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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Grounds of Christianity Examined by
+Comparing The New Testament with the Old, by George Bethune English
+
+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: The Grounds of Christianity Examined by Comparing The New Testament with the Old
+
+Author: George Bethune English
+
+Release Date: June 1, 2005 [EBook #15968]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GROUNDS OF CHRISTIANITY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Charles Klingman
+
+
+
+
+
+The Grounds of Christianity
+Examined by Comparing
+The New Testament with the Old
+
+by George Bethune English, A.M.
+
+
+"First understand, then judge."
+"Bring forth the people blind, although they have eyes;
+And deaf, although they have ears.
+Let them produce their witnesses, that they may be justified;
+Or let them hear their turn, and say, THIS IS TRUE."
+	ISAIAH.
+
+
+Boston 1813
+
+
+To the Intelligent and the Candid
+Who are
+Willing to Listen to Every Opinion
+That is Supported by Reason;
+And
+Not Averse to Bringing their Own Opinions
+To the Test of Examination;
+THIS BOOK
+Is Respectfully Dedicated
+By
+The Author
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+Chapter I.
+Introductory,--Showing that the Apostles and Authors of the
+New Testament endeavour to prove Christianity from the Old.
+
+Chapter II.
+Statement of the Question in Dispute.
+
+Chapter III.
+The Characteristics of the Messiah, as given by the Hebrew
+Prophets.
+
+Chapter IV.
+The character of Jesus tested by those characteristic marks of the
+messiah, given by the Prophets of the Old Testament.
+
+Chapter V.
+Examination of the arguments from the Old Testament adduced in
+the New, to prove that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah.
+
+Chapter VI.
+Examination of the meaning of the phrase "this was done that it
+might be fulfilled."
+
+Chapter VII.
+Examination of the arguments alledged from the Hebrew Prophets,
+to prove that Jesus was the Messiah.
+
+Chapter VIII.
+Statement of Arguments which prove that Jesus was not the
+Messiah of the Old Testament.
+
+Chapter IX.
+On the character of Jesus of Nazareth, and the weight to be
+allowed to the argument of martyrdom, as a test of truth, in this
+question.
+
+Chapter X.
+Miscellaneous.
+
+Chapter XI.
+Whether the Mosaic Law be represented in the Old Testament as a
+temporary, or a perpetual institution.
+
+Chapter XII.
+On the character of Paul, and his manner of reasoning.
+
+Chapter XIII.
+Examination of some doctrines in the New testament, derived from
+the Cabbala, the Oriental philosophy, and the tenets of Zoroaster.
+
+Chapter XIV.
+A consideration of the "gift of tongues," and other miraculous
+powers, ascribed to the Primitive Christians; and whether recorded
+miracles are infallible proofs of the Divine Authority of doctrines
+said to have been confirmed by them.
+
+Chapter XV.
+Application of the two tests, said in Deuteronomy to have been
+given by God as discriminating a true prophet from a false one, to
+the character and actions of Jesus.
+
+Chapter XVI.
+Examination of the evidence, external and internal, in favour of the
+credibility of the Gospel history.
+
+Chapter XVII.
+On the peculiar morality of the New Testament, as it affects
+nations and political societies.
+
+Chapter XIX.
+A consideration of some supposed advantages attributed to the
+New, over the Old, testament; and whether the doctrine of a
+Resurrection and a Life to Come, is not taught by the Old
+testament, in contradiction the assertion, that "life and immorality
+were brought to light by the Gospel."
+
+Conclusion
+
+Appendix
+
+Addenda
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+The celebrated Dr. Price, in his valuable "Observation on
+the Importance of the American Revolution," addressed to the
+people of the United States, observes that, "It is a common
+opinion, that there are some doctrines so sacred, and others of so
+bad a tendency, that no public discussion of them ought to be
+allowed. Were this a right opinion, all the persecution that has
+ever been practised would be justified; for if it is a part of the duty
+of civil magistrates to prevent the discussion of such doctrines,
+they must, in doing this, act on their own judgments of the nature
+and tendency of doctrines; and, consequently, they must have a
+right to prevent the discussion of all doctrines which they think to
+be too sacred for discussion, or too dangerous in their tendency;
+and this right they must exercise in the only way in which civil
+power is capable of exercising it--'by inflicting penalties upon all
+who oppose sacred doctrines, or who maintain pernicious
+opinions.' In Mahometan, countries, therefore, magistrates would
+have a right to silence and punish all who oppose the divine
+mission of Mahomet, a doctrine there reckoned of the most sacred
+nature. The like is true of the doctrines of transubstantiation,
+worship of the Virgin Mary, &c. &c., in Popish countries; and of
+the doctrines of the Trinity, satisfaction, &c., in Protestant
+countries. All such laws are right, if the opinion I have mentioned
+is right. But, in reality, civil power has nothing to do in such
+matters, and civil governors go miserably out of their proper
+province, whenever they take upon them the care of truth, or the
+support of any doctrinal points. They are not judges of truth, and if
+they pretend to decide about it, they will decide wrong. This all
+the countries under heaven think of the application of civil power
+to doctrinal points in every country, but their own. It is indeed
+superstition, idolatry, and nonsense, that civil power at present
+supports almost every where under the idea of supporting sacred
+truth, and opposing dangerous error. Would not, therefore, its
+perfect neutrality be the greatest blessing? Would not the interest
+of truth gain unspeakably, were all the rulers of states to aim at
+nothing but keeping the peace; or did they consider themselves
+bound to take care, not of the future, but the present, interest of
+man; not of their souls and of their faith, but of their person and
+property; not of any ecclesiastical, but secular, matters only?"
+
+"All the experience of past time proves, that the consequence of
+allowing civil power to judge of the nature and tendency of
+doctrines, must be making it a hindrance to the progress of truth,
+and an enemy to the improvement of the world."
+
+"I would extend these observations to all points of faith, however
+sacred they may: be deemed. Nothing reasonable--can suffer by
+discussion. All doctrines, really sacred, must be clear, and
+incapable of being opposed with success."
+
+"That immoral tendency of doctrines, which has been urged as a
+reason against allowing the public discussion of them, may be
+either avowed and direct? or only a consequence with which they
+are charged. If it is avowed and direct, such doctrines certainly will
+not spread; the principles rooted, in human nature will resist them,
+and the advocates of them will be soon disgraced. If, on the
+contrary, it is only a consequence with which a doctrine is charged,
+it should be considered how apt all parties are to charge the
+doctrines they oppose with bad tendencies. It is well known that
+Calvinists and Arminians, Trinitarians and Socinians, Fatalists and
+Free-Willers, are continually exclaiming against one another's
+opinions, as dangerous and licentious. Even Christianity itself
+could not, at its first introduction, escape this accusation. The
+professors of it were considered as atheists, because they opposed
+pagan idolatry; and their religion was, on this account, reckoned a
+destructive and pernicious enthusiasm. If, therefore, the rulers of a
+state are to prohibit the propagation of all doctrines, in which they
+apprehend immoral tendencies, an opening will be made, as I have
+before observed, for every species of persecution. There will be no
+doctrine, however true or important, the avowal of which will not,
+in, some country or other, be subjected to civil penalties."
+
+These observations bear the stamp of good sense, and their truth
+has been abundantly confirmed by experience; and it is the peculiar
+honour of the United States, that in conformity with the principles
+of these observations, perfect freedom, of opinion and of speech,
+are here established by law, and are the birthright of every citizen
+thereof. Our country* is the only one which has not been guilty of
+the folly of establishing the ascendancy of one set of religious
+opinions, and persecuting or tolerating all others, and which does
+not permit any man to harass his neighbour, because he thinks
+differently from himself. In consequence of these excellent
+institutions, difference of religious sentiment; makes here no
+breach in private friendship, and works no danger to the public
+security. This is as it should be; for, in matters of opinion,
+especially with regard to so important a thing as religion, it is
+every man's natural right and duty to think for himself, and to
+judge upon such evidence as he can procure, after he has used his
+best endeavours to get information. Human decisions are of no
+weight in this matter, for another man has no more right to.
+determine what his opinions shall be, than I have to determine
+what another man's opinions shall be. It is amazing that one man
+can dare to presume he has such a right over another; and that any
+man can be so weak and credulous, as to imagine, that another has
+such right over him.
+
+As it is every man's natural right and duty to think and judge for
+himself in matters of opinion; so he should be allowed freely to
+bring forward and defend his opinions, and to endeavour, when be
+judges proper, to convince others also of their truth.
+
+For unless all men are allowed freely to profess their opinions, the
+means of information, with respect to opinions, must, in a great
+measure, be wanting; and just inquiries into their truth be almost
+impracticable; and, by consequence, our natural right and duty to
+think and judge for ourselves, must be rendered almost nugatory,
+or be subverted, for want of materials whereon to employ our
+minds. A man by himself, without communication with other
+minds, can make no great progress in knowledge; and besides, an
+individual is indisposed to use his own strength, when an
+undisturbed laziness, ignorance, and prejudice give him full
+satisfaction as to the truth of his opinions. But if there be a free
+profession, or communication of sentiment, every man will have
+an opportunity of acquainting himself with all that can be known
+from others; and many for their own satisfaction will make
+inquiries, and, in order to ascertain the truth of opinions, will desire
+to know all that can be said on any question.
+
+If such liberty of professing and teaching be not allowed, error, if
+authorized, will keep its ground; and truth, if dormant, will never
+be brought to light; or, if authorized, will be supported on a false
+and absurd foundation, and such as would equally support error;
+and, if received on the ground of authority, will not be in the least
+meritorious to its professors.
+
+Besides, not to encourage capable and honest men to profess and
+defend their opinions when different from ours, is to distrust the
+truth of our own opinion, and to fear the light. Such conduct must,
+in a country of sense and learning, increase the number of
+unbelievers already so greatly complained of; who, if they see
+matters of opinion not allowed to be professed, and impartially
+debated, think, justly perhaps, that they have foul play, and,
+therefore, reject many things as false and ill grounded, which
+otherwise they might perhaps receive as truths.
+
+The grand principle of men considered as having relation to the
+Deity, and under an obligation to be religious, is, that they ought to
+consult their reason, and seek every where for the best instruction;
+and of Christians and Protestants the duty, and professed principle
+is, to consult reason and the Scripture, as the rule of their faith and
+practice.
+
+But how can these, which are practical principles, be duly put in
+practice, unless all be at liberty, at all times, and in all points,
+consider and debate with others, (as well as with themselves,) what
+reason and Scripture says; and to profess, and act openly,
+according to what they are convinced they say? How can we
+become better informed with regard to religion, than by using the
+best means of information? which consist in consulting reason and
+scripture, and calling in the aid of others. And of what use is it to
+consult reason, and Scripture at all, as any means of information.,
+if we are not, upon conviction, to follow their dictates?
+
+No man has any reason to apprehend any ill consequences to truth,
+(for which alone he ought to have any concern,) from free inquiry
+and debate.--For truth is not a thing to dread examination, but
+when fairly proposed to an unbiased understanding, is like light to
+the eye; it must distinguish itself from error, as light does
+distinguish does distinguish itself from darkness. For, while free
+debate is allowed, truth is in no danger, for it will never want a
+professor thereof, nor an advocate to offer some plea in its behalf.
+And it can never be wholly banished, but when human decisions,
+backed by human power, carry all before them.
+
+We ought to examine foundations of opinions, not only, that we
+may attain the discovery of truth, but we ought to do so, on this
+account, because that it is our duty; and the way to recommend
+ourselves to the favour of God. For opinions, how true soever,
+when the effect of education or tradition, or interest, or passion,
+can never recommend a man to God. For those ways have no merit
+in them, and are the worst a man can possibly take to obtain truth;
+and therefore, though they may be objects of forgiveness, they can
+never be of reward from Him.
+
+Having promised these observations in order to persuade, and
+dispose the reader to be candid, I will now declare the motives,
+which induced me to submit to the consideration of the intelligent,
+the contents of this volume. The Author has spared, he thinks, no
+pains to arrive at certain Truth in matters of religion; the; sense of
+which is what distinguishes man from the brute. And in this most
+important subject that can employ the human understanding, he
+has been particularly desirous to become acquainted with the
+Grounds, and Doctrines of the Christian Religion; and nothing but
+the difficulties, which he in this volume lays before the public,
+staggers his faith in it.
+
+It may perhaps add to the interest the Reader may take in this work
+to inform him, that the Author was a believer in the religion of the
+New Testament, after what he conceived to be a sufficient
+examination of its evidence for a divine origin. He had terminated
+an examination of the controversy with the Deists to his own
+satisfaction, i.e. he felt convinced that their objections were not
+insurmountable, when he turned his attention to the consideration
+of the ancient, and obscure controversy between the Christians and
+the Jews. His curiosity was deeply interested to examine a subject
+in truth so little known, and to ascertain the causes, and the
+reasons, which had prevented a people more interested in the truth
+of Christianity than any other from believing it: and he set down to
+the subject without any suspicion, that the examination would not
+terminate in convincing him still more in favour of what were then
+his opinions. After a long, thorough, and startling examination of
+their Books, together with all the answers to them he could obtain
+from a Library amply furnished in this respect, he was finally very
+reluctantly compelled to feel persuaded, by proofs he could neither
+refute, nor evade, that how easily soever Christians might answer
+the Deists, so called, the Jews were clearly too hard for them.
+Because they set the Old and New Testament in opposition, and
+reduce Christians to this fatal dilemma.--Either the Old Testament
+contains a Revelation from God; or it does sot. If it does, then the
+New Testament cannot be from God, because it is palpably, and
+importantly repugnant to the Old Testament in doctrine, and some
+other things. Now Jews, and Christians, each of them admit the
+Old Testament as containing a divine Revelation; consequently the
+Jews cannot, and Christians ought not to receive and allow any
+thing as a Revelation from God which flatly contradicts a former
+by them acknowledged Revelation: because it cannot be supposed
+that God will contradict himself. On the other hand--if the Old
+Testament be not from God, still the New Testament must go
+down, because it asserts that the Old Testament is a revelation
+from God, and builds upon it as a foundation. And if the
+foundation fails, how can the house, stand? The Author pledges
+himself to the Reader, to prove, that they establish this dilemma
+completely. And he cannot help thinking, that there is reason to
+believe, that if both sides of this strangely neglected controversy
+had been made public in times past, and become known, that the
+consequences would have been long ago fatal at least to the New
+Testament.
+
+The Author has been earnestly dissuaded from making public the
+contents of this volume on account of apprehended mischievous
+consequences. He thought, however, that the age of pious frauds
+ought to be past, and their principle discarded, at least in Protestant
+countries. Deception and error are always, sooner or later,
+discovered; and truth in, the long run, both in politics, and religion,
+will never be ultimately harmful. If what the Book states is true, it
+ought to be known, if it is erroneous; it can, and will, be refuted.
+
+The Author therefore makes it public, for these reasons,--because
+he thinks, that the matter contained in the book, is true, and
+important,--because he wished, and found it necessary to justify
+himself from contemptible misrepresentations uttered behind his
+back; and to give to those who know him, good and sufficient
+reasons for past conduct, of which those to whom he is known,
+cannot be ignorant; and finally, he thought it right, and proper, and
+humane, to give to the world a work which contained the reasons
+for the unbelief of the countrymen of Jesus; who for almost
+eighteen hundred years have been made the unresisting victims of,
+as the reader will find, groundless misrepresentation, and the most
+amazing cruelty; because they refused to believe what it was
+impossible that they should believe, on account of reasons their
+persecutors did not know, and refused to be informed of.
+
+If the arguments and statements contained in this volume should be
+found to be correct, he believes that every honest and candid man,
+after his first surprise that they should not have been made known
+before, will feel for the victims of a mistake so singular and so
+ancient as the one which is the subject of the following pages; and
+will think with the author, that it is time, high time, that the truth
+should be known, and justice be done to them.*
+
+There is not in existence a more singular instance of the
+mischievous mistakes arising from taking things for granted which
+require proof, than the case before the reader. The world has all
+along been in total error with regard to the reasons and the motives
+which have prevented the Hebrew nation from receiving the
+system of the New Testament. They have been successfully
+accused of incorrigible blindness and obstinacy; and while
+volumes upon volumes have been written against them, and the
+arguments therein contained, supported and enforced by the power
+of the Inquisition, and the oppressions of all Christendom, these
+unfortunate people have not been willingly suffered to offer to the
+world one word in their own defence. They have not been
+allowed, after hearing with patience both arguments, and "railing
+accusations" in abundance, to answer in their turn; but have been
+compelled, through the fear of confiscation, persecution, and death,
+to leave misapprehensions unexplained, and misrepresentations
+unrefuted.
+
+Is it then to be wondered at, that mankind have considered their
+adversaries as in the right, and that deserted by reason, and even
+their own Scriptures, they were supported in their opinion only by
+a blind and pertinacious obstinacy, more worthy of wonder than
+curiosity? Alas! the world did not consider, that nothing was more
+easy than to confute people whose tongues were frozen by the
+terror of the Inquisition!! But, thanks to the good sense of this
+enlightened age, those times are past and gone. There is now one
+happy country where freedom of speech is allowed, where every
+harmless religious opinion is protected by law, and where every
+opinion is listened to that is supported by reason. The time, I trust,
+is now come when the substantial arguments of this oppressed,
+and, in this respect, certainly calumniated, people, may be
+produced and their reasons set forth, without the fear of harm, and
+with, and with the hope of hearing from the intelligent and the
+candid. They, we believe, will be fully convinced, that their
+adversaries have for so long a time triumphed over them without
+measure, only because they have been suffered to do so without
+contradiction.
