evangelist, spoke to Mary after his resurrection, +"Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go unto my +brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, +unto my God and your God." (John xx. 17.) This can only be accounted for +by the supposition that St. John wrote under a sense of the notoriety of +Christ's ascension, among those by whom his book was likely to be read. +The same account must also be given of Saint Matthew's omission of the +same important fact. The thing was very well known, and it did not occur +to the historian that it was necessary to add any particulars concerning +it. It agrees also with this solution, and with no other, that neither +Matthew nor John disposes of the person of our Lord in any manner +whatever. Other intimations in St. John's Gospel of the then general +notoriety of the story are the following: His manner of introducing his +narrative (ch. i. ver. 15.)--"John bare witness of him, and cried, +saying" evidently presupposes that his readers knew who John was. His +rapid parenthetical reference to John's imprisonment, "for John was not +yet cast into prison," (John iii, 24.) could only come from a writer +whose mind was in the habit of considering John's imprisonment as +perfectly notorious. The description of Andrew by the addition "Simon +Peter's brother," (John i. 40.) takes it for granted, that Simon Peter +was well known. His name had not been mentioned before. The evangelist's +noticing the prevailing misconstruction of a discourse, (John xxi. 24.) +which Christ held with the beloved disciple, proves that the characters +and the discourse were already public. And the observation which these +instances afford is of equal validity for the purpose of the present +argument, whoever were the authors of the histories. + + +These four circumstances:--first, the recognition of the account in its +principal parts by a series of succeeding writers; secondly, the total +absence of any account of the origin of the religion substantially +different from ours; thirdly, the early and extensive prevalence of +rites and institutions, which resulted from our account; fourthly, our +account bearing in its construction proof that it is an account of facts +which were known and believed at the time, are sufficient, I conceive, +to support an assurance, that the story which we have now is, in general, +the story which Christians had at the beginning. I say in general; by +which term I mean, that it is the same in its texture, and in its +principal facts. For instance, I make no doubt, for the reasons above +stated, but that the resurrection of the Founder of the religion was +always a part of the Christian story. Nor can a doubt of this remain +upon the mind of any one who reflects that the resurrection is, in some +form or other, asserted, referred to, or assumed, in every Christian +writing, of every description which hath come down to us. + +And if our evidence stopped here, we should have a strong case to offer: +for we should have to allege, that in the reign of Tiberius Caesar, a +certain number of persons set about an attempt of establishing a new +religion in the world: in the prosecution of which purpose, they +voluntarily encountered great dangers, undertook great labours, +sustained great sufferings, all for a miraculous story, which they +published wherever they came; and that the resurrection of a dead man, +whom during his life they had followed and accompanied, was a constant +part of this story. I know nothing in the above statement which can, +with any appearance of reason, be disputed; and I know nothing, in the +history of the human species, similar to it. + + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +There is satisfactory evidence that many, professing to be original +witnesses of the Christian miracles, passed their lives in labours, +dangers, and sufferings, voluntarily undergone in attestation of the +accounts which they delivered, and solely in consequence of their belief +of those accounts; and that they also submitted, from the same motives, +to new rules of conduct. + +That the story which we have now is, in the main, the story which the +apostles published, is, I think, nearly certain, from the considerations +which have been proposed. But whether, when we come to the particulars, +and the detail of the narrative, the historical books of the New +Testament be deserving of credit as histories, so that a fact ought +to be accounted true, because it is found in them; or whether they are +entitled to be considered as representing the accounts which, true or +false, the apostles published; whether their authority, in either of +these views, can be trusted to, is a point which necessarily depends +upon what we know of the books, and of their authors. + +Now, in treating of this part of our argument, the first and most +material observation upon the subject is, that such was the situation of +the authors to whom the four Gospels are ascribed, that, if any one of +the four be genuine, it is sufficient for our purpose. The received +author of the first was an original apostle and emissary of the +religion. The received author of the second was an inhabitant of +Jerusalem, at the time, to whose house the apostles were wont to resort, +and himself an attendant upon one of the most eminent of that number. +The received author of the third was a stated companion and +fellow-traveller of the most active of all the teachers of the religion, +and, in the course of his travels, frequently in the society of the +original apostles. The received author of the fourth, as well as of the +first, was one of these apostles. No stronger evidence of the truth of a +history can arise from the situation of the historian than what is here +offered. The authors of all the histories lived at the time and upon the +spot. The authors of two of the histories were present at many of the +scenes which they describe; eye-witnesses of the facts, ear-witnesses of +the discourses; writing from personal knowledge and recollection; and, +what strengthens their testimony, writing upon a subject in which their +minds were deeply engaged, and in which, as they must have been very +frequently repeating the accounts to others, the passages of the history +would be kept continually alive in their memory. Whoever reads the +Gospels (and they ought to be read for this particular purpose) will +find in them not merely a general affirmation of miraculous powers, but +detailed circumstantial accounts of miracles, with specifications of +time, place, and persons; and these accounts many and various. In the +Gospels, therefore, which bear the names of Matthew and John, these +narratives, if they really proceeded from these men, must either be true +as far as the fidelity of human recollection is usually to be depended +upon, that is, must be true in substance and in their principal parts, +(which is sufficient for the purpose of proving a supernatural agency,) +or they must be wilful and mediated falsehoods. Yet the writers who +fabricated and uttered these falsehoods, if they be such, are of the +number of those who, unless the whole contexture of the Christian story +be a dream, sacrificed their ease and safety in the cause, and for a +purpose the most inconsistent that is possible with dishonest +intentions. They were villains for no end but to teach honesty, and +martyrs without the least prospect of honour or advantage. + +The Gospels which bear the names of Mark and Luke, although not the +narratives of eye-witnesses, are, if genuine, removed from that only by +one degree. They are the narratives of contemporary writers, or writers +themselves mixing with the business; one of the two probably living in +the place which was the principal scene of action; both living in habits +of society and correspondence with those who had been present at the +transactions which they relate. The latter of them accordingly tells us +(and with apparent sincerity, because he tells it without pretending to +personal knowledge, and without claiming for his work greater authority +than belonged to it) that the things which were believed amount +Christians came from those who from the beginning were eye-witnesses and +ministers of the word; that he had traced accounts up to their source; +and that he was prepared to instruct his reader in the certainty of the +things which he related.* Very few histories lie so close to their +facts; very few historians are so nearly connected with the subject of +their narrative, or possess such means of authentic information, as +these. + +_________ + +* Why should not the candid and modest preface of this historian be +believed, as well as that which Dion Cassius prefixes to his Life of +Commodus? "These things and the following I write, not from the report +of others, but from my own knowledge and observation." I see no reason +to doubt but that both passages describe truly enough the situation of +the authors. +_________ + + +The situation of the writers applies to the truth of the facts which +they record. But at present we use their testimony to a point somewhat +short of this, namely, that the facts recorded in the Gospels, whether +true or false, are the facts, and the sort of facts which the original +preachers of the religion allege. Strictly speaking, I am concerned only +to show, that what the Gospels contain is the same as what the apostles +preached. Now, how stands the proof of this point? A set of men went +about the world, publishing a story composed of miraculous accounts, +(for miraculous from the very nature and exigency of the case they must +have been,) and upon the strength of these accounts called upon mankind +to quit the religions in which they had been educated, and to take up, +thenceforth, a new system of opinions, and new rules of action. What is +more in attestation of these accounts, that is, in support of an +institution of which these accounts were the foundation, is, that the +same men voluntarily exposed themselves to harassing and perpetual +labours, dangers, and sufferings. We want to know what these accounts +were. We have the particulars, i. e. many particulars, from two of their +own number. We have them from an attendant of one of the number, and +who, there is reason to believe, was an inhabitant of Jerusalem at the +time. We have them from a fourth writer, who accompanied the most +laborious missionary of the institution in his travels; who, in the +course of these travels, was frequently brought into the society of the +rest; and who, let it be observed, begins his narrative by telling us +that he is about to relate the things which had been delivered by those +who were ministers of the word, and eye-witnesses of the facts. I do not +know what information can be more satisfactory than this. We may, +perhaps, perceive the force and value of it more sensibly if we reflect +how requiring we should have been if we had wanted it. Supposing it to +be sufficiently proved, that the religion now professed among us owed +its original to the preaching and ministry of a number of men, who, +about eighteen centuries ago, set forth in the world a new system of +religious opinions, founded upon certain extraordinary things which they +related of a wonderful person who had appeared in Judea; suppose it to +be also sufficiently proved, that, in the course and prosecution of +their ministry, these men had subjected themselves to extreme hardships, +fatigue, and peril; but suppose the accounts which they published had +not been committed to writing till some ages after their times, or at +least that no histories but what had been composed some ages afterwards +had reached our hands; we should have said, and with reason, that we +were willing to believe these under the circumstances in which they +delivered their testimony, but that we did not, at this day, know with +sufficient evidence what their testimony was. Had we received the +particulars of it from any of their own number, from any of those who +lived and conversed with them, from any of their hearers, or even from +any of their contemporaries, we should have had something to rely upon. +Now, if our books be genuine, we have all these. We have the very +species of information which, as it appears to me, our imagination would +have carved out for us, if it had been wanting. + +But I have said that if any one of the four Gospels be genuine, we have +not only direct historical testimony to the point we contend for, but +testimony which, so far as that point is concerned, cannot reasonably be +rejected. If the first Gospel was really written by Matthew, we have the +narrative of one of the number, from which to judge what were the +miracles, and the kind of miracles, which the apostles attributed to +Jesus. Although, for argument's sake, and only for argument's sake, we +should allow that this Gospel had been erroneously ascribed to Matthew; +yet, if the Gospel of St. John be genuine, the observation holds with no +less strength. Again, although the Gospels both of Matthew and John +could be supposed to be spurious, yet, if the Gospel of Saint Luke were +truly the composition of that person, or of any person, be his name what +it might, who was actually in the situation in which the author of that +Gospel professes himself to have been, or if the Gospel which bear the +name of Mark really proceeded from him; we still, even upon the lowest +supposition, possess the accounts of one writer at least, who was not +only contemporary with the apostles, but associated with them in their +ministry; which authority seems sufficient, when the question is simply +what it was which these apostles advanced. + +I think it material to have this well noticed. The New Testament +contains a great number of distinct writings, the genuineness of any one +of which is almost sufficient to prove the truth of the religion: it +contains, however, four distinct histories, the genuineness of any one +of which is perfectly sufficient. + +If, therefore, we must be considered as encountering the risk of error +in assigning the authors of our books, we are entitled to the advantage +of so many separate probabilities. And although it should appear that +some of the evangelists had seen and used each other's works, this +discovery, whist it subtracts indeed from their characters as +testimonies strictly independent, diminishes, I conceive, little either +their separate authority, (by which I mean the authority of any one that +is genuine,) or their mutual confirmation. For, let the most +disadvantageous supposition possible be made concerning them; let it be +allowed, what I should have no great difficulty in admitting, that Mark +compiled his history almost entirely from those of Matthew and Luke; and +let it also for a moment be supposed that were not, in fact, written by +Matthew and Luke; yet, if it be true that Mark, a contemporary of the +apostles, living, in habits of society with the apostles, a +fellow-traveller and fellow-labourer with some of them; if, I say, it be +true, that this person made the compilation, it follows, that the +writings from which he made it existed in the time of the apostles, and +not only so, but that they were then in such esteem and credit, that a +companion of the apostles formed a history out of them. Let the Gospel +of Mark be called an epitome of that of Matthew; if a person in the +situation in which Mark is described to have been actually made the +epitome, it affords the strongest possible attestation to the character +of the original. + +Again, parallelisms in sentences, in word, and in the order of words, +have been traced out between the Gospel of Matthew and that of Luke; +which concurrence cannot easily be explained, otherwise than by +supposing, either that Luke had consulted Matthew's history, or, what +appears to me in nowise incredible, that minutes of some of Christ's +discourses, as well as brief memoirs of some passages of his life, had +been committed to writing at the time; and that such written accounts +had by both authors been occasionally admitted into their histories. +Either supposition is perfectly consistent with the acknowledged +formation of St. Luke's narrative, who professes not to write as an +eye-witness, but to have investigated the original of every account +which he delivers: in other words, to have collected them from such +documents and testimonies as he, who had the best opportunities of +making inquiries, judged to be authentic. Therefore, allowing that this +writer also, in some instances, borrowed from the Gospel which we call +Matthew's and once more allowing for the sake of stating the argument, +that that Gospel was not the production of the author to whom we +ascribe it; yet still we have in St. Luke's Gospel a history given by a +writer immediately connected with the transaction with the witnesses of +it with the persons engaged in it, and composed from materials which +that person, thus situated, deemed to be safe source of intelligence; in +other words, whatever supposition be made concerning any or all the +other Gospels, if Saint Luke's Gospel be genuine, we have in it a +credible evidence of the point which we maintain. The Gospel according +to Saint John appears to be, and is on all hands allowed to be, an +independent testimony, strictly and properly so called. Notwithstanding +therefore, any connexion or supposed connexion, between one of the +Gospels, I again repeat what I before said, that if any one of the four +be genuine, we have, in that one, strong reason, from the character and +situation of the writer, to believe that we possess the accounts which +the original emissaries of the religion delivered. + +Secondly: In treating of the written evidences of Christianity, next to +their separate, we are to consider their aggregate authority. Now, there +is in the evangelic history a cumulation of testimony which belongs +hardly to any other history, but which our habitual mode of reading the +Scriptures sometimes causes us to overlook. When a passage, in any wise +relating to the history of Christ is read to us out of the epistle of +Clemens Romanus, the epistles of Ignatius, of Polycap, or from any other +writing of that age, we are immediately sensible of the confirmation +which it affords to the Scripture account. Here is a new witness. Now, +if we had been accustomed to read the Gospel of Matthew alone, and had +known that of Luke only as the generality of Christians know the +writings of the apostolical fathers, that is, had known that such a +writing was extant and acknowledged; when we came, for the first time, +to look into what it contained, and found many of the facts which +Matthew recorded, recorded also there, many other facts of a similar +nature added, and throughout the whole work the same general series of +transactions stated, and the same general character of the person who +was the subject of the history preserved, I apprehend that we should +feel our minds strongly impressed by this discovery of fresh evidence. +We should feel a renewal of the same sentiment in first reading the +Gospel of Saint John. That of Saint Mark perhaps would strike us as an +abridgment of the history with which we were already acquainted; but we +should naturally reflect, that if that history was abridged by such a +person as Mark, or by any person of so early an age, it afforded one of +the highest possible attestations to the value of the work. This +successive disclosure of proof would leave us assured, that there must +have been at least some reality in a story which not one, but many, had +taken in hand to commit to writing. The very existence of four separate +histories would satisfy us that the subject had a foundation; and when, +amidst the variety which the different information of the different +writers had supplied to their accounts, or which their different choice +and judgment in selecting their materials had produced, we observed many +facts to stand the same in all; of these facts, at least, we should +conclude, that they were fixed in their credit and publicity. If, after +this, we should come to the knowledge of a distinct history, and that +also of the same age with the rest, taking up the subject where the +others had left it, and carrying on a narrative of the effects produced +in the world by the extraordinary causes of which we had already been +informed, and which effects subsist at this day, we should think the +reality of the original story in no little degree established by this +supplement. If subsequent inquiries should bring to our knowledge, one +after another, letters written by some of the principal agents in the +business, upon the business, and during the time of their activity and +concern in it, assuming all along and recognising the original story, +agitating the questions that arose out of it, pressing the obligations +which resulted from it, giving advice and directions to these who acted +upon it; I conceive that we should find, in every one of these, a still +further support to the conclusion we had formed. At present, the weight +of this successive confirmation is, in a great measure; unperceived by +us. The evidence does not appear to us what it is; for, being from our +infancy accustomed to regard the New Testament as one book, we see in it +only one testimony. The whole occurs to us as a single evidence; and its +different parts not as distinct attestations, but as different portions +only of the same. Yet in this conception of the subject we are certainly +mistaken; for the very discrepancies among the several documents which +form our volume prove, if all other proof were wanting, that in their +original composition they were separate, and most of them independent +productions. + +If we dispose our ideas in a different order, the matter stands +thus:--Whilst the transaction was recent, and the original witnesses +were at hand to relate it; and whilst the apostles were busied in +preaching and travelling, in collecting disciples, in forming and +regulating societies of converts, in supporting themselves against +opposition; whilst they exercised their ministry under the harassings of +frequent persecutions, and in a state of almost continual alarm, it is +not probable that, in this engaged, anxious, and unsettled condition of +life, they would think immediately of writing histories for the +information of the public or of posterity.* But it is very probable, +that emergencies might draw from some of them occasional letters upon +the subject of their mission, to converts, or to societies of +converts, with which they were connected; or that they might address +written discourses and exhortations to the disciples of the institution +at large, which would be received and read with a respect proportioned +to the character of the writer. Accounts in the mean time would get +abroad of the extraordinary things that had been passing, written with +different degrees of information and correctness. The extension of the +Christian society, which could no longer be instructed: by a personal +intercourse with the apostles, and the possible circulation of imperfect +or erroneous narratives, would soon teach some amongst them the +expediency of sending forth authentic memoirs of the life and doctrine +of their Master. When accounts appeared authorised by the name, and +credit, and situation of the writers, recommended or recognised by the +apostles and first preachers of the religion, or found to coincide with +what the apostles and first preachers of the religion had taught, other +accounts would fall into disuse and neglect; whilst these, maintaining +their reputation (as, if genuine and well founded, they would do) under +the test of time, inquiry, and contradiction, might be expected to make +their way into the hands of Christians of all countries of the world. + +________ + +* This thought occurred to Eusebius: "Nor were the apostles of Christ +greatly concerned about the writing of books, being engaged in a more +excellent ministry which is above all human power." Eccles. Hist. 1. +iii. c. 24.--The same consideration accounts also for the paucity of +Christian writings in the first century of its aera. +_________ + + +This seems the natural progress of the business; and with this the +records in our possession, and the evidence concerning them correspond. +We have remaining, in the first place, many letters of the kind above +described, which have been preserved with a care and fidelity answering +to the respect with which we may suppose that such letters would be +received. But as these letters were not written to prove the truth of +the Christian religion, in the sense in which we regard that question; +nor to convey information of facts, of which those to whom the letters +were written had been previously informed; we are not to look in them +for anything more than incidental allusions to the Christian history. We +are able, however, to gather from these documents various particular +attestations which have been already enumerated; and this is a species +of written evidence, as far as it goes, in the highest degree +satisfactory, and in point of time perhaps the first. But for our more +circumstantial information, we have, in the next place, five direct +histories, bearing the names of persons acquainted, by their situation, +with the truth of what they relate, and three of them purporting, in the +very body of the narrative, to be written by such persons; of which +books we know, that some were in the hands of those who were +contemporaries of the apostles, and that, in the age immediately +posterior to that, they were in the hands, we may say, of every one, and +received by Christians with so much respect and deference, as to be +constantly quoted and referred to by them, without any doubt of the +truth of their accounts. They were treated as such histories, proceeding +from such authorities, might expect to be treated. In the preface to one +of our histories, we have intimations left us of the existence of some +ancient accounts which are now lost. There is nothing in this +circumstance that can surprise us. It was to be expected, from the +magnitude and novelty of the occasion, that such accounts would swarm. +When better accounts came forth, these died away. Our present histories +superseded others. They soon acquired a character and established a +reputation which does not appear to have belonged to any other: that, at +least, can be proved concerning them which cannot be proved concerning +any other. + +But to return to the point which led to these reflections. By +considering our records in either of the two views in which we have +represented them, we shall perceive that we possess a connection of +proofs, and not a naked or solitary testimony; and that the written +evidence is of such a kind, and comes to us in such a state, as the +natural order and progress of things, in the infancy of the institution, +might be expected to produce. + +Thirdly: The genuineness of the historical books of the New Testament is +undoubtedly a point of importance, because the strength of their +evidence is augmented by our knowledge of the situation of their +authors, their relation to the subject, and the part which they +sustained in the transaction; and the testimonies which we are able to +produce compose a firm ground of persuasion, that the Gospels were +written by the persons whose names they bear. Nevertheless, I must be +allowed to state, that to the argument which I am endeavouring to +maintain, this point is not essential; I mean, so essential as that the +fate of the argument depends upon it. The question before us is, whether +the Gospels exhibit the story which the apostles and first emissaries of +the religion published, and for which they acted and suffered in the +manner in which, for some miraculous story or other, they did act and +suffer. Now let us suppose that we possess no other information +concerning these books than that they were written by early disciples of +Christianity; that they were known and read during the time, or near the +time, of the original apostles of the religion; that by Christians whom +the apostles instructed, by societies of Christians which the apostles +founded, these books were received, (by which term "received" I mean +that they were believed to contain authentic accounts of the +transactions upon which the religion rested, and accounts which were +accordingly used, repeated, and relied upon,) this reception would be a +valid proof that these books, whoever were the authors of them, must +have accorded with what the apostles taught. A reception by the first +race of Christians, is evidence that they agreed with what the first +teachers of the religion delivered. In particular, if they had not +agreed with what the apostles themselves preached, how could they have +gained credit in churches and societies which the apostles +established? + +Now the fact of their early existence, and not only of their existence, +but their reputation, is made out by some ancient testimonies which do +not happen to specify the names of the writers: add to which, what hath +been already hinted, that two out of the four Gospels contain averments +in the body of the history, which, though they do not disclose the +names, fix the time and situation of the authors, viz., that one was +written by an eye-witness of the sufferings of Christ, the other by a +contemporary of the apostles. In the Gospel of St. John (xix. 35), +describing the crucifixion, with the particular circumstance of piercing +Christ's side with a spear, the historian adds, as for himself, "and he +that saw it bare record, and his record is true, and he knoweth that he +saith true, that ye might believe." Again (xxi. 24), after relating a +conversation which passed between Peter and "the disciple," as it is +there expressed, "whom Jesus loved," it is added, "this is the disciple +which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things." This +testimony, let it be remarked, is not the less worthy of regard, because +it is, in one view, imperfect. The name is not mentioned; which, if a +fraudulent purpose had been intended, would have been done. The third of +our present Gospels purports to have been written by the person who +wrote the Acts of the Apostles; in which latter history, or rather +latter part of the same history, the author, by using in various places +the first person plural, declares himself to have been a contemporary of +all, and a companion of one, of the original preachers of the religion. + + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +There is satisfactory evidence that many, professing to be original +witnesses of the Christian miracles, passed their lives in labours, +dangers, and sufferings, voluntarily undergone in attestation of the +accounts which they delivered, and solely in consequence of their belief +of those accounts; and that they also submitted, from the same motives, +to new rules of conduct. + +OF THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE SCRIPTURES. + +Not forgetting, therefore, what credit is due to the evangelical +history, supposing even any one of the four Gospels to be genuine; what +credit is due to the Gospels, even supposing nothing to be known +concerning them but that they were written by early disciples of the +religion, and received with deference by early Christian churches; more +especially not forgetting what credit is due to the New Testament in its +capacity of cumulative evidence; we now proceed to state the proper and +distinct proofs, which show not only the general value of these records, +but their specific authority, and the high probability there is that +they actually came from the persons whose names they bear. + +There are, however, a few preliminary reflections, by which we may draw +up with more regularity to the propositions upon which the close and +particular discussion of the subject depends. Of which nature are the +following: + +I. We are able to produce a great number of ancient manuscripts, found +in many different countries, and in countries widely distant from each +other, all of them anterior to the art of printing, some Certainly seven +or eight hundred years old, and some which have been preserved probably +above a thousand years.* We have also many ancient versions of these +books, and some of them into languages which are not at present, nor for +many ages have been, spoken in any part of the world. The existence of +these manuscripts and versions proves that the Scriptures were not the +production of any modern contrivance. It does away also the uncertainty +which hangs over such publications as the works, real or pretended, of +Ossian and Rowley, in which the editors are challenged to produce their +manuscripts and to show where they obtained their copies. The number of +manuscripts, far exceeding those of any other book, and their wide +dispersion, afford an argument, in some measure to the senses, that the +Scriptures anciently, in like manner as at this day, were more read and +sought after than any other books, and that also in many different +countries. The greatest part of spurious Christian writings are utterly +lost, the rest preserved by some single manuscript. There is weight also +in Dr. Bentley's observation, that the New Testament has suffered less +injury by the errors of transcribers than the works of any profane +author of the same size and antiquity; that is, there never was any +writing, in the preservation and purity of which the world was so +interested or so careful. + +_________ + +* The Alexandrian manuscript, now in the British Museum, was written +probably in the fourth or fifth century. +_________ + + +II. An argument of great weight with those who are judges of the proofs +upon which it is founded, and capable, through their testimony, of being +addressed to every understanding, is that which arises from the style +and language of the New Testament. It is just such a language as might +be expected from the apostles, from persons of their age and in their +situation, and from no other persons. It is the style neither of classic +authors, nor of the ancient Christian fathers, but Greek coming from men +of Hebrew origin; abounding, that is, with Hebraic and Syriac idioms, +such as would naturally be found in the writings of men who used a +language spoken indeed where they lived, but not the common dialect of +the country. This happy peculiarity is a strong proof of the genuineness +of these writings: for who should forge them? The Christian fathers were +for the most part totally ignorant of Hebrew, and therefore were not +likely to insert Hebraisms and Syriasms into their writings. The few who +had a knowledge of the Hebrew, as Justin Martyr, Origen, and Epiphanius, +wrote in a language which hears no resemblance to that of the New +Testament. The Nazarenes, who understood Hebrew, used chiefly, perhaps +almost entirely, the Gospel of Saint Matthew, and therefore cannot be +suspected of forging the rest of the sacred writings. The argument, at +any rate, proves the antiquity of these books; that they belonged to the +age of the apostles; that they could be composed, indeed, in no other.* + +_________ + +* See this argument stated more at large in Michaelis's Introduction, +(Marsh's translation,) vol. i. c. ii. sect. 10, from which these +observations are taken. +_________ + + +III. Why should we question the genuineness of these books? Is it for +that they contain accounts of supernatural events? I apprehend that +this, at the bottom, is the real, though secret, cause of our hesitation +about them: for had the writings inscribed with the names of Matthew and +John related nothing but ordinary history, there would have been no +more doubt whether these writings were theirs than there is concerning +the acknowledged works of Josephus or Philo; that is, there would have +been no doubt at all. Now it ought to be considered that this reason, +however it may apply to the credit which is given to a writer's judgment +or veracity, affects the question of genuineness very indirectly. The +works of Bede exhibit many wonderful relations: but who, for that +reason, doubts that they were written by Bede? The same of a multitude +of other authors. To which may be added that we ask no more for our +books than what we allow to other books in some sort similar to ours: we +do not deny the genuineness of the Koran; we admit that the history of +Apollonius Tyanaeus, purporting to be written by Philostratus, was +really written by Philostratus. + +IV. If it had been an easy thing in the early times of the institution +to have forged Christian writings, and to have obtained currency and +reception to the forgeries, we should have had many appearing in the +name of Christ himself. No writings would have been received with so +much avidity and respect as these: consequently none afforded so great a +temptation to forgery. Yet have we heard but of one attempt of this +sort, deserving of the smallest notice, that in a piece of a very few +lines, and so far from succeeding, I mean, from obtaining acceptance and +reputation, or an acceptance an reputation in anywise similar to that +which can be proved to have attended the books of the New Testament, +that it is not so much as mentioned by any writer of the first three +centuries. The learned reader need not be informed that I mean the +epistle of Christ to Abgarus, king of Edessa, found at present in the +work of Eusebius,* as a piece acknowledged by him, though not without +considerable doubt whether the whole passage be not an interpolation, as +it is most certain, that, after the publication of Eusebius's work, this +epistle was universally rejected.+ + +_________ + +* Hist. Eccl. lib. i. c. 15. ++ Augustin, A.D. 895 (De Consens. Evan. c. 34), had heard that the +Pagans pretended to be possessed of an epistle of Christ to Peter and +Paul; but he had never seen it, and appears to doubt of the existence of +any such piece either genuine or spurious. No other ancient writer +mentions it. He also, and he alone, notices, and that in order to condemn +it, an epistle ascribed to Christ by the Manichees, A.D. 270, and a short +hymn attributed to him by the Priscillianists, A.D. 378 (cont. Faust. Man. +Lib xxviii, c,4). The lateness of the writer who notices these things, the +manner in which he notices them, and above all, the silence of every +preceding writer, render them unworthy on of consideration. +_________ + + +V. If the ascription of the Gospels to their respective authors had been +arbitrary or conjectural, they would have been ascribed to more eminent +men. This observation holds concerning the first three Gospels, the +reputed authors of which were enabled, by their situation, to obtain +true intelligence, and were likely to deliver an honest account of what +they knew, but were persons not distinguished in the history by +extraordinary marks of notice or commendation. Of the apostles, I hardly +know any one of whom less is said than of Matthew, or of whom the little +that is said is less calculated to magnify his character. Of Mark, +nothing is said in the Gospels; and what is said of any person of that +name in the Acts, and in the epistles, in no part bestows praise or +eminence upon him. The name of Luke is mentioned only in St Paul's +epistles,* and that very transiently. The judgment, therefore, which +assigned these writings to these authors proceeded, it may be presumed, +upon proper knowledge and evidence, and not upon a voluntary choice of +names. + +VI. Christian writers and Christian churches appear to have soon arrived +at a very general agreement upon the subject, and that without the +interposition of any public authority. When the diversity of opinion +which prevailed, and prevails among Christians in other points, is +considered, their concurrence in the canon of Scripture is remarkable, +and of great weight, especially as it seems to have been the result of +private and free inquiry. We have no knowledge of any interference of +authority in the question before the council of Laodicea in the year +363. Probably the decree of this council rather declared than regulated +the public judgment, or, more properly speaking, the judgment of some +neighbouring churches; the council itself consisting of no more than +thirty or forty bishops of Lydia and the adjoining countries.+ Nor does +its authority seem to have extended further; for we find numerous +Christian writers, after this time, discussing the question, "What books +were entitled to be received as Scripture," with great freedom, upon +proper grounds of evidence, and without any reference to the decision at +Laodicea. + +_________ + +* Col. iv. 14. 2Tim. iv. 11. Philem. 24. ++ Lardner, Cred. vol. viii. P.291, et seq. +_________ + + +These considerations are not to be neglected: but of an argument +concerning the genuineness of ancient writings, the substance, +undoubtedly, and strength, is ancient testimony. + +This testimony it is necessary to exhibit somewhat in detail; for when +Christian advocates merely tell us that we have the same reason for +believing the Gospels to be written by the evangelists whose names they +bear as we have for believing the Commentaries to be Caesar's, the +Aeneid Virgil's, or the Orations Cicero's, they content themselves with +an imperfect representation. They state nothing more than what is true, +but they do not state the truth correctly. In the number, variety, and +early date of our testimonies, we far exceed all other ancient books. +For one which the most celebrated work of the most celebrated +Greek or Roman writer can allege, we produce many. But then it is more +requisite in our books than in theirs to separate and distinguish them +from spurious competitors. The result, I am convinced, will be +satisfactory to every fair inquirer: but this circumstance renders an +inquiry necessary. + +In a work, however, like the present, there is a difficulty in finding a +place for evidence of this kind. To pursue the details of proof +throughout, would be to transcribe a great part of Dr. Lardner's eleven +octavo volumes: to leave the argument without proofs is to leave it +without effect; for the persuasion produced by this species of evidence +depends upon a view and induction of the particulars which compose it. + +The method which I propose to myself is, first, to place before the +reader, in one view, the propositions which comprise the several heads +of our testimony, and afterwards to repeat the same propositions in so +many distinct sections, with the necessary authorities subjoined to +each.* + +_________ + +* The reader, when he has the propositions before him, will observe that +the argument, if he should omit the sections, proceeds connectedly from +this point. +_________ + + +The following, then, are the allegations upon the subject which are +capable of being established by proof:-- + +I. That the historical books of the New Testament, meaning thereby the +four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, are quoted, or alluded to, by +a series of Christian writers, beginning with those who were +contemporary with the apostles, or who immediately followed them, and +proceeding in close and regular succession from their time to the present. + +II. That when they are quoted, or alluded to, they are quoted or alluded +to with peculiar respect, as books 'sui generis'; as possessing an +authority which belonged to no other books, and as conclusive in all +questions and controversies amongst Christians. + +III. That they were, in very early times, collected into a distinct +volume. + +IV. That they were distinguished by appropriate names and titles of +respect. + +V. That they were publicly read and expounded in the religious +assemblies of the early Christians. + +VI. That commentaries were written upon them, harmonies formed out of +them, different copies carefully collated, and versions of them made +into different languages. + +VII. That they were received by Christians of different sects, by many +heretics as well as Catholics, and usually appealed to by both sides in +the controversies which arose in those days. + +VIII. That the four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, thirteen Epistles +of Saint Paul, the first epistle of John, and the first of-Peter, were +received without doubt by those who doubted concerning the other books +which are included in our present canon. + +IX. That the Gospels were attacked by the early adversaries of +Christianity, as books containing the accounts upon which the religion +was founded. + +X. That formal catalogues of authentic Scriptures were published; in all +which our present sacred histories were included. + +XI. That these propositions cannot be affirmed of any other books +claiming to be books of Scripture; by which are meant those books which +are commonly called apocryphal books of the New Testament. + + + + + +SECTION I. + +The historical books of the New Testament, meaning thereby the four +Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, are quoted, or alluded to, by a +series of Christian writers, beginning with those who were contemporary +with the apostles, or who immediately followed them, and proceeding in +close and regular succession from their time to the present. + +The medium of proof stated in this proposition is, of all others, the +most unquestionable, the least liable to any practices of fraud, and is +not diminished by the lapse of ages. Bishop Burnet, in the History of +his Own Times, inserts various extracts from Lord Clarendon's History. +One such insertion is a proof that Lord Clarendon's History was extant +at the time when Bishop Burnet wrote, that it had been read by Bishop +Burnet, that it was received by Bishop Burnet as a work of Lord +Clarendon, and also regarded by him as an authentic account of the +transactions which it relates; and it will be a proof of these points a +thousand years hence, or as long as the books exist. Quintilian having +quoted as Cicero's, (Quint, lib. xl. c. l.) that well known trait of +dissembled vanity:--"Si quid est in me ingenii, Judices, quod sentio +quam sit exiguum;"--the quotation would be strong evidence, were there +any doubt, that the oration, which opens with this address, actually +came from Cicero's pen. These instances, however simple, may serve to +point out to a reader who is little accustomed to such researches the +nature and value of the argument. + +The testimonies which we have to bring forward under this proposition +are the following:-- + +I. There is extant an epistle ascribed to Barnabas,* the companion of +Paul. It is quoted as the epistle of Barnabas, by Clement of Alexandria, +A.D. CXCIV; by Origen, A.D. CCXXX. It is mentioned by Eusebius, A.D. +CCCXV, and by Jerome, A.D. CCCXCII, as an ancient work in their time, +bearing the name of Barnabas, and as well known and read amongst +Christians, though not accounted a part of Scripture. It purports to +have been written soon after the destruction of Jerusalem, during the +calamities which followed that disaster; and it bears the character of +the age to which it professes to belong. + +_________ + +* Lardner, Cred. edit. 1755, vol. i. p. 23, et seq. The reader will +observe from the references, that the materials of these sections are +almost entirely extracted from Dr. Lardner's work; my office consisted +in arrangement and selection. +_________ + + +In this epistle appears the following remarkable passage:--"Let us, +therefore, beware lest it come upon us, as it is written; There are many +called, few chosen." From the expression, "as it is written," we infer +with certainty, that at the time when the author of this epistle lived, +there was a book extant, well known to Christians, and of authority +amongst them, containing these words:--"Many are called, few chosen." +Such a book is our present Gospel of Saint Matthew, in which this text +is twice found, (Matt xx. 16; xxii. 14.) and is found in no other book +now known. There is a further observation to be made upon the terms of +the quotation. The writer of the epistle was a Jew. The phrase "it is +written" was the very form in which the Jews quoted their Scriptures. It +is not probable, therefore, that he would have used this phrase, and +without qualification, of any book but what had acquired a kind of +Scriptural authority. If the passage remarked in this ancient writing +had been found in one of Saint Paul's Epistles, it would have been +esteemed by every one a high testimony to Saint Matthew's Gospel. It +ought, therefore, to be remembered, that the writing in which it is +found was probably by very few years posterior to those of Saint Paul. + +Beside this passage, there are also in the epistle before us several +others, in which the sentiment is the same with what we meet with in +Saint Matthew's Gospel, and two or three in which we recognize the same +words. In particular, the author of the epistle repeats the precept, +"Give to every one that asketh thee;" (Matt. v. 42.) and saith that +Christ chose as his apostles, who were to preach the Gospel, men who +were great sinners, that he might show that he came "not to call the +righteous, but sinners to repentance." (Matt. Ix. 13.) + +II. We are in possession of an epistle written by Clement, bishop of +Rome, (Lardner, Cred. vol. p. 62, et seq.) whom ancient writers, without +any doubt or scruple, assert to have been the Clement whom Saint Paul +mentions, Phil. iv. 3; "with Clement also, and other my +fellow-labourers, whose names are in the book of life." This epistle is +spoken of by the ancients as an epistle acknowledged by all; and, as +Irenaeus well represents its value, "written by Clement, who had seen +the blessed apostles, and conversed with them; who had the preaching of +the apostles still sounding in his ears, and their traditions before his +eyes." It is addressed to the church of Corinth; and what alone may seem +almost decisive of its authenticity, Dionysius, bishop of Corinth, about +the year 170, i. e. about eighty or ninety years after the epistle was +written, bears witness, "that it had been wont to be read in that church +from ancient times." + +This epistle affords, amongst others, the following valuable +passages:--"Especially remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, which he +spake teaching gentleness and long-suffering: for thus he said:* Be ye +merciful, that ye may obtain mercy; forgive, that it my be forgiven unto +you; as you do, so shall it be done unto you; as you give, so shall it +be given unto you; as ye judge, so shall ye be judged; as ye show +kindness, so shall kindness be shown unto you; with what measure ye mete, +with the same shall it be measured to you. By this command, and by these +rules, let us establish ourselves, that we may always walk obediently +to his holy words." + +_________ + +* "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." Matt. v. +7.--"Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven; give, and it shall be given unto +you." Luke vi. 37, 38.--"Judge not, that ye be not judged; for with what +judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it +shall be measured to you again." Matt. vii. 1, 2. +_________ + + +Again; "Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, for he said, Woe to that +man by whom offences come; it were better for him that he had not been +born, than that he should offend one of my elect; it were better for him +that a millstone should be tied about his neck, and that he should be +drowned in the sea, than that he should offend one of my little ones."* + +_________ + +* Matt. xviii. 6. "But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which +believe in me, it were better for him that a mill-stone were hanged +about his neck, and that he were cast into the sea." The latter part of +the passage in Clement agrees exactly with Luke xvii. 2; "It were better +for him that a mill-stone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into +the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones." +_________ + + +In both these passages we perceive the high respect paid to the words of +Christ as recorded by the evangelists; "Remember the words of the Lord +Jesus;--by this command, and by these rules, let us establish ourselves, +that we may always walk obediently to his holy words." We perceive also +in Clement a total unconsciousness of doubt whether these were the real +words of Christ, which are read as such in the Gospels. This observation +indeed belongs to the whole series of testimony, and especially to the +most ancient part of it. Whenever anything now read in the Gospels is +met with in an early Christian writing, it is always observed to stand +there as acknowledged truth, i. e. to be introduced without hesitation, +doubt, or apology. It is to be observed also, that, as this epistle was +written in the name of the church of Rome, and addressed to the church +of Corinth, it ought to be taken as exhibiting the judgment not only of +Clement, who drew up the letter, but of these churches themselves, at +least as to the authority of the books referred to. + +It may be said that, as Clement has not used words of quotation, it is +not certain that he refers to any book whatever. The words of Christ +which he has put down, he might himself have heard from the apostles, or +might have received through the ordinary medium of oral tradition. This +has been said: but that no such inference can be drawn from the absence +of words of quotation, is proved by the three following +considerations:--First, that Clement, in the very same manner, namely, +without any mark of reference, uses a passage now found in the epistle +to the Romans; (Rom. i. 29.) which passage, from the peculiarity of the +words which compose it, and from their order, it is manifest that he +must have taken from the book. The same remark may be repeated of some +very singular sentiments in the Epistle to the Hebrews. Secondly, that +there are many sentences of Saint Paul's First Epistle to the +Corinthians standing in Clement's epistle without any sign of quotation, +which yet certainly are quotations; because it appears that Clement had +Saint Paul's epistle before him, inasmuch as in one place he mentions it +in terms too express to leave us in any doubt:--"Take into your hands +the epistle of the blessed apostle Paul." Thirdly, that this method of +adopting words of Scripture without reference or acknowledgment was, as +will appear in the sequel, a method in general use amongst the most +ancient Christian writers.--These analogies not only repel the +objection, but cast the presumption on the other side, and afford a +considerable degree of positive proof, that the words in question have +been borrowed from the places of Scripture in which we now find them. +But take it if you will the other way, that Clement had heard these +words from the apostles or first teachers of Christianity; with respect +to the precise point of our argument, viz. that the Scriptures contain +what the apostles taught, this supposition may serve almost as well. + +III. Near the conclusion of the epistle to the Romans, Saint Paul, +amongst others, sends the following salutation: "Salute Asyncritus, +Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, and the brethren which are with +them." Of Hermas, who appears in this catalogue of Roman Christians as +contemporary with Saint Paul, a book bearing the name, and it is most +probably rightly, is still remaining. It is called the Shepherd, +(Lardner, Cred. vol. i. p. 111.) or pastor of Hermas. Its antiquity is +incontestable, from the quotations of it in Irenaeus, A.D. 178; Clement +of Alexandria, A.D. 194; Tertullian, A.D. 200; Origen, A.D. 230. The +notes of time extant in the epistle itself agree with its title, and +with the testimonies concerning it, for it purports to have been written +during the life-time of Clement. + +In this place are tacit allusions to Saint Matthew's, Saint Luke's, and +Saint John's Gospels; that is to say, there are applications of thoughts +and expressions found in these Gospels, without citing the place or +writer from which they were taken. In this form appear in Hermas the +confessing and denying of Christ; (Matt. x. :i2, 33, or, Luke xli. 8, +9.) the parable of the seed sown (Matt. xiii. 3, or, Luke viii. 5); the +comparison of Christ's disciples to little children; the saying "he that +putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery" (Luke +xvi. 18.); The singular expression, "having received all power from his +Father," in probable allusion to Matt. xxviii. 18; and Christ being the +"gate," or only way of coming "to God," in plain allusion to John xiv. +6; x. 7, 9. There is also a probable allusion to Acts v. 32. + +This piece is the representation of a vision, and has by many been +accounted a weak and fanciful performance. I therefore observe, that the +character of the writing has little to do with the purpose for which we +adduce it. It is the age in which it was composed that gives the value +to its testimony. + +IV. Ignatius, as it is testified by ancient Christian writers, became +bishop of Antioch about thirty-seven years after Christ's ascension; +and, therefore, from his time, and place, and station, it is probable +that he had known and conversed with many of the apostles. Epistles of +Ignatius are referred to by Polycarp, his contemporary. Passages found +in the epistles now extant under his name are quoted by Irenaeus, A.D. +178; by Origen, A.D. 230; and the occasion of writing the epistles is +given at large by Eusebius and Jerome. What are called the smaller +epistles of Ignatius are generally deemed to be those which were read by +Irenaeus, Origen, and Eusebius (Lardner, Cred. vol. i. p. 147.). + +In these epistles are various undoubted allusions to the Gospels of +Saint Matthew and Saint John; yet so far of the same form with those in +the preceding articles, that, like them, they are not accompanied with +marks of quotation. + +Of these allusions the following are clear specimens: + +Matt.*: "Christ was baptized of John, that all righteousness might be +fulfilled by him." "Be ye wise as serpents in all things, and harmless +as a dove." + +John+: "Yet the Spirit is not deceived, being from God: for it knows +whence it comes and whither it goes." "He (Christ) is the door of the +Father, by which enter in Abraham and Isaac, and Jacob, and the +apostles, and the church." + +_________ + +* Chap. iii. 15. "For thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness." +Chap. x. 16. "Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." + ++ Chap. iii. 8. "The wind bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the +sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it +goeth; so is everyone that is born of the Spirit." Chap. x. 9. "I am the +door; by me if any man enter in he shall be saved." +_________ + + +As to the manner of quotation, this is observable;--Ignatius, in one +place, speaks of St. Paul in terms of high respect, and quotes his +Epistle to the Ephesians by name; yet, in several other places, he +borrows words and sentiments from the same epistle without mentioning +it; which shows that this was his general manner of using and applying +writings then extant, and then of high authority. + +V. Polycarp (Lardner, Cred. vol. i. 192.) had been taught by the +apostles; had conversed with many who had seen Christ; was also by the +apostles appointed bishop of Smyrna. This testimony concerning Polycarp +is given by Irenaeus, who in his youth had seen him:--"I can tell the +place," saith Irenaeus, "in which the blessed Polycarp sat and taught, +and his going out and coming in, and the manner of his life, and the +form of his person, and the discourses he made to the people, and how he +related his conversation with John, and others who had seen the Lord, +and how he related their sayings, and what he had heard concerning the +Lord, both concerning his miracles and his doctrine, as he had received +them from the eyewitnesses of the word of life: all which Polycarp +related agreeable to the Scriptures." + +Of Polycarp, whose proximity to the age and country and persons of the +apostles is thus attested, we have one undoubted epistle remaining. And +this, though a short letter, contains nearly forty clear allusions to +books of the New Testament; which is strong evidence of the respect +which Christians of that age bore for these books. + +Amongst these, although the writings of St. Paul are more frequently +used by Polycarp than any other parts of Scripture, there are copious +allusions to the Gospel of St. Matthew, some to passages found in the +Gospels both of Matthew and Luke, and some which more nearly resemble +the words in Luke. + +I select the following as fixing the authority of the Lord's prayer, and +the use of it amongst the primitive Christians: "If therefore we pray +the Lord, that he will forgive us, we ought also to forgive." + +"With supplication beseeching the all-seeing God not to lead us into +temptation." + +And the following, for the sake of repeating an observation already +made, that words of our Lord found in our Gospels were at this early day +quoted as spoken by him; and not only so, but quoted with so little +question or consciousness of doubt about their being really his words, +as not even to mention, much less to canvass, the authority from which +they were taken: + +"But remembering what the Lord said, teaching, Judge not, that ye be not +judged; forgive, and ye shall be forgiven; be ye merciful, that ye may +obtain mercy; with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you +again." (Matt. vii. 1, 2; v. 7; Luke vi. 37, 38.) + +Supposing Polycarp to have had these words from the books in which we +now find them, it is manifest that these books were considered by him, +and, as he thought, considered by his readers, us authentic accounts of +Christ's discourses; and that that point was incontestible [sic]. + +The following is a decisive, though what we call a tacit reference to +St. Peter's speech in the Acts of the Apostles:--"whom God hath raised, +having loosed the pains of death." (Acts ii. 24.) + +VI. Papias, (Lardner, Cred. vol. i. p. 239.) a hearer of John, and +companion of Polycarp, as Irenaeus attests, and of that age, as all +agree, in a passage quoted by Eusebius, from a work now lost, expressly +ascribes the respective Gospels to Matthew and Mark; and in a manner +which proves that these Gospels must have publicly borne the names of +these authors at that time, and probably long before; for Papias does +not say that one Gospel was written by Matthew, and another by Mark; +but, assuming this as perfectly well known, he tells us from what +materials Mark collected his account, viz. from Peter's preaching, and +in what language Matthew wrote, viz. in Hebrew. Whether Papias was well +informed in this statement, or not; to the point for which I produce +this testimony, namely, that these books bore these names at this time, +his authority is complete. + +The writers hitherto alleged had all lived and conversed with some of +the apostles. The works of theirs which remain are in general very short +pieces, yet rendered extremely valuable by their antiquity; and none, +short as they are, but what contain some important testimony to our +historical Scriptures.* + +_________ + +* That the quotations are more thinly strewn in these than in the +writings of the next and of succeeding ages, is in a good measure +accounted for by the observation, that the Scriptures of the New +Testament had not yet, nor by their recency hardly could have, become a +general part of Christian education; read as the Old Testament was by +Jews and Christians from their childhood, and thereby intimately mixing, +as that had long done, with all their religious ideas, and with their +language upon religious subjects. In process of time, and as soon +perhaps as could be expected, this came to be the case. And then we +perceive the effect, in a proportionably greater frequency, as well as +copiousness of allusion.--Mich. Introd. c. ii. sect. vi. +_________ + + +VII. Not long after these, that is, not much more than twenty years +after the last, follows Justin Martyr (Lardner, Cred. vol. i. p. 258.). +His remaining works are much larger than any that have yet been noticed. +Although the nature of his two principal writings, one of which was +addressed to heathens, and the other was a conference with a Jew, did +not lead him to such frequent appeals to Christian books as would have +appeared in a discourse intended for Christian readers; we nevertheless +reckon up in them between twenty and thirty quotations of the Gospels +and Acts of the Apostles, certain, distinct, and copious: if each verse +be counted separately, a much greater number; if each expression, a very +great one.* + +_________ + +* "He cites our present canon, and particularly our four Gospels, +continually, I dare say, above two hundred times." Jones's New and Full +Method. Append. vol. i. p. 589, ed. 1726. +_________ + + +We meet with quotations of three of the Gospels within the compass of +half a page: "And in other words he says, Depart from me into outer +darkness, which the Father hath prepared for Satan and his angels," +(which is from Matthew xxv. 41.) "And again he said, in other words, I +give unto you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and venomous +beasts, and upon all the power of the enemy." (This from Luke x. 19.) +"And before he was crucified, he said, The Son of Man must suffer many +things, and be rejected of the Scribes and Pharisees, and be crucified, +and rise again the third day." (This from Mark viii. 31.) + +In another place Justin quotes a passage in the history of Christ's +birth, as delivered by Matthew and John, and fortifies his quotation by +this remarkable testimony: "As they have taught, who have written the +history of all things concerning our Saviour Jesus Christ; and we +believe them." Quotations are also found from the Gospel of Saint John. +What moreover seems extremely material to be observed is, that in all +Justin's works, from which might be extracted almost a complete life of +Christ, there are but two instances in which he refers to anything as +said or done by Christ, which is not related concerning him in our +present Gospels: which shows, that these Gospels, and these, we may say, +alone, were the authorities from which the Christians of that day drew +the information upon which they depended. One of these instances is of a +saying of Christ, not met with in any book now extant.+ + +_________ + ++ "Wherefore also our Lord Jesus Christ has said, In whatsoever I shall +find you, in the same I will also judge you." Possibly Justin designed +not to quote any text, but to represent the sense of many of our Lord's +sayings. Fabrieius has observed, that this saying has been quoted by +many writers, and that Justin is the only one who ascribes it to our +Lord, and that perhaps by a slip of his memory. Words resembling these +are read repeatedly in Ezekiel; "I will judge them according to their +ways;" (chap. vii. 3; xxxiii. 20.) It is remarkable that Justin had just +before expressly quoted Ezekiel. Mr. Jones upon this circumstance founded +a conjecture, that Justin wrote only "the Lord hath said," intending to +quote the words of God, or rather the sense of those words in Ezekiel; +and that some transcriber, imagining these to be the words of Christ, +inserted in his copy the addition "Jesus Christ." Vol. 1. p. 539. +_________ + + +The other of a circumstance in Christ's baptism, namely, a fiery or +luminous appearance upon the water, which, according to Epiphanius, is +noticed in the Gospel of the Hebrews: and which might be true: but +which, whether true or false, is mentioned by Justin, with a plain mark +of diminution when compared with what he quotes as resting upon +Scripture authority. The reader will advert to this distinction: "and +then, when Jesus came to the river Jordan, where John was baptizing, as +Jesus descended into the water, a fire also was kindled in Jordan: and +when he came up out of the water, (the apostles of this our Christ have +written), that the Holy Ghost lighted upon him as a dove." + +All the references in Justin are made without mentioning the author; +which proves that these books were perfectly notorious, and that there +were no other accounts of Christ then extant, or, at least, no other so +received and credited as to make it necessary to distinguish these from +the rest. + +But although Justin mentions not the author's name, he calls the books, +"Memoirs composed by the Apostles;" "Memoirs composed by the Apostles +and their Companions;" which descriptions, the latter especially, +exactly suit with the titles which the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles +now bear. + +VIII. Hegesippus (Lardner, Cred. vol. i. p. 314.) came about thirty +years after Justin. His testimony is remarkable only for this +particular; that he relates of himself that, travelling from Palestine +to Rome, he visited, on his journey, many bishops; and that, "in every +succession, and in every city, the same doctrine is taught, which the +Law and the Prophets, and the Lord teacheth." This is an important +attestation, from good authority, and of high antiquity. It is generally +understood that by the word "Lord," Hegesippus intended some writing or +writings, containing the teaching of Christ; in which sense alone the +term combines with the other term "Law and Prophets," which denote +writings; and together with them admit of the verb "teacheth" in the +present tense. Then, that these writings were some or all of the books +of the New Testament, is rendered probable from hence, that in the +fragments of his works, which are preserved in Eusebius, and in a writer +of the ninth century, enough, though it be little, is left to show, that +Hegesippus expressed divers thing in the style of the Gospels, and of +the Acts of the Apostles; that he referred to the history in the second +chapter of Matthew, and recited a text of that Gospel as spoken by our +Lord. + +IX. At this time, viz. about the year 170, the churches of Lyons and +Vienne, in France, sent a relation of the sufferings of their martyrs to +the churches of Asia and Phrygia. (Lardner, Cred. vol. i. p. 332.) The +epistle is preserved entire by Eusebius. And what carries in some +measure the testimony of these churches to a higher age, is, that they +had now for their bishop, Pothinus, who was ninety years old, and whose +early life consequently must have immediately joined on with the times +of the apostles. In this epistle are exact references to the Gospels of +Luke and John, and to the Acts of the Apostles; the form of reference +the same as in all the preceding articles. That from Saint John is in +these words: "Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by the Lord, that +whosoever killeth you, will think that he doeth God service." (John xvi. +2.) + +X. The evidence now opens upon us full and clear. Irenaeus (Lardner, +vol. i. p. 344.) succeeded Pothinus as bishop of Lyons. In his youth he +had been a disciple of Polycarp, who was a disciple of John. In the time +in which he lived, he was distant not much more than a century from the +publication of the Gospels; in his instruction only by one step +separated from the persons of the apostles. He asserts of himself and +his contemporaries, that they were able to reckon up, in all the +principal churches, the succession of bishops from the first. (Adv. +Haeres. 1. iii. c. 3.) I remark these particulars concerning Irenaeus +with more formality than usual, because the testimony which this writer +affords to the historical books of the New Testament, to their +authority, and to the titles which they bear, is express, positive, and +exclusive. One principal passage, in which this testimony is contained, +opens with a precise assertion of the point which we have laid down as +the foundation of our argument, viz., that the story which the Gospels +exhibit is the story which the apostles told. "We have not received," +saith Irenaeus, "the knowledge of the way of our salvation by any others +than those by whom the Gospel has been brought to us. Which Gospel they +first preached, and afterwards, by the will of God, committed to +writing, that it might be for time to come the foundation and pillar of +our faith.--For after that our Lord arose from the dead, and they (the +apostles) were endowed from above with the power of the Holy Ghost +coming down upon them, they received a perfect knowledge of all things. +They then went forth to all the ends of the earth, declaring to men the +Message of heavenly peace, having all of them, and every one, alike the +Gospel of God. Matthew then, among the Jews, wrote a Gospel in their own +language, while Peter and Paul were preaching the Gospel at Rome, and +founding a church there: and after their exit, Mark also, the disciple +and interpreter of Peter, delivered to us in writing the things that had +been preached by Peter and Luke, the companion of Paul, put down in a +book the Gospel preached by him (Paul). Afterwards John, the disciple of +the Lord, who also leaned upon his breast, he likewise published a +Gospel while he dwelt at Ephesus in Asia." If any modern divine should +write a book upon the genuineness of the Gospels, he could not assert it +more expressly, or state their original more distinctly, than Irenaeus +hath done within little more than a hundred years after they were +published. + +The correspondency, in the days of Irenaeus, of the oral and written +tradition, and the deduction of the oral tradition through various +channels from the age of the apostles, which was then lately passed, +and, by consequence, the probability that the books truly delivered what +the apostles taught, is inferred also with strict regularity from +another passage of his works. "The tradition of the apostles," this +father saith, "hath spread itself over the whole universe; and all they +who search after the sources of truth will find this tradition to be +held sacred in every church, We might enumerate all those who have been +appointed bishops to these churches by the apostles, and all their +successors, up to our days. It is by this uninterrupted succession that +we have received the tradition which actually exists in the church, as +also the doctrines of truth, as it was preached by the apostles." (Iren. +in Haer. I. iii. c. 3.) The reader will observe upon this, that the same +Irenaeus, who is now stating the strength and uniformity of the +tradition, we have before seen recognizing, in the fullest manner, the +authority of the written records; from which we are entitled to +conclude, that they were then conformable to each other. + +I have said that the testimony of Irenaeus in favour of our Gospels is +exclusive of all others. I allude to a remarkable passage in his works, +in which, for some reasons sufficiently fanciful, he endeavours to show +that there could he neither more nor fewer Gospels than four. With his +argument we have no concern. The position itself proves that four, and +only four, Gospels were at that time publicly read and acknowledged. +That these were our Gospels, and in the state in which we now have them, +is shown from many other places of this writer beside that which we have +already alleged. He mentions how Matthew begins his Gospel, bow Mark +begins and ends his, and their supposed reasons for so doing. He +enumerates at length the several passages of Christ's history in Luke, +which are not found in any of the other evangelists. He states the +particular design with which Saint John composed his Gospel, and +accounts for the doctrinal declarations which precede the narrative. + +To the book of the Acts of the Apostles, its author, and credit, the +testimony of Irenaeus is no less explicit. Referring to the account of +Saint Paul's conversion and vocation, in the ninth chapter of that book, +"Nor can they," says he, meaning the parties with whom he argues, "show +that he is not to be credited, who has related to us the truth with the +greatest exactness." In another place, he has actually collected the +several texts, in which the writer of the history is represented as +accompanying Saint Paul; which leads him to deliver a summary of almost +the whole of the last twelve chapters of the book. + +In an author thus abounding with references and allusions to the +Scriptures, there is not one to any apocryphal Christian writing +whatever. This is a broad line of distinction between our sacred books +and the pretensions of all others. + +The force of the testimony of the period which we have considered is +greatly strengthened by the observation, that it is the testimony, and +the concurring testimony, of writers who lived in countries remote from +one another. Clement flourished at Rome, Ignatius at Antioch, Polycarp +at Smyrna, Justin Martyr in Syria, and Irenaeus in France. + +XI. Omitting Athenagoras and Theophilus, who lived about this +time; (Lardner, vol. i. p. 400 & 422.) in the remaining works of the +former of whom are clear references to Mark and Luke; and in the works +of the latter, who was bishop of Antioch, the sixth in succession from +the apostles, evident allusions to Matthew and John, and probable +allusions to Luke (which, considering the nature of the compositions, +that they were addressed to heathen readers, is as much as could be +expected); observing also, that the works of two learned Christian +writers of the same age, Miltiades and Pantaenus, (Lardner, vol. i. p.413, +450.) are now lost: of which Miltiades Eusebius records, that his +writings "were monuments of zeal for the Divine Oracles;" and which +Pantaenus, as Jerome testifies, was a man of prudence and learning, both +in the Divine Scriptures and secular literature, and had left many +commentaries upon the Holy Scriptures then extant. Passing by these +without further remark, we come to one of the most voluminous of ancient +Christian writers, Clement of Alexandria (Lardner, vol. ii. p. 469.). +Clement followed Irenaeus at the distance of only sixteen years, and +therefore may be said to maintain the series of testimony in an +uninterrupted continuation. + +In certain of Clement's works, now lost, but of which various parts are +recited by Eusebius, there is given a distinct account of the order in +which the four Gospels were written. The Gospels which contain the +genealogies were (he says) written first; Mark's next, at the instance +of Peter's followers; and John's the last; and this account he tells us +that he had received from presbyters of more ancient times. This +testimony proves the following points; that these Gospels were the +histories of Christ then publicly received and relied upon; and that the +dates, occasions, and circumstances, of their publication were at that +time subjects of attention and inquiry amongst Christians. In the works +of Clement which remain, the four Gospels are repeatedly quoted by the +names of their authors, and the Acts of the Apostles is expressly +ascribed to Luke. In one place, after mentioning a particular +circumstance, he adds these remarkable words: "We have not this passage +in the four Gospels delivered to us, but in that according to the +Egyptians;" which puts a marked distinction between the four Gospels and +all other histories, or pretended histories, of Christ. In another part +of his works, the perfect confidence with which he received the Gospels +is signified by him in these words: "That this is true appears from +hence, that it is written in the Gospel according to Saint Luke;" and +again, "I need not use many words, but only to allege the evangelic +voice of the Lord." His quotations are numerous. The sayings of Christ, +of which he alleges many, are all taken from our Gospels; the single +exception to this observation appearing to be a loose quotation of a +passage in Saint Matthew's Gospel.