+
+The reader is assured, that, notwithstanding the subject, he will
+find nothing in this volume but what is considered by the author to
+be fair and liberal argument; and such no honest man ought to
+decline looking in the face. He has endeavoured to discuss the
+important subject of the book in the most inoffensive manner; for
+he has no wish, and claims no right, to wound the feelings of those
+who differ from him in opinion. There is not, nor ought there to be,
+a word of reproach in it, against the moral character of Jesus, or the
+twelve Apostles; and the utmost the author attempts to prove is,
+that their system was founded, not upon fraud and imposture, but
+upon a mistake. After the deaths of Christ and his Apostles, it was
+indeed aided and supported by very bad means; but its first
+founders, the author believes, were guilty of no other crime than
+that of being mistaken; a very common one indeed.
+
+He hopes, therefore, that such a discussion as the one now laid
+before the public, will be fairly met, and fairly answered, if
+answered at all, and that recourse will not be had to dishonest and
+ungentlemanly misrepresentations, and calling names, in order to
+prevent people from examining things they have a right to know,
+and in order to blind and frighten the public, the jury to which he
+appeals. It is infallibly true, that the knowledge of truth is, and
+must be beneficial to mankind; and that, in the long run, it never
+was, and never can be, harmful. It is equally certain, that God
+would never give a Revelation so slightly founded as to be
+endangered by any sophistry of man. If the Christian system be
+from God, it will certainly stand, no human power can overthrow
+it; and, therefore, no sincere Christian who believes the New
+Testament, ought to be afraid to meet half way the objections of
+any one who offers them with fairness, and expresses them in
+decent language; and no sensible Christian ought to shut his ears
+against his neighbour, who respectfully asks "a reason for the faith
+that is in him."
+
+The author has been told, indeed, that, "supposing the Christian
+system to be unfounded, yet that it is reasonable to believe, that the
+Supreme Being would view any attempts to disturb it, with
+displeasure, on account of its moral effects." But is not this
+something like absurdity? Can God have made it necessary, that
+morals should be founded on delusion, in order that they might be
+supported? Can the God of TRUTH be displeased to have men
+convinced that they have been mistaken, or imposed upon, by
+Revelations pretended to be from Him, which if in fact not from
+him, must be the offspring either of error or falsehood? And if the
+Christian system be, in truth, not from God, can we suppose, that
+in his eyes its doctrines with regard to Him are atoned for, by a few
+good moral precepts? Can we suppose, that that Supreme and
+awful Being can feel Himself honoured, in having his creatures
+made to believe, that He was once nine months in the womb of a
+woman; that God, the Great and Holy, went through all the
+nastiness of infancy; that be lived a mendicant in a corner of the
+earth, and was finally scourged, and hanged on a gibbet by his own
+creatures? If these things be, in truth, all mistakes, can we
+suppose, that God is pleased in having them believed of Him? On
+the contrary, can they, together with the doctrine of the Trinity, I
+would respectfully ask, be possibly looked upon by Him (if they
+are not true), otherwise, than as so many--what I forbear to
+mention. But this is not all. The reader is requested to consider,
+that the Christian system is built upon the prostrate necks of the
+whole Hebrew nation. It is a tree which flourished in a soil watered
+by their tears; its leaves grew green in an atmosphere filled with
+their cries and groans; and its roots have been moistened and
+fattened with their blood. The ruin, reproach, and sufferings of that
+people, are considered, by its advocates, as the most striking proof
+of the Divine authority of the New Testament; and for almost
+eighteen hundred years the system contained in that book has been
+the cause of miseries and afflictions to that nation, the most
+horrible and unparalleled in the history of man.
+
+Now, if that system be indeed Divine, all this may be very well,
+and as it should be. But if, perchance, it should turn out to be a
+mistake if it be, in truth, not from God; will not, then, that system
+be justly chargeable with all those shocking cruelties which, on
+account of it, have been inflicted on that people?
+
+If that system be verily and indeed founded on a mistake, no
+language, no indignation, can do justice to its guilt in this respect.
+All its good moral effects are a mere drop of pure water in that
+ocean of Jewish and Gentile blood it has caused to be shed by
+embittering men's minds with groundless prejudices. And if it be
+not divine; if it be plainly and demonstrably proved to have
+originated in error; who is the man, that, after considering what has
+been suggested, will have the heart to come forward, and coolly
+say, "that it is better that a whole nation of men should continue, as
+heretofore, to be unjustly hated, reproached, cursed, and plundered,
+and massacred, on account of it, rather than that the received
+religious system should be demonstrated to be founded on
+mistake?" No! If it be, in fact, founded on mistake, every man of
+honour, honesty, and humanity, will say, without hesitation, "Let
+the delusion (if it is one) be done away, which must be supported
+at the expense of truth, of justice, and the happiness and
+respectability of a whole nation, who are men like ourselves, and
+more unfortunate than any others, in having already suffered but
+too much affliction and misery on account of it." No! though the
+moral effects ascribed to this system of religion were as good, as
+great, and ten times greater than they ever have been, or can be,
+yet, if it is a delusion, it would be absolutely wicked to support it,
+since it is erected upon the sufferings, wretchedness, and
+oppression of a people who compose millions of the great family
+of mankind.
+
+It is remarkable, that the ablest modern advocates for the truth and
+divine authority of the gospel, as if they knew of no certain,
+demonstrative proof which could be adduced in a case of so much
+importance, seem to content themselves, and expect their readers
+should be satisfied, with an accumulation of probable arguments in
+its favour; and it has been even said, that the case admits of no
+other kind of proof. If it be so, the author requests all so persuaded
+to consider, for a moment, whether it could be reconciled to any
+ideas of wisdom in an earthly potentate, if he should send an
+ambassador to a foreign state to mediate a negotiation of the
+greatest importance, without furnishing him with certain,
+indubitable credentials of the truth and authenticity of his mission?
+And to consider further, whether it be just or seemly, to attribute to
+the Omniscient, Omnipotent Deity, a degree of weakness and folly,
+which was never yet imputed to any of his creatures? for unless
+men are hardy enough to pass so gross an affront upon the
+tremendous Majesty of Heaven, the improbability that God should
+delegate the Mediator of a most important covenant to be proposed
+to all mankind, without enabling him to give them clear and, in
+reason, indisputable proof of the divine authority of his mission,
+must ever infinitely outweigh the aggregate sum of all the
+probabilities which can be accumulated in the opposite scale of the
+balance. And to conclude, I presume it will not be denied, that the
+authenticity and celestial origin of any thing pretending to be a
+Divine Revelation, before it has any claims upon our faith, ought to
+be made clear beyond all reasonable doubt; otherwise, it can have no
+just claims to a right to influence our conduct.
+
+And as for the opinions and the arguments contained in this
+volume, I have but trembling hopes that they will meet with
+favour, merely because the author is sincere, and wishes to do
+right. Conscious that I make a perilous attempt, in daring to
+defend myself by attacking ancient error supported by multitudes,
+with no other seconds besides Truth and Reason, it would be
+bootless for me to ask indulgence for them on account of my good
+intentions; and as they can derive no credit from the authority of
+the writer, I am sensible they must fall by their own weakness, or
+stand by their own strength. I must leave them, therefore, to their
+fate; and I can cheerfully do it, without fear for the issue, if the
+reader will only be candid, and will comply with my earnest
+request--"first to understand, and then judge."
+
+Before I conclude these prefatory remarks, I would observe, that as
+the contents of this volume will be perfectly novel to nine hundred
+and ninety-nine out of a thousand, it is but justice to the public, and
+to myself, to avow, that I do not claim to have originated all the
+arguments advanced in this book. A very considerable proportion
+of them were selected, and derived, from ancient and curious
+Jewish Tracts, translated from Chaldee into Latin, very little
+known even in Europe, and not at all known there to any but the
+curious and inquisitive. And I reasonably hope, that discerning
+men will be much more disposed to weigh with candour the
+arguments herein offered, when they consider that they are, in
+many instances, the reasonings of learned, ancient and venerable
+men, who, in times when the inquisition was in vigour, suffered
+under the most bloody oppression, and whose writings were
+cautiously preserved, and secretly handed down to the seventeenth
+century in manuscript, as the printing of them would assuredly
+have brought all concerned to the stake. Some few other arguments
+were derived from other authors, and were taken from works not so
+much known as I hope they will be.
+
+Finally, I commit my work to the discretion of the good sense of
+the reader, believing that if he is not convinced, he will at least be
+interested; and hoping that he will discover from the complexion of
+the book (what my own heart bears witness to) that the author is a
+sincere inquirer after truth, and perfectly willing to be convinced
+that he is in error by any one who can remove the difficulties, and
+refute the arguments, now laid by him before the public, with
+deference and respect.
+
+September 28, 1813.
+
+
+
+THE
+
+EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY
+
+Examined by Comparing the
+
+NEW TESTAMENT WITH THE OLD.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+Introductory,--showing that the Apostles and the authors of the
+New Testament, endeavour to prove Christianity from the Old.
+
+Christianity is founded on Judaism, and the New Testament upon
+the Old; and Jesus of Nazareth is the person said in the New
+Testament to be Promised in the Old, under the character and name
+of the Messiah of the Jews, and who as such only claims the
+obedience, and submission of the World. Accordingly, it is the
+design of the authors of the New, to prove Christianity from the
+Old, Testament; which is said Jo. 5:39, to contain the words of
+eternal life: and it represents Jesus and his Apostles, as fulfilling by
+their mission, doctrines and works, the predictions of the Prophets
+and the Law: which last is said to prophecy of, or to typify
+Christianity.
+
+Matthew, for example, proves several parts of Christianity from
+the Old Testament, either by asserting them to be things foretold
+therein as to come to pass under the gospel dispensation; or to be
+founded on the notions of the Old Testament.
+
+Thus he proves Mary's being with child by the Holy Spirit, and the
+Angel's telling her she "shall bring forth a son, and call his name
+Jesus;" and the other circumstances attending his miraculous birth;
+Jesus' birth at Bethlehem; his flight into Egypt; the slaughter of the
+infants; Jesus Dwelling at Nazareth, and at Capernaum, in the
+borders of Zabulon, and Naphtali; his casting out devils, and
+healing the sick; his eating with Publicans and sinners; his
+speaking in parables that the Jews might not understand him; his
+sending his disciples to fetch an ass, and a colt; the children's
+crying in the Temple; the resurrection of Jesus from the dead;
+Jesus' being betrayed by Judas, and Judas' returning back the
+thirty pieces of Silver, and the Priest's buying the Potter's Field
+with them; and his hanging Himself; &c. &c. All these events, and
+many more, are said to be fulfillments of the Prophecies of the Old
+Testament, see Mat. 1, 2: and 4 chapters, and ch. 8: v. 16,17, and
+ch. 9: 11,13, and ch. 13: 13, ch. 21: 2--7. 15,16, ch. 22: 31, 32, ch.
+26: 54, 56, ch. 27: 5--10.
+
+Jesus himself is represented as proving the truth of Christianity
+thus. He, joining himself to two of his Disciples, (Luke 28: 15--
+22,) after his resurrection, who knew him not, and complaining of
+their mistake about his person, whom they now took not to be the
+Messiah, because he had been condemned to death, and crucified;
+he, observing their disbelief of his resurrection, which had been
+reported to them by "certain women of their acquaintance," upon
+the credit of the affirmation of angels, said unto them, "O Fools,
+and slow of heart to believe all that the Prophets have spoken.
+Ought not Christ (i.e. the Messiah) to have suffered these things,
+and to enter into his Glory? and beginning at Moses, and all the
+Prophets, he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things
+concerning himself."
+
+Again he discoursed to all his Disciples, putting them in mind, that,
+before his Death, he told them (Luke 24: 44, 46, 47,) that "all
+things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses,
+and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms concerning him;" adding,
+"thus it is written, and thus it behoveth Christ (1. e. the Messiah) to
+suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day; and that repentance,
+and remission of sins should be preached in his name, beginning at
+Jerusalem."
+
+When the people of several nations, Acts 2:12, were amazed at the
+Apostles speaking in their several tongues, and when many
+mocked the Apostles, saying they were full of new wine, Peter
+makes a speech in public, wherein, after saying they were not
+drunk, because it was but the third hour of the day, he endeavours
+to show them, that this was spoken of by the Prophet Joel, and he
+concludes with proving the resurrection of Jesus from the book of
+Psalms.
+
+Peter, and John, tell the people assembled at the Temple, "that
+God had showed by the mouth of all his Prophets, that Christ
+should suffer," Acts 3:18.
+
+Peter to justify his preaching to the Gentiles, concludes his
+discourse with saying, Acts 10: 43--"To Jesus gave all the
+Prophets witness, that through his name whosoever (i.e. Jew, or
+Gentile) believeth in him, shall receive remission of sins."
+
+Paul also endeavours to prove to the Jews in the Synagogue of
+Antioch, (Ib. v. 13) that the history of Jesus was contained in the
+Old Testament, and that he, and Barnabas were commanded in the
+Old Testament, to preach the gospel to the Gentiles.
+
+On the occasion of a dispute among the Christians whether the
+Gentile converts were to be circumcised after the Law of Moses,
+and to observe the Law, we find, that after much disputing, the
+point was settled by James by quotation from Amos.
+
+The Bereans are highly extolled (Acts 17: 11,) for searching the
+Scriptures, i.e. the Old Testament, daily, in order to find out
+whether the things preached to them by the Apostles were so, or no:
+who if they had not proved these things, i.e. Christianity from the
+Old Testament, ought, according to their own principles, to have
+been rejected by the Bereans, as teachers of false doctrine.
+
+Paul, when accused before Agrippa by the Jews, said (Acts 26; 6,)
+"I stand, and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God
+unto our fathers," i.e. for teaching Christianity, or the true doctrine
+of the Old Testament, and to this accusation he pleads guilty, by
+declaring in the fullest manner, that he taught nothing but the
+Doctrines of the Old Testament. "Having therefore (says he)
+obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to
+small, and great, saying now other things than those which the
+Prophets, and Moses did say should come, that the Christ should
+suffer, and that he should be the first who should rise from the
+Dead, and should show light unto the People, and unto the
+Gentiles."
+
+The Author of the first Epistle to the Cor. says, 15 ch. v. 4, that
+"Jesus rose again from the dead the third day, according to the
+Scriptures," that is, according to the Old Testament, and he is
+supposed to ground this on the history of the prophet Jonas, who
+was three days and three nights in the fish's belly: though the cases
+do not seem to be parallel, for Jesus being buried on Friday
+evening, and rising on Sunday morning, was in the tomb but one
+day and two nights.
+
+But most singular is the argument of the Apostle Paul (in his
+Epistle to the Galatians) to prove Christianity from the Old
+Testament. "Tell me (says he, Gal. 4: 21,) ye that desire to be
+under the Law, do ye not hear the Law? For it is written, that
+Abraham had two Sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a free
+woman. But he who was of the bond woman, was born after the
+flesh; but he who was of the free woman was by promise. Which
+things are an Allegory. For these are the two covenants, the one
+from Mount Sinai which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. But
+this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem
+that now is, and is in bondage with her Children. But Jerusalem
+which is above is free, which is the Mother of us all. For it is
+written (Isaiah 54: 1,) "Rejoice thou Barren that bearest not, break
+forth, and cry thou that travailest not, for the desolate hath
+many more children than she which hath an husband." Now, we
+Brethren, as Isaac was, are children of the Promise. But as then he
+that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the
+spirit, even so it is now. But what saith the Scripture (Gen. 21: 10,
+12,) Cast out the bond woman, and her son, for the son of the bond
+woman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman. So then,
+Brethren, we are not the children of the bond woman, but of the
+free. Stand fast, therefore, in the Liberty wherewith Christ hath
+made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of
+bondage."
+
+In fine, the Author of these Epistles reasons in the same singular
+manner from the Old Testament throughout; which is, according to
+him, (2 Tim. iii: 15,) "able to make men wise unto Salvation:"
+asserting himself and others to be ministers of the New Testament,
+as being ministers, not of "the letter but of "the Spirit," (2Cor. iii:
+6.) That is. Of the Old Testament, spiritually understood; and
+endeavouring to prove, especially in the Epistle to the Hebrews,
+that Christianity was veiled and contained in the Old Testament,
+and was implied in the Jewish history, and Law, both which he
+considers as types and shadows of Christianity.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+STATEMENT of THE QUESTION IN DISPUTE.
+
+How Christianity depends on the Old Testament, or what proofs
+are to be met with therein in behalf of Christianity, are the subjects
+of almost all the numerous books written by divines, and other
+apologists for Christianity, but the chief and principal of these
+proofs may be justly supposed to be urged in the New Testament
+itself, by the authors thereof; who relate the history of the first
+preaching of the Gospel, and profess themselves to be apostles of
+Jesus, or companions of the Apostles.
+
+Some of these proofs, as a specimen, have been already adduced.
+And if they are valid proofs, then is Christianity strongly and
+invincibly established: on its true foundations.
+
+It is established upon its true foundations, because Jesus and his
+Apostles did, as we have seen, ground Christianity on those proofs;
+and it is strongly and invincibly established on those foundations,
+because a proof drawn from an inspired book is perfectly
+conclusive. And prophecies delivered in an inspired book
+are, when fulfilled, such as may be justly deemed sure, and
+demonstrative proof; and which Peter (2 Peter 1: 19) prefers as an
+argument for the truth of Christianity, to that miraculous
+attestation (whereof he, and two other Apostles are said to have
+been witnesses,) given by God himself to the mission of Jesus of
+Nazareth. His argument appears to be as follows. "Laying this
+foundation, that Prophecy proceeds from the Holy Spirit, it is a
+stronger argument than a miracle, which depends upon eternal
+evidence, and testimony." And this opinion of Peter's is
+corroborated by the words of Jesus himself, who, in Mat. xxiv: 23,
+24, Mark xiii: 21, 22, affirms, that miracles wrought in
+confirmation of a pretender's being the Messiah, are not to be
+considered as proof of his being so--"though they show great
+signs and wonders, believe it not," is his command to his disciples.
+
+Besides, prophecies fulfilled, seem the most proper of all
+arguments to evince the truth of a new revelation which is
+designed to be universally promulgated to men. For a man who has
+the Old Testament put into his hands, which contain prophecies,
+and the New Testament afterward, which is said to contain their
+completions, and is once satisfied, as he may be with the greatest
+ease, that the Old Testament existed before the New, may have a
+complete, internal, divine, demonstration of the truth of
+Christianity, without long, and laborious enquiries. Whereas,
+arguments of another nature, such, for instance, as relate to the
+authority and genuineness of the books, and the persons, and
+characters of authors, and witnesses, require more application, and
+understanding, than falls to the share of the bulk of mankind; or
+else are very precarious in themselves, since we know that in the
+first centuries there were numberless forged Gospels, and
+Apocryphal writings imposed upon the credulous as apostolic and
+authentic; and there were in the Apostles times, as many, and as
+great heresies and schisms as perhaps have been since in any age
+of the Church. So that, setting aside the before mentioned internal
+proofs from prophecy, (which were the Apostle's proofs and in
+their nature sufficient of themselves) we should have no certain
+proof at all for the Religion of the New Testament.
+
+On the other hand, if the proofs for Christianity from the Old
+Testament, are not valid, if the arguments founded on that Book be
+not conclusive, and the Prophecies cited from thence be not
+fulfilled, then has Christianity no just foundation; for the
+foundation on which Jesus and his Apostles built it is then invalid,
+and false. Nor can miracles, said to have been wrought by Jesus,
+and his Apostles in behalf of Christianity, avail anything in the
+case. For miracles can never render a foundation valid, which is in
+itself invalid; can never make a false inference true; can never
+make a prophecy fulfilled, which is not fulfilled; and can never
+designate a Messiah, or Jesus for the Messiah, if both are not
+marked out in the Old Testament; no more than they could prove
+the earth to be the sun, or a mouse a lion.
+
+Besides, miracles said to have been wrought, may be often justly
+decided false reports, when attributed to persons who claim an
+authority from the Old Testament, which they impertinently
+alledge to support their pretentions. God can never be supposed
+often to permit miracles to be done for the confirmation of a false,
+or pretended mission. And if at any time he does permit miracles to
+be done in confirmation of a pretended mission, we have express
+directions from the Old Testament (acknowledged by Christians to
+be of divine authority) Deut. xiii. 1, 2, not to regard such miracles;
+but to continue firm to the antecedent revelation given by Himself,
+and contained in the Old Testament, notwithstanding any "signs or
+wonders;" which, under the circumstance of attesting something
+contrary to an antecedent revelation, we are forewarned of as being
+no test of truth. No new revelation, however supported by
+miracles, ought ever to be received as coming from God, unless it
+confirms, or at least does not contradict, the preceding standing
+revelation, acknowledged to be from God.
+
+Accordingly, we find from the New Testament, that all the
+recorded miracles of Jesus could not make the Jews believe him to
+be the Messiah when they thought that he did not answer the
+description of that character given by the Prophets; on the
+contrary, they procured him to be crucified for pretending to be
+what to them he appeared plainly not to be.
+
+Nor had his miracles alone any effect on his own brethren, and
+kindred, who seem (Mark vi. 4; Jo. vii. 6,) to have been more
+incredulous in him than other Jews. Nor had they the effect, they
+are supposed to have been fitted to produce, among his immediate
+followers, and Disciples; some of whom did not believe in him, but
+deserted him, and particularly had no faith in him when he spake
+of his sufferings; and thought that he could not be their Messiah
+when they saw him suffer, notwithstanding his miracles, and his
+declaration to them that he was the Messiah. And so rooted were
+the Jews in the notion of the Messiah's being a temporal Prince, a
+conquering Pacificator, and Deliverer, even after the death of
+Jesus, and the progress of Christianity grounded on the belief of his
+being the Messiah, that they have in all times of distress,
+particularly in the apostolic sera, in great numbers followed
+impostors giving themselves out as the Messiah, with force, and
+arms, as the way to restore the kingdom of Israel. So that the Jews,
+who it seems mistook in this most important matter, and after the
+most egregious manner, the meaning of their own Books, might,
+till they were set right in their interpretation of the Old Testament,
+and were convinced from thence that Jesus was the Messiah, might
+I say, as justly reject Jesus asserting his mission, and Doctrines
+with miracles, as they might reject any other person, who in virtue
+of miracles would lead them into idolatry, or any other breach of
+their law.
+
+In fine, the miracles said to have been wrought by Jesus, are,
+according to the Old Testament, the gospel scheme, and the words
+of Jesus himself, no absolute proof of his being the Messiah, or of
+the truth of Christianity; and Jesus laid no great stress upon them
+as proving doctrines, for he forewarned his disciples, that "signs
+and wonders" would be performed, so great and stupendous, as to
+deceive, if possible, the very elect, and bids them not to give any
+heed to them.*
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MESSIAH, AS GIVEN BY
+THE HEBREW PROPHETS.
+
+Having shewn from the New Testament, and proved from the
+nature of the case, that the whole credit and authority of the
+Christian religion, rests and depends upon Jesus' being the Messiah
+of the Jews; and, having stated the principles which ought to
+govern the decision of this question, and established the fact, that
+the pretensions of any claiming to be considered as this Messiah,
+must be tested solely by the coincidence of the character, and
+circumstances of the pretender with the descriptions given by the
+prophets as the means by which he may be known to be so--it is
+proper, in order that we may be enabled to form a correct opinion,
+to lay before the reader those passages of the Old Testament
+which contain the promise of the appearing, and express the
+characteristics of this "hope of Israel," this beneficent saviour, and
+august monarch, in whose time a suffering world, was, according
+to the Hebrew prophets, to become the abode of happy beings.
+
+Leaving out for the present the consideration of the Shiloh
+mentioned in Gen. xlix., the first prophecy we meet with, supposed
+to relate to this great character, is contained in Num. xxiv. 17,19,
+"There shall come a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out
+of Israel, shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy the children
+of Seth." Geddes interprets the latter clause--"shall destroy the
+sons of esdition;" but it probably means, according to the common
+interpretation, that this monarch was to govern the whole race of
+men, i. e. the children of Seth; for Noah, according to the Old
+Testament, was descended from him; and of the posterity of Noah,
+was the whole earth overspread. And in verse 19, it is added "out
+of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion."*
+
+God says to David, 2 Sam. vii. 12, "And when thy days shall be
+fulfilled, and thou shall sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed
+after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels; and I will
+establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I
+will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his
+Father, and he shall be my Son--if he commit iniquity, I will
+chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the
+children of men. But my mercy shall not depart from him, as I took
+it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. And thy house, and thy
+kingdom shall be established before me, and thy throne shall be
+established for ever." Mention is made of this promise in several of
+the Psalms, but it certainly suggests no idea of such a person as
+Jesus of Nazareth, but only that of a temporal prince of the
+posterity of David. It implies, that his family would never entirely
+fail for though it might be severely punished, it would recover its
+lustre again. And connecting this promise with that of the glory of
+the nation in general, foretold in the books of Moses, it might be
+inferred by the Hebrews, who believed them to be of Divine
+authority, that after long and great calamities (the consequences of
+their sins,) the people of Israel would be restored to their country,
+and attain the most distinguished felicity under a prince of the
+family of David. This is the subject of numberless prophecies
+throughout the Old Testament.
+
+Passing over all those prophecies in which the national glory is
+spoken of without any mention of a prince or head; I shall recite,
+and remark upon the most eminent of those in which mention is
+made of any particular person, under whom, or by means of
+whom, the Israelitish nation, it is said, would enjoy the
+transcendent prosperity elsewhere foretold.
+
+The second Psalm is no doubt well known to my readers, and
+supposing it to refer to the Messiah, it is evident, that it describes
+him enthroned upon mount Zion, the favorite of God, and the
+resistless conqueror of his enemies.
+
+The next prophecy of this distinguished individual is recorded in
+Isaiah ix. 6--"Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and
+the government shall be upon his shoulder; and the Wonderful, the
+Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father shall call his
+name* the Prince of Peace." [For thus it is pointed to be read in the
+original Hebrew, and this is the meaning of the passage, and not as
+in the absurd translation of this verse in the English version.] "Of
+the increase of his government there shall be no end upon the
+throne of David, and his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it
+with judgment, and with justice from henceforth and for ever: the
+zeal of the Lord of Hosts will do this." Here again we have a
+mighty monarch, sitting upon the throne of David, upon earth; and
+not a spiritual king placed in heaven, upon the throne of "the
+mighty God, the everlasting Father."
+
+The next passage which comes under notice, is in the eleventh
+chapter of Isaiah, in which a person is mentioned, under whom
+Israel, and the whole earth was to enjoy great prosperity and
+felicity. He is described as an upright prince, endued with the spirit
+of God, under whose reign there would be universal peace, which
+was to take place after the return of the Israelites from their
+dispersed state, when the whole nation would be united and happy.
+
+"There shall spring forth a rod from the trunk of Jesse, and a scion
+from his roots shall become fruitful. And the spirit of the Lord
+shall rest upon him; the spirit of wisdom, and understanding; the
+spirit of counsel, and strength; the spirit of knowledge, and the fear
+of the Lord. And he shall be quick of discernment in the fear of the
+Lord; so that not according to the sight of his eyes shall he judge,
+nor according to the hearing of the ears shall he reprove. With
+righteousness shall he judge the poor, and with equity shall he
+work conviction# on the meek of the earth. And he shall smite the
+earth with the blast of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips
+shall he slay the wicked one. And righteousness shall be the girdle
+of his lions, and faithfulness the cincture of his reins. Then shall
+the wolf take up his abode with the lamb; and the leopard shall lie
+down with the kid; and the calf, and the young lion, and the fatling
+shall come together, and a little child shall lead them. And the
+heifer, and the she bear shall feed together, and the lion shall eat
+straw like the ox. And the suckling shall play upon the hole of the
+asp; and upon the den of the basilisk shall the new weaned child
+lay his hand. They shall not hurt, nor destroy in my holy mountain,
+for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the
+waters cover the sea. And it shall come to pass in that day, the root
+of Jesse which standeth for an ensign to the people, unto him shall
+the nations repair, and his resting place shall be glorious."
+
+As the scion here spoken of is said to spring from the root of Jesse,
+it looks as if it were intended to intimate, that the tree itself would
+be cut down, or that the power of David's Family would be for
+some time extinct; but that it would revive in "the latter days."
+
+The same Prince is again mentioned, chap xxxiii. 1, 3, where the
+people are described to be both virtuous, and flourishing, and to
+continue to be so. (v. 15--17.)
+
+"Behold a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule
+with equity. And the man shall be a covert from the storm, as a
+refuge from the flood, as canals of waters in a dry place, as the
+shadow of a great rock in a land of fainting with heat. And him the
+eyes of those that see shall regard, and the ears of them that hear
+shall harken, * * * * till the spirit from on high be poured out upon
+us, and the wilderness become a fruitful field, and the fruitful field
+be esteemed a forest. And judgment shall dwell in the wilderness,
+and in the fruitful field shall reside righteousness. And the work of
+righteousness shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness
+perpetual quiet, and security. And my people shall dwell in a
+peaceful mansion, and in habitations secure, and in resting places
+undisturbed."
+
+The same Prophet, chap. lxii 1, speaks of a person under the title of
+"God's Servant," of a meek disposition, raised up by God to
+enlighten the world, even the Gentile part of it; to bring prisoners
+out of their confinement, and to open their eyes; alluding,
+probably, to the custom too common in the East; of sealing up the
+eyes, by sewing or fastening together the eyelids of persons, and
+then imprisoning thorn for life. It is doubted, however, whether the
+Prophet meant, or had in view, in this passage, the Messiah, or his
+own nation.
+
+"Behold my servant whom I will uphold, mine elect in whom my
+soul delighteth; I will make my spirit rest upon him, and he shall
+publish judgment to the nations. He shall not cry aloud, nor raise a
+clamour, nor cause his voice to be heard in the public places. The
+bruised reed shall he not break, and the dimly burning flax he shall
+not quench, he shall publish judgment so as to establish it
+perfectly. His force shall not be abated, nor broken, until he has
+firmly seated judgment in the earth, and the distant nations shall
+earnestly wait for his Law."
+
+"Thus saith the Lord, even, the Eternal, who created the heavens,
+and stretched them out; who spread abroad the earth, and the
+produce thereof, who giveth breath to the people upon it, and spirit
+to them that tread thereon. I the Lord have called thee for a
+righteous purpose,* and I will take hold of thy hand, and I will
+preserve thee; and I will give thee for a covenant to the people, for
+a light to the nations; to open the eyes of the blind, to bring the
+captive out of confinement, and from the dungeon those that dwell
+in darkness. I am the Eternal, that is my name, and my glory will I
+not give to another, nor my praise to the graven images. The
+former predictions, lo! they are to come to pass, and now events I
+now declare; before they spring forth, behold I make them known
+unto you." See also chap. xlix. 1,12, and chap. liv. 3, 5.
+
+In the 3d chapter of Hosea, verses 4 and 5, it is said by the Prophet,
+that "the sons of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and
+without a prince, and without sacrifice, and without a statue, and
+without an ephod, and without Teraphim. Afterward shall the sons
+of Israel return, and shall seek the Lord their God, and DAVID
+their King, and shall fear the Lord, and his goodness in the latter
+days."
+
+Micah chap. v. speaks of the Messiah thus, "And thou Bethlehem
+Ephratah, art thou too little to be among the leaders of Judah? Out
+of thee shall come forth unto me, him who is to be ruler in Israel;
+and his goings forth have been from old, from the days of hidden
+ages. Therefore will He (God) deliver them up, until the time when
+she that bringeth forth, hath brought forth, and until the residue of
+his brethren shall return together with the sons of Israel. And. he
+shall stand and feed his flock, in the strength of the Lord, in the
+majesty of the name of the Lord his God, and they shall abide, for
+now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth, and he shall be
+Peace." Jeremiah also speaks of the restoration of the Israelites
+under a Prince of the family of David, chap. xxiii. 5, 8.
+
+"Behold the days are coming, saith the Lord, that I will raise up
+unto David a righteous branch, and a king shall reign, and act
+wisely, and shall execute justice, and judgment in the earth. In his
+days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell in security, and
+this is the name by which the Eternal shall call him, OUR
+RIGHTEOUSNESS."# [Heb.] The same is mentioned in chap. xxx.
+8, 9. "And it shall be in that day, saith the Lord of Hosts, I will
+break his yoke from off his neck, and his bands will I burst
+asunder, and strangers shall no more exact service of him. But they
+shall serve the Lord their God, and DAVID their King, whom I
+will raise up for (or to) them. * * * The voice of joy, and the voice
+of mirth, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride,
+the voice of them that say. Praise ye the Lord of Hosts, for the
+Lord is gracious, for his mercy endureth for ever, of them that
+bring praise to the house of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts,
+yet again shall there be in this place that is desolate (Jerusalem and
+Palestine,) without man and beast, and in all the cities thereof, an
+habitation of shepherds folding sheep, in the cities of the hill
+country, and in the cities of the plain, and in the cities of the south,
+and in the land of Benjamin, and in the environs of Jerusalem. * *
+* Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform the
+good thing which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel,
+and concerning the house of Judah. In those days, and at that time,
+[he that readeth, let him observe] I will came to grow up of the line
+of David a branch of righteousness, and he shall execute judgment
+and justice in the earth. In those days Judah shall be saved, and
+Jerusalem, shall dwell securely, and this is he whom the Lord shall
+call--'OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.' [Heb.] Surely, thus saith the
+Lord, there shall not be a failure in the line of David, one to sit
+upon the throne of the house of Israel, neither shall there be a
+failure in the line of the Priests, the Levites, of one to offer before
+me burnt offerings, and to perform sacrifice continually." See ch.
+xxxiiii. 14. In this place, the perpetuity of the tribe of Levi, as well
+as that of the house of David, is foretold. See also Jer. ch. xxx. 9.
+
+Contemporary with Jeremiah was Ezekiel. He likewise describes
+this happy state of the Israelites under a king of the name of David,
+chap. xxxiv. 22.
+
+"Therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey:
+and I will judge between cattle, and cattle. And I will set up one
+Shepherd over them, and be shall feed them, even my servant
+DAVID: he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd, and I
+the Lord will be their God, and my servant DAVID a Prince
+among them. I the Lord have spoken it. And I will make with them
+a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of
+the land; and they shall dwell safely in' the wilderness, and sleep in
+the woods. And I will make them, and the places round about my
+hill, a blessing, and I will cause the shower to come down in the
+season: there shall be showers of blessing. And the tree of the field
+shall yield her fruit; and the earth shall yield her increase; and they
+shall be safe in their land; and shall know that I am the Lord, &c."
+
+In another passage this prophet says, that the two nations, Israel
+and Judah, shall have one king, and that this king shall be named
+DAVID, who shall reign for ever, chap. xxxvii. 21--28. "Say unto
+them, thus saith the Lord God, behold I will take the children of
+Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will
+gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land. And
+I will make them one nation in the land, upon the mountains of
+Israel, and one king shall be king to them all, and they shall be no
+more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms
+any more at all. Neither shall they defile themselves any more with
+their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their
+transgressions; but I will save them out of all their dwelling places
+wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them, so shall they be
+my people, and I will be their God. And DAVID my servant shall
+be king over them, and there shall be one shepherd. They shall
+also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes and do them.
+And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my
+servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt, and they shall dwell
+therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children
+for ever, and my servant DAVID shall be their prince forever.
+Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them: it shall be an
+everlasting covenant with them, and I will place them, and
+multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them, for
+evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them, and I will be
+their God, and they shall be my people. And the heathen shall
+know, that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall,
+be in the midst of them for evermore."
+
+The natural construction of this seems to be this, "that a descendant
+of David, called by that name, should reign over the Israelites for
+ever."
+
+In the very circumstantial description which Ezekiel gives of the
+state of the Israelites in their own country, yet expected by the
+Jews, he speaks of the prince, and the portion assigned him, chap.
+xlv. 78. And in his description of the temple service, he moreover
+speaks of the gate, by which the prince is to enter into it. See chap.