* + +_________ + +* "Ask great things and the small shall be added unto you." Clement +rather chose to expound the words of Matthew (chap. vi. 33), than +literally to cite them; and this is most undeniably proved by another +place in the same Clement, where he both produces the text and these +words am an exposition:--"Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven and its +righteousness, for these are the great things; but the small things, and +things relating to this life, shall be added unto you." Jones's New and +Full Method, vol. i. p. 553. +_________ + + +XII. In the age in which they lived, (Lardner, vol. ii. p. 561.) +Tertullian joins on with Clement. The number of the Gospels then +received, the names of the evangelists, and their proper descriptions, +are exhibited by this writer in one short sentence:--"Among the apostles +John and Matthew teach us the faith; among apostolical men, Luke and +Mark refresh it." The next passage to be taken from Tertullian affords +as complete an attestation to the authenticity of our books as can be +well imagined. After enumerating the churches which had been founded by +Paul at Corinth, in Galatia, at Philippi, Thessalonica, and Ephesus; the +church of Rome established by Peter and Paul, and other churches derived +from John; he proceeds thus:--"I say, then, that with them, but not with +them only which are apostolical, but with all who have fellowship with +them in the same faith, is that Gospel of Luke received from its first +publication, which we so zealously maintain:" and presently afterwards +adds, "The same authority of the apostolical churches will support the +other Gospels which we have from them and according to them, I mean +John's and Matthew's; although that likewise which Mark published may be +said to be Peter's, whose interpreter Mark was." In another place +Tertullian affirms, that the three other Gospels were in the hands of +the churches from the beginning, as well as Luke's. This noble testimony +fixes the universality with which the Gospels were received and their +antiquity; that they were in the hands of all, and had been so from the +first. And this evidence appears not more than one hundred and fifty +years after the publication of the books. The reader must be given to +understand that, when Tertullian speaks of maintaining or defending +(tuendi) the Gospel of Saint Luke, he only means maintaining or +defending the integrity of the copies of Luke received by Christian +churches, in opposition to certain curtailed copies used by Marcion, +against whom he writes. + +This author frequently cites the Acts of the Apostles under that title, +once calls it Luke's Commentary, and observes how Saint Paul's epistles +confirm it. + +After this general evidence, it is unnecessary to add particular +quotations. These, however, are so numerous and ample as to have led Dr. +Lardner to observe, "that there are more and larger quotations of the +small volume of the New Testament in this one Christian author, than +there are of all the works of Cicero in writers of all characters for +several ages." (Lardner, vol ii. p. 647.) + +Tertullian quotes no Christian writing as of equal authority with the +Scriptures, and no spurious books at all; a broad line of distinction, +we may once more observe, between our sacred books and all others. + +We may again likewise remark the wide extent through which the +reputation of the Gospels, and of the Acts of the Apostles had spread, +and the perfect consent, in this point, of distant and independent +societies. It is now only about one hundred and fifty years since Christ +was crucified; and within this period, to say nothing of the apostolical +fathers who have been noticed already, we have Justin Martyr at +Neapolis, Theophilus at Antioch, Irenaeus in France, Clement at +Alexandria, Tertullian at Carthage, quoting the same books of historical +Scriptures, and I may say, quoting these alone. + +XIII. An interval of only thirty years, and that occupied by no small +number of Christian writers, (Minucius Felix, Apollonius, Caius, Asterius +Urbanus Alexander bishop of Jerusalem, Hippolytus, Ammonius Julius +Africanus) whose works only remain in fragments and quotations, and in +every one of which is some reference or other to the Gospels (and in one +of them, Hippolytus, as preserved in Theodoret, is an abstract of the +whole Gospel history), brings us to a name of great celebrity in +Christian antiquity, Origen (Lardner, vol. iii. p. 234.) of Alexandria, +who in the quantity of his writings exceeded the most laborious of the +Greek and Latin authors. Nothing can be more peremptory upon the subject +now under consideration, and, from a writer of his learning and +information, more satisfactory, than the declaration of Origen, +preserved, in an extract from his works, by Eusebius; "That the four +Gospels alone are received without dispute by the whole church of God +under heaven:" to which declaration is immediately subjoined a brief +history of the respective authors to whom they were then, as they are +now, ascribed. The language holden concerning the Gospels, throughout +the works of Origen which remain, entirely corresponds with the +testimony here cited. His attestation to the Acts of the Apostles is no +less Positive: "And Luke also once more sounds the trumpet, relating the +acts of the apostles." The universality with which the Scriptures were +then read is well signified by this writer in a passage in which he has +occasion to observe against Celsus, "That it is not in any private +books, or such as are read by a few only, and those studious persons, +but in books read by everybody, That it is written, The invisible things +of God from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood +by things that are made." It is to no purpose to single out quotations +of Scripture from such a writer as this. We might as well make a +selection of the quotations of Scripture in Dr. Clarke's Sermons. They +are so thickly sown in the works of Origen, that Dr. Mill says, "If we +had all his works remaining, we should have before us almost the whole +text of the Bible." (Mill, Proleg. esp. vi. p. 66.) + +Origen notices, in order to censure, certain apocryphal Gospels. He also +uses four writings of this sort; that is, throughout his large works he +once or twice, at the most, quotes each of the four; but always with +some mark, either of direct reprobation or of caution to his readers, +manifestly esteeming them of little or no authority. + +XIV. Gregory, bishop of Neocaesaea, and Dionysius of Alexandria, were +scholars of Origen. Their testimony, therefore, though full and +particular, may be reckoned a repetition only of his. The series, +however, of evidence is continued by Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, who +flourished within twenty years after Origen. "The church," said this +father, "is watered, like Paradise, by four rivers, that is, by four +Gospels." The Acts of the Apostles is also frequently quoted by Cyprian +under that name, and under the name of the "Divine Scriptures." In his +various writings are such constant and copious citations of Scripture, +as to place this part of the testimony beyond controversy. Nor is there, +in the works of this eminent African bishop, one quotation of a spurious +or apocryphal Christian writing. + +XV. Passing over a crowd* of writers following Cyprian at different +distances, but all within forty years of his time; and who all, in the +perfect remains of their works, either cite the historical Scriptures of +the New Testament, or speak of them in terms of profound respect: I +single out Victorin, bishop of Pettaw, in Germany, merely on account of +the remoteness of his situation from that of Origen and Cyprian, who +were Africans; by which circumstance his testimony, taken in conjunction +with theirs, proves that the Scripture histories, and the same +histories, were known and received from one side of the Christian world +to the other. This bishop (Lardner, vol. v. p. 214.) lived about the +year 290: and in a commentary upon this text of the Revelation, "The +first was like a lion, the second was like a calf, the third like a man, +and the fourth like a flying eagle," he makes out that by the four +creatures are intended the four Gospels; and, to show the propriety of +the symbols, he recites the subject with which each evangelist opens his +history. The explication is fanciful, but the testimony positive. He +also expressly cites the Acts of the Apostles. + +_________ + +* Novatus, Rome, A.D. 251; Dionysius, Rome, A.D. 259; Commodian, A.D. +270; Anatolius, Laodicea, A.D. 270; Theognostus A.D. 282; Methodius +Lycia, A.D. 290; Phileas, Egypt, A.D. 296. +_________ + + +XVI. Arnobius and Lactantius (Lardner, vol. viii. p. 43, 201.), about +the year 300, composed formal arguments upon the credibility of the +Christian religion. As these arguments were addressed to Gentiles, the +authors abstain from quoting Christian books by name, one of them giving +this very reason for his reserve; but when they came to state, for the +information of their readers, the outlines of Christ's history, it is +apparent that they draw their accounts from our Gospels, and from no +other sources; for these statements exhibit a summary of almost +everything which is related of Christ's actions and miracles by the four +evangelists. Arnobius vindicates, without mentioning their names, the +credit of these historians; observing that they were eye-witnesses of +the facts which they relate, and that their ignorance of the arts of +composition was rather a confirmation of their testimony, than an +objection to it. Lactantius also argues in defence of the religion, from +the consistency, simplicity, disinterestedness, and sufferings of the +Christian historians, meaning by that term our evangelists. + +XVII. We close the series of testimonies with that of Eusebius, (Lardner, +vol. viii. p. 33.) bishop of Caesarea who flourished in the year 315, +contemporary with, or posterior only by fifteen years to, the authors +last cited. This voluminous writer, and most diligent collector of the +writings of others, beside a variety of large works, composed a history +of the affairs of Christianity from its origin to his own time. His +testimony to the Scriptures is the testimony of a man much conversant in +the works of Christian authors, written during the first three centuries +of its era, and who had read many which are now lost. In a passage of +his Evangelical Demonstration, Eusebius remarks, with great nicety, the +delicacy of two of the evangelists, in their manner of noticing any +circumstance which regarded themselves; and of Mark, as writing under +Peter's direction, in the circumstances which regarded him. The +illustration of this remark leads him to bring together long quotations +from each of the evangelists: and the whole passage is a proof that +Eusebius, and the Christians of those days, not only read the Gospels, +but studied them with attention and exactness. In a passage of his +ecclesiastical History, he treats, in form, and at large, of the +occasions of writing the four Gospels, and of the order in which they +were written. The title of the chapter is, "Of the Order of the +Gospels;" and it begins thus: "Let us observe the writings of this +apostle John, which are not contradicted by any: and, first of all, must +be mentioned, as acknowledged by all, the Gospel according to him, +well-known to all the churches under heaven; and that it has been justly +placed by the ancients the fourth in order, and after the other three, +may be made evident in this manner."--Eusebius then proceeds to show +that John wrote the last of the four, and that his Gospel was intended +to supply the omissions of the others; especially in the part of our +Lord's ministry which took place before the imprisonment of John the +Baptist. He observes, "that the apostles of Christ were not studious of +the ornaments of composition, nor indeed forward to write at all, being +wholly occupied with their ministry." + +This learned author makes no use at all of Christian writings, forged +with the names of Christ's apostle, or their companions. We close this +branch of our evidence here, because, after Eusebius, there is no room +for any question upon the subject; the works of Christian writers being +as full of texts of Scripture, and of references to Scripture, as the +discourses of modern divines. Future testimonies to the books of Scripture +could only prove that they never lost their character or authority. + +SECTION II. + +When the Scriptures are quoted, or alluded to, they are quoted with +peculiar respect, as books sui generis; as possessing an authority which +belonged to no other books, and as conclusive in all questions and +controversies amongst Christians. + +Beside the general strain of reference and quotation, which uniformly +and strongly indicates this distinction, the following may be regarded +as specific testimonies: + +I. Theophilus, (Lardner, Cred. part ii. vol. i. p. 429.) bishop of +Antioch, the sixth in succession from the apostles, and who flourished +little more than a century after the books of the New Testament were +written, having occasion to quote one of our Gospels, writes thus: +"These things the Holy Scriptures teach us, and all who were moved by +the Holy Spirit, among whom John says, In the beginning was the Word, +and the Word was with God." Again: "Concerning the righteousness which +the law teaches, the like things are to be found in the prophets and the +Gospels, because that all, being inspired, spoke by one and the same +Spirit of God." (Lardner, Cred. part ii. vol. i. p. 448.) No words can +testify more strongly than these do, the high and peculiar respect in +which these books were holden. + +II. A writer against Artemon, (Lardner, Cred. part ii. vol. iii. p. 40.) +who may be supposed to come about one hundred and fifty-eight years +after the publication of the Scripture, in a passage quoted by +Eusebius, uses these expressions: "Possibly what they (our adversaries) +say, might have been credited, if first of all the Divine Scriptures did +not contradict them; and then the writings of certain brethren more +ancient than the times of Victor." The brethren mentioned by name are +Justin, Miltiades, Tatian, Clement, Irenaeus, Melito, with a general +appeal to many more not named. This passage proves, first, that there +was at that time a collection called Divine Scriptures; secondly, that +these Scriptures were esteemed of higher authority than the writings of +the most early and celebrated Christians. + +III. In a piece ascribed to Hippolytus, (Lardner, Cred. vol. iii. p. +112.) who lived near the same time, the author professes, in giving his +correspondent instruction in the things about which he inquires, "to +draw out of the sacred-fountain, and to set before him from the Sacred +Scriptures what may afford him satisfaction." He then quotes immediately +Paul's epistles to Timothy, and afterwards many books of the New +Testament. This preface to the quotations carries in it a marked +distinction between the Scriptures and other books. + +IV. "Our assertions and discourses," saith Origen, (Lardner, Cred. vol. +iii. pp. 287-289.) "are unworthy of credit; we must receive the +Scriptures as witnesses." After treating of the duty of prayer, he +proceeds with his argument thus: "What we have said, may be proved from +the Divine Scriptures." In his books against Celsus we find this +passage: "That our religion teaches us to seek after wisdom, shall be +shown, both out of the ancient Jewish Scriptures which we also use, and +out of those written since Jesus, which are believed in the churches to +be divine." These expressions afford abundant evidence of the peculiar +and exclusive authority which the Scriptures possessed. + +V. Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, (Lardner, Cred. vol. vi. p. 840.) whose +age lies close to that of Origen, earnestly exhorts Christian teachers, +in all doubtful cases, "to go back to the fountain; and, if the truth +has in any case been shaken, to recur to the Gospels and apostolic +writings."--"The precepts of the Gospel," says he in another place, "are +nothing less than authoritative divine lessons, the foundations of our +hope, the supports of our faith, the guides of our way, the safeguards +of our course to heaven." + +VI. Novatus, (Lardner, Cred. vol. v. p. 102.) a Roman contemporary with +Cyprian, appeals to the Scriptures, as the authority by which all +errors were to be repelled, and disputes decided. "That Christ is not +only man, but God also, is proved by the sacred authority of the Divine +Writings."--"The Divine Scripture easily detects and confutes the frauds +of heretics."--"It is not by the fault of the heavenly Scriptures, which +never deceive." Stronger assertions than these could not be used. + +VII. At the distance of twenty years from the writer last cited, +Anatolius (Lardner, Cred. vol. v. p. 146.), a learned Alexandrian, and +bishop of Laedicea, speaking of the rule for keeping Easter, a question +at that day agitated with much earnestness, says of those whom he +opposed, "They can by no means prove their point by the authority of the +Divine Scripture." + +VIII. The Arians, who sprung up about fifty years after this, argued +strenuously against the use of the words consubstantial, and essence, +and like phrases; "because they were not in Scripture." (Lardner, Cred. +vol. vii. pp. 283-284.) And in the same strain one of their advocates +opens a conference with Augustine, after the following manner: "If you +say what is reasonable, I must submit. If you allege anything from the +Divine Scriptures which are common to both, I must hear. But +unscriptural expressions (quae extra Scripturam sunt) deserve no +regard." + +Athanasius, the great antagonist of Arianism, after having enumerated +the books of the Old and New Testament, adds, "These are the fountain +of salvation, that he who thirsts may be satisfied with the oracles +contained in them. In these alone the doctrine of salvation is +proclaimed. Let no man add to them, or take anything from them." +(Lardner, Cred. vol. xii. p. 182.) + +IX. Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem (Lardner, Cred. vol. viii. p. 276.), who +wrote about twenty years after the appearance of Arianism, uses these +remarkable words: "Concerning the divine and holy mysteries of faith, +not the least article ought to be delivered without the Divine +Scriptures." We are assured that Cyril's Scriptures were the same as +ours, for he has left us a catalogue of the books included under that +name. + +X. Epiphanius, (Lardner, Cred. vol. viii. p. 314.) twenty years after +Cyril, challenges the Arians, and the followers of Origen, "to produce +any passage of the Old and New Testament favouring their sentiments." + +XI. Poebadius, a Gallic bishop, who lived about thirty years after the +council of Nice, testifies, that "the bishops of that council first +consulted the sacred volumes, and then declared their faith." (Lardner, +Cred. vol. ix. p. 52.) + +XII. Basil, bishop of Caesarea, in Cappadocia, contemporary with +Epiphanius, says, that "hearers instructed in the Scriptures ought to +examine what is said by their teachers, and to embrace what is agreeable +to the Scriptures, and to reject what is otherwise." (Lardner, Cred. +vol. ix. p. 124.) + +XIII. Ephraim, the Syrian, a celebrated writer of the same times, bears +this conclusive testimony to the proposition which forms the subject of +our present chapter: "the truth written in the Sacred Volume of the +Gospel is a perfect rule. Nothing can be taken from it nor added to it, +without great guilt." (Lardner, Cred. vol. ix. p. 202.) + +XIV. If we add Jerome to these, it is only for the evidence which he +affords of the judgment of preceding ages. Jerome observes, concerning +the quotations of ancient Christian writers, that is, of writers who +were ancient in the year 400, that they made a distinction between +books; some they quoted as of authority, and others not: which +observation relates to the books of Scripture, compared with other +writings, apocryphal or heathen. (Lardner, Cred. vol. x. pp. 123-124.) + +SECTION III. + +The Scriptures were in very early times collected into a distinct +volume. + +Ignatius, who was bishop of Antioch within forty years after the +Ascension, and who had lived and conversed with the apostles, speaks of +the Gospel and of the apostles in terms which render it very probable +that he meant by the Gospel the book or volume of the Gospels, and by +the apostles the book or volume of their Epistles. His words in one +place are, (Lardner, Cred. part ii. vol. i. p. 180.) "Fleeing to the +Gospel as the flesh of Jesus, and to the apostles as the presbytery of +the church;" that is, as Le Clere interprets them, "in order to +understand the will of God, he fled to the Gospels, which he believed no +less than if Christ in the flesh had been speaking to him; and to the +writings of the apostles, whom he esteemed as the presbytery of the +whole Christian church." It must be observed, that about eighty years +after this we have direct proof, in the writings of Clement of +Alexandria, (Lardner, Cred. part ii. vol. ii. p. 516.) that these two +names, "Gospel," and "Apostles," were the names by which the writings of +the New Testament, and the division of these writings, were usually +expressed. + +Another passage from Ignatius is the following:--"But the Gospel has +somewhat in it more excellent, the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ, +his passion and resurrection." (Lardner, Cred. part ii. vol. ii. p. +182.) + +And a third: "Ye ought to hearken to the Prophets, but especially to the +gospel, in which the passion has been manifested to us, and the +resurrection perfected." In this last passage, the Prophets and the +Gospel are put in conjunction; and as Ignatius undoubtedly meant by the +prophets a collection of writings, it is probable that he meant the same +by the Gospel, the two terms standing in evident parallelism with each +other. + +This interpretation of the word "Gospel," in the passages above quoted +from Ignatius, is confirmed by a piece of nearly equal antiquity, the +relation of the martyrdom of Polycarp by the church of Smyrna. "All +things," say they, "that went before, were done, that the Lord might +show us a martyrdom according to the Gospel, for he expected to be +delivered up as the Lord also did." (Ignat. Ep. c.i.) And in another +place, "We do not commend those who offer themselves, forasmuch as the +Gospel, teaches us no such thing." (Ignat. Ep. c. iv.) In both these +places, what is called the Gospel seems to be the history of Jesus +Christ, and of his doctrine. + +If this be the true sense of the passages, they are not only evidences +of our proposition, by strong and very ancient proofs of the high esteem +in which the books of the New Testament were holden. + +II. Eusebius relates, that Quadratus and some others, who were the +immediate successors of the apostles, travelling abroad to preach +Christ, carried the Gospels with them, and delivered them to their +converts. The words of Eusebius are: "Then travelling abroad, they +performed the work of evangelists, being ambitious to preach Christ, and +deliver the Scripture of the divine Gospels." (Lardner, Cred. part ii. +vol. i. p. 236.) Eusebius had before him the writings both of Quadratus +himself, and of many others of that age, which are now lost. It is +reasonable, therefore to believe that he had good grounds for his +assertion. What is thus recorded of the Gospels took place within sixty, +or at the most seventy, years after they were published: and it is +evident that they must, before this time (and, it is probable, long +before this time), have been in general use and in high esteem in the +churches planted by the apostles, inasmuch as they were now, we find, +collected into a volume: and the immediate successors of the apostles, +they who preached the religion of Christ to those who had not already +heard it, carried the volume with them, and delivered it to their +converts. + +III. Irenaeus, in the year 178, (Lardner, Cred. part ii. vol. i. p. 383.) +puts the evangelic and apostolic writings in connexion with the Law and +the Prophets, manifestly intending by the one a code or collection of +Christian sacred writings, as the other expressed the code or collection +of Jewish sacred writings. And, + +IV. Melito, at this time bishop of Sardis, writing to one Onesimus, +tells his correspondent, (Lardner, Cred. vol. i. p. 331.) that he had +procured an accurate account of the books of the Old Testament. The +occurrence in this message of the term Old Testament has been brought to +prove, and it certainly does prove, that there was then a volume or +collection of writings called the New Testament. + +V. In the time of Clement of Alexandria, about fifteen years after the +last quoted testimony, it is apparent that the Christian Scriptures were +divided into two parts, under the general titles of the Gospels and +Apostles; and that both these were regarded as of the highest authority. +One out of many expressions of Clement, alluding to this distribution, +is the following: "There is a consent and harmony between the Law and +the Prophets, the Apostles and the Gospel." (Lardner, Cred. vol. ii. p. +516.) + +VI. The same division, "Prophets, Gospels, and Apostles," appears in +Tertullian, the contemporary of Clement. The collection of the Gospels +is likewise called by this writer the "Evangelic Instrument;" the whole +volume the "New Testament;" and the two parts, the "Gospels and +Apostles." (Lardner, Cred. vol. ii. pp. 631,574 & 632.) + +VII. From many writers also of the third century, and especially from +Cyprian, who lived in the middle of it, it is collected that the +Christian Scriptures were divided into two cedes or volumes, one called +the "Gospels or Scriptures of the Lord," the other the "Apostles, or +Epistles of the Apostles" (Lardner, Cred. vol. iv. p. 846.) + +VIII. Eusebius, as we have already seen, takes some pains to show that +the Gospel of Saint John had been justly placed by the ancients, "the +fourth in order, and after the other three." (Lardner, Cred. vol. viii. +p. 90.) These are the terms of his proposition: and the very +introduction of such an argument proves incontestably, that the four +Gospels had been collected into a volume, to the exclusion of every +other: that their order in the volume had been adjusted with much +consideration; and that this had been done by those who were called +ancients in the time of Eusebius. + +In the Diocletian persecution, in the year 303, the Scriptures were +sought out and burnt:(Lardner, Cred. vol. vii. pp. 214 et seq.) many +suffered death rather than deliver them up; and those who betrayed them +to the persecutors were accounted as lapsed and apostate. On the other +hand, Constantine, after his conversion, gave directions for multiplying +copies of the Divine Oracles, and for magnificently adorning them at the +expense of the imperial treasury. (Lardner, Cred. vol. vii. p. 432.) What +the Christians of that age so richly embellished in their prosperity, +and, which is more, so tenaciously preserved under persecution, was the +very volume of the New Testament which we now read. + + +SECTION IV. + +Our present Sacred Writings were soon distinguished by appropriate names +and titles of respect. + +Polycarp. "I trust that ye are well exercised in the Holy +Scriptures;--as in these Scriptures it is said, Be ye angry and sin not, +and let not the sun go down upon your wrath." (Lardner, Cred. vol. i. p. +203.) This passage is extremely important; because it proves that, in +the time of Polycarp, who had lived with the apostles, there were +Christian writings distinguished by the name of "Holy Scriptures," or +Sacred Writings. Moreover, the text quoted by Polycarp is a text found +in the collection at this day. What also the same Polycarp hath +elsewhere quoted in the same manner, may be considered as proved to +belong to the collection; and this comprehends Saint Matthew's and, +probably, Saint Luke's Gospel, the Acts of the Apostles, ten epistles of +Paul, the First Epistle of Peter, and the First of John. (Lardner, Cred. +vol. i. p. 223.) In another place, Polycarp has these words: "Whoever +perverts the Oracles of the Lord to his own lusts, and says there is +neither resurrection nor judgment, he is the first born of Satan." +(Lardner, Cred. vol. i. p. 223.)--It does not appear what else Polycarp +could mean by the "Oracles of the Lord," but those same "Holy +Scriptures," or Sacred Writings, of which he had spoken before. + +II. Justin Martyr, whose apology was written about thirty years after +Polycarp's epistle, expressly cites some of our present histories under +the title of Gospel, and that not as a name by him first ascribed to +them, but as the name by which they were generally known in his time. +His words are these:--"For the apostles in the memoirs composed by them, +which are called Gospels, have thus delivered it, that Jesus commanded +them to take bread, and give thanks." (Lardner, Cred. vol. i. p. 271.) +There exists no doubt, but that, by the memoirs above-mentioned, Justin +meant our present historical Scriptures; for throughout his works he +quotes these and no others. + +III. Dionysius, bishop of Corinth, who came thirty years after Justin, +in a passage preserved in Eusebius (for his works are lost), speaks "of +the Scriptures of the Lord." (Lardner, Cred. vol. i. p. 298.) + +IV. And at the same time, or very nearly so, by Irenaeus, bishop of +Lyons in France, (The reader will observe the remoteness of these two +writers in country and situation) they are called "Divine +Scriptures,"--"Divine Oracles,"--"Scriptures of the Lord,"--"Evangelic +and Apostolic writings." (Lardner, Cred. vol. i. p. 343, et seq.) The +quotations of Irenaeus prove decidedly, that our present Gospels, and +these alone, together with the Acts of the Apostles, were the historical +books comprehended by him under these appellations. + +V. Saint Matthew's Gospel is quoted by Theophilus, bishop of Antioch, +contemporary with Irenaeus, under the title of the "Evangelic voice;" +(Lardner, Cred. vol. i. p. 427.) and the copious works of Clement of +Alexandria, published within fifteen years of the same time, ascribe +to the books of the New Testament the various titles of "Sacred +Books,"--"Divine Scriptures,"--"Divinely inspired Scriptures,"-- +"Scriptures of the Lord,"--"the true Evangelical Canon." +(Lardner, Cred. vol. ii. p. 515.) + +VI. Tertullian, who joins on with Clement, beside adopting most of the +names and epithets above noticed, calls the Gospels "our Digesta," in +allusion, as it should seem, to some collection of Roman laws then +extant. (Lardner, Cred. vol. ii. p. 630.) + +VII. By Origen, who came thirty years after Tertullian, the same, and +other no less strong titles, are applied to the Christian Scriptures: +and, in addition thereunto, this writer frequently speaks of the "Old +and New Testament,"--"the Ancient and New Scriptures,"--"the Ancient and +New Oracles." (Lardner, Cred. vol. iii. p. 230.) + +VIII. In Cyprian, who was not twenty years later, they are "Books of the +Spirit,"--"Divine Fountains,"--"Fountains of the Divine Fulness." +(Lardner, Cred. vol. iv. p. 844.) + +The expressions we have thus quoted are evidences of high and peculiar +respect. They all occur within two centuries from the publication of the +books. Some of them commence with the companions of the apostles; and +they increase in number and variety, through a series of writers +touching upon one another, and deduced from the first age of the +religion. + +SECTION V. + +Our Scriptures were publicly read and expounded in the religious +assemblies of the early Christians. Justin MARTYR, who wrote in the year +140, which was seventy or eighty years after some, and less, probably, +after others of the Gospels were published, giving, in his first apology +an account, to the Emperor, of the Christian worship has this remarkable +passage: + +"The Memoirs of the Apostles, or the Writings of the Prophets, are read +according as the time allows: and, when the reader has ended, the +president makes a discourse, exhorting to the imitation of so excellent +things." (Lardner, Cred. vol. i. p. 273.) + +A few short observations will show the value of this testimony. + +1. The "Memoirs of the Apostles," Justin in another place expressly +tells us, are what are called "Gospels:" and that they were the Gospels +which we now use, is made certain by Justin's numerous quotations of +them, and his silence about any others. + +2. Justin describes the general usage of the Christian church. + +3. Justin does not speak of it as recent or newly instituted, but in the +terms in which men speak of established customs. + +II. Tertullian, who followed Justin at the distance of about fifty +years, in his account of the religious assemblies of Christians as they +were conducted in his time, says, "We come together to recollect the +Divine Scriptures; we nourish our faith, raise our hope, confirm our +trust, by the Sacred Word." (Lardner, Cred. vol. ii. p. 628.) + +III. Eusebius records of Origen, and cites for his authority the letters +of bishops contemporary with Origen, that when he went into Palestine +about the year 216, which was only sixteen years after the date of +Tertullian's testimony, he was desired by the bishops of that country to +discourse and expound the Scriptures publicly in the church, though he +was not yet ordained a presbyter. (Lardner, Cred. vol. iii. p. 68.) This +anecdote recognises the usage, not only of reading, but of expounding +the Scriptures; and both as subsisting in full force. Origen also +himself bears witness to the same practice: "This," says he, "we do, +when the Scriptures are read in the church, and when the discourse for +explication is delivered to the people." (Lardner, Cred. vol. iii. p. +302.) And what is a still more ample testimony, many homilies of his +upon the Scriptures of the New Testament, delivered by him in the +assemblies of the church, are still extant. + +IV. Cyprian, whose age was not twenty years lower than that of Origen, +gives his people an account of having ordained two persons, who were +before confessors, to be readers; and what they were to read appears by +the reason which he gives for his choice; "Nothing," says Cyprian, "can +be more fit than that he who has made a glorious confession of the Lord +should read publicly in the church; that he who has shown himself +willing to die a martyr should read the Gospel of Christ by which +martyrs are made." (Lardner, Cred. vol. iv. p. 842.) + +V. Intimations of the same custom may be traced in a great number of +writers in the beginning and throughout the whole of the fourth century. +Of these testimonies I will only use one, as being, of itself, express +and full. Augustine, who appeared near the conclusion of the century, +displays the benefit of the Christian religion on this very account, the +public reading of the Scriptures in the churches, "where," says he, "is +a consequence of all sorts of people of both sexes; and where they hear +how they ought to live well in this world, that they may deserve to live +happily and eternally in another." And this custom he declares to be +universal: "The canonical books of Scripture being read every where, the +miracles therein recorded are well known to all people." (Lardner, Cred. +vol. x. p. 276, et seq.) + +It does not appear that any books, other than our present Scriptures +were thus publicly read, except that the epistle of Clement was read in +the church of Corinth, to which it had been addressed, and in some +others; and that the Shepherd of Hennas was read in many churches. Nor +does it subtract much from the value of the argument, that these two +writings partly come within it, because we allow them to be the genuine +writings of apostolical men. There is not the least evidence, that any +other Gospel than the four which we receive was ever admitted to this +distinction. + +SECTION VI. + +Commentaries were anciently written upon the Scriptures; harmonies +formed out of them; different copies carefully collated; and versions +made of them into different languages. + +No greater proof can be given of the esteem in which these books were +holden by the ancient Christians, or of the sense then entertained of +their value and importance, than the industry bestowed upon them. And +it ought to be observed that the value and importance of these books +consisted entirely in their genuineness and truth. There was nothing in +them, as works of taste or as compositions, which could have induced any +one to have written a note upon them. Moreover, it shows that they were +even then considered as ancient books. Men do not write comments upon +publications of their own times: therefore the testimonies cited under +this head afford an evidence which carries up the evangelic writings +much beyond the age of the testimonies themselves, and to that of their +reputed authors. + +I. Tatian, a follower of Justin Martyr, and who flourished about the +year 170, composed a harmony, or collation of the Gospels, which he +called Diatessaron, of the four. The title, as well as the work, is +remarkable; because it shows that then, as now, there were four, and +only four, Gospels in general use with Christians. And this was little +more than a hundred years after the publication of some of them. +(Lardner, Cred. vol. i. p. 307.) + +II. Pantaenus, of the Alexandrian school, a man of great reputation and +learning, who came twenty years after Tatian, wrote many commentaries +upon the Holy Scriptures, which, as Jerome testifies, were extant in his +time. (Lardner, Cred. vol. i. p. 455.) + +III. Clement of Alexandria wrote short explications of many books of the +Old and New Testament. (Lardner, Cred. vol. ii. p. 462.) + +IV. Tertullian appeals from the authority of a later version, then in +use, to the authentic Greek. (Lardner, Cred. vol. ii. p. 638.) + +V. An anonymous author, quoted by Eusebius, and who appears to have +written about the year 212, appeals to the ancient copies of the +Scriptures, in refutation of some corrupt readings alleged by the +followers of Artemon. (Lardner, Cred. vol. iii. p. 46.) + +VI. The same Eusebius, mentioning by name several writers of the church +who lived at this time, and concerning whom he says, "There still remain +divers monuments of the laudable industry of those ancient and +ecclesiastical men," (i. e. of Christian writers who were considered as +ancient in the year 300,) adds, "There are, besides, treatises of many +others, whose names we have not been able to learn, orthodox and +ecclesiastical men, as the interpretations of the Divine Scriptures +given by each of them show." (Lardner, Cred. vol. ii. p. 551.) + +VII. The last five testimonies may be referred to the year 200; +immediately after which, a period of thirty years gives us Julius +Africanus, who wrote an epistle upon the apparent difference in the +genealogies in Matthew and Luke, which he endeavours to reconcile by the +distinction of natural and legal descent, and conducts his hypothesis +with great industry through the whole series of generations. (Lardner, +Cred. vol. iii. p. 170.) + +Ammonius, a learned Alexandrian, who composed, as Tatian had done, a +harmony of the four Gospels, which proves, as Tatian's work did, that +there were four Gospels, and no more, at this time in use in the church. +It affords also on instance of the zeal of Christians for those +writings, and of their solicitude about them. (Lardner, Cred. vol. iii. +p. 122.) + +And, above both these, Origen, who wrote commentaries, or homilies, upon +most of the books included in the New Testament, and upon no other books +but these. In particular, he wrote upon Saint John's Gospel, very +largely upon Saint Matthew's, and commentaries, or homilies, upon the +Acts of the Apostles. (Lardner, Cred. vol. iii. pp. 352, 192, 202 & 245.) + +VIII. In addition to these, the third century likewise +contains--Dionysius of Alexandria, a very learned man, who compared, +with great accuracy, the accounts in the four Gospels of the time of +Christ's resurrection, adding a reflection which showed his opinion of +their authority: "Let us not think that the evangelists disagree or +contradict each other, although there be some small difference; but let +us honestly and faithfully endeavour to reconcile what we read." +(Lardner, Cred. vol. iv. p. 166.) + +Victorin, bishop of Pettaw, in Germany, who wrote comments upon Saint +Matthew's Gospel. (Lardner, Cred. vol. iv. p. 195.) + +Lucian, a presbyter of Antioch; and Hesychius, an Egyptian bishop, who +put forth editions of the New Testament. + +IX. The fourth century supplies a catalogue* of fourteen writers, who +expended their labours upon the books of the New Testament, and whose +works or names are come down to our times; amongst which number it may +be sufficient, for the purpose of showing the sentiments and studies of +learned Christians of that age, to notice the following: + +_________ + +* Eusebius ...... A.D. 315 +Juvencus, Spain ..... 330 +Theodore, Thrace .... 334 +Hilary, Poletiers .... 340 +Fortunatus ..... 354 +Apollinarius of Loadicea 362 +Damasus, Rome ..... 366 +Gregory, Nyssen .... 371 +Didimus of Alex, . . . . 370 +Ambrose of Milan ..... 374 +Diodore of Tarsus ..... 378 +Gaudent of Brescia .... 387 +Theodore of Cilicia .... 395 +Jerome ........ 392 +Chrysostom ...... 398 +_________ + + +Eusebius, in the very beginning of the century, wrote expressly upon the +discrepancies observable in the Gospels, and likewise a treatise, in +which he pointed out what things are related by four, what by three, +what by two, and what by one evangelist. (Lardner, Cred. vol. viii. p. +46.) This author also testifies what is certainly a material piece of +evidence, "that the writings of the apostles had obtained such an esteem +as to be translated into every language both of Greeks and Barbarians, +and to be diligently studied by all nations." (Lardner, Cred. vol. viii. +p. 201.) This testimony was given about the year 300; how long before +that date these translations were made does not appear. + +Damasus, bishop of Rome, corresponded with Saint Jerome upon the +exposition of difficult texts of Scripture; and, in a letter still +remaining, desires Jerome to give him a clear explanation of the word +Hosanna, found in the New Testament; "He (Damasus) having met with very +different interpretations of it in the Greek and Latin commentaries of +Catholic writers which he had read." (Lardner, Cred. vol. ix. P. 108) +This last clause shows the number and variety of commentaries then +extant. + +Gregory of Nyssen, at one time, appeals to the most exact copies of +Saint Mark's Gospel; at another time, compares together, and proposes to +reconcile, the several accounts of the Resurrection given by the four +Evangelists; which limitation proves that there were no other histories +of Christ deemed authentic beside these, or included in the same +character with these. This writer observes, acutely enough, that "the +disposition of the clothes in the sepulchre, the napkin that was about +our Saviour's head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped +together in a place by itself, did not bespeak the terror and hurry of +thieves, and therefore refutes the story of the body being +stolen." (Lardner, Cred. vol. ix. p. 163.) + +Ambrose, bishop of Milan, remarked various readings in the Latin copies +of the New Testament, and appeals to the original Greek; + +And Jerome, towards the conclusion of this century, put forth an edition +of the New Testament in Latin, corrected, at least as to the Gospels, by +Greek copies, and "those (he says) ancient." + +Lastly, Chrysostom, it is well known, delivered and published a great +many homilies, or sermons, upon the Gospels and the Acts of the +Apostles. + +It is needless to bring down this article lower, but it is of importance +to add, that there is no example of Christian writers of the first three +centuries composing comments upon any other books than those which are +found in the New Testament, except the single one of Clement of +Alexandria commenting upon a book called the Revelation of Peter. + +Of the ancient versions of the New Testament, one of the most valuable +is the Syriac. Syriac was the language of Palestine when Christianity +was there first established. And although the books of Scripture were +written in Greek, for the purpose of a more extended circulation than +within the precincts of Judea, yet it is probable that they would soon +be translated into the vulgar language of the country where the religion +first prevailed. Accordingly, a Syriac translation is now extant, all +along, so far as it appears, used by the inhabitants of Syria, bearing +many internal marks of high antiquity, supported in its pretensions by +the uniform tradition of the East, and confirmed by the discovery of +many very ancient manuscripts in the libraries of Europe, It is about +200 years since a bishop of Antioch sent a copy of this translation into +Europe to be printed; and this seems to be the first time that the +translation became generally known to these parts of the world. The +bishop of Antioch's Testament was found to contain all our books, except +the second epistle of Peter, the second and third of John, and the +Revelation; which books, however, have since been discovered in that +language in some ancient manuscripts of Europe. But in this collection, +no other book, besides what is in ours, appears ever to have had a +place. And, which is very worthy of observation, the text, though +preserved in a remote country, and without communication with ours, +differs from ours very little, and in nothing that is important (Jones +on the Canon, vol. i. e. 14.). + + +SECTION VII. + +Our Scriptures were received by ancient Christians of different sects +and persuasions, but many Heretics as well as Catholics, and were +usually appealed to by both sides in the controversies which arose in +those days. + +The three most ancient topics of controversy amongst Christians were, +the authority of the Jewish constitution, the origin of evil, and the +nature of Christ. Upon the first of these we find, in very early times, +one class of heretics rejecting the Old Testament entirely; another +contending for the obligation of its law, in all its parts, throughout +its whole extent, and over every one who sought acceptance with God. +Upon the two latter subjects, a natural, perhaps, and venial, but a +fruitless, eager, and impatient curiosity, prompted by the philosophy +and by the scholastic habits of the age, which carried men much into +bold hypotheses and conjectural solutions, raised, amongst some who +professed Christianity, very wild and unfounded opinions. I think there +is no reason to believe that the number of these bore any considerable +proportion to the body of the Christian church; and, amidst the disputes +which such opinions necessarily occasioned, it is a great satisfaction +to perceive what, in a vast plurality of instances, we do perceive, all +sides recurring to the same Scriptures. + +*I. Basilides lived near the age of the apostles, about the year 120, or, +perhaps, sooner. (Lardner, vol. ix. p. 271.) He rejected the Jewish +institution, not as spurious, but as proceeding from a being inferior to +the true God; and in other respects advanced a scheme of theology widely +different from the general doctrine of the Christian church, and which, +as it gained over some disciples, was warmly opposed by Christian +writers of the second and third century. In these writings there is +positive evidence that Basilides received the Gospel of Matthew; and +there is no sufficient proof that he rejected any of the other three: on +the contrary, it appears that he wrote a commentary upon the Gospel, so +copious as to be divided into twenty-four books. (Lardner, vol. ix. ed. +1788, p. 305, 306.) + +_________ + +* The materials of the former part of this section are taken from Dr. +Lardner's History of the Heretics of the first two centuries, published +since his death, with additions, by the Rev. Mr. Hogg, of Exeter, and +inserted into the ninth volume of his works, of the edition of 1778. +_________ + + +II. The Valentinians appeared about the same time. Their heresy +consisted in certain notions concerning angelic natures, which can +hardly be rendered intelligible to a modern reader. They seem, however, +to have acquired as much importance as any of the separatists of that +early age. Of this sect, Irenaeus, who wrote A.D. 172, expressly records +that they endeavoured to fetch arguments for their opinions from the +evangelic and apostolic writings. Heracleon, one of the most celebrated +of the sect, and who lived probably so early as the year 125, wrote +commentaries upon Luke and John. Some observations also of his upon +Matthew are preserved by Origen. Nor is there any reason to doubt that +he received the whole New Testament. (Lardner, vol. ix. ed. 1788, pp. +350-351; vol. i. p. 383; vol. ix. ed. 1788, p. 352-353.) + +III. The Carpocratians were also an early heresy, little, if at all, +later than the two preceding. Some of their opinions resembled what we +at this day mean by Socinianism. With respect to the Scriptures, they +are specifically charged, by Irenaeus and by Epiphanius, with +endeavouring to pervert a passage in Matthew, which amounts to a +positive proof that they received that Gospel. Negatively, they are not +accused, by their adversaries, of rejecting any part of the New +Testament. (Lardner, vol. ix. ed. 1788, pp. 309 & 318.) + +IV. The Sethians, A.D. 150; the Montanists, A.D. 156; the Marcosigns, +A.D. 160; Hermogenes, A.D. 180; Praxias, A.D. 196; Artemon, A.D. 200; +Theodotus, A.D. 200; all included under the denomination of heretics, +and all engaged in controversies with Catholic Christians, received the +Scriptures of the New Testament. (Lardner, vol. ix. ed. 1788, pp. 455, +482, 348, 473, 433, 466.) + +V. Tatian, who lived in the year 172, went into many extravagant +opinions, was the founder of a sect called Encratites, and was deeply +involved in disputes with the Christians of that age; yet Tatian so +received the four Gospels as to compose a harmony from them. + +VI. From a writer quoted by Eusebius, of about the year 200, it is +apparent that they who at that time contended for the mere humanity of +Christ, argued from the Scriptures; for they are accused by this writer +of making alterations in their copies in order to favour their +opinions. (Lardner, vol. iii. P. 46.) + +VII. Origen's sentiments excited great controversies,--the bishops of +Rome and Alexandria, and many others, condemning, the bishops of the +east espousing them; yet there is not the smallest question but that +both the advocates and adversaries of these opinions acknowledged the +same authority of Scripture. In his time, which the reader will remember +was about one hundred and fifty years after the Scriptures were +published, many dissensions subsisted amongst Christians, with which +they were reproached by Celsus; yet Origen, who has recorded this +accusation without contradicting it, nevertheless testifies, that the +four Gospels were received without dispute, by the whole church of God +under heaven. (Lardner, vol. iv. ed. 1788, p. 642.) + +VIII. Paul of Samosata, about thirty years after Origen, so +distinguished himself in the controversy concerning the nature of Christ +as to be the subject of two councils or synods, assembled at Antioch, +upon his opinions. Yet he is not charged by his adversaries with +rejecting any book of the New Testament. On the contrary, Epiphanius, +who wrote a history of heretics a hundred years afterwards, says, that +Paul endeavoured to support his doctrine by texts of Scripture. And +Vincentius Lirinensis, A.D. 434, speaking of Paul and other heretics of +the same age, has these words: "Here, perhaps, some one may ask whether +heretics also urge the testimony of Scripture. They urge it, indeed, +explicitly and vehemently; for you may see them flying through every +book of the sacred law." (Lardner, vol. ix. p. 158.) + +IX. A controversy at the same time existed with the Noetians or +Sabellians, who seem to have gone into the opposite extreme from that of +Paul of Samosata and his followers. Yet according to the express +testimony of Epiphanius, Sabellius received all the Scriptures. And with +both sects Catholic writers constantly allege the Scriptures, and reply +to the arguments which their opponents drew from particular texts. + +We have here, therefore, a proof, that parties who were the most +opposite and irreconcilable to one another acknowledged the authority of +Scripture with equal deference. + +X. And as a general testimony to the same point, may be produced what +was said by one of the bishops of the council of Carthage, which was +holden a little before this time:--"I am of opinion that blasphemous and +wicked heretics, who pervert the sacred and adorable words of the +Scripture, should be execrated." Undoubtedly, what they perverted they +received. (Lardner, vol. ix. p. 839.) + +XI. The Millennium, Novatianism, the baptism of heretics, the keeping of +Easter, engaged also the attention and divided the opinions of +Christians, at and before that time (and, by the way, it may be +observed, that such disputes, though on some accounts to be blamed, +showed how much men were in earnest upon the subject.); yet every one +appealed for the grounds of his opinion to Scripture authority. +Dionysius of Alexandria, who flourished A.D. 247, describing a +conference or public disputation, with the Millennarians of Egypt, +confesses of them, though their adversary, "that they embrace whatever +could be made out by good arguments, from the Holy Scriptures." +(Lardner, vol. iv. p. 666.) Novatus, A.D. 251, distinguished by some +rigid sentiments concerning the reception of those who had lapsed, and +the founder of a numerous sect, in his few remaining works quotes the +Gospel with the same respect as other Christians did; and concerning his +followers, the testimony of Socrates, who wrote about the year 440, is +positive, viz. "That in the disputes between the Catholics and them, +each side endeavoured to support itself by the authority of the Divine +Scriptures" (Lardner, vol. v. p. 105.) + +XII. The Donatists, who sprung up in the year 328, used the same +Scriptures as we do. "Produce," saith Augustine, "some proof from the +Scriptures, whose authority is common to us both" (Lardner, vol. vii. p. +243.) + +XIII. It is perfectly notorious, that in the Arian controversy, which +arose soon after the year 300, both sides appealed to the same +Scriptures, and with equal professions of deference and regard. The +Arians, in their council of Antioch, A.D. 341, pronounce that "if any +one, contrary to the sound doctrine of the Scriptures, say, that the Son +is a creature, as one of the creatures, let him be an anathema." +(Lardner, vol. vii. p. 277.) They and the Athanasians mutually accuse +each other of using unscriptural phrases; which was a mutual +acknowledgment of the conclusive authority of Scripture. + +XIV. The Priscillianists, A.D. 378, the Pelagians, A.D. 405 received the +same Scriptures as we do. (Lardner, vol. ix. p. 325; vol. xi p. 52.) + +XV. The testimony of Chrysostom, who lived near the year 400, is so +positive in affirmation of the proposition which we maintain, that it +may form a proper conclusion of the argument. "The general reception of +the Gospels is a proof that their history is true and consistent; for, +since the writing of the Gospels, many heresies have arisen, holding +opinions contrary to what is contained in them, who yet receive the +Gospels either entire or in part." (Lardner, vol. x. p. 316.) I am not +moved by what may seem a deduction from Chrysostom's testimony, the +words, "entire or in part;" for if all the parts which were ever +questioned in our Gospels were given up, it would not affect the +miraculous origin of the religion in the smallest degree: e.g. + +Cerinthus is said by Epiphanius to have received the Gospel of Matthew, +but not entire. What the omissions were does not appear. The common +opinion, that he rejected the first two chapters, seems to have been a +mistake. (Lardner, vol. ix. ed. 1788, p. 322.) It is agreed, however, by +all who have given any account of Cerinthus, that he taught that the +Holy Ghost (whether he meant by that name a person or a power) descended +upon Jesus at his baptism; that Jesus from this time performed many +miracles, and that he appeared after his death. He must have retained +therefore the essential parts of the history. + +Of all the ancient heretics, the most extraordinary was Marcion. +(Lardner, vol. ix. sect. ii. c. x. Also Michael vol. i. c. i. sect. +xviii.) One of his tenets was the rejection of the Old Testament, as +proceeding from an inferior and imperfect Deity; and in pursuance of +this hypothesis, he erased from the New, and that, as it should seem, +without entering into any critical reasons, every passage which +recognised the Jewish Scriptures. He spared not a text which +contradicted his opinion. It is reasonable to believe that Marcion +treated books as he treated texts: yet this rash and wild +controversialist published a recension, or chastised edition of Saint +Luke's Gospel, containing the leading facts, and all which is necessary +to authenticate the religion. This example affords proof that there were +always some points, and those the main points, which neither wildness +nor rashness, neither the fury of opposition nor the intemperance of +controversy, would venture to call in question. There is no reason to +believe that Marcion, though full of resentment against the Catholic +Christians, ever charged them with forging their books. "The Gospel of +Saint Matthew, the Epistle to the Hebrews, with those of Saint Peter and +Saint James, as well as the Old Testament in general" he said, "were +writings not for Christians but for Jews." This declaration shows the +ground upon which Marcion proceeded in his mutilation of the Scriptures, +viz., his dislike of the passages or the books. Marcion flourished about +the year 130.* + +_________ + +* I have transcribed this sentence from Michaelis (p. 38), who has not, +however, referred to the authority upon which he attributes these words +to Marcion. +_________ + + +Dr. Lardner, in his General Review, sums up this head of evidence in the +following words:--"Noitus, Paul of Samosata, Sabellius, Marcelins, +Photinus, the Novatiana, Donatists, Manicheans (This must be with an +exception, however, of Faustus, who lived so late us the year 354), +Priscillianists, beside Artemon, the Audians, the Arians, and divers +others, all received most of all the same books of the New Testament +which the Catholics received; and agreed in a like respect for them as +written by apostles, or their disciples and companions." (Lardner, vol. +iii. p. 12.--Dr. Lardner's future inquiries supplied him with many other +instances.) + +SECTION VIII. + +The four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, thirteen Epistles of Saint +Paul the First Epistle of John, and the First of Peter, were received +without doubt by those who doubted concerning the other books which are +included in our present Canon. + +I state this proposition, because, if made out, it shows that the +authenticity of their books was a subject amongst the early Christians +of consideration and inquiry; and that, where there was cause of doubt, +they did doubt; a circumstance which strengthens very much their +testimony to such books as were received by them with full acquiescence. + +I. Jerome, in his account of Caius, who was probably a presbyter of +Rome, and who flourished near the year 200, records of him, that, +reckoning up only thirteen epistles of Paul, he says the fourteenth, +which is inscribed to the Hebrews, is not his: and then Jerome adds, +"With the Romans to this day it is not looked upon as Paul's." This +agrees in the main with the account given by Eusebius of the same +ancient author and his work; except that Eusebius delivers his own +remark in more guarded terms: "And indeed to this very time, by some of +the Romans, this epistle is not thought to be the apostle's." (Lardner, +vol. iii. p. 240.) + +II. Origen, about twenty years after Caius, quoting the Epistle to the +Hebrews, observes that some might dispute the authority of that epistle; +and therefore proceeds to quote to the same point, as undoubted books of +Scripture, the Gospel of Saint Matthew, the Acts of the Apostles, and +Paul's First Epistle to the Thessalonians. (Lardner, vol. iii. p. 246.) +and in another place, this author speaks of the Epistle to the Hebrews +thus: "The account come down to us is various; some saying that Clement +who was bishop of Rome, wrote this epistle; others, that it was Luke, +the same who wrote the Gospel and the Acts." Speaking also, in the same +paragraph, of Peter, "Peter," says he, "has left one epistle, +acknowledged; let it be granted likewise that he wrote a second, for it +is doubted of." And of John, "He has also left one epistle, of a very +few lines; grant also a second and a third, for all do not allow them to +be genuine." Now let it be noted, that Origen, who thus discriminates, +and thus confesses his own doubts and the doubts which subsisted in his +time, expressly witnesses concerning the four Gospels, "that they alone +are received without dispute by the whole church of God under heaven." +(Lardner, vol. iii. p. 234.) + +III. Dionysius of Alexandria, in the year 247, doubts concerning the +Book of Revelation, whether it was written by Saint John; states the +grounds of his doubt, represents the diversity of opinion concerning it, +in his own time, and before his time. (Lardner, vol. iv. p. 670.) Yet +the same Dionysius uses and collates the four Gospels in a manner which +shows that he entertained not the smallest suspicion of their authority, +and in a manner also which shows that they, and they alone, were +received as authentic histories of Christ. (Lardner, vol. iv. p. 661.) + +IV. But this section may be said to have been framed on purpose to +introduce to the reader two remarkable passages extant in Eusebius's +Ecclesiastical History. The first passage opens with these words:--"Let +us observe the writings of the apostle John which are uncontradicted: +and first of all must be mentioned, as acknowledged of all, the Gospel +according to him, well known to all the churches under heaven." The +author then proceeds to relate the occasions of writing the Gospels, and +the reasons for placing Saint John's the last, manifestly speaking of +all the four as parallel in their authority, and in the certainty of +their original. (Lardner, vol. viii. p. 90.) The second passage is taken +from a chapter, the title of which is, "Of the Scriptures universally +acknowledged, and of those that are not such." Eusebius begins his +enumeration in the following manner:--"In the first place are to be +ranked the sacred four Gospels; then the book of the Acts of the +Apostles; after that are to be reckoned the Epistles of Paul. In the +next place, that called the First Epistle of John, and the Epistle of +Peter, are to be esteemed authentic. After this is to be placed, if it +be thought fit, the Revelation of John, about which we shall observe the +different opinions at proper seasons. Of the controverted, but yet well +known or approved by the most, are, that called the Epistle of James, +and that of Jude, and the Second of Peter, and the Second and Third of +John, whether they are written by the evangelist, or another of the same +name." (Lardner, vol. viii. p. 39.) He then proceeds to reckon up five +others, not in our canon, which he calls in one place spurious, in +another controverted, meaning, as appears to me, nearly the same thing +by these two words.* + + +_________ + +* That Eusebius could not intend, by the word +rendered 'spurious' what we at present mean by it, is evident from a +clause in this very chapter where, speaking of the Gospels of Peter, and +Thomas and Matthias, and some others, he says, "They the are not so much +as to be reckoned among the spurious, but are altogether absurd and +impious." (Lardner, vol. viii. p. 99.) +_________ + + +It is manifest from this passage, that the four Gospels, and the Acts of +the Apostles (the parts of Scripture with which our concern principally +lies), were acknowledged without dispute, even by those who raised +objections, or entertained doubts, about some other parts of the same +collection. But the passage proves something more than this. The author +was extremely conversant in the writings of Christians which had been +published from the commencement of the institution to his own time: and +it was from these writings that he drew his knowledge of the character +and reception of the books in question. That Eusebius recurred to this +medium of information, and that he had examined with attention this +species of proof, is shown, first, by a passage in the very chapter we +are quoting, in which, speaking of the books which he calls spurious, +"None," he says, "of the ecclesiastical writers, in the succession of +the apostles, have vouchsafed to make any mention of them in their +writings;" and, secondly, by another passage of the same work, wherein, +speaking of the First Epistle of Peter, "This," he says, "the presbyters +of ancient times have quoted in their writings as undoubtedly genuine;" +(Lardner, vol. viii. p. 99.) and then, speaking of some other writings +bearing the name of Peter, "We know," he says, "that they have not been +delivered down to us in the number of Catholic writings, forasmuch as no +ecclesiastical writer of the ancients, or of our times, has made use of +testimonies out of them." "But in the progress of this history," the +author proceeds, "we shall make it our business to show, together with +the successions from the apostles, what ecclesiastical writers, in every +age, have used such writings as these which are contradicted, and what +they have said with regard to the Scriptures received in the New +Testament, and acknowledged by all, and with regard to those which are +not such." (Lardner, vol. viii. p. 111) + +After this it is reasonable to believe that when Eusebius states the +four Gospels, and the Acts of the Apostles, as uncontradicted, +uncontested, and acknowledged by all; and when he places them in +opposition, not only to those which were spurious, in our sense of that +term, but to those which were controverted, and even to those which were +well known and approved by many, yet doubted of by some; he represents +not only the sense of his own age, but the result of the evidence which +the writings of prior ages, from the apostles' time to his own, had +furnished to his inquiries. The opinion of Eusebius and his +contemporaries appears to have been founded upon the testimony of +writers whom they then called ancient: and we may observe, that such of +the works of these writers as have come down to our times entirely +confirm the judgment, and support the distinction which Eusebius +proposes. The books which he calls "books universally acknowledged" are +in fact used and quoted in time remaining works of Christian writers, +during the 250 years between the apostles' time and that of Eusebius, +much more frequently than, and in a different manner from, those the +authority of which, he tells us, was disputed. + +SECTION IX. + +Our historical Scriptures were attacked by the early adversaries of +Christianity, as containing the accounts upon which the Religion was +founded. + +Near the middle of the second century, Celsus, a heathen philosopher, +wrote a professed treatise against Christianity. To this treatise +Origen, who came about fifty years after him, published an answer, in +which he frequently recites his adversary's words and arguments. The +work of Celsus is lost; but that of Origen remains. Origen appears to +have given us the words of Celsus, where he professes to give them, very +faithfully; and amongst other reasons for thinking so, this is one, that +the objection, as stated by him from Celsus, is sometimes stronger than +his own answer. I think it also probable that Origen, in his answer, has +retailed a large portion of the work of Celsus: + +"That it may not be suspected," he says, "that we pass by any chapters +because we have no answers at hand, I have thought it best, according to +my ability, to confute everything proposed by him, not so much +observing the natural order of things, as the order which he has taken +himself." (Orig. cont. Cels. I. i. sect. 41.) + +Celsus wrote about one hundred years after the Gospels were published; +and therefore any notices of these books from him are extremely +important for their antiquity. They are, however, rendered more so by +the character of the author; for the reception, credit, and notoriety of +these books must have been well established amongst Christians, to have +made them subjects of animadversion and opposition by strangers and by +enemies. It evinces the truth of what Chrysostom, two centuries +afterwards, observed, that "the Gospels, when written, were not hidden +in a corner or buried in obscurity, but they were made known to all the +world, before enemies as well as others, even as they are now." (In +Matt. Hom. I. 7.) + +1. Celsus, or the Jew whom he personates, uses these words:--"I could +say many things concerning the affairs of Jesus, and those, too, +different from those written by the disciples of Jesus; but I purposely +omit them." (Lardner, Jewish and Heathen Test. vol. ii. p. 274.) Upon +this passage it has been rightly observed, that it is not easy to +believe, that if Celsus could have contradicted the disciples upon good +evidence in any material point, he would have omitted to do so, and that +the assertion is, what Origen calls it, a mere oratorical flourish. + +It is sufficient, however, to prove that, in the time of Celsus, there +were books well known, and allowed to be written by the disciples of +Jesus, which books contained a history of him. By the term disciples, +Celsus does not mean the followers of Jesus in general; for them he +calls Christians, or believers, or the like; but those who had been +taught by Jesus himself, i.e. his apostles and companions. + +2. In another passage, Celsus accuses the Christians of altering the +Gospel. (Lardner, Jewish and Heathen Test. Vol. ii. p. 275.) The +accusation refers to some variations in the readings of particular +passages: for Celsus goes on to object, that when they are pressed hard, +and one reading has been confuted, they disown that, and fly to another. +We cannot perceive from Origen, that Celsus specified any particular +instances, and without such specification the charge is of no value. But +the true conclusion to be drawn from it is, that there were in the hands +of the Christians histories which were even then of some standing: for +various readings and corruptions do not take place in recent +productions. + +The former quotation, the reader will remember, proves that these books +were composed by the disciples of Jesus, strictly so called; the present +quotation shows, that though objections were taken by the adversaries of +the religion to the integrity of these books, none were made to their +genuineness. + +3. In a third passage, the Jew whom Celsus introduces shuts up an +argument in this manner:--"these things then we have alleged to you out +of your own writings, not needing any other weapons." (Lardner, vol. ii. +p. 276.) It is manifest that this boast proceeds upon the supposition +that the books over which the writer affects to triumph possessed an +authority by which Christians confessed themselves to be bound. + +4. That the books to which Celsus refers were no other than our present +Gospels, is made out by his allusions to various passages still found in +these Gospels. Celsus takes notice of the genealogies, which fixes two +of these Gospels; of the precepts, Resist not him that injures you, and +if a man strike thee on the one cheek, offer to him the other also; of +the woes denounced by Christ; of his predictions; of his saying, That it +is impossible to serve two masters; ( Lardner, vol. ii. pp. 276-277.) Of +the purple robe, the crown of thorns, and the reed in his hand; of the +blood that flowed from the body of Jesus upon the cross, which +circumstance is recorded by John alone; and (what is instar omnium for +the purpose for which we produce it) of the difference in the accounts +given of the resurrection by the evangelists, some mentioning two angels +at the sepulchre, ethers only one. (Lardner, vol. ii. pp. 280, 281, & +283.) + +It is extremely material to remark, that Celsus not only perpetually +referred to the accounts of Christ contained in the four Gospels, but +that he referred to no other accounts; that he founded none of his +objections to Christianity upon any thing delivered in spurious Gospels. +(The particulars, of which the above are only a few, are well collected +by Mr. Bryant, p. 140.) + +II. What Celsus was in the second century, Porphyry became in the third. +His work, which was a large and formal treatise against the Christian +religion, is not extant. We must be content, therefore, to gather his +objections from Christian writers, who have noticed in order to answer +them; and enough remains of this species of information to prove +completely, that Porphyry's animadversions were directed against the +contents of our present Gospels, and of the Acts of the Apostles; +Porphyry considering that to overthrow them was to overthrow the +religion. Thus he objects to the repetition of a generation in Saint +Matthew's genealogy; to Matthew's call; to the quotation of a text from +Isaiah, which is found in a psalm ascribed to Asaph; to the calling of +the lake of Tiberius a sea; to the expression of Saint Matthew, "the +abomination of desolation;" to the variation in Matthew and Mark upon +the text, "the voice of one crying in the wilderness," Matthew citing it +from Isaias, Mark from the Prophets; to John's application of the term +"Word;" to Christ's change of intention about going up to the feast of +Tabernacles (John vii. 8); to the judgment denounced by Saint Peter upon +Ananias and Sapphira, which he calls an "imprecation of death." (Jewish +and Heathen Test. Vol. iii. p. 166, et seq.) + +The instances here alleged serve, in some measure, to show the nature of +Porphyry's objections, and prove that Porphyry had read the Gospels with +that sort of attention which a writer would employ who regarded them as +the depositaries of the religion which he attacked. Besides these +specifications, there exists, in the writings of ancient Christians, +general evidence that the places of Scripture upon which Porphyry had +remarked were very numerous. + +In some of the above-cited examples, Porphyry, speaking of Saint +Matthew, calls him your Evangelist; he also uses the term evangelists in +the plural number. What was said of Celsus is true likewise of Porphyry, +that it does not appear that he considered any history of Christ except +these as having authority with Christians. + +III. A third great writer against the Christian religion was the emperor +Julian, whose work was composed about a century after that of Porphyry. + +In various long extracts, transcribed from this work by Cyril and +Jerome, it appears, (Jewish and Heathen Test. vol. iv. p. 77, et seq.) +that Julian noticed by name Matthew and Luke, in the difference between +their genealogies of Christ that he objected to Matthew's application of +the prophecy, "Out of Egypt have I called my son" (ii. 15), and to that +of "A virgin shall conceive" (i. 23); that he recited sayings of Christ, +and various passages of his history, in the very words of the +evangelists; in particular, that Jesus healed lame and blind people, and +exorcised demoniacs in the villages of Bethsaida and Bethany; that he +alleged that none of Christ's disciples ascribed to him the creation of +the world, except John; that neither Paul, nor Matthew, nor Luke, nor +Mark, have dared to call Jesus God; that John wrote later than the other +evangelists, and at a time when a great number of men in the cities of +Greece and Italy were converted; that he alludes to the conversion of +Cornelius and of Sergius Paulus, to Peter's vision, to the circular +letter sent by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem, which are all +recorded in the Acts of the Apostles: by which quoting of the four +Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, and by quoting no other, Julian +shows that these were the historical books, and the only historical +books, received by Christians as of authority, and as the authentic +memoirs of Jesus Christ, of his apostles, and of the doctrines taught by +them. But Julian's testimony does something more than represent the +judgment of the Christian church in his time. It discovers also his own. +He himself expressly states the early date of these records; he calls +them by the names which they now bear. He all along supposes, he nowhere +attempts to question, their genuineness. + +The argument in favour of the books of the New Testament, drawn from the +notice taken of their contents by the early writers against the +religion, is very considerable. It proves that the accounts which +Christians had then were the accounts which we have now; that our +present Scriptures were theirs. It proves, moreover, that neither Celsus +in the second, Porphyry in the third, nor Julian in the fourth century, +suspected the authenticity of these books, or ever insinuated that +Christians were mistaken in the authors to whom they ascribed them. Not +one of them expressed an opinion upon this subject different from that +which was holden by Christians. And when we consider how much it would +have availed them to have cast a doubt upon this point, if they could; +and how ready they showed themselves to be to take every advantage in +their power; and that they were all men of learning and inquiry: their +concession, or rather their suffrage, upon the subject is extremely +valuable. + +In the case of Porphyry, it is made still stronger, by the consideration +that he did in fact support himself by this species of objection when he +saw any room for it, or when his acuteness could supply any pretence for +alleging it. The prophecy of Daniel he attacked upon this very ground of +spuriousness, insisting that it was written after the time of Antiochus +Epiphanes, and maintains his charge of forgery by some far-fetched +indeed, but very subtle criticisms. Concerning the writings of the New +Testament, no trace of this suspicion is anywhere to be found in him. +(Michaelis's Introduction to the New Testament, vol. i. p. 43. Marsh's +Translation.) + + + + + +SECTION X. + +Formal catalogues of authentic Scriptures were published, in all which +our present sacred histories were included. + +This species of evidence comes later than the rest; as it was not +natural that catalogues of any particular class of books should be put +forth until Christian writings became numerous; or until some writings +showed themselves, claiming titles which did not belong to them, and +thereby rendering it necessary to separate books of authority from +others. But, when it does appear, it is extremely satisfactory; the +catalogues, though numerous, and made in countries at a wide distance +from one another, differing very little, differing in nothing which is +material, and all containing the four Gospels. To this last article +there is no exception. + +I. In the writings of Origen which remain, and in some extracts +preserved by Eusebius, from works of his which are now lost, there are +enumerations of the books of Scriptures, in which the Four Gospels and +the Acts of the Apostles are distinctly and honourably specified, and in +which no books appear beside what are now received. The reader, by this +time, will easily recollect that the date of Origen's works is A.D. 230. +(Lardner, Cred. vol. iii. p. 234, et seq.; vol. viii. p. 196.) + +II. Athanasias, about a century afterwards, delivered a catalogue of the +books of the New Testament in form, containing our Scriptures and no +others; of which he says, "In these alone the doctrine of Religion is +taught; let no man add to them, or take anything from them." (Lardner, +Cred. vol. ii. p. 223.) + +III. About twenty years after Athanasius, Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem, +set forth a catalogue of the books of Scripture, publicly read at that +time in the church of Jerusalem, exactly the same as ours, except that +the "Revelation" is omitted. (Lardner, Cred. vol. ii. p. 270.) + +IV. And fifteen years after Cyril, the council of Laodicea delivered an +authoritative catalogue of canonical Scripture, like Cyril's, the same +as ours with the omission of the "Revelation." + +V. Catalogues now became frequent. Within thirty years after the last +date, that is, from the year 363 to near the conclusion of the fourth +century, we have catalogues by Epiphanius, (Lardner, Cred. vol. ii. p. +368.) by Gregory Nazianzen, by Philaster, bishop of Breseia in Italy, +(Lardner, Cred. vol. ix. p. 132 & 373.) by Amphilochius, bishop of +Iconium; all, as they are sometimes called, clean catalogues (that is, +they admit no books into the number beside what we now receive); and +all, for every purpose of historic evidence, the same as +ours. (Epiphanius omits the Acts of the Apostles. This must have been an +accidental mistake, either in him or in some copyist of his work; for +he elsewhere expressly refers to this book, and ascribes it to Luke.) + +VI. Within the same period Jerome, the most learned Christian writer of +his age, delivered a catalogue of the hooks of the New Testament, +recognising every book now received, with the intimation of a doubt +concerning the Epistle to the Hebrews alone, and taking not the least +notice of any book which is not now received. (Lardner, Cred. vol. x. p. +77.) + +VII. Contemporary with Jerome, who lived in Palestine, was St. +Augustine, in Africa, who published likewise a catalogue, without +joining to the Scriptures, as books of authority, any other +ecclesiastical writing whatever, and without omitting one which we at +this day acknowledge. (Lardner, Cred. vol. x. p. 213.) + +VIII. And with these concurs another contemporary writer, Rufen, +presbyter of Aquileia, whose catalogue, like theirs, is perfect and +unmixed, and concludes with these remarkable words: "These are the +volumes which the fathers have included in the canon, and out of which +they would have us prove the doctrine of our faith." (Lardner, Cred. +vol. x. p. 187.) + + + + + +SECTION XI. + +These propositions cannot be predicated of any of those books which are +commonly called Apocryphal Books of the New Testament. + +I do not know that the objection taken from apocryphal writings is at +present much relied upon by scholars. But there are many, who, hearing +that various Gospels existed in ancient times under the names of the +apostles, may have taken up a notion, that the selection of our present +Gospels from the rest was rather an arbitrary or accidental choice, than +founded in any clear and certain cause of preference. To these it may be +very useful to know the truth of the case. I observe, therefore:-- + +I. That, beside our Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, no Christian +history, claiming to be written by an apostle or apostolical man, is +quoted within three hundred years after the birth of Christ, by any +writer now extant or known; or, if quoted, is not quoted but with marks +of censure and rejection. + +I have not advanced this assertion without inquiry; and I doubt not but +that the passages cited by Mr. Jones and Dr. Lardner, under the several +titles which the apocryphal books bear; or a reference to the places +where they are mentioned as collected in a very accurate table, +published in the year 1773, by the Rev. J. Atkinson, will make out the +truth of the proposition to the satisfaction of every fair and competent +judgment. If there be any book which may seem to form an exception to +the observation, it is a Hebrew Gospel, which was circulated under the +various titles of, the Gospel according to the Hebrews, the Gospel of +the Nazarenes, of the Ebionites, sometimes called of the Twelve, by some +ascribed to St Matthew. This Gospel is once, and only once, cited by +Clemeus Alexandrinus, who lived, the reader will remember, in the latter +part of the second century, and which same Clement quotes one or other +of our four Gospels in almost every page of his work. It is also twice +mentioned by Origen, A.D. 230; and both times with marks of diminution +and discredit. And this is the ground upon which the exception stands. +But what is still more material to observe is, that this Gospel, in the +main, agreed with our present Gospel of Saint Matthew. (In applying to +this Gospel what Jerome in the latter end of the fourth century has +mentioned of a Hebrew Gospel, I think it probable that we sometimes +confound it with a Hebrew copy of St. Matthew's Gospel, whether an +original or version, which was then extant.) + +Now if, with this account of the apocryphal Gospels, we compare what we +have read concerning the canonical Scriptures in the preceding sections; +or even recollect that general but well-founded assertion of Dr. +Lardner, "That in the remaining works of Irenaeus, Clement of +Alexandria, and Tertullian, who all lived in the first two centuries, +there are more and larger quotations of the small volume of the New +Testament than of all the works of Cicero, by writers of all characters, +for several ages;" (Lardner, Cred. vol. xii. p. 53.) and if to this we +add that, notwithstanding the loss of many works of the primitive times +of Christianity, we have, within the above-mentioned period, the remains +of Christian writers who lived in Palestine, Syria, Asia Minor, Egypt, +the part of Africa that used the Latin tongue, in Crete, Greece, Italy, +and Gaul, in all which remains references are found to our evangelists; +I apprehend that we shall perceive a clear and broad line of division +between those writings and all others pretending to similar authority. + +II. But beside certain histories which assumed the names of apostles, +and which were forgeries properly so called, there were some other +Christian writings, in the whole or in part of an historical nature, +which, though not forgeries, are denominated apocryphal, as being of +uncertain or of no authority. + +Of this second class of writings, I have found only two which are +noticed by any author of the first three centuries without express terms +of condemnation: and these are, the one a book entitled the Preaching of +Peter, quoted repeatedly by Clemens Alexandrinus, A.D. 196; the other a +book entitled the Revelation of Peter, upon which the above-mentioned +Clemens Alexandrinus is said by Eusebius to have written notes; and +which is twice cited in a work still extant, ascribed to the same +author. + +I conceive, therefore, that the proposition we have before advanced, +even after it hath been subjected to every exception of every kind that +can be alleged, separates, by a wide interval, our historical Scriptures +from all other writings which profess to give an account of the same +subject. + +We may be permitted however to add,-- + +1. That there is no evidence that any spurious or apocryphal books +whatever existed in the first century of the Christian era, in which +century all our historical books are proved to have been extant. "There +are no quotations of any such books in the apostolical fathers, by whom +I mean Barnabas, Clement of Rome, Hermas, Ignatius, and Polycarp, whose +writings reach from about the year of our Lord 70 to the year 108 (and +some of whom have quoted each and every one of our historical +Scriptures): I say this," adds Dr. Lardner, "because I think it has been +proved." (Lardner, Cred. vol. xii. p. 158.) + +2. These apocryphal writings were not read in the churches of +Christians; + +3. Were not admitted into their volume; + +4. Do not appear in their catalogues; + +5. Were not noticed by their adversaries; + +6. Were not alleged by different parties, as of authority in their +controversies; + +7. Were not the subjects, amongst them, of commentaries, versions, +collections, expositions. + +Finally; beside the silence of three centuries, or evidence within that +time of their rejection, they were, with a consent nearly universal, +reprobated by Christian writers of succeeding ages. + +Although it be made out by these observations that the books in question +never obtained any degree of credit and notoriety which can place them +in competition with our Scriptures; yet it appears from the writings of +the fourth century, that many such existed in that century, and in the +century preceding it. It may be difficult at this distance of time to +account for their origin. + +Perhaps the most probable explication is, that they were in general +composed with a design of making a profit by the sale. Whatever treated +of the subject would find purchasers. It was an advantage taken of the +pious curiosity of unlearned Christians. With a view to the same +purpose, there were many of them adapted to the particular opinions of +particular sects, which would naturally promote their circulation +amongst the favourers of those opinions. After all, they were probably +much more obscure than we imagine. Except the Gospel according to the +Hebrews, there is none of which we hear more than the Gospel of the +Egyptians; yet there is good reason to believe that Clement, a presbyter +of Alexandria in Egypt, A.D. 184, and a man of almost universal +reading, had never seen it. (Jones, vol. i. p. 243.) A Gospel according +to Peter was another of the most ancient books of this kind; yet +Serapion, bishop of Antioch, A.D. 200, had not read it, when he heard of +such a book being in the hands of the Christians of Rhossus in Cillcia; +and speaks of obtaining a sight of this Gospel from some sectaries who +used it. (Lardner, Cred. vol. ii. p. 557.) Even of the Gospel of the +Hebrews, which confessedly stands at the head of the catalogue, Jerome, +at the end of the fourth century, was glad to procure a copy by the +favour of the Nazarenes of Berea. Nothing of this sort ever happened, or +could have happened, concerning our Gospels. + +One thing is observable of all the apocryphal Christian writings, viz. +that they proceed upon the same fundamental history of Christ and his +apostles as that which is disclosed in our Scriptures. The mission of +Christ, his power of working miracles, his communication of that power +to the apostles, his passion, death, and resurrection, are assumed or +asserted by every one of them. The names under which some of them came +forth are the names of men of eminence in our histories. What these +books give are not contradictions, but unauthorised additions. The +principal facts are supposed, the principal agents the same; which shows +that these points were too much fixed to be altered or disputed. + +If there be any book of this description which appears to have imposed +upon some considerable number of learned Christians, it is the Sibylline +oracles; but when we reflect upon the circumstances which facilitated +that imposture, we shall cease to wonder either at the attempt or its +success. It was at that time universally understood that such a +prophetic writing existed. Its contents were kept secret. This situation +afforded to some one a hint, as well as an opportunity, to give out a +writing under this name, favourable to the already established +persuasion of Christians, and which writing, by the aid and +recommendation of these circumstances, would in some degree, it is +probable, be received. Of the ancient forgery we know but little; what +is now produced could not, in my opinion, have imposed upon any one. It +is nothing else than the Gospel history woven into verse; perhaps was at +first rather a fiction than a forgery; an exercise of ingenuity, more +than an attempt to deceive. + + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +RECAPITULATION. + +The reader will now be pleased to recollect, that the two points which +form the subject of our present discussion are, first, that the Founder +of Christianity, his associates, and immediate followers, passed their +lives in labours, dangers, and sufferings; secondly, that they did so in +attestation of the miraculous history recorded in our Scriptures, and +solely in consequence of their belief of the truth of that history. + +The argument, by which these two propositions have been maintained by +us, stands thus: + +No historical fact, I apprehend, is more certain, than that the original +propagators of Christianity voluntarily subjected themselves to lives of +fatigue, danger, and suffering, in the prosecution of their undertaking. +The nature of the undertaking; the character of the persons employed in +it; the opposition of their tenets to the fixed opinions and +expectations of the country in which they first advanced them; their +undissembled condemnation of the religion of all other countries; their +total want of power, authority, or force--render it in the highest +degree probable that this must have been the case. The probability is +increased by what we know of the fate of the Founder of the institution, +who was put to death for his attempt; and by what we also know of the +cruel treatment of the converts to the institution, within thirty years +after its commencement: both which points are attested by heathen +writers, and, being once admitted, leave it very incredible that the +primitive emissaries of the religion, who exercised their ministry, +first, amongst the people who had destroyed their Master, and, +afterwards, amongst those who persecuted their converts, should +themselves escape with impunity, or pursue their purpose in ease and +safety. This probability, thus sustained by foreign testimony, is +advanced, I think, to historical certainty, by the evidence of our own +books; by the accounts of a writer who was the companion of the persons +whose sufferings he relates; by the letters of the persons themselves by +predictions of persecutions ascribed to the Founder of the religion, +which predictions would not have been inserted in his history, much less +have been studiously dwelt upon, if they had not accorded with the +event, and which, even if falsely ascribed to him, could only have been +so ascribed, because the event suggested them; lastly, by incessant +exhortations to fortitude and patience, and by an earnestness, +repetition, and urgency upon the subject, which were unlikely to have +appeared if there had not been, at the time, some extraordinary call for +the exercise of these virtues. + +It is made out also, I think, with sufficient evidence, that both the +teachers and converts of the religion, in consequence of their new +profession, took up a new course of life and behaviour. + +The next great question is, what they did this FOR. That it was for a +miraculous story of some kind or other, is to my apprehension extremely +manifest; because, as to the fundamental article, the designation of the +person, viz. that this particular person, Jesus of Nazareth, ought to be +received as the Messiah, or as a messenger from God, they neither had, +nor could have, anything but miracles to stand upon. That the exertions +and sufferings of the apostles were for the story which we have now, is +proved by the consideration that this story is transmitted to us by two +of their own number, and by two others personally connected with them; +that the particularity of the narrative proves that the writers claimed +to possess circumstantial information, that from their situation they +had full opportunity of acquiring such information, that they certainly, +at least, knew what their colleagues, their companions, their masters +taught; that each of these books contains enough to prove the truth of +the religion; that if any one of them therefore be genuine, it is +sufficient; that the genuineness, however, of all of them is made out, +as well by the general arguments which evince the genuineness of the +most undisputed remains of antiquity, as also by peculiar and specific +proofs, viz. by citations from them in writings belonging to a period +immediately contiguous to that in which they were published; by the +distinguished regard paid by early Christians to the authority of these +books; (which regard was manifested by their collecting of them into a +volume, appropriating to that volume titles of peculiar respect, +translating them into various languages, digesting them into harmonies, +writing commentaries upon them, and, still more conspicuously, by the +reading of them in their public assemblies in all parts of the world) +by an universal agreement with respect to these books, whilst doubts +were entertained concerning some others; by contending sects appealing +to them; by the early adversaries of the religion not disputing their +genuineness, but, on the contrary, treating them as the depositaries of +the history upon which the religion was founded; by many formal +catalogues of these, as of certain and authoritative writings, published +in different and distant parts of the Christian world; lastly, by the +absence or defect of the above-cited topics of evidence, when applied to +any other histories of the same subject. + +These are strong arguments to prove that the books actually proceeded +from the authors whose names they bear (and have always borne, for there +is not a particle of evidence to show that they ever went under any +other); but the strict genuineness of the books is perhaps more than is +necessary to the support of our proposition. For even supposing that, by +reason of the silence of antiquity, or the loss of records, we knew not +who were the writers of the four Gospels, yet the fact that they were +received as authentic accounts of the transaction upon which the +religion rested, and were received as such by Christians at or near the +age of the apostles, by those whom the apostles had taught, and by +societies which the apostles had founded; this fact, I say, connected +with the consideration that they are corroborative of each other's +testimony, and that they are further corroborated by another +contemporary history taking up the story where they had left it, and, in +a narrative built upon that story, accounting for the rise and +production of changes in the world, the effects of which subsist at this +day; connected, moreover, with the confirmation which they receive from +letters written by the apostles themselves, which both assume the same +general story, and, as often as occasions lead them to do so, allude to +particular parts of it; and connected also with the reflection, that if +the apostles delivered any different story it is lost; (the present and +no other being referred to by a series of Christian writers, down from +their age to our own; being like-wise recognised in a variety of +institutions, which prevailed early and universally, amongst the +disciples of the religion;) and that so great a change as the oblivion +of one story and the substitution of another, under such circumstances, +could not have taken place: this evidence would be deemed, I apprehend, +sufficient to prove concerning these books, that, whoever were the +authors of them, they exhibit the story which the apostles told, and for +which, consequently, they acted and they suffered. + +If it be so, the religion must be true. These men could not be +deceivers. By only not bearing testimony, they might have avoided all +these sufferings, and have lived quietly. Would men in such +circumstances pretend to have seen what they never saw; assert facts +which they had no knowledge of; go about lying to teach virtue; and, +though not only convinced of Christ's being an impostor, but having seen +the success of his imposture in his crucifixion, yet persist in carrying +it on; and so persist, as to bring upon themselves for nothing, and with +a full knowledge of the consequence, enmity and hatred, danger and +death? + + +========================================= + +OF THE DIRECT HISTORICAL EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. + +PROPOSITION II. + +CHAPTER I. + +Our first proposition was, That there is satisfactory evidence that many +pretending to be original witnesses of the Christian miracles, passed +their lives in labours, dangers, and sufferings, voluntarily undertaken +and undergone in attestation of the accounts which they delivered, and +solely in consequence of their belief of the truth of those accounts; +and that they also submitted, from the same motives, to new rules of +conduct. + +Our second proposition, and which now remains to be treated of, is, That +there is NOT satisfactory evidence, that persons pretending to be +original witnesses of any other similar miracles have acted in the same +manner, in attestation of the accounts which they delivered, and solely +in consequence of their belief of the truth of those accounts. + +I enter upon this part of my argument, by declaring how far my belief in +miraculous accounts goes. If the reformers in the time of Wickliffe, or +of Luther; or those of England in the time of Henry the Eighth, or of +Queen Mary; or the founders of our religious sects since, such as were +Mr. Whitfield and Mr. Wesley in our times--had undergone the life of +toil and exertion, of danger and sufferings, which we know that many of +them did undergo, for a miraculous story; that is to say, if they had +founded their public ministry upon the allegation of miracles wrought +within their own knowledge, and upon narratives which could not be +resolved into delusion or mistake; and if it had appeared that their +conduct really had its origin in these accounts, I should have believed +them. Or, to borrow an instance which will be familiar to every one of +my readers, if the late Mr. Howard had undertaken his labours and +journeys in attestation, and in consequence of a clear and sensible +miracle, I should have believed him also. Or, to represent the same +thing under a third supposition; if Socrates had professed to perform +public miracles at Athens; if the friends of Socrates, Phaedo, Cebes, +Crito, and Simmias, together with Plato, and many of his followers, +relying upon the attestations which these miracles afforded to his +pretensions, had, at the hazard of their lives, and the certain expense +of their ease and tranquillity, gone about Greece, after his death, to +publish and propagate his doctrines: and if these things had come to our +knowledge, in the same way as that in which the life of Socrates is now +transmitted to us through the hands of his companions and disciples, +that is, by writings received without doubt as theirs, from the age in +which they were published to the present, I should have believed this +likewise. And my belief would, in each case, be much strengthened, if +the subject of the mission were of importance to the conduct and +happiness of human life; if it testified anything which it behoved +mankind to know from such authority; if the nature of what it delivered +required the sort of proof which it alleged; if the occasion was adequate +to the interposition, the end worthy of the means. In the last ease, my +faith would be much confirmed if the effects of the transaction +remained; more especially if a change had been wrought, at the time, in +the opinion and conduct of such numbers as to lay the foundation of an +institution, and of a system of doctrines, which had since overspread +the greatest part of the civilized world. I should have believed, I say, +the testimony in these cases; yet none of them do more than come up to +the apostolic history. + +If any one choose to call assent to its evidence credulity, it is at +least incumbent upon him to produce examples in which the same evidence +hath turned out to be fallacious. And this contains the precise question +which we are now to agitate. + +In stating the comparison between our evidence, and what our adversaries +may bring into competition with ours, we will divide the distinctions +which we wish to propose into two kinds,--those which relate to the +proof, and those which relate to the miracles. Under the former head we +may lay out of the case:-- + +I. Such accounts of supernatural events as are found only in histories +by some ages posterior to the transaction; and of which it is evident +that the historian could know little more than his reader. Ours is +contemporary history. This difference alone removes out of our way the +miraculous history of Pythagoras, who lived five hundred years before +the Christian era, written by Porphyry and Jamblicus, who lived three +hundred years after that era; the prodigies of Livy's history; the +fables of the heroic ages; the whole of the Greek and Roman, as well as +of the Gothic mythology; a great part of the legendary history of Popish +saints, the very best attested of which is extracted from the +certificates that are exhibited during the process of their +canonization, a ceremony which seldom takes place till a century after +their deaths. It applies also with considerable force to the miracles of +Apollonius Tyaneus, which are contained in a solitary history of his +life, published by Philostratus above a hundred years after his death; +and in which, whether Philostratus had any prior account to guide him, +depends upon his single unsupported assertion. Also to some of the +miracles of the third century, especially to one extraordinary instance, +the account of Gregory, bishop of Neocesarea, called Thaumaturgus, +delivered in the writings of Gregory of Nyssen, who lived one hundred +and thirty years after the subject of his panegyric. + +The value of this circumstance is shown to have been accurately +exemplified in the history of Ignatius Loyola, founder of the order of +Jesuits. (Douglas's Criterion of Miracles, p. 74.) His life, written by a +companion of his, and by one of the order, was published about fifteen +years after his death. In which life, the author, so far from ascribing +any miracles to Ignatius, industriously states the reasons why he was +not invested with any such power. The life was republished fifteen years +afterwards, with the addition of many circumstances which were the +fruit, the author says, of further inquiry, and of diligent examination; +but still with a total silence about miracles. When Ignatius had been +dead nearly sixty years, the Jesuits, conceiving a wish to have the +founder of their order placed in the Roman calendar, began, as it should +seem, for the first time, to attribute to him a catalogue of miracles +which could not then be distinctly disproved; and which there was, in +those who governed the church, a strong disposition to admit upon the +slenderest proofs. + +II. We may lay out of the case accounts published in one country, of +what passed in a distant country, without any proof that such accounts +were known or received at home. In the case of Christianity, Judea, +which was the scene of the transaction, was the centre of the mission. +The story was published in the place in which it was acted. The church +of Christ was first planted at Jerusalem itself. With that church others +corresponded. From thence the primitive teachers of the institution went +forth; thither they assembled. The church of Jerusalem, and the several +churches of Judea, subsisted from the beginning, and for many ages; +received also the same books and the same accounts as other churches +did. (The succession of many eminent bishops of Jerusalem in the first +three centuries is distinctly preserved; as Alexander, A.D. 212, who +succeeded Narcissus, then 116 years old.) + +This distinction disposes, amongst others, of the above-mentioned +miracles of Apollonius Tyaneus, most of which are related to have been +performed in India; no evidence remaining that either the miracles +ascribed to him, or the history of those miracles, were ever heard of in +India. Those of Francis Xavier, the Indian missionary, with many others +of the Romish breviary, are liable to the same objection, viz. that the +accounts of them were published at a vast distance from the supposed +scene of the wonders. (Douglas's Crit. p. 84.) + +III. We lay out of the case transient rumours. Upon the first +publication of an extraordinary account, or even of an article of +ordinary intelligence, no one who is not personally acquainted with the +transaction can know whether it be true or false, because any man may +publish any story. It is in the future confirmation, or contradiction, +of the account; in its permanency, or its disappearance; its dying away +into silence, or its increasing in notoriety; its being followed up by +subsequent accounts, and being repeated in different and independent +accounts--that solid truth is distinguished from fugitive lies. This +distinction is altogether on the side of Christianity. The story did not +drop. On the contrary, it was succeeded by a train of action and events +dependent upon it. The accounts which we have in our hands were composed +after the first reports must have subsided. They were followed by a +train of writings upon the subject. The historical testimonies of the +transaction were many and various, and connected with letters, +discourses, controversies, apologies, successively produced by the same +transaction. + +IV. We may lay out of the case what I call naked history. It has been +said, that if the prodigies of the Jewish history had been found only in +fragments of Manetho, or Berosus, we should have paid no regard to them: +and I am willing to admit this. If we knew nothing of the fact, but from +the fragment; if we possessed no proof that these accounts had been +credited and acted upon, from times, probably, as ancient as the +accounts themselves; if we had no visible effects connected with the +history, no subsequent or collateral testimony to confirm it; under +these circumstances I think that it would be undeserving of credit. But +this certainly is not our case. In appreciating the evidence of +Christianity, the books are to be combined with the institution; with +the prevalency of the religion at this day; with the time and place of +its origin, which are acknowledged points; with the circumstances of its +rise and progress, as collected from external history; with the fact of +our present books being received by the votaries of the institution from +the beginning; with that of other books coming after these, filled with +accounts of effects and consequences resulting from the transaction, or +referring to the transaction, or built upon it; lastly, with the +consideration of the number and variety of the books themselves, the +different writers from which they proceed, the different views with +which they were written, so disagreeing as to repel the suspicion of +confederacy, so agreeing as to show that they were founded in a common +original, i. e. in a story substantially the same. Whether this proof be +satisfactory or not, it is properly a cumulation of evidence, by no +means a naked or solitary record. + +V. A mark of historical truth, although only a certain way, and to a +certain degree, is particularity in names, dates, places, circumstances, +and in the order of events preceding or following the transaction: of +which kind, for instance, is the particularity in the description of St. +Paul's voyage and shipwreck, in the 27th chapter of the Acts, which no +man, I think, can read without being convinced that the writer was +there; and also in the account of the cure and examination of the blind +man in the 9th chapter of St. John's Gospel, which bears every mark of +personal knowledge on the part of the historian. (Both these chapters +ought to be read for the sake of this very observation.) I do not deny +that fiction has often the particularity of truth; but then it is of +studied and elaborate fiction, or of a formal attempt to deceive, that +we observe this. Since, however, experience proves that particularity is +not confined to truth, I have stated that it is a proof of truth only to +a certain extent, i. e. it reduces the question to this, whether we can +depend or not upon the probity of the relater? which is a considerable +advance in our present argument; for an express attempt to deceive, in +which case alone particularity can appear without truth, is charged upon +the evangelists by few. If the historian acknowledge himself to have +received his intelligence from others, the particularity of the +narrative shows, prima facie, the accuracy of his inquiries, and the +fulness of his information. This remark belongs to St. Luke's history. +Of the particularity which we allege, many examples may be found in all +the Gospels. And it is very difficult to conceive that such numerous +particularities as are almost everywhere to be met with in the +Scriptures should be raised out of nothing, or be spun out of the +imagination without any fact to go upon.* + +_________ + +* "There is always some truth where there are considerable +particularities related, and they always seem to bear some proportion to +one another. Thus, there is a great want of the particulars of time, +place, and persons in Manetho's account of the Egyptian Dynasties, +Etesias's of the Assyrian Kings, and those which the technical +chronologers have given of the ancient kingdoms of Greece; and, +agreeably thereto, the accounts have much fiction and falsehood, with +some truth: whereas Thucydides's History of the Peloponnesian War, and +Caesar's of the War in Gaul, in both which the particulars of time, +place, and persons are mentioned, are universally esteemed true to a +great degree of exactness." Hartley, vol. ii. p. 109. +_________ + + +It is to be remarked, however, that this particularity is only to be +looked for in direct history. It is not natural in references or +allusions, which yet, in other respects, often afford, as far as they +go, the most unsuspicious evidence. + +VI. We lay out of the case such stories of supernatural events as +require, on the part of the hearer, nothing more than an otiose assent; +stories upon which nothing depends, in which no interest is involved, +nothing is to be done or changed in consequence of believing them. Such +stories are credited, if the careless assent that is given to them +deserve that name, more by the indolence of the hearer, than by his +judgment: or, though not much credited, are passed from one to another +without inquiry or resistance. To this case, and to this case alone, +belongs what is called the love of the marvellous. I have never known it +carry men further. Men do not suffer persecution from the love of the +marvellous. Of the indifferent nature we are speaking of are most vulgar +errors and popular superstition: most, for instance, of the current +reports of apparitions. Nothing depends upon their being true or false. +But not, surely, of this kind were the alleged miracles of Christ and +his apostles. They decided, if true, the most important question upon +which the human mind can fix its anxiety. They claimed to regulate the +opinions of mankind upon subjects in which they are not only deeply +concerned, but usually refractory and obstinate. Men could not be +utterly careless in such a case as this. If a Jew took up the story, he +found his darling partiality to his own nation and law wounded; if a +Gentile, he found his idolatry and polytheism reprobated and condemned. +Whoever entertained the account, whether Jew or Gentile, could not avoid +the following reflection:--"If these things be true, I must give up the +opinions and principles in which I have been brought up, the religion in +which my fathers lived and died." It is not conceivable that a man +should do this upon any idle report or frivolous account, or, indeed, +without being fully satisfied and convinced of the truth and credibility +of the narrative to which he trusted. But it did not stop at opinions. +They who believed Christianity acted upon it. Many made it the express +business of their lives to publish the intelligence. It was required of +those who admitted that intelligence to change forthwith their conduct +and their principles, to take up a different course of life, to part +with their habits and gratifications, and begin a new set of rules and +system of behaviour. The apostles, at least, were interested not to +sacrifice their ease, their fortunes, and their lives for an idle tale; +multitudes beside them were induced, by the same tale, to encounter +opposition, danger, and sufferings. + +If it be said, that the mere promise of a future state would do all +this; I answer, that the mere promise of a future state, without any +evidence to give credit or assurance to it, would do nothing. A few +wandering fishermen talking of a resurrection of the dead could produce +no effect. If it be further said that men easily believe what they +anxiously desire; I again answer that in my opinion, the very contrary +of this is nearer to the truth. Anxiety of desire, earnestness of +expectation, the vastness of an event, rather causes men to disbelieve, +to doubt, to dread a fallacy, to distrust, and to examine. When our +Lord's resurrection was first reported to the apostles, they did not +believe, we are told, for joy. This was natural, and is agreeable to +experience. + +VII. We have laid out of the case those accounts which require no more +than a simple assent; and we now also lay out of the case those which +come merely in affirmance of opinions already formed. This last +circumstance is of the utmost importance to notice well. It has long +been observed, that Popish miracles happen in Popish countries; that +they make no converts; which proves that stories are accepted when they +fall in with principles already fixed, with the public sentiments, or +with the sentiments of a party already engaged on the side the miracle +supports, which would not be attempted to be produced in the face of +enemies, in opposition to reigning tenets or favourite prejudices, or +when, if they be believed, the belief must draw men away from their +preconceived and habitual opinions, from their modes of life and rules +of action. In the former case, men may not only receive a miraculous +account, but may both act and suffer on the side, and, in the cause, +which the miracle supports, yet not act or suffer for the miracle, but +in pursuance of a prior persuasion. The miracle, like any other argument +which only confirms what was before believed, is admitted with little +examination. In the moral, as in the natural world, it is change which +requires a cause. Men are easily fortified in their old opinions, driven +from them with great difficulty. Now how does this apply to the +Christian history? The miracles there recorded were wrought in the midst +of enemies, under a government, a priesthood, and a magistracy decidedly +and vehemently adverse to them, and to the pretensions which they +supported. They were Protestant miracles in a Popish country; they were +Popish miracles in the midst of Protestants. They produced a change; +they established a society upon the spot, adhering to the belief of +them; they made converts; and those who were converted gave up to the +testimony their most fixed opinions and most favourite prejudices. They +who acted and suffered in the cause acted and suffered for the miracles: +for there was no anterior persuasion to induce them, no prior reverence, +prejudice, or partiality to take hold of Jesus had not one follower when +he set up his claim. His miracles gave birth to his sect. No part of +this description belongs to the ordinary evidence of Heathen or Popish +miracles. Even most of the miracles alleged to have been performed by +Christians, in the second and third century of its era, want this +confirmation. It constitutes indeed a line of partition between the +origin and the progress of Christianity. Frauds and fallacies might mix +themselves with the progress, which could not possibly take place in the +commencement of the religion; at least, according to any laws of human +conduct that we are acquainted with. What should suggest to the first +propagators of Christianity, especially to fishermen, tax-gatherers, and +husbandmen, such a thought as that of changing the religion of the +world; what could bear them through the difficulties in which the +attempt engaged them; what could procure any degree of success to the +attempt? are questions which apply, with great force, to the setting out +of the institution--with less, to every future stage of it. + +To hear some men talk, one would suppose the setting up a religion by +miracles to be a thing of every day's experience: whereas the whole +current of history is against it. Hath any founder of a new sect amongst +Christians pretended to miraculous powers, and succeeded by his +pretensions? "Were these powers claimed or exercised by the founders of +the sects of the Waldenses and Albigenses? Did Wickliffe in England +pretend to it? Did Huss or Jerome in Bohemia? Did Luther in Germany, +Zuinglius in Switzerland, Calvin in France, or any of the reformers +advance this plea?" (Campbell on Miracles, p. 120, ed. 1766.) The French +prophets, in the beginning of the present century, (the eighteenth) +ventured to allege miraculous evidence, and immediately ruined their +cause by their temerity. "Concerning the religion of ancient Rome, of +Turkey, of Siam, of China, a single miracle cannot be named that was +ever offered as a test of any of those religions before their +establishment." (Adams on Mir. p. 75.) + +We may add to what has been observed of the distinction which we are +considering, that, where miracles are alleged merely in affirmance of a +prior opinion, they who believe the doctrine may sometimes propagate a +belief of the miracles which they do not themselves entertain. This is +the case of what are called pious frauds; but it is a case, I apprehend, +which takes place solely in support of a persuasion already established. +At least it does not hold of the apostolical history. If the apostles +did not believe the miracles, they did not believe the religion; and +without this belief, where was the piety, what place was there for +anything which could bear the name or colour of piety, in publishing and +attesting miracles in its behalf? If it be said that many promote the +belief of revelation, and of any accounts which favour that belief, +because they think them, whether well or ill founded, of public and +political utility; I answer, that if a character exist which can with +less justice than another be ascribed to the founders of the Christian +religion, it is that of politicians, or of men capable of entertaining +political views. The truth is, that there is no assignable character +which will account for the conduct of the apostles, supposing their +story to be false. If bad men, what could have induced them to take such +pains to promote virtue? If good men, they would not have gone about the +country with a string of lies in their mouths. + +In appreciating the credit of any miraculous story, these are +distinctions which relate to the evidence. There are other distinctions, +of great moment in the question, which relate to the miracles +themselves. Of which latter kind the following ought carefully to be +retained. + +I. It is not necessary to admit as a miracle what can be resolved into a +false perception. Of this nature was the demon of Socrates; the visions +of Saint Anthony, and of many others; the vision which Lord Herbert of +Cherbury describes himself to have seen; Colonel Gardiner's vision, as +related in his life, written by Dr. Doddridge. All these may be +accounted for by a momentary insanity; for the characteristic symptom of +human madness is the rising up in the mind of images not distinguishable +by the patient from impressions upon the senses. (Batty on Lunacy.) The +cases, however, in which the possibility of this delusion exists are +divided from the cases in which it does not exist by many, and those not +obscure marks. They are, for the most part, cases of visions or voices. +The object is hardly ever touched. The vision submits not to be handled. +One sense does not confirm another. They are likewise almost always +cases of a solitary witness. It is in the highest degree improbable, and +I know not, indeed, whether it hath ever been the fact, that the same +derangement of the mental organs should seize different persons at the +same time; a derangement, I mean, so much the same, as to represent to +their imagination the same objects. Lastly, these are always cases of +momentary miracles; by which term I mean to denote miracles of which the +whole existence is of short duration, in contradistinction to miracles +which are attended with permanent effects. The appearance of a spectre, +the hearing of a supernatural sound, is a momentary miracle. The +sensible proof is gone when the apparition or sound is over. But if a +person born blind be restored to sight, a notorious cripple to the use +of his limbs, or a dead man to life, here is a permanent effect produced +by supernatural means. The change indeed was instantaneous, but the +proof continues. The subject of the miracle remains. The man cured or +restored is there: his former condition was known, and his present +condition may be examined. This can by no possibility be resolved into +false perception: and of this kind are by far the greater part of the +miracles recorded in the New Testament. When Lazarus was raised from the +dead, he did not merely move, and speak, and die again; or come out of +the grave, and vanish away. He returned to his home and family, and +there continued; for we find him some time afterwards in the same town, +sitting at table with Jesus and his sisters; visited by great multitudes +of the Jews as a subject of curiosity; giving, by his presence, so much +uneasiness to the Jewish rulers as to beget in them a design of +destroying him. (John xii. 1, 2, 9, 10.) No delusion can account for +this. The French prophets in England, some time since, gave out that one +of their teachers would come to life again; but their enthusiasm never +made them believe that they actually saw him alive. The blind man whose +restoration to sight at Jerusalem is recorded in the ninth chapter of +Saint John's Gospel did not quit the place or conceal himself from +inquiry. On the contrary, he was forthcoming, to answer the call, to +satisfy the scrutiny, and to sustain the browbeating of Christ's angry +and powerful enemies. When the cripple at the gate of the temple was +suddenly cured by Peter, (Acts iii. 2.) he did not immediately relapse +into his former lameness, or disappear out of the city; but boldly and +honestly produced himself along with the apostles, when they were +brought the next day before the Jewish council. (Acts iv. 14.) Here, +though the miracle was sudden, the proof was permanent. The lameness had +been notorious, the cure continued. This, therefore, could not be the +effect of any momentary delirium, either in the subject or in the +witnesses of the transaction. It is the same with the greatest number of +the Scripture miracles. There are other cases of a mixed nature, in +which, although the principal miracle be momentary, some circumstance +combined with it is permanent. Of this kind is the history of Saint +Paul's conversion. (Acts ix.) The sudden light and sound, the vision and +the voice upon the road to Damascus, were momentary: but Paul's +blindness for three days in consequence of what had happened; the +communication made to Ananias in another place, and by a vision +independent of the former; Ananias finding out Paul in consequence of +intelligence so received, and finding him in the condition described, +and Paul's recovery of his sight upon Ananias laying his hands upon him; +are circumstances which take the transaction, and the principal miracle +as included in it, entirely out of the case of momentary miracles, or of +such as may be accounted for by false perceptions. Exactly the same +thing may be observed of Peter's vision preparatory to the call of +Cornelius, and of its connexion with what was imparted in a distant +place to Cornelius himself, and with the message despatched by Cornelius +to Peter. The vision might be a dream; the message could not. Either +communication taken separately, might be a delusion; the concurrence of +the two was impossible to happen without a supernatural cause. + +Beside the risk of delusion which attaches upon momentary miracles, +there is also much more room for imposture. The account cannot be +examined at the moment: and when that is also a moment of hurry and +confusion, it may not be difficult for men of influence to gain credit +to any story which they may wish to have believed. This is precisely the +case of one of the best attested of the miracles of Old Rome, the +appearance of Castor and Pollux in the battle fought by Posthumius with +the Latins at the lake Regillus. There is no doubt but that Posthumius, +after the battle, spread the report of such an appearance. No person +could deny it whilst it was said to last. No person, perhaps, had any +inclination to dispute it afterwards; or, if they had, could say with +positiveness what was or what was not seen by some or other of the army, +in the dismay and amidst the tumult of a battle. + +In assigning false perceptions as the origin to which some miraculous +accounts may be referred, I have not mentioned claims to inspiration, +illuminations, secret notices or directions, internal sensations, or +consciousnesses of being acted upon by spiritual influences, good or +bad, because these, appealing to no external proof, however convincing +they may be to the persons themselves, form no part of what can be +accounted miraculous evidence. Their own credibility stands upon their +alliance with other miracles. The discussion, therefore, of all such +pretensions may be omitted. + +II. It is not necessary to bring into the comparison what may be called +tentative miracles; that is, where, out of a great number of trials, +some succeed; and in the accounts of which, although the narrative of +the successful cases be alone preserved, and that of the unsuccessful +cases sunk, yet enough is stated to show that the cases produced are +only a few out of many in which the same means have been employed. This +observation bears with considerable force upon the ancient oracles and +auguries, in which a single coincidence of the event with the prediction +is talked of and magnified, whilst failures are forgotten, or +suppressed, or accounted for. It is also applicable to the cures wrought +by relics, and at the tombs of saints. The boasted efficacy of the +king's touch, upon which Mr. Hume lays some stress, falls under the same +description. Nothing is alleged concerning it which is not alleged of +various nostrums, namely, out of many thousands who have used them, +certified proofs of a few who have recovered after them. No solution of +this sort is applicable to the miracles of the Gospel. There is nothing +in the narrative which can induce, or even allow, us to believe, that +Christ attempted cures in many instances, and succeeded in a few; or +that he ever made the attempt in vain. He did not profess to heal +everywhere all that were sick; on the contrary, he told the Jews, +evidently meaning to represent his own case, that, "although many widows +were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three +years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land, yet +unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, +unto a woman that was a widow:" and that "many lepers were in Israel in +the time of Eliseus the prophet, and none of them was cleansed saving +Naaman the Syrian." (Luke iv. 25.) By which examples he gave them to +understand, that it was not the nature of a Divine interposition, or +necessary to its purpose, to be general; still less to answer every +challenge that might be made, which would teach men to put their faith +upon these experiments. Christ never pronounced the word, but the effect +followed.* + +_________ + +*One, and only one, instance may be produced in which the disciples of +Christ do seem to have attempted a cure, and not to have been able to +perform it. The story is very ingenuously related by three of the +evangelists. (Matt. xvii. 14. Mark ix. 14. Luke ix. 33.) The patient was +afterwards healed by Christ himself; and the whole transaction seems to +have been intended, as it was well suited, to display the superiority of +Christ above all who performed miracles in his name, a distinction +which, during his presence in the world, it might be necessary to +inculcate by some such proof as this. +_________ + + +It was not a thousand sick that received his benediction, and a few that +were benefited; a single paralytic is let down in his bed at Jesus's +feet, in the midst of a surrounding multitude; Jesus bid him walk, and +he did so. (Mark ii. 3.) A man with a withered hand is in the synagogue; +Jesus bid him stretch forth his hand in the presence of the assembly, +and it was "restored whole like the other." (Matt. xii. 10.) There was +nothing tentative in these cures; nothing that can be explained by the +power of accident. + +We may observe, also, that many of the cures which Christ wrought, such +as that of a person blind from his birth; also many miracles besides +cures, as raising the dead, walking upon the sea, feeding a great +multitude with a few loaves and fishes, are of a nature which does not +in anywise admit of the supposition of a fortunate experiment. + +III. We may dismiss from the question all accounts in which, allowing +the phenomenon to be real, the fact to be true, it still remains +doubtful whether a miracle were wrought. This is the case with the +ancient history of what is called the thundering legion, of the +extraordinary circumstances which obstructed the rebuilding of the +temple at Jerusalem by Julian; the circling of the flames and fragrant +smell at the martyrdom of Polycarp; the sudden shower that extinguished +the fire into which the Scriptures were thrown in the Diocletian +persecution; Constantine's dream; his inscribing in consequence of it +the cross upon his standard and the shields of his soldiers; his +victory, and the escape of the standard-bearer; perhaps, also, the +imagined appearance of the cross in the heavens, though this last +circumstance is very deficient in historical evidence. It is also the +case with the modern annual exhibition of the liquefaction of the blood +of Saint Januarius at Naples. It is a doubt, likewise, which ought to be +excluded by very special circumstances from those narratives which +relate to the supernatural cure of hypochondriacal and nervous +complaints, and of all diseases which are much affected by the +imagination. The miracles of the second and third century are, usually, +healing the sick and casting out evil spirits, miracles in which there +is room for some error and deception. We hear nothing of causing the +blind to see, the lame to walk, the deaf to hear, the lepers to be +cleansed. (Jortin's Remarks, vol. ii. p. 51.) There are also instances in +Christian writers of reputed miracles, which were natural operations, +though not known to be such at the time; as that of articulate speech +after the loss of a great part of the tongue. + +IV. To the same head of objection, nearly, may also be referred accounts +in which the variation of a small circumstance may have transformed some +extraordinary appearance, or some critical coincidence of events, into a +miracle; stories, in a word, which may be resolved into exaggeration. The +miracles of the Gospel can by no possibility be explained away in this +manner. Total fiction will account for anything; but no stretch of +exaggeration that has any parallel in other histories, no force of fancy +upon real circumstances, could produce the narratives which we now have. +The feeding of the five thousand with a few loaves and fishes surpasses +all bounds of exaggeration. The raising of Lazarus, of the widow's son +at Nain, as well as many of the cures which Christ wrought, come not +within the compass of misrepresentation. I mean that it is impossible to +assign any position of circumstances however peculiar, any accidental +effects however extraordinary, any natural singularity, which could +supply an origin or foundation to these accounts. + +Having thus enumerated several exceptions which may justly be taken to +relations of miracles, it is necessary, when we read the Scriptures, to +bear in our minds this general remark; that although there be miracles +recorded in the New Testament, which fall within some or other of the +exceptions here assigned, yet that they are united with others, to which +none of the same exceptions extend, and that their credibility stands +upon this union. Thus the visions and revelations which Saint Paul +asserts to have been imparted to him may not, in their separate +evidence, be distinguishable from the visions and revelations which many +others have alleged. But here is the difference. Saint Paul's +pretensions were attested by external miracles wrought by himself, and +by miracles wrought in the cause to which these visions relate; or, to +speak more properly, the same historical authority which informs us of +one informs us of the other. This is not ordinarily true of the visions +of enthusiasts, or even of the accounts in which they are contained. +Again, some of Christ's own miracles were momentary; as the +transfiguration, the appearance and voice from Heaven at his baptism, a +voice from the clouds on one occasion afterwards (John xii. 28), and +some others. It is not denied, that the distinction which we have +proposed concerning miracles of this species applies, in diminution of +the force of the evidence, as much to these instances as to others. But +this is the case not with all the miracles ascribed to Christ, nor with +the greatest part, nor with many. Whatever force therefore there may be +in the objection, we have numerous miracles which are free from it; and +even those to which it is applicable are little affected by it in their +credit, because there are few who, admitting the rest, will reject them. +If there be miracles of the New Testament which come within any of the +other heads into which we have distributed the objections, the same +remark must be repeated. And this is one way in which the unexampled +number and variety of the miracles ascribed to Christ strengthen the +credibility of Christianity. For it precludes any solution, or +conjecture about a solution, which imagination, or even which experience +might suggest, concerning some particular miracles, if considered +independently of others. The miracles of Christ were of various kinds,* +and performed in great varieties of situation, form, and manner; at +Jerusalem, the metropolis of the Jewish nation and religion; in +different parts of Judea and Galilee; in cities and villages; in +synagogues, in private houses; in the street, in highways; with +preparation, as in the case of Lazarus; by accident, as in the case of +the widow's son of Nain; when attended by multitudes, and when alone +with the patient; in the midst of his disciples, and in the presence of +his enemies; with the common people around him, and before Scribes and +Pharisees, and rulers of the synagogues. + +_________ + +* Not only healing every species of disease, but turning water into wine +(John ii.); feeding multitudes with a few loaves and fishes (Matt. xiv. +15; Mark vi. 35; Luke ix. 12; John vi. 5); walking on the sea (Matt. +xiv. 25); calming a storm (Matt. viii. 26; Luke viii. 24); a celestial +voice at his baptism, and miraculous appearance (Matt. iii. 16; +afterwards John xii. 28); his transfiguration (Matt. xvii. 18; Mark ix. +2; Luke ix. 28; 2 Peter i. 16, 17); raising the dead in three distinct +instances (Matt. ix. 18; Mark v. 22; Luke vii. 14; viii. 41; John xi.). +_________ + + +I apprehend that, when we remove from the comparison the cases which are +fairly disposed of by the observations that have been stated, many cases +will not remain. To those which do remain, we apply this final +distinction; "that there is not satisfactory evidence that persons +pretending to be original witnesses of the miracles passed their lives +in labours, dangers, and sufferings, voluntarily undertaken and +undergone in attestation of the accounts which they delivered, and +properly in consequence of their belief of the truth of those accounts." + +CHAPTER II. + +But they with whom we argue have undoubtedly a right to select their own +examples. The instances with which Mr. Hume has chosen to confront the +miracles of the New Testament, and which, therefore, we are entitled to +regard as the strongest which the history of the world could supply to +the inquiries of a very acute and learned adversary, are the three +following: + +I. The cure of a blind and of a lame man of Alexandria, by the emperor +Vespasian, as related by Tacitus; + +II. The restoration of the limb of an attendant in a Spanish church, as +told by Cardinal de Retz; and, + +III. The cures said to be performed at the tomb of the abbe Paris in the +early part of the eighteenth century. + +I. The narrative of Tacitus is delivered in these terms: "One of the +common people of Alexandria, known to be diseased in his eyes, by the +admonition of the god Serapis, whom that superstitious nation worship +above all other gods, prostrated himself before the emperor, earnestly +imploring from him a remedy for his blindness, and entreating that he +would deign to anoint with his spittle his cheeks and the balls of his +eyes. Another, diseased in his hand, requested, by the admonition of the +same god, that he might be touched by the foot of the emperor. Vespasian +at first derided and despised their application; afterwards, when they +continued to urge their petitions, he sometimes appeared to dread the +imputation of vanity; at other times, by the earnest supplication of the +patients, and the persuasion of his flatterers, to be induced to hope +for success. At length he commanded an inquiry to be made by the +physicians, whether such a blindness and debility were vincible by human +aid. The report of the physicians contained various points: that in the +one, the power of vision was not destroyed, but would return if the +obstacles were removed; that in the other, the diseased joints might be +restored, if a healing power were applied; that it was, perhaps, +agreeable to the gods to do this; that the emperor was elected by divine +assistance; lastly, that the credit of the success would be the +emperor's, the ridicule of the disappointment would fall upon the +patients. Vespasian believing that everything was in the power of his +fortune, and that nothing was any longer incredible, whilst the +multitude which stood by eagerly expected the event, with a countenance +expressive of joy, executed what he was desired to do. Immediately the +hand was restored to its use, and light returned to the blind man. They +who were present relate both these cures, even at this time, when there +is nothing to be gained by lying." (Tacit. Hist. lib. iv.) + +Now, though Tacitus wrote this account twenty-seven years after the +miracle is said to have been performed, and wrote at Rome of what passed +at Alexandria, and wrote also from report; and although it does not +appear that he had examined the story or that he believed it, (but +rather the contrary,) yet I think his testimony sufficient to prove that +such a transaction took place: by which I mean, that the two men in +question did apply to Vespasian; that Vespasian did touch the diseased +in the manner related; and that a cure was reported to have followed the +operation. But the affair labours under a strong and just suspicion, +that the whole of it was a concerted imposture brought about by +collusion between the patients, the physician, and the emperor. This +solution is probable, because there was everything to suggest, and +everything to facilitate such a scheme. The miracle was calculated to +confer honour upon the emperor, and upon the god Serapis. It was +achieved in the midst of the emperor's flatterers and followers; in a +city and amongst a populace before-hand devoted to his interest, and to +the worship of the god: where it would have been treason and blasphemy +together to have contradicted the fame of the cure, or even to have +questioned it. And what is very observable in the account is, that the +report of the physicians is just such a report as would have been made +of a case in which no external marks of the disease existed, and which, +consequently, was capable of being easily counterfeited; viz. that in +the first of the patients the organs of vision were not destroyed, that +the weakness of the second was in his joints. The strongest circumstance +in Tacitus's narration is, that the first patient was "notus tabe +oculorum," remarked or notorious for the disease in his eyes. But this +was a circumstance which might have found its way into the story in its +progress from a distant country, and during an interval of thirty years; +or it might be true that the malady of the eyes was notorious, yet that +the nature and degree of the disease had never been ascertained; a case +by no means uncommon. The emperor's reserve was easily affected: or it +is possible he might not be in the secret. There does not seem to be +much weight in the observation of Tacitus, that they who were present +continued even then to relate the story when there was nothing to be +gained by the lie. It only proves that those who had told the story for +many years persisted in it. The state of mind of the witnesses and +spectators at the time is the point to be attended to. Still less is +there of pertinency in Mr. Hume's eulogium on the cautious and +penetrating genius of the historian; for it does not appear that the +historian believed it. The terms in which he speaks of Serapis, the +deity to whose interposition the miracle was attributed, scarcely suffer +us to suppose that Tacitus thought the miracle to be real: "by the +admonition of the god Serapis, whom that superstitious nation (dedita +superstitionibus gens) worship above all other gods." To have brought +this supposed miracle within the limits of comparison with the miracles +of Christ, it ought to have appeared that a person of a low and private +station, in the midst of enemies, with the whole power of the country +opposing him, with every one around him prejudiced or interested against +his claims and character, pretended to perform these cures, and required +the spectators, upon the strength of what they saw, to give up their +firmest hopes and opinions, and follow him through a life of trial and +danger; that many were so moved as to obey his call, at the expense both +of every notion in which they had been brought up, and of their ease, +safety, and reputation; and that by these beginnings a change was +produced in the world, the effects of which remain to this day: a case, +both in its circumstances and consequences, very unlike anything we find +in Tacitus's relation. + +II. The story taken from the Memoirs of Cardinal de Retz, which is the +second example alleged by Mr. Hume, is this: "In the church of Saragossa +in Spain, the canons showed me a man whose business it was to light the +lamps; telling me, that he had been several years at the gate with one +leg only. I saw him with two." (Liv. iv. A.D. 1654.) + +It is stated by Mr. Hume, that the cardinal who relates this story did +not believe it; and it nowhere appears that he either examined the limb, +or asked the patient, or indeed any one, a single question about the +matter. An artificial leg, wrought with art, would be sufficient, in a +place where no such contrivance had ever before been heard of, to give +origin and currency to the report. The ecclesiastics of the place would, +it is probable, favour the story, inasmuch as it advanced the honour of +their image and church. And if they patronized it, no other person at +Saragossa, in the middle of the last century, would care to dispute it. +The story likewise coincided not less with the wishes and preconceptions +of the people than with the interests of their ecclesiastical rulers: so +that there was prejudice backed by authority, and both operating upon +extreme ignorance, to account for the success of the imposture. If, as I +have suggested, the contrivance of an artificial limb was then new, it +would not occur to the cardinal himself to suspect it; especially under +the carelessness of mind with which he heard the tale, and the little +inclination he felt to scrutinize or expose its fallacy. + +III. The miracles related to have been wrought at the tomb of the abbe +Paris admit in general of this solution. The patients who frequented the +tomb were so affected by their devotion, their expectation, the place, +the solemnity, and, above all, by the sympathy of the surrounding +multitude, that many of them were thrown into violent convulsions, which +convulsions, in certain instances, produced a removal of disorder, +depending upon obstruction. We shall, at this day, have the less +difficulty in admitting the above account, because it is the very same +thing as hath lately been experienced in the operations of animal +magnetism: and the report of the French physicians upon that mysterious +remedy is very applicable to the present consideration, viz. that the +pretenders to the art, by working upon the imaginations of their +patients, were frequently able to produce convulsions; that convulsions +so produced are amongst the most powerful, but, at the same time, most +uncertain and unmanageable applications to the human frame which can be +employed. + +Circumstances which indicate this explication, in the case of the +Parisian miracles, are the following: + +1. They were tentative. Out of many thousand sick, infirm, and diseased +persons who resorted to the tomb, the professed history of the miracles +contains only nine cures. + +2. The convulsions at the tomb are admitted. + +3. The diseases were, for the most part, of that sort which depends upon +inaction and obstruction, as dropsies, palsies, and some tumours. + +4. The cures were gradual; some patients attending many days, some several +weeks, and some several months. + +5. The cures were many of them incomplete. + +6. Others were temporary. (The reader will find these particulars +verified in the detail, by the accurate inquiries of the present bishop +of Sarum, in his Criterion of Miracles, p. 132, et seq.) + +So that all the wonder we are called upon to account for is, that out of +an almost innumerable multitude which resorted to the tomb for the cure +of their complaints, and many of whom were there agitated by strong +convulsions, a very small proportion experienced a beneficial change in +their constitution, especially in the action of the nerves and glands. + +Some of the cases alleged do not require that we should have recourse to +this solution. The first case in the catalogue is scarcely +distinguishable from the progress of a natural recovery. It was that of +a young man who laboured under an inflammation of one eye, and had lost +the sight of the other. The inflamed eye was relieved, but the blindness +of the other remained. The inflammation had before been abated by +medicine; and the young man, at the time of his attendance at the tomb, +was using a lotion of laudanum. And, what is a still more material part +of the case, the inflammation, after some interval, returned. Another +case was that of a young man who had lost his sight by the puncture of +an awl, and the discharge of the aqueous humour through the wound. The +sight, which had been gradually returning, was much improved during his +visit to the tomb, that is, probably in the same degree in which the +discharged humour was replaced by fresh secretions. And it is +observable, that these two are the only cases which, from their nature, +should seem unlikely to be affected by convulsions. + +In one material respect I allow that the Parisian miracles were +different from those related by Tacitus, and from the Spanish miracle of +the cardinal de Retz. They had not, like them, all the power and all the +prejudice of the country on their side to begin with. They were alleged +by one party against another, by the Jansenists against the Jesuits. +These were of course opposed and examined by their adversaries. The +consequence of which examination was that many falsehoods were detected, +that with something really extraordinary much fraud appeared to be +mixed. And if some of the cases upon which designed misrepresentation +could not be charged were not at the time satisfactorily accounted for, +it was because the efficacy of strong spasmodic affections was not then +sufficiently known. Finally, the cause of Jansenism did not rise by the +miracles, but sunk, although the miracles had the anterior persuasion of +all the numerous adherents of that cause to set out with. + +These, let us remember, are the strongest examples which the history of +ages supplies. In none of them was the miracle unequivocal; by none of +them were established prejudices and persuasions overthrown; of none of +them did the credit make its way, in opposition to authority and power; +by none of them were many induced to commit themselves, and that in +contradiction to prior opinions, to a life of mortification, danger, and +sufferings; none were called upon to attest them at the expense of their +fortunes and safety.* + +_________ + +* It may be thought that the historian of the Parisian miracles, M. +Montgeron, forms an exception to this last assertion. He presented his +book (with a suspicion, as it should seem, of the danger of what he was +doing) to the king; and was shortly afterwards committed to prison; from +which he never came out. Had the miracles been unequivocal, and had M. +Montgeron been originally convinced by them, I should have allowed this +exception. It would have stood, I think, alone in the argument of our +adversaries. But, beside what has been observed of the dubious nature of +the miracles, the account which M. Montgeron has himself left of his +conversion shows both the state of his mind and that his persuasion was +not built upon external miracles.--"Scarcely had he entered the +churchyard when he was struck," he tells us, "with awe and reverence, +having never before heard prayers pronounced with so much ardour and +transport as he observed amongst the supplicants at the tomb. Upon this, +throwing himself on his knees, resting his elbows on the tombstone and +covering his face with his hands, he spake the following prayer. O thou, +by whose intercession so many miracles are said to be performed, if it +be true that a part of thee surviveth the grave, and that thou hast +influence with the Almighty, have pity on the darkness of my +understanding, and through his mercy obtain the removal of it." Having +prayed thus, "many thoughts," as he sayeth, "began to open themselves to +his mind; and so profound was his attention that he continued on his +knees four hours, not in the least disturbed by the vast crowd of +surrounding supplicants. During this time, all the arguments which he +ever heard or read in favour of Christianity occurred to him with so +much force, and seemed so strong and convincing, that he went home fully +satisfied of the truth of religion in general, and of the holiness and +power of that person who," as he supposed, "had engaged the Divine +Goodness to enlighten his understanding so suddenly." (Douglas's Crit of +Mir. p. 214.) + +_________ + + + + + +PART II. + +OF THE AUXILIARY EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY + +CHAPTER I. + +PROPHECY. + +Isaiah iii. 13; liii. "Behold, my servant shall deal prudently; he shall +be exalted and extolled, and be very high. As many were astonished at +thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than +the sons of men: so shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut +their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they +see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider. Who hath +believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he +shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry +ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there +is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of +men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid, as it +were, our faces from him: he was despised, and we esteemed him not. +Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did +esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded +for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the +chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are +healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to +his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He +was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is +brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers +is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from +judgment; and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out +of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he +stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in +his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in +his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to +grief. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see +his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall +prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall +be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; +for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a +portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; +because he hath poured out his soul unto death; and he was numbered with +the transgressors, and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession +for the transgressors." + +These words are extant in a book purporting to contain the predictions +of a writer who lived seven centuries before the Christian era. + +That material part of every argument from prophecy, namely, that the +words alleged were actually spoken or written before the fact to which +they are applied took place, or could by any natural means be foreseen, +is, in the present instance, incontestable. The record comes out of the +custody of adversaries. The Jews, as an ancient father well observed, +are our librarians. The passage is in their copies as well as in ours. +With many attempts to explain it away, none has ever been made by them +to discredit its authenticity. + +And what adds to the force of the quotation is, that it is taken from a +writing declaredly prophetic; a writing professing to describe such +future transactions and changes in the world as were connected with the +fate and interests of the Jewish nation. It is not a passage in an +historical or devotional composition, which, because it turns out to be +applicable to some future events, or to some future situation of +affairs, is presumed to have been oracular. The words of Isaiah were +delivered by him in a prophetic character, with the solemnity belonging +to that character: and what he so delivered was all along understood by +the Jewish reader to refer to something that was to take place after the +time of the author. The public sentiments of the Jews concerning the +design of Isaiah's writings are set forth in the book of +Ecclesiasticus:* "He saw by an excellent spirit what should come to pass +at the last, and he comforted them that mourned in Sion. He showed what +should come to pass for ever, and secret things or ever they came." + +_________ + +* Chap. xlviii. ver. 24. +_________ + + +It is also an advantage which this prophecy possesses, that it is +intermixed with no other subject. It is entire, separate, and +uninterruptedly directed to one scene of things. + +The application of the prophecy to the evangelic history is plain and +appropriate. Here is no double sense; no figurative language but what is +sufficiently intelligible to every reader of every country. The +obscurities (by which I mean the expressions that require a knowledge of +local diction, and of local allusion) are few, and not of great +importance. Nor have I found that varieties of reading, or a different +construing of the original, produce any material alteration in the sense +of the prophecy. Compare the common translation with that of Bishop +Lowth, and the difference is not considerable. So far as they do differ, +Bishop Lowth's corrections, which are the faithful result of an accurate +examination, bring the description nearer to the New Testament history +than it was before. In the fourth verse of the fifty-third chapter, what +our bible renders "stricken" he translates "judicially stricken:" and in +the eighth verse, the clause "he was taken from prison and from +judgment," the bishop gives "by an oppressive judgment he was taken +off." The next words to these, "who shall declare his generation?" are +much cleared up in their meaning by the bishop's version; "his manner of +life who would declare?" i. e. who would stand forth in his defence? The +former part of the ninth verse, "and he made his grave with the wicked, +and with the rich in his death," which inverts the circumstances of +Christ's passion, the bishop brings out in an order perfectly agreeable +to the event; "and his grave was appointed with the wicked, but with the +rich man was his tomb." The words in the eleventh verse, "by his +knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many," are, in the bishop's +version, "by the knowledge of him shall my righteous servant justify +many." + +It is natural to inquire what turn the Jews themselves give to this +prophecy.* There is good proof that the ancient Rabbins explained it of +their expected Messiah:+ but their modern expositors concur, I think, in +representing it as a description of the calamitous state, and intended +restoration, of the Jewish people, who are here, as they say, exhibited +under the character of a single person. I have not discovered that their +exposition rests upon any critical arguments, or upon these in any other +than in a very minute degree. + +_________ + +* "Vaticinium hoc Esaiae est carnificina Rabbinorum, de quo aliqui +Judaei mihi confessi sunt, Rabbinos suos ex propheticis scripturis +facile se extricare potuisse, modo; Esaias tacuisset." Hulse, Theol. +Jud. P. 318, quoted by Poole, in loc. + ++ Hulse, Theol. Jud. p. 430. +_________ + + +The clause in the ninth verse, which we render "for the transgression of +my people was he stricken," and in the margin, "was the stroke upon +him," the Jews read "for the transgression of my people was the stroke +upon them." And what they allege in support of the alteration amounts +only to this, that the Hebrew pronoun is capable of a plural as well as +of a singular signification; that is to say, is capable of their +construction as well as ours.* And this is all the variation contended +for; the rest of the prophecy they read as we do. The probability, +therefore, of their exposition is a subject of which we are as capable +of judging as themselves. This judgment is open indeed to the good sense +of every attentive reader. The application which the Jews contend for +appears to me to labour under insuperable difficulties; in particular, +it may be demanded of them to explain in whose name or person, if the +Jewish people he the sufferer, does the prophet speak, when he says, "He +hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him +stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted; but he was wounded for our +transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of +our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed." Again, the +description in the seventh verse, "he was oppressed and he was +afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; he is brought as a lamb to the +slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not +his mouth," quadrates with no part of the Jewish history with which we +are acquainted. The mention of the "grave" and the "tomb," in the ninth +verse, is not very applicable to the fortunes of a nation; and still +less so is the conclusion of the prophecy in the twelfth verse, which +expressly represents the sufferings as voluntary, and the sufferer as +interceding for the offenders; "because he hath poured out his soul unto +death, and he was numbered with the transgressors, and he bare the sin +of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." + +_________ + +* Bishop Lowth adopts in this place the reading of the seventy, which +gives smitten to death, "for the transgression of my people was he +smitten to death." The addition of the words "to death" makes an end of +the Jewish interpretation of the clause. And the authority upon which +this reading (though not given by the present Hebrew text) is adopted, +Dr. Kennicot has set forth by an argument not only so cogent, but so +clear and popular, that I beg leave to transcribe the substance of it +into this note:--"Origen, after having quoted at large this prophecy +concerning the Messiah, tells us that, having once made use of this +passage, in a dispute against some that were accounted wise amongst the +Jews, one of them replied that the words did not mean one man, but one +people, the Jews, who were smitten of God, and dispersed among the +Gentiles for their conversion; that he then urged many parts of this +prophecy to show the absurdity of this interpretation, and that he +seemed to press them the hardest by this sentence,--'for the +transgression of my people was he smitten to death.'" Now as Origen, the +author of the Hexapla, must have understood Hebrew, we cannot suppose +that he would have urged this last text as so decisive, if the Greek +version had not agreed here with the Hebrew text; nor that these wise +Jews would have been at all distressed by this quotation, unless the +Hebrew text had read agreeably to the words "to death," on which the +argument principally depended; for by quoting it immediately, they would +have triumphed over him, and reprobated his Greek version. This, +whenever they could do it was their constant practice in their disputes +with the Christians. Origen himself, who laboriously compared the Hebrew +text with the Septuagint, has recorded the necessity of arguing with the +Jews from such passages only as were in the Septuagint agreeable to the +Hebrew. Wherefore, as Origen had carefully compared the Greek version of +the Septuagint with the Hebrew text; and as he puzzled and confounded +the learned Jews, by urging upon them the reading "to death" in this +place; it seems almost impossible not to conclude, both from Origen's +argument and the silence of his Jewish adversaries, that the Hebrew text +at that time actually had the word agreeably to the version of the +seventy. Lowth's Isaiah, p. 242. +_________ + + +There are other prophecies of the Old Testament, interpreted by +Christians to relate to the Gospel history, which are deserving both of +great regard and of a very attentive consideration: but I content myself +with stating the above, as well because I think it the clearest and the +strongest of all, as because most of the rest, in order that their value +might be represented with any tolerable degree of fidelity, require a +discussion unsuitable to the limits and nature of this work. The reader +will find them disposed in order, and distinctly explained, in Bishop +Chandler's treatise on the subject; and he will bear in mind, what has +been often, and, I think, truly, urged by the advocates of Christianity, +that there is no other eminent person to the history of whose life so +many circumstances can be made to apply. They who object that much has +been done by the power of chance, the ingenuity of accommodation, and +the industry of research, ought to try whether the same, or anything +like it, could be done, if Mahomet, or any other person, were proposed +as the subject of Jewish prophecy. + + +II. A second head of argument from prophecy is founded upon our Lord's +predictions concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, recorded by three +out of the four evangelists. + +Luke xxi. 5-25. "And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned +with goodly stones and gifts, he said, As for these things which ye +behold, the days will come in which there shall not be left one stone +upon another, that shall not be thrown down. And they asked him, saying, +Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when +these things shall come to pass? And he said, Take heed that ye be not +deceived; for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the +time draweth near; go ye not therefore after them. But when ye shall +hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must +first come to pass; but the end is not by-and-by. Then said he unto +them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and +great earth-quakes shall be in divers places, and famines and +pestilences; and fearful sights, and great signs shall there be from +heaven. But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and +persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, +being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake. And it shall +turn to you for a testimony. Settle it therefore in your hearts not to +meditate before what ye shall answer: for I will give you a mouth and +wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor +resist. And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and +kinsfolk, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to +death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. But there +shall not an hair of your head perish. In your patience possess ye your +souls. And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know +that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judea +flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart +out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. For +these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be +fulfilled. But woe unto them that are with child and to them that give +suck in those days: for there shall be great distress in the land, and +wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, +and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be +trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be +fulfilled." + +In terms nearly similar, this discourse is related in the twenty-fourth +chapter of Matthew and the thirteenth of Mark. The prospect of the same +evils drew from our Saviour, on another occasion, the following +affecting expressions of concern, which are preserved by St. Luke (xix. +41--44): "And when he was come near, he beheld the city and wept over +it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, +the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine +eyes. For the day shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a +trench about thee, and compass thee round and keep thee in on every +side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within +thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because +thou knowest not the time of thy visitation"--These passages are direct +and explicit predictions. References to the same event, some plain, some +parabolical, or otherwise figurative, are found in divers other +discourses of our Lord. (Matt. xxi. 33-46; xxii. 1-7. Mark xii. 1-12. +Luke xiii. 1-9; xx. 9-20; xxi. 5-13.) + +The general agreement of the description with the event, viz. with the +ruin of the Jewish nation, and the capture of Jerusalem under Vespasian, +thirty-six years after Christ's death, is most evident; and the +accordancy in various articles of detail and circumstances has been +shown by many learned writers. It is also an advantage to the inquiry, +and to the argument built upon it, that we have received a copious +account of the transaction from Josephus, a Jewish and contemporary +historian. This part of the case is perfectly free from doubt. The only +question which, in my opinion, can be raised upon the subject is, +whether the prophecy was really delivered before the event? I shall +apply, therefore, my observations to this point solely. + +1. The judgment of antiquity, though varying in the precise year of the +publication of the three Gospels, concurs in assigning them a date prior +to the destruction of Jerusalem. (Lardner, vol. xiii.) + +2. This judgment is confirmed by a strong probability arising from the +course of human life. The destruction of Jerusalem took place in the +seventieth year after the birth of Christ. The three evangelists, one of +whom was his immediate companion, and the other two associated with his +companions, were, it is probable, not much younger than he was. They +must, consequently, have been far advanced in life when Jerusalem was +taken; and no reason has been given why they should defer writing their +histories so long. + +3. (Le Clerc, Diss. III. de Quat. Evang. num. vii. p. 541.) If the +evangelists, at the time of writing the Gospels, had known of the +destruction of Jerusalem, by which catastrophe the prophecies were +plainly fulfilled, it is most probable that, in recording the +predictions, they would have dropped some word or other about the +completion; in like manner as Luke, after relating the denunciation of a +dearth by Agabus, adds, "which came to pass in the days of Claudius +Caesar;" (Acts xi. 28.) whereas the prophecies are given distinctly in +one chapter of each of the first three Gospels, and referred to in +several different passages of each, and in none of all these places does +there appear the smallest intimation that the things spoken of had come +to pass. I do admit that it would have been the part of an impostor, who +wished his readers to believe that this book was written before the +event, when in truth it was written after it, to have suppressed any +such intimation carefully. But this was not the character of the authors +of the Gospel. Cunning was no quality of theirs. Of all writers in the +world, they thought the least of providing against objections. Moreover, +there is no clause in any one of them that makes a profession of their +having written prior to the Jewish wars, which a fraudulent purpose +would have led them to pretend. They have done neither one thing nor the +other; they have neither inserted any words which might signify to the +reader that their accounts were written before the destruction of +Jerusalem, which a sophist would have done; nor have they dropped a hint +of the completion of the prophecies recorded by them, which an +undesigning writer, writing after the event, could hardly, on some or +other of the many occasions that presented themselves, have missed of +doing. + +4. The admonitions* which Christ is represented to have given to his +followers to save themselves by flight are not easily accounted for on +the supposition of the prophecy being fabricated after the event. Either +the Christians, when the siege approached, did make their escape from +Jerusalem, or they did not: if they did, they must have had the prophecy +amongst them: if they did not know of any such prediction at the time of +the siege, if they did not take notice of any such warning, it was an +improbable fiction, in a writer publishing his work near to that time +(which, on any, even the lowest and most disadvantageous supposition, +was the case with the gospels now in our hands), and addressing his work +to Jews and to Jewish converts (which Matthew certainly did), to state +that the followers of Christ had received admonition of which they made +no use when the occasion arrived, and of which experience then recent +proved that those who were most concerned to know and regard them were +ignorant or negligent. Even if the prophecies came to the hands of the +evangelists through no better vehicle than tradition, it must have been +by a tradition which subsisted prior to the event. And to suppose that +without any authority whatever, without so much as even any tradition to +guide them, they had forged these passages, is to impute to them a +degree of fraud and imposture from every appearance of which their +compositions are as far removed as possible. + +_________ + +* "When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the +desolation thereof is nigh; then let them which are in Judea flee to the +mountains; then let them which are in the midst of it depart out, and +let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto."--Luke xxi. 20, +21. +"When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then let them which +be in Judea flee unto the mountains; let him which is on the house-top +not come down to take anything out of his house; neither let him which +is in the field return back to take his clothes."--Matt. xiv. 18. +_________ + + +5. I think that, if the prophecies had been composed after the event, +there would have been more specification. The names or descriptions of +the enemy, the general, the emperor, would have been found in them. The +designation of the time would have been more determinate. And I am +fortified in this opinion by observing that the counterfeited prophecies +of the Sibylline oracles, of the twelve patriarchs, and, I am inclined +to believe, most others of the kind, are mere transcripts of the +history, moulded into a prophetic form. + +It is objected that the prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem is +mixed or connected with expressions which relate to the final judgment +of the world; and so connected as to lead an ordinary reader to expect +that these two events would not be far distant from each other. To which +I answer, that the objection does not concern our present argument. If +our Saviour actually foretold the destruction of Jerusalem, it is +sufficient; even although we should allow that the narration of the +prophecy had combined what had been said by him on kindred subjects, +without accurately preserving the order, or always noticing the +transition of the discourse. + + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE MORALITY OF THE GOSPEL. + +Is stating the morality of the Gospel as an argument of its truth, I am +willing to admit two points; first, that the teaching of morality was +not the primary design of the mission; secondly, that morality, neither +in the Gospel, nor in any other book, can be a subject, properly +speaking, of discovery. + +If I were to describe in a very few words the scope of Christianity as a +revelation,* I should say that it was to influence the conduct of human +life, by establishing the proof of a future state of reward and +punishment,--"to bring life and immortality to light." The direct +object, therefore, of the design is, to supply motives, and not rules; +sanctions, and not precepts. And these were what mankind stood most in +need of. The members of civilised society can, in all ordinary cases, +judge tolerably well how they ought to act: but without a future state, +or, which is the same thing, without credited evidence of that state, +they want a motive to their duty; they want at least strength of motive +sufficient to bear up against the force of passion, and the temptation +of present advantage. Their rules want authority. The most important +service that can be rendered to human life, and that consequently which +one might expect beforehand would be the great end and office of a +revelation from God, is to convey to the world authorised assurances of +the reality of a future existence. And although in doing this, or by the +ministry of the same person by whom this is done, moral precepts or +examples, or illustrations of moral precepts, may be occasionally given +and be highly valuable, yet still they do not form the original purpose +of the mission. + +_________ + +* Great and inestimably beneficial effects may accrue from the mission +of Christ, and especially from his death, which do not belong to +Christianity as a revelation: that is, they might have existed, and they +might have been accomplished, though we had never, in this life, been +made acquainted with them. These effects may be very extensive; they may +be interesting even to other orders of intelligent beings. I think it is +a general opinion, and one to which I have long come, that the +beneficial effects of Christ's death extend to the whole human species. +It was the redemption of the world. "He is the propitiation for our +sins, and not for ours only, but for the whole world;" 1 John ii. 2. +Probably the future happiness, perhaps the future existence of the +species, and more gracious terms of acceptance extended to all, might +depend upon it or be procured by it. Now these effects, whatever they +be, do not belong to Christianity as a revelation; because they exist +with respect to those to whom it is not revealed. +_________ + + +Secondly; morality, neither in the Gospel nor in any other book, can be +a subject of discovery, properly so called. By which proposition I mean +that there cannot, in morality, be anything similar to what are called +discoveries in natural philosophy, in the arts of life, and in some +sciences; as the system of the universe, the circulation of the blood, +the polarity of the magnet, the laws of gravitation, alphabetical +writing, decimal arithmetic, and some other things of the same sort; +facts, or proofs, or contrivances, before totally unknown and unthought +of. Whoever, therefore, expects in reading the New Testament to be +struck with discoveries in morals in the manner in which his mind was +affected when he first came to the knowledge of the discoveries above +mentioned: or rather in the manner in which the world was affected by +them, when they were first published; expects what, as I apprehend, the +nature of the subject renders it impossible that he should meet with. +And the foundation of my opinion is this, that the qualities of actions +depend entirely upon their effects, which effects must all along have +been the subject of human experience. + +When it is once settled, no matter upon what principle, that to do good +is virtue, the rest is calculation. But since the calculation cannot be +instituted concerning each particular action, we establish intermediate +rules; by which proceeding, the business of morality is much +facilitated, for then it is concerning our rules alone that we need +inquire, whether in their tendency they be beneficial; concerning our +actions, we have only to ask whether they be agreeable to the rules. We +refer actions to rules, and rules to public happiness. Now, in the +formation of these rules, there is no place for discovery, properly so +called, but there is ample room for the exercise of wisdom, judgment, +and prudence. + +As I wish to deliver argument rather than panegyric, I shall treat of +the morality of the Gospel in subjection to these observations. And +after all, I think it such a morality as, considering from whom it came, +is most extraordinary; and such as, without allowing some degree of +reality to the character and pretensions of the religion, it is +difficult to account for: or, to place the argument a little lower in +the scale, it is such a morality as completely repels the supposition of +its being the tradition of a barbarous age or of a barbarous people, of +the religion being founded in folly, or of its being the production of +craft; and it repels also, in a great degree, the supposition of its +having been the effusion of an enthusiastic mind. + +The division under which the subject may be most conveniently treated is +that of the things taught, and the manner of teaching. + +Under the first head, I should willingly, if the limits and nature of my +work admitted of it, transcribe into this chapter the whole of what has +been said upon the morality of the Gospel by the author of The Internal +Evidence of Christianity; because it perfectly agrees with my own +opinion, and because it is impossible to say the same things so well. +This acute observer of human nature, and, as I believe, sincere convert +to Christianity, appears to me to have made out satisfactorily the two +following positions, viz.-- + +I. That the Gospel omits some qualifies which have usually engaged the +praises and admiration of mankind, but which, in reality, and in their +general effects, have been Prejudicial to human happiness. + +II. That the Gospel has brought forward some virtues which possess the +highest intrinsic value, but which have commonly been overlooked and +contemned. + +The first of these propositions he exemplifies in the instances of +friendship, patriotism, active courage; in the sense in which these +qualities are usually understood, and in the conduct which they often +produce. + +The second, in the instances of passive courage or endurance of +sufferings, patience under affronts and injuries, humility, +irresistance, placability. + +The truth is, there are two opposite descriptions of character under +which mankind may generally be classed. The one possesses rigour, +firmness, resolution; is daring and active, quick in its sensibilities, +jealous of its fame, eager in its attachments, inflexible in its +purpose, violent in its resentments. + +The other meek, yielding, complying, forgiving; not prompt to act, but +willing to suffer; silent and gentle under rudeness and insult, suing +for reconciliation where others would demand satisfaction, giving way to +the pushes of impudence, conceding and indulgent to the prejudices, the +wrong-headedness, the intractability of those with whom it has to deal. + +The former of these characters is, and ever hath been, the favourite of +the world. It is the character of great men. There is a dignity in it +which universally commands respect. + +The latter is poor-spirited, tame, and abject. Yet so it hath happened, +that with the Founder of Christianity this latter is the subject of his +commendation, his precepts, his example; and that the former is so in no +part of its composition. This, and nothing else, is the character +designed in the following remarkable passages: "Resist not evil: but +whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other +also; and if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, +let him have thy cloak also: and whosoever shall compel thee to go a +mile, go with him twain: love your enemies, bless them that curse you, +do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use +you and persecute you." This certainly is not commonplace morality. It +is very original. It shows at least (and it is for this purpose we +produce it) that no two things can be more different than the Heroic and +the Christian characters. + +Now the author to whom I refer has not only marked this difference more +strongly than any preceding writer, but has proved, in contradiction to +first impressions, to popular opinion, to the encomiums of orators and +poets, and even to the suffrages of historians and moralists, that the +latter character possesses the most of true worth, both as being most +difficult either to be acquired or sustained, and as contributing most +to the happiness and tranquillity of social life. The state of his +argument is as follows: + +I. If this disposition were universal, the case is clear; the world +would be a society of friends. Whereas, if the other disposition were +universal, it would produce a scene of universal contention. The world +could not hold a generation of such men. + +II. If, what is the fact, the disposition be partial; if a few be +actuated by it, amongst a multitude who are not; in whatever degree it +does prevail, in the same proportion it prevents, allays, and terminates +quarrels, the great disturbers of human happiness, and the great sources +of human misery, so far as man's happiness and misery depend upon man. +Without this disposition enmities must not only be frequent, but, once +begun, must be eternal: for, each retaliation being a fresh injury, and +consequently requiring a fresh satisfaction, no period can be assigned +to the reciprocation of affronts, and to the progress of hatred, but +that which closes the lives, or at least the intercourse, of the parties. + +I would only add to these observations, that although the former of the +two characters above described may be occasionally useful; although, +perhaps, a great general, or a great statesman, may be formed by it, and +these may be instruments of important benefits to mankind, yet is this +nothing more than what is true of many qualities which are acknowledged +to be vicious. Envy is a quality of this sort: I know not a stronger +stimulus to exertion; many a scholar, many an artist, many a soldier, +has been produced by it; nevertheless, since in its general effects it +is noxious, it is properly condemned, certainly is not praised, by sober +moralists. + +It was a portion of the same character as that we are defending, or +rather of his love of the same character, which our Saviour displayed in +his repeated correction of the ambition of his disciples; his frequent +admonitions that greatness with them was to consist in humility; his +censure of that love of distinction and greediness of superiority which +the chief persons amongst his countrymen were wont, on all occasions, +great and little, to betray. "They (the Scribes and Pharisees) love the +uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and +greetings in the markets, and to be called of men Rabbi, Rabbi. But be +not ye called Rabbi, for one is your Master, even Christ, and all ye are +brethren: and call no man your father upon the earth, for one is your +father, which is in heaven; neither be ye called master, for one is your +Master, even Christ; but he that is greatest among you shall be your +servant; and whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased, and he that +shall humble himself shall be exalted." (Matt. xxiii. 6. See also Mark +xii. 39; Luke xx. 46; xiv. 7.) I make no further remark upon these +passages (because they are, in truth, only a repetition of the doctrine, +different expressions of the principle, which we have already stated), +except that some of the passages, especially our Lord's advice to the +guests at an entertainment, (Luke iv. 7.) seem to extend the rule to +what we call manners; which was both regular in point of consistency, +and not so much beneath the dignity of our Lord's mission as may at +first sight be supposed, for bad manners are bad morals. + +It is sufficiently apparent that the precepts we have tired, or rather +the disposition which these precepts inculcate, relate to personal +conduct from personal motives; to cases in which men act from impulse, +for themselves and from themselves. When it comes to be considered what +is necessary to be done for the sake of the public, and out of a regard +to the general welfare (which consideration, for the most part, ought +exclusively to govern the duties of men in public stations), it comes to +a case to which the rules do not belong. This distinction is plain; and +if it were less so the consequence would not be much felt: for it is +very seldom that in time intercourse of private life men act with public +views. The personal motives from which they do act the rule regulates. + +The preference of time patient to the heroic cheer, which we have here +noticed, and which the reader will find explained at large in the work +to which we have referred him, is a peculiarity in the Christian +institution, which I propose as an argument of wisdom, very much beyond +the situation and natural character of the person who delivered it. + +II. A second argument, drawn from the morality of the New Testament, is +the stress which is laid by our Saviour upon the regulation of the +thoughts; and I place this consideration next to the other because they +are connected. The other related to the malicious passions; this to the +voluptuous. Together, they comprehend the whole character. + +"Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, +fornications," &c. "These are the things which defile a man." (Matt. xv. +19.) + +"Wo unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the +outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of +extortion and excess.--Ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed +appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and +of all uncleanness; even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, +but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity" (Matt. xxiii. 25, 27) + +And more particularly that strong expression, (Matt. v. 28.) "Whosoever +looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her +already in his heart." + +There can be no doubt with any reflecting mind but that the propensities +of our nature must be subject to regulation; but the question is, where +the check ought to be placed, upon the thought, or only upon the action? +In this question our Saviour, in the texts here quoted, has pronounced a +decisive judgment. He makes the control of thought essential. Internal +purity with him is everything. Now I contend that this is the only +discipline which can succeed; in other words, that a moral system which +prohibits actions, but leaves the thoughts at liberty, will be +ineffectual, and is therefore unwise. I know not how to go about the +proof of a point which depends upon experience, and upon a knowledge of +the human constitution, better than by citing the judgment of persons +who appear to have given great attention to the subject, and to be well +qualified to form a true opinion about it. Boerhaave, speaking of this +very declaration of our Saviour, "Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust +after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart," and +understanding it, as we do, to contain an injunction to lay the check +upon the thoughts, was wont to say that "our Saviour knew mankind better +than Socrates." Hailer, who has recorded this saying of Boerhaave, adds +to it the following remarks of his own:--(Letters to his Daughter.) "It +did not escape the observation of our Saviour that the rejection of +any evil thoughts was the best defence against vice: for when a +debauched person fills his imagination with impure pictures, the +licentious ideas which he recalls fail not to stimulate his desires with +a degree of violence which he cannot resist. This will be followed by +gratification, unless some external obstacle should prevent him from the +commission of a sin which he had internally resolved on." "Every moment +of time," says our author, "that is spent in meditations upon sin +increases the power of the dangerous object which has possessed our +imagination." I suppose these reflections will be generally assented to. + +III. Thirdly, had a teacher of morality been asked concerning a general +principle of conduct, and for a short rule of life; and had he +instructed the person who consulted him, "constantly to refer his +actions to what he believed to be the will of his Creator, and +constantly to have in view not his own interest and gratification alone, +but the happiness and comfort of those about him," he would have been +thought, I doubt not, in any age of the world, and in any, even the most +improved state of morals, to have delivered a judicious answer; because, +by the first direction, he suggested the only motive which acts steadily +and uniformly, in sight and out of sight, in familiar occurrences and +under pressing temptations; and in the second he corrected what of all +tendencies in the human character stands most in need of correction, +selfishness, or a contempt of other men's conveniency and satisfaction. +In estimating the value of a moral rule, we are to have regard not only +to the particular duty, but the general spirit; not only to what it +directs us to do, but to the character which a compliance with its +direction is likely to form in us. So, in the present instance, the rule +here recited will never fail to make him who obeys it considerate not only +of the rights, but of the feelings of other men, bodily and mental, in +great matters and in small; of the ease, the accommodation, the +self-complacency of all with whom he has any concern, especially of all +who are in his power, or dependent upon his will. + +Now what, in the most applauded philosopher of the most enlightened age +of the world, would have been deemed worthy of his wisdom, and of his +character, to say, our Saviour hath said, and upon just such an occasion +as that which we have feigned. + +"Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting +him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? +Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy +heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind; this is the first +and great commandment: and the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love +thy neighbour as thyself: on these two commandments hang all the law and +the prophets." (Matt. xxii. 35-40.) + +The second precept occurs in St. Matthew (xix. 16), on another occasion +similar to this; and both of them, on a third similar occasion, in Luke +(x. 27). In these two latter instances the question proposed was, "What +shall I do to inherit eternal life?" + +Upon all these occasions I consider the words of our Saviour as +expressing precisely the same thing as what I have put into the mouth of +the moral philosopher. Nor do I think that it detracts much from the +merit of the answer, that these precepts are extant in the Mosaic code: +for his laying his finger, if I may so say, upon these precepts; his +drawing them out from the rest of that voluminous institution; his +stating of them, not simply amongst the number, but as the greatest and +the sum of all the others; in a word, his proposing of them to his +hearers for their rule and principle, was our Saviour's own. + +And what our Saviour had said upon the subject appears to me to have +fixed the sentiment amongst his followers. + +Saint Paul has it expressly, "If there be any other commandment, it is +briefly comprehended in this saying, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as +thyself;" (Rom. xiii. 9.) and again, "For all the law is fulfilled in +one word, even in this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." (Gal. +v. 14.) + +Saint John, in like manner, "This commandment have we from him, that he +who loveth God love his brother also." (1 John iv. 21.) + +Saint Peter, not very differently: "Seeing that ye have purified your +souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit, unto unfeigned love of +the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently." +(I Peter i, 22.) + +And it is so well known as to require no citations to verify it, that +this love, or charity, or, in other words, regard to the welfare of +others, runs in various forms through all the preceptive parts of the +apostolic writings. It is the theme of all their exhortations, that with +which their morality begins and ends, from which all their details and +enumerations set out, and into which they return. + +And that this temper, for some time at least, descended in its purity to +succeeding Christians, is attested by one of the earliest and best of +the remaining writings of the apostolical fathers, the epistle of the +Roman Clement. The meekness of the Christian character reigns throughout +the whole of that excellent piece. The occasion called for it. It was to +compose the dissensions of the church of Corinth. And the venerable hearer +of the apostles does not fall short, in the display of this principle, of +the finest passages of their writings. He calls to the remembrance of the +Corinthian church its former character in which "ye were all of you," he +tells them, "humble-minded, not boasting of anything, desiring rather to +be subject than to govern, to give than to receive, being content with the +portion God had dispensed to you and hearkening diligently to his word; +ye were enlarged in your bowels, having his sufferings always before your +eyes. Ye contended day and night for the whole brotherhood, that with +compassion and a good conscience the number of his elect might be saved. +Ye were sincere, and without offence towards each other. Ye bewailed +every one his neighbour's sins, esteeming their defects your own." His +prayer for them was for the "return of peace, long-suffering, and +patience." (Ep. Clem. Rom. c. 2 & 53; Abp. Wake's Translation.) And his +advice to those who might have been the occasion of difference in the +society is conceived in the true spirit, and with a perfect knowledge of +the Christian character: "Who is there among you that is generous? who +that is compassionate? Who that has any charity? Let him say, If this +sedition, this contention, and these schisms be upon my account, I am +ready to depart, to go away whithersoever ye please, and do whatsoever +ye shall command me; only let the flock of Christ be in peace with the +elders who are set over it. He that shall do this shall get to himself a +very great honour in the Lord; and there is no place but what will he +ready to receive him; for the earth is the Lord's and the fullness +thereof. These things they who have their conversation towards God, not +to be repented of, both have done, and will always be ready to do." (Ep. +Clem. Rom. c. 54; Abp. Wake's Translation.) + +This sacred principle, this earnest recommendation of forbearance, +lenity, and forgiveness, mixes with all the writings of that age. There +are more quotations in the apostolical fathers of texts which relate to +these points than of any other. Christ's sayings had struck them. "Not +rendering," said Polycarp, the disciple of John, "evil for evil, or +railing for railing, or striking for striking, or cursing for cursing." +Again, speaking of some whose behaviour had given great offence, "Be ye +moderate," says he, "on this occasion, and look not upon such as +enemies, but call them back as suffering and erring members, that ye +save your whole body." (Pol. Ep. ad Phil. c. 2 & 11.) + +"Be ye mild at their anger," saith Ignatius, the companion of Polycarp, +"humble at their boastings, to their blasphemies return your prayers, to +their error your firmness in the faith; when they are cruel, be ye +gentle; not endeavouring to imitate their ways, let us be their brethren +in all kindness and moderation: but let us be followers of the Lord; for +who was ever more unjustly used, more destitute, more despised?" + +IV. A fourth quality by which the morality of the Gospel is +distinguished is the exclusion of regard to fame and reputation. + +"Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them, +otherwise ye have no reward of your father which is in heaven." "When +thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut the door, +pray to thy father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in +secret shall reward thee openly." (Matt. vi. 1 & 6.) + +And the rule, by parity of reason, is extended to all other virtues. + +I do not think that either in these or in any other passage of the New +Testament, the pursuit of fame is stated as a vice; it is only said that +an action, to be virtuous, must be independent of it. I would also +observe that it is not publicity, but ostentation, which is prohibited; +not the mode, but the motive of the action, which is regulated. A good +man will prefer that mode, as well as those objects of his beneficence, +by which he can produce the greatest effect; and the view of this +purpose may dictate sometimes publication, and sometimes concealment. +Either the one or the other may be the mode of the action, according as +the end to be promoted by it appears to require. But from the motive, +the reputation of the deed, and the fruits and advantage of that +reputation to ourselves, must be shut out, or, in whatever proportion +they are not so, the action in that proportion fails of being virtuous. + +This exclusion of regard to human opinion is a difference not so much in +the duties to which the teachers of virtue would persuade mankind, as in +the manner and topics of persuasion. And in this view the difference is +great. When we set about to give advice, our lectures are full of the +advantages of character, of the regard that is due to appearances and to +opinion; of what the world, especially of what the good or great, will +think and say; of the value of public esteem, and of the qualities by +which men acquire it. Widely different from this was our Saviour's +instruction; and the difference was founded upon the best reasons. For, +however the care of reputation, the authority of public opinion, or even +of the opinion of good men, the satisfaction of being well received and +well thought of, the benefit of being known and distinguished, are +topics to which we are fain to have recourse in our exhortations; the +true virtue is that which discards these considerations absolutely, and +which retires from them all to the single internal purpose of pleasing +God. This at least was the virtue which our Saviour taught. And in +teaching this, he not only confined the views of his followers to the +proper measure and principle of human duty, but acted in consistency +with his office as a monitor from heaven. + +Next to what our Saviour taught, may be considered the manner of his +teaching; which was extremely peculiar, yet, I think, precisely adapted +to the peculiarity of his character and situation. His lessons did not +consist of disquisitions; of anything like moral essays, or like +sermons, or like set treatises upon the several points which he +mentioned. When he delivered a precept, it was seldom that he added any +proof or argument; still more seldom that he accompanied it with what +all precepts require, limitations and distinctions. His instructions +were conceived in short, emphatic, sententious rules, in occasional +reflections, or in round maxims. I do not think that this was a natural, +or would have been a proper method for a philosopher or a moralist; or +that it is a method which can be successfully imitated by us. But I +contend that it was suitable to the character which Christ assumed, and +to the situation in which, as a teacher, he was placed. He produced +himself as a messenger from God. He put the truth of what he taught upon +authority. (I say unto you, Swear not at all; I say auto you, Resist not +evil; I say unto you, Love your enemies.--Matt. v. 34, 39, 44.) In the +choice, therefore, of his mode of teaching, the purpose by him to be +consulted was impression: because conviction, which forms the principal +end of our discourses, was to arise in the minds of his followers from a +different source, from their respect to his person and authority. Now, +for the purpose of impression singly and exclusively, (I repeat again, +that we are not here to consider the convincing of the understanding,) I +know nothing which would have so great force as strong ponderous maxims, +frequently urged and frequently brought back to the thoughts of the +hearers. I know nothing that could in this view be said better, than "Do +unto others as ye would that others should do unto you:" "The first and +great commandment is, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God: and the second +is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." It must also +be remembered, that our Lord's ministry, upon the supposition either of +one year or three, compared with his work, was of short duration; that, +within this time, he had many places to visit, various audiences to +address; that his person was generally besieged by crowds of followers; +that he was, sometimes, driven away from the place where he was teaching +by persecution, and at other times thought fit to withdraw himself from +the commotions of the populace. Under these circumstances, nothing +appears to have been so practicable, or likely to be so efficacious, as +leaving, wherever he came, concise lessons of duty. These circumstances +at least show the necessity he was under of comprising what he delivered +within a small compass. In particular, his sermon upon the mount ought +always to be considered with a view to these observations. The question +is not, whether a fuller, a more accurate, a more systematic, or a more +argumentative discourse upon morals might not have been pronounced; but +whether more could have been said in the same room better adapted to +the exigencies of the hearers, or better calculated for the purpose of +impression? Seen in this light, it has always appeared to me to be +admirable. Dr. Lardner thought that this discourse was made up of what +Christ had said at different times, and on different occasions, several +of which occasions are noticed in St Luke's narrative. + +I can perceive no reason for this opinion. I believe that our Lord +delivered this discourse at one time and place, in the manner related by +Saint Matthew, and that he repeated the same rules and maxims at +different times, as opportunity or occasion suggested; that they were +often in his mouth, and were repeated to different audiences, and in +various conversations. + +It is incidental to this mode of moral instruction, which proceeds not +by proof but upon authority, not by disquisition but by precept, that +the rules will be conceived in absolute terms, leaving the application +and the distinctions that attend it to the reason of the hearer. It is +likewise to be expected that they will be delivered in terms by so much +the more forcible and energetic, as they have to encounter natural or +general propensities. It is further also to be remarked, that many of +those strong instances which appear in our Lord's sermon, such as, "If +any man will smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also:" +"If any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him +have thy cloak also:" "Whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with +him twain:" though they appear in the form of specific precepts, are +intended as descriptive of disposition and character. A specific +compliance with the precepts would be of little value, but the +disposition which they inculcate is of the highest. He who should +content himself with waiting for the occasion, and with literally +observing the rule when the occasion offered, would do nothing, or worse +than nothing: but he who considers the character and disposition which +is hereby inculcated, and places that disposition before him as the +model to which he should bring his own, takes, perhaps, the best +possible method of improving the benevolence, and of calming and +rectifying the vices of his temper. + +If it be said that this disposition is unattainable, I answer, so is all +perfection: ought therefore a moralist to recommend imperfections? One +excellency, however, of our Saviour's rules is, that they are either +never mistaken, or never so mistaken as to do harm. I could feign a +hundred cases in which the literal application of the rule, "of doing to +others as we would that others should do unto us," might mislead us; but +I never yet met with the man who was actually misled by it. +Notwithstanding that our Lord bade his followers, "not to resist evil," +and to "forgive the enemy who should trespass against them, not till +seven times, but till seventy times seven," the Christian world has +hitherto suffered little by too much placability or forbearance. I would +repeat once more, what has already been twice remarked, that these rules +were designed to regulate personal conduct from personal motives, and +for this purpose alone. I think that these observations will assist us +greatly in placing our Saviour's conduct as a moral teacher in a proper +point of view; especially when it is considered, that to deliver moral +disquisitions was no part of his design,--to teach morality at all was +only a subordinate part of it; his great business being to supply what +was much more wanting than lessons of morality, stronger moral +sanctions, and clearer assurances of a future judgment.* + +_________ + +* Some appear to require in a religious system, or in the books which +profess to deliver that system, minute directions for every case and +occurrence that may arise. This, say they, is necessary to render a +revelation perfect, especially one which has for its object the +regulation of human conduct. Now, how prolix, and yet how incomplete and +unavailing, such an attempt must have been, is proved by one notable +example: "The Indoo and Mussulman religions are institutes of civil law, +regulating the minutest questions, both of property and of all questions +which come under the cognizance of the magistrate. And to what length +details of this kind are necessarily carried when once begun, may be +understood from an anecdote of the Mussulman code, which we have +received from the most respectable authority, that not less than +seventy-five thousand traditional precepts have been promulgated." +(Hamilton's translation of Hedays, or Guide.) +_________ + + +The parables of the New Testament are, many of them, such as would have +done honour to any book in the world: I do not mean in style and +diction, but in the choice of the subjects, in the structure of the +narratives, in the aptness, propriety, and force of the circumstances +woven into them; and in some, as that of the Good Samaritan, the +Prodigal Son, the Pharisee and the Publican, in an union of pathos and +simplicity, which in the best productions of human genius is the fruit +only of a much exercised and well cultivated judgment. + +The Lord's Prayer, for a succession of solemn thoughts, for fixing the +attention upon a few great points, for suitableness to every condition, +for sufficiency, for conciseness without obscurity, for the weight and +real importance of its petitions, is without an equal or a rival. + +From whence did these come? Whence had this man his wisdom? Was our +Saviour, in fact, a well instructed philosopher, whilst he is +represented to us as an illiterate peasant? Or shall we say that some +early Christians of taste and education composed these pieces and +ascribed them to Christ? Beside all other incredibilities in this +account, I answer, with Dr. Jortin, that they could not do it. No +specimens of composition which the Christians of the first century have +left us authorise us to believe that they were equal to the task. And +how little qualified the Jews, the countrymen and companions of Christ, +were to assist him in the undertaking, may be judged of from the +traditions and writings of theirs which were the nearest to that age. +The whole collection of the Talmud is one continued proof into what +follies they fell whenever they left their Bible; and how little capable +they were of furnishing out such lessons as Christ delivered. + +But there is still another view in which our Lord's discourses deserve +to be considered; and that is, in their negative character,--not in what +they did, but in what they did not, contain. Under this head the +following reflections appear to me to possess some weight. + +I. They exhibit no particular description of the invisible world. The +future happiness of the good, and the misery of the bad, which is all we +want to be assured of, is directly and positively affirmed, and is +represented by metaphors and comparisons, which were plainly intended as +metaphors and comparisons, and as nothing more. As to the rest, a solemn +reserve is maintained. The question concerning the woman who had been +married to seven brothers, "Whose shall she be on the resurrection?" was +of a nature calculated to have drawn from Christ a more circumstantial +account of the state of the human species in their future existence. He +cuts short, however, the inquiry by an answer, which at once rebuked +intruding curiosity, and was agreeable to the best apprehensions we are +able to form upon the subject, viz. "That they who are accounted worthy +of that resurrection, shall be as the angels of God in heaven." I lay a +stress upon this reserve, because it repels the suspicion of enthusiasm: +for enthusiasm is wont to expatiate upon the condition of the departed, +above all other subjects, and with a wild particularity. It is moreover +a topic which is always listened to with greediness. The teacher, +therefore, whose principal purpose is to draw upon himself attention, is +sure to be full of it. The Koran of Mahomet is half made up of it. + +II. Our Lord enjoined no austerities. He not only enjoined none as +absolute duties, but he recommended none as carrying men to a higher +degree of Divine favour. Place Christianity, in this respect, by the +side of all institutions which have been founded in the fanaticism +either of their author or of his first followers: or, rather, compare in +this respect Christianity, as it came from Christ, with the same +religion after it fell into other hands--with the extravagant merit very +soon ascribed to celibacy, solitude, voluntary poverty; with the rigours +of an ascetic, and the vows of a monastic life; the hair-shirt, the +watchings, the midnight prayers, the obmutescence, the gloom and +mortification of religious orders, and of those who aspired to religious +perfection. + +III. Our Saviour uttered no impassioned devotion. There was no heat in +his piety, or in the language in which he expressed it; no vehement or +rapturous ejaculations, no violent urgency, in his prayers. The Lord's +Prayer is a model of calm devotion. His words in the garden are +unaffected expressions of a deep, indeed, but sober piety. He never +appears to have been worked up into anything like that elation, or that +emotion of spirits which is occasionally observed in most of those to +whom the name of enthusiast can in any degree be applied. I feel a +respect for Methodists, because I believe that there is to be found +amongst them much sincere piety, and availing though not always +well-informed Christianity: yet I never attended a meeting of theirs but +I came away with the reflection, how different what I heard was from +what I read! I do not mean in doctrine, with which at present I have no +concern, but in manner how different from the calmness, the sobriety, +the good sense, and I may add, the strength and authority of our Lord's +discourses! + +IV. It is very usual with the human mind to substitute forwardness and +fervency in a particular cause for the merit of general and regular +morality; and it is natural, and politic also, in the leader of a sect +or party, to encourage such a disposition in his followers. Christ did +not overlook this turn of thought; yet, though avowedly placing himself +at the head of a new institution, he notices it only to condemn it. "Not +every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom +of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. +Many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in +thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done +many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto you, I never knew +you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." (Matt. vii. 21, 22.) So far +was the Author of Christianity from courting the attachment of his +followers by any sacrifice of principle, or by a condescension to the +errors which even zeal in his service might have inspired. This was a +proof both of sincerity and judgment. + +V. Nor, fifthly, did he fall in with any of the depraved fashions of his +country, or with the natural bias of his own education. Bred up a Jew, +under a religion extremely technical, in an age and amongst a people +more tenacious of the ceremonies than of any other part of that +religion, he delivered an institution containing less of ritual, and +that more simple, than is to be found in any religion which ever +prevailed amongst mankind. We have known, I do allow, examples of an +enthusiasm which has swept away all external ordinances before it. But +this spirit certainly did not dictate our Saviour's conduct, either in +his treatment of the religion of his country, or in the formation of his +own institution. In both he displayed the soundness and moderation of +his judgment. He censured an overstrained scrupulousness, or perhaps an +affectation of scrupulousness, about the Sabbath: but how did he censure +it? not by contemning or decrying the institution itself, but by +declaring that "the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath;" +that is to say, that the Sabbath was to be subordinate to its purpose, +and that that purpose was the real good of those who were the subjects +of the law. The same concerning the nicety of some of the Pharisees, in +paying tithes of the most trifling articles, accompanied with a neglect +of justice, fidelity, and mercy. He finds fault with them for misplacing +their anxiety. He does not speak disrespectfully of the law of tithes, +nor of their observance of it; but he assigns to each class of duties +its proper station in the scale of moral importance. All this might be +expected perhaps from a well-instructed, cool, and judicious +philosopher, but was not to be looked for from an illiterate Jew; +certainly not from an impetuous enthusiast. + +VI. Nothing could be more quibbling than were the comments and +expositions of the Jewish doctors at that time; nothing so puerile as +their distinctions. Their evasion of the fifth commandment, their +exposition of the law of oaths, are specimens of the bad taste in morals +which then prevailed. Whereas, in a numerous collection of our Saviour's +apophthegms, many of them referring to sundry precepts of the Jewish +law, there is not to be found one example of sophistry, or of false +subtlety, or of anything approaching thereunto. + +VII. The national temper of the Jews was intolerant, narrow-minded, and +excluding. In Jesus, on the contrary, whether we regard his lessons or +his example, we see not only benevolence, but benevolence the most +enlarged and comprehensive. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, the +very point of the story is, that the person relieved by him was the +national and religious enemy of his benefactor. Our Lord declared the +equity of the Divine administration, when he told the Jews, (what, +probably, they were surprised to hear,) "That many should come from the +east and west, and should sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in +the kingdom of heaven; but that the children of the kingdom should be +cast into outer darkness." (Matt. viii. 11.) His reproof of the hasty +zeal of his disciples, who would needs call down fire from heaven to +revenge an affront put upon their Master, shows the lenity of his +character, and of his religion: and his opinion of the manner in which +the most unreasonable opponents ought to be treated, or at least of the +manner in which they ought not to be treated. The terms in which his +rebuke was conveyed deserve to be noticed:--"Ye know not what manner of +spirit ye are of." (Luke ix. 55.) + +VIII. Lastly, amongst the negative qualities of our religion, as it came +out of the hands of its Founder and his apostles, we may reckon its +complete abstraction from all views either of ecclesiastical or civil +policy; or, to meet a language much in fashion with some men, from the +politics either of priests or statesmen. Christ's declaration, that "his +kingdom was not of this world," recorded by Saint John; his evasion of +the question, whether it was lawful or not to give tribute unto Caesar, +mentioned by the three other evangelists; his reply to an application +that was made to him, to interpose his authority in a question of +property; "Man, who made me a ruler or a judge over you?" ascribed to +him by St. Luke; his declining to exercise the office of a criminal +judge in the case of the woman taken in adultery, as related by John, +are all intelligible significations of our Saviour's sentiments upon +this head. And with respect to politics, in the usual sense of that +word, or discussions concerning different forms of government, +Christianity declines every question upon the subject. Whilst +politicians are disputing about monarchies, aristocracies, and +republics, the Gospel is alike applicable, useful, and friendly to them +all; inasmuch, as, 1stly, it tends to make men virtuous, and as it is +easier to govern good men than bad men under any constitution; as, +2ndly, it states obedience to government, in ordinary cases, to be not +merely a submission to force, but a duty of conscience; as, 3rdly, it +induces dispositions favourable to public tranquillity, a Christian's +chief care being to pass quietly through this world to a better; as, +4thly, it prays for communities, and, for the governors of communities, +of whatever description or denomination they be, with a solicitude and +fervency proportioned to the influence which they possess upon human +happiness. All which, in my opinion, is just as it should be. Had there +been more to be found in Scripture of a political nature, or convertible +to political purposes, the worst use would have been made of it, on +whichever side it seemed to lie. + +When, therefore, we consider Christ as a moral teacher (remembering that +this was only a secondary part of his office; and that morality, by the +nature of the subject, does not admit of discovery, properly so +called)--when we consider either what he taught, or what he did not +teach, either the substance or the manner of his instruction; his +preference of solid to popular virtues, of a character which is commonly +despised to a character which is universally extolled; his placing, in +our licentious vices, the check in the right place, viz. upon the +thoughts; his collecting of human duty into two well-devised rules, his +repetition of these rules, the stress he laid upon them, especially in +comparison with positive duties, and his fixing thereby the sentiments +of his followers; his exclusion of all regard to reputation in our +devotion and alms, and by parity of reason in our other virtues;--when +we consider that his instructions were delivered in a form calculated +for impression, the precise purpose in his situation to be consulted; +and that they were illustrated by parables, the choice and structure of +which would have been admired in any composition whatever;--when we +observe him free from the usual symptoms of enthusiasm, heat and +vehemence in devotion, austerity in institutions, and a wild +particularity in the description of a future state; free also from the +depravities of his age and country; without superstition amongst the +most superstitious of men, yet not decrying positive distinctions or +external observances, but soberly calling them to the principle of their +establishment, and to their place in the scale of human duties; without +sophistry or trifling, amidst teachers remarkable for nothing so much as +frivolous subtleties and quibbling expositions; candid and liberal in +his judgment of the rest of mankind, although belonging to a people who +affected a separate claim to Divine favour, and in consequence of that +opinion prone to uncharitableness, partiality, and restriction;--when +we find in his religion no scheme of building up a hierarchy, or of +ministering to the views of human governments;--in a word, when we +compare Christianity, as it came from its Author, either with other +religions, or with itself in other hands, the most reluctant +understanding will be induced to acknowledge the probity, I think also +the good sense, of those to whom it owes its origin; and that some +regard is due to the testimony of such men, when they declare their +knowledge that the religion proceeded from God; and when they appeal for +the truth of their assertion, to miracles which they wrought, or which +they saw. + +Perhaps the qualities which we observe in the religion may be thought to +prove something more. They would have been extraordinary had the +religion come from any person; from the person from whom it did come, +they are exceedingly so. What was Jesus in external appearance? A Jewish +peasant, the son of a carpenter, living with his father and mother in a +remote province of Palestine, until the time that he produced himself in +his public character. He had no master to instruct or prompt him; he had +read no books but the works of Moses and the prophets; he had visited no +polished cities; he had received no lessons from Socrates or +Plato,--nothing to form in him a taste or judgment different from that +of the rest of his countrymen, and of persons of the same rank of life +with himself. Supposing it to be true, which it is not, that all his +points of morality might be picked out of Greek and Roman writings, they +were writings which he had never seen. Supposing them to be no more than +what some or other had taught in various times and places, he could not +collect them together. + +Who were his coadjutors in the undertaking,--the persons into whose +hands the religion came after his death? A few fishermen upon the lake +of Tiberias, persons just as uneducated, and, for the purpose of framing +rules of morality, as unpromising as himself. Suppose the mission to be +real, all this is accounted for; the unsuitableness of the authors to +the production, of the characters to the undertaking, no longer +surprises us: but without reality, it is very difficult to explain how +such a system should proceed from such persons. Christ was not like any +other carpenter; the apostles were not like any other fishermen. + +But the subject is not exhausted by these observations. That portion of +it which is most reducible to points of argument has been stated, and, I +trust, truly. There are, however, some topics of a more diffuse nature, +which yet deserve to be proposed to the reader's attention. + +The character of Christ is a part of the morality of the Gospel: one +strong observation upon which is, that, neither as represented by his +followers, nor as attacked by his enemies, is he charged with any +personal vice. This remark is as old as Origen: "Though innumerable lies +and calumnies had been forged against the venerable Jesus, none had +dared to charge him with an intemperance." (Or. Ep. Cels. 1. 3, num. 36, +ed. Bened.) Not a reflection upon his moral character, not an imputation +or suspicion of any offence against purity and chastity, appears for +five hundred years after his birth. This faultlessness is more peculiar +than we are apt to imagine. Some stain pollutes the morals or the +morality of almost every other teacher, and of every other lawgiver.* +Zeno the stoic, and Diogenes the cynic, fell into the foulest +impurities; of which also Socrates himself was more than suspected. +Solon forbade unnatural crimes to slaves. Lycurgus tolerated theft as a +part of education. Plato recommended a community of women. Aristotle +maintained the general right of making war upon barbarians. The elder +Cato was remarkable for the ill usage of his slaves; the younger gave up +the person of his wife. One loose principle is found in almost all the +Pagan moralists; is distinctly, however, perceived in the writings of +Plato, Xenophon, Cicero, Seneca, Epictetus; and that is, the allowing, +and even the recommending to their disciples, a compliance with the +religion, and with the religious rites, of every country into which they +came. In speaking of the founders of new institutions we cannot forget +Mahomet. His licentious transgressions of his own licentious rules; his +abuse of the character which he assumed, and of the power which he had +acquired, for the purposes of personal and privileged indulgence; his +avowed claim of a special permission from heaven of unlimited +sensuality, is known to every reader, as it is confessed by every writer +of the Moslem story. + +_________ + +* See many instances collected by Grotius, de Veritate Christianae +Religionis, in the notes to his second book, p. 116. Pocock's edition. +_________ + + +Secondly, in the histories which are left us of Jesus Christ, although +very short, and although dealing in narrative, and not in observation or +panegyric, we perceive, beside the absence of every appearance of vice, +traces of devotion, humility, benignity, mildness, patience, prudence. I +speak of traces of these qualities, because the qualities themselves are +to be collected from incidents; inasmuch as the terms are never used of +Christ in the Gospels, nor is any formal character of him drawn in any +part of the New Testament. + +Thus we see the devoutness of his mind in his frequent retirement to +solitary prayer; (Matt. xiv. 23. Luke ix. 28. Matt. xxvi. 36.) in his +habitual giving of thanks; (Matt. xi. 25. Mark viii. 6. John vi. 23. Luke +xxii. 17.) in his reference of the beauties and operations of nature to +the bounty of Providence; (Matt. vi, 26--28.) in his earnest addresses to +his Father, more particularly that short but solemn one before the +raising of Lazarus from the dead; (John xi. 41.) and in the deep piety of +his behaviour in the garden on the last evening of his life:(Matt. xxvi. +86--47.) his humility in his constant reproof of contentions for +superiority:(Mark ix. 33.) the benignity and affectionateness of his +temper in his kindness to children; (Mark x. 16.) in the tears which he +shed over his falling country, (Luke xix. 41.) and upon the death of his +friend; (John xi. 35.) in his noticing of the widow's mite; (Mark xii. +42.) in his parables of the good Samaritan, of the ungrateful servant, +and of the Pharisee and publican, of which parables no one but a man of +humanity could have been the author: the mildness and lenity of his +character is discovered in his rebuke of the forward zeal of his +disciples at the Samaritan village; (Luke ix. 55.) in his expostulation +with Pilate; (John xix. 11.) in his prayer for his enemies at the moment +of his suffering, (Luke xxiii. 34.) which, though it has been since very +properly and frequently imitated, was then, I apprehend, new. His +prudence is discerned, where prudence is most wanted, in his conduct on +trying occasions, and in answers to artful questions. Of these the +following are examples:--His withdrawing in various instances from the +first symptoms of tumult, (Matt. xiv. 22. Luke v. 15, 16. John v. 13; vi. +15.) and with the express care, as appears from Saint Matthew, (Chap. +xii. 19.) of carrying on his ministry in quietness; his declining of +every species of interference with the civil affairs of the country, +which disposition is manifested by his behaviour in the case of the +woman caught in adultery, (John viii. 1.) and in his repulse of the +application which was made to him to interpose his decision about a +disputed inheritance:(Luke xii. 14.) his judicious, yet, as it should +seem, unprepared answers, will be confessed in the case of the Roman +tribute (Matt. xxii. 19.) in the difficulty concerning the interfering +relations of a future state, as proposed to him in the instance of a +woman who had married seven brethren; (Matt. xxii. 28.) and more +especially in his reply to those who demanded from him an explanation of +the authority by which he acted, which reply consisted in propounding a +question to them, situated between the very difficulties into which they +were insidiously endeavouring to draw him. (Matt. xxi. 23, et seq.) + +Our Saviour's lessons, beside what has already been remarked in them, +touch, and that oftentimes by very affecting representations, upon some +of the most interesting topics of human duty, and of human meditation; +upon the principles by which the decisions of the last day will be +regulated; (Matt. xxv. 31, et seq.) upon the superior, or rather the +supreme importance of religion; ( Mark viii. 35. Matt. vi. 31--33. Luke +xii. 4, 5, 16--21.) upon penitence, by the most pressing calls, and the +most encouraging invitations; (Luke xv.) upon self-denial, (Matt. v. 29.) +watchfulhess, (Mark xiii. 37. Matt. xxiv. 42; xxv. 13.) placability, (Luke +xvii. 4. Matt. xviii. 33, et seq.) confidence in God, (Matt. vi. 25--30.) +the value of spiritual, that is, of mental worship, (John iv. 23, 24.) +the necessity of moral obedience, and the directing of that obedience to +the spirit and principle of the law, instead of seeking for evasions in +a technical construction of its terms. (Matt. v. 21.) + +If we extend our argument to other parts of the New Testament, we may +offer, as amongst the best and shortest rules of life, or, which is the +same thing, descriptions of virtue, that have ever been delivered, the +following passages:-- + +"Pure religion, and undefiled, before God and the Father, is this; to +visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself +unspotted from the world." (James i. 27.) + +"Now the end of the commandment is charity, out of a pure heart and a +good conscience, and faith unfeigned." (I Tim. i. 5.) + +"For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, +teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live +soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world." (Tit. ii. 11, +12.) + +Enumerations of virtues and vices, and those sufficiently accurate and +unquestionably just, are given by St. Paul to his converts in three +several epistles. (Gal. v. 19. Col. iii. 12. 1 Cor. xiii.) + +The relative duties of husbands and wives, of parents and children, of +masters and servants, of Christian teachers and their flocks, of +governors and their subjects, are set forth by the same writer, (Eph. v. +33; vi. 1--5. 2 Cor. vi. 6, 7. Rom. xiii.) not indeed with the +copiousness, the detail, or the distinctness of a moralist who should in +these days sit down to write chapters upon the subject, but with the +leading rules and principles in each; and, above all, with truth and +with authority. + +Lastly, the whole volume of the New Testament is replete with piety; +with what were almost unknown to heathen moralists, devotional virtues, +the most profound veneration of the Deity, an habitual sense of his +bounty and protection, a firm confidence in the final result of his +counsels and dispensations, a disposition to resort upon all occasions +to his mercy for the supply of human wants, for assistance in danger, +for relief from pain, for the pardon of sin. + + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE CANDOUR OF THE WRITERS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. + +I make this candour to consist in their putting down many passages, and +noticing many circumstances, which no writer whatever was likely to have +forged; and which no writer would have chosen to appear in his book who +had been careful to present the story in the most unexceptionable form, +or who had thought himself at liberty to carve and mould the particulars +of that story according to his choice, or according to his judgment of +the effect. + +A strong and well-known example of the fairness of the evangelists +offers itself in their account of Christ's resurrection, namely, in +their unanimously stating that after he was risen he appeared to his +disciples alone. I do not mean that they have used the exclusive word +alone; but that all the instances which they have recorded of his +appearance are instances of appearance to his disciples; that their +reasonings upon it, and allusions to it, are confined to this +supposition; and that by one of them Peter is made to say, "Him God +raised up the third day, and showed him openly, not to all the people, +but to witnesses chosen before of God, even to us who did eat and drink +with him after he rose from the dead." (Acts x. 40, 41.) The most common +understanding must have perceived that the history of the resurrection +would have come with more advantage if they had related that Jesus +appeared, after he was risen, to his foes as well as his friends, to the +scribes and Pharisees, the Jewish council, and the Roman governor: or +even if they had asserted the public appearance of Christ in general +unqualified terms, without noticing, as they have done, the presence of +his disciples on each occasion, and noticing it in such a manner as to +lead their readers to suppose that none but disciples were present. They +could have represented in one way as well as the other. And if their +point had been to have their religion believed, whether true or false; +if they had fabricated the story ab initio; or if they had been disposed +either to have delivered their testimony as witnesses, or to have worked +up their materials and information as historians, in such a manner as to +render their narrative as specious and unobjectionable as they could; in +a word, if they had thought of anything but of the truth of the case, as +they understood and believed it; they would in their account of Christ's +several appearances after his resurrection, at least have omitted this +restriction. At this distance of time, the account as we have it is +perhaps more credible than it would have been the other way; because +this manifestation of the historians' candour is of more advantage to +their testimony than the difference in the circumstances of the account +would have been to the nature of the evidence. But this is an effect +which the evangelists would not foresee: and I think that it was by no +means the case at the time when the books were composed. + +Mr. Gibbon has argued for the genuineness of the Koran, from the +confessions which it contains, to the apparent disadvantage of the +Mahometan cause. (Vol. ix. c. 50, note 96.) The same defence vindicates +the genuineness of our Gospels, and without prejudice to the cause at +all. + +There are some other instances in which the evangelists honestly relate +what they must have perceived would make against them. + +Of this kind is John the Baptist's message preserved by Saint Matthew +(xi. 2) and Saint Luke (vii. 18): "Now when John had heard in the prison +the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, and said unto him, +Art thou he that should come, or look we for another?" To confess, still +more to state, that John the Baptist had his doubts concerning the +character of Jesus, could not but afford a handle to cavil and +objection. But truth, like honesty, neglects appearances. The same +observation, perhaps, holds concerning the apostacy of Judas.* + +_________ + +* I had once placed amongst these examples of fair concession the +remarkable words of Saint Matthew in his account of Christ's appearance +upon the Galilean mountain: "And when they saw him they worshipped him; +but some doubted." (Chap. xxviii. 17.) I have since, however, been +convinced, by what is observed concerning this passage in Dr. +Townshend's Discourse (Page 177.) upon the Resurrection, that the +transaction, as related by Saint Matthew, was really this: "Christ +appeared first at a distance; the greater part of the company, the +moment they saw him, worshipped, but some as yet, i.e. upon this first +distant view of his person, doubted; whereupon Christ came up to them, +and spake to them,"+ &c.: that the doubt, therefore, was a doubt only at +first for a moment, and upon his being seen at a distance, and was +afterwards dispelled by his nearer approach, and by his entering into +conversation with them. + ++ Saint Matthew's words are: kai proselthon o Iesous elalesen autois +[and having come toward them, Jesus spoke]. This intimates that when he +first appeared it was at a distance, at least from many of the +spectators. Ib. p. 197. +_________ + + +John vi. 66. "From that time, many of his disciples went back, and +walked no more with him." Was it the part of a writer who dealt in +suppression and disguise to put down this anecdote? Or this, which +Matthew has preserved (xii. 58)? "He did not many mighty works there, +because of their unbelief." + +Again, in the same evangelist (v. 17, 18): "Think not that I am come to +destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to +fulfil; for, verily, I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one +jot, or one tittle, shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be +fulfilled." At the time the Gospels were written, the apparent tendency +of Christ's mission was to diminish the authority of the Mosaic code, +and it was so considered by the Jews themselves. It is very improbable, +therefore, that, without the constraint of truth, Matthew should have +ascribed a saying to Christ, which, primo intuitu, militated with the +judgment of the age in which his Gospel was written. Marcion thought +this text so objectionable, that he altered the words, so as to invert +the sense. (Lardner, Cred., vol. xv. p. 422.) + +Once more (Acts xxv. 18): "They brought none accusation against him of +such things as I supposed; but had certain questions against him of +their own superstition, and of one Jesus which was dead, whom Paul +affirmed to be alive." Nothing could be more in the character of a Roman +governor than these words. But that is not precisely the point I am +concerned with. A mere panegyrist, or a dishonest narrator, would not +have represented his cause, or have made a great magistrate represent +it, in this manner, i.e. in terms not a little disparaging, and +bespeaking, on his part, much unconcern and indifference about the +matter. The same observation may be repeated of the speech which is +ascribed to Gallio (Acts xviii. 15): "If it be a question of words and +names, and of your law, look ye to it; for I will be no judge of such +matters." + +Lastly, where do we discern a stronger mark of candour, or less +disposition to extol and magnify, than in the conclusion of the same +history? in which the evangelist, after relating that Paul, on his first +arrival at Rome, preached to the Jews from morning until evening, adds, +"And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not." + +The following, I think, are passages which were very unlikely to have +presented themselves to the mind of a forger or a fabulist. + +Matt. xxi. 21. "Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto +you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is +done unto the fig-tree, but also, if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be +thou removed, and be thou east into the sea, it shall be done; all +things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, it shall be done." +(See also chap. xvii. 20. Luke xvii. 6.) It appears to me very +improbable that these words should have been put into Christ's mouth, if +he had not actually spoken them. The term "faith," as here used, is +perhaps rightly interpreted of confidence in that internal notice by +which the apostles were admonished of their power to perform any +particular miracle. And this exposition renders the sense of the text +more easy. But the words undoubtedly, in their obvious construction, +carry with them a difficulty which no writer would have brought upon +himself officiously. + +Luke ix. 59. "And he said unto another, Follow me: but he said, Lord, +suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the +dead bury their dead, but go thou and preach the kingdom of God." (See +also Matt. viii. 21.) This answer, though very expressive of the +transcendent importance of religious concerns, was apparently harsh and +repulsive; and such as would not have been made for Christ if he had not +really used it. At least some other instance would bare been chosen. + +The following passage, I, for the same reason, think impossible to have +been the production of artifice, or of a cold forgery:--"But I say unto +you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be +in danger of the judgment; and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, +shall be in danger of the council; but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, +shall be in danger of hell-fire (Gehennae)." Matt. v. 22. It is +emphatic, cogent, and well calculated for the purpose of impression; but +is inconsistent with the supposition of art or wariness on the part of +the relator. + +The short reply of our Lord to Mary Magdalen, after his resurrection +(John xx. 16, 17), "Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended unto my +Father," in my opinion must have been founded in a reference or allusion +to some prior conversation, for the want of knowing which his meaning is +hidden from us. This very obscurity, however, is a proof of genuineness. +No one would have forged such an answer. + +John vi. The whole of the conversation recorded in this chapter is in +the highest degree unlikely to be fabricated, especially the part of our +Saviour's reply between the fiftieth and the fifty-eighth verse. I need +only put down the first sentence: "I am the living bread which came down +from heaven: if any man eat of this bread he shall live for ever: and +the bread that I will give him is my flesh, which I will give for the +life of the world." Without calling in question the expositions that +have been given of this passage, we may be permitted to say, that it +labours under an obscurity, in which it is impossible to believe that +any one, who made speeches for the persons of his narrative, would have +voluntarily involved them. That this discourse was obscure, even at the +time, is confessed by the writer who had preserved it, when he tells us, +at the conclusion, that many of our Lord's disciples, when they had +heard this, said, "This is a hard saying; who can hear it?" + +Christ's taking of a young child, and placing it in the midst of his +contentious disciples (Matt. xviii. 2), though as decisive a proof as +any could be of the benignity of his temper, and very expressive of the +character of the religion which he wished to inculcate, was not by any +means an obvious thought. Nor am I acquainted with anything in any +ancient writing which resembles it. + +The account of the institution of the eucharist bears strong internal +marks of genuineness. If it had been feigned, it would have been more +full; it would have come nearer to the actual mode of celebrating the +rite as that mode obtained very early in the Christian churches; and it +would have been more formal than it is. In the forged piece called the +Apostolic Constitutions, the apostles are made to enjoin many parts of +the ritual which was in use in the second and third centuries, with as +much particularity as a modern rubric could have done. Whereas, in the +history of the Lord's Supper, as we read it in Saint Matthew's Gospel, +there is not so much as the command to repeat it. This, surely, looks +like undesignedness. I think also that the difficulty arising from the +conciseness of Christ's expression, "This is my body," would have been +avoided in a made-up story. I allow that the explication of these words +given by Protestants is satisfactory; but it is deduced from a diligent +comparison of the words in question with forms of expression used in +Scripture, and especially by Christ upon other occasions. No writer +would arbitrarily and unnecessarily have thus cast in his reader's way a +difficulty which, to say the least, it required research and erudition +to clear up. + +Now it ought to be observed that the argument which is built upon these +examples extends both to the authenticity of the books, and to the +truth of the narrative; for it is improbable that the forger of a +history in the name of another should have inserted such passages into +it: and it is improbable, also, that the persons whose names the books +hear should have fabricated such passages; or even have allowed them a +place in their work, if they had not believed them to express the truth. + +The following observation, therefore, of Dr. Lardner, the most candid of +all advocates, and the most cautious of all inquirers, seems to be well +founded:--"Christians are induced to believe the writers of the Gospel +by observing the evidences of piety and probity that appear in their +writings, in which there is no deceit, or artifice, or cunning, or +design." "No remarks," as Dr. Beattie hath properly said, "are thrown in +to anticipate objections; nothing of that caution which never fails to +distinguish the testimony of those who are conscious of imposture; no +endeavour to reconcile the reader's mind to what may be extraordinary in +the narrative." + +I beg leave to cite also another author, (Duchal, pp. 97, 98.) who has +well expressed the reflection which the examples now brought forward +were intended to suggest. "It doth not appear that ever it came into the +mind of these writers to consider how this or the other action would +appear to mankind, or what objections might be raised upon them. But +without at all attending to this, they lay the facts before you, at no +pains to think whether they would appear credible or not. If the reader +will not believe their testimony, there is no help for it: they tell +the truth and attend to nothing else. Surely this looks like sincerity, +and that they published nothing to the world but that they believed +themselves." + +As no improper supplement to this chapter, I crave a place here for +observing the extreme naturalness of some of the things related in the +New Testament. + +Mark ix. 23. "Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are +possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child +cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine +unbelief." This struggle in the father's heart, between solicitude for +the preservation of his child, and a kind of involuntary distrust of +Christ's power to heal him, is here expressed with an air of reality +which could hardly be counterfeited. + +Again (Matt. xxi. 9), the eagerness of the people to introduce Christ +into Jerusalem, and their demand, a short time afterwards, of his +crucifixion, when he did not turn out what they expected him to be, so +far from affording matter of objection, represents popular favour in +exact agreement with nature and with experience, as the flux and reflux +of a wave. + +The rulers and Pharisees rejecting Christ, whilst many of the common +people received him, was the effect which, in the then state of Jewish +prejudices, I should have expected. And the reason with which they who +rejected Christ's mission kept themselves in countenance, and with which +also they answered the arguments of those who favoured it, is precisely +the reason which such men usually give:--"Have any of the Scribes or +Pharisees believed on him?" (John vii. 48.) + +In our Lord's conversation at the well (John iv. 29), Christ had +surprised the Samaritan woman with an allusion to a single particular in +her domestic situation, "Thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou +now hast is not thy husband." The woman, soon after this, ran back to +the city, and called out to her neighbours, "Come, see a man which told +me all things that ever I did." This exaggeration appears to me very +natural; especially in the hurried state of spirits into which the woman +may be supposed to have been thrown. + +The lawyer's subtilty in running a distinction upon the word neighbour, +in the precept, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself," was no less +natural than our Saviour's answer was decisive and satisfactory. (Luke +x. 20.) The lawyer of the New Testament, it must be observed, was a +Jewish divine. + +The behaviour of Gallio (Acts xviii. 12-17), and of Festus (xxv. 18, +19), have been observed upon already. + +The consistency of Saint Paul's character throughout the whole of his +history (viz. the warmth and activity of his zeal, first against, and +then for, Christianity) carries with it very much of the appearance of +truth. + +There are also some properties, as they may be called, observable in the +Gospels; that is, circumstances separately suiting with the situation, +character, and intention of their respective authors. + +Saint Matthew, who was an inhabitant of Galilee, and did not join +Christ's society until some time after Christ had come into Galilee to +preach, has given us very little of his history prior to that period. +Saint John, who had been converted before, and who wrote to supply +omissions in the other Gospels, relates some remarkable particulars +which had taken place before Christ left Judea, to go into Galilee. +(Hartley's Observations, vol. ii. p. 103.) + +Saint Matthew (xv. 1) has recorded the cavil of the Pharisees against +the disciples of Jesus, for eating "with unclean hands." Saint Mark has +also (vii. 1) recorded the same transaction (taken probably from Saint +Matthew), but with this addition: "For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, +except they wash their hands often, eat not, holding the tradition of +the elders: and when they come from the market, except they wash, they +eat not: and many other things there be which they have received to +hold, as the washing of cups and pots, brazen vessels, and of tables." +Now Saint Matthew was not only a Jew himself, but it is evident, from +the whole structure of his Gospel, especially from his numerous +references to the Old Testament, that he wrote for Jewish readers. The +above explanation, therefore, in him, would have been unnatural, as not +being wanted by the readers whom he addressed. But in Mark, who, +whatever use he might make of Matthew's Gospel, intended his own +narrative for a general circulation, and who himself travelled to +distant countries in the service of the religion, it was properly added. + + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +IDENTITY OF CHRIST'S CHARACTER. + +THE argument expressed by this title I apply principally to the +comparison of the first three Gospels with that of Saint John. It is +known to every reader of Scripture that the passages of Christ's history +preserved by Saint John are, except his passion and resurrection, for +the most part different from those which are delivered by the other +evangelists. And I think the ancient account of this difference to be +the true one, viz., that Saint John wrote after the rest, and to supply +what he thought omissions in their narratives, of which the principal +were our Saviour's conferences with the Jews of Jerusalem, and his +discourses to his apostles at his last supper. But what I observe in the +comparison of these several accounts is, that, although actions and +discourses are ascribed to Christ by Saint John in general different +from what are given to him by the other evangelists, yet, under this +diversity, there is a similitude of manner, which indicates that the +actions and discourses proceeded from the same person. I should have +laid little stress upon the repetition of actions substantially alike, +or of discourses containing many of the same expressions, because that +is a species of resemblance which would either belong to a true history, +or might easily be imitate in a false one. Nor do I deny that a dramatic +writer is able to sustain propriety and distinction of character through +a great variety of separate incidents and situations. But the +evangelists were not dramatic writers; nor possessed the talents of +dramatic writers; nor will it, I believe, be suspected that they studied +uniformity of character, or ever thought of any such thing in the person +who was the subject of their histories. Such uniformity, if it exist, +is on their part casual; and if there be, as I contend there is, a +perceptible resemblance of manner, in passages, and between discourses, +which are in themselves extremely distinct, and are delivered by +historians writing without any imitation of, or reference to, one +another, it affords a just presumption that these are what they profess +to be, the actions and the discourses of the same real person; that the +evangelists wrote from fact, and not from imagination. + +The article in which I find this agreement most strong is in our +Saviour's mode of teaching, and in that particular property of it which +consists in his drawing of his doctrine from the occasion; or, which is +nearly the same thing, raising reflections from the objects and +incidents before him, or turning a particular discourse then passing +into an opportunity of general instruction. + +It will be my business to point out this manner in the first three +evangelists; and then to inquire whether it do not appear also in several +examples of Christ's discourses preserved by Saint John. + +The reader will observe in the following quotations that the Italic +letter contains the reflection; the common letter the incident or +occasion from which it springs. + +Matt. xii. 47--50. "Then they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy +brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. But he answered and +said unto him that told him, Who is my mother; and who are my brethren? +And he stretched forth his hand towards his disciples, and said, Behold +my mother and my brethren: for whosoever shall do the will of my Father +which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother." + +Matt. xvi. 5. "And when his disciples were come to the other side, they +had forgotten to take bread; then Jesus said unto them, Take heed, and +beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. And they +reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no +bread.--How is it that ye do not understand, that I speak it not to you +concerning bread, that ye shall beware of the leaven of the Pharisees +and of the Sadducees? Then understood they how that he bade them not +beware of the leaven of bread, but of the DOCTRINE of the Pharisees and +of the Sadducees." + +Matt. xv. 1, 2; 10, 11; 15--20. "Then came to Jesus scribes and +Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, Why do thy disciples +transgress the traditions of the elders? for they wash not their hands +when they eat bread.--And he called the multitude, and said unto them, +Hear and understand: Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man, +but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth the man.--Then +answered Peter, and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable. And +Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? Do ye not understand +that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is +cast out into the draught? but those things which proceed out of the +mouth come forth from the heart, and they defile the man: for out of the +heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, +false witness, blasphemies; these are the things which defile a man: BUT +TO EAT WITH UNWASHEN HANDS DEFILETH NOT A MAN." Our Saviour, on +this occasion, expatiates rather more at large than usual, and his +discourse also is more divided; but the concluding sentence brings +back the whole train of thought to the incident in the first verse, +viz. the objurgatory question of the Pharisees, and renders it evident +that the whole sprang from that circumstance. + +Mark x. 13, 14, 15. "And they brought young children to him, that he +should touch them; and his disciples rebuked those that brought them: +but when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, +Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of +such is the kingdom of God: verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not +receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter +therein." + +Mark i. 16, 17. "Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon +and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea, for they were +fishers: and Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you +fishers of men." + +Luke xi. 27. "And it came to pass as he spake these things, a certain +woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is +the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked: but he +said, Yea, rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep +it." + +Luke xiii. 1--3. "There were present at that season some that told him +of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices; +and Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye, that these Galileans +were sinners above all the Galileans, because they suffered such things? +I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." + +Luke xiv. 15. "And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard +these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in +the kingdom of God. Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great +supper, and bade many," &c. The parable is rather too long for +insertion, but affords a striking instance of Christ's manner of raising +a discourse from the occasion. Observe also in the same chapter two +other examples of advice, drawn from the circumstances of the +entertainment and the behaviour of the guests. + +We will now see how this manner discovers itself in Saint John's history +of Christ. + +John vi. 25. "And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, +they said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither? Jesus answered them +and said, Verily I say unto you, ye seek me not because ye saw the +miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves and were filled. Labour +not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto +everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you." + +John iv. 12. "Art thou greater than our father Abraham, who gave us the +well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus +answered, and said unto her (the woman of Samaria), Whosoever drinketh +of this water shall thirst again; but whosoever drinketh of the water +that I shall give him, shall never thirst; but the water that I shall +give him shall be in him a well of water, springing up into everlasting +life." + +John iv. 31. "In the mean while, his disciples prayed him, saying, +Master, eat; but he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not +of. Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought +him aught to eat? Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of +Him that sent me, and to finish his work." + +John ix. 1--5. "And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind +from his birth: and his disciples asked him, saying, Who did sin, this +man or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath +this man sinned, nor his parents, but that the works of God should be +made manifest in him. I must work the works of Him that sent me while it +is day; the night cometh when no man can work. As long as I am in the +world, I am the light of the world." + +John ix. 35--40. "Jesus heard that they had cast him (the blind man +above mentioned) out: and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost +thou believe on the Son of God? And he answered and said, Who is he, +Lord, that I might believe on him? And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast +both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. And he said, Lord, I +believe; and he worshipped him. And Jesus said. For judgment I am come +into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which +see might be made blind." + +All that the reader has now to do, is to compare the series of examples +taken from Saint John with the series of examples taken from the other +evangelists, and to judge whether there be not a visible agreement of +manner between them. In the above-quoted passages, the occasion is +stated, as well as the reflection. They seem, therefore, the most proper +for the purpose of our argument. A large, however, and curious +collection has been made by different writers, (Newton on Daniel, p. 148, +note a. Jottin, Dis., p. 218. Bishop Law's Life of Christ.) of instances +in which it is extremely probable that Christ spoke in allusion to some +object, or some occasion then before him, though the mention of the +occasion, or of the object, be omitted in the history. I only observe that +these instances are common to Saint John's Gospel with the other three. + +I conclude this article by remarking, that nothing of this manner is +perceptible in the speeches recorded in the Acts, or in any other but +those which are attributed to Christ, and that, in truth, it was a very +unlikely manner for a forger or fabulist to attempt; and a manner very +difficult for any writer to execute, if he had to supply all the +materials, both the incidents and the observations upon them, out of his +own head. A forger or a fabulist would have made for Christ, discourses +exhorting to virtue and dissuading from vice in general terms. It would +never have entered into the thoughts of either, to have crowded together +such a number of allusions to time, place, and other little circumstances, +as occur, for instance, in the sermon on the mount, and which nothing but +the actual presence of the objects could have suggested (See Bishop Law's +Life of Christ). + +II. There appears to me to exist an affinity between the history of +Christ's placing a little child in the midst of his disciples, as +related by the first three evangelists, (Matt. xviii. 1. Mark ix. 33. +Luke ix. 46.) and the history of Christ's washing his disciples' feet, +as given by Saint John. (Chap. xiii. 3.) In the stories themselves there +is no resemblance. But the affinity which I would point out consists in +these two articles: First, that both stories denote the emulation which +prevailed amongst Christ's disciples, and his own care and desire to +correct it; the moral of both is the same. Secondly, that both stories +are specimens of the same manner of teaching, viz., by action; a mode of +emblematic instruction extremely peculiar, and, in these passages, +ascribed, we see, to our Saviour by the first three evangelists, and by +Saint John, in instances totally unlike, and without the smallest +suspicion of their borrowing from each other. + +III. A singularity in Christ's language which runs through all the +evangelists, and which is found in those discourses of Saint John that +have nothing similar to them in the other Gospels, is the appellation of +"the Son of man;" and it is in all the evangelists found under the +peculiar circumstance of being applied by Christ to himself, but of +never being used of him, or towards him, by any other person. It occurs +seventeen times in Matthew's Gospel, twenty times in Mark's, twenty-one +times in Luke's and eleven times in John's, and always with this +restriction. + +IV. A point of agreement in the conduct of Christ, as represented by his +different historians, is that of his withdrawing himself out of the way +whenever the behaviour of the multitude indicated a disposition to +tumult. + +Matt. xiv. 22. "And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get +into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the +multitude away. And when he had sent the multitude away, he went up into +a mountain apart to pray." + +Luke v. 15, 16. "But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him, +and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of +their infirmities; and he withdrew himself into the wilderness and +prayed." With these quotations compare the following from Saint John: +Chap. v. 13. "And he that was healed wist not who it was, for Jesus had +conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place." + +Chap. vi. 15. "When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and +take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain +himself alone." + +In this last instance, Saint John gives the motive of Christ's conduct, +which is left unexplained by the other evangelists, who have related the +conduct itself. + +V. Another, and a more singular circumstance in Christ's ministry, was +the reserve which, for some time, and upon some occasions at least, he +used in declaring his own character, and his leaving it to be collected +from his works rather than his professions. Just reasons for this +reserve have been assigned. (See Locke's Reasonableness of Christianity.) +But it is not what one would have expected. We meet with it in Saint +Matthew's Gospel (chap. xvi. 20): "Then charged he his disciples that +they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ." Again, and upon a +different occasion, in Saint Mark's (chap. iii. 11): "And unclean +spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, +Thou art the Son of God: and he straitly charged them that they should +not make him known." Another instance similar to this last is recorded +by Saint Luke (chap. iv. 41). What we thus find in the three +evangelists, appears also in a passage of Saint John (chap. x. 24, 25): +"Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost +thou make us to doubt: If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly." The +occasion here was different from any of the rest; and it was indirect. +We only discover Christ's conduct through the upbraidings of his +adversaries. But all this strengthens the argument. I had rather at any +time surprise a coincidence in some oblique allusion than read it in +broad assertions. + +VI. In our Lord's commerce with his disciples, one very observable +particular is the difficulty which they found in understanding him when +he spoke to them of the future part of his history, especially of what +related to his passion or resurrection. This difficulty produced, as was +natural, a wish in them to ask for further explanation: from which, +however, they appear to have been sometimes kept back by the fear of +giving offence. All these circumstances are distinctly noticed by Mark +and Luke, upon the occasion of his informing them (probably for the +first time) that the Son of man should be delivered into the hands of +men. "They understood not," the evangelists tell us, "this saying, and +it was hid from them, that they perceived it not; and they feared to ask +him of that saying." Luke ix. 45; Mark ix. 32. In Saint John's Gospel we +have, on a different occasion, and in a different instance, the same +difficulty of apprehension, the same curiosity, and the same +restraint:--"A little while and ye shall not see me; and again, a little +while and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father. Then said some of +his disciples among themselves, What is this that he saith unto us? A +little while and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while and ye +shall see me: and, Because I go to the Father? They said, therefore, +What is this that he saith? A little while? We cannot tell what he +saith. Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and said unto +them,--" &c. John xvi. 16, et seq. + +VII. The meekness of Christ during his last sufferings, which is +conspicuous in the narratives of the first three evangelists, is +preserved in that of Saint John under separate examples. The answer +given by him, in Saint John, (Chap. xviii. 20, 21.) when the high priest +asked him of his disciples and his doctrine; "I spake openly to the +world: I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the +Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing. Why askest thou +me? ask them which heard me what I have said unto them," is very much of +a piece with his reply to the armed party which seized him, as we read +it in Saint Mark's Gospel, and in Saint Luke's:(Mark xiv. 48. Luke xxii. +52.) "Are you come out as against a thief, with swords and with staves +to take me? I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and ye took me +not." In both answers we discern the same tranquillity, the same +reference to his public teaching. His mild expostulation with Pilate, on +two several occasions, as related by Saint John, (Chap. xviii. 34; xix. +11.) is delivered with the same unruffled temper as that which conducted +him through the last scene of his life, as described by his other +evangelists. His answer, in Saint John's Gospel, to the officer who +struck him with the palm of his hand, "If I have spoken evil, bear +witness of the evil; but if well, why smitest thou me?" (Chap. xviii. +23.) was such an answer as might have been looked for from the person +who, as he proceeded to the place of execution, bid his companions (as +we are told by Saint Luke; Chap. xxiii. 28.) weep not for him, but for +themselves, their posterity, and their country; and who, whilst he was +suspended upon the cross, prayed for his murderers, "for they know not," +said he, "what they do." The urgency also of his judges and his +prosecutors to extort from him a defence to the accusation, and his +unwillingness to make any (which was a peculiar circumstance), appears +in Saint John's account, as well as in that of the other +evangelists. (See John xix. 9. Matt. xxvii. 14. Luke xxiii. 9.) + +There are, moreover, two other correspondencies between Saint John's +history of the transaction and theirs, of a kind somewhat different from +those which we have been now mentioning. + +The first three evangelists record what is called our Saviour's agony, +i.e. his devotion in the garden immediately before he was apprehended; +in which narrative they all make him pray "that the cup might pass from +him." This is the particular metaphor which they all ascribe to him. +Saint Matthew adds, "O, my Father, if this cup may not pass away from +me, except I drink it, thy will be done." (Chap, xxvi. 42.) Now Saint +John does not give the scene in the garden: but when Jesus was seized, +and some resistance was attempted to be made by Peter, Jesus, according +to his account, checked the attempt, with this reply: "Put up thy sword +into the sheath; the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not +drink it?" (Chap. xviii. 11.) This is something more than +consistency---it is coincidence; because it is extremely natural that +Jesus, who, before he was apprehended, had been praying his Father that +"that cup might pass from him," yet with such a pious retraction of his +request as to have added, "If this cup may not pass from me, thy will be +done;" it was natural, I say, for the same person, when he actually was +apprehended, to express the resignation to which he had already made up +his thoughts, and to express it in the form of speech which he had +before used, "The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink +it?" This is a coincidence between writers in whose narratives there is +no imitation, but great diversity. + +A second similar correspondency is the following: Matthew and Mark make +the charge upon which our Lord was condemned to be a threat of +destroying the temple; "We heard him say, I will destroy this temple +made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without +hands:" (Mark xiv. 58.) but they neither of them inform us upon what +circumstance this calumny was founded. Saint John, in the early part of +the history, (Chap. ii. 19.) supplies us with this information; for he +relates, that on our Lord's first journey to Jerusalem, when the Jews +asked him "What sign showest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these +things? He answered, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise +it up." This agreement could hardly arise from anything but the truth of +the case. From any care or design in Saint John to make his narrative +tally with the narratives of other evangelists, it certainly did not +arise, for no such design appears, but the absence of it. + +A strong and more general instance of agreement is the following.--The +first three evangelists have related the appointment of the twelve +apostles; (Matt. x. 1. Mark iii. 14. Luke vi. 12.) and have given a +catalogue of their names in form. John, without ever mentioning the +appointment, or giving the catalogue, supposes, throughout his whole +narrative, Christ to be accompanied by a select party of disciples; the +number of these to be twelve; (Chap. vi. 70.) and whenever he happens to +notice any one as of that number, (Chap. xx, 24; vi. 71.) it is one +included in the catalogue of the other evangelists: and the names +principally occurring in the course of his history of Christ are the +names extant in their list. This last agreement, which is of +considerable moment, runs through every Gospel, and through every +chapter of each. All this bespeaks reality. + + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +ORIGINALITY OF OUR SAVIOUR'S CHARACTER. + +The Jews, whether right or wrong, had understood their prophecies to +foretell the advent of a person who by some supernatural assistance +should advance their nation to independence, and to a supreme degree of +splendour and prosperity. This was the reigning opinion and expectation +of the times. Now, had Jesus been an enthusiast, it is probable that his +enthusiasm would have fallen in with the popular delusion, and that, +while he gave himself out to be the person intended by these +predictions, he would have assumed the character to which they were +universally supposed to relate. + +Had he been an impostor, it was his business to have flattered the +prevailing hopes, because these hopes were to be the instruments of his +attraction and success. + +But what is better than conjectures is the fact, that all the pretended +Messiahs actually did so. We learn from Josephus that there were many of +these. Some of them, it is probable, might be impostors, who thought +that an advantage was to be taken of the state of public opinion. +Others, perhaps, were enthusiasts, whose imagination had been drawn to +this particular object by the language and sentiments which prevailed +around them. But whether impostors or enthusiasts, they concurred in +producing themselves in the character which their countrymen looked for, +that is to say, as the restorers and deliverers of the nation, in that +sense in which restoration and deliverance were expected by the Jews. + +Why therefore Jesus, if he was, like them, either an enthusiast or +impostor, did not pursue the same conduct as they did, in framing his +character and pretensions, it will be found difficult to explain. A +mission, the operation and benefit of which was to take place in another +life, was a thing unthought of as the subject of these prophecies. That +Jesus, coming to them as their Messiah, should come under a character +totally different from that in which they expected him; should deviate +from the general persuasion, and deviate into pretensions absolutely +singular and original--appears to be inconsistent with the imputation of +enthusiasm or imposture, both which by their nature I should expect +would, and both which, throughout the experience which this very subject +furnishes, in fact, have followed the opinions that obtained at the +time. + +If it be said that Jesus, having tried the other plan, turned at length +to this; I answer, that the thing is said without evidence; against +evidence; that it was competent to the rest to have done the same, yet +that nothing of this sort was thought of by any. + + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +One argument which has been much relied upon (but not more than its just +weight deserves) is the conformity of the facts occasionally mentioned +or referred to in Scripture with the state of things in those times, as +represented by foreign and independent accounts; which conformity +proves, that the writers of the New Testament possessed a species of +local knowledge which could belong only to an inhabitant of that country +and to one living in that age. This argument, if well made out by +examples, is very little short of proving the absolute genuineness of +the writings. It carries them up to the age of the reputed authors, to +an age in which it must have been difficult to impose upon the Christian +public forgeries in the names of those authors, and in which there is no +evidence that any forgeries were attempted. It proves, at least, that +the books, whoever were the authors of them, were composed by persons +living in the time and country in which these things were transacted; +and consequently capable, by their situation, of being well informed of +the facts which they relate. And the argument is stronger when applied +to the New Testament, than it is in the case of almost any other +writings, by reason of the mixed nature of the allusions which this book +contains. The scene of action is not confined to a single country, but +displayed in the greatest cities of the Roman empire. Allusions are made +to the manners and principles of the Greeks, the Romans, and the Jews. +This variety renders a forgery proportionably more difficult, especially +to writers of a posterior age. A Greek or Roman Christian who lived in +the second or third century would have been wanting in Jewish +literature; a Jewish convert in those ages would have been equally +deficient in the knowledge of Greece and Rome. (Michaelis's Introduction +to the New Testament [Marsh's translation], c. ii. sect. xi.) + +This, however, is an argument which depends entirely upon an induction +of particulars; and as, consequently, it carries with it little force +without a view of the instances upon which it is built, I have to request +the reader's attention to a detail of examples, distinctly and +articulately proposed. In collecting these examples I have done no more +than epitomise the first volume of the first part of Dr. Lardner's +Credibility of the Gospel History. And I have brought the argument +within its present compass, first, by passing over some of his sections +in which the accordancy appeared to me less certain, or upon subjects +not sufficiently appropriate or circumstantial; secondly, by contracting +every section into the fewest words possible, contenting myself for the +most part with a mere apposition of passages; and, thirdly, by omitting +many disquisitions, which, though learned and accurate, are not +absolutely necessary to the understanding or verification of the +argument. + +The writer principally made use of in the inquiry is Josephus. Josephus +was born at Jerusalem four years after Christ's ascension. He wrote his +history of the Jewish war some time after the destruction of Jerusalem, +which happened in the year of our Lord LXX, that is, thirty-seven years +after the ascension; and his history of the Jews he finished in the year +xciii, that is, sixty years after the ascension. At the head of each +article I have referred, by figures included in brackets, to the page of +Dr. Lardner's volume where the section from which the abridgment is made +begins. The edition used is that of 1741. + +I. [p. 14.] Matt. ii. 22. "When he (Joseph) heard that Archclaus did +reign in Judea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go +thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned +aside into the parts of Galilee." + +II. In this passage it is asserted that Archclaus succeeded Herod in +Judea; and it is implied that his power did not extend to Galilee. Now +we learn from Josephus that Herod the Great, whose dominion included all +the land of Israel, appointed Archelaus his successor in Judea, and +assigned the rest of his dominions to other sons; and that this +disposition was ratified, as to the main parts of it, by the Roman +emperor (Ant. lib. xvi. c. 8, sect. 1.). + +Saint Matthew says that Archclaus reigned, was king, in Judea. Agreeably +to this, we are informed by Josephus, not only that Herod appointed +Archclaus his successor in Judea, but that he also appointed him with +the title of King; and the Greek verb basileuei, which the evangelist +uses to denote the government and rank of Archclaus, is used likewise by +Josephus (De Bell. lib. i. c. 3,3, sect. 7.). + +The cruelty of Archelaus's character, which is not obscurely intimated +by the evangelist, agrees with divers particulars in his history +preserved by Josephus:--"In the tenth year of his government, the chief +of the Jews and Samaritans, not being able to endure his cruelty and +tyranny, presented complaints against him to Caesar." (Ant, lib. xii. +13, sect. 1.) + +II. [p. 19.] Luke iii. 1. "In the fifteenth year of the reign of +Tiberius Caesar--Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip +tetrarch of Iturea, and of the region of Trachonitis--the word of God +came unto John." + +By the will of Herod the Great, and the decree of Augustus thereupon, +his two sons were appointed, one (Herod Antipus) tetrarch of Galilee and +Peraea, and the other (Philip) tetrarch of Trachonitis and the +neighbouring countries. (Ant. lib. xvii. c. 8, sect. 1.) We have, +therefore, these two persons in the situations in which Saint Luke +places them; and also, that they were in these situations in the +fifteenth year of Tiberius; in other words, that they continued in +possession of their territories and titles until that time, and +afterwards, appears from a passage of Josephus, which relates of Herod, +"that he was removed by Caligula, the successor of Tiberius;" (Ant. lib. +xviii. c. 8, sect. 2.) and of Philip, that he died in the twentieth year +of Tiberius, when he had governed Trachonitis and Batanea and Gaulanitis +thirty-seven years. (Ant. lib. xviii. c. 5, sect. 6.) + +III. [p. 20.] Mark vi. 17. "Herod had sent forth, and laid hold upon +John, and bound him in prison, for Heredias' sake, his brother Philip's +wife: for he had married her." (See also Matt. xiv. 1--13; Luke iii. +19.) + +With this compare Joseph. Antiq. 1. xviii. c. 6, sect. 1:--"He (Herod +the tetrareh) made a visit to Herod his brother.--Here, failing in love +with Herodias, the wife of the said Herod, he ventured to make her +proposals of marriage."* + +_________ + +* The affinity of the two accounts is unquestionable; but there is a +difference in the name of Herodias's first husband, which in the +evangelist is Philip; in Josephus, Herod. The difficulty, however, will +not appear considerable when we recollect how common it was in those +times for the same persons to bear two names. "Simon, which is called +Peter; Lebbeus, whose surname is Thaddeus; Thomas, which is called +Didymus; Simeon, who was called Niger; Saul, who was also called Paul." +The solution is rendered likewise easier in the present case by the +consideration that Herod the Great had children by seven or eight wives; +that Josephus mentions three of his sons under the name of Herod; that +it is nevertheless highly probable that the brothers bore some +additional name by which they were distinguished from one another. +Lardner, vol. ii. p. 897. +_________ + + +Again, Mark vi. 22. "And when the daughter of the said Herodias came in +and danced." + +With this also compare Joseph. Antiq. 1. xviii. c. 6, sect. 4. "Herodias +was married to Herod, son of Herod the Great. They had a daughter, whose +name was Salome; after whose birth Herodias, in utter violation of the +laws of her country, left her husband, then living, and married Herod +the tetrarch of Galilee, her husband's brother by the father's side." + +IV. [p. 29.] Acts xii. 1. "Now, about that time, Herod the king +stretched forth his hands, to vex certain of the church." + +In the conclusion of the same chapter, Herod's death is represented to +have taken place soon after this persecution. The accuracy of our +historian, or, rather, the unmeditated coincidence which truth of its +own accord produces, is in this instance remarkable. There was no +portion of time for thirty years before, nor ever afterwards, in which +there was a king at Jerusalem, a person exercising that authority in +Judea, or to whom that title could be applied, except the last three +years of this Herod's life, within which period the transaction recorded +in the Acts is stated to have taken place. This prince was the grandson +of Herod the Great. In the Acts he appears under his family-name of +Herod; by Josephus he was called Agrippa. For proof that he was a king, +properly so called, we have the testimony of Josephus, in full and +direct terms:--"Sending for him to his palace, Caligula put a crown upon +his head, and appointed him king of the tetrarchie of Philip, intending +also to give him the tetrarchie of Lysanias." (Antiq. xviii. c. 7, sect. +10.) And that Judea was at last, but not until the last, included in his +dominions, appears by a subsequent passage of the same Josephus, wherein +he tells us that Claudius, by a decree, confirmed to Agrippa the +dominion which Caligula had given him; adding also Judea and Samaria, in +the utmost extent, as possessed by his grandfather Herod (Antiq. xix. c. +5, sect. 1.). + +V. [p. 32.] Acts xii. 19--23. "And he (Herod) went down from Judea to +Cesarea, and there abode. And on a set day Herod, arrayed in royal +apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them: and the +people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man; +and immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God +the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost." + +Joseph. Antiq. lib. xix. c. 8, sect. 2. "He went to the city of Cesarea. +Here he celebrated shows in honour of Caesar. On the second day of the +shows, early in the morning, he came into the theatre, dressed in a robe +of silver, of most curious workmanship. The rays of the rising sun, +reflected from such a splendid garb, gave him a majestic and awful +appearance. They called him a god; and intreated him to be propitious to +them, saying, Hitherto we have respected you as a man; but now we +acknowledge you to be more than mortal. The king neither reproved these +persons, nor rejected the impious flattery. Immediately after this he +was seized with pains in his bowels, extremely violent at the very +first. He was carried therefore with all haste to his palace. These +pains continually tormenting him, he expired in five days' time." + +The reader will perceive the accordancy of these accounts in various +particulars. The place (Cesarea), the set day, the gorgeous dress, the +acclamations of the assembly, the peculiar turn of the flattery, the +reception of it, the sudden and critical incursion of the disease, are +circumstances noticed in both narratives. The worms mentioned by Saint +Luke are not remarked by Josephus; but the appearance of these is a +symptom not unusually, I believe, attending the disease which Josephus +describes, viz., violent affections of the bowels. + +VI. [p. 41.] Acts xxiv. 24. "And after certain days, when Felix came +with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul." + +Joseph. Antiq. lib. xx. c. 6, sect. 1, 2. "Agrippa gave his sister +Drusilla in marriage to Azizus, king of the Emesenes, when he had +consented to be circumcised.--But this marriage of Drusilla with Azizus +was dissolved in a short time after, in this manner:--When Felix was +procurator of Judea, having had a sight of her, he was mightily taken +with her.--She was induced to transgress the laws of her country, and +marry Felix." + +Here the public station of Felix, the name of his wife, and the singular +circumstance of her religion, all appear in perfect conformity with the +evangelist. + +VII. [p. 46.] Acts xxv. 13. "And after certain days king Agrippa and +Berenice came to Cesarea to salute Festus." By this passage we are in +effect told that Agrippa was a king, but not of Judea; for he came to +salute Festus, who at this time administered the government of that +country at Cesarea. + +Now, how does the history of the age correspond with this account? The +Agrippa here spoken of was the son of Herod Agrippa, mentioned in the +last article; but that he did not succeed to his father's kingdom, nor +ever recovered Judea, which had been a part of it, we learn by the +information of Josephus, who relates of him that when his father was +dead Claudius intended at first to have put him immediately in +possession of his father's dominions; but that, Agrippa being then but +seventeen years of age, the emperor was persuaded to alter his mind, and +appointed Cuspius Fadus prefect of Judea and the whole kingdom; (Antiq. +xi. c. 9 ad fin.) which Fadus was succeeded by Tiberius Alexander, +Cumanus, Felix, Festus. (Antiq. xx. de Bell. lib. ii.) But that, though +disappointed of his father's kingdom, in which was included Judea, he +was, nevertheless, rightly styled King Agrippa, and that he was in +possession of considerable territories, bordering upon Judea, we gather +from the same authority: for, after several successive donations of +country, "Claudius, at the same time that he sent Felix to be procurator +of Judea, promoted Agrippa from Chalcis to a greater kingdom, giving to +him the tetrarchie which had been Philip's; and he added, moreover, the +kingdom of Lysanias, and the province that had belonged to Varus." (De +Bell. lib. li. c. 12 ad fin.) + +Saint Paul addresses this person as a Jew: "King Agrippa, believest thou +the prophets? I know that thou believest." As the son of Herod Agrippa, +who is described by Josephus to have been a zealous Jew, it is +reasonable to suppose that he maintained the same profession. But what +is more material to remark, because it is more close and circumstantial, +is, that Saint Luke, speaking of the father (Acts xii. 1--3), calls him +Herod the, king, and gives an example of the exercise of his authority +at Jerusalem: speaking of the son (xxv. 13), he calls him king, but not +of Judea; which distinction agrees correctly with the history. + +VIII. [p. 51.] Acts xiii. 6. "And when they had gone through the isle +(Cyprus) to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a +Jew, whose name was Bar-jesus, which was with the deputy of the country, +Sergius Paulus, a prudent man." + +The word which is here translated deputy, signifies and upon this word +our observation is founded. The provinces of the Roman empire were of +two kinds; those belonging the emperor, in which the governor was called +proprietor; those belonging to the senate, in which the governor was +proconsul. And this was a regular distinction. Now it appears from Dio +Cassius, (Lib. liv. ad A. U. 732.) that the province of Cyprus, which, in +original distribution, was assigned to the emperor, had transferred to +the senate, in exchange for some others; and after this exchange, the +appropriate title of the Roman was proconsul. + +Ib. xviii. 12. [p. 55.] "And when Gallio was deputy (proconsul) of +Achaia." + +The propriety of the title "proconsul" is in this still more critical. +For the province of Achaia, after passing from the senate to the +emperor, had been restored again by the emperor Claudius to the senate +(and consequently its government had become proconsular) only six or +seven years before the time in which this transaction is said to have +taken place. (Suet. in Claud. c. xxv. Dio, lib. lxi.) And what confines +with strictness the appellation to the time is, that Achaia under the +following reign ceased to be a Roman province at all. + +IX. [p. 152.] It appears, as well from the general constitution of a +Roman province, as from what Josephus delivers concerning the state of +Judea in particular, (Antiq. lib. xx. c. 8, sect. 5; c. 1, sect. 2.) that +the power of life and death resided exclusively in the Roman governor; +but that the Jews, nevertheless, had magistrates and a council, invested +with a subordinate and municipal authority. This economy is discerned in +every part of the Gospel narrative of our Saviour's crucifixion. + +X. [p. 203.] Acts ix. 31. "Then had the churches rest throughout all +Judea and Galilee and Samaria." + +This rest synchronises with the attempt of Caligula to place his statue +in the temple of Jerusalem; the threat of which outrage produced amongst +the Jews a consternation that, for a season, diverted their attention +from every other object. (Joseph. de Bell lib. Xi. c. 13, sect. 1, 3, 4.) + +XI. [p. 218.] Acts xxi. 30. "And they took Paul, and drew him out of the +temple; and forthwith the doors were shut. And as they went about to +kill him, tidings came to the chief captain of the band that all +Jerusalem was in an uproar. Then the chief captain came near, and took +him and commanded him to be bound with two chains, and demanded who he +was, and what he had done; and some cried one thing, and some another, +among the multitude: and, when he could not know the certainty for the +tumult, he commanded him to be carried into the castle. And when he came +upon the stairs, so it was, that he was borne of the soldiers for the +violence of the people." + +In this quotation we have the band of Roman soldiers at Jerusalem, their +office (to suppress tumults), the castle, the stairs, both, as it should +seem, adjoining to the temple. Let us inquire whether we can find these +particulars in any other record of that age and place. + +Joseph. de. Ball. lib. v. e. 5, sect. 8. "Antonia was situated at the +angle of the western and northern porticoes of the outer temple. It was +built upon a rock fifty cubits high, steep on all sides.--On that side +where it joined to the porticoes of the temple, there were stairs +reaching to each portico, by which the guard descended; for there was +always lodged here a Roman legion; and posting themselves in their +armour in several places in the porticoes, they kept a watch on the +people on the feast-days to prevent all disorders; for as the temple was +a guard to the city, so was Antonia to the temple." + +XII. [p. 224.] Acts iv. 1. "And as they spake unto the people, the +priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon +them." Here we have a public officer, under the title of captain of the +temple, and he probably a Jew, as he accompanied the priests and +Sadducees in apprehending the apostles. + +Joseph. de Bell. lib. ii. c. 17, sect. 2. "And at the temple, Eleazer, +the son of Ananias the high priest, a young man of a bold and resolute +disposition, then captain, persuaded those who performed the sacred +ministrations not to receive the gift or sacrifice of any stranger." + +XIII. [p. 225.] Acts xxv. 12. "Then Festus, when he had conferred with +the council, answered, Hast thou appealed unto Caesar? unto Caesar shalt +thou go." That it was usual for the Roman presidents to have a council +consisting of their friends, and other chief Romans in the province, +appears expressly in the following passage of Cicero's oration against +Verres:--"Illud negare posses, aut nunc negabis, te, concilio tuo +dimisso, viris primariis, qui in consilio C. Sacerdotis fuerant, tibique +esse volebant, remotis, de re judicata judicasse?" + +XIV. [p. 235.] Acts xvi. 13. "And (at Philippi) on the Sabbath we went +out of the city by a river-side, where prayer was wont to be made," or +where a proseuche, oratory, or place of prayer was allowed. The +particularity to be remarked is, the situation of the place where prayer +was wont to be made, viz. by a river-side. + +Philo, describing the conduct of the Jews of Alexandria, on a certain +public occasion, relates of them, that, "early in the morning, flocking +out of the gates of the city, they go to the neighbouring shores, (for +the proseuchai were destroyed,) and, standing in a most pure place, they +lift up their voices with one accord." (Philo in Flacc. p. 382.) + +Josephus gives us a decree of the city of Halicarnassus, permitting the +Jews to build oratories; a part of which decree runs thus:--"We ordain +that the Jews, who are willing, men and women, do observe the Sabbaths, +and perform sacred rites, according to the Jewish laws, and build +oratories by the sea-side." (Joseph. Antiq. lib. xiv. c. 10, sect, 24.) + +Tertullian, among other Jewish rites and customs, such as feasts, +sabbaths, fasts, and unleavened bread, mentions "orationes literales," +that is, prayers by the river-side. (Tertull. ad Nat, lib. i. c. 13.) + +XV. [p. 255.] Acts xxvi. 5. "After the most straitest sect of our +religion, I lived a Pharisee." + +Joseph. de Bell. lib. i. c. 5, sect. 2. "The Pharisees were reckoned the +most religious of any of the Jews, and to be the most exact and skilful +in explaining the laws." + +In the original, there is an agreement not only in the sense but in the +expression, it being the same Greek adjective which is rendered "strait" +in the Acts, and "exact" in Josephus. + +XVI. [p. 255.] Mark vii. 3,4. "The Pharisees and all the Jews, except +they wash, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders; and many other +things there be which they have received to hold." + +Joseph. Antiq. lib. xiii. c. 10, sect. 6. "The Pharisees have delivered +up to the people many institutions, as received from the fathers, which +are not written in the law of Moses." + +XVII. [p. 259.] Acts xxiii. 8. "For the Sadducees say, that there is no +resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit; but the Pharisees confess +both." + +Joseph. de Bell. lib. ii. c. 8, sect. 14. "They (the Pharisees) believe +every soul to be immortal, but that the soul of the good only passes +into another body, and that the soul of the wicked is punished with +eternal punishment." On the other hand (Antiq. lib. xviii. e. 1, sect. +4), "It is the opinion of the Sadducees that souls perish with the +bodies." + +XVIII. [p. 268.] Acts v. 17. "Then the high priest rose up, and all +they that were with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees), and were +filled with indignation." Saint Luke here intimates that the high priest +was a Sadducee; which is a character one would not have expected to meet +with in that station. This circumstance, remarkable as it is, was not +however without examples. + +Joseph. Antiq. lib. xiii. c. 10, sect. 6, 7. "John Hyreanus, high priest +of the Jews, forsook the Pharisees upon a disgust, and joined himself to +the party of the Sadducees." This high priest died one hundred and seven +years before the Christian era. + +Again (Antiq. lib. xx. e. 8, sect. 1), "This Ananus the younger, who, as +we have said just now, had received the high priesthood, was fierce and +haughty in his behaviour, and, above all men, hold and daring, and, +moreover, was of the sect of the Sadducees." This high priest lived +little more than twenty years after the transaction in the Acts. + +XIX. [p. 282.] Luke ix. 51. "And it came to pass, when the time was come +that he should be received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to +Jerusalem, and sent messengers before his face. And they went, and +entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him. And +they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to +Jerusalem." + +Joseph. Antiq. lib. xx. c. 5, sect. 1. "It was the custom of the +Galileans, who went up to the holy city at the feasts, to travel through +the country of Samaria. As they were in their journey, some inhabitants +of the village called Ginaea, which lies on the borders of Samaria and +the great plain, falling upon them, killed a great many of them." + +XX. [p. 278.] John iv. 20. "Our fathers," said the Samaritan woman, +"worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that Jerusalem is the place +where men ought to worship." + +Joseph. Antiq. lib. xviii. c. 5, sect. 1. "Commanding them to meet him +at mount Gerizzim, which is by them (the Samaritans) esteemed the most +sacred of all mountains." + +XXI. [p. 312.] Matt. xxvi. 3. "Then assembled together the chief +priests, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high +priest, who was called Caiaphas." That Caiaphas was high priest, and +high priest throughout the presidentship of Pontius Pilate, and +consequently at this time, appears from the following account:--He was +made high priest by Valerius Gratus, predecessor of Pontius Pilate, and +was removed from his office by Vitellius, president of Syria, after +Pilate was sent away out of the province of Judea. Josephus relates the +advancement of Caiaphas to the high priesthood in this manner: "Gratus +gave the high priesthood to Simon, the son of Camithus. He, having +enjoyed this honour not above a year, was succeeded by Joseph, who is +also called Caiaphas." (Antiq. lib. xviii. c. 2, sect. 2.) After this, +Gratus went away for Rome, having been eleven years in Judea; and +Pontius Pilate came thither as his successor. Of the removal of Caiaphas +from his office, Josephus likewise afterwards informs us: and connects +it with a circumstance which fixes the time to a date subsequent to the +determination of Pilate's government--"Vitellius," he tells us; "ordered +Pilate to repair to Rome: and after that, went up himself to Jerusalem, +and then gave directions concerning several matters. And having done +these things he took away the priesthood from the high priest Joseph, +who is called Caiaphas." (Antiq. lib. xvii. c. 5, sect 3.) + +XXII. (Michaelis, c. xi. sect. 11.) Acts xxiii. 4. "And they that stood +by said, Revilest thou God's high priest? Then said Paul, I wist not, +brethren, that he was the high priest?" Now, upon inquiry into the +history of the age, it turns out that Ananias, of whom this is spoken, +was, in truth, not the high priest, though he was sitting in judgment in +that assumed capacity. The case was, that he had formerly holden the +office, and had been deposed; that the person who succeeded him had been +murdered; that another was not yet appointed to the station; and that +during the vacancy, he had, of his own authority, taken upon himself the +discharge of the office. (Joseph. Antiq. 1. xx. c. 5, sect. 2; c. 6, +sect. 2; c. 9, sect. 2.) This singular situation of the high priesthood +took place during the interval between the death of Jonathan, who was +murdered by order of Felix, and the accession of Ismael, who was +invested with the high priesthood by Agrippa; and precisely in this +interval it happened that Saint Paul was apprehended, and brought before +the Jewish council. + +XXIII. [p. 323.] Matt. xxvi. 59. "Now the chief priests and elders, and +all the council, sought false witness against him." + +Joseph. Antiq. lib. xviii. e. 15, sect. 3, 4. "Then might be seen the +high priests themselves with ashes on their heads and their breasts +naked." + +The agreement here consists in speaking of the high priests or chief +priests (for the name in the original is the same) in the plural number, +when in strictness there was only one high priest: which may be +considered as a proof that the evangelists were habituated to the manner +of speaking then in use, because they retain it when it is neither +accurate nor just. For the sake of brevity, I have put down from +Josephus only a single example of the application of this title in the +plural number; but it is his usual style. + +Ib. [p. 871.] Luke ill. 1. "Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of +Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Juries, and Herod +being tetrarch of Galilee, Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, +the word of God came unto John." There is a passage in Josephus very +nearly parallel to this, and which may at least serve to vindicate the +evangelist from objection, with respect to his giving the title of high +priest specifically to two persons at the same time: "Quadratus sent two +others of the most powerful men of the Jews, as also the high priests +Jonathan and Ananias." (De Bell. lib. ix. c. 12, sect. 6.) That Annas +was a person in an eminent station, and possessed an authority +coordinate with, or next to, that of the high print properly so called, +may he inferred from Saint John's Gospel, which in the history of +Christ's crucifixion relates that "the soldiers led him away to Annas +first." (xviii.13.) And this might be noticed as an example of +undesigned coincidence in the two evangelists. + +Again, [p. 870.] Acts iv. 6. Annas is called the high priest, though +Caiaphas was in the office of the high priesthood. In like manner in +Josephus, (Lib. ii. c. 20, sect. 3.) "Joseph the son of Gorion, and the +high priest Ananus, were chosen to be supreme governors of all things in +the city." Yet Ananus, though here called the high priest Ananus, was +not then in the office of the high priesthood. The truth is, there is an +indeterminateness in the use of this title in the Gospel:(Mark xiv. 53.) +sometimes it is applied exclusively to the person who held the office at +the time; sometimes to one or two more, who probably shared with him +some of the powers or functions of the office; and sometimes to such of +the priests as were eminent by their station or character; and there is +the very same indeterminateness in Josephus. + +XXIV. [p. 347.] John xix. 19, 20. "And Pilate wrote a title, and put it +on the cross." That such was the custom of the Romans on these occasions +appears from passages of Suetonius and Dio Cassius: "Pattrem +familias--canibus objecit, cure hoc titulo, Impie locutus parmularius." +Suet. Domit. cap. x. And in Dio Cassius we have the following: "Having +led him through the midst of the court or assembly, with a writing +signifying the cause of his death, and afterwards crucifying him." Book +liv. + +Ib. "And it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin." That it was also +usual about this time in Jerusalem to set up advertisements in different +languages, is gathered from the account which Josephus gives of an +expostulatory message from Titus to the Jews when the city was almost in +his hands; in which he says, Did ye not erect pillars with inscriptions +on them, in the Greek and in our language, "Let no one pass beyond these +bounds"? + +XXV. [p. 352.] Matt. xxvii. 26. "When he had scourged Jesus, he +delivered him to be crucified." + +The following passages occur in Josephus: + +"Being beaten, they were crucified opposite to the citadel." (P. 1247, +edit. 24 Huds.) + +"Whom, having first scourged with whips, he crucified." (P. 1080, edit. +45.) + +"He was burnt alive, having been first beaten." (P. 1327, edit. 43.) + +To which may he added one from Livy, lib. xi. c. 5. "Pro ductique omnes, +virgisqus caesi, ac securi percussi." + +A modern example may illustrate the use we make of this instance. The +preceding of a capital execution by the corporal punishment of the +sufferer is a practice unknown in England, but retained, in some +instances at least, as appears by the late execution of a regicide in +Sweden. This circumstance, therefore, in the account of an English +execution, purporting to come from an English writer, would not only +bring a suspicion upon the truth of the account, but would in a +considerable degree impeach its pretensions of having been written by +the author whose name it bore. Whereas, the same circumstance in the +account of a Swedish execution would verify the account, and support the +authenticity of the book in which it was found, or, at least, would +prove that the author, whoever he was, possessed the information and the +knowledge which he ought to possess. + +XXVI. [p. 353.] John xix. 16. "And they took Jesus, and led him away; +and he bearing his cross went forth." + +Plutarch, De iis qui sero puniuntur, p. 554; a Paris, 1624. "Every kind +of wickedness produces its own particular torment; just as every +malefactor, when he is brought forth to execution, carries his own +cross." + +XXVII. John xix. 32. "Then came the soldiers and brake the legs of the +first, and of the other which was crucified with him." + +Constantine abolished the punishment of the cross: in commending which +edict, a heathen writer notices this very circumstance of breaking the +legs: "Eo pius, ut etiam vetus veterrimumque supplicium, patibulum, et +cruribus suffringendis, primus removerit." Aur. Vict Ces. cap. xli. + +XXVIII. [p. 457.] Acts iii. 1. "Now Peter and John went up together into +the temple, at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour." + +Joseph. Antiq. lib xv. e. 7, sect. 8. "Twice every day, in the morning +and at the ninth hour, the priests perform their, duty at the altar." + +XXIX. [p. 462.] Acts xv. 21. "For Moses of old time hath, in every city, +them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath-day." + +Joseph. contra Ap. 1. ii. "He (Moses) gave us the law, the most +excellent of all institutions; nor did he appoint that it should be +heard once only, or twice, or often, but that, laying aside all other +works, we should meet together every week to hear it read, and gain a +perfect understanding of it." + +XXX. [p. 465.] Acts xxi. 23. "We have four men which have a vow on them; +them take, and purify thyself with them that they may shave their +heads." + +Joseph. de Bell. 1. xi. c. 15. "It is customary for those who have been +afflicted with some distemper, or have laboured under any other +difficulties, to make a vow thirty days before they offer sacrifices, to +abstain from wine, and shave the hair of their heads." + +Ib. v. 24. "Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges +with them, that they may shave their heads." + +Joseph. Antiq. 1. xix. c. 6. "He (Herod Agrippa) coming to Jerusalem, +offered up sacrifices of thanksgiving, and omitted nothing that was +prescribed by the law. For which reason he also ordered a good number of +Nazarites to be shaved." We here find that it was an act of piety +amongst the Jews to defray for those who were under the Nazaritic vow +the expenses which attended its completion; and that the phrase was, +"that they might be saved." The custom and the expression are both +remarkable, and both in close conformity with the Scripture account. + +XXXI. [p. 474.] 