+xlvi. 1, 2.
+
+The next, and last, passage I shall quote, is from the book of
+Daniel, who, in the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, had a
+vision of four beasts, representing the four great Empires. At the
+close of his account of which, he speaks of "one like the son of
+man" being brought into the presence of God, and receiving from
+the Eternal an everlasting kingdom (chap. vii. 13)--"I saw in the
+night visions, and behold one like the son of man came with the
+clouds of heaven, and come to the ancient of days; and they
+brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion,
+and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages,
+should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which
+shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be
+destroyed."
+
+I have now gone through the prophecies which are allowed both by
+Jews and Christians to relate to one person whom they call the
+Messiah. It must be evident from all these passages, that the
+characteristics of this, to both parties, highly interesting personage,
+as described by the Hebrew prophets, are these:--
+
+1. That he was to be a just, beneficent, wise, and mighty monarch,
+raised up and upheld, and established by God, to be the means of
+promoting universal peace, and happiness. That Israel should be
+gathered to him, and established in their own land; which was to
+be the seat of dominion, and the centre of union, and of worship to
+all the people, and nations of the earth; who were to live under the
+government, and receive, and obey the law of this beneficent
+prince; and enjoy unspeakable felicities on the earth, then changed
+to a universal paradise. And for all this happiness, they were to
+worship, and glorify the true God only, and glorify the Eternal, and
+give thanks to Him "because He is good, and his mercy endureth
+forever."
+
+2. That this prince was to be of the line of David, and as it should
+seem, called by that name, and was to reign on his throne in
+Jerusalem.
+
+3. That according to Micah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, (see the
+quotations)
+
+his manifestation, and (and the restoration of Israel) were to be
+contemporaneous. See Hosea, chap. iii. 4, 5. And from Jeremiah
+xxxiii. 15, and from Micah v. 2, it should seem also, that he was
+not to be born, till the time of that restoration should be nearly
+arrived.
+
+The prophecies concerning the Messiah of the Jews being now laid
+before the reader, we have only to apply these descriptions to know
+whether an individual be their Messiah, or not. For, (according to
+the principles laid down, and established in the preceding chapter)
+where the foregoing characteristics given by the prophets do centre
+and agree, that person is the Messiah foretold; but where they are
+not found in any one claiming that character, miracles are nothing
+to the purpose, and nothing is more certain, than that he has no
+right to be considered as such; and could he with a word turn the
+sun black in the face, in proof of his being the Messiah, he is,
+nevertheless, not to be regarded; for, whether such a person has yet
+appeared, can certainly only be known by considering, whether the
+world has ever yet seen such a person as this Messiah of the
+Hebrew prophets.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE CHARACTER OF JESUS TESTED BY THOSE
+CHARACTERISTIC MARKS OF THE MESSIAH GIVEN BY
+THE PROPHETS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.
+
+Had Jesus of Nazareth come into the world merely as a person sent
+with a revelation from God, he would have had a right to be
+attended to, and tried upon that ground. And if his doctrines and
+precepts were consistent with reason, consistent with one another,
+and with prior revelations, really such, and all tending to the
+honour of God, and the good of men; his miracles, with these
+circumstances, ought to have determined men to believe in him.
+
+But since he claimed to be the Messiah of the Jews, foretold by
+their prophets, it is requisite, that that claim should be made out;
+and it is reasonable in itself, and just to him, and necessary to all
+those who will not take their religion upon trust, that ho should be
+tried, by examining whether this claim can be made out, or not.
+The argument from prophecy becomes necessary to establish the
+claim of the Gospel: and as truth is consistent with itself, so this
+claim must be true, or, it destroys all others.
+
+Besides, what notions of common morality must he have, who
+pretends to come from God, and declares (Jo. v. 37,) "that the
+Scriptures testify of him," if, in fact, the Scriptures do not testify of
+him? What honesty, or sincerity could he have, who could "begin
+at Moses, and all the prophets, and expound unto his disciples in
+all the Scriptures the things concerning himself," if neither Moses
+nor the prophets ever spake a word about him? The prophets,
+therefore, must decide this question, and the foundation of
+Christianity must be laid upon them; or else, to avoid one
+difficulty, Christians will be forced into such absurdities, as no
+man can palliate, much less can extricate himself out of.
+
+Furthermore, this claim must be made out to the satisfaction of the
+Gentile, as well as the Jew. For since the fundamental article of
+Christianity is, that Jesus is the Christ; (Jo. xx. 31) that is to say,
+that he is the Messiah prophecied of in the Old Testament;
+whoever comes into the world as such, must come as the Messiah
+of the Jews, because no other nation did expect, or pretend to, the
+promise of a Messiah. Moreover, whoever comes as this Messiah
+of the Jews, must at least pretend to answer the character of their
+Messiah plainly delivered in the writings of their prophets. And the
+Jews themselves receiving those writings as divine, were not
+bound to, neither could they consistently with their duty, receive,
+any, who did not answer in all points to the description therein
+given.
+
+Let us now test the character of Jesus of Nazareth by the
+description of the Messiah given by the Hebrew prophets. If his
+character corresponds in all respects with that given by those
+prophets, he is undoubtedly to be acknowledged as the king of
+Israel foretold; but if they do not exactly correspond, if there be the
+slightest incongruity, he certainly was not this Messiah. For it is
+evident, that some of the characteristic marks given may belong to.
+many illustrious individuals, but the whole can belong to, and be
+found in, only one person.
+
+The first characteristic of the Messiah, the reader will recollect,
+was, according to the prophets, that he was to be "the Prince of
+Peace," in whose times righteousness was to flourish, and
+mankind be made happy. That he was to sit upon the throne of
+David judging right; and that to him, and their own land, was Israel
+to be gathered, and all nations serve and obey him; and worship
+one God, even Jehovah.
+
+But of Jesus we read, that he asserted, that his kingdom was "not
+of this world." Instead of effecting peace among the nations, he
+said, "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth, I have
+come to send a sword, I have come to put division between a son,
+and his father; the mother, and the daughter; the daughter-in-law,
+and her mother-in-law." "Think ye, (said he to his disciples) that I
+have come to put peace on earth, I tell you nay, but rather
+division." Again, "I have come to put fire on the earth." These are
+not the characteristics of the Messiah of the prophets of the Old
+Testament. For of him Zechariah (ch. ix.) says, that "He shall
+speak peace to the nations;" and of him Isaiah says, "Nation shall
+not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war
+anymore." And so far from being the author of division, sword, and
+fire; according to Malachi, in the times of the Messiah, "the heart
+of the parents was to be converted to the children, and the heart of
+the children to their parents."
+
+In the times of the Messiah, wars were to cease, righteousness was
+to flourish, and mankind be happy. Whether this has yet taken
+place, the experience of almost nineteen centuries, and the present
+state of the world, can enable every one to determine for himself.
+
+In the times of the Messiah, Israel was to be gathered, and planted
+in their own land, in honour, and prosperity. But not many years
+after the death of Jesus of Nazareth, the Jewish nation underwent
+the most dreadful calamities; and to this day, so far are they from
+being gathered, they are scattered to the four quarters of the globe.
+Instead of being in honour and prosperity, their history, since his
+time, is one dreadful record of unparalleled sufferings, written in
+letters of blood by the hands of murder, rapine, and cruelty.
+
+Again; the true Messiah was, it seems, to be called DAVID, and
+was to reign at Jerusalem, on the throne of David; but the name
+"Jesus" is not the same as "David," and Christians have assigned
+him a spiritual kingdom, and a throne in heaven! But was the
+throne of David in heaven? No! it was in Jerusalem, and no more
+in Heaven, than that of the Caesars.
+
+Lastly, it appears from the prophecies of Hosea, Micah, and
+Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Ezekiel, quoted in the last chapter, that the
+manifestation of their Messiah was to be contemporaneous with
+the restoration of Israel, and from the quotations adduced from the
+three first mentioned prophets, it should seem that his birth was not
+to take place many years before that glorious event. But Jesus of
+Nazareth was born almost two thousand years ago; and the
+children of Israel yet expect a deliverer. And to conclude, it was
+foretold by Malachi, and believed by the Jews then, and ever since,
+that Elias the prophet, who did not die, but was removed from the
+earth, should precede the coming of the Messiah, and prepare them
+for his reception. But the prophet Elias certainly has not yet
+appeared!
+
+Indeed, nothing appears to be more dissimilar than the character of
+the Messiah, as given by the Hebrew prophets, and that of Jesus of
+Nazareth. It seems scarcely credible, that a man who, though
+amiable and virtuous, yet lived in a low state, was poor, living
+upon alms, without wealth, and without power; and who (though
+by misfortune) died the death of a malefactor, crucified between
+two robbers, (a death exactly parallel with being hanged at the
+public gallows in the present day) should ever be taken for that
+mighty prince, that universal potentate, and benefactor of the
+human race, foretold in the splendid language of the prophets of
+the Old Testament.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+EXAMINATION OF THE ARGUMENTS FROM THE OLD
+TESTAMENT ADDUCED IN THE NEW, TO PROVE THAT
+JESUS OF NAZARETH WAS THE MESSIAH.
+
+But since one would esteem it almost incredible, that the apostles
+could persuade men to believe Jesus to be this Messiah, unless they
+had at least some proof to offer to their conviction, let us next
+consider, and examine, the proofs adduced by the apostles and
+their followers, from the Old Testament for that purpose.
+
+Of the strength or weakness of the proofs for Christianity out of the
+Old Testament, we are well qualified to judge, as we have the Old
+and New Testament in our hands; the first containing what are
+offered as proofs of Christianity, and the latter the application of
+those proofs, and we should seem to have nothing more to do, but
+to compare the Old and New Testament together.
+
+But these proofs taken out of the Old Testament, and urged in the
+New, being sometimes not to be found in the Old, nor urged in the
+New, according to the literal and obvious sense, which they appear
+to bear in their supposed places in the Old, and, therefore, not
+proofs according to the rules of interpretation established by
+reason, and acted upon in interpreting every other ancient book--
+almost all Christian commentators on the Bible, and advocates for
+the religion of the New Testament, both ancient and modern, have
+judged them to be applied in a secondary, or typical, or mystical,
+or allegorical, or enigmatical sense; that is, in a sense different
+from the obvious and literal sense which they bear in the Old
+Testament.
+
+Thus, for example, Matthew, after having given an account of the
+conception of Mary, and the birth of Jesus, says (ch. i.,) "All this
+was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the
+prophet, saying, Behold a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring
+forth a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel." But the words
+as they stand in Isaiah ch. vii. 14, from whence they are taken, do,
+in their obvious and literal sense, relate to a young woman in the
+days of Ahaz, King of Judah, as will appear, considering the
+context.
+
+When Rezin, King of Syria, and Pekah, King of Israel, were
+confederates in arms together, against Ahaz, King of Judah, Isaiah
+the prophet was sent by God, first to comfort Ahaz and the nation,
+and then to assure them by a sign, that his enemies should in a little
+time be confounded.--But Ahaz refusing a sign at the prophet's
+hand, the prophet said (see the chapter,) "The Lord shall give you
+a sign. Behold a virgin, or 'young woman' (for the Hebrew word
+means both as was truly and justly asserted by the Jews in the
+primitive ages against the Christians, and is now acknowledged,
+and established beyond dispute by the best Hebrew scholars of
+this age,) shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name
+Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to
+refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the child shall
+know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land which thou
+abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings." And this sign is
+accordingly given Ahaz by the prophet, who, ch. viii. v. 2, 18, took
+two witnesses and went to the said young woman, who in due time
+conceived, and bare a son, after whose birth the projects of Rezin
+and Pekah were, it appears, soon confounded, according to the
+prophecy and sign given by the prophet.
+
+And the prophet himself, puts it beyond dispute, that this is the
+proper interpretation of the prophecy, by express words, as well as
+by his whole narration; for he says, "Behold I, and the children
+whom the Lord hath given me, are for signs, and for wonders in
+Israel from the Lord of Hosts, that dwelleth in mount Zion." Isaiah
+viii. 19.
+
+This is the plain drift and design of the prophet, literally,
+obviously, and primarily understood; and thus he is understood by
+one of the most judicious of interpreters, the great Grotius. Indeed,
+to understand the prophet as having the conception of Mary, and
+the birth of her son Jesus from a virgin mother literally, and
+primarily in view, is a very great absurdity, and contrary to the
+very intent and design of the sign given by the prophet.
+
+For the sign being given by Isaiah to convince Ahaz that he
+brought a message from God to him, to assure him that the two
+kings should not succeed in their attempt against him, how could a
+virgin's conception, and bearing a son seven hundred years
+afterwards, be a sign to Ahaz, that the prophet came to him, with
+the said message from God? And how useless was it to Ahaz, as
+well as absurd in itself for the prophet, to say, "Before the child,
+born seven hundred years hence, shall distinguish between good
+and evil, the land which thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both
+her kings," which would be a banter, instead of a sign.
+
+But a prophecy of the certain birth of a male child, by a particular
+female within a short time, seems a proper sign, as being not only
+what could not with certainty, be foretold, except by a person
+inspired, but considered as soon coming to pass, it, consequently,
+evidences itself to be a divine sign, and answers all the purposes of
+a sign. And such a sign is agreeable to God's conduct on like
+occasions; witness his conduct to Gideon and Hezekiah. Jud. vi.; 2
+Kings xx.
+
+This prophecy, therefore, not being fulfilled in Jesus, according to
+the literal and obvious sense of the words as they stand in Isaiah, it
+is supposed that this, like the other prophecies cited in the New
+Testament, is fulfilled in a secondary, or typical, or mystical sense;
+that is, the said prophecy, which was literally fulfilled by the birth
+of the son foretold by the prophet, was again fulfilled by the birth
+of Jesus, as being an event of the same kind, and intended to be
+secretly and mystically signified either by the prophet or by God,
+who directed the prophet's speech. If the reader desires further
+satisfaction that the literal and obvious sense of this prophecy
+relates to a son to be born in Isaiah's time, and not to Jesus, he is
+referred to the commentator Grotius, and to Huetius' Demonstrat.
+Evang. in loc., to the ancient fathers, and to the most respectable of
+the modern Christian. commentators, who all allow and show, that
+the words of Isaiah are not applicable to the birth of Jesus in their
+literal sense, but only in a mystical, or figurative, or allegorical
+sense.
+
+Again, 	Matthew gives us another prophecy, which he says was
+fulfilled. He tells us, that Jesus was carried into Egypt; from
+whence he returned after the death of Herod, (Mat. ii.) "that it
+might be fulfilled, which was of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
+'out of Egypt have I called my son.'" Which, being word for word
+in Hosea, (ch. xi. 1) and no where else to be found in the Old
+Testament, are supposed to be taken from thence; where according
+to their obvious sense they are no prophecy at all! but relate and
+refer to a past action, viz., to the calling of the children of Israel
+out of Egypt, which will, I think, be denied by few. This passage,
+therefore, or as it is styled, prophecy, of Hosea, is said by learned
+men among Christians to be mystically, or allegorically, applied,
+in order to render Matthew's application of it, just; and they say all
+other methods of some learned men to solve the difficulty arising
+from Matthew's citation of this passage, have proved unsuccessful.
+
+Again, Matthew says, (ch. ii.) "Jesus came, and dwelt at Nazareth,
+that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophet, saying,
+'he shall be called a Nazarene;'" but as this passage does not
+occur in the Old Testament at all, we are precluded from
+ascertaining whether it be literal, mystical, or allegorical.
+
+Jesus says of John the Baptist, (Mat. xi. 14) "This is Elias that was
+for to come," wherein he is supposed to refer to these words of
+Malachi, (ch. iv. 4) "Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet,
+before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord," which,
+according to their literal, and obvious sense, are a prophecy, that
+Elijah or Elias was to come in person (which we know from the
+New Testament, as well as elsewhere, was the constant expectation
+of the Jews.) Besides, this Elijah was to come "before the great and
+terrible day of the Lord," which has not yet arrived; and, therefore,
+this prophecy of Malachi, referred to by the evangelist, was
+certainly not literally, but only mystically, fulfilled in John the
+Baptist.
+
+Again, Jesus (Mat. xiii.) cites the prophecy of Isaiah (Is. vi. 9,) "By
+hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand;" and he assures us,
+that it was fulfilled in his time in those to whom he spake in
+parables, (which, by the way, he did, it is said, in order to fulfil a
+passage of the Psalms) though it is manifest that the prophecy of
+Isaiah quoted, according to its literal sense, undoubtedly relates to
+the obstinate Jews who lived in the time of Isaiah.
+
+In fine, these, and the many other passages cited as prophecies
+from the Old Testament by the authors of the New, do so plainly
+relate, in their obvious and primary sense to other matters than
+those which they are adduced to prove, that it is allowed by the
+most learned defenders of Christianity, that to pretend that they
+prove in a literal sense what they are adduced to prove, is to give
+up with both hands the cause of Christianity to the enemies thereof,
+who can so easily show in so many undoubted instances, the Old
+and New Testament to have no manner of connection in that
+respect, but to be in an irreconcilable state.
+
+These proofs from the prophets being so different from what we
+should expect, it behoves us to enquire what could induce Jesus
+and his apostles to quote the Old Testament in such a manner?
+
+The Jews shortly answer this question, by saying, that they did so,
+because they did not understand the meaning of the books they
+quoted. But it has been answered by some learned Christians, that
+Jesus and the apostles did not quote in the manner they did through
+caprice or ignorance bat according to certain methods of
+interpretation, which were in their times of established authority
+among the Jews.
+
+The rules of interpretation, which were supposed to be
+irrecoverably lost afterwards recovered to the world by the learned
+Surenhusius, professor of the Hebrew language in the illustrious
+school of Amsterdam. He made an ample discovery to the world of
+the rules by which the apostles cited the Old Testament, and
+argued from thence, wherein the whole mystery of the apostles
+applying scripture in a secondary, or typical, or allegorical sense,
+seems to be unfolded. I shall, therefore, state this matter from
+Surenhusius.