2 Cor. xi. 24. "Of the Jews, five times received I forty +stripes save one." + +Joseph. Antiq. iv. c. 8, sect. 21. "He that acts contrary hereto let him +receive forty stripes, wanting one, from the officer." + +The coincidence here is singular, because the law allowed forty +stripes:--"Forty stripes he may give him and not exceed." Deut. xxv. 3. +It proves that the author of the Epistle to the Corinthians was guided +not by books, but by facts; because his statement agrees with the actual +custom, even when that custom deviated from the written law, and from +what he must have learnt by consulting the Jewish code, as set forth in +the Old Testament. + +XXXII. [p. 490.] Luke iii. 12. "Then came also publicans to be +baptized." From this quotation, as well as from the history of Levi or +Matthew (Luke v. 29), and of Zaccheus (Luke xix. 2), it appears that the +publicans or tax-gatherers were, frequently at least, if not always, +Jews: which, as the country was then under a Roman government, and the +taxes were paid to the Romans, was a circumstance not to be expected. +That it was the truth, however, of the case appears from a short passage +of Josephus. + +De Bell. lib. ii. c. 14, sect. 45. "But Florus not restraining these +practices by his authority, the chief men of the Jews, among whom was +John the publican, not knowing well what course to take, wait upon +Florus and give him eight talents of silver to stop the building." + +XXXIII. [p. 496.] Acts xxii. 25. "And as they bound him with thongs, +Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to +scourge a man that is a Roman and uncondemned?" + +"Facinus est vinciri civem Romanum; scelus verberari." Cic. in Verr. + +"Caedebatur virgis, in medio foro Messanae, civis Romanus, Judices: cum +interea nullus gemitus, nulla vox alia, istius miseri inter dolorem +crepitumque plagarum audiebatur, nisi haec, Civis Romanus sum." + +XXXIV. [p. 513] Acts xxii. 27. "Then the chief captain came, and said +unto him (Paul), Tell me, Art thou a Roman? He said Yea." The +circumstance to be here noticed is, that a Jew was a Roman citizen. + +Joseph. Antiq. lib. xiv. c. 10, sect. 13. "Lucius Lentulna, the consul, +declared, I have dismissed from the service the Jewish Roman citizens, +who observe the rites of the Jewish religion at Ephesus." + +Ib. ver. 28. "And the chief captain answered, with a great sum obtained +I this freedom." + +Dio Cassius, lib. lx. "This privilege, which had been bought formerly at +a great price, became so cheap, that it was commonly said a man might be +made a Roman citizen for a few pieces of broken glass." + +XXXV. [p. 521.] Acts xxviii. 16. "And when we came to Rome the centurion +delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard; but Paul was +suffered to dwell by himself, with a soldier that kept him." + +With which join vet. 20. "For the hope of Israel, I am bound with this +chain." + +"Quemadmedum cadem catean et custodiam et militem copulat; sic ista, +quae tam dissimilia sunt, pariter incedunt." Seneca, Ep. v. + +"Proconsul estimare solet, utrum in carcerera recipienda sit persona, an +militi tradenda." Ulpian. l. i. sect. De Custod. et Exhib. Reor. + +In the confinement of Agrippa by the order of Tiberius, Antonia managed +that the centurion who presided over the guards, and the soldier to whom +Agrippa was to be bound, might be men of mild character. (Joseph. Antiq. +lib. xviii. c. 7, sect. 5.) After the accession of Caligula, Agrippa +also, like Paul, was suffered to dwell, yet as a prisoner, in his own +house. + +XXXVI. [p. 531.] Acts xxvii. 1. "And when it was determined that we +should sail into Italy, they delivered Paul, and certain other +prisoners, unto one named Julius." Since not only Paul, but certain +other prisoners were sent by the same ship into Italy, the text must be +considered as carrying with it an intimation that the sending of persons +from Judea to be tried at Rome was an ordinary practice. That in truth +it was so, is made out by a variety of examples which the writings of +Josephus furnish: and, amongst others, by the following, which comes +near both to the time and the subject of the instance in the Acts. +"Felix, for some slight offence, bound and sent to Rome several priests +of his acquaintance, and very good and honest men, to answer for +themselves to Caesar." Joseph. in Vit. sect. 3. + +XXXVII. [p. 539.] Acts xi. 27. "And in these days came prophets from +Jerusalem unto Antioch; and there stood up one of them, named Agabus, +and signified by the Spirit that there should be a great dearth +throughout all the world (or all the country); which came to pass in the +days of Claudius Caesar." + +Joseph. Antiq. 1. xx. c. 4, sect. 2. "In their time (i. e. about the +fifth or sixth year of Claudius) a great dearth happened in Judea." + +XXXVIII. [p. 555.] Acts xviii. 1, 2. "Because that Claudius had +commanded all Jews to depart from Rome." + +Suet. Gland. c. xxv. "Judeos, impulsero Chresto assidue tumultuantes, +Roma expulit." + +XXXIX. [p. 664.] Acts v. 37. "After this man, rose up Judas of Galilee, +in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him." + +Joseph. de Bell. 1. vii. "He (viz. the person who in another place is +called, by Josephus, Judas the Galilean, or Judas of Galilee) persuaded +not a few to enrol themselves when Cyrenius the censor was sent into +Judea." + +XL. [p. 942.] Acts xxi. 38. "Art not thou that Egyptian which, before +these days, madest an uproar, and leddest out into the wilderness four +thousand men that were murderers?" + +Joseph. de Bell. 1. ii. c. 13, sect. 5. "But the Egyptian false prophet +brought a yet heavier disaster upon the Jews; for this impostor, coming +into the country, and gaining the reputation of a prophet, gathered +together thirty thousand men, who were deceived by him. Having brought +them round out of the wilderness, up to the mount of Olives, he intended +from thence to make his attack upon Jerusalem; but Felix, coming +suddenly upon him with the Roman soldiers, prevented the attack.--A +great number, or (as it should rather be rendered) the greatest part, of +those that were with him were either slain or taken prisoners." + +In these two passages, the designation of this impostor, an "Egyptian," +without the proper name, "the wilderness ;" his escape, though his +followers were destroyed; the time of the transaction, in the +presidentship of Felix, which could not be any long time before the +words in Luke are supposed to have been spoken; are circumstances of +close correspondency. There is one, and only one, point of disagreement, +and that is, in the number of his followers, which in the Acts are +called four thousand, and by Josephus thirty thousand: but, beside that +the names of numbers, more than any other words, are liable to the +errors of transcribers, we are in the present instance under the less +concern to reconcile the evangelist with Josephus, as Josephus is not, +in this point, consistent with himself. For whereas, in the passage here +quoted, he calls the number thirty thousand, and tells us that the +greatest part, or a great number (according as his words are rendered) +of those that were with him were destroyed; in his Antiquities he +represents four hundred to have been killed upon this occasion, and two +hundred taken prisoners:(Lib. xx. c. 7, sect. 6.) which certainly was +not the "greatest part," nor "a great part," nor "a great number," out +of thirty thousand. It is probable, also, that Lysias and Josephus spoke +of the expedition in its different stages: Lysias, of those who followed +the Egyptian out of Jerusalem; Josephus, of all who were collected about +him afterwards, from different quarters. + +XLI. (Lardner's Jewish and Heathen Testimonies, vol. iii p. 21.) Acts +xvii. 22. "Then Paul stood in the midst of Marshill, and said, Ye men of +Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious; for, as +I passed by and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this +inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, +him declare I unto you." + +Diogenes Laertius, who wrote about the year 210, in his history of +Epimenides, who is supposed to have flourished nearly six hundred years +before Christ, relates of him the following story: that, being invited +to Athens for the purpose, he delivered the city from a pestilence in +this manner;--"Taking several sheep, some black, others white, he had +them up to the Areopagus, and then let them go where they would, and +gave orders to those who followed them, wherever any of them should lie +down, to sacrifice it to the god to whom it belonged; and so the plague +ceased.--Hence," says the historian, "it has come to pass, that to this +present time may be found in the boroughs of the Athenians ANONYMOUS +altars: a memorial of the expiation then made." (In Epimenide, l. i. +segm. 110.) These altars, it may be presumed, were called anonymous +because there was not the name of any particular deity inscribed upon +them. + +Pausanias, who wrote before the end of the second century, in his +description of Athens, having mentioned an altar of Jupiter Olympius, +adds, "And nigh unto it is an altar of unknown gods." (Paus. l. v. p. +412.) And in another place, he speaks "of altars of gods called +unknown." (Paus. l. i. p. 4.) + +Philostratus, who wrote in the beginning of the third century; records +it as an observation of Apollonius Tyanseus, "That it was wise to speak +well of all the gods, especially at Athens, where altars of unknown +demons were erected." (Philos. Apoll. Tyan. l. vi. c. 3.) + +The author of the dialogue Philoparis by many supposed to have been +Lucian, who wrote about the year 170, by others some anonymous Heathen +writer of the fourth century, makes Critias swear by the unknown god of +Athens; and, near time end of the dialogue, has these words, "But let us +find out the unknown god at Athens, and, stretching our hands to heaven, +offer to him our praises and thanksgivings." (Lucian. in Philop. tom. +ii. Graev. pp. 767, 780.) + +This is a very curious and a very important coincidence. It appears +beyond controversy, that altars with this inscription were existing at +Athens at the time when Saint Paul is alleged to have been there. It +seems also (which is very worthy of observation) that this inscription +was peculiar to the Athenians. There is no evidence that there were +altars inscribed "to the unknown god" in any other country. Supposing +the history of Saint Paul to have been a fable, how is it possible that +such a writer as the author of the Acts of the Apostles was should hit +upon a circumstance so extraordinary, and introduce it by an allusion so +suitable to Saint Paul's office and character? + + +The examples here collected will be sufficient, I hope, to satisfy us +that the writers of the Christian history knew something of what they +were writing about. The argument is also strengthened by the following +considerations: + +I. That these agreements appear not only in articles of public history, +but sometimes in minute, recondite, and very peculiar circumstances, in +which, of all others, a forger is most likely to have been found +tripping. + +II. That the destruction of Jerusalem, which took place forty years +after the commencement of the Christian institution, produced such a +change in the state of the country, and the condition of the Jews, that +a writer who was unacquainted with the circumstances of the nation +before that event would find it difficult to avoid mistakes, in +endeavouring to give detailed accounts of transactions connected with +those circumstances, forasmuch as he could no longer have a living +exemplar to copy from. + +III. That there appears, in the writers of the New Testament, a +knowledge of the affairs of those times which we do not find in authors +of later ages. In particular, "many of the Christian writers of the +second and third centuries, and of the following ages, had false notions +concerning the state of Judea between the nativity of Jesus and the +destruction of Jerusalem." (Lardner, part i. vol. ii. p. 960.) Therefore +they could not have composed our histories. + +Amidst so many conformities we are not to wonder that we meet with some +difficulties. The principal of these I will put down, together with the +solutions which they have received. But in doing this I must be +contented with a brevity better suited to the limits of my volume than +to the nature of a controversial argument. For the historical proofs of +my assertions, and for the Greek criticisms upon which some of them are +founded, I refer the reader to the second volume of the first part of +Dr. Lardner's large work. + +I. The taxing during which Jesus was born was "first made," as we read, +according to our translation, in Saint Luke, "whilst Cyrenius was +governor of Syria." (Chap. ii. ver. 2.) Now it turns out that Cyrenius +was not governor of Syria until twelve, or at the soonest, ten years +after the birth of Christ; and that a taxing census, or assessment, was +made in Judea, in the beginning of his government, The charge, +therefore, brought against the evangelist is, that, intending to refer +to this taxing, he has misplaced the date of it by an error of ten or +twelve years. + +The answer to the accusation is founded in his using the word +"first:"--"And this taxing was first made:" for, according to the +mistake imputed to the evangelist, this word could have no signification +whatever; it could have had no place in his narrative; because, let it +relate to what it will, taxing, census, enrolment, or assessment, it +imports that the writer had more than one of those in contemplation. It +acquits him therefore of the charge: it is inconsistent with the +supposition of his knowing only of the taxing in the beginning of +Cyrenius's government. And if the evangelist knew (which this word +proves that he did) of some other taxing beside that, it is too much, +for the sake of convicting him of a mistake, to lay it down as certain +that he intended to refer to that. + +The sentence in Saint Luke may be construed thus: "This was the first +assessment (or enrolment) of Cyrenius, governor of Syria;"* the words +"governor of Syria" being used after the name of Cyrenius as his +addition or title. And this title, belonging to him at the time of +writing the account, was naturally enough subjoined to his name, though +acquired after the transaction which the account describes. A modern +writer who was not very exact in the choice of his expressions, in +relating the affairs of the East Indies, might easily say that such a +thing was done by Governor Hastings; though, in truth, the thing had +been done by him before his advancement to the station from which he +received the name of governor. And this, as we contend, is precisely the +inaccuracy which has produced the difficulty in Saint Luke. + +_________ + +* If the word which we render "first" be rendered "before," which it +has been strongly contended that the Greek idiom shows of, the whole +difficulty vanishes: for then the passage would be,--"Now this taxing +was made before Cyreulus was governor of Syria;" which corresponds with +the chronology. But I rather choose to argue, that however the word +"first" be rendered, to give it a meaning at all, it militates with the +objection. In this I think there can be no mistake. +_________ + + +At any rate it appears from the form of the expression that he had two +taxings or enrolments in contemplation. And if Cyrenius had been sent +upon this business into Judea before he became governor of Syria +(against which supposition there is no proof, but rather external +evidence of an enrolment going on about this time under some person or +other +), then the census on all hands acknowledged to have been made by +him in the beginning of his government would form a second, so as to +occasion the other to be called the first. + +_________ + ++ Josephus (Antiq. xvii. c. 2, sect. 6.) has this remarkable message: +"When therefore the whole Jewish nation took an oath to be faithful to +Caesar, and the interests of the king." This transaction corresponds in +the course of the history with the time of Christ's birth. What is +called a census, and which we render taxing, was delivering upon oath an +account of their property. This might be accompanied with an oath of +fidelity, or might be mistaken by Josephus for it. +_________ + + +II. Another chronological objection arises upon a date assigned in the +beginning of the third chapter of Saint Luke. (Lardner, part i. vol. ii. +p. 768.) "Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius +Caesar,--Jesus began to be about thirty years of age:" for, supposing +Jesus to have been born as Saint Matthew and Saint Luke also himself +relate, in the time of Herod, he must, according to the dates given in +Josephus and by the Roman historians, have been at least thirty-one +years of age in the fifteenth year of Tiberius. If he was born, as Saint +Matthew's narrative intimates, one or two years before Herod's death, he +would have been thirty-two or thirty-three years old at that time. + +This is the difficulty: the solution turns upon an alteration in the +construction of the Greek. Saint Luke's words in the original are +allowed, by the general opinion of learned men, to signify, not "that +Jesus began to be about thirty years of age," but "that he was about +thirty years of age when he began his ministry." This construction being +admitted, the adverb "about" gives us all the latitude we want, and more +especially when applied, as it is in the present instance, to a decimal +number; for such numbers, even without this qualifying addition, are +often used in a laxer sense than is here contended for.* + +_________ + +* Livy, speaking of the peace which the conduct of Romulus had procured to +the state, during the whole reign of his successor (Numa), has these +words: "Ab illo enim profectis viribus datis tautum valuit, ut, in +quaaraginta deiade annos, tutam proem haberet:" yet afterwards in the +same chapter, "Romulus," he says, "septera et triginta regnavit annos. +Numa tres et quadraginta." (Liv. Hist. c. i. sect. 16.) +_________ + + +III. Acts v. 36. "For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting +himself to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, +joined themselves: who were slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were +scattered and brought to nought." + +Josephus has preserved the account of an impostor of the name of +Theudas, who created some disturbances, and was slain; but according to +the date assigned to this man's appearance (in which, however, it is +very possible that Josephus may have been mistaken), (Michaelis's +Introduction to the New Testament [Marsh's translation], vol. i. p. 61.) +it must have been, at the least, seven years after Gamaliel's speech, of +which this text is a part, was delivered. It has been replied to the +objection, (Lardner, part i. vol. ii. p. 92.) that there might be two +impostors of this name: and it has been observed, in order to give a +general probability to the solution, that the same thing appears to have +happened in other instances of the same kind. It is proved from +Josephus, that there were not fewer than four persons of the name of +Simon within forty years, and not fewer than three of the name of Judas +within ten years, who were all leaders of insurrections: and it is +likewise recorded by this historian, that upon the death of Herod the +Great (which agrees very well with the time of the commotion referred to +by Gamaliel, and with his manner of stating that time, "before these +days") there were innumerable disturbances in Judea. (Antiq. 1. 17, c. +12. sect. 4.) Archbishop Usher was of opinion, that one of the three +Judases above mentioned was Gamaliel's Theudas; (Annals, p. 797.) and +that with a less variation of the name than we actually find in the +Gospel, where one of the twelve apostles is called, by Luke, Judas; and +by Mark, Thaddeus. (Luke vi. 16. Mark iii. 18.) Origen, however he came +at his information, appears to have believed that there was an impostor +of the name of Theudas before the nativity of Christ. (Orig. cont Cels. +p. 44.) + +IV. Matt. xxiii. 34. "Wherefore, behold I send unto you prophets, and +wise men, and scribes, and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and +some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them +from city to city; that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed +upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of +Zacharias, son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the +altar." + +There is a Zacharias whose death is related in the second book of +Chronicles,* in a manner which perfectly supports our Saviour's +allusion. But this Zacharias was the son of Jehoiada. + +_________ + +* "And the Spirit of God came upon Zacharias, the son of Jehoiada the +priest, which stood above the people, and mid unto them, Thus saith God, +Why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord that ye cannot prosper? +Because ye hive forsaken the Lord, he hath also forsaken you. And they +conspired against him, and stoned him with stones, at the commandment of +the king, in the court of the house of the Lord." 2 Chron. xxiv. 20, 21. +_________ + + +There is also Zacharias the prophet; who was the son of Barachiah, and +is so described in the superscription of his prophecy, but of whose +death we have no account. + +I have little doubt but that the first Zacharias was the person spoken +of by our Saviour; and that the name of the father has been since added +or changed, by some one who took it from the title of the prophecy, +which happened to be better known to him than the history in the +Chronicles. + +There is likewise a Zacharias, the son of Baruch, related by Josephus to +have been slain in the temple a few years before the destruction of +Jerusalem. It has been insinuated that the words put into our Saviour's +mouth contain a reference to this transaction, and were composed by some +writer who either confounded the time of the transaction with our +Saviour's age, or inadvertently overlooked the anachronism. + +Now, suppose it to have been so; suppose these words to have been +suggested by the transaction related in Josephus, and to have been +falsely ascribed to Christ; and observe what extraordinary coincidences +(accidentally as it must in that case have been) attend the forger's +mistake. + +First, that we have a Zacharias in the book of Chronicles, whose death, +and the manner of it, corresponds with the allusion. + +Secondly, that although the name of this person's father be erroneously +put down in the Gospel, yet we have a way of accounting for the error by +showing another Zacharias in the Jewish Scriptures much better known +than the former, whose patronymic was actually that which appears in the +text. + +Every one who thinks upon the subject will find these to be +circumstances which could not have met together in a mistake which did +not proceed from the circumstances themselves. + +I have noticed, I think, all the difficulties of this kind. They are +few: some of them admit of a clear, others of a probable solution. The +reader will compare them with the number, the variety, the closeness, +and the satisfactoriness, of the instances which are to be set against +them; and he will remember the scantiness, in many cases, of our +intelligence, and that difficulties always attend imperfect information. + + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +UNDESIGNED COINCIDENCES. + +Between the letters which bear the name of Saint Paul in our collection +and his history in the Acts of the Apostles there exist many notes of +correspondency. The simple perusal of the writings is sufficient to +prove that neither the history was taken from the letters, nor the +letters from the history. And the undesignedness of the agreements +(which undesignedness is gathered from their latency, their minuteness, +their obliquity, the suitableness of the circumstances in which they +consist to the places in which those circumstances occur, and the +circuitous references by which they are traced out) demonstrates that +they have not been produced by meditation, or by any fraudulent +contrivance. But coincidences, from which these causes are excluded, and +which are too close and numerous to be accounted for by accidental +concurrences of fiction, must necessarily have truth for their +foundation. This argument appeared to my mind of so much value +(especially for its assuming nothing beside the existence of the books), +that I have pursued it through Saint Paul's thirteen epistles, in a work +published by me four years ago, under the title of Horae Paulinae. I am +sensible how feebly any argument which depends upon an induction of +particulars is represented without examples. On which account I wished +to have abridged my own volume, in the manner in which I have treated +Dr. Lardner's in the preceding chapter. But, upon making the attempt, I +did not find it in my power to render the articles intelligible by fewer +words than I have there used. I must be content, therefore, to refer the +reader to the work itself. And I would particularly invite his attention +to the observations which are made in it upon the first three epistles. +I persuade myself that he will find the proofs, both of agreement, and +undesignedness, supplied by these epistles, sufficient to support the +conclusion which is there maintained, in favour both of the genuineness +of the writings and the truth of the narrative. + +It remains only, in this place, to point out how the argument bears upon +the general question of the Christian history. + +First, Saint Paul in these letters affirms, in unequivocal terms, his +own performance of miracles, and, what ought particularly to be +remembered, "That miracles were the signs of an Apostle." (Rom. xv. 18, +19. 2 Cor. xii. 12.) If this testimony come from Saint Paul's own hand, +it is invaluable. And that it does so, the argument before us fixes in +my mind a firm assurance. + +Secondly, it shows that the series of action represented in the epistles +of Saint Paul was real; which alone lays a foundation for the +proposition which forms the subject of the first part of our present +work, viz. that the original witnesses of the Christian history devoted +themselves to lives of toil, suffering, and danger, in consequence of +their belief of the truth of that history, and for the sake of +communicating the knowledge of it to others. + +Thirdly, it proves that Luke, or whoever was the author of the Acts of +the Apostles (for the argument does not depend upon the name of the +author, though I know no reason for questioning it), was well acquainted +with Saint Paul's history; and that he probably was, what he professes +himself to be, a companion of Saint Paul's travels; which, if true, +establishes, in a considerable degree, the credit even of his Gospel, +because it shows that the writer, from his time, situation, and +connexions, possessed opportunities of informing himself truly +concerning the transactions which he relates. I have little difficulty +in applying to the Gospel of Saint Luke what is proved concerning the +Acts of the Apostles, considering them as two parts of the same history; +for though there are instances of second parts being forgeries, I know +none where the second part is genuine, and the first not so. + +I will only observe, as a sequel of the argument, though not noticed in +my work, the remarkable similitude between the style of Saint John's +Gospel and of Saint John's Epistle. The style of Saint John's is not at +all the style of Saint Paul's Epistles, though both are very singular; +nor is it the style of Saint James's or of Saint Peter's Epistles: but +it bears a resemblance to the style of the Gospel inscribed with Saint +John's name, so far as that resemblance can be expected to appear, which +is not in simple narrative, so much as in reflections, and in the +representation of discourses. Writings so circumstanced prove +themselves, and one another, to be genuine. This correspondency is the +more valuable, as the epistle itself asserts, in Saint John's manner, +indeed, but in terms sufficiently explicit, the writer's personal +knowledge of Christ's history: "That which was from the beginning, which +we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked +upon, and our hands have handled, of the word of life; that which we +have seen and heard, declare we unto you." (Ch. i. ver. 1--3.)Who would +not desire, who perceives not the value of an account delivered by a +writer so well informed as this? + + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +OF THE HISTORY OF THE RESURRECTION. + +The history of the resurrection of Christ is a part of the evidence of +Christianity: but I do not know whether the proper strength of this +passage of the Christian history, or wherein its peculiar value, as a +head of evidence, consists, be generally understood. It is not that, as +a miracle, the resurrection ought to be accounted a more decisive +proof of supernatural agency than other miracles are; it is not that, as +it stands in the Gospels, it is better attested than some others; it is +not, for either of these reasons, that more weight belongs to it than to +other miracles, but for the following, viz., That it is completely +certain that the apostles of Christ, and the first teachers of +Christianity, asserted the fact. And this would have been certain, if +the four Gospels had been lost, or never written. Every piece of +Scripture recognizes the resurrection. Every epistle of every apostle, +every author contemporary with the apostles, of the age immediately +succeeding the apostles, every writing from that age to the present +genuine or spurious, on the side of Christianity or against it, concur +in representing the resurrection of Christ as an article of his history, +received without doubt or disagreement by all who called themselves +Christians, as alleged from the beginning by the propagators of the +institution, and alleged as the centre of their testimony. Nothing, I +apprehend, which a man does not himself see or hear can be more certain +to him than this point. I do not mean that nothing can be more certain +than that Christ rose from the dead; but that nothing can be more +certain than that his apostles, and the first teachers of Christianity, +gave out that he did so. In the other parts of the Gospel narrative, a +question may be made, whether the things related of Christ be the very +things which the apostles and first teachers of the religion delivered +concerning him? And this question depends a good deal upon the evidence +we possess of the genuineness, or rather perhaps of the antiquity, +credit, and reception of the books. On the subject of the resurrection, +no such discussion is necessary, because no such doubt can be +entertained. The only points which can enter into our consideration are, +whether the apostles knowingly published a falsehood, or whether they +were themselves deceived; whether either of these suppositions be +possible. The first, I think, is pretty generally given up. The nature +of the undertaking, and of the men; the extreme unlikelihood that such +men should engage in such a measure as a scheme; their personal toils, +and dangers and sufferings in the cause; their appropriation of their +whole time to the object; the warm and seemingly unaffected zeal and +earnestness with which they profess their sincerity exempt +their memory from the suspicion of imposture. The solution more +deserving of notice is that which would resolve the conduct of the +apostles into enthusiasm; which would class the evidence of Christ's +resurrection with the numerous stories that are extant of the +apparitions of dead men. There are circumstances in the narrative, as it +is preserved in our histories, which destroy this comparison entirely. +It was not one person but many, who saw him; they saw him not only +separately but together, not only by night but by day, not at a distance +but near, not once but several times; they not only saw him, but touched +him, conversed with him, ate with him, examined his person to satisfy +their doubts. These particulars are decisive: but they stand, I do +admit, upon the credit of our records. I would answer, therefore, the +insinuation of enthusiasm, by a circumstance which arises out of the +nature of the thing; and the reality of which must be confessed by all +who allow, what I believe is not denied, that the resurrection of +Christ, whether true or false, was asserted by his disciples from the +beginning; and that circumstance is, the non-production of the dead +body. It is related in the history, what indeed the story of the +resurrection necessarily implies, that the corpse was missing out of the +sepulchre: it is related also in the history, that the Jews reported +that the followers of Christ had stolen it away.* And this account, +though loaded with great improbabilities, such as the situation of the +disciples, their fears for their own safety at the time, the +unlikelihood of their expecting to succeed, the difficulty of actual +success,+ and the inevitable consequence of detection and failure, was, +nevertheless, the most credible account that could be given of the +matter. But it proceeds entirely upon the supposition of fraud, as all +the old objections did. What account can be given of the body, upon the +supposition of enthusiasm? It is impossible our Lord's followers could +believe that he was risen from the dead, if his corpse was lying before +them. No enthusiasm ever reached to such a pitch of extravagancy as +that: a spirit may be an illusion; a body is a real thing, an object of +sense, in which there can be no mistake. All accounts of spectres leave +the body in the grave. And although the body of Christ might be removed +by fraud, and for the purposes of fraud, yet without any such intention, +and by sincere but deluded men (which is the representation of the +apostolic character we are now examining), no such attempt could be +made. The presence and the absence of the dead body are alike +inconsistent with the hypothesis of enthusiasm: for if present, it must +have cured their enthusiasm at once; if absent, fraud, not enthusiasm, +must have carried it away. + +_________ + +* "And this saying," Saint Matthew writes, "is commonly reported amongst +the Jews until this day" (chap. xxviii. 15). The evangelist may be +thought good authority as to this point, even by those who do not admit +his evidence in every other point: and this point is sufficient to prove +that the body was missing. It has been rightly, I think, observed by Dr. +Townshend (Dis. upon the Res. p. 126), that the story of the guards +carried collusion upon the face of it:--"His disciples came by night, +and stole him away while we slept." Men in their circumstances would not +have made such an acknowledgment of their negligence without previous +assurances of protection and impunity. + ++ "Especially at the full moon, the city full of people, many probably +passing the whole night, as Jesus and his disciples had done, in the +open air, the sepulchre so near the city as to be now enclosed within +the walls." Priestley on the Resurr. p. 24. +_________ + + +But further, if we admit, upon the concurrent testimony of all the +histories, so much of the account as states that the religion of Jesus +was set up at Jerusalem, and set up with asserting, in the very place in +which he had been buried, and a few days after he had been buried, his +resurrection out of the grave, it is evident that, if his body could +have been found, the Jews would have produced it, as the shortest and +completest answer possible to the whole story. The attempt of the +apostles could not have survived this refutation a moment. If we also +admit, upon the authority of Saint Matthew, that the Jews were +advertised of the expectation of Christ's followers, and that they had +taken due precaution in consequence of this notice, and that the body +was in marked and public custody, the observation receives more force +still. For notwithstanding their precaution and although thus prepared +and forewarned; when the story of the resurrection of Christ came forth, +as it immediately did; when it was publicly asserted by his disciples, +and made the ground and basis of their preaching in his name, and +collecting followers to his religion, the Jews had not the body to +produce; but were obliged to meet the testimony of the apostles by an +answer not containing indeed any impossibility in itself, but absolutely +inconsistent with the supposition of their integrity; that is, in other +words, inconsistent with the supposition which would resolve their +conduct into enthusiasm. + + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE PROPAGATION OF CHRISTIANITY. + +In this argument, the first consideration is the fact--in what degree, +within what time, and to what extent, Christianity actually was +propagated. + +The accounts of the matter which can be collected from our books are as +follow: A few days after Christ's disappearance out of the world, we +find an assembly of disciples at Jerusalem, to the number of "about one +hundred and twenty;" (Acts i. 15.) which hundred and twenty were +probably a little association of believers, met together not merely as +believers in Christ, but as personally connected with the apostles, and +with one another. Whatever was the number of believers then in +Jerusalem, we have no reason to be surprised that so small a company +should assemble: for there is no proof that the followers of Christ were +yet formed into a society; that the society was reduced into any order; +that it was at this time even understood that a new religion (in the +sense which that term conveys to us) was to be set up in the world, or +how the professors of that religion were to be distinguished from the +rest of mankind. The death of Christ had left, we may suppose, the +generality of his disciples in great doubt, both as to what they were to +do, and concerning what was to follow. + +This meeting was holden, as we have already said, a few days after +Christ's ascension: for ten days after that event was the day of +Pentecost, when, as our history relates, (Acts ii. 1.) upon a signal +display of divine agency attending the persons of the apostles, there +were added to the society "about three thousand souls." (Acts ii. 41.) +But here, it is not, I think, to be taken, that these three thousand +were all converted by this single miracle; but rather that many who +before were believers in Christ became now professors of Christianity; +that is to say, when they found that a religion was to be established, a +society formed and set up in the name of Christ, governed by his laws, +avowing their belief in his mission, united amongst themselves, and +separated from the rest of the world by visible distinctions; in +pursuance of their former conviction, and by virtue of what they had +heard and seen, and known of Christ's history, they publicly became +members of it. + +We read in the fourth chapter (verse 4) of the Acts, that soon after +this, "the number of the men," i. e. the society openly professing their +belief in Christ, "was about five thousand." So that here is an increase +of two thousand within a very short time. And it is probable that there +were many, both now and afterwards, who, although they believed in +Christ, did not think it necessary to join themselves to this society; +or who waited to see what was likely to become of it. Gamaliel, whose +advice to the Jewish council is recorded Acts v. 34, appears to have +been of this description; perhaps Nicodemus, and perhaps also Joseph of +Arimathea. This class of men, their character and their rank, are +likewise pointed out by Saint John, in the twelfth chapter of his +Gospel: "Nevertheless, among the chief rulers also many believed on him, +but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should +be put out of the synagogue, for they loved the praise of men more than +the praise of God." Persons such as these might admit the miracles of +Christ, without being immediately convinced that they were under +obligation to make a public profession of Christianity at the risk of +all that was dear to them in life, and even of life itself.* + +_________ + +* "Beside those who professed, and those who rejected and opposed, +Christianity, there were in all probability multitudes between both, +neither perfect Christians nor yet unbelievers. They had a favourable +opinion of the Gospel, but worldly considerations made them unwilling to +own it. There were many circumstances which inclined them to think that +Christianity was a divine revelation, but there were many inconveniences +which attended the open profession of it; and they could not find in +themselves courage enough to bear them to disoblige their friends and +family, to ruin their fortunes, to lose their reputation, their liberty, +and their life, for the sake of the new religion. Therefore they were +willing to hope, that if they endeavoured to observe the great +principles of morality which Christ had represented as the principal +part, the sum and substance of religion; if they thought honourably of +the Gospel; if they offered no injury to the Christians; if they did +them all the services that they could safely perform, they were willing +to hope that God would accept this, and that He would excuse and forgive +the rest." Jortin's Dis. on the Christ. Rel. p. 91, ed. 4. +_________ + + +Christianity, however, proceeded to increase in Jerusalem by a progress +equally rapid with its first success; for in the next chapter of our +history, we read that "believers were the more added to the Lord, +multitudes both of men and women." And this enlargement of the new +society appears in the first verse of the succeeding chapter, wherein we +are told, that "when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there +arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews because their +widows were neglected;" (Acts v. 14; vi. 1) and afterwards, in the same +chapter, it is declared expressly, that "the number of the disciples +multiplied in Jerusalem greatly, and that a great company of the priests +were obedient to the faith." + +This I call the first period in the propagation of Christianity. It +commences with the ascension of Christ, and extends, as may be collected +from incidental notes of time, (Vide Pearson's Antiq. 1. xviii. c. 7. +Benson's History of Christ, b. i. p. 148.) to something more than one +year after that event. During which term, the preaching of Christianity, +so far as our documents inform us, was confined to the single city of +Jerusalem. And how did it succeed there? The first assembly which we +meet with of Christ's disciples, and that a few days after his removal +from the world, consisted of "one hundred and twenty." About a week +after this, "three thousand were added in one day;" and the number of +Christians publicly baptized, and publicly associating together, was +very soon increased to "five thousand." "Multitudes both of men and +women continued to be added;" "disciples multiplied greatly," and "many +of the Jewish priesthood as well as others, became obedient to the +faith;" and this within a space of less than two years from the +commencement of the institution. + +By reason of a persecution raised against the church at Jerusalem, the +converts were driven from that city, and dispersed throughout the +regions of Judea and Samaria. (Acts viii. l.) Wherever they came, they +brought their religion with them: for our historian informs us, (Acts +viii. 4.) that "they that were scattered abroad went everywhere +preaching the word." The effect of this preaching comes afterwards to be +noticed, where the historian is led, in the course of his narrative, to +observe that then (i. e. about three years posterior to this, [Benson, +b. i. p. 207.]) the churches had rest throughout all Judea and Galilee +and Samaria, and were edified, and walking in the fear of the Lord, and +in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied. This was the work of +the second period, which comprises about four years. + +Hitherto the preaching of the Gospel had been confined to Jews, to +Jewish proselytes, and to Samaritans. And I cannot forbear from setting +down in this place an observation of Mr. Bryant, which appears to me to +be perfectly well founded;--"The Jews still remain: but how seldom is it +that we can make a single proselyte! There is reason to think, that +there were more converted by the apostles in one day than have since +been won over in the last thousand years." (Bryant on the Truth of the +Christian Religion, p. 112.) It was not yet known to the apostles that +they were at liberty to propose the religion to mankind at large. That +"mystery," as Saint Paul calls it, (Eph. iii. 3--6.) and as it then was, +was revealed to Peter by an especial miracle. It appears to have been +(Benson, book ii. p. 236.) about seven years after Christ's ascension +that the Gospel was preached to the Gentiles of Cesarea. A year after +this a great multitude of Gentiles were converted at Antioch in Syria. +The expressions employed by the historian are these:--"A great number +believed, and turned to the Lord;" "much people was added unto the +Lord;" "the apostles Barnabas and Paul taught much people." (Acts xi. +21, 24, 26.) Upon Herod's death, which happened in the next +year, (Benson, book ii, p. 289.) it is observed, that "the word of God +grew and multiplied." (Acts xii. 24.) Three years from this time, upon +the preaching of Paul at Iconium, the metropolis of Lycaonia, "a great +multitude both of Jews and Greeks believed:" (Acts xiv. 1.) and +afterwards, in the course of this very progress, he is represented as +"making many disciples" at Derbe, a principal city in the same district. +Three years (Benson's History of Christ, book iii. p. 50.) after this, +which brings us to sixteen after the ascension, the apostles wrote a +public letter from Jerusalem to the Gentile converts in Antioch, Syria, +and Cilicia, with which letter Paul travelled through these countries, +and found the churches "established in the faith, and increasing in +number daily." (Acts xvi. 5.) From Asia the apostle proceeded into +Greece, where, soon after his arrival in Macedonia, we find him at +Thessalonica: in which city, "some of the Jews believed, and of the +devout Greeks a great multitude." (Acts xvii. 4.) We meet also here with +an accidental hint of the general progress of the Christian mission, in +the exclamation of the tumultuous Jews of Thessalonica, "that they who +had turned the world upside down were come thither also." (Acts xvii. +6.) At Berea, the next city at which Saint Paul arrives, the historian, +who was present, inform us that "many of the Jews believed." (Acts xvii. +12.) The next year and a half of Saint Paul's ministry was spent at +Corinth. Of his success in that city we receive the following +intimations; "that many of the Corinthians believed and were baptized;" +and "that it was revealed to the Apostle by Christ, that be had much +people in that city." (Acts xviii, 8--10.) Within less than a year after +his departure from Corinth, and twenty-five (Benson, book iii. p, 160.) +years after the ascension, Saint Paul fixed his station at Ephesus for +the space of two years (Acts xix. 10.) and something more. The effect of +his ministry in that city and neighbourhood drew from the historian a +reflection how "mightily grew the word of God and prevailed." (Acts xix. +20.) And at the conclusion of this period we find Demetrius at the head +of a party, who were alarmed by the progress of the religion, +complaining, that "not only at Ephesus, but also throughout all Asia +(i. e. the province of Lydia, and the country adjoining to Ephesus), this +Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people." (Acts xix. 26.) Beside +these accounts, there occurs, incidentally, mention of converts at Rome, +Alexandria, Athens, Cyprus, Cyrene, Macedonia, Philippi. + +This is the third period in the propagation of Christianity, setting off +in the seventh year after the ascension, and ending at the +twenty-eighth. Now, lay these three periods together, and observe how +the progress of the religion by these accounts is represented. The +institution, which properly began only after its Author's removal from +the world, before the end of thirty years, had spread itself through +Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, almost all the numerous districts of the +Lesser Asia, through Greece, and the islands of the Aegean Sea, the +seacoast of Africa, and had extended itself to Rome, and into Italy. At +Antioch, in Syria, at Joppa, Ephesus, Corinth, Thessalonica, Berea, +Iconium, Derbe, Antioch in Pisidia, at Lydda, Saron, the number of +converts is intimated by the expressions, "a great number," "great +multitudes," "much people." Converts are mentioned, without any +designation of their number,* at Tyre, Cesarea, Troas, Athens, Philippi, +Lystra, Damascus. During all this time Jerusalem continued not only the +centre of the mission, but a principal seat of the religion; for when +Saint Paul returned thither at the conclusion of the period of which we +are now considering the accounts, the other apostles pointed out to him, +as a reason for his compliance with their advice, "how many thousands +(myriads, ten thousands) there were in that city who believed."+ + +_________ + +* Considering the extreme conciseness of many parts of the history, the +silence about the number of converts is no proof of their paucity; for +at Philippi, no mention whatever is made of the number, yet Saint Paul +addressed an epistle to that church. The churches of Galatia, and the +affairs of those churches, were considerable enough to be the subject of +another letter, and of much of Saint Paul's solicitude; yet no account +is preserved in the history of his success, or even of his preaching in +that country, except the slight notice which these words convey:--"When +they had gone throughout Phrygia, and the region of Galatia, they +assayed to go into Bithynia." Acts xvi. 6. + ++ Acts xxi. 20. +_________ + + +Upon this abstract, and the writing from which it is drawn, the +following observations seem material to be made: + +I. That the account comes from a person who was himself concerned in a +portion of what he relates, and was contemporary with the whole of it; +who visited Jerusalem, and frequented the society of those who had +acted, and were acting the chief parts in the transaction. I lay down +this point positively; for had the ancient attestations to this valuable +record been less satisfactory than they are, the unaffectedness and +simplicity with which the author notes his presence upon certain +occasions, and the entire absence of art and design from these notices, +would have been sufficient to persuade my mind that, whoever he was, he +actually lived in the times, and occupied the situation, in which he +represents himself to be. When I say, "whoever he was," I do not mean to +cast a doubt upon the name to which antiquity hath ascribed the Acts of +the Apostles (for there is no cause, that I am acquainted with, for +questioning it), but to observe that, in such a case as this, the time +and situation of the author are of more importance than his name; and +that these appear from the work itself, and in the most unsuspicious +form. + +II. That this account is a very incomplete account of the preaching and +propagation of Christianity; I mean, that if what we read in the history +be true, much more than what the history contains must be true also. +For, although the narrative from which our information is derived has +been entitled the Acts of the Apostles, it is, in fact, a history of the +twelve apostles only during a short time of their continuing together at +Jerusalem; and even of this period the account is very concise. The work +afterwards consists of a few important passages of Peter's ministry, of +the speech and death of Stephen, of the preaching of Philip the deacon; +and the sequel of the volume, that is, two thirds of the whole, is taken +up with the conversion, the travels, the discourses, and history of the +new apostle, Paul; in which history, also, large portions of time are +often passed over with very scanty notice. + +III. That the account, so far as it goes, is for this very reason more +credible. Had it been the author's design to have displayed the early +progress of Christianity, he would undoubtedly have collected, or at +least have set forth, accounts of the preaching of the rest of the +apostles, who cannot without extreme improbability be supposed to have +remained silent and inactive, or not to have met with a share of that +success which attended their colleagues. + +To which may be added, as an observation of the same kind, + +IV. That the intimations of the number of converts, and of the success +of the preaching of the apostles, come out for the most part +incidentally: are drawn from the historian by the occasion, such as the +murmuring of the Grecian converts; the rest from persecution; Herod's +death; the sending of Barnabas to Antioch, and Barnabas calling Paul to +his assistance; Paul coming to a place and finding there disciples; the +clamour of the Jews; the complaint of artificers interested in the +support of the popular religion; the reason assigned to induce Paul to +give satisfaction to the Christians of Jerusalem. Had it not been for +these occasions it is probable that no notice whatever would have been +taken of the number of converts in several of the passages in which that +notice now appears. All this tends to remove the suspicion of a design +to exaggerate or deceive. + +PARALLEL TESTIMONIES with the history are the letters of Saint Paul, and +of the other apostles, which have come down to us. Those of Saint Paul +are addressed to the churches of Corinth, Philippi, Thessalonica, the +church of Galatia, and, if the inscription be right, of Ephesus; his +ministry at all which places is recorded in the history: to the church +of Colosse, or rather to the churches of Colosse and Laodicea jointly, +which he had not then visited. They recognise by reference the churches +of Judea, the churches of Asia, and "all the churches of the Gentiles." +(Thess ii. 14.) In the Epistle to the Romans (Rom. xv. 18, 19.) the +author is led to deliver a remarkable declaration concerning the extent +of his preaching, its efficacy, and the cause to which he ascribes +it,--"to make the Gentiles obedient by word and deed, through mighty +signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from +Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the +Gospel of Christ." In the epistle to the Colossians, (Col. i. 23.) we +find an oblique but very strong signification of the then general state +of the Christian mission, at least as it appeared to Saint Paul:--"If ye +continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved away from +the hope of the Gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to +every creature which is under heaven;" which Gospel, he had reminded +them near the beginning of his letter (Col. i. 6.), "was present with +them, as it was in all the world." The expressions are hyperbolical; but +they are hyperboles which could only be used by a writer who entertained +a strong sense of the subject. The first epistle of Peter accosts the +Christians dispersed throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and +Bithynia. + +It comes next to be considered how far these accounts are confirmed or +followed up by other evidence. + +Tacitus, in delivering a relation, which has already been laid before +the reader, of the fire which happened at Rome in the tenth year of Nero +(which coincides with the thirtieth year after Christ's ascension), +asserts that the emperor, in order to suppress the rumours of having +been himself the author of the mischief, procured the Christians to be +accused. Of which Christians, thus brought into his narrative, the +following is so much of the historian's account as belongs to our +present purpose: "They had their denomination from Christus, who, in the +reign of Tiberius, was put to death as a criminal by the procurator +Pontius Pilate. This pernicious superstition, though checked for a +while, broke out again, and spread not only over Judea, but reached the +city also. At first they only were apprehended who confessed themselves +of that sect; afterwards vast multitude were discovered by them." This +testimony to the early propagation of Christianity is extremely +material. It is from an historian of great reputation, living near the +time; from a stranger and an enemy to the religion; and it joins +immediately with the period through which the Scripture accounts extend. +It establishes these points: that the religion began at Jerusalem; that +it spread throughout Judea; that it had reached Rome, and not only so, +but that it had there obtained a great number of converts. This was +about six years after the time that Saint Paul wrote his Epistle to the +Romans, and something more than two years after he arrived there +himself. The converts to the religion were then so numerous at Rome, +that of those who were betrayed by the information of the persons first +persecuted, a great multitude (multitudo ingens) were discovered and +seized. + +It seems probable, that the temporary check which Tacitus represents +Christianity to have received (repressa in praesens) referred to the +persecution of Jerusalem which followed the death of Stephen (Acts +viii.); and which, by dispersing the converts, caused the institution, +in some measure, to disappear. Its second eruption at the same place, +and within a short time, has much in it of the character of truth. It +was the firmness and perseverance of men who knew what they relied +upon. + +Next in order of time, and perhaps superior in importance is the +testimony of Pliny the Younger. Pliny was the Roman governor of Pontus +and Bithynia, two considerable districts in the northern part of Asia +Minor. The situation in which he found his province led him to apply to +the emperor (Trajan) for his direction as to the conduct he was to hold +towards the Christians. The letter in which this application is +contained was written not quite eighty years after Christ's ascension. +The president, in this letter, states the measures he had already +pursued, and then adds, as his reason for resorting to the emperor's +counsel and authority, the following words:--"Suspending all judicial +proceedings, I have recourse to you for advice; for it has appeared to +me a matter highly deserving consideration, especially on account of the +great number of persons who are in danger of suffering: for many of all +ages, and of every rank, of both sexes likewise, are accused, and will +be accused. Nor has the contagion of this superstition seized cities +only, but the lesser towns also, and the open country. Nevertheless it +seemed to me that it may be restrained and corrected. It is certain that +the temples, which were almost forsaken, begin to be more frequented; +and the sacred solemnities, after a long intermission, are revived. +Victims, likewise, are everywhere (passim) bought up; whereas, for some +time, there were few to purchase them. Whence it is easy to imagine that +numbers of men might be reclaimed if pardon were granted to those that +shall repent." (C. Plin. Trajano Imp. lib. x. ep. xcvii.) + +It is obvious to observe, that the passage of Pliny's letter here +quoted, proves, not only that the Christians in Pontus and Bithynia were +now numerous, but that they had subsisted there for some considerable +time. "It is certain," he says, "that the temples, which were almost +forsaken (plainly ascribing this desertion of the popular worship to the +prevalency of Christianity), begin to be more frequented; and the sacred +solemnities, after a long intermission, are revived." There are also two +clauses in the former part of the letter which indicate the same thing; +one, in which he declares that he had "never been present at any trials +of Christians, and therefore knew not what was the usual subject of +inquiry and punishment, or how far either was wont to be urged." The +second clause is the following: "Others were named by an informer, who, +at first, confessed themselves Christians, and afterwards denied it; the +rest said they had been Christians some three years ago, some longer, +and some about twenty years." It is also apparent, that Pliny speaks of +the Christians as a description of men well known to the person to whom +he writes. His first sentence concerning them is, "I have never been +present at the trials of Christians." This mention of the name of +Christians, without any preparatory explanation, shows that it was a +term familiar both to the writer of the letter and the person to whom it +was addressed. Had it not been so, Pliny would naturally have begun his +letter by informing the emperor that he had met with a certain set of +men in the province called Christians. + +Here then is a very singular evidence of the progress of the Christian +religion in a short space. It was not fourscore years after the +crucifixion of Jesus when Pliny wrote this letter; nor seventy years +since the apostles of Jesus began to mention his name to the Gentile +world. Bithynia and Pontus were at a great distance from Judea, the +centre from which the religion spread; yet in these provinces +Christianity had long subsisted, and Christians were now in such numbers +as to lead the Roman governor to report to the emperor that they were +found not only in cities, but in villages and in open countries; of all +ages, of every rank and condition; that they abounded so much as to have +produced a visible desertion of the temples; that beasts brought to +market for victims had few purchasers; that the sacred solemnities were +much neglected:--circumstances noted by Pliny for the express purpose of +showing to the emperor the effect and prevalency of the new institution. + +No evidence remains by which it can be proved that the Christians were +more numerous in Pontus and Bithynia than in other parts of the Roman +empire; nor has any reason been offered to show why they should be so. +Christianity did not begin in these countries, nor near them. I do not +know, therefore, that we ought to confine the description in Pliny's +letter to the state of Christianity in these provinces, even if no other +account of the same subject had come down to us; but, certainly, this +letter may fairly be applied in aid and confirmation of the +representations given of the general state of Christianity in the world, +by Christian writers of that and the next succeeding age. + +Justin Martyr, who wrote about thirty years after Pliny, and one hundred +and six after the ascension, has these remarkable words: "There is not a +nation, either of Greek or barbarian, or of any other name, even of +those who wander in tribes, and live in tents, amongst whom prayers and +thanksgivings are not offered to the Father and Creator of the universe +by the name of the crucified Jesus." (Dial cum Tryph.) Tertullian, who +comes about fifty years after Justin, appeals to the governors of the +Roman empire in these terms: "We were but of yesterday, and we have +filled your cities, islands, towns, and boroughs, the camp, the senate, +and the forum. They (the heathen adversaries of Christianity) lament +that every sex, age, and condition, and persons of every rank also, are +converts to that name." (Tertull. Apol. c. 37.) I do allow that these +expressions are loose, and may be called declamatory. But even +declamation hath its bounds; this public boasting upon a subject which +must be known to every reader was not only useless but unnatural, unless +the truth of the case, in a considerable degree, corresponded with the +description; at least, unless it had been both true and notorious, that +great multitudes of Christians, of all ranks and orders, were to be +found in most parts of the Roman empire. The same Tertullian, in another +passage, by way of setting forth the extensive diffusion of +Christianity, enumerates as belonging to Christ, beside many other +countries, the "Moors and Gaetulians of Africa, the borders of Spain, +several nations of France, and parts of Britain inaccessible to the +Romans, the Sarmatians, Daci, Germans, and Scythians;" (Ad Jud. c. 7.) +and, which is more material than the extent of the institution, the +number of Christians in the several countries in which it prevailed is +thus expressed by him: "Although so great a multitude, that in almost +every city we form the greater part, we pass our time modestly and in +silence." (Ad Scap. c. iii.) A Clemens Alexandrinus, who preceded +Tertullian by a few years, introduced a comparison between the success +of Christianity and that of the most celebrated philosophical +institutions: "The philosophers were confined to Greece, and to their +particular retainers; but the doctrine of the Master of Christianity not +remain in Judea, as philosophy did in Greece, but is throughout the +whole world, in every nation, and village, and city, both of Greeks and +barbarians, converting both whole houses and separate individuals, +having already brought over to the truth not a few of the philosophers +themselves. If the Greek philosophy he prohibited, it immediately +vanishes; whereas, from the first preaching of our doctrine, kings and +tyrants, governors and presidents, with their whole train, and with the +populace on their side, have endeavoured with their whole might to +exterminate it, yet doth it flourish more and more." (Clem. AI. Strora. +lib. vi. ad fin.) Origen, who follows Tertullian at the distance of only +thirty years, delivers nearly the same account: "In every part of the +world," says he, "throughout all Greece, and in all other nations, there +are innumerable and immense multitudes, who, having left the laws of +their country, and those whom they esteemed gods, have given themselves +up to the law of Moses, and the religion of Christ: and this +not without the bitterest resentment from the idolaters, by whom they +were frequently put to torture, and sometimes to death: and it is +wonderful to observe how, in so short a time, the religion has +increased, amidst punishment and death, and every kind of torture." +(Orig. in Cels. lib. i.) In another passage, Origen draws the following +candid comparison between the state of Christianity in his time and the +condition of its more primitive ages: "By the good providence of God, +the Christian religion has so flourished and increased continually that +it is now preached freely without molestation, although there were a +thousand obstacles to the spreading of the doctrine of Jesus in the +world. But as it was the will of God that the Gentiles should have the +benefit of it, all the counsels of men against the Christians were +defeated: and by how much the more emperors and governors of provinces, +and the people everywhere strove to depress them, so much the more have +they increased and prevailed exceedingly." (Orig. cont. Cels. lib vii.) + +It is well known that, within less than eighty years after this, the +Roman empire became Christian under Constantine: and it is probable that +Constantine declared himself on the side of the Christians because they +were the powerful party: for Arnobius, who wrote immediately before +Constantine's accession, speaks of "the whole world as filled with +Christ's doctrine, of its diffusion throughout all countries, of an +innumerable body of Christians in distant provinces, of the strange +revolution of opinion of men of the greatest genius,--orators, +grammarians, rhetoricians, lawyers, physicians having come over to the +institution, and that also in the face of threats, executions and +tortures." (Arnob. in Genres, 1. i. pp. 27, 9, 24, 42, 41. edit. Lug. +Bat. 1650.) + +And not more than twenty years after Constantine's entire possession of +the empire, Julius Firmiens Maternus calls upon the emperors Constantius +and Constans to extirpate the relics of the ancient religion; the +reduced and fallen condition of which is described by our author in the +following words: "Licet adhue in quibusdam regionibus idololatriae +morientia palpitont membra; tamen in eo res est, ut a Christianis +omnibus terris pestiferum hoc malum funditus amputetur:" and in another +place, "Modicum tautum superest, ut legibus vestris--extincta +idololatriae pereat funesta contagio." (De Error. Profan. Relig. c. xxi. +p. 172, quoted by Lardner, vol. viii. p. 262.) It will not be thought +that we quote this writer in order to recommend his temper or his +judgment, but to show the comparative state of Christianity and of +Heathenism at this period. Fifty years afterwards, Jerome represents the +decline of Paganism, in language which conveys the same idea of its +approaching extinction: "Solitudinem patitur et in urbe gentilitas. Dii +quondam nationum, cum bubonibus et noctuis, in solis culminibus +remanserunt." (Jer. ad Lect. ep. 5, 7.) Jerome here indulges a triumph, +natural and allowable in a zealous friend of the cause, but which could +only be suggested to his mind by the consent and universality with which +he saw; the religion received. "But now," says he, "the passion and +resurrection of Christ are celebrated in the discourses and writings of +all nations. I need not mention Jews, Greeks, and Latins. The Indians, +Persians, Goths, and Egyptians philosophise, and firmly believe the +immortality of the soul, and future recompenses, which, before, the +greatest philosophers had denied, or doubted of, or perplexed with their +disputes. The fierceness of Thracians and Scythians is now softened by +the gentle sound of the Gospel; and everywhere Christ is all in all." +(Jer. ad Lect. ep. 8, ad Heliod.) Were, therefore, the motives of +Constantine's conversion ever so problematical, the easy establishment +of Christianity, and the ruin of Heathenism, under him and his immediate +successors, is of itself a proof of the progress which had made in the +preceding period. It may be added also, "that Maxentius, the rival of +Constantine, had shown himself friendly to the Christians. Therefore of +those who were contending for worldly power and empire, one actually +favoured and flattered them, and another may be suspected to have joined himself to them partly from consideration of interest: so considerable +were they become, under external disadvantages of all sorts." (Lardner, +vol. vii. p. 380.) This at least is certain, that, throughout the whole +transaction hitherto, the great seemed to follow, not to lead, the public +opinion. + +It may help to convey to us some notion of the extent and progress of +Christianity, or rather of the character and quality of many early +Christians, of their learning and their labours, to notice the number of +Christian writers who flourished in these ages. Saint Jerome's catalogue +contains sixty-six writers within the first three centuries, and the +first six years of the fourth; and fifty-four between that time and his +own, viz. A. D. 392. Jerome introduces his catalogue with the following +just remonstrance:--"Let those who say the church has had no +philosophers, nor eloquent and learned men, observe who and what they +were who founded, established, and adorned it; let them cease to accuse +our faith of rusticity, and confess their mistake." (Jer. Prol. in Lib. +de Ser. Eccl.) Of these writers, several, as Justin, Irenaeus, Clement +of Alexandria, Tertullian, Origen, Bardesanes, Hippolitus, Eusebius, +were voluminous writers. Christian writers abounded particularly about +the year 178. Alexander, bishop of Jerusalem, founded a library in that +city, A.D. 212. Pamphilus, the friend of Origen, founded a library at +Cesarea, A.D. 294. Public defences were also set forth, by various +advocates of the religion, in the course of its first three centuries. +Within one hundred years after Christ's ascension, Quadratus and +Aristides, whose works, except some few fragments of the first, are +lost; and, about twenty years afterwards, Justin Martyr, whose works +remain, presented apologies for the Christian religion to the Roman +emperors; Quadratus and Aristides to Adrian, Justin to Antoninus Pins, +and a second to Marcus Antoninus. Melito, bishop of Sardis, and +Apollinaris, bishop of Hierapolis, and Miltiades, men of great +reputation, did the same to Marcus Antoninus, twenty years +afterwards; (Euseb. Hist. lib. iv. c. 26. See also Lardner, vol. ii. p. +666.) and ten years after this, Apollonius, who suffered martyrdom under +the emperor Commodus, composed an apology for his faith which he read in +the senate, and which was afterwards published. (Lardner, vol. ii. p. +687.) Fourteen years after the apology of Apollonius, Tertullian +addressed the work which now remains under that name to the governors of +provinces in the Roman empire; and, about the same time, Minucius Felix +composed a defence of the Christian religion, which is still extant; +and, shortly after the conclusion of this century, copious defences of +Christianity were published by Arnobius and Lactantius. + + + + + +SECTION II. + +REFLECTIONS UPON THE PRECEDING ACCOUNT. + +In viewing the progress of Christianity, our first attention is due to +the number of converts at Jerusalem, immediately after its Founder's +death; because this success was a success at the time, and upon the +spot, when and where the chief part of the history had been transacted. + +We are, in the next place, called upon to attend to the early +establishment of numerous Christian societies in Judea and Galilee; +which countries had been the scene of Christ's miracles and ministry, +and where the memory of what had passed, and the knowledge of what was +alleged, must have yet been fresh and certain. + +We are, thirdly, invited to recollect the success of the apostles and of +their companions, at the several places to which they came, both within +and without Judea; because it was the credit given to original +witnesses, appealing for the truth of their accounts to what themselves +had seen and heard. The effect also of their preaching strongly confirms +the truth of what our history positively and circumstantially relates, +that they were able to exhibit to their hearers supernatural +attestations of their mission. + +We are, lastly, to consider the subsequent growth and spread of the +religion, of which we receive successive intimations, and satisfactory, +though general and occasional, accounts, until its full and final +establishment. + +In all these several stages, the history is without a parallel for it +must be observed, that we have not now been tracing the progress, and +describing the prevalency, of an opinion founded upon philosophical or +critical arguments, upon mere of reason, or the construction of ancient +writing; (of which are the several theories which have, at different +times, possession of the public mind in various departments of science and +literature; and of one or other of which kind are the tenets also which +divide the various sects of Christianity;) but that we speak of a +system, the very basis and postulatum of which was a supernatural +character ascribed to a particular person; of a doctrine, the truth +whereof depends entirely upon the truth of a matter of fact then recent. +"To establish a new religion, even amongst a few people, or in one +single nation, is a thing in itself exceedingly difficult. To reform +some corruptions which may have spread in a religion, or to make new +regulations in it, is not perhaps so hard, when the main and principal +part of that religion is preserved entire and unshaken; and yet this +very often cannot be accomplished without an extraordinary concurrence +of circumstances, and may be attempted a thousand times without success. +But to introduce a new faith, a new way of thinking and acting, and to +persuade many nations to quit the religion in which their ancestors have +lived and died, which had been delivered down to them from time +immemorial; to make them forsake and despise the deities which they had +been accustomed to reverence and worship; this is a work of still +greater difficulty." (Jortin's Dis. on the Christ. Rel. p. 107, 4th +edit.) The resistance of education, worldly policy, and superstition, is +almost invincible. + +If men, in these days, be Christians in consequence of their education, +in submission to authority, or in compliance with fashion, let us +recollect that the very contrary of this, at the beginning, was the +case. The first race of Christians, as wall as millions who succeeded +them, became such in formal opposition to all these motives, to the +whole power and strength of this influence. Every argument, therefore, +and every instance, which sets forth the prejudice of education, and the +almost irresistible effects of that prejudice (and no persons are more +fond of expatiating upon this subject than deistical writers), in fact +confirms the evidence of Christianity. + +But, in order to judge of the argument which is drawn from the early +propagation of Christianity, I know no fairer way of proceeding than to +compare what we have seen on the subject with the success of Christian +missions in modern ages. In the East India mission, supported by the +Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, we hear sometimes of thirty, +sometimes of forty, being baptized in the course of a year, and these +principally children. Of converts properly so called, that is, of adults +voluntarily embracing Christianity, the number is extremely small. +"Notwithstanding the labour of missionaries for upwards of two hundred +years, and the establishments of different Christian nations who support +them, there are not twelve thousand Indian Christians, and those almost +entirely outcasts." (Sketches relating to the history, learning, and +manners of the Hindoos, p. 48; quoted by Dr. Robertson, Hist. Dis. +concerning Ancient India, p. 236.) + +I lament as much as any man the little progress which Christianity has +made in these countries, and the inconsiderable effect that has followed +the labours of its missionaries; but I see in it a strong proof of the +Divine origin of the religion. What had the apostles to assist them in +propagating Christianity which the missionaries have not? If piety and +zeal had been sufficient, I doubt not but that our missionaries possess +these qualities in a high degree: for nothing except piety and zeal +could engage them in the undertaking. If sanctity of life and manners +was the allurement, the conduct of these men is unblameable. If the +advantage of education and learning be looked to, there is not one of +the modern missionaries who is not, in this respect, superior to all the +apostles; and that not only absolutely, but, what is of more importance, +relatively, in comparison, that is, with those amongst whom they +exercise their office. If the intrinsic excellency of the religion, the +perfection of its morality, the purity of its precepts, the eloquence, +or tenderness, or sublimity, of various parts of its writings, were the +recommendations by which it made its way, these remain the same. If the +character and circumstances under which the preachers were introduced to +the countries in which they taught be accounted of importance, this +advantage is all on the side of the modern missionaries. They come from +a country and a people to which the Indian world look up with sentiments +of deference. The apostles came forth amongst the Gentiles under no +other name than that of Jews, which was precisely the character they +despised and derided. If it be disgraceful in India to become a +Christian, it could not be much less so to be enrolled amongst those +"quos, per flagitia invisos, vulgus Christianos appellabat." If the +religion which they had to encounter be considered, the difference, I +apprehend, will not be great. The theology of both was nearly the same: +"what is supposed to be performed by the power of Jupiter, Neptune, of +Aeolus, of Mars, of Venus, according to the mythology of the West, is +ascribed, in the East, to the agency Agrio the god of fire, Varoon the +god of oceans, Vayoo god of wind, Cama the god of love." (Baghvat Gets, +p. 94, quoted by Dr. Robertson, Ind. Dis. p. 306.) The sacred rites of +the Western Polytheism were gay, festive, and licentious; the rites of +the public religion in the East partake of the same character, with a +more avowed indecency. "In every function performed in the pagodas, as +well as in every public procession, it is the office of these women +(i. e. of women prepared by the Brahmins for the purpose) to dance before +the idol, and to sing hymns in his praise; and it is difficult to say +whether they trespass most against decency by the gestures they exhibit, +or by the verses which they recite. The walls of the pagodas were +covered with paintings in a style no less indelicate." (Others of the +deities of the East are of an austere and gloomy character, to be +propitiated by victims, sometimes by human sacrifices, and by voluntary +torments of the most excruciating kind. Voyage de Gentil. vol. i. p. +244--260. Preface to the Code of Gentoo Laws, p. 57; quoted by Dr. +Robertson, p. 320.) + +On both sides of the comparison, the popular religion had a strong +establishment. In ancient Greece and Rome it was strictly incorporated +with the state. The magistrate was the priest. The highest officers of +government bore the most distinguished part in the celebration of the +public rites. In India, a powerful and numerous caste possesses +exclusively the administration of the established worship; and are, of +consequence, devoted to its service, and attached to its interest. In +both, the prevailing mythology was destitute of any proper evidence: or +rather, in both, the origin of the tradition is run up into ages long +anterior to the existence of credible history, or of written language. +The Indian chronology computes eras by millions of years, and the life +of man by thousands "The Suffec Jogue, or age of purity, is said to +have lasted three million two hundred thousand years; and they hold that +the life of man was extended in that age to one hundred thousand years; +but there is a difference amongst the Indian writers of six millions of +years in the computation of this era." (Voyage de Gentil. vol. i. p. +244--260. Preface to the Code of Gentoo Laws, p. 57; quoted by Dr. +Robertson, p. 320.) and in these, or prior to these, is placed the +history of their divinities. In both, the established superstition held +the same place in the public opinion; that is to say, in both it was +credited by the bulk of the people, but by the learned and philosophical +part of the community either derided, or regarded by them as only fit to +be upholden for the sake of its political uses.* + +_________ + +* "How absurd soever the articles of faith may be which superstition has +adopted, or how unhallowed the rites which it prescribes, the former are +received, in every age and country with unhesitating assent, by the +great body of the people, and the latter observed with scrupulous +exactness. In our reasonings concerning opinions and practices which +differ widely from our own, we are extremely apt to err. Having been +instructed ourselves in the principles of a religion worthy in every +respect of that Divine wisdom by which they were dictated, we frequently +express wonder at the credulity of nations, in embracing systems of +belief which appear to us so directly repugnant to right reason; and +sometimes suspect that tenets so wild and extravagant do not really gain +credit with them. But experience may satisfy us, that neither our wonder +nor suspicions are well founded. No article of the public religion was +called in question by those people of ancient Europe with whose history +we are best acquainted; and no practice which it enjoined appeared +improper to them. On the other hand, every opinion that tended to +diminish the reverence of men for the gods of their country, or to +alienate them from their worship, excited, among the Greeks and Romans, +that indignant zeal which is natural to every people attached to their +religion by a firm persuasion of its truth." Ind. Dis. p. 321. That the +learned Brahmins of the East are rational Theists, and secretly reject +the established theory, and contemn the rites that were founded upon +them, or rather consider them as contrivances to be supported for their +political uses, see Dr. Robertson's Ind. Dis. p. 324-334. +_________ + + +Or if it should be allowed, that the ancient heathens believed in their +religion less generally than the present Indians do, I am far from +thinking that this circumstance would afford any facility to the work +of the apostles, above that of the modern missionaries. To me it +appears, and I think it material to be remarked, that a disbelief of the +established religion of their country has no tendency to dispose men for +the reception of another; but that, on the contrary, it generates a +settled contempt of all religious pretensions whatever. General +infidelity is the hardest soil which the propagators of a new religion +can have to work upon. Could a Methodist or Moravian promise himself a +better chance of success with a French esprit fort, who had been +accustomed to laugh at the popery of his country, than with a believing +Mahometan or Hindoo? Or are our modern unbelievers in Christianity, for +that reason, in danger of becoming Mahometans or Hindoos? It does not +appear that the Jews, who had a body of historical evidence to offer for +their religion, and who at that time undoubtedly entertained and held +forth the expectation of a future state, derived any great advantage, as +to the extension of their system, from the discredit into which the +popular religion had fallen with many of their heathen neighbours. + +We have particularly directed our observations to the state and progress +of Christianity amongst the inhabitants of India: but the history of the +Christian mission in other countries, where the efficacy of the mission +is left solely to the conviction wrought by the preaching of strangers, +presents the same idea as the Indian mission does of the feebleness and +inadequacy of human means. About twenty-five years ago was published, in +England, a translation from the Dutch of a History of Greenland and a +relation of the mission for above thirty years carried on in that +country by the Unitas Fratrum, or Moravians. Every part of that relation +confirms the opinion we have stated. Nothing could surpass, or hardly +equal, the zeal and patience of the missionaries. Yet their historian, +in the conclusion of his narrative, could find place for no reflections +more encouraging than the following:--"A person that had known the +heathen, that had seen the little benefit from the great pains hitherto +taken with them, and considered that one after another had abandoned all +hopes of the conversion of these infidels (and some thought they would +never be converted, till they saw miracles wrought as in the apostles' +days, and this the Greenlanders expected and demanded of their +instructors); one that considered this, I say, would not so much wonder +at the past unfruitfulness of these young beginners, as at their +steadfast perseverance in the midst of nothing but distress, +difficulties, and impediments, internally and externally: and that they +never desponded of the conversion of those poor creatures amidst all +seeming impossibilities." (History of Greenland, vol. ii. p. 376.) + +From the widely disproportionate effects which attend the preaching of +modern missionaries of Christianity, compared with what followed the +ministry of Christ and his apostles under circumstances either alike, or +not so unlike as to account for the difference, a conclusion is fairly +drawn in support of what our histories deliver concerning them, viz. +that they possessed means of conviction which we have not; that they had +proofs to appeal to which we want. + + + + + +SECTION III. + +OF THE RELIGION OF MAHOMET. + +The only event in the history of the human species which admits of +comparison with the propagation of Christianity is the success of +Mahometanism. The Mahometan institution was rapid in its progress, was +recent in its history, and was founded upon a supernatural or prophetic +character assumed by its author. In these articles, the resemblance with +Christianity is confessed. But there are points of difference which +separate, we apprehend, the two cases entirely. + +I. Mahomet did not found his pretensions upon miracles, properly so +called; that is, upon proofs of supernatural agency capable of being +known and attested by others. Christians are warranted in this. +assertion by the evidence of the Koran, in which Mahomet not only does +not affect the power of working miracles, but expressly disclaims it. +The following passages of that book furnish direct proofs of the truth +of what we allege:--"The infidels say, Unless a sign be sent down unto +him from his lord, we will not believe; thou art a preacher only." +(Sale's Koran, c. xiii. p. 201, ed. quarto.) Again; "Nothing hindered us +from sending thee with miracles, except that the former nations have +charged them with imposture." (C. xvii. p. 232.) And lastly; "They say, +Unless a sign be sent down unto him from his lord, we will not believe: +Answer; Signs are in the power of God alone, and I am no more than a +public preacher. Is it not sufficient for them, that we have sent down +unto them the book of the Koran to be read unto them?" (C. xxix. p. +328.) Beside these acknowledgments, I have observed thirteen distinct +places in which Mahomet puts the objection (unless a sign, &c.) into the +mouth of the unbeliever, in not one of which does he allege a miracle in +reply. His answer is, "that God giveth the power of working miracles +when and to whom he pleaseth;" (C. v. x. xiii. twice.) "that if he +should work miracles, they would not believe;" (C. vi.) "that they had +before rejected Moses, and Jesus and the Prophets, who wrought +miracles;" (C. iii. xxi. xxviii.) "that the Koran itself was a miracle." +(C. xvi.) + +The only place in the Koran in which it can be pretended that a sensible +miracle is referred to (for I do not allow the secret visitations of +Gabriel, the night-journey of Mahomet to heaven, or the presence in +battle of invisible hosts of angels, to deserve the name of sensible +miracles) is the beginning of the fifty-fourth chapter. The words are +these:--"The hour of judgment approacheth, and the moon hath been split +in sunder: but if the unbelievers see a sign, they turn aside, saying, +This is a powerful charm." The Mahometan expositors disagree in their +interpretation of this passage; some explaining it to be mention of the +splitting of the moon as one of the future signs of the approach of the +day of judgment: others referring it to a miraculous appearance which +had then taken place. (Vide Sale, in loc.) It seems to me not improbable, +that Mahomet might have taken advantage of some extraordinary halo, or +other unusual appearance of the moon, which had happened about this +time; and which supplied a foundation both for this passage, and for the +story which in after times had been raised out of it. + +After this more than silence, after these authentic confessions of the +Koran, we are not to be moved with miraculous stories related of Mahomet +by Abulfeda, who wrote his life about six hundred years after his death; +or which are found in the legend of Al-Jannabi, who came two hundred +years later.* On the contrary, from comparing what Mahomet himself wrote +and said with what was afterwards reported of him by his followers, the +plain and fair conclusion is, that when the religion was established by +conquest, then, and not till then, came out the stories of his miracles. + +_________ + +* It does not, I think, appear, that these historians had any written +accounts to appeal to more ancient than the Sonnah; which was a +collection of traditions made by order of the Caliphs two hundred years +after Mahomet's death. Mahomet died A.D. 632; Al-Bochari, one of the six +doctors who compiled the Sonnah, was born A.D. 809; died 869. Prideaux's +Life of Mahomet, p. 192, ed. 7th. +_________ + + +Now this difference alone constitutes, in my opinion, a bar to all +reasoning from one case to the other. The success of a religion founded +upon a miraculous history shows the credit which was given to the +history; and this credit, under the circumstances in which it was given, +i. e. by persons capable of knowing the truth, and interested to inquire +after it, is evidence of the reality of the history, and, by +consequence, of the truth of the religion. Where a miraculous history is +not alleged, no part of this argument can be applied. We admit that +multitudes acknowledged the pretensions of Mahomet: but, these +pretensions being destitute of miraculous evidence, we know that the +grounds upon which they were acknowledged could not be secure grounds of +persuasion to his followers, nor their example any authority to us. +Admit the whole of Mahomet's authentic history, so far as it was of a +nature capable of being known or witnessed by others, to be true (which +is certainly to admit all that the reception of the religion can be +brought to prove), and Mahomet might still be an impostor, or +enthusiast, or a union of both. Admit to be true almost any part of +Christ's history, of that, I mean, which was public, and within the +cognizance of his followers, and he must have come from God. Where +matter of fact is not in question, where miracles are not alleged, I do +not see that the progress of a religion is a better argument of its +truth than the prevalency of any system of opinions in natural religion, +morality, or physics, is a proof of the truth of those opinions. And we +know that this sort of argument is inadmissible in any branch of +philosophy what ever. + +But it will be said, if one religion could make its way without +miracles, why might not another? To which I reply, first, that this is +not the question; the proper question is not, whether a religious +institution could be set up without miracles, but whether a religion, or +a change of religion, founding itself in miracles, could succeed without +any reality to rest upon? I apprehend these two cases to be very +different: and I apprehend Mahomet's not taking this course, to be one +proof, amongst others, that the thing is difficult, if not impossible, to +be accomplished: certainly it was not from an unconsciousness of the +value and importance of miraculous evidence; for it is very observable, +that in the same volume, and sometimes in the same chapters, in which +Mahomet so repeatedly disclaims the power of working miracles himself, +he is incessantly referring to the miracles of preceding prophets. One +would imagine, to hear some men talk, or to read some books, that the +setting up of a religion by dint of miraculous pretences was a thing of +every day's experience: whereas, I believe that, except the Jewish and +Christian religion, there is no tolerably well authenticated account of +any such thing having been accomplished. + +II. The establishment of Mahomet's religion was affected by causes which +in no degree appertained to the origin of Christianity. + +During the first twelve years of his mission, Mahomet had recourse only +to persuasion. This is allowed. And there is sufficient reason from the +effect to believe that, if he had confined himself to this mode of +propagating his religion, we of the present day should never have heard +either of him or it. "Three years were silently employed in the +conversion of fourteen proselytes. For ten years, the religion advanced +with a slow and painful progress, within the walls of Mecca. The number +of proselytes in the seventh year of his mission may be estimated by the +absence of eighty-three men and eighteen women, who retired to +Aethiopia." (Gibbon's Hist. vol. ix. p. 244, et seq. ed. Dub.) Yet this +progress, such as it was, appears to have been aided by some very +important advantages which Mahomet found in his situation, in his mode +of conducting his design, and in his doctrine. + +1. Mahomet was the grandson of the most powerful and honourable family +in Mecca; and although the early death of his father had not left him a +patrimony suitable to his birth, he had, long before the commencement of +his mission, repaired this deficiency by an opulent marriage. A person +considerable by his wealth, of high descent, and nearly allied to the +chiefs of his country, taking upon himself the character of a religious +teacher, would not fail of attracting attention and followers. + +2. Mahomet conducted his design, in the outset especially, with great +art and prudence. He conducted it as a politician would conduct a plot. +His first application was to his own family. This gained him his wife's +uncle, a considerable person in Mecca, together with his cousin Ali, +afterwards the celebrated Caliph, then a youth of great expectation, and +even already distinguished by his attachment, impetuosity, and courage.* +He next expressed himself to Abu Beer, a man amongst the first of the +Koreish in wealth and influence. The interest and example of Abu Beer +drew in five other principal persons in Mecca, whose solicitations +prevailed upon five more of the same rank. This was the work of three +years; during which time everything was transacted in secret. Upon the +strength of these allies, and under the powerful protection of his +family, who, however some of them might disapprove his enterprise, or +deride his pretensions, would not suffer the orphan of their house, the +relict of their favourite brother, to be insulted, Mahomet now commenced +his public preaching. And the advance which he made during the nine or +ten remaining years of his peaceable ministry was by no means greater +than what, with these advantages, and with the additional and singular +circumstance of there being no established religion at Mecca at that +time to contend with, might reasonably have been expected. How soon his +primitive adherents were let into the secret of his views of empire, or +in what stage of his undertaking these views first opened themselves to +his own mind, it is not now easy to determine. The event however was, +that these, his first proselytes, all ultimately attained to riches and +honours, to the command of armies, and the government of kingdoms. +(Gibbon, vol. ix. p 244.) + +_________ + +* Of which Mr. Gibbon has preserved the following specimen: "When +Mahomet called out in an assembly of his family, Who among you will be +my companion, and my vizir? Ali, then only in the fourteenth year of his +age, suddenly replied, O prophet I am the man;--whosoever rises against +thee, I will dash out his teeth, tear out his eyes, break his legs, rip +up his belly. O prophet! I will be thy vizir over them." Vol. ix. p. +215. +_________ + + +3. The Arabs deduced their descent from Abraham through the line of +Ishmael. The inhabitants of Mecca, in common probably with the other +Arabian tribes, acknowledged, as I think may clearly be collected from +the Koran, one supreme Deity, but had associated with him many objects +of idolatrous worship. The great doctrine with which Mahomet set out was +the strict and exclusive unity of God. Abraham, he told them, their +illustrous ancestor; Ishmael, the father of their nation; Moses, the +lawgiver of the Jews; and Jesus, the author of Christianity--had all +asserted the same thing; that their followers had universally corrupted +the truth, and that he was now commissioned to restore it to the world. +Was it to be wondered at, that a doctrine so specious, and authorized by +names, some or other of which were holden in the highest veneration by +every description of his hearers, should, in the hands of a popular +missionary, prevail to the extent in which Mahomet succeeded by his +pacific ministry? + +4. Of the institution which Mahomet joined with this fundamental +doctrine, and of the Koran in which that institution is delivered, we +discover, I think, two purposes that pervade the whole, viz., to make +converts, and to make his converts soldiers. The following particulars, +amongst others, may be considered as pretty evident indications of these +designs: + +1. When Mahomet began to preach, his address to the Jews, to the +Christians, and to the Pagan Arabs, was, that the religion which he +taught was no other than what had been originally their own.--"We +believe in God, and that which hath been sent down unto us, and that +which hath been sent down unto Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and +Jacob, and the Tribes, and that which was delivered unto Moses and +Jesus, and that which was delivered unto the prophets from their Lord: +we make no distinction between any of them." (Sale's Koran, c. ii. p. +17.) "He hath ordained you the religion which he commanded Noah, and +which we have revealed unto thee, O Mohammed, and which we commanded +Abraham, and Moses, and Jesus, saying, Observe this religion, and be not +divided therein." (Sale's Koran, c. xlii. p. 393.) "He hath chosen you, +and hath not imposed on you any difficulty in the religion which he hath +given you, the religion of your father Abraham." (Sale's Koran, c. xxii. +p. 281.) + +2. The author of the Koran never ceases from describing the future +anguish of unbelievers, their despair, regret, penitence, and torment. +It is the point which he labours above all others. And these +descriptions are conceived in terms which will appear in no small +degree impressive, even to the modern reader of an English translation. +Doubtless they would operate with much greater force upon the minds of +those to whom they were immediately directed. The terror which they seem +well calculated to inspire would be to many tempers a powerful +application. + +3. On the other hand: his voluptuous paradise; his robes of silk, his +palaces of marble, his riven, and shades, his groves and couches, his +wines, his dainties; and, above all, his seventy-two virgins assigned to +each of the faithful, of resplendent beauty and eternal +youth--intoxicated the imaginations, and seized the passions of his +Eastern followers. + +4. But Mahomet's highest heaven was reserved for those who fought his +battles or expended their fortunes in his cause: "Those believers who +sit still at home, not having any hurt, and those who employ their +fortunes and their persons for the religion of God, shall not be held +equal. God hath preferred those who employ their fortunes and their +persons in that cause to a degree above those who sit at home. God had +indeed promised every one Paradise; but God had preferred those who +fight for the faith before those who sit still, by adding unto them a +great reward; by degrees of honour conferred upon them from him, and by +granting them forgiveness and mercy." (Sale's Koran, c. iv. p. 73.) +Again; "Do ye reckon the giving drink to the pilgrims, and the visiting +of the holy temple, to be actions as meritorious as those performed by +him who believeth in God and the last day, and fighteth for the religion +of God? They shall not be held equal with God.--They who have believed +and fled their country, and employed their substance and their persons +in the defence of God's true religion, shall be in the highest degree of +honour with God; and these are they who shall be happy. The Lord sendeth +them good tidings of mercy from him, and good will, and of gardens +wherein they shall enjoy lasting pleasures. They shall continue therein +for ever; for with God is a great reward." (Sale's Koran, c. ix. p. +151.) And, once more; "Verily God hath purchased of the true believers +their souls and their substance, promising them the enjoyment of +Paradise on condition that they fight for the cause of God: whether they +slay or be slain, the promise for the same is assuredly due by the Law +and the Gospel and the Koran." (Sale's Koran, c. ix. p. 164.)* + +_________ + +* "The sword," saith Mahomet, "is the key of heaven and of hell; a drop +of blood shed in the cause of God, a night spent in arms, is of more +avail than two months' fasting or prayer. Whosoever falls in battle, his +sins are forgiven at the day of judgment; his wounds shall be +resplendent as vermilion, and odoriferous as musk; and the loss of his +limbs shall be supplied by the wings of angels and cherubim." Gibbon, +vol. ix. p. 256. +_________ + + +5. His doctrine of predestination was applicable, and was applied by +him, to the same purpose of fortifying and of exalting the courage of +his adherents.--"If anything of the matter had happened unto us, we had +not been slain here. Answer; If ye had been in your houses, verily they +would have gone forth to fight, whose slaughter was decreed, to the +places where they died." (Sale's Koran, c. iii. p. 54.) + +6. In warm regions, the appetite of the sexes is ardent, the passion for +inebriating liquors moderate. In compliance with this distinction, +although Mahomet laid a restraint upon the drinking of wine, in the use +of women he allowed an almost unbounded indulgence. Four wives, with the +liberty of changing them at pleasure, (Sale's Koran, c. iv. p. 63.) +together with the persons of all his captives, (Gibbon, vol. ix. p. 225.) +was an irresistible bribe to an Arabian warrior. "God is minded," says +he, speaking of this very subject, "to make his religion light unto +you; for man was created weak." How different this from the +unaccommodating purity of the Gospel! How would Mahomet have succeeded +with the Christian lesson in his mouth.--"Whosoever looketh upon a woman +to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his +heart"? It must be added, that Mahomet did not venture upon the +prohibition of wine till the fourth year of the Hegira, or the +seventeenth of his mission, when his military successes had completely +established his authority. The same observation holds of the fast of the +Ramadan, (Mod. Univ. Hist. Vol. i. pp. 126 & 112.) and of the most +laborious part of his institution, the pilgrimage to Mecca. (This +latter, however, already prevailed amongst the Arabs, and had grown out +of their excessive veneration for the Caaba. Mahomot's law, in this +respect, was rather a compliance than an innovation. Sale's Prelim. +Disc. p. 122.) + +What has hitherto been collected from the records of the Musselman +history relates to the twelve or thirteen years of Mahomet's peaceable +preaching, which part alone of his life and enterprise admits of the +smallest comparison with the origin of Christianity. A new scene is now +unfolded. The city of Medina, distant about ten days' journey from +Mecca, was at that time distracted by the hereditary contentions of two +hostile tribes. These feuds were exasperated by the mutual persecutions +of the Jews and Christians, and of the different Christian sects by +which the city was inhabited. (Mod. Univ. Hist. Vol. i. p. 100.) The +religion of Mahomet presented, in some measure, a point of union or +compromise to these divided opinions. It embraced the principles which +were common to them all. Each party saw in it an honourable +acknowledgment of the fundamental truth of their own system. To the +Pagan Arab, somewhat imbued with the sentiments and knowledge of his +Jewish or Christian fellow-citizen, it offered no defensive or very +improbable theology. This recommendation procured to Mahometanism a more +favourable reception at Medina than its author had been able, by twelve +years' painful endeavours, to obtain for it at Mecca. Yet, after all, +the progress of the religion was inconsiderable. His missionary could +only collect a congregation of forty persons. It was not a religious, +but a political association, which ultimately introduced Mahomet into +Medina. Harassed, as it should seem, and disgusted by the long +continuance of factions and disputes, the inhabitants of that city saw +in the admission of the prophet's authority a rest from the miseries +which they had suffered, and a suppression of the violence and fury +which they had learned to condemn. After an embassy, therefore, composed +of believers and unbelievers, (Mod. Univ. Hist. Vol. i. p. 85.) and of +persons of both tribes, with whom a treaty was concluded of strict +alliance and support, Mahomet made his public entry, and was received as +the sovereign of Medina. + +From this time, or soon after this time, the impostor changed his +language and his conduct. Having now a town at his command, where to arm +his party, and to head them with security, he enters upon new counsels. +He now pretends that a divine commission is given him to attack the +infidels, to destroy idolatry, and to set up the true faith by the +sword. (Mod. Univ. Hist. Vol. i. p. 88.) An early victory over a very +superior force, achieved by conduct and bravery, established the renown +of his arms, and of his personal character. (Victory of Bedr, Mod. Univ. +Hist. Vol. i. p. 106.) Every year after this was marked by battles or +assassinations. The nature and activity of Mahomet's future exertions +may be estimated from the computation, that in the nine following years +of his life he commanded his army in person in eight general +engagements, (Mod. Univ. Hist. vol. i. p. 255.) and undertook, by himself +or his lieutenants, fifty military enterprises. + +From this time we have nothing left to account for, but that Mahomet +should collect an army, that his army should conquer, and that his +religion should proceed together with his conquests. The ordinary +experience of human affairs leaves us little to wonder at in any of +these effects: and they were likewise each assisted by peculiar +facilities. From all sides, the roving Arabs crowded round the standard +of religion and plunder, of freedom and victory, of arms and rapine. +Beside the highly painted joys of a carnal paradise, Mahomet rewarded +his followers in this world with a liberal division of the spoils, and +with the persons of their female captives. (Gibbon, vol. ix. p. 255.) The +condition of Arabia, occupied by small independent tribes, exposed it to +the impression, and yielded to the progress of a firm and resolute army. +After the reduction of his native peninsula, the weakness also of the +Roman provinces on the north and the west, as well as the distracted +state of the Persian empire on the east, facilitated the successful +invasion of neighbouring countries. That Mahomet's conquests should +carry his religion along with them will excite little surprise, when we +know the conditions which he proposed to the vanquished. Death or +conversion was the only choice offered to idolaters. "Strike off their +heads! strike off all the ends of their fingers!(Sale's Koran, c. viii. +p. 140.) kill the idolaters, wheresoever ye shall find them!" (Sale's +Koran, c. ix. p. 149.) To the Jews and Christians was left the somewhat +milder alternative of subjection and tribute, if they persisted in their +own religion, or of an equal participation in the rights and liberties, +the honours and privileges, of the faithful, if they embraced the +religion of their conquerors. "Ye Christian dogs, you know your option; +the Koran, the tribute, or the sword." (Gibbon, vol. ix. p. 337.) The +corrupted state of Christianity in the seventh century, and the +contentions of its sects, unhappily so fell in with men's care of their +safety or their fortunes, as to induce many to forsake its profession. +Add to all which, that Mahomet's victories not only operated by the +natural effect of conquest, but that they were constantly represented, +both to his friends and enemies, as divine declarations in his favour. +Success was evidence. Prosperity carried with it, not only influence, +but proof. "Ye have already," says he, after the battle of Bedr, "had a +miracle shown you, in two armies which attacked each other; one army +fought for God's true religion, but the other were infidels." (Sale's +Koran, c. iii. p. 36.) Again; "Ye slew not those who were slain at Bedr, +but God slew them.--If ye desire a decision of the matter between us, +now hath a decision come unto you." (Sale's Koran, c. viii. p. 141.) + +Many more passages might be collected out of the Koran to the same +effect; but they are unnecessary. The success of Mahometanism during +this, and indeed every future period of its history, bears so little +resemblance to the early propagation of Christianity, that no inference +whatever can justly be drawn from it to the prejudice of the Christian +argument. For what are we comparing? A Galilean peasant accompanied by a +few fishermen with a conqueror at the head of his army. We compare +Jesus, without force, without power, without support, without One +external circumstance of attraction or influence, prevailing against the +prejudices, the learning, the hierarchy, of his country; against the +ancient religious opinions, the pompous religious rites, the philosophy, +the wisdom, the authority, of the Roman empire, in the most polished and +enlightened period of its existence,--with Mahomet making his way +amongst Arabs; collecting followers in the midst of conquests and +triumphs, in the darkest ages and countries of the world, and when +success in arms not only operated by that command of men's wills and +persons which attend prosperous undertakings, but was considered as a +sure testimony of Divine approbation. That multitudes, persuaded by this +argument, should join the train of a victorious chief; that still +greater multitudes should, without any argument, bow down before +irresistible power--is a conduct in which we cannot see much to surprise +us; in which we can see nothing that resembles the causes by which the +establishment of Christianity was effected. + +The success, therefore, of Mahometanism stands not in the way of this +important conclusion; that the propagation of Christianity, in the +manner and under the circumstances in which it was propagated, is an +unique in the history of the species. A Jewish peasant overthrew the +religion of the world. + +I have, nevertheless, placed the prevalency of the religion amongst the +auxiliary arguments of its truth; because, whether it had prevailed or +not, or whether its prevalency can or cannot be accounted for, the +direct argument remains still. It is still true that a great number of +men upon the spot, personally connected with the history and with the +Author of the religion, were induced by what they heard and saw, and +knew, not only to change their former opinions, but to give up their +time, and sacrifice their ease, to traverse seas and kingdoms without +rest and without weariness, to commit themselves to extreme dangers, to +undertake incessant toils, to undergo grievous sufferings, and all this +solely in consequence, and in support, of their belief of facts, which, +if true, establish the truth of the religion, which, if false, they must +have known to be so. + + + + + +PART III. + +A BRIEF CONSIDERATION OF SOME POPULAR OBJECTIONS. + +CHAPTER I. + +THE DISCREPANCIES BETWEEN THE SEVERAL GOSPELS. + +I know not a more rash or unphilosophical conduct of the understanding, +than to reject the substance of a story by reason of some diversity in +the circumstances with which it is related. The usual character of human +testimony is substantial truth under circumstantial variety. This is +what the daily experience of courts of justice teaches. When accounts of +a transaction come from the mouths of different witnesses, it is seldom +that it is not possible to pick out apparent or real inconsistencies +between them. These inconsistencies are studiously displayed by an +adverse pleader, but oftentimes with little impression upon the minds of +the judges. On the contrary, a close and minute agreement induces the +suspicion of confederacy and fraud. When written histories touch upon +the same scenes of action; the comparison almost always affords ground +for a like reflection. Numerous, and sometimes important, variations +present themselves; not seldom, also, absolute and final contradictions; +yet neither one nor the other are deemed sufficient to shake the +credibility of the main fact. The embassy of the Jews to deprecate the +execution of Claudian's order to place his statute, in their temple, +Philo places in harvest, Josephus in seed time; both contemporary +writers. No reader is led by this inconsistency to doubt whether such an +embassy was sent, or whether such an order was given. Our own history +supplies examples of the same kind. In the account of the Marquis of +Argyle's death, in the reign of Charles the Second, we have a very +remarkable contradiction. Lord Clarendon relates that he was condemned +to be hanged, which was performed the same day; on the contrary, Burnet, +Woodrew, Heath, Echard, concur in stating that he was beheaded; and that +he was condemned upon the Saturday, and executed upon the Monday. (See +Biog. Britann.) Was any reader of English history ever sceptic enough to +raise from hence a question whether the Marquis of Argyle was executed +or not? Yet this ought to be left in uncertainty, according to the +principles upon which the Christian history has sometimes been attacked. +Dr. Middleton contended, that the different hours of the day assigned to +the crucifixion of Christ, by John and by the other Evangelists, did not +admit of the reconcilement which learned men had proposed: and then +concludes the discussion with this hard remark; "We must be forced, with +several of the critics, to leave the difficulty just as we found it, +chargeable with all the consequences of manifest inconsistency." +(Middleton's Reflections answered by Benson, Hist. Christ. vol. iii. p. +50.) But what are these consequences? By no means the discrediting of +the history as to the principal fact, by a repugnancy (even supposing +that repugnancy not to be resolvable into different modes of +computation) in the time of the day in which it is said to have taken +place. + +A great deal of the discrepancy observable in the Gospels arises from +omission; from a fact or a passage of Christ's life being noticed by one +writer which is unnoticed by another. Now, omission is at all times a +very uncertain ground of objection. We perceive it, not only in the +comparison of different writers, but even in the same writer when +compared with himself. There are a great many particulars, and some of +them of importance, mentioned by Josephus in his Antiquities, which, as +we should have supposed, ought to have been put down by him in their +place in the Jewish Wars. (Lardner, part i. vol. ii. p. 735, et seq.) +Suetonius, Tacitus, Dio Cassius, have, all three, written of the reign +of Tiberius. Each has mentioned many things omitted by the +rest, (Lardner, part i. vol. ii. p. 743.) yet no objection is from thence +taken to the respective credit of their histories. We have in our own +times, if there were not something indecorous in the comparison, the +life of an eminent person written by three of his friends, in which +there is very great variety in the incidents selected by them; some +apparent, and perhaps some real contradictions; yet without any +impeachment of the substantial truth of their accounts, of the +authenticity of the books, of the competent information or general +fidelity of the writers. + +But these discrepancies will be still more numerous, when men do not +write histories, but memoirs: which is, perhaps, the true name and +proper description of our Gospels: that is, when they do not undertake, +nor ever meant to deliver, in order of time, a regular and complete +account of all the things of importance which the person who is the +subject of their history did or said; but only, out of many similar +ones, to give such passages, or such actions and discourses, as offered +themselves more immediately to their attention, came in the way of their +inquiries, occurred to their recollection, or were suggested by their +particular design at the time of writing. + +This particular design may appear sometimes, but not always, nor often. +Thus I think that the particular design which Saint Matthew had in view +whilst he was writing the history of the resurrection was to attest the +faithful performance of Christ's promise to his disciples to go before +them into Galilee; because he alone, except Mark, who seems to have +taken it from him, has recorded this promise, and he alone has confined +his narrative to that single appearance to the disciples which fulfilled +it. It was the preconcerted, the great and most public manifestation of +our Lord's person. It was the thing which dwelt upon Saint Matthew's +mind, and he adapted his narrative to it. But, that there is nothing in +Saint Matthew's language which negatives other appearances, or which +imports that this his appearance to his disciples in Galilee, in +pursuance of his promise, was his first or only appearance, is made +pretty evident by Saint Mark's Gospel, which uses the same terms +concerning the appearance in Galilee as Saint Matthew uses, yet itself +records two other appearances prior to this: "Go your way, tell his +disciples and Peter, that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall +ye see him as he said unto you" (xvi. 7). We might be apt to infer from +these words, that this was the first time they were to see him; at +least, we might infer it, with as much reason as we draw the inference +from the same words in Matthew: the historian himself did not perceive +that he was leading his readers to any such conclusion; for, in the +twelfth and following verses of this chapter, he informs us of two +appearances, which, by comparing the order of events, are shown to have +been prior to the appearance in Galilee. "He appeared in another form +unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country; and they +went and told it unto the residue, neither believed they them: +afterwards he appeared unto the eleven, as they sat at meat, and +upbraided them with their unbelief, because they believed not them that +had seen him after he was risen." + +Probably the same observation, concerning the particular design which +guided the historian, may be of use in comparing many other passages of +the Gospels. + + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +ERRONEOUS OPINIONS IMPUTED TO THE APOSTLES. + +A species of candour which is shown towards every other book is +sometimes refused to the Scriptures: and that is, the placing of a +distinction between judgment and testimony. We do not usually question +the credit of a writer, by reason of an opinion he may have delivered +upon subjects unconnected with his evidence: and even upon subjects +connected with his account, or mixed with it in the same discourse or +writing, we naturally separate facts from opinions, testimony from +observation, narrative from argument. + +To apply this equitable consideration to the Christian records, much +controversy and much objection has been raised concerning the quotations +of the Old Testament found in the New; some of which quotations, it is +said, are applied in a sense and to events apparently different from +that which they bear, and from those to which they belong in the +original. It is probable, to my apprehension, that many of those +quotations were intended by the writers of the New Testament as nothing +more than accommodations. They quoted passages of their Scripture which +suited, and fell in with, the occasion before them, without always +undertaking to assert that the occasion was in the view of the author of +the words. Such accommodations of passages from old authors, from books +especially which are in every one's hands, are common with writers of +all countries; but in none, perhaps, were more to be expected than in +the writings of the Jews, whose literature was almost entirely confined +to their Scriptures. Those prophecies which are alleged with more +solemnity, and which are accompanied with a precise declaration that +they originally respected the event then related, are, I think, truly +alleged. But were it otherwise; is the judgment of the writers of the +New Testament, in interpreting passages of the Old, or sometimes, +perhaps, in receiving established interpretations, so connected either +with their veracity, or with their means of information concerning what +was passing in their own times, as that a critical mistake, even were it +clearly made out, should overthrow their historical credit?--Does it +diminish it? Has it anything to do with it? + +Another error imputed to the first Christians was the expected approach +of the day of judgment. I would introduce this objection by a remark +upon what appears to me a somewhat similar example. Our Saviour, +speaking to Peter of John, said, "If I will that he tarry till I come, +what is that to thee?"' (John xxi. 22.) These words we find had been so +misconstrued, as that a report from thence "went abroad among the +brethren, that that disciple should not die." Suppose that this had come +down to us amongst the prevailing opinions of the early Christians, and +that the particular circumstance from which the mistake sprang had been +lost (which, humanly speaking, was most likely to have been the case), +some, at this day, would have been ready to regard and quote the error +as an impeachment of the whole Christian system. Yet with how little +justice such a conclusion would have been drawn, or rather such a +presumption taken up, the information which we happen to possess enables +us now to perceive. To those who think that the Scriptures lead us to +believe that the early Christians, and even the apostles, expected the +approach of the day of judgment in their own times, the same reflection +will occur as that which we have made with respect to the more partial, +perhaps, and temporary, but still no less ancient, error concerning the +duration of Saint John's life. It was an error, it may be likewise said, +which would effectually hinder those who entertained it from acting the +part of impostors. + +The difficulty which attends the subject of the present chapter is +contained in this question; If we once admit the fallibility of the +apostolic judgment, where are we to stop, or in what can we rely upon +it? To which question, as arguing with unbelievers, and as arguing for +the substantial truth of the Christian history, and for that alone, it +is competent to the advocate of Christianity to reply, Give me the +apostles' testimony, and I do not stand in need of their judgment; give +me the facts, and I have complete security for every conclusion I want. + +But, although I think that it is competent to the Christian apologist to +return this answer, I do not think that it is the only answer which the +objection is capable of receiving. The two following cautions, founded, +I apprehend, in the most reasonable distinctions, will exclude all +uncertainty upon this head which can be attended with danger. + +First, to separate what was the object of the apostolic mission, and +declared by them to be so, from what was extraneous to it, or only +incidentally connected with it. Of points clearly extraneous to the +religion nothing need be said. Of points incidentally connected with it +something may be added. Demoniacal possession is one of these points: +concerning the reality of which, as this place will not admit the +examination, nor even the production of the argument on either side of +the question, it would be arrogance in me to deliver any judgment. And +it is unnecessary. For what I am concerned to observe is, that even they +who think it was a general, but erroneous opinion of those times; and +that the writers of the New Testament, in common with other Jewish +writers of that age, fell into the manner of speaking and of thinking +upon the subject which then universally prevailed, need not be alarmed +by the concession, as though they had anything to fear from it for the +truth of Christianity. The doctrine was not what Christ brought into the +world. It appears in the Christian records, incidentally and +accidentally, as being the subsisting opinion of the age and country in +which his ministry was exercised. It was no part of the object of his +revelation, to regulate men's opinions concerning the action of +spiritual substances upon animal bodies. At any rate it is unconnected +with testimony. If a dumb person was by a word restored to the use of +his speech, it signifies little to what cause the dumbness was ascribed; +and the like of every other cure wrought upon these who are said to have +been possessed. The malady was real, the cure was real, whether the +popular explication of the cause was well founded or not. The matter of +fact, the change, so far as it was an object of sense, or of testimony, +was in either case the same. + +Secondly, that, in reading the apostolic writings, we distinguish +between their doctrines and their arguments. Their doctrines came to +them by revelation properly so called; yet in propounding these +doctrines in their writings or discourses they were wont to illustrate, +support, and enforce them by such analogies, arguments, and +considerations as their own thoughts suggested. Thus the call of the +gentiles, that is, the admission of the Gentiles to the Christian +profession without a previous subjection to the law of Moses, was +imported to the apostles by revelation, and was attested by the miracles +which attended the Christian ministry among them. The apostles' own +assurance of the matter rested upon this foundation. Nevertheless, Saint +Paul, when treating of the subject, often a great variety of topics in +its proof and vindication. The doctrine itself must be received: but it +is not necessary, in order to defend Christianity, to defend the +propriety of every comparison, or the validity of every argument, which +the apostle has brought into the discussion. The same observation +applies to some other instances, and is, in my opinion, very well +founded; "When divine writers argue upon any point, we are always bound +to believe the conclusions that their reasonings end in, as parts of +divine revelation: but we are not bound to be able to make out, or even +to assent to all the premises made use of by them, in their whole +extent, unless it appear plainly, that they affirm the premises as +expressly as they do the conclusions proved by them." (Burnets Expos. +art. 6.) + + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE CONNEXION OF CHRISTIANITY WITH THE JEWISH HISTORY. + +Undoubtedly our Saviour assumes the divine origin of the Mosaic +institution: and, independently of his authority, I conceive it to be +very difficult to assign any other cause for the commencement or +existence of that institution; especially for the singular circumstance +of the Jews adhering to the unity when every other people slid into +polytheism; for their being men in religion, children in everything +else; behind other nations in the arts of peace and war, superior to the +most improved in their sentiments and doctrines relating to the Deity.* + +_________ + +* "In the doctrine, for example, of the unity, the eternity, the +omnipotence, the omniscience, the omnipresence, the wisdom, and the +goodness of God; in their opinions concerning providence, and the +creation, preservation, and government of the world." Campbell on Mir. +p. 207. To which we may add, in the acts of their religion not being +accompanied either with cruelties or impurities: in the religion itself +being free from a species of superstition which prevailed universally in +the popular religions of the ancient world, and which is to be found +perhaps in all religions that have their origin in human artifice and +credulity, viz. fanciful connexions between certain appearances and +actions, and the destiny of nations or individuals. Upon these conceits +rested the whole train of auguries and auspices, which formed so much +even of the serious part of the religions of Greece and Rome, and of the +charms and incantations which were practised in those countries by the +common people. From everything of this sort the religion of the Jews, +and of the Jews alone, was free. Vide. Priestley's Lectures on the Truth +of the Jewish and Christian Revelation; 1794. +_________ + + +Undoubtedly, also, our Saviour recognises the prophetic character of +many of their ancient writers. So far, therefore, we are bound as +Christians to go. But to make Christianity answerable, with its life, +for the circumstantial truth of each separate passage of the Old +Testament, the genuineness of every book, the information, fidelity, and +judgment of every writer in it, is to bring, I will not say great, but +unnecessary difficulties into the whole system. These books were +universally read and received by the Jews of our Saviour's time. He and +his apostles, in common with all other Jews, referred to them, alluded +to them, used them. Yet, except where he expressly ascribes a divine +authority to particular predictions, I do not know that we can strictly +draw any conclusion from the books being so used and applied, beside the +proof, which it unquestionably is, of their notoriety and reception at +that time. In this view, our Scriptures afford a valuable testimony to +those of the Jews. But the nature of this testimony ought to be +understood. It is surely very different from what it is sometimes +represented to be, a specific ratification of each particular fact and +opinion; and not only of each particular fact, but of the motives +assigned for every action, together with the judgment of praise or +dispraise bestowed upon them. Saint James, in his Epistle, says, "Ye +have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord." +Notwithstanding this text, the reality of Job's history, and even the +existence of such a person, have been always deemed a fair subject of +inquiry and discussion amongst Christian divines. Saint James's +authority is considered as good evidence of the existence of the book of +Job at that time, and of its reception by the Jews; and of nothing more. +Saint Paul, in his Second Epistle to Timothy, has this similitude: "Now, +as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the +truth." These names are not found in the Old Testament. And it is +uncertain whether Saint Paul took them from some apocryphal writing then +extant, or from tradition. But no one ever imagined that Saint Paul is +here asserting the authority of the writing, if it was a written account +which he quoted, or making himself answerable for the authenticity of +the tradition; much less that he so involves himself with either of +these questions as that the credit of his own history and mission should +depend upon the fact whether Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses or not. +For what reason a more rigorous interpretation should be put upon other +references it is difficult to know. I do not mean, that other passages +of the Jewish history stand upon no better evidence than the history of +Job, or of Jannes and Jambres (I think much otherwise); but I mean, that +a reference in the New Testament to a passage in the Old does not so fix +its authority as to exclude all inquiry into its credibility, or into +the separate reasons upon which that credibility is founded; and that it +is an unwarrantable as well as unsafe rule to lay down concerning the +Jewish history, what was never laid down concerning any other, that +either every particular of it must be true, or the whole false. + +I have thought it necessary to state this point explicitly, because a +fashion, revived by Voltaire, and pursued by the disciples of his +school, seems to have much prevailed of late, of attacking Christianity +through the sides of Judaism. Some objections of this class are founded +in misconstruction, some in exaggeration; but all proceed upon a +supposition, which has not been made out by argument, viz. that the +attestation which the Author and first teachers of Christianity gave to +the divine mission of Moses and the prophets extends to every point and +portion of the Jewish history; and so extends as to make Christianity +responsible, in its own credibility, for the circumstantial truth (I had +almost said for the critical exactness) of every narrative contained in +the Old Testament. + + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +REJECTION OF CHRISTIANITY. + +We acknowledge that the Christian religion, although it converted great +numbers, did not produce an universal, or even a general conviction in +the minds of men of the age and countries in which it appeared. And this +want of a more complete and extensive success is called the rejection of +the Christian history and miracles; and has been thought by some to form +a strong objection to the reality of the facts which the history +contains. + +The matter of the objection divides itself into two parts; as it relates +to the Jews, and as it relates to Heathen nations: because the minds of +these two descriptions of men may have been, with respect to +Christianity, under the influence of very different causes. The case of +the Jews, inasmuch as our Saviour's ministry was originally addressed to +them, offers itself first to our consideration. + +Now upon the subject of the truth of the Christian religion; with us +there is but one question, viz., whether the miracles were actually +wrought? From acknowledging the miracles, we pass instantaneously to the +acknowledgment of the whole. No doubt lies between the premises and the +conclusion. If we believe the works of any one of them, we believe in +Jesus. And this order of reasoning has become so universal and familiar +that we do not readily apprehend how it could ever have been otherwise. +Yet it appears to me perfectly certain, that the state of thought in the +mind of a Jew of our Saviour's age was totally different from this. +After allowing the reality of the miracle, he had a great deal to do to +persuade himself that Jesus was the Messiah. This is clearly intimated +by various passages of the Gospel history. It appears that, in the +apprehension of the writers of the New Testament, the miracles did not +irresistibly carry even those who saw them to the conclusion intended to +be drawn from them; or so compel assent, as to leave no room for +suspense, for the exercise of candour, or the effects of prejudice. And +to this point, at least, the evangelists may he allowed to be good +witnesses; because it is a point in which exaggeration or disguise would +have been the other way. Their accounts, if they could he suspected of +falsehood, would rather have magnified than diminished the effects of +the miracles. + +John vii. 21--31. "Jesus answered and said unto them, I have done one +work, and ye all marvel.--If a man on the Sabbath-day receive +circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry +at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the Sabbath-day? +Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. +Then said some of them of Jerusalem, Is not this he whom they seek to +kill? But lo, he speaketh boldly, and they say nothing to him: do the +rulers know indeed that this is the very Christ? Howbeit we know this +man, whence he is: but when Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is. +Then cried Jesus in the temple as he taught, saying, Ye both know me, +and ye know whence I am: and I am not come of myself, but He that sent +me is true, whom ye know not. But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He +hath sent me. Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on +him, because his hour was not yet come. And many of the people believed +on him and said, When Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than those +which this man hath done?" + +This passage is very observable. It exhibits the reasoning of different +sorts of persons upon the occasion of a miracle which persons of all +sorts are represented to have acknowledged as real. One sort of men +thought that there was something very extraordinary in all this; but +that still Jesus could not be the Christ, because there was a +circumstance in his appearance which militated with an opinion +concerning Christ in which they had been brought up, and of the truth of +which, it is probable, they had never entertained a particle of doubt, +viz. That "when Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is." Another +sort were inclined to believe him to be the Messiah. But even these did +not argue as we should; did not consider the miracle as of itself +decisive of the question; as what, if once allowed, excluded all further +debate upon the subject; but founded their opinion upon a kind of +comparative reasoning, "When Christ cometh, will he do more miracles +than those which this man hath done?" + +Another passage in the same evangelist, and observable for the same +purpose, is that in which he relates the resurrection of Lazarus; +"Jesus," he tells us (xi. 43, 44), "when he had thus spoken, cried with +a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth: and he that was dead came forth, +bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was bound about with +a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go." One might +have suspected, that at least all those who stood by the sepulchre, when +Lazarus was raised, would have believed in Jesus. Yet the evangelist +does not so represent it:--"Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, +and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him; but some of +them went their ways to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus +had done." We cannot suppose that the evangelist meant by this account +to leave his readers to imagine, that any of the spectators doubted +about the truth of the miracle. Far from it. Unquestionably, he states +the miracle to have been fully allowed; yet the persons who allowed it +were, according to his representation, capable of retaining hostile +sentiments towards Jesus. "Believing in Jesus" was not only to believe +that he wrought miracles, but that he was the Messiah. With us there is +no difference between these two things; with them there was the +greatest; and the difference is apparent in this transaction. If Saint +John has represented the conduct of the Jews upon this occasion truly +(and why he should not I cannot tell, for it rather makes against him +than for him), it shows clearly the principles upon which their judgment +proceeded. Whether he has related the matter truly or not, the relation +itself discovers the writer's own opinion of those principles: and that +alone possesses considerable authority. In the next chapter, we have a +reflection of the evangelist entirely suited to this state of the case: +"But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet believed they +not on him." (Chap. xii. 37.) The evangelist does not mean to impute the +defect of their belief to any doubt about the miracles, but to their not +perceiving, what all now sufficiently perceive, and what they would have +perceived had not their understandings been governed by strong +prejudices, the infallible attestation which the works of Jesus bore to +the truth of his pretensions. + +The ninth chapter of Saint John's Gospel contains a very circumstantial +account of the cure of a blind man; a miracle submitted to all the +scrutiny and examination which a sceptic could propose. If a modern +unbeliever had drawn up the interrogatories, they could hardly have been +more critical or searching. The account contains also a very curious +conference between the Jewish rulers and the patient, in which the point +for our present notice is, their resistance of the force of the miracle, +and of the conclusion to which it led, after they had failed in +discrediting its evidence. "We know that God spake unto Moses, but as +for this fellow, we know not whence he is." That was the answer which +set their minds at rest. And by the help of much prejudice, and great +unwillingness to yield, it might do so. In the mind of the poor man +restored to sight, which was under no such bias, and felt no such +reluctance, the miracle had its natural operation. "Herein," says he, +"is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, yet he hath +opened mine eyes. Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any +man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth. Since +the world began, was it not heard, that any man opened the eyes of one +that was born blind. If this man were not of God, he could do nothing." +We do not find that the Jewish rulers had any other reply to make to +this defence, than that which authority is sometimes apt to make to +argument, "Dost thou teach us?" + +If it shall be inquired how a turn of thought, so different from what +prevails at present, should obtain currency with the ancient Jews; the +answer is found in two opinions which are proved to have subsisted in +that age and country. The one was their expectation of a Messiah of a +kind totally contrary to what the appearance of Jesus bespoke him to be; +the other, their persuasion of the agency of demons in the production of +supernatural effects. These opinions are not supposed by us for the +purpose of argument, but are evidently recognised in the Jewish writings +as well as in ours. And it ought moreover to be considered, that in +these opinions the Jews of that age had been from their infancy brought +up; that they were opinions, the grounds of which they had probably few +of them inquired into, and of the truth of which they entertained no +doubt. And I think that these two opinions conjointly afford an +explanation of their conduct. The first put them upon seeking out some +excuse to themselves for not receiving Jesus in the character in which +he claimed to be received; and the second supplied them with just such +an excuse as they wanted. Let Jesus work what miracles he would, still +the answer was in readiness, "that he wrought them by the assistance of +Beelzebub." And to this answer no reply could be made, but that which +our Saviour did make, by showing that the tendency of his mission was so +adverse to the views with which this being was, by the objectors +themselves, supposed to act, that it could not reasonably be supposed +that he would assist in carrying it on. The power displayed in the +miracles did not alone refute the Jewish solution, because the +interposition of invisible agents being once admitted, it is impossible +to ascertain the limits by which their efficiency is circumscribed. We +of this day may be disposed possibly to think such opinions too absurd +to have been ever seriously entertained. I am not bound to contend for +the credibility of the opinions. They were at least as reasonable as the +belief in witchcraft. They were opinions in which the Jews of that age +had from their infancy been instructed; and those who cannot see enough +in the force of this reason to account for their conduct towards our +Saviour, do not sufficiently consider how such opinions may sometimes +become very general in a country, and with what pertinacity, when once +become so, they are for that reason alone adhered to. In the suspense +which these notions and the prejudices resulting from them might +occasion, the candid and docile and humble-minded would probably decide +in Christ's favour; the proud and obstinate, together with the giddy and +the thoughtless, almost universally against him. + +This state of opinion discovers to us also the reason of what some +choose to wonder at, why the Jews should reject miracles when they saw +them, yet rely so much upon the tradition of them in their own history. +It does not appear that it had ever entered into the minds of those who +lived in the time of Moses and the prophets to ascribe their miracles to +the supernatural agency of evil being. The solution was not then +invented. The authority of Moses and the prophets being established, and +become the foundation of the national polity and religion, it was not +probable that the later Jews, brought up in a reverence for that +religion, and the subjects of that polity, should apply to their history +a reasoning which tended to overthrow the foundation of both. + +II. The infidelity of the Gentile world, and that more especially of men +of rank and learning in it, is resolvable into a principle which, in my +judgment, will account for the inefficacy of any argument or any +evidence whatever, viz. contempt prior to examination. The state of +religion amongst the Greeks and Romans had a natural tendency to induce +this disposition. Dionysius Halicarnassensis remarks, that there were +six hundred different kinds of religions or sacred rites exercised at +Rome. (Jortin's Remarks on Eccl. Hist. Vol. i. p. 371.) The superior +classes of the community treated them all as fables. Can we wonder, +then, that Christianity was included in the number, without inquiry into +its separate merits, or the particular grounds of its pretensions? It +might be either true or false for anything they knew about it. The +religion had nothing in its character which immediately engaged their +notice. It mixed with no politics. It produced no fine writers. It +contained no curious speculations. When it did reach their knowledge, I +doubt not but that it appeared to them a very strange system,--so +unphilosophical,--dealing so little in argument and discussion, in such +arguments however and discussions as they were accustomed to entertain. +What is said of Jesus Christ, of his nature, office, and ministry, would +be in the highest degree alien from the conceptions of their theology. +The Redeemer and the destined Judge of the human race a poor young man, +executed at Jerusalem with two thieves upon a cross! Still more would +the language in which the Christian doctrine was delivered be dissonant +and barbarous to their ears. What knew they of grace, of redemption, of +justification, of the blood of Christ shed for the sins of men, of +reconcilement, of mediation? Christianity was made up of points they had +never thought of; of terms which they had never heard. + +It was presented also to the imagination of the learned Heathen under +additional disadvantage, by reason of its real, and still more of its +nominal, connexion with Judaism. It shared in the obloquy and ridicule +with which that people and their religion were treated by the Greeks and +Romans. They regarded Jehovah himself only as the idol of the Jewish +nation, and what was related of him as of a piece with what was told of +the tutelar deities of other countries; nay, the Jews were in a +particular manner ridiculed for being a credulous race; so that whatever +reports of a miraculous nature came out of that country were looked upon +by the Heathen world as false and frivolous. When they heard of +Christianity, they heard of it as a quarrel amongst this people about +some articles of their own superstition. Despising, therefore, as they +did, the whole system, it was not probable that they would enter, with +any degree of seriousness or attention, into the detail of its disputes +or the merits of either side. How little they knew, and with what +carelessness they judged of these matters, appears, I think, pretty +plainly from an example of no less weight than that of Tacitus, who, in +a grave and professed discourse upon the history of the Jews, states +that they worshipped the effigy of an ass. (Tacit. Hist. lib. v. c. 2.) +The passage is a proof how prone the learned men of those times were, +and upon how little evidence, to heap together stories which might +increase the contempt and odium in which that people was holden. The +same foolish charge is also confidently repeated by Plutarch. (Sympos. +lib. iv. quaest. 5.) + +It is observable that all these considerations are of a nature to +operate with the greatest force upon the highest ranks; upon men of +education, and that order of the public from which writers are +principally taken: I may add also upon the philosophical as well as the +libertine character; upon the Antonines or Julian, not less than upon +Nero or Domitian; and, more particularly, upon that large and polished +class of men who acquiesced in the general persuasion, that all they had +to do was to practise the duties of morality, and to worship the Deity +more patrio; a habit of thinking, liberal as it may appear, which shuts +the door against every argument for a new religion. The considerations +above mentioned would acquire also strength from the prejudices which +men of rank and learning universally entertain against anything that +originates with the vulgar and illiterate; which prejudice is known to +be as obstinate as any prejudice whatever. + +Yet Christianity was still making its way: and, amidst so many +impediments to its progress, so much difficulty in procuring audience +and attention, its actual success is more to be wondered at, than that +it should not have universally conquered scorn and indifference, fixed +the levity of a voluptuous age, or, through a cloud of adverse +prejudications, opened for itself a passage to the hearts and +understandings of the scholars of the age. + +And the cause which is here assigned for the rejection of Christianity +by men of rank and learning among the Heathens, namely, a strong +antecedent contempt, accounts also for their silence concerning it. If +they had rejected it upon examination, they would have written about it; +they would have given their reasons. Whereas, what men repudiate upon +the strength of some prefixed persuasion, or from a settled contempt of +the subject, of the persons who propose it, or of the manner in which it +is proposed, they do not naturally write books about, or notice much in +what they write upon other subjects. + +The letters of the younger Pliny furnish an example of this silence, and +let us, in some measure, into the cause of it. From his celebrated +correspondence with Trajan, we know that the Christian religion +prevailed in a very considerable degree in the province over which he +presided; that it had excited his attention; that he had inquired into +the matter just so much as a Roman magistrate might be expected to +inquire, viz., whether the religion contained any opinions dangerous to +government; but that of its doctrines, its evidences, or its books, he +had not taken the trouble to inform himself with any degree of care or +correctness. But although Pliny had viewed Christianity in a nearer +position than most of his learned countrymen saw it in, yet he had +regarded the whole with such negligence and disdain (further than as it +seemed to concern his administration), that, in more than two hundred +and forty letters of his which have come down to us, the subject is +never once again mentioned. If, out of this number, the two letters +between him and Trajan had been lost, with what confidence would the +obscurity of the Christian religion have been argued from Pliny's +silence about it, and with how little truth! + +The name and character which Tacitus has given to Christianity, +"exitiabilis superstitio" (a pernicious superstition), and by which two +words he disposes of the whole question of the merits or demerits of the +religion, afford a strong proof how little he knew, or concerned himself +to know, about the matter. I apprehend that I shall not be contradicted, +when I take upon me to assert, that no unbeliever of the present age +would apply this epithet to the Christianity of the New Testament, or +not allow that it was entirely unmerited. Read the instructions given by +a great teacher of the religion to those very Roman converts of whom +Tacitus speaks; and given also a very few years before the time of which +he is speaking; and which are not, let it be observed, a collection of +fine sayings brought together from different parts of a large work, but +stand in one entire passage of a public letter, without the intermixture +of a single thought which is frivolous or exceptionable:--"Abhor that +which is evil, cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one +to another, with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; not +slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; rejoicing in +hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; distributing +to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality. Bless them which +persecute you; bless, and curse not. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, +and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one towards another. +Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise +in your own conceits. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things +honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in +you, live peaceably with all men. Avenge not yourselves, but rather give +place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, +saith the Lord: therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he +thirst, give him drink: for, in so doing, thou shalt heap coals of fire +on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. + +"Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power +but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever, +therefore, resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they +that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a +terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of +the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the +same: for he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do +that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for +he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that +doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but +also for conscience' sake. For, for this cause pay ye tribute also: for +they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. +Render therefore to all their dues; tribute to whom tribute is due; +custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour. + +"Owe no man anything, but to love one another; for he that loveth +another, hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit +adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear +false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other +commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, Thou shalt love +thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour; +therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. + +"And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of +sleep; for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night +is far spent, the day is at hand; let us therefore cast off the works of +darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly as +in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and +wantonness, not in strife and envying." (Romans, xii. 9--xiii. 13.) + +Read this, and then think of "exitiabilis superstitio!" Or, if we be not +allowed, in contending with Heathen authorities, to produce our books +against theirs, we may at least be permitted to confront theirs with one +another. Of this "pernicious superstition" what could Pliny find to +blame, when he was led, by his office, to institute something like an +examination into the conduct and principles of the sect? He discovered +nothing but that they were went to meet together on a stated day before +it was light, and sing among themselves a hymn to Christ as a God, and +to bind themselves by an oath, not to the commission of any wickedness, +but, not to be guilty of theft, robbery, or adultery; never to falsify +their word, nor to deny a pledge committed to them, when called upon to +return it. + +Upon the words of Tacitus we may build the following observations: + +First; That we are well warranted in calling the view under which the +learned men of that age beheld Christianity an obscure and distant view. +Had Tacitus known more of Christianity, of its precepts, duties, +constitution, or design, however he had discredited the story, he would +have respected the principle. He would have described the religion +differently, though he had rejected it. It has been very satisfactorily +shown, that the "superstition" of the Christians consisted in +worshipping a person unknown to the Roman calendar; and that the +"perniciousness" with which they were reproached was nothing else but +their opposition to the established polytheism; and this view of the +matter was just such an one as might be expected to occur to a mind +which held the sect in too much contempt to concern itself about the +grounds and reasons of their conduct. + +Secondly; We may from hence remark how little reliance can be placed +upon the most acute judgments in subjects which they are pleased to +despise; and which, of course, they from the first consider as unworthy +to be inquired into. Had not Christianity survived to tell its own +story, it must have gone down to posterity as a "pernicious +superstition;" and that upon the credit of Tacitus's account, much, I +doubt not, strengthened by the name of the writer, and the reputation of +his sagacity. + +Thirdly; That this contempt, prior to examination, is an intellectual +vice, from which the greatest faculties of mind are not free. I know +not, indeed, whether men of the greatest faculties of mind are not the +most subject to it. Such men feel themselves seated upon an eminence. +Looking down from their height upon the follies of mankind, they behold +contending tenets wasting their idle strength upon one another with the +common disdain of the absurdity of them all. This habit of thought, +however comfortable to the mind which entertain it, or however natural +to great parts, is extremely dangerous; and more apt than almost any +other disposition to produce hasty and contemptuous, and, by +consequence, erroneous judgments, both of persons and opinions. + +Fourthly; We need not be surprised at many writers of that age not +mentioning Christianity at all, when they who did mention it appear to +have entirely misconceived its nature and character; and, in consequence +of this misconception, to have regarded it with negligence and contempt. + +To the knowledge of the greatest part of the learned heathens, the facts +of the Christian history could only come by report. The books, probably, +they had never looked into. The settled habit of their minds was, and +long had been, an indiscriminate rejection of all reports of the kind. +With these sweeping conclusions truth hath no chance. It depends upon +distinction. If they would not inquire, how should they be convinced? It +might be founded in truth, though they, who made no search, might not +discover it. + +"Men of rank and fortune, of wit and abilities, are often found, even in +Christian countries, to be surprisingly ignorant of religion, and of +everything that relates to it. Such were many of the heathens. Their +thoughts were all fixed upon other things; upon reputation and glory, +upon wealth and power, upon luxury and pleasure, upon business or +learning. They thought, and they had reason to think, that the religion +of their country was fable and forgery, a heap of inconsistent lies; +which inclined them to suppose that other religions were no better. +Hence it came to pass, that when the apostles preached the Gospel, and +wrought miracles in confirmation of a doctrine every way worthy of God, +many Gentiles knew little or nothing of it, and would not take the least +pains to inform themselves about it. This appears plainly from ancient +history." (Jortin's Disc. on the Christ. Rel. p. 66, ed. 4th.) + +I think it by no means unreasonable to suppose that the heathen public, +especially that part which is made up of men of rank and education, were +divided into two classes; these who despised Christianity beforehand, +and those who received it. In correspondency with which division of +character the writers of that age would also be of two classes; those +who were silent about Christianity, and those who were Christians. "A +good man, who attended sufficiently to the Christian affairs, would +become a Christian; after which his testimony ceased to be pagan and +became Christian." (Hartley, Obs. p. 119.) + +I must also add, that I think it sufficiently proved, that the notion of +magic was resorted to by the heathen adversaries of Christianity, in +like manner as that of diabolical agency had before been by the Jews. +Justin Martyr alleges this as his reason for arguing from prophecy +rather than from miracles. Origen imputes this evasion to Celsus; Jerome +to Porphyry; and Lactantius to the heathen in general. The several +passages which contain these testimonies will be produced in the next +chapter. It being difficult, however, to ascertain in what degree this +notion prevailed, especially the superior ranks of the heathen +communities, another, and think an adequate, cause has been assigned for +their infidelity. It is probable that in many cases the two causes would +together. + + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THAT THE CHRISTIAN MIRACLES ARE NOT RECITED, OR APPEALED TO, BY EARLY +CHRISTIAN WRITERS THEMSELVES SO FULLY OR FREQUENTLY AS MIGHT HAVE BEEN +EXPECTED. + +I shall consider this objection, first, as it applies to the letters of +the apostles preserved in the New Testament; and secondly, as it applies +to the remaining writings of other early Christians. + +The epistles of the apostles are either hortatory or argumentative. So +far as they were occupied in delivering lessons of duty, rules of public +order, admonitions against certain prevailing corruptions, against vice, +or any particular species of it, or in fortifying and encouraging the +constancy of the disciples under the trials to which they were exposed, +there appears to be no place or occasion for more of these references +than we actually find. + +So far as these epistles are argumentative, the nature of the argument +which they handle accounts for the infrequency of these allusions. These +epistles were not written to prove the truth of Christianity. The +subject under consideration was not that which the miracles decided, the +reality of our Lord's mission; but it was that which the miracles did +not decide, the nature of his person or power, the design of his advent, +its effects, and of those effects the value, kind, and extent. Still I +maintain that miraculous evidence lies at the bottom of the argument. For +nothing could be so preposterous as for the disciples of Jesus to +dispute amongst themselves, or with others, concerning his office or +character; unless they believed that he had shown, by supernatural +proofs, that there was something extraordinary in both. Miraculous +evidence, therefore, forming not the texture of these arguments, but the +ground and substratum, if it be occasionally discerned, if it be +incidentally appealed to, it is exactly so much as ought take place, +supposing the history to be true. + +As a further answer to the objection, that the apostolic epistles do not +contain so frequent, or such direct and circumstantial recitals of +miracles as might be expected, I would add, that the apostolic epistles +resemble in this respect the apostolic speeches, which speeches are +given by a writer who distinctly records numerous miracles wrought by +these apostles themselves, and by the Founder of the institution in +their presence; that it is unwarrantable to contend that the omission, +or infrequency, of such recitals in the speeches of the apostles +negatives the existence of the miracles, when the speeches are given in +immediate conjunction with the history of those miracles: and that a +conclusion which cannot be inferred from the speeches without +contradicting the whole tenour of the book which contains them cannot be +inferred from letters, which in this respect are similar only to the +speeches. + +To prove the similitude which we allege, it may be remarked, that +although in Saint Luke's Gospel the apostle Peter is represented to have +been present at many decisive miracles wrought by Christ; and although +the second part of the same history ascribes other decisive miracles to +Peter himself, particularly the cure of the lame man at the gate of the +temple (Acts iii. 1), the death of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts v. 1), the +cure of Aeneas (Acts ix. 34), the resurrection of Dorcas (Acts ix. 40); +yet out of six speeches of Peter, preserved in the Acts, I know but two +in which reference is made to the miracles wrought by Christ, and only +one in which he refers to miraculous powers possessed by himself. In his +speech upon the day of Pentecost, Peter addresses his audience with +great solemnity thus: "Ye men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of +Nazareth, a man approved of God among you, by miracles, and wonders, and +signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also +know:" (Acts ii. 22.) &c. In his speech upon the conversion of +Cornelius, he delivers his testimony to the miracles performed by Christ +in these words: "We are witnesses of all things which he did, both in +the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem." (Acts x. 39.) But in this latter +speech no allusion appears to the miracles wrought by himself +notwithstanding that the miracles above enumerated all preceded the time +in which it was delivered. In his speech upon the election of +Matthias, (Acts i. 15.) no distinct reference is made to any of the +miracles of Christ's history except his resurrection. The same also may +be observed of his speech upon the cure of the lame man at the of the +temple; (Acts iii. 12.) the same in his speech before the Sanhedrim; +(Acts iv. 8.) the same in his second apology in the presence of that +assembly Stephen's long speech contains no reference whatever to +miracles, though it be expressly related of him, in the book which +preserves the speech, and almost immediately before the speech, "that he +did great wonders and miracles among the people." (Acts vi. 8.) Again, +although miracles be expressly attributed to Saint Paul in the Acts of +the Apostles, first generally, as at Iconium (Acts xiv. 3), during the +whole tour through the Upper Asia (xiv. 27; xv. 12), at Ephesus (xix. +11, 12); secondly, in specific instances, as the blindness of Elymas at +Paphos, (Acts xiii. 11.) the cure of the cripple at Lystra, (Acts xiv. 8.) +of the pythoness at Philippi, (Acts xvi. 16.) the miraculous liberation +from prison in the same city, (Acts xvi. 26.) the restoration of +Eutychus, (Acts xx. 10.) the predictions of his shipwreck, (Acts xxvii. +1.) the viper at Melita, the cure of Publius's father; (Acts xxvii. 8.) +at all which miracles, except the first two, the historian himself was +present: notwithstanding, I say, this positive ascription of miracles to +St. Paul, yet in the speeches delivered by him, and given as delivered +by him, in the same book in which the miracles are related, and the +miraculous powers asserted, the appeals to his own miracles, or indeed +to any miracles at all, are rare and incidental. In his speech at +Antioch in Pisidia, (Acts xiii. 16.) there is no allusion but to the +resurrection. In his discourse at Miletus, (Acts xx. 17.) none to any +miracle: none in his speech before Felix; (Acts xxiv. 10.) none in his +speech before Festus; (Acts xxv. 8.) except to Christ's resurrection and +his own conversion. + +Agreeably hereunto, in thirteen letters ascribed to Saint Paul, we have +incessant references to Christ's resurrection, frequent references to +his own conversion, three indubitable references to the miracles which +he wrought; (Gal. iii. 5; Rom. xv. 18, 19; 2 Cor. xii. 12.) four other +references to the same, less direct, yet highly probable; (1 Cor. ii. 4,5; +Eph. iii. 7; Gal. ii. 8; 1 Thess. i. 8.) but more copious or +circumstantial recitals we have not. The consent, therefore, between +Saint Paul's speeches and letters is in this respect sufficiently exact; +and the reason in both is the same, namely, that the miraculous history +was all along presupposed, and that the question which occupied the +speaker's and the writer's thoughts was this: whether, allowing the +history of Jesus to be true, he was, upon the strength of it, to be +received as the promised Messiah; and, if he was, what were the +consequences, what was the object and benefit of his mission? + +The general observation which has been made upon the apostolic writings, +namely, that the subject of which they treated did not lead them to any +direct recital of the Christian history, belongs to the writings of the +apostolic fathers. The epistle of Barnabas is, in its subject and +general composition, much like the epistle to the Hebrews; an +allegorical application of divers passages of the Jewish history, of +their law and ritual, to those parts of the Christian dispensation in +which the author perceived a resemblance. The epistle of Clement was +written for the sole purpose of quieting certain dissensions that had +arisen amongst the members of the church of Corinth, and of reviving in +their minds that temper and spirit of which their predecessors in the +Gospel had left them an example. The work of Hermas is a vision; quotes +neither the Old Testament nor the New, and merely falls now and then +into the language and the mode of speech which the author had read in +our Gospels. The epistles of Polycarp and Ignatius had for their +principal object the order and discipline of the churches which they +addressed. Yet, under all these circumstances of disadvantage, the great +points of the Christian history are fully recognised. This hath been +shown in its proper place. (Vide supra, pp. 48-51. [Part 1, Chapter 8]) + +There is, however, another class of writers to whom the answer above +given, viz. the unsuitableness of any such appeals or references as the +objection demands to the subjects of which the writings treated, does +not apply; and that is the class of ancient apologists, whose declared +design it was to defend Christianity, and to give the reasons of their +adherence to it. It is necessary, therefore, to inquire how the matter +of the objection stands in these. + +The most ancient apologist of whose works we have the smallest knowledge +is Quadratus. Quadratus lived about seventy years after the ascension, +and presented his apology to the Emperor Adrian. From a passage of this +work, preserved in Eusebius, it appears that the author did directly and +formally appeal to the miracles of Christ, and in terms as express and +confident as we could desire. The passage (which has been once already +stated) is as follows: "The works of our Saviour were always +conspicuous, for they were real: both they that were healed, and they +that were raised from the dead, were seen, not only when they were +healed or raised, but for a long time afterwards; not only whilst he +dwelled on this earth, but also after his departure, and for a good +while after it; insomuch as that some of them have reached to our +times," (Euseb. Hist. I. iv. c. 3.) Nothing can be more rational or +satisfactory than this. + + +Justin Martyr, the next of the Christian apologists, whose work is not +lost, and who followed Quadratus at the distance of about thirty years, +has touched upon passages of Christ's history in so many places, that a +tolerably complete account of Christ's life might be collected out of +his works. In the following quotation he asserts the performance of +miracles by Christ, in words as strong and positive as the language +possesses: "Christ healed those who from their birth were blind, and +deaf, and lame; causing, by his word, one to leap, another to hear, and +a third to see; and having raised the dead, and caused them to live, he, +by his works, excited attention, and induced the men of that age to know +him: who, however, seeing these things done, said that it was a magical +appearance, and dared to call him a magician, and a deceiver of the +people." (Just. Dial. p. 258, ed. Thirlby.) + +In his first apology, (Apolog. prim. p. 48, ib.) Justin expressly +assigns the reason for his having recourse to the argument from +prophecy, rather than alleging the miracles of the Christian history; +which reason was, that the persons with whom he contended would ascribe +these miracles to magic; "lest any of our opponents should say, What +hinders, but that he who is called Christ by us, being a man sprung from +men, performed the miracles which we attribute to him by magical art?" +The suggestion of this reason meets, as I apprehend, the very point of +the present objection; more especially when we find Justin followed in +it by other writers of that age. Irenaeus, who came about forty years +after him, notices the same evasion in the adversaries of Christianity, +and replies to it by the same argument: "But if they shall say, that the +Lord performed these things by an illusory appearance (phantasiodos), +leading these objectors to the prophecies, we will show from them, that +all things were thus predicted concerning him, and Strictly came to +pass." (Iren. I. ii. c. 57.) Lactantius, who lived a century lower, +delivers the same sentiment upon the same occasion: "He performed +miracles;--we might have supposed him to have been a magician, as ye +say, and as the Jews then supposed, if all the prophets had not with one +spirit foretold that Christ should perform these very things." (Lactant. +v. 3.) + +But to return to the Christian apologists in their order. +Tertullian:--"That person whom the Jews had vainly imagined, from the +meanness of his appearance, to be a mere man, they afterwards, in +consequence of the power he exerted, considered as a magician, when he, +with one word, ejected devils out of the bodies of men, gave sight to +the blind, cleansed the leprous, strengthened the nerves of those that +had the palsy, and lastly, with one command, restored the dead to life; +when he, I say, made the very elements obey him, assuaged the storms, +walked upon the seas, demonstrating himself to be the Word of God." +(Tertul. Apolos. p. 20; ed. Priorii, Par. 1675.) + +Next in the catalogue of professed apologists we may place Origen, who, +it is well known, published a formal defence of Christianity, in answer +to Celsus, a heathen, who had written a discourse against it. I know no +expressions by which a plainer or more positive appeal to the Christian +miracles can be made, than the expressions used by Origen; "Undoubtedly +we do think him to be the Christ, and the Son of God, because he healed +the lame and the blind; and we are the more confirmed in this persuasion +by what is written in the prophecies: 'Then shall the eyes of the blind +be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear, and the lame man shall +leap as a hart.' But that he also raised the dead, and that it is not a +fiction of those who wrote the Gospels, is evident from hence, that if +it had been a fiction, there would have been many recorded to be raised +up, and such as had been a long time in their graves. But, it not being +a fiction, few have been recorded: for instance, the daughter of the +ruler of a synagogue, of whom I do not know why he said, She is not +dead, but sleepeth, expressing something peculiar to her, not common to +all dead persons: and the only son of a widow, on whom he had +compassion, and raised him to life, after he had bid the bearers of the +corpse to stop; and the third, Lazarus, who had been buried four days." +This is positively to assert the miracles of Christ, and it is also to +comment upon them, and that with a considerable degree of accuracy and +candour. + +In another passage of the same author, we meet with the old solution of +magic applied to the miracles of Christ by the adversaries of the +religion. "Celsus," saith Origen, "well knowing what great works may be +alleged to have been done by Jesus, pretends to grant that the things +related of him are true; such as healing diseases, raising the dead, +feeding multitudes with a few leaves, of which large fragments were +left." (Orig. cont. Cels. lib. ii. sect. 48.) And then Celsus gives, it +seems, an answer to these proofs of our Lord's mission, which, as Origen +understood it, resolved the phenomena into magic; for Origen begins his +reply by observing, "You see that Celsus in a manner allows that there +is such a thing as magic." (Lardner's Jewish and Heath. Test, vol. ii. +p. 294, ed. 4to.) + +It appears also from the testimony of St. Jerome, that Porphyry, the +most learned and able of the heathen writers against Christianity, +resorted to the same solution: "Unless," says he, speaking to +Vigilantius, "according to the manner of the Gentiles and the profane, +of Porphyry and Eunomius, you pretend that these are the tricks of +demons." (Jerome cont. Vigil.) + +This magic, these demons, this illusory appearance, this comparison with +the tricks of jugglers, by which many of that age accounted so easily +for the Christian miracles, and which answers the advocates of +Christianity often thought it necessary to refute by arguments drawn +from other topics, and particularly from prophecy (to which, it seems, +these solutions did not apply), we now perceive to be gross subterfuges. +That such reasons were ever seriously urged and seriously received, is +only a proof what a gloss and varnish fashion can give to any opinion. + +It appears, therefore, that the miracles of Christ, understood as we +understand them in their literal and historical sense, were positively +and precisely asserted and appealed to by the apologists for +Christianity; which answers the allegation of the objection. + +I am ready, however, to admit, that the ancient Christian advocates did +not insist upon the miracles in argument so frequently as I should have +done. It was their lot to contend with notions of magical agency, +against which the mere production of the facts was not sufficient for +the convincing of their adversaries: I do not know whether they +themselves thought it quite decisive of the controversy. But since it is +proved, I conceive with certainty, that the sparingness with which they +appealed to miracles was owing neither to their ignorance nor their +doubt of the facts, it is, at any rate, an objection not to the truth of +the history, but to the judgment of its defenders. + + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +WANT OF UNIVERSALITY IN THE KNOWLEDGE AND RECEPTION OF CHRISTIANITY, AND +OF GREATER CLEARNESS IN THE EVIDENCE. + +Or, a Revelation which really came from God, the proof, it has been +said, would in all ages be so public and manifest, that no part of the +human species would remain ignorant of it, no understanding could fail +of being convinced by it. + +The advocates of Christianity do not pretend that the evidence of their +religion possesses these qualities. They do not deny that we can +conceive it to be within the compass of divine power to have +communicated to the world a higher degree of assurance, and to have +given to his communication a stronger and more extensive influence. For +anything we are able to discern, God could have so formed men, as to +have perceived the truths of religion intuitively; or to have carried on +a communication with the other world whilst they lived in this; or to +have seen the individuals of the species, instead of dying, pass to +heaven by a sensible translation. He could have presented a separate +miracle to each man's senses. He could have established a standing +miracle. He could have caused miracles to be wrought in every different +age and country. These and many more methods, which we may imagine if we +once give loose to our imaginations, are, so far as we can judge, all +practicable. + +The question therefore is, not whether Christianity possesses the +highest possible degree of evidence, but whether the not having more +evidence be a sufficient reason for rejecting that which we have. + +Now there appears to be no fairer method of judging concerning any +dispensation which is alleged to come from God, when question is made +whether such a dispensation could come from God or not, than by +comparing it with other things which are acknowledged to proceed from +the same counsel, and to be produced by the same agency. If the +dispensation in question labour under no defects but what apparently +belong to other dispensations, these seeming defects do not justify us +in setting aside the proofs which are offered of its authenticity, if +they be otherwise entitled to credit. + +Throughout that order then of nature, of which God is the author, what +we find is a system of beneficence: we are seldom or never able to make +out a system of optimism. I mean, that there are few cases in which, if +we permit ourselves to range in possibilities, we cannot suppose +something more perfect, and, more unobjectionable, than what we see. The +rain which descends from heaven is confessedly amongst the contrivances +of the Creator for the sustentation of the animals and vegetables which +subsist upon the surface of the earth. Yet how partially: and +irregularly is it supplied! How much of it falls upon sea, where it can +be of no use! how often is it wanted where it would be of the greatest! +What tracts of continent are rendered deserts by the scarcity of it! Or, +not to speak of extreme cases, how much sometimes do inhabited countries +suffer by its deficiency or delay!--We could imagine, if to imagine were +our business, the matter to be otherwise regulated. We could imagine +showers to fall just where and when they would do good; always +seasonable, everywhere sufficient; so distributed as not to leave a +field upon the face of the globe scorched by drought or even a plant +withering for the lack of moisture. Yet, does the difference between the +real case and the imagined case, or the seeming inferiority of the one +to the other, authorise us to say, that the present disposition of the +atmosphere is not amongst the productions or the designs of the Deity? +Does it check the inference which we draw from the confessed beneficence +of the provision? or does it make us cease to admire the contrivance? +The observation which we have exemplified in the single instance of the +rain of heaven may be repeated concerning most of the phenomena of +nature; and the true conclusion to which it leads is this--that to +inquire what the Deity might have done, could have done, or, as we even +sometimes presume to speak, ought to have done, or, in hypothetical +cases, would have done; and to build any propositions upon such +inquiries against evidence of facts, is wholly unwarrantable. It is a +mode of reasoning which will not do in natural history, which will not +do in natural religion, which cannot therefore be applied with safety to +revelation. It may have same foundation in certain speculative a priori +ideas of the divine attributes, but it has none in experience or in +analogy. The general character of the works of nature is, on the one +hand, goodness both in design and effect; and, on the other hand, a +liability to difficulty and to objections, if such objections be +allowed, by reason of seeming incompleteness or uncertainty in attaining +their end. Christianity participates of this character. The true +similitude between nature and revelation consists in this--that they +each bear strong marks of their original, that they each also bear +appearances of irregularity and defect. A system of strict optimism may, +nevertheless, be the real system in both cases. But what I contend is, +that the proof is hidden from us; that we ought not to expect to +perceive that in revelation which we hardly perceive in anything; that +beneficence, of which, we can judge, ought to satisfy us that optimism, +of which we cannot judge, ought not to be sought after. We can judge of +beneficence, because it depends upon effects which we experience, and +upon the relation between the means which we see acting and the ends +which we see produced. We cannot judge of optimism because it +necessarily implies a comparison of that which is tried with that which +is not tried; of consequences which we see with others which we imagine, +and concerning many of which, it is more than probable, we know nothing; +concerning some that we have no notion. + +If Christianity be compared with the state and progress of natural +religion, the argument of the objector will gain nothing by the +comparison. I remember hearing an unbeliever say that, if God had given +a revelation, he would have written it in the skies. Are the truths of +natural religion written in the skies, or in a language which every one +reads? or is this the case with the most useful arts, or the most +necessary sciences of human life? An Otaheitean or an Esquimaux knows +nothing of Christianity; does he know more of the principles of deism or +morality? which, notwithstanding his ignorance, are neither untrue, nor +unimportant, nor uncertain. The existence of Deity is left to be +collected from observations, which every man does not make, which every +man, perhaps, is not capable of making. Can it be argued that God does +not exist because if he did, he would let us see him, or discover +himself to man kind by proofs (such as, we may think, the nature of the +subject merited) which no inadvertency could miss, no prejudice +withstand? + +If Christianity be regarded as a providential instrument the melioration +of mankind, its progress and diffusion that of other causes by which +human life is improved diversity is not greater, nor the advance more +slow, in than we find it to be in learning, liberty, government, laws. +The Deity hath not touched the order of nature in vain. The Jewish +religion produced great and permanent effects; the Christian religion +hath done the same. It hath disposed the world to amendment: it hath put +things in a train. It is by no means improbable that it may become +universal; and that the world may continue in that stage so long as that +the duration of its reign may bear a vast proportion to the time of its +partial influence. + +When we argue concerning Christianity, that it must necessarily be true +because it is beneficial, we go, perhaps, too far on one side; and we +certainly go too far on the other when we conclude that it must be false +because it is not so efficacious as we could have supposed. The question +of its truth is to be tried upon its proper evidence, without deferring +much to this sort of argument on either side. "The evidence," as Bishop +Butler hath rightly observed, "depends upon the judgment we form of +human conduct, under given circumstances, of which it may be presumed +that we know something; the objection stands upon the supposed conduct +of the Deity, under relations with which we are not acquainted." + +What would be the real effect of that overpowering evidence which our +adversaries require in a revelation it is difficult foretell; at least +we must speak of it as of a dispensation which we have no experience. +Some consequences, however, would, it is probable, attend this economy, +which do not seem to befit a revelation that proceeded from God. One is, +that irresistible proof would restrain the voluntary powers too much; +would not answer the purpose of trial and probation; would call for no +exercise of candour, seriousness, humility, inquiry, no submission of +passion, interests, and prejudices, to moral evidence and to probable +truth; no habits of reflection; none of that previous desire to learn +and to obey the will of God, which forms perhaps the test of the +virtuous principle, and which induces men to attend, with care and +reverence, to every credible intimation of that will, and to resign +present advantages and present pleasures to every reasonable expectation +of propitiating his favour. "Men's moral probation may be, whether they +will take due care to inform themselves by impartial consideration; and, +afterwards, whether they will act, as the case requires, upon the +evidence which they have. And this we find by experience is often our +probation in our temporal capacity." (Butler's Analogy, part ii. c. 6.) + +II. These modes of communication would leave no place for the admission +of internal evidence; which ought, perhaps, to bear a considerable part +in the proof of every revelation, because it is a species of evidence +which applies itself to the knowledge, love, and practice, of virtue, +and which operates in proportion to the degree of those qualities which +it finds in the person whom it addresses. Men of good dispositions, +amongst Christians, are greatly affected by the impression which the +Scriptures themselves make upon their minds. Their conviction is much +strengthened by these impressions. And this perhaps was intended to be +one effect to be produced by the religion. It is likewise true, to +whatever cause we ascribe it (for I am not in this work at liberty to +introduce the Christian doctrine of grace or assistance, or the +Christian promise that, "if any man will do his will, he shall know of +the doctrine, whether it be of God" John vii. 17.),--it is true, I say, +that they who sincerely act, or sincerely endeavour to act, according to +what they believe, that is, according to the just result of the +probabilities, or, if you please, the possibilities in natural and +revealed religion, which they themselves perceive, and according to a +rational estimate of consequences, and, above all, according to the just +effect of those principles of gratitude and devotion which even the view +of nature generates in a well-ordered mind, seldom fail of proceeding +farther. This also may have been exactly what was designed. + +Whereas, may it not be said that irresistible evidence would confound +all characters and all dispositions? would subvert rather than promote +the true purpose of the Divine counsels; which is, not to produce +obedience by a force little short of mechanical constraint, (which +obedience would be regularity, not virtue, and would hardly perhaps +differ from that which inanimate bodies pay to the laws impressed upon +their nature), but to treat moral agents agreeably to what they are; +which is done, when light and motives are of such kinds, and are +imparted in such measures, that the influence of them depends upon the +recipients themselves? "It is not meet to govern rational free agents in +via by sight and sense. It would be no trial or thanks to the most +sensual wretch to forbear sinning, if heaven and hell were open to his +sight. That spiritual vision and fruition is our state in patria." +(Baxter's Reasons, p. 357.) There may be truth in this thought, though +roughly expressed. Few things are more improbable than that we (the +human species) should be the highest order of beings in the universe: +that animated nature should ascend from the lowest reptile to us, and +all at once stop there. If there be classes above us of rational +intelligences, clearer manifestations may belong to them. This may be +one of the distinctions. And it may be one to which we ourselves +hereafter shall attain. + + +III. But may it not also be asked, whether the perfect display of a +future state of existence would be compatible with the activity of civil +life, and with the success of human affairs? I can easily conceive that +this impression may be overdone; that it may so seize and fill the +thoughts as to leave no place for the cares and offices of men's several +stations, no anxiety for worldly prosperity, or even for a worldly +provision, and, by consequence, no sufficient stimulus to secular +industry. Of the first Christians we read, "that all that believed were +together, and had all things common; and sold their possessions and +goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need; and continuing +daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to +house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart" (Acts +ii. 44-46.) This was extremely natural, and just what might be expected +from miraculous evidence coming with full force upon the senses of +mankind: but I much doubt whether, if this state of mind had been +universal, or long-continued, the business of the world could have gone +on. The necessary art of social life would have been little cultivated. +The plough and the loom would have stood still. Agriculture, +manufactures, trade, and navigation, would not, I think, have +flourished, if they could have been exercised at all. Men would have +addicted themselves to contemplative and ascetic lives, instead of lives +of business and of useful industry. We observe that St. Paul found it +necessary frequently to recall his converts to the ordinary labours and +domestic duties of their condition; and to give them, in his own +example, a lesson of contented application to their worldly employments. + +By the manner in which the religion is now proposed, a great portion of +the human species is enabled and of these multitudes of every generation +are induced, to seek and effectuate their salvation through the medium +of Christianity, without interruption of the prosperity or of the +regular course of human affairs. + + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE SUPPOSED EFFECTS OF CHRISTIANITY. + +That a religion which under every form in which it is taught holds forth +the final reward of virtue and punishment of vice, and proposes those +distinctions of virtue and vice which the wisest and most cultivated +part of mankind confess to be just, should not be believed, is very +possible; but that, so far as it is believed, it should not produce any +good, but rather a bad effect upon public happiness, is a proposition +which it requires very strong evidence to render credible. Yet many have +been found to contend for this paradox, and very confident appeals have +been made to history and to observation for the truth of it. + +In the conclusions, however, which these writers draw from what they +call experience, two sources, I think, of mistake may be perceived. + +One is, that they look for the influence of religion in the wrong place. + +The other, that they charge Christianity with many consequences for +which it is not responsible. + +I. The influence of religion is not to be sought for in the councils of +princes, in the debates or resolutions of popular assemblies, in the +conduct of governments towards their subjects, of states and sovereigns +towards one another; of conquerors at the head of their armies, or of +parties intriguing for power at home (topics which alone almost occupy +the attention, and fill the pages of history); but must be perceived, if +perceived at all, in the silent course of private and domestic life. +Nay, even there its influence may not be very obvious to observation. If +it check, in some degree, personal dissoluteness, if it beget general +probity in the transaction of business, if it produce soft and humane +manners in the mass of the community, and occasional exertions of +laborious or expensive benevolence in a individuals, it is all the +effect which can offer itself to external notice. The kingdom of heaven +is within us. That which the substance of the religion, its hopes and +consolation, its intermixture with the thoughts by day and by night, the +devotion of the heart, the control of appetite, the steady direction of +will to the commands of God, is necessarily invisible. Yet these depend +the virtue and the happiness of millions. This cause renders the +representations of history, with respect to religion, defect and +fallacious in a greater degree than they are upon any other subject. +Religion operates most upon those of whom history knows the least; upon +fathers and mothers their families, upon men-servants and maid-servants, +upon orderly tradesman, the quiet villager, the manufacturer at his +loom, the husbandman in his fields. Amongst such, its collectively may +be of inestimable value, yet its effects, in mean time, little upon +those who figure upon the stage of world. They may know nothing of it; +they may believe nothing of it; they may be actuated by motives more +impetuous than those which religion is able to excite. It cannot, be +thought strange that this influence should elude the grasp and touch of +public history; for what is public history but register of the successes +and disappointments, the vices, the follies, and the quarrels, of those +who engage in contentions power? + +I will add, that much of this influence may be felt in times of public +distress, and little of it in times of public wealth and security. +This also increases the uncertainty of any opinions that we draw +from historical representations. The influence of Christianity is +commensurate with no effects which history states. We do not pretend +that it has any such necessary and irresistible power over the affairs +of nations as to surmount the force of other causes. + +The Christian religion also acts upon public usages and institutions, by +an operation which is only secondary and indirect. Christianity is not a +code of civil law. It can only reach public institutions through private +character. Now its influence upon private character may be considerable, +yet many public usages and institutions repugnant to its principles may +remain. To get rid of these, the reigning part of the community must +act, and act together. But it may be long before the persons who compose +this body be sufficiently touched with the Christian character to join +in the suppression of practices to which they and the public have been +reconciled by causes which will reconcile the human mind to anything, by +habit and interest. Nevertheless, the effects of Christianity, even in +this view, have been important. It has mitigated the conduct of war, and +the treatment of captives. It has softened the administration of +despotic, or of nominally despotic governments. It has abolished +polygamy. It has restrained the licentiousness of divorces. It has put +an end to the exposure of children and the immolation of slaves. It has +suppressed the combats of gladiators,* and the impurities of religions +rites. It has banished, if not unnatural vices, at least the toleration +of them. It has greatly meliorated the condition of the laborious part, +that is to say, of the mass of every community, by procuring for them a +day of weekly rest. In all countries in which it is professed it has +produced numerous establishments for the relief of sickness and poverty; +and in some, a regular and general provision by law. It has triumphed +over the slavery established in the Roman empire: it is contending, and +I trust will one day prevail, against the worse slavery of the West +Indies. + +_________ + +* Lipsius affirms (Sat. b. i. c. 12) that the gladiatorial shows +sometimes cost Europe twenty or thirty thousand lives in a month; and +that not only the men, but even the women of all ranks were passionately +fond of these shows. See Bishop Porteus, Sermon XIII. +_________ + + +A Christian writer, (Bardesanes, ap. Euseb. Praep. Evang. vi. 10.) so +early as in the second century, has testified the resistance which +Christianity made to wicked and licentious practices though established +by law and by public usage:--"Neither in Parthia do the Christians, +though Parthians, use polygamy; nor in Persia, though Persians, do they +marry their own daughters; nor among the Bactri, or Galli, do they +violate the sanctity of marriage; nor wherever they are, do they suffer +themselves to be overcome by ill-constituted laws and manners." + +Socrates did not destroy the idolatry of Athens, or produce the slighter +revolution in the manners of his country. + +But the argument to which I recur is, that the benefit of religion, +being felt chiefly in the obscurity of private stations, necessarily +escapes the observation of history. From the first general notification +of Christianity to the present day, there have been in every age many +millions, whose names were never heard of, made better by it, not only +in their conduct, but in their disposition; and happier, not so much in +their external circumstances, as in that which is inter praecordia, in +that which alone deserves the name of happiness, the tranquillity and +consolation of their thoughts. It has been since its commencement the +author of happiness and virtue to millions and millions of the human +race. Who is there that would not wish his son to be a Christian? + +Christianity also, in every country in which it is professed, hath +obtained a sensible, although not a complete influence upon the public +judgment of morals. And this is very important. For without the +occasional correction which public opinion receives, by referring to +some fixed standard of morality, no man can foretel into what +extravagances it might wander. Assassination might become as honourable +as duelling: unnatural crimes be accounted as venal as fornication is +wont to be accounted. In this way it is possible that many may be kept +in order by Christianity who are not themselves Christians. They may be +guided by the rectitude which it communicates to public opinion. Their +consciences may suggest their duty truly, and they may ascribe these +suggestions to a moral sense, or to the native capacity of the human +intellect, when in fact they are nothing more than the public opinion, +reflected from their own minds; and opinion, in a considerable degree, +modified by the lessons of Christianity. "Certain it is, and this is a +great deal to say, that the generality, even of the meanest and most +vulgar and ignorant people, have truer and worthier notions of God more +just and right apprehensions concerning his attributes and perfections, +a deeper sense of the difference of good and evil, a greater regard to +moral obligations, and to the plain and most necessary duties of life, +and a more firm and universal expectation of a future state of rewards +and punishments, than in any heathen country any considerable number of +men were found to have had." (Clarke, Ev. Nat. Rel. p. 208. ed. v.) + +After all, the value of Christianity is not to be appreciated by its +temporal effects. The object of revelation is to influence human conduct +in this life; but what is gained to happiness by that influence can only +be estimated by taking in the whole of human existence. Then, as hath +already been observed, there may be also great consequences of +Christianity which do not belong to it as a revelation. The effects upon +human salvation of the mission, of the death, of the present, of the +future agency of Christ, may be universal, though the religion be not +universally known. + +Secondly, I assert that Christianity is charged with many consequences +for which it is not responsible. I believe that religious motives have +had no more to do in the formation of nine tenths of the intolerant and +persecuting laws which in different countries have been established upon +the subject of religion, than they have had to do in England with the +making of the game-laws. These measures, although they have the +Christian religion for their subject, are resolvable into a principle +which Christianity certainly did not plant (and which Christianity could +not universally condemn, because it is not universally wrong), which +principle is no other than this, that they who are in possession of +power do what they can to keep it. Christianity is answerable for no +part of the mischief which has been brought upon the world by +persecution, except that which has arisen from conscientious +persecutors. Now these perhaps have never been either numerous or +powerful. Nor is it to Christianity that even their mistake can fairly +be imputed. They have been misled by an error not properly Christian or +religious, but by an error in their moral philosophy. They pursued the +particular, without adverting to the general consequence. Believing +certain articles of faith, or a certain mode of worship, to be highly +conducive, or perhaps essential, to salvation, they thought themselves +bound to bring all they could, by every means, into them, and this they +thought, without considering what would be the effect of such a +conclusion when adopted amongst mankind as a general rule of conduct. +Had there been in the New Testament, what there are in the Koran, +precepts authorising coercion in the propagation of the religion, and +the use of violence towards unbelievers, the case would have been +different. This distinction could not have been taken, nor this defence +made. + +I apologise for no species nor degree of persecution, but I think that +even the fact has been exaggerated. The slave-trade destroys more in a +year than the Inquisition does in a hundred or perhaps hath done since +its foundation. + +If it be objected, as I apprehend it will be, that Christianity is +chargeable with every mischief of which it has been the occasion, though +not the motive; I answer that, if the malevolent passions be there, the +world will never want occasions. The noxious element will always find a +conductor. Any point will produce an explosion. Did the applauded +intercommunity of the pagan theology preserve the peace of the Roman +world? did it prevent oppressions, proscriptions, massacres, +devastation? Was it bigotry that carried Alexander into the East, or +brought Caesar into Gaul? Are the nations of the world into which +Christianity hath not found its way, or from which it hath been +banished, free from contentions? Are their contentions less ruinous and +sanguinary? Is it owing to Christianity, or to the want of it, that the +regions of the East, the countries inter quatuor maria, peninsula of +Greece, together with a great part of the Mediterranean coast, are at +this day a desert? or that the banks of the Nile, whose constantly +renewed fertility is not to be impaired by neglect, or destroyed by the +ravages of war, serve only for the scene of a ferocious anarchy, or the +supply of unceasing hostilities? Europe itself has known no religious +wars for some centuries, yet has hardly ever been without war. Are the +calamities which at this day afflict it to be imputed to Christianity? +Hath Poland fallen by a Christian crusade? Hath the overthrow in France +of civil order and security been effected by the votaries of our +religion, or by the foes? Amongst the awful lessons which the crimes and +the miseries of that country afford to mankind this is one; that in +order to be a persecutor it is not necessary to be a bigot: that in rage +and cruelty, in mischief and destruction, fanaticism itself can be +outdone by infidelity. + +Finally, if war, as it is now carried on between nations produce less +misery and ruin than formerly, we are indebted perhaps to Christianity +for the change more than to any other cause. Viewed therefore even in +its relation to this subject, it appears to have been of advantage to +the world. It hath humanised the conduct of wars; it hath ceased to +excite them. + +The differences of opinion that have in all ages prevailed amongst +Christians fall very much within the alternative which has been stated. +If we possessed the disposition which Christianity labours, above all +other qualities, to inculcate, these differences would do little harm. +If that disposition be wanting, other causes, even were these absent, +would continually rise up to call forth the malevolent passions into +action. Differences of opinion, when accompanied with mutual charity, +which Christianity forbids them to violate, are for the most part +innocent, and for some purposes useful. They promote inquiry, +discussion, and knowledge. They help to keep up an attention to +religious subjects, and a concern about them, which might be apt to die +away in the calm and silence of universal agreement. I do not know that +it is in any degree true that the influence of religion is the greatest +where there are the fewest dissenters. + + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE CONCLUSION, + +In religion, as in every other subject of human reasoning, much depends +upon the order in which we dispose our inquiries. A man who takes up a +system of divinity with a previous opinion that either every part must +be true or the whole false, approaches the discussion with great +disadvantage. No other system, which is founded upon moral evidence, +would bear to be treated in the same manner. Nevertheless, in a certain +degree, we are all introduced to our religious studies under this +prejudication. And it cannot be avoided. The weakness of the human +judgment in the early part of youth, yet its extreme susceptibility of +impression, renders it necessary to furnish it with some opinions, and +with some principles or other. Or indeed, without much express care, or +much endeavour for this purpose, the tendency of the mind of man to +assimilate itself to the habits of thinking and speaking which prevail +around him, produces the same effect. That indifferency and suspense, +that waiting and equilibrium of the judgment, which some require in +religious matters, and which some would wish to be aimed at in the +conduct of education, are impossible to be preserved. They are not given +to the condition of human life. + +It is a consequence of this institution that the doctrines of religion +come to us before the proofs; and come to us with that mixture of +explications and inferences from which no public creed is, or can be, +free. And the effect which too frequently follows, from Christianity +being presented to the understanding in this form, is, that when any +articles, which appear as parts of it, contradict the apprehension of +the persons to whom it is proposed, men of rash and confident tempers +hastily and indiscriminately reject the whole. But is this to do +justice, either to themselves or to the religion? The rational way of +treating a subject of such acknowledged importance is, to attend, in the +first place, to the general and substantial truth of its principles, and +to that alone. When we once feel a foundation; when we once perceive a +ground of credibility in its history; we shall proceed with safety to +inquire into the interpretation of its records, and into the doctrines +which have been deduced from them. Nor will it either endanger our +faith, or diminish or alter our motives for obedience, if we should +discover that these conclusions are formed with very different degrees +of probability, and possess very different degrees of importance. + +This conduct of the understanding, dictated by every rule of right +reasoning, will uphold personal Christianity, even in those countries in +which it is established under forms the most liable to difficulty and +objection. It will also have the further effect of guarding us against +the prejudices which are wont to arise in our minds to the disadvantage +of religion, from observing the numerous controversies which are carried +on amongst its professors; and likewise of inducing a spirit of lenity +and moderation in our judgment, as well as in our treatment of those who +stand, in such controversies, upon sides opposite to ours. What is clear +in Christianity we shall find to be sufficient, and to be infinitely +valuable; what is dubious, unnecessary to be decided, or of very +subordinate importance, and what is most obscure, will teach us to bear +with the opinions which others may have formed upon the same subject. We +shall say to those who the most widely dissent from us, what Augustine +said to the worst heretics of his age; "Illi in vos saeviant, qui +nasciunt, cum quo labore verum inveniatur, et quam difficile caveantur +errores;---qui nesciunt, cure quanta difficultate sanetur oculus +interioris hominis;--qui nesciunt, quibus suspiriis et gemitibus fiat ut +ex quantulacumque parte possit intelligi Deus.". (Aug. contra. Ep. Fund. +Cap. ii. n. 2,3.) + +A judgment, moreover, which is once pretty well satisfied of the general +truth of the religion will not only thus discriminate in its doctrines, +but will possess sufficient strength to overcome the reluctance of the +imagination to admit articles of faith which are attended with +difficulty of apprehension, if such articles of faith appear to be truly +parts of the revelation. It was to be expected beforehand, that what +related to the economy and to the persons of the invisible world, which +revelation profess to do, and which, if true, it actually does, should +contain some points remote from our analogies, and from the +comprehension of a mind which hath acquired all its ideas from sense and +from experience. + +It hath been my care in the preceding work to preserve the separation +between evidences and doctrines as inviolable as I could; to remove from +the primary question all considerations which have been unnecessarily +joined with it; and to offer a defence to Christianity which every +Christian might read without seeing the tenets in which he had been +brought up attacked or decried: and it always afforded a satisfaction to +my mind to observe that this was practicable; that few or none of our +many controversies with one another affect or relate to the proofs of +our religion; that the rent never descends to the foundation. + +The truth of Christianity depends upon its leading facts, and upon them +alone. Now of these we have evidence which ought to satisfy us, at least +until it appear that mankind have ever been deceived by the same. We +have some uncontested and incontestable points, to which the history of +the human species hath nothing similar to offer. A Jewish peasant +changed the religion of the world, and that without force, without +power, without support; without one natural source or circumstance of +attraction, influence, or success. Such a thing hath not happened in any +other instance. The companions of this Person, after he himself had been +put to death for his attempt, asserted his supernatural character, +founded upon his supernatural operations: and, in testimony of the truth +of their assertions, i.e. in consequence of their own belief of that +truth, and in order to communicate the knowledge of it to others, +voluntarily entered upon lives of toil and hardship, and, with a full +experience of their danger, committed themselves to the last extremities +of persecution. This hath not a parallel. More particularly, a very few +days after this Person had been publicly executed, and in the very city +in which he was buried, these his companions declared with one voice +that his body was restored to life: that they had seen him, handled him, +ate with him, conversed with him; and, in pursuance of their persuasion +of the truth of what they told, preached his religion, with this strange +fact as the foundation of it, in the face of those who had killed him, +who were armed with the power of the country, and necessarily and +naturally disposed to treat his followers as they had treated himself; +and having done this upon the spot where the event took place, carried +the intelligence of it abroad, in despite of difficulties and +opposition, and where the nature of their errand gave them nothing to +expect but derision, insult, and outrage.--This is without example. +These three facts, I think, are certain, and would have been nearly so, +if the Gospels had never been written. The Christian story, as to these +points, hath never varied. No other hath been set up against it. Every +letter, every discourse, every controversy, amongst the followers of the +religion; every book written by them from the age of its commencement to +the present time, in every part of the world in which it hath been +professed, and with every sect into which it hath been divided (and we +have letters and discourses written by contemporaries, by witnesses of +the transaction, by persons themselves bearing a share in it, and other +writings following that again regular succession), concur in +representing these facts in this manner. A religion which now possesses +the greatest part of the civilised world unquestionably sprang up at +Jerusalem at this time. Some account must be given of its origin; some +cause assigned for its rise. All the accounts of this origin, all the +explications of this cause, whether taken from the writings of the early +followers of the religion (in which, and in which perhaps alone, it +could he expected that they should he distinctly unfolded), or from +occasional notices in other writings of that or the adjoining age, +either expressly allege the facts above stated as the means by which the +religion was set up, or advert to its commencement in a manner which +agrees with the supposition of these facts being true, and which +testifies their operation and effects. + +These prepositions alone lay a foundation for our faith; for they prove +the existence of a transaction which cannot even, in its most general +parts, be accounted for upon any reasonable supposition, except that of +the truth of the mission. But the particulars, the detail of the +miracles or miraculous pretences (for such there necessarily must have +been) upon which this unexampled transaction rested, and for which these +men acted and suffered as they did act and suffer, it is undoubtedly of +great importance to us to know. We have this detail from the +fountain-head, from the persons themselves; in accounts written by +eye-witnesses of the scene, by contemporaries and companions of those +who were so; not in one book but four, each containing enough for the +verification of the religion, all agreeing in the fundamental parts of +the history. We have the authenticity of these books established by more +and stronger proofs than belong to almost any other ancient book +whatever, and by proofs which widely distinguish them from any others +claiming a similar authority to theirs. If there were any good reason +for doubt concerning the names to which these books are ascribed (which +there is not, for they were never ascribed to any other, and we have +evidence not long after their publication of their bearing the names +which they now bear); their antiquity, of which there is no question, +their reputation and authority amongst the early disciples of the +religion, of which there is as little, form a valid proof that they +must, in the main at least, have agreed with what the first teachers of +the religion delivered. + +When we open these ancient volumes, we discover in them marks of truth, +whether we consider each in itself, or collate them with one another. +The writers certainly knew something of what they were writing about, +for they manifest an acquaintance with local circumstances, with the +history and usages of the times, which could belong only to an +inhabitant of that country, living in that age. In every narrative we +perceive simplicity and undesignedness; the air and the language of +reality. When we compare the different narratives together, we find them +so varying as to repel all suspicion of confederacy; so agreeing under +this variety as to show that the accounts had one real transaction for +their common foundation; often attributing different actions and +discourses to the Person whose history, or rather memoirs of whose +history, they profess to relate, yet actions and discourses so similar +as very much to bespeak the same character: which is a coincidence that, +in such writers as they were, could only be the consequence of their +writing from fact, and not from imagination. + +These four narratives are confined to the history of the Founder of the +religion, and end with his ministry. Since, however, it is certain that +the affair went on, we cannot help being anxious to know how it +proceeded. This intelligence hath come down to us in a work purporting +to be written by a person, himself connected with the business during +the first stages of its progress, taking up the story where the former +histories had left it, carrying on the narrative, oftentimes with great +particularity, and throughout with the appearance of good sense,* +information and candour; stating all along the origin, and the only +probable origin, of effects which unquestionably were produced, together +with the natural consequences of situations which unquestionably did +exist; and confirmed, in the substance at least of the account, by the +strongest possible accession of testimony which a history can receive, +original letters, written by the person who is the principal subject of +the history, written upon the business to which the history relates, and +during the period, or soon after the period, which the history +comprises. No man can say that this all together is not a body of strong +historical evidence. + +_________ + +* See Peter's speech upon curing the cripple (Acts iii. 18), the council +of the apostles (xv.), Paul's discourse at Athens (xvii. 22), before +Agrippa (xxvi.). I notice these passages, both as fraught with good +sense and as free from the smallest tincture of enthusiasm. +_________ + + +When we reflect that some of those from whom the books proceeded are +related to have themselves wrought miracles, to have been the subject of +miracles, or of supernatural assistance in propagating the religion, we +may perhaps be led to think that more credit, or a different kind of +credit, is due to these accounts, than what can be claimed by merely +human testimony. But this is an argument which cannot be addressed to +sceptics or unbelievers. A man must be a Christian before he can receive +it. The inspiration of the historical Scriptures, the nature, degree, +and extent of that inspiration, are questions undoubtedly of serious +discussion; but they are questions amongst Christians themselves, and +not between them and others. The doctrine itself is by no means +necessary to the belief of Christianity, which must, in the first +instance at least, depend upon the ordinary maxim of historical +credibility. (See Powell's Discourse, disc. xv. P. 245.) + +In viewing the detail of miracles recorded in these books, we find every +supposition negatived by which they can be resolved into fraud or +delusion. They were not secret, nor momentary, nor tentative, nor +ambiguous; nor performed under the sanction of authority, with the +spectators on their side, or in affirmance of tenets and practices +already established. We find also the evidence alleged for them, and +which evidence was by great numbers received, different from that upon +which other miraculous accounts rest. It was contemporary, it was +published upon the spot, it continued; it involved interests and +questions of the greatest magnitude; it contradicted the most fixed +persuasions and prejudices of the persons to whom it was addressed; it +required from those who accepted it, not a simple, indolent assent, but +a change, from thenceforward, of principles and conduct, a submission to +consequences the most serious and the most deterring, to loss and +danger, to insult, outrage, and persecution. How such a story should be +false, or, if false, how under such circumstances it should make its +way, I think impossible to be explained; yet such the Christian story +was, such were the circumstances under which it came forth, and in +opposition to such difficulties did it prevail. + +An event so connected with the religion, and with the fortunes, of the +Jewish people, as one of their race, one born amongst them, establishing +his authority and his law throughout a great portion of the civilised +world, it was perhaps to be expected should be noticed in the prophetic +writings of that nation; especially when this Person, together with his +own mission, caused also to be acknowledged the Divine original of their +institution, and by those who before had altogether rejected it. +Accordingly, we perceive in these writings various intimations +concurring in the person and history of Jesus, in a manner and in a +degree in which passages taken from these books could not be made to +concur in any person arbitrarily assumed, or in any person except him +who has been the author of great changes in the affairs and opinions of +mankind. Of some of these predictions the weight depends a good deal +upon the concurrence. Others possess great separate strength: one in +particular does this in an eminent degree. It is an entire description, +manifestly directed to one character and to one scene of things; it is +extant in a writing, or collection of writings, declaredly prophetic; +and it applies to Christ's character, and to the circumstances of his +life and death, with considerable precision, and in a way which no +diversity of interpretation hath, in my opinion, been able to confound. +That the advent of Christ, and the consequences of it, should not have +been more distinctly revealed in the Jewish sacred books, is I think in +some measure accounted for by the consideration, that for the Jews to +have foreseen the fall of their institution, and that it was to merge at +length into a more perfect and comprehensive dispensation, would have +cooled too much, and relaxed, their zeal for it, and their adherence to +it, upon which zeal and adherence the preservation in the world of any +remains, for many ages, of religious truth might in a great measure +depend. + +Of what a revelation discloses to mankind, one, and only one, question +can properly be asked--Was it of importance to mankind to know, or to be +better assured of? In this question, when we turn our thoughts to the +great Christian doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, and of a +future judgment, no doubt can possibly be entertained. He who gives me +riches or honours, does nothing; he who even gives me health, does +little, in comparison with that which lays before me just grounds for +expecting a restoration to life, and a day of account and retribution; +which thing Christianity hath done for millions. + +Other articles of the Christian faith, although of infinite importance +when placed beside any other topic of human inquiry, are only the +adjuncts and circumstances of this. They are, however, such as appear +worthy of the original to which we ascribe them. The morality of the +religion, whether taken from the precepts or the example of its Founder, +or from the lessons of its primitive teachers, derived, as it should +seem, from what had been inculcated by their Master, is, in all its +parts, wise and pure; neither adapted to vulgar prejudices, nor +flattering popular notions, nor excusing established practices, but +calculated, in the matter of its instruction, truly to promote human +happiness; and in the form in which it was conveyed, to produce +impression and effect: a morality which, let it have proceeded from any +person whatever, would have been satisfactory evidence of his good sense +and integrity, of the soundness of his understanding and the probity of +his designs: a morality, in every view of it, much more perfect than +could have been expected from the natural circumstances and character of +the person who delivered it; a morality, in a word, which is, and hath +been, most beneficial to mankind. + +Upon the greatest, therefore, of all possible occasions, and for a +purpose of inestimable value, it pleased the Deity to vouchsafe a +miraculous attestation. Having done this for the institution, when this +alone could fix its authority, or give to it a beginning, he committed +its future progress to the natural means of human communication, and to +the influence of those causes by which human conduct and human affairs +are governed. The seed, being sown, was left to vegetate; the leaven, +being inserted, was left to ferment; and both according to the laws of +nature: laws, nevertheless, disposed and controlled by that Providence +which conducts the affairs of the universe, though by an influence +inscrutable, and generally undistinguishable by us. And in this, +Christianity is analogous to most other provisions for happiness. The +provision is made; and; being made, is left to act according to laws +which, forming a part of a more general system, regulate this particular +subject in common with many others. + +Let the constant recurrence to our observation of contrivance, design, +and wisdom, in the works of nature, once fix upon our minds the belief +of a God, and after that all is easy. In the counsels of a being +possessed of the power and disposition which the Creator of the universe +must possess, it is not improbable that there should be a future state; +it is not improbable that we should be acquainted with it. A future +state rectifies everything; because, if moral agents be made, in the +last event, happy or miserable, according to their conduct in the +station and under the circumstances in which they are placed, it seems +not very material by the operation of what causes, according to what +rules, or even, if you please to call it so, by what chance or caprice +these stations are assigned, or these circumstances determined. This +hypothesis, therefore, solves all that objection to the divine care and +goodness which the promiscuous distribution of good and evil (I do not +mean in the doubtful advantages of riches and grandeur, but in the +unquestionably important distinctions of health and sickness, strength +and infirmity, bodily ease and pain, mental alacrity and depression) is +apt on so many occasions to create. This one truth changes the nature of +things; gives order to confusion; makes the moral world of a piece with +the natural. + +Nevertheless, a higher degree of assurance than that to which it is +possible to advance this, or any argument drawn from the light of +nature, was necessary, especially to overcome the shock which the +imagination and the senses received from the effects and the appearances +of death, and the obstruction which thence arises to the expectation of +either a continued or a future existence. This difficulty, although of a +nature no doubt to act very forcibly, will be found, I think, upon +reflection to reside more in our habits of apprehension than in the +subject: and that the giving way to it, when we have any reasonable +grounds or the contrary, is rather an indulging of the imagination than +anything else. Abstractedly considered, that is, considered without +relation to the difference which habit, and merely habit, produces in +our faculties and modes of apprehension, I do not see anything more in +the resurrection of a dead man than in the conception of a child; except +it be this, that the one comes into his world with a system of prior +consciousness about him, which the other does not: and no person will +say that he knows enough of either subject to perceive that this +circumstance makes such a difference in the two cases that the one +should be easy, and the other impossible; the one natural, the other not +so. To the first man the succession of the species would be as +incomprehensible as the resurrection of the dead is to us. + +Thought is different from motion, perception from impact: the +individuality of a mind is hardly consistent with the divisibility of an +extended substance; or its volition, that is, its power of originating +motion, with the inertness which cleaves to every portion of matter +which our observation or our experiments can reach. These distinctions +lead us to an immaterial principle: at least, they do this: they so +negative the mechanical properties of matter, in the constitution of a +sentient, still more of a rational, being, that no argument drawn from +the properties can be of any great weight in opposition to other +reasons, when the question respects the changes of which such: a nature +is capable, or the manner in which these changes am effected. Whatever +thought be, or whatever it depend upon the regular experience of sleep +makes one thing concerning it certain, that it can be completely +suspended, and completely restored. + +If any one find it too great a strain upon his thoughts to admit the +notion of a substance strictly immaterial, that is, from which extension +and solidity are excluded, he can find no difficulty in allowing, that a +particle as small as a particle of light, minuter than all conceivable +dimensions, may just as easily be the depositary, the organ, and the +vehicle of consciousness as the congeries of animal substance which +forms a human body, or the human brain; that, being so, it may transfer +a proper identity to whatever shall hereafter be united to it; may be +safe amidst the destruction of its integuments; may connect the natural +with the spiritual, the corruptible with the glorified body. If it be +said that the mode and means of all this is imperceptible by our senses, +it is only what is true of the most important agencies and operations. +The great powers of nature are all invisible. Gravitation, electricity, +magnetism, though constantly present, and constantly exerting their +influence; though within us, near us, and about us; though diffused +throughout all space, overspreading the surface, or penetrating the +contexture, of all bodies with which we are acquainted, depend upon +substances and actions which are totally concealed from our senses. The +Supreme Intelligence is so himself. + +But whether these or any other attempts to satisfy the imagination bear +any resemblance to the truth; or whether the imagination, which, as I +have said before, is the mere slave of habit, can be satisfied or not; +when a future state, and the revelation of a future state is not only +perfectly consistent with the attributes of the Being who governs the +universe; but when it is more; when it alone removes the appearance of +contrariety which attends the operations of his will towards creatures +capable of comparative merit and demerit, of reward and punishment; when +a strong body of historical evidence, confirmed by many internal tokens +of truth and authenticity, gives us just reason to believe that such a +revelation hath actually been made; we ought to set our minds at +rest with the assurance, that in the resources of Creative Wisdom +expedients cannot be wanted to carry into effect what the Deity hath +purposed: that either a new and mighty influence will descend upon the +human world to resuscitate extinguished consciousness; or that, amidst +the other wonderful contrivances with which the universe abounds, and by +some of which we see animal life, in many instances, assuming improved +forms of existence, acquiring new organs, new perceptions, and new +sources of enjoyment, provision is also made, though by methods secret +to us (as all the great processes of nature are), for conducting the +objects of God's moral government, through the necessary changes of +their frame, to those final distinctions of happiness and misery which +he hath declared to be reserved for obedience and transgression, for +virtue and vice, for the use and the neglect, the right and the wrong +employment of the faculties and opportunities with which he hath been +pleased, severally, to intrust and to try us. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY*** + + +******* This file should be named 14780.txt or 14780.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/7/8/14780 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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