+
+He (Surenhusius) says, "that when he considered the various
+opinions Of the learned about the passages of the Old Testament
+quoted in the New, He was filled with grief, not knowing where to
+set his foot; and was much concerned, that what had been done
+with good success upon profane authors, could not be so happily
+performed upon the sacred."
+
+He tells us, "that having had frequent occasions to converse with
+the Jews (on account of his application to Hebrew literature from
+his youth) who insolently reflected upon the New Testament,
+affirming it to be plainly corrupted, because it seldom or never
+agreed with the Old Testament, some of whom were so confident
+in this opinion, as to say, they would profess the Christian religion,
+if any one could reconcile the New Testament with the Old. "I was
+the more grieved, because, (says this honest and well meaning
+man) I knew not how to apply a remedy to this evil." But the
+matter being of great importance, he discoursed with several
+learned men about it, and read the books of others, being
+persuaded that the authors of the books of the New Testament had
+written nothing but what was suited to the time wherein they lived,
+and that Christ and his apostles had constantly followed the
+method of their ancestors. After he had long revolved this
+hypothesis in his mind, at last he met with a Rabbi well skilled in
+the Talmud, the Cabbala, and the allegorical books of the Jews.
+This Rabbi had once embraced the Christian religion, but was
+again relapsed to Judaism on account of the idolatry of the Papists,
+yet not perfectly disbelieving the integrity of the New Testament.
+Surenhusius asked him, what he thought of the passages of the Old
+Testament quoted in the New, whether they were rightly quoted or
+not, and whether the Jews had any just reason to cavil at them, and
+at the same time proposed to him two or three passages, which had
+very much exercised the most learned Christian commentators.
+
+The Rabbi having admirably explained those passages, to the great
+surprise of Surenhusius, and confirming his explications by
+several places of the Talmud, and other writings of the Jewish
+commentators, and allegorical writers, Surenhusius asked him
+what would be the best method to write a treatise in order to
+vindicate the passages of the Old Testament quoted in the New?
+The Rabbi answered, that he "thought the best way of succeeding
+in such an undertaking would be to peruse a great part of the
+Talmud, and the allegorical and literal commentators; to observe
+their several ways of quoting and interpreting scripture, and to
+collect as many materials of that kind, as would be sufficient for
+that purpose."
+
+Surenhusius took the hint immediately: he read such books as were
+recommended, observed every thing that might be subservient to
+his design, and made a book upon the subject. And in the third part
+of that book he gives us the rules so long sought after, viz., the ten
+ways# used, he says, by the Jewish doctors in citing scripture. And
+here they are:--
+
+1. The first rule is--"reading the words of the Hebrew bible, not
+according to the points placed under them, but according to other
+points substituted in their stead," as is done by Peter, Acts iii. 3; by
+Stephen, Acts vii. 43, and by Paul, 1 Cor. xv. 54; 2 Cor. viii. 16,
+and Heb. iii. 10; ix. 21; xii. 6.
+
+2. The second rule is--"changing the letters, whether those letters
+be of the same organ (as the Hebrew grammarians speak,) or not,"
+as is done by Paul, Rom. ix. 33; 1 Cor. xi. 9; Heb. viii. 9, and x. 6;
+and by Stephen, Acts vii. 43.
+
+3. The third is--"changing both letters and points," as is done by
+Paul, Acts xiii. 41, and 2 Cor. viii. 15.
+
+4. The fourth is--"adding some letters, and taking away others."
+
+5. The fifth is--"transposing words and letters."
+
+6. The sixth is--"dividing one word into two."
+
+7. The seventh is--"adding other words to those in the text, in
+order to make the sense more clear, and to accommodate it to the
+subject they we upon."
+
+8. The eighth is--"changing the order of words."
+
+9. The ninth is--"changing the order of words, and adding other
+words."
+
+10. The tenth is--"changing the order of words, adding words,
+and retrenching words," which, (says he) is a method often used
+by Paul. Of the application of all these rules, he gives examples
+taken from the New Testament.
+
+It is not necessary to make many observations upon these rules,
+they speak for themselves most significantly; for what is there that
+cannot be proved from the Old Testament, or any other book, yea,
+from Euclid's Elements! or even an old almanac! by the help of
+"altering words and sentences; adding; retrenching; and
+transposing, and cutting words in two," as is stated above by a
+learned and good man, and sincere Christian who found out, and
+brought forward, these rules, as the best means of getting the
+authors of the New Testament out of a difficulty, which had long
+shocked and grieved their best friends.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+EXAMINATION OF THE MEANING OF THE PHRASE "THIS
+WAS DONE THAT IT MIGHT BE FULFILLED."
+
+It may be objected from divers learned authors, who have been
+very sensible of the difficulties stated in the preceding chapters,
+and have, sensible of the difficulties stated in the preceding
+chapters, therefore, taken other ground than their predecessors, in
+order to defend themselves the better; I say, it may be objected to
+what I have advanced, that Christianity is not in fact grounded on
+the prophetical, or other, quotations made from the Old, in the
+New, Testament; but that those quotations being allegorically
+applied by the authors of the New Testament, are merely
+arguments ad hominem, to convince the Jews of the truth of
+Christianity, who allowed such a method of arguing to be valid,
+and are not arguments to the rest of mankind.
+
+To which I answer--That this distinction is the pure invention of
+those who make the objection, and not only has no foundation in
+the New Testament, but is utterly subverted by its express
+declarations; for the authors of the books of the New Testament
+always argue absolutely from the quotations they cite as
+prophecies out of the books of the Old Testament. Moses and the
+prophets are every where represented to be a just foundation for
+Christianity; and the author of the Epistle to the Romans expressly
+says, ch. xvi. 26, 26, "The gospel, which was kept secret since the
+world began, was now made manifest by the scriptures of the
+prophets (wherein that gospel was secretly contained) to all
+nations," by the means of the preachers of the gospel who gave
+the secret or spiritual sense of those scriptures; for to the ancient
+Jews, according to them, the gospel was preached by the types of
+their law, and, therefore, must have been considered as truly
+contained in it.
+
+Besides, the authors of the books of the New Testament were
+convinced long before the publication of them, that the gospel was
+to be preached to the Gentiles as well as the Jews, to both of
+whom, therefore, they reasoned allegorically in their books, as
+Peter and others did in their sermons, though with greater success
+on Gentiles than on Jews; and as Paul did before Felix, when he
+said he took his heresy, or Christianity, from the law, and the
+prophets. Acts xxiv., as also he did before Agrippa. It would,
+therefore, seem strange, that books written to all the world by men
+equally concerned to convert Gentiles as well as Jews, and that
+discourses made expressly to Gentiles as well as to Jews, should be
+designed to be pertinent only to Jews, much less to a very few
+Jews! Indeed, I am ashamed at being thus long engaged in showing
+what must be self evident; and did I not fear being further tedious
+to my readers, I would undertake to bring together passages from
+the New Testament, where the meaning and intention of the writers
+is obvious, in such abundance, as would immediately and entirely
+put the hypothesis of our opponents out of countenance.
+
+These quotations from the. Old Testament are certainly urged, and
+spoken of as direct proofs, as absolute proofs in themselves, and
+not as mere proofs ad hominem to the Jews; for if these prophecies
+are only urged by the apostles as proofs to the Jews, and intended
+only as proofs founded on the mistaken meanings of the Old
+Testament of some Jews of their time, what sense is there in
+appealing upon all occasions to the prophets, and recommending
+the reading and search of the Old Testament for the trial and proof
+of what was preached? for that was to proceed on weakness itself,
+knowing it to be so. Certainly nothing, but a real persuasion, that
+the prophecies of the Old Testament were really fulfilled in Jesus,
+could make them every where inculcate and appeal to the fulfilling
+of prophecy. In order to support their hypothesis, Christians have
+been forced to seek evidence to prove, that the phrase--"this was
+done that it might be fulfilled," so frequent in the New Testament,
+meant no such thing, but was only a habit the Jews had got of
+introducing by such phrases a handsome quotation, or allusion,
+from the Old Testament. But this evasion must be given up, upon
+two accounts. 1. Because most of the European biblical critics of
+the present day (the learned annotator on Michaelis' Introduction
+to the New Testament, Dr. Marsh, among others) frankly
+acknowledge it not to be tenable; and 2. Because it can be proved
+not to be so from the New Testament itself. For example, when
+John represents (Jo. xix. 28,) Jesus upon the cross saying, "'I
+thirst' that the scripture might be fulfilled," doth he not plainly
+represent Jesus as fulfilling a prophecy which foretold that the
+Messiah should thirst, or say, "I thirst," upon the cross? Nay, does
+he not suppose him to say so, in order to fulfil, or that he might
+fulfil, a prophecy? Is it not also suitable to the character of Jesus,
+who founded his Messiahship on the prophecies in the Old
+Testament, and could not but have the accomplishment of those
+prophecies constantly in view to fulfil, and to intend to fulfil them?
+And is it not unsuitable in John, in describing his master dying
+upon the cross, to represent him as saying things, whereby he only
+gave occasion to observe, that he fulfilled, i. e., accommodated a
+phrase! not a prophecy!!
+
+Besides, they who set up this accommodating principle of
+accommodation, do, in some cases, take the term fulfilled in its
+proper sense, and do allow it, (when convenient) to relate to a
+prophecy really fulfilled. But I would ask them, what rule they
+have to know when the apostles mean a prophecy fulfilled, and
+when a phrase accommodated, since they are acknowledged to use
+the strong expression of fulfilling in the latter case no less than in
+the former?
+
+In a word, unless it be granted, that the citations were intended by
+the authors of the New Testament, to be adduced, and applied, as
+prophecies fulfilled; if you do suppose them not intended to be
+adduced, and applied, as prophecies; then, the whole affair of Jesus
+being foretold as the Messiah, is reduced to an accommodation of
+phrases! and it will, assuredly, follow, that the citations of Jesus
+and his apostles out of the Old Testament, are like and no better
+than the work of, the Empress Eudoxia, who wrote the History of
+Jesus in verses put together, and borrowed out of--HOMER! or
+that of Proba Palconia, who did the same, in verses, and words
+taken out of--Virgil!
+
+In fine, one of two things must be allowed, either (which is most
+probable) the authors of the New Testament conceived their
+citations to be indeed prophecies concerning Jesus, and then they
+were ignorant and blundered, and, therefore; were not inspired; or,
+they knowingly used them as means to deceive the simple and
+credulous into a belief of their being testimonies sufficient to prove
+what they themselves knew they had no relation to;--and then
+they were deceivers: there is no other alternative, and each horn of
+the dilemma, must prove as fatal as the other.
+
+Perhaps it may be said, "It is to no purpose for you to object to the
+quotations or the arguments of Jesus and his apostles, for God was
+with them confirming their doctrine by signs following, they had
+from God the power of working miracles, and, consequently, their
+interpretations of Scripture, however strange they may appear to
+your minds, must be infallible, they being men inspired."
+
+To this argument it can be justly answered, first, that the question
+whether Jesus be the Messiah, entirely depends, as proved before,
+upon his answering the characteristics given of that personage by
+the Jewish prophets; and all the miracles in the world could never,
+from the nature of the case, prove him to be so, unless his character
+does entirely agree with the archetype laid down by them, as had
+been already abundantly proved.
+
+Secondly,--That whether these miracles were really performed, or
+not, depends entirely upon the credibility of the authors themselves
+who have thus quoted! which, as shall be shown hereafter, may be
+disputed; and, thirdly, it could be retorted upon Protestants, that
+this same argument is the same in principle with the often refuted
+popish argumentation. The Papists pretend to derive all their new
+invented and absurd doctrines and practices from the scriptures by
+their interpretations of them; but yet, when their interpretations are
+attacked from scripture, they immediately fly from thence to the
+miracles wrought in their church, and to the visions of their holy
+men and saints, for the establishment of their interpretations, by
+which they support those very doctrines and practices. And
+particularly they endeavour to prove thus the doctrine of
+transubstantiation, from the numerous miracles affirmed to have
+been wrought in its behalf, which reasoning Protestant Christians
+assert to be an argument absurd and inconclusive, therefore, they
+should not use it themselves.
+
+We allow, that if these interpretations of the sense of the Old
+Testament had been in existence before the Christian era, it might
+be something. But we beg leave to remind them, that it is certain,
+that these interpretations were not published till after the events to
+which they are referred took place, which is a circumstance of
+obvious significancy.
+
+In fine, to this argument I would answer, as in Cicero (de Natura
+Deor. Ed. Dav. p. 209) Cotta did to Balbus--"rumoribus mecum
+pugnas, ego autem a te roitones requiro."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+EXAMINATION OF THE ARGUMENTS ALLEGED FROM
+THE HEBREW PROPHETS, TO PBOVE THAT JESUS WAS
+THE MESSIAH.
+
+But it may be asked, how it was possible, that wise and good men
+could have been led to embrace the religion of the New Testament,
+if there were not in the Old Testament some prophecies which
+might be conceived by them to supply, at least, plausible
+arguments to prove that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah? Are
+there no other passages in the prophets besides those quoted in the
+New Testament, and are there not a few passages quoted in the
+New Testament, which appear more to the purpose than those we
+have been considering? To this I candidly answer that there are,
+and this chapter will be devoted to the consideration of them.
+
+Two of these prophecies, one from Genesis, and the other from
+Daniel, are thought by the advocates of Christianity, (because they
+conceive them to point out and to limit the time of the coming of
+the Messiah,) to be stronger in their favour than any of those
+quoted in die New Testament. If so, it is a very singular
+circumstance, that the inspired authors of the New Testament did
+not make use of them, instead of others not so much to the purpose.
+This circumstance of itself should teach us to examine the
+prophecies in question with caution, and also with candour, since
+many worthy and religious men have thought them sufficient to
+prove that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. These prophecies I shall
+reserve last for consideration, and shall now begin with the others
+usually adduced, taking them up pretty much in the order in which
+they stand in the Old Testament.
+
+The first passage is taken from Deut. xviii. 15, "The Lord thy God
+will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, like unto
+me, unto him ye shall hearken. According to all that thou desiredst
+of the Lord thy God in Horeb, in the day of the assembly, saying.
+Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me
+see his great fire any more, that I die not. And the Lord said unto
+me, they have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will
+raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee,
+and I will put my words into his mouth, and he shall speak unto
+them all that I command him. And it shall come to pass, that
+whosoever will not hearken unto my, words which he shall speak
+in my name, I will require it of him."
+
+This passage is pertinaciously and solely applied to Jesus, by many
+Christian writers, because it is so applied by Peter in the 2 chap. of
+Acts, in his sermon to the Jews, just after he had received the full
+inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and of course must be considered as
+infallible. Nevertheless, these words of Moses are supposed by
+many learned men, both Jews and Christians, to be spoken of
+Joshua, whom Moses himself afterwards, at the command and
+appointment of God, declared to be his successor, and who was
+endowed with the spirit which was upon Moses, (see Deut. xxxi.
+33, xxxiv. 17,) and to whom the Jews then promised to hearken,
+and pay obedience to, as they had done before to Moses. But others
+understand them to be a promise of a succession of prophets, to
+whom the Jews might upon all occasions have recourse; and one or
+the other of these seems to be the certain meaning of the place.
+From this consideration, that from the context it appears Moses
+was giving the Jews directions of immediate use; and, therefore, in
+promising a prophet to them, to whom they should hearken, he
+seems to intend an immediate prophet who might be of use to the
+Jews, and answer their common exigencies, and not a prophet two
+thousand years to come.
+
+But I take the words to promise a succession of prophets, and for
+that sense wherein Grotius and Le Clerc, and most of the Jews,
+take them. I shall give my reasons, for this, and show that they do
+not necessarily refer to Jesus Christ.
+
+Moses, in the verses preceding this prophecy in the same chapter,
+(Deut. xviii. 9--14) tells the Israelites from God, that "when they
+came into Canaan, they should not learn to do after, the
+abominations of the people thereof; and, particularly, that there
+should not be found among them any one that useth divination, or
+an observer of times, &c., or a consulter with familiar spirits, &c.
+For all, says he, "that do these things are an abomination to the
+Lord; and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth
+drive these people out from before thee. For these nations which
+thou shalt possess hearkened unto observers of times, and unto
+diviners. But as for thee, the Lord thy God hath not suffered thee to
+do so." Then follow the words about the prophet, "The Lord thy
+God will raise unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee of thy
+brethren like unto me, unto him ye shall hearken." All which is as
+much as to say, "When you come into Canaan, do not hearten to a
+diviner, &c., as the Canaanites do, for the Lord will give you a
+prophet of your own brethren inspired like me, to guide any
+instruct you, to whom ye shall hearken." Or rather, "Do not
+hearken to diviners, &c., but to prophets, who shall be raised up
+among you."
+
+Now that the words cited must relate to a succession of prophets to
+begin upon the Israelites taking possession of the land of Canaan,
+is manifest; because, the raising up of a prophet, to whom they
+were to hearken, is the reason given why they should not hearken
+to a diviner, &c., when they came to that land; which reason could
+have no force unless they were to have, 1st,--an immediate
+prophet in Canaan; for what sense is there, or would there be, in
+saying, "Don't hearken to such diviners as are in Canaan, when
+you come there, for you shall have a prophet of your own, to
+whom ye shall hearken two thousand years after you come there!"
+
+Secondly,--As the context shows that the prophet to be raised up,
+was an immediate prophet, so it also shows, that the singular
+number here stands for the plural, according to the frequent
+custom of the Hebrew language, as is shown by Le Clerc and
+Stillingfleet, in loco; for one single prophet to be raised up
+immediately, who might soon die, could not be a reason why Jews
+of succeeding generations should not harken to diviners in Canaan.
+
+Finally,--The words of God by Moses, which follow the promise
+of a prophet, evidently show that by that promise prophets were
+intended, in laying-down a rule for the test or trial of the prophets
+before mentioned, in such a manner as implies, that that rule was to
+be applied to all prophets pretending to come from him. See the
+words in Deut. xviii., 19--22.
+
+I shall conclude this explication, by adducing, in confirmation of it,
+the paraphrase of the words given in the Targum of Jonathan. "The
+nations you are about to possess, (says the Jewish paraphrast)
+hearken to jugglers and diviners; but you shall not be like them;
+for your priests shall enquire by Urim and Thummim, and the Lord
+your God shall give you a true prophet." And this explication is
+the one adopted by Origen,--[Contra Celsum, p. 28.]
+
+As to the difficulty that is raised against this explication from the
+words at the end of Deuteronomy--"that there arose not a prophet
+since in Israel like unto Moses whom the Lord knew face to face.
+In all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to do," &c.--
+it is nothing at all. For every one perceives, that the word "like"
+may be, and frequently is, used in scripture, and in common
+language, to signify, similarity in some, though not in every,
+particular; and every prophet, who speaks by God's direction, is a
+prophet "like unto Moses," who did the same, though he be not
+like, or equal to, him "in doing signs and wonders," which is all
+that is affirmed in the last chapter of Deuteronomy.
+
+And, finally, there is nothing to limit this prophecy to Jesus of
+Nazareth, if we allowed (what we reject) the Christian
+interpretation; since God might to-morrow, if such were his will,
+raise up a prophet like unto Moses in every respect, which Jesus
+certainly was not; therefore, it cannot be applied and restrained to
+the purpose for which it is quoted by Peter.
+
+There is in the same sermon, in the 2 chap. of Acts, another
+passage quoted by Peter from the Psalms, and applied by him to
+prove the resurrection of Jesus, and on which he lays very great
+stress, which after all seems to be nothing to the purpose. Peter
+says, "Him (i. e., Jesus) God hath raised up, having loosed the
+pains [or bands] of death, because it was not possible that he
+should be holden of it." And why? "For [because] David speaketh
+concerning him, ' I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for
+he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved. Therefore did
+my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh
+shall rest in hope. Because thou wilt not leave my soul in Hades,
+[the place of departed Spirits] nor suffer thy holy one to see
+corruption, thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou
+shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.' Men and
+brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that
+he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this
+day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn
+with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins according to the
+flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit upon his throne. He, seeing
+this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was
+not left in Hades, neither did his flesh see corruption."
+
+How imposing is this argument! How plausible it appears! And yet
+it is irrelevant, as Dr. Priestly frankly confesses, who tries to save
+the credit of the apostle by the convenient principle of
+accommodation! The whole force of Peter's reasoning depends
+upon the word "corruption." David did see corruption; therefore,
+he could not mean himself, but "being a prophet," &c., he meant
+Jesus Christ. Now, the whole of Peter's argument is grounded
+upon two mistakes; for, 1st, the Hebrew word translated
+"corruption," here signifies "destruction, perdition;" and in the
+next place, instead of being "thy holy One," in the singular, it is in
+the Hebrew "thy saints," in general. The passage is quoted from
+the 16th Psalm; and I will give a literal translation of it from the
+original, which will make the propriety or impropriety of Peter's
+quotation perfectly obvious. The contents and import of the Psalm,
+according to the English version, are as follow; "David, in distrust
+of his merits, and hatred of idolatry, fleeth to God for preservation,
+He showeth the hope of his calling, of the resurrection, and of life
+everlasting." And the passage in question, according to the
+original, reads thus:--"I have set the Lord always before me:
+Because he is on my right hand, I shall not be moved: Therefore
+my heart is glad, and my glory [i. e., tongue] rejoiceth: My flesh
+also shall rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave my soul in Hades,
+neither wilt thou suffer thy saints to see destruction. Thou wilt
+show me the path of life: In thy presence is fullness of joy, and at
+thy right hand are pleasures for evermore." That is--"Because I
+have ever trusted in thee, and experienced thy constant protection,
+therefore I will not fear death; because thou wilt not for over leave
+my soul in the place of departed spirits, nor suffer thy saints to
+perish from existence. Thou wilt raise me from the dead, and make
+me happy for ever in thy presence."#
+
+In the 4th chap. of the Acts, the apostles are represented as praying
+to God, and referring in their prayer to the 2d Psalm "why did the
+heathen rage," &c., as being a prophecy of the opposition of the
+Jews to Jesus; with how much justice may be seen from these
+circumstances.
+
+1. That "the nations," as it is in the original, did not assemble
+together to crucify Jesus, as this was done by a few soldiers. 2. The
+"kings of the earth" had no hand in it, for they knew nothing
+about it. And 3rdly, Those who were concerned did by no means
+"form vain designs," since they effected their cruel purposes. And
+lastly, From that time to the present, God has not set Jesus as his
+king upon the "holy hill of Sion," as the Psalm imports, nor given
+him "the nations for his inheritance, nor the uttermost parts of the
+earth for a possession."
+
+The next prophecy usually adduced to prove that Jesus is the
+Messiah, is The passage quoted from Micah v. 2, in the 2d chapter
+of Mat.--"But from Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little
+among the chiefs of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto
+me, that is, to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from
+old, from the days of hidden ages." This passage probably refers to
+the Messiah, but by no means signifies that this Messiah was to be
+born in Bethlehem, as asserted by Matthew; but only, that he was
+to be derived from Bethlehem, the city of Jesse, the father of David
+of famous memory, whose family was venerable for its antiquity, "
+being of the days of hidden ages." And this interpretation is
+known, and acknowledged, by Hebrew scholars. But in order to cut
+short the dispute, w will permit the passage to be interpreted as
+signifying that Bethlehem was to be the birth place of the Messiah.
+What then? Will a man's being born in Bethlehem be sufficient to
+make him to be the Messiah foretold by the Hebrew prophets?
+Surely it has been made plain in the beginning of this work, that
+many more characteristic marks than this must meet in one person
+in order to constitute him the Messiah described by them!
+
+In Zechariah ix. 9, it is written, "Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of
+Sion, Shout, O Daughter of Jerusalem! Behold thy king cometh
+unto thee, the righteous one, and saved, or preserved [according to
+the Hebrew] lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the
+foal of an ass." This has been applied by the evangelists to Jesus,
+who rode upon an ass into Jerusalem.
+
+But in the first place, it is to be observed, that there seems to have
+been a blunder in this transaction; for according to the Hebrew
+idiom of the passage quoted above, the personage there spoken of,
+was to ride upon "an ass' colt;" whereas, the apostles, in order to
+be sure of fulfilling the prophecy, represent Jesus as riding upon an
+ass, and the colt, too! "They spread their garments upon them,
+and set him upon them."[See the evangelists in loc.] In the next
+place, a man may ride into Jerusalem upon an ass, without being
+thus necessarily demonstrated to be the Messiah. And unless, as
+said before, every tittle of the marks given by the prophets to
+designate their Messiah, be found in Jesus, and in any other
+claiming to be that Messiah his being born in Bethlehem, and
+riding upon an ass into Jerusalem, will by no means prove him to
+be so. Besides, those who will take the trouble to look at the
+context in Zechariah, will find, that the event spoken of in the
+quotation, is spoken of as contemporaneous with the restoration
+Israel, and the establishment of peace and happiness, which seems
+to cut up by the roots the interpretation of the evangelists. And to
+conclude the argument,--Jesus being born in Bethlehem, and
+riding into Jerusalem, allowing it to be true, would not, we think,
+frustrate these prophecies of a future fulfillment--for no one can
+disprove, that if so be the will of God, such a person as
+the Messiah is described to be, might be born in Bethlehem
+to-morrow, and ride in triumph into Jerusalem, twenty years
+afterwards.
+
+The next passage which has been offered, as a prophecy of Jesus,
+is to be found in the 12th chap. of Zech. v. 10, and part of it has
+been misquoted by John. "And I will pour upon the house of
+David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace
+and supplications, and they shall look on me whom they have
+pierced." So it stands in the English version; but, before I state
+what it ought to be, I would observe, that before the evangelist,
+(who in his account of the crucifixion applies this passage as
+referring to Jesus' being pierced with a spear) could make this
+passage fit his purpose, he had to substitute the word "him" for
+"me," as it is in the Hebrew; confirmed by, I believe, all the
+versions, ancient and modern, without exception. Yet, with this
+change, it will by no means answer his purpose; for the Hebrew
+word here translated "pierced," in this place signifies
+"blasphemed," or "insulted," as it is understood by Grotius, who
+confirms this rendering from the Hebrew of Levit. xxiv. 11, where
+in this passage "the Israelitish woman's son blasphemed the name
+of the Lord." The Hebrew word translated "blasphemed" is from
+the same root with the Hebrew word translated "pierced" in the
+passage in Zechariah quoted above. So that the passage ought to be
+translated thus:--"I will pour upon the house of David, and upon
+the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and supplications,
+and they shall look towards me whom they have blasphemed."
+[To "look towards God" is a phrase frequently met with, and well
+understood.] Now, to enable us to understand more perfectly this
+passage, let us consider the context, where we shall find that it
+states, that there was to be a war in Judea, and a siege of
+Jerusalem, and then a deliverance of the Jews, by the destruction of
+all the nations, that should come up at that time, against Jerusalem.
+Immediately after which matters, follows the prophecy under
+consideration--"I will pour upon the house of David," &c. Now,
+from these things thus laid together, I crave leave to argue in the
+words of Dr. Sykes [Essay, &c., p. 268]--"Did any one
+circumstance of all this happen to the Jews about the time of the
+death of Jesus? Or rather, was not every thing the reverse of what
+Zechariah says; and instead of all nations being destroyed that
+came about Jerusalem, Jerusalem itself was destroyed: instead of a
+spirit of grace and supplications, the Jews have had their hearts
+hardened against the Christ; instead of mourning for him whom
+they have pierced, they condemn him and his followers even until
+this day."
+
+But it is tiresome thus to waste time in proving that parts and ends
+of verses, disjointed from their connexion, and even the words
+quoted, some of them changed and some transposed, (though even
+done according to the rules given by the venerable Surenhusius)
+prove nothing. We must, therefore, devote the remainder of this
+long chapter to the consideration of the three famous prophecies,
+on which Christians have not hesitated, with triumphing
+confidence, to rest the issue of their cause. These are the prophecy
+of Shiloh, Gen. 49; the 53d ch. of Isaiah; and Daniel's prophecy of
+the "seventy weeks." I will consider them in order, and thus wind
+up the chapter.
+
+I have some where read in a catechism, the following question and
+answer:--Q. "How can you confound the Jews, and prove, from
+prophecy, that the Messiah is already come?" A. "From these two
+prophecies--'The sceptre shall not depart from Judah,' &c.--Gen.
+xlix.; and this--'Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people,'"
+&c.--Dan. ix. 24.
+
+But, notwithstanding these overwhelming proofs, the stubborn
+Jews refuse to be confounded! on the contrary, they in fact laugh at
+Christians for being so easily imposed upon.
+
+The prophecy concerning Shiloh, the Jews acknowledge, refers to
+their Messiah. But they do not allow that it defines or limits the
+time of his coming.
+
+And that it in fact does not, will be perfectly, evident to all who
+will look at the place in the Hebrew bible, which they will find
+pointed to read not--"The sceptre shall not depart from Judah,
+and a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come," &c.; but
+thus--"The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver
+from between his feet, for ever; for Shiloh shall come, and to him
+shall the gathering of the people be." So that the prophecy does
+not intimate that the Messiah should come before the sceptre be
+departed from Judah; but that it should not depart for ever, but
+shall be restored when Shiloh comes. This is the plain and obvious
+sense of the prophecy; and, moreover, is the only one that is
+consistent with historical fact. For, in truth, the sceptre had
+departed from Judah several hundred years before Jesus of
+Nazareth was born. For from the time of the Babylonish captivity
+"Judah" has never been free, but in subjection to the Persians, the
+Syrians, the Romans, and all the world.
+
+If my readers desire further satisfaction with regard to this
+interpretation of this famous prophecy, I refer them to the dispute
+upon this subject between the celebrated Rittangelius, and a
+learned Jew, (preserved in Wagenseils' "Tela Ignea,") where he
+will find Rittangelius first amicably inviting the Hebrew to discuss
+the point, who does so most ably and respectfully toward his
+Christian antagonist, and unanswerably establishes the
+interpretation above stated, by the laws of the Hebrew language, by
+the ancient interpretation of the Targum, by venerable tradition,
+and by appealing to history. Rittangelius begins his defence by
+shuffling, an ends by getting into a passion, and calling names;
+which his opponent, who is cool, because confident of being able
+to establish his argument, answers by notifying to Rittangelius his
+compassion and contempt.
+
+The next prophecy proposed to be considered, is the celebrated
+prophecy of Isaiah, consisting of part of the 52nd, and the whole of
+the 53rd, chapter. It is the only prophecy which Paley thinks worth
+bringing forward in his elaborate defence; and it must be
+confessed, that if this prophecy relates to the Messiah, it is by far
+the most plausible of any that are brought forward in favour of
+Jesus Christ. It merits, therefore, a thorough discussion, and I shall
+endeavour that it shall be a candid one. This prophecy is quoted by
+Jesus himself in Luke xxii. 39, and by Philip, when he converted
+the Eunuch, (Acts 8,) for "beginning at this prophecy, he preached
+unto him Jesus."
+
+It will not be necessary to cite the passage at length, it being one
+perfectly familiar to every Christian. I will, then, before I consider
+it, first premise, that since it has been heretofore abundantly made
+evident, that the Messiah of the Old Testament was not to suffer,
+and die, but to live and reign, it is according to the rules of sound
+criticism, and I think sound theology too, to interpret this solitary
+passage, so that it may not contradict very many others of a
+directly contrary import. Now, if this passage can relate only to the
+Messiah, it will throw into utter confusion the whole scheme of the
+prophetical scriptures. But if it can be made to appear, that it does
+not necessarily relate to him; if it can, consistently with the
+context, be otherwise applied, the whole difficulty vanishes. Now,
+the authors of the New Testament have applied this prophecy to
+the Messiah, and to Jesus as the Messiah; and for doing so, they
+have been accused of misapplication of it-from the earliest times;
+since we know from Origen, that the Jews of his time derided the
+Christians for relying upon this prophecy; alleging that it related to
+their own nation, and was a prophecy of their suffering and
+persecuted state, and of their ultimate emancipation and happiness.
+And this interpretation of the prophecy the learned Vitringa, in his
+commentary upon Is. in loc., allows to be the most respectable he
+had met with among the Jews, and, according to him, "to be by no
+means dispised."
+
+In order that the fitness or unfitness of this application of the
+prophecy may be made apparent, and evident, we will new lay
+before the reader this famous prophecy, part by part, each part
+accompanied by the Jewish interpretation.
+
+Isaiah lii. 13, "Behold, my servant shall prosper, he shall be
+exalted, and extolled, and be very high." Interpretation--My
+servant Israel, though he be in great affliction for a time, yet
+hereafter shall be released from captivity, and be honoured and
+raised to elevation very high among the nations of the earth. [That
+the Jewish nation is spoken of, in the singular number and under
+the title of God's servant frequently in the Old Testament, is well
+known, and will be here made certain by a few examples. Isaiah
+xli. (the chapter preceding the prophecy,) "But thou Israel my
+servant, thou, Jacob, whom I have chosen," presently afterwards,
+"saying to thee, thou art my servant." Again, chapter xliv.--
+"Now, therefore, hear Jacob my servant," and so frequently in the
+same chapter. See also ch. xlv., and Jer. ch. xxx., and Ps. cxxxvi.,
+and Isaiah throughout, for similar examples.]
+
+"And many were astonished at thee (his visage was so marred
+more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men.)"
+That is--And many were astonished at thee, on account of thy
+abject state, and miserable condition, being squalid with misery,
+and suffering more than any 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."
+
+Interpretation--As the Gentiles wondered at their abject state, so
+as to make them a proverb of reproach, so shall they admire at their
+wonderful change of circumstances, from the depth of degradation
+to the height of prosperity and honour. So that they shall lay their
+hands upon their mouths, which had beforetime reproached them,
+when they shall see their felicity to be so far beyond what had been
+told them, and they shall attentively consider it, and they shall say
+to each other--
+
+"Who hath believed our report, and the arm of the Lord to whom
+was it revealed? For he grew up [Hebrew, not "he shall grow up,"
+as in the English version] before him as a tender plant, and as a
+root out of a dry soil; he had no form nor comeliness; and when
+we saw him, there was no beauty that we should desire him."
+
+The sense is--The Gentiles shall say to each other in wonder,
+"Who believed what we heard concerning them? And to whom
+was the interest the Lord took in them made known? For it was a
+dispised people, feeble, and wretched, like a tender plant springing
+up out of a thirsty soil. Their appearance was abject, and there was
+nothing attractive in their manners."
+
+"He was 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."
+
+That is--They were despised, and held in abhorrence: they were
+men of sorrow, and familiar with suffering. We looked upon them
+with dislike: we hid our faces from them, and esteemed them not.
+
+"Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows."
+
+Interpretation--Surely their sufferings are as great as if they had
+borne the sins of the whole world; or, they are, nevertheless, the
+means appointed to remove the sufferings of an afflicted world, for
+God hath connected universal happiness with their prosperity; and
+the end of their sufferings, is the beginning of our joys.
+
+"Yet did we esteem him smitten of God, and afflicted."
+
+Interpretation--Nevertheless, we considered them as a God-
+abandoned race, and devoted to wretchedness by him, for having
+crucified their king.
+
+"But he was wounded for [or by] our transgressions, he was
+bruised [for or by] our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was
+upon him; and through his stripes we are healed."
+
+That is--But, instead of being the victims of God's wrath, they
+were wounded through our cruelty, they were bruised by our
+iniquitous treatment, we being suffered to do so, to chastise them
+for their sins, and to prove their obedience; and this chastisement is
+that by which our peace is to be effected; for their chastisement
+and probation being finished. God will by them impart and diffuse
+peace and happiness.
+
+"All we like sheep have gone astray, we, have turned every one to
+his own way, and the Lord hath caused to meet upon him the
+iniquity of us all."
+
+But it is we who have sinned more than they: we have all gone
+astray in our ignorance, being without the knowledge of God, or of
+his law. Yet the Lord hath permitted us to make them the subjects
+of our oppressive iniquity.
+
+"He was oppressed, [or "exposed to pecuniary exactions"] and he
+was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he was 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, ["into his manner
+of life, who stoopeth to look?" according to the Hebrew] for he
+was cut off out of the land of the living; for, [or by] the
+transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave
+with the wicked; but with the rich were his deaths, [or tomb]
+because he had done no violence, neither was deceit in his mouth."
+
+Interpretation--How passive and unresisting were they, when
+oppressed!--They were afflicted, and they complained not; when
+through false accusations, and mistaken cruelty they were
+plundered, and condemned to die, they went like a Iamb to the
+slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so they
+opened not their mouth. They were taken from the dungeon to be
+slain, they were wantonly massacred, and every man was their foe;
+and the cause of the sufferers who condescended to examine; for
+by the thoughtless crimes of my people, they suffered. Yet
+notwithstanding their graves were appointed with the wicked; yet
+they were rich in their deaths. This did God grant them, because
+they had not done iniquity.
+
+Rabbi Isaac, author of the famous Munimen Fidei#, renders the
+original--"on account of impieties was he given to his sepulchre,
+and on account of his riches was his death, because he did no
+violence, neither was deceit in his mouth"--which he interprets
+thus:--We (the former speakers) raised against them false
+accusations of impiety, on account of their religion, and refusing to
+worship our idols; but their riches was the real cause why we put
+them to death. Nevertheless, they used no violence in opposition
+to our oppressions, neither would they forsake their religion, and
+deceitfully assent to ours in hypocrisy.*
+
+"Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him: he hath put him to grief.
+When thou shalt make his soul a propitiation for sin, he shall see
+his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord
+shall prosper in his hands." [This proves that this prophecy cannot
+refer to any individual, but may refer to the Jewish nation, because
+one individual cannot be put to death, and yet "see his seed," and
+"prolong his days."] "After [or on account of] the travail of his
+soul, seeing he shall be satisfied, by his knowledge shall
+my righteous servant make many righteous [or show them
+righteousness,] and he shall bear the burden of their iniquities."
+
+That is--After and for their sufferings, they shall be abundantly
+rewarded; by their superior knowledge of religious truth, shall they
+make many wise, "for many nations shall go, and say, come ye,
+and let us ascend to the mount of the Lord, and to the house of the
+God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways"--Mic. iv. ch.
+
+"Wherefore, I will give him a portion with the great, and with the
+mighty shall he divide the spoil, because he poured out his life
+unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors, and himself
+bear the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors."
+
+Interpretation--Therefore, their reward shall be exceeding great,
+because for the sake of their duty, they willingly exposed
+themselves to death, and were accounted as transgressors, and bore
+the cruel afflictions inflicted by many, and made intercession for
+them who afflicted them.
+
+Such is the explication given by the Jews of this prophecy. I have
+made no important alterations of the common English translation;
+except, that in some passages, I have made it more conformable to
+the original by substituting a verb in the past tense, instead of
+leaving it in the future, as in the English version. Those translators
+have taken certain liberties in this respect to make this prophecy
+(and several others) more accordant to their own views, which are
+not supported by the Hebrew: many of these expressions, however,
+we have left unaltered, as they are quite harmless. But if any of our
+readers desire further information with regard to the propriety of
+this interpretation of this prophecy of Isaiah, we refer him to the
+"Munimen Fidei," contained in Wagenseil's "Tela Ignea," where
+he will find it amply illustrated, and defended. Here, in this work,
+we shall content ourselves with proving, that this prophecy can by
+no means relate to Jesus, from these circumstances:--1. Jesus
+certainly was not exalted and magnified, and made very great upon
+earth, which, as has been shown, was to be the scene of the
+exaltation of the Old Testament Messiah; but was put to a cruel
+and disgraceful death. 2. He was not oppressed by pecuniary
+exactions, as is said of the subject of this prophecy. 3. He was
+never taken from prison to die, for he was never in one. 4. He did
+not "see his seed," nor "prolong his days," since he died childless;
+and we will not permit the word "seed" to be spiritualized on this
+occasion, for the word "seed" in the Old Testament, means
+nothing else, than literally "children," which it is not pretended he
+ever had; and how could he "prolong his days," when he was cut
+off in his 33d year. 5. Besides, who were "the strong and mighty,"
+with whom he divided the spoil? Were they the twelve fishermen
+of Galilee? and what was the spoil divided? In a word, the literal
+application of this prophecy to Jesus is now given up by the most
+learned Hebrew scholars, who allow, that the literal sense of the
+original can never be understood of him. [See Priestley's notes on
+the scriptures, in loco; and the context before and after.]
+
+We have now come to the last subject proposed to be considered in
+this chapter, viz., Daniel's prophecy of the seventy weeks, the
+"instar omnium" of the prophetical proofs of Christianity, and
+which was for ages held up to the view of "the unbelieving race,"
+as cutting off beyond doubt their "hope of Israel" from ever
+appearing, since the time so distinctly foretold had elapsed. But
+such is the instability of human opinions, that it was at length
+suspected, and at last ascertained-by the learned, that "the stubborn
+Israelites" had some reason for denying that prophecy, any voice in
+the affair.
+
+During many years, one learned man after another, had amused
+himself with destroying the system of his predecessor, and
+replacing it with his own, not a whit better, but tending to the same
+end, viz., to make the prophecy of the seventy weeks tally and fit
+with the event of the crucifixion. At length Marsham, a learned
+Englishman, declared, and demonstrated, that his predecessors, in
+this enquiry, had been grossly mistaken, for that the prophecy in
+all its parts was totally irrelevant and irreconcileable with the time
+of the crucifixion. The appearance of his book put all the
+theologians of that age in an uproar! But many learned Christians
+in the last, and present, century, now freely acknowledge, that
+Daniel is not on their side, but as much a Jew as his brethren.
+
+This celebrated prophecy, literally translated from the original, is
+as follows:--Dan. ix. 24, &c.--"Seventy weeks are determined
+upon thy people, and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression,
+and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity,
+and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal the vision and
+prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy, [i. e., the sanctum
+sanctorum, or Holy of Holies.] Know, therefore, and understand,
+that from the going forth of the word to restore and build
+Jerusalem, unto the anointed prince, shall be seven weeks; and (in)
+threescore and two weeks, the street shall be built again, and the
+wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks
+shall the anointed (one) be cut off, and be without a successor;
+(Heb. "and not, or none to him") and the city and the sanctuary
+shall be destroyed# by the people of the prince that shall come;
+and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the
+war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant
+with many for one week, and half the week (i. e., in the midst of
+the week) he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and
+for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate,
+even until the consummation and that (is) determined, be poured
+upon the desolate?"
+
+This is the prophecy on which such stress has been laid, as
+pointing out the precise time of the coming of the Messiah; and I
+shall fully demonstrate that it hath not the most distant reference to
+that event. And for the better explanation of the prophecy, it is
+proper that we attend a little to the context.
+
+*In the preceding chapter of Daniel it is said, that when Daniel was
+informed of the vision of the two thousand and three hundred days,
+he sought for the meaning; but not rightly understanding it, he
+judged, that that great number was a contradiction to the word of
+God as delivered by Jeremiah, concerning the redemption at the
+end of seventy years; (Jer. xxv. 11, 12, and ch. xxix. 10) and from
+thence he concluded that the captivity was prolonged on account of
+the sins of the nation. This doubt arose from his not understanding
+the prophecy, and, therefore, the angel said unto him,--"I am now
+come forth to give thee skill and understanding." And he proceeds
+to inform him, that as soon as he began to pray, and God saw, his
+perplexity, the royal command went forth from him, that he should
+come to Daniel to make him understand the truth of those matters,
+that were to come to pass in future time. And as the angel Gabriel
+had explained to him the vision from whence his doubt arose, it
+was incumbent on him to perfect the explanation; and that is what
+is meant by the expression "to show," i. e., as I began the
+explanation, the commandment was, that I should finish it.
+
+Before I proceed to give the Jewish explanation of the prophecy, it
+is proper to show in what manner the answer of the angel in it,
+agreed to Daniel's question, and also the reason of his using the
+term weeks, and not years, or times, as in the other visions.
+
+It appears, that Daniel, from the words of Jeremiah, perceived that
+God. would visit all the nations, and punish them for their sins, as
+may be observed from the following words:--"Thus saith the
+Lord God of Israel unto me, Take the wine cup of this fury at my
+hand, and cause all the nations to whom I send thee, to drink it"--
+Jer, xxv. 15. He then mentions first Jerusalem, afterwards the king
+of Egypt, Tyre, Sidon, and all the Isles beyond the sea, and many
+others; and at last the king of Sheshak, or Babylon.
+
+He also further perceived, that the visitation of each nation would
+be at the end of seventy years, as Isaiah observes of Tyre: "And it
+shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy
+years." Isaiah xxiii. 15, the same of Babylon: "And it shall come to
+pass, when seventy years are accomplished, I will punish the King
+of Babylon." Jer. xxv. 12, And as it is observed in the next verse:
+"All that is written in this book which Jeremiah hath prophecied,
+against all the nations." From whence it appears, that as the
+visitation of Babylon was to be seventy years, so was that of the
+other nations to be; for so had the wisdom of God decreed to wait
+according to this number. For which reason, and because the
+prophets say that the restoration of Israel is to be contemporaneous
+with the destruction of their enemies, Daniel appears to have.
+judged, that the sins of his nation would be done away by the
+seventy years of the captivity of Babylon; and, therefore, the angel
+informed him of his error, by telling him, that this was not to be the
+case with his nation, for that their wickedness was come up before
+God, and their sin was very grievous; and that, therefore, their sins
+would not be atoned for by seventy years, as in the case of the rest
+of the nations, to whom he allowed seventy years to see if they
+would repent; and, if not, then he would punish them. But as for
+Israel, he would not only wait seventy years, but seven times
+seventy years; (for thus it is literally, in the Hebrew, the words
+translated "seventy weeks," are, literally, "seventy sevens") after
+which, if they had not repented and reformed, their kingdom
+should be cut off, and they return into captivity, to finish an
+atonement for their transgressions. Hence the cause of Daniel's
+question is evident; and the propriety of the angel's answer to the
+question, is manifest; as also the expression of weeks or sevens.
+
+These seventy weeks are, without doubt, four hundred and ninety
+years, the time elapsed from the destruction of the first temple, till
+the destruction of the second.
+
+This, it seems, was the more necessary for the angel to inform him
+of; because Daniel judged, that after their return from Babylon, by
+means of that visitation only, all their sins would be done away.
+For which reason the angel showed him that it would not be so,
+[for the return from Babylon was not a perfect redemption,
+because there was not a general collection of all that were in
+captivity, even all the tribes, save only a few of Judah and
+Benjamin, and those not the most respectable. And after their
+return, they were not free, but were under the dominion of the
+Persians, Greeks and Romans. And although they, at one time,
+threw off their yoke, and had kings of the Asmonean and Herodean
+families, yet was there no king among them of the seed of David,
+neither had they the Shechinah, nor the Urim and Thummim, all
+which is a manifestation that it was not a perfect redemption, but
+only a visitation, with which God was pleased to visit them; so that
+they were allowed to build a temple to the Lord, by the permission
+of Cyrus, and according to the measure given by him. This was
+that they might be the better enabled to do the works of repentance
+during the time allowed, and thus "make atonement, and thus
+finish the transgression, and make an end of sins, and make
+reconciliation for iniquity;" and thus, at the end of the time
+assigned, even "seventy weeks," they would bring in "everlasting
+righteousness," i.e., universal virtue and felicity, throughout the
+world, when the Eternal should be known, worshipped, and obeyed
+by all mankind. But if they did not repent, and amend, if they did
+evil, as their fathers, then their kingdom was to be cut off at the
+expiration of the seventy weeks; which, in fact, took place.]
+
+After the angel had thus expressed himself in general terms, he
+descended to particulars; and laid down three propositions (if I
+may be allowed the term,) or periods.
+
+First. "Know, therefore, and understand, (that) from the going
+forth of the word to restore and build Jerusalem, unto the anointed
+prince, (shall be) seven weeks."
+
+That is, it shall be seven weeks or forty nine years from the
+destruction of the first temple, to Cyrus, "the anointed prince,"
+who shall give leave to build the second. [With regard to the
+import of the phrase "the going forth of the word," I refer the
+reader to Levi's Letters to Priestley, and shall here only concern
+myself with settling the meaning of the expression of "the
+anointed prince."] Many Christians have objected to the term
+Messiah, or anointed, being applied, as in our interpretation to
+Cyrus a heathen prince; and they apply it themselves to Jesus of
+Nazareth. But that the term, or appellation, Messiah, can be applied
+to Cyrus, is evident; since we find it so applied by God himself in
+the xlv. ch. of Isaiah. "Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to
+Cyrus. 2. It is a singular fact, that the appellation "Messiah" is
+never applied to the expected deliverer of the Israelites in the
+whole bible, except, perhaps, in ii. Psalm. It is an appellation
+indifferently applied to kings, and priests, and prophets; to all who
+were anointed, as an induction into their office, and has nothing in
+it peculiar and exclusive; but the application of it to the expected
+deliverer of Israel, originated in and from the Targums. 3. In order
+to make this prophecy, and this phrase, "Messiah the prince," or
+"the anointed prince," apply to Jesus of Nazareth, Christians
+connect, and join together, this first member of the prophecy with
+the second, in open defiance of the original Hebrew; and after all,
+they can reap no benefit from this manoeuvre; for the term
+"Messiah Nagid," or "the anointed prince," can never apply to
+Jesus, in this place, at any rate; because he certainly was no prince
+or "Nagid," a word which in the Hebrew bible always, without
+exception, denotes a prince, or ruler, one invested with temporal
+authority, or supreme command. Now, as it is allowed on all
+hands, that Jesus had no such temporal power, as a prince, or ruler;
+it, consequently, follows, that he can by no means be the
+"anointed prince" mentioned in the prophecy.
+
+Second Period. "And (in) threescore and two weeks, the street
+shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times,"
+
+Here the angel gave him to understand, that after the seven weeks
+before mentioned, there would come a time in which the building
+would be hindered, (and which was on account of the letter written
+by Rheum and Shimshai to Artaxerxes, who, in consequence
+thereof, made the building to cease-See Ezra and Nehemiah) till
+the second year of Darius, who gave leave to finish the building:
+which continued till the destruction by the Romans, sixty-two
+weeks, beside the last week, at the beginning of which, the Romans
+came, and warred against them, and at length entirely destroyed the
+cities of Judah, Jerusalem, and the temple. For, from the time that
+Cyrus first gave leave to build the temple, till its completion, was
+twenty-one years; and its duration, four hundred and twenty; in the
+whole, sixty-three weeks, or four hundred and forty one years. But
+the angel made his division at sixty-two weeks, as he afterwards
+described what was to come to pass in the last week (and with
+reason, for the horrible Jewish war lasted seven years!) And by the
+words, "in troublous times," he informed Daniel, that during the
+building of the temple, they would have continual trouble and
+alarms from their enemies, as is mentioned in Ezra and Nehemiah,
+where we find, that while some worked, the others held the shield
+and spear. And even after finishing it, they were almost continually
+in trouble, and persecuted, as is evident from the books of
+Maccabees, and from Josephus.
+
+Third Period. "And after threescore and two weeks shall the
+anointed be cut off, and have no successor--[Heb. "and not, or,
+none, to him"]--and the city and the sanctuary shall be destroyed
+by the people of the prince that shall come; and the end thereof
+shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are
+determined."
+
+That is, and after that period, shall the High Priest (or "the
+anointed one") be cut off--[The High Priest is called "Messiah,"
+witness Lev. iv. 3--"If the Messiah Priest, (or anointed priest)
+doth sin," &c.]--and have no successor; and the city and the
+temple shall be destroyed by Titus and the Romans, and until the
+end of the war, your country shall be swept with the besom of
+destruction.
+
+The angel finishes the prophecy with these words:--"And he (the
+prince that shall come) shall strengthen the covenant with many,
+for one week. And in the midst of the week (i. e., the seventieth
+and last week,) he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to
+cease."
+
+This prediction was fully accomplished; for 1. Titus, "the prince
+that should come," was continually offering peace to the Jews, and
+tried to "strengthen the covenant"--i. e., their old treaties made
+with the Romans, and in fact did bring over many. 2. On account
+of the distress of the siege, the daily sacrifice did in fact cease to be
+offered in the temple some time before its destruction; and the
+angel further observes, that all this was to come upon them for
+their sins, "for the overspreading of abominations, it should be
+made desolate."
+
+This is what appears to be a plain and fair explication of this
+prophecy; but since Christians, seeing mention made in it of a
+Messiah to be cut off, have eagerly endeavoured to press it into
+their service, it remains for me to show, that it is impossible to
+make this prophecy refer to "the cutting off" of Jesus.
+
+The difficulty that learned Christians have met with, in their
+attempts to do this, will be easily conceived by any person, when
+he knows, that more than a dozen different hypotheses have been
+framed by them for that purpose; but that they have lost their
+labour, will be obvious from this single observation, that "the
+anointed one, or Messiah," who, the prophet says, was to be "cut
+off," was to be cut off "AFTER the threescore and two weeks," i.
+e., at the destruction of Jerusalem, or within the seven years
+preceding that event! Now, we know from the Evangelists, and;
+from profane history, that Jesus was crucified more than forty
+years before the destruction of Jerusalem. In addition to this,
+nothing need be said, for this circumstance lays flat their
+interpretation at one stroke.
+
+Those who desire to see a more elaborate discussion of this
+prophecy, and an ample defence of this interpretation, are referred
+to "Levi's Letters, to Priestly;" and those who are desirous of
+seeing an account of the various, contradictory, perplexed and
+multitudinous contrivances, by which it has been endeavoured to
+apply this prophecy to Jesus, are referred to Prideaux, Michaelis,
+and Blayney.
+
+We have now gone through an examination of the evidence
+adduced from the prophets of the Old Testament, to prove that
+Jesus is the Messiah of the Old Testament; and those of our readers
+who love truth, are, we trust, now made sensible that the religion
+of the New Testament, if built upon such proofs as these, is,
+evidently, founded on--a mistake.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+STATEMENT OF ARGUMENTS WHICH PROVE THAT
+JESUS WAS NOT THE MESSIAH OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.
+
+Most of our readers have, no doubt, heard from the pulpit, many
+exclamations and declamations against the "blindness of the Jews,"
+in not recognizing their Messiah in Jesus of Nazareth. The reasons
+of this "blindness" are made, I think, by this time pretty
+intelligible.
+
+Nevertheless, for the further satisfaction of the reader, I will here
+set down the principal reasons given by Rabbi Isaac, in his
+"Munimen Fidei," which cause the Jews to deny the Messiahship
+of Jesus.
+
+"At a certain time, (says he,) a certain learned man of the wise men
+of the Christians said unto me:--'Wherefore are you Jews
+unwilling to believe Jesus of Nazareth to be the Messiah, when yet
+your veritable prophets testified of him, whose words you profess
+to have faith in.'
+
+"I gave him this answer. 'How, I require, could we believe him to
+be the Messiah, when you can produce no genuine proof from the
+prophets in his favour, since all those things adduced by the
+evangelists from them, to prove Jesus the Messiah, are nothing to
+the purpose? And we have many and evident reasons to prove that
+he was not the Messiah. And of these, I will bring forward a few,
+arising, 1, From his genealogy. 2. From his works. 3. From the time
+of his appearing. 4. From the prophecies of the things to take place
+in the time of the Messiah not having seen fulfilled in his age. And
+in these things are contained the genuine marks characteristic of
+our Messiah.'
+
+"1. As to what concerns his genealogy; it does not prove this
+necessary thing, that Jesus was the son of David, because he was
+not begotten by Joseph, as the Gospel of Matthew testifies; for in
+the first chapter of it, it is written, that Jesus was born of Mary
+when she was yet a virgin, and had not been known by Joseph;
+which things being so, the genealogy of Joseph has nothing to do
+with Jesus. The descent and origin of Mary, is still less known, but
+it seems from Luke's calling Elizabeth, who was of Levi, her
+cousin, that Mary was of the tribe of Levi, and not of Judah, and,
+consequently, not of David; and, if she were, still Jesus is not the
+more the son of David; descents being reckoned from the males
+only. Neither is the genealogy of Joseph rightly deduced from
+David, but labours under great difficulties. Matthew, and Luke
+also, not only disagree, but irreconcilably and flatly contradict
+each other, in their genealogies of Joseph. Now, it cannot be that
+the testimony of two witnesses, who directly contradict each other
+in the matter to be proved by them, can be received as true. But the
+prophets have directed us to expect no Messiah but one born of the
+seed of David.
+
+"2. As to the works of Jesus, we object to what he said concerning
+himself:--'Do not consider me as come to establish peace on
+earth, for I have come to send a sword, and to separate the son
+from the father, and the daughter from her mother, and the
+daughter-in-law from her mother-in-law,' which words are written
+in Mat. ch. x. But we find the prophecies concerning the Messiah
+to attribute to him very different works from these; nay, the very
+opposite. For, whereas Jesus testifies concerning himself, that he
+did not come to establish peace in the earth, but 'division,' 'fire'
+and 'sword,' Zechariah says, concerning the expected Messiah, ch.
+ix.:--'He shall speak peace to the nations.' Jesus says he came to
+send 'fire and sword' upon the earth, but Micah says, ch. ii., that in
+the times of the true Messiah they shall beat their swords into
+ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks, nation shall not
+lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.'
+Jesus says that he came 'to put division between the father and the
+son,' &c. But in the time of the true Messiah, Elias, the prophet,
+shall come, of whom Malachi prophecied 'that he shall convert the
+heart of the fathers unto the children, and the heart of the children
+to the fathers.' Jesus says 'that he came to serve others, not to be
+served by them' - Mat. xx. 29. But of the true Messiah it is said,
+Psalm lxxii.:--'All kings shall bow themselves before him, all
+nations shall serve him.' The same also is said by Zechariah, ch. ix.:--
+'His dominion shall be, from one sea to the other, and from the
+river unto the ends of the earth;' and so Dan., ch. vii.:--'All
+dominions shall serve and obey him.'
+
+"3. As to the time, we object to the Christians, that Jesus did not
+come at the time designated by the prophets; for the prophets
+testify, that the coming of the Messiah should be 'in the end of
+days' or, in the latter days, (which, surely, have not yet arrived) as
+it is in Isaiah ch. ii.:--'It shall come to pass in the latter days, that
+the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of
+the mountains, and all nations shall flow unto it;' and it
+immediately follows, concerning the king Messiah, 'that he shall
+judge among the nations, and rebuke many peoples, and they shall
+beat their words into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning
+hooks.' See also Hosea, ch. iii, and also Dan., ch. ii., where it is
+written:--'God hath made known unto king Nebuchadnezzar
+what shall come to pass in the latter days,' (or, in the end of days.)
+And this pertains to what follows, viz., to this:--'In the days of
+those kings, (i. e., of the kingdoms that arose out of the ruins of the
+Roman Empire) the God of heaven will raise up a kingdom, which
+shall never be destroyed.' Thus you see, that the prophets
+predicted, that the kingdom of the Messiah should be after the
+destruction of the Roman Empire, not while it was in its vigour;
+when Jesus came; in 'the latter days,' and not before.*
+
+"4. Besides all these difficulties, neither were the promises made
+to us by the prophets, concerning the things to come to pass at the
+coming of the Messiah, fulfilled in the time of Jesus. For examples,
+take the following:--'1. In the time of the king Messiah, there was
+to be one kingdom only, and one only king upon earth, viz., the
+king Messiah--see Daniel, ch. ii.; but behold, we see with our
+eyes, many independent kingdoms, distinct, and distinguished by
+different laws and customs, religious and political, which things
+being so, it follows, that the Messiah is not yet come.
+
+"2. In the time of the king Messiah, there was to be only one
+religion and one law throughout the world; for, it is written in
+Isaiah, ch. lii. and lxvi., that all nations shall come at stated times
+to worship the Eternal at Jerusalem. See also Zechariah, ch. xiv.
+and ch. viii., and indeed throughout the writings of the prophets.
+
+"3. In the time of the king Messiah, idols were to be cut off, and
+utterly to perish from the earth; as it is said in Zechariah, ch. xiii.,
+and so in Isaiah, ch. ii., it is written, 'And the glory of idols shall
+utterly pass away;' and so in Zephaniah, ch. ii., 'The Lord shall be
+terrible among them, when he shall make lean (i. e., bring to
+nothing) all the gods of the earth; and all the countries of the
+nations shall bow themselves to Him, each out of his place.'
+
+"4. In the times of the Messiah, there shall obtain no more sins and
+crimes in the earth, especially among the children of Israel, as is
+affirmed in Deut. xxx., Zephaniah, ch. iii and in Jeremiah, ch. iii.
+And l., and so in Ezekiel, ch. xxxvi. and xxxvii.
+
+"5. In the times of the Messiah, there shall be peace between man
+and beast, and between the tiger and the tame beast; and the little
+child shall stroke, with impunity, the variegated skin of the serpent,
+and,--as one of our own poets has beautifully said,--'and with
+his forked tongue shall innocently play.' See in Isaiah, ch. xi. and
+lxv., the original from whence he derived his beautiful poem.
+
+"6. In the time of the king Messiah, there are to be no calamities,
+no afflictions, no lamentations throughout the world. But the
+inhabitants thereof are to lead joyful lives in gratitude to the good
+God, and in the enjoyment of his bounties. See Isaiah lxv.
+
+"Lastly. In the time of the king Messiah, the glory of God was
+again to return to Israel, and the spirit of the most High God was to
+be liberally poured out upon them, and they were to be endowed
+with the spirit of prophecy, and with wisdom, and knowledge, and
+understanding, and virtue; and God will no more hide his face from
+them; but will bless them, and give them a ready heart and a
+willing mind to obey his laws, and enjoy the felicities consequent
+thereupon. And the Shechinah shall inhabit the temple for ever,
+and the glory of God shall never depart from Israel; but they shall
+walk amid the splendours of the glory of the Eternal, and all the
+earth shall resound with his praise, as is written in Ezekiel, ch.
+xxxvii., and xxxix., and xliii.; and in Joel, ch. ii., and in Zech., ch.
+ii., and Isaiah, ch. xi., and throughout the latter part of his
+prophecies, and in Jer. xxxi."
+
+And now, reader, let me ask you this question, has any one of the
+foregoing prophecies been yet fulfilled, either in the days of Jesus,
+or ever since? Thou canst not say it! Now, then, hear the
+conclusion, which, in sincerity, and with the hand upon the heart, I
+am compelled to draw from these precedents. "Since these
+distinctive characteristics predicted by the Hebrew prophets, as to
+be found in their Messiah, were certainly, and evidently, never
+found in Jesus; and since these conditions and circumstances, and
+many others beside, which, to avoid prolixity, have been omitted,
+most assuredly did not take place in the time of Jesus, nor ever
+since, and since they were according to those prophets, certainly to
+be expected in the time of their Messiah; therefore, from all this, it
+seems to be demonstrable (allowing the prophets to be true,) that
+Jesus of Nazareth was not this true Messiah." And I would ask the
+candid Christian, in which link of this chain of proofs he can find a
+flaw? And I would ask him, too, as a moral and honest man,
+whether any Jew, in his right mind, could, without setting at
+nought what he conceived to be the word of God, receive him as
+the Messiah? The honest and upright answer, I believe, will be,
+that he could net. And, accordingly, it is very well known, that the
+Jewish nation have never done so. And this their obstinacy, as it is
+called, will not by this time, I think, appear unreasonable to any
+sensible man; and he will now be able to appreciate the justice of
+that idle cant about "the carnal Jews," and their "worldly-minded"
+expectation of a temporal prince, as their Messiah. Certainly, the
+Jews had very good reason, from their prophecies, to expect no
+Messiah but a Messiah who should sit on the throne of David, and
+confer liberty and happiness upon them, and spread peace and
+happiness throughout the earth, and communicate the knowledge
+of God, and virtue, and the love of their fellow-men to every
+people. Whether this (carnal or not,) would have been better than a
+spiritual kingdom, and a throne in heaven; together with the ample
+list of councils, dogmas, excommunications, proscriptions,
+theological quarrels, and frauds, and an endless detail of blood and
+murder, I leave to the judgment of those capable of deciding for
+themselves.
+
+Neither, in fact, is it true, that the Jews were so "carnally minded"
+as to refuse Jesus as their Messiah, because he was poor and in a
+low estate. On the contrary, did they not ask him not to evade, but
+to speak plainly? "How long (said they) dost thou mean to keep us
+in suspense? If thou be the Messiah, tell us plainly." These very
+men were willing to hazard, in his favour, their fortunes, their
+families, and their lives, in his cause, against the whole power of
+the Roman empire. Nay, so urgent were they, that they were going
+to make him their king by force, and he concealed himself from the
+honour. The evasions he used to avoid their pressing questions
+upon the subject, are known to all who have read the evangelists;
+and so timed was he in acknowledging himself as the Messiah, that
+he did not do so, till Simon Peter told him that he was. And can
+any candid man, after all this, wonder at, or condemn, "the
+blindness," as it is called, of the Jews? or can he refrain from
+smiling at the frothy declamations in which divines load that nation
+with so much unmerited reproach? These Jews had just reason, we
+think, to doubt his Messiahship; and they had a right to satisfactory
+and unambiguous proof of his being so: even the proofs laid down,
+by their prophets. And this, it must be now acknowledged, they
+wanted; and, certainly, the wise and learned of the Jewish nation,
+might be allowed to have understood their sacred books upon the
+subject, as well, at least, if not better, than the illiterate apostles,
+who manifestly put new interpretations upon them, and those,
+confessedly, not agreeable to the obvious and literal meaning of
+those books; but contrary to the sense of the Jewish nation. And
+for this scepticism they might plead the example of the apostles
+themselves, who, at first, like other unbelieving Jews, expected a
+temporal prince; and did disbelieve Jesus to be the Messiah on
+account of his death, notwithstanding his miracles. And they
+continued in these thoughts, till it seems they come to understand
+the spiritual sense of the scriptures; which spiritual sense, it is said,
+they obtained by "the traditionary rules of interpretation in use
+among the Jews." Yet, it is rather inconsistent and singular, that
+they should place so much dependence upon these traditionary
+rules, and yet pay so little regard to the traditionary explication of
+the scriptures, with respect to the temporal kingdom of the
+Messiah--inconsistent and singular is it, that they should "cry
+aloud" for that which would support their peculiar views, but reject
+it when militating against these views.*
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+ON THE CHARACTER Of JESUS OF NAZARETH AND THE
+WEIGHT TO BE ALLOWED TO THE ARGUMENT Of
+MARTYRDOM AS A TEST OF TRUTH IN THIS QUESTION.
+
+I am now about to consider a subject, to which, notwithstanding
+the harsh ness of my language in some of the preceding chapters, I
+approach with feelings of great respect. Far be it from me to
+reproach the meek, the compassionate, the amiable Jesus; or to
+attribute to him, the mischiefs occasioned by his followers*. No, I
+look upon his character with the respect which every man should
+pay to purity of morals: though mingled with something like the
+sentiments which we naturally feel for the mistaken enthusiast.
+Jesus of Nazareth appears to have been a man of irreproachable
+purity, of great piety, and of great mildness of disposition. Though
+the world has never beheld a character exactly parallel with his, yet
+it has seen many, greatly similar. Contemplative, and melancholy,
+it is said of him by his followers, "he was often seen to weep, but
+never to laugh." He retired to solitary places, and there prayed: he
+went into the wilderness to sustain and to vanquish the assaults of
+the devil: In a word, he appears by such means to have persuaded
+himself, as hundreds have done since, that he was the chosen
+servant of God, raised up to preach righteousness to the hypocrites,
+and sinners of his day. It is remarkable, that he never claimed to be
+the Messiah, till encouraged to assume that character by Peter's
+declaration. And it is observable, that in assuming that name, he
+could not assume the characteristics of the august personage to
+whom it belongs; but infused into the character all that softness,
+meekness, humility, and passive fortitude, which were so
+eminently his own. The natural disposition, and character of Jesus,
+could not permit him to attempt the character of a princely
+Messiah, a mighty monarch, the saviour of an oppressed people,
+and the benefactor of the human race. He could not do this, but he
+could act as much of the character as was consistent with his own.
+He could not indeed bring himself to attempt to be the saviour of
+his countrymen from the Romans, their fleshly foes; but he
+undertook to save them from the tyranny of their spiritual enemies.
+He could not undertake to set up his kingdom upon earth; but he
+told them that he had a kingdom in another world. He could not
+pretend to give unto his followers the splendid rewards of an
+earthly monarch: but he promised them instead thereof,
+forgiveness of sins, and spiritual remuneration.
+
+In a word, he was not a king fit for the, then, 'carnal Jews,' but he
+was, from his mildness, and compassionate temper, worthy of their
+esteem, at least, of their forbearance. The only actions of his life
+which betray any marks of character deserving of serious
+reprehension, are his treatment of the woman taken in adultery;
+and his application of the prophecy of Malachi concerning Elias, to
+John the Baptist.
+
+As to his conduct to the woman, it was the conduct of a mild, and
+merciful man, but not that of one who declared, "that he came to
+fulfil the law." For God commanded concerning such, "that they
+should surely be put to death." Now though Jesus was not her
+judge, and had no right to pronounce her sentence; yet the
+contrivance by which he deterred the witness from testifying
+against her, was a contrivence directly calculated totally to
+frustrate the ends of justice; and which, if acted upon at this day, in
+Christian countries, would infallibly prevent the execution of the
+criminal law: For what testimony would be sufficient to prove a
+fact, if the witnesses were required to be "without sin?" Instead,
+therefore, of saying unto them, "whosoever of you is without sin,
+let him cast the first stone at her;" he should have said, 'Men! who
+made me a judge, or a ruler over you? carry the accused to the
+proper tribunal.'
+
+As to his conduct about the matter of Elias, it was as follows. It is
+said, in the 17th chapter of Matthew, that at his transfiguration, as
+it is called, Moses, and Elias appeared to his disciples on the
+mount, talking with Jesus. Upon coming down from the mount, the
+disciples asked Jesus, "how say the scribes that Elias must come
+first, (that is, before the Messiah.) Jesus answered, Elias truly
+cometh first, and restoreth all things; but I say unto you, that Elias
+has come already and they have done unto him what they would;"
+meaning John the Baptist, who was beheaded by Herod. (See the
+parallel place in Mark.) And he says concerning John, (Mat. vi.
+14,) "And if ye will receive it, this is Elias which was for to
+come."
+
+Now certainly no one will pretend that John was the Elias
+prophecied of by Malachi, as to come before "the great, and
+terrible day of the Lord," which has not yet taken place. And
+besides, that he was not Elias is testified of, and confirmed by,
+John himself, who in the gospel of John, chapter 1, to the question
+of the Scribes, asking him, "if he was Elias?" answers "I am
+not." It is pretty clear that Jesus was embarrassed by the question
+of the Apostles, "how say the Scribes, that Elias must come first?"
+for his answer is confused; for he allows the truth of the
+observation of the Scribes, and then refers them to John, and
+insinuates that he was "the Elias to come." However, it must be
+acknowledged, that he does it with an air of hesitation, "If you
+will receive it," &c.
+
+But are these all the accusations you have to bring against him?
+may be said by some of my readers. Do you account as nothing,
+his claiming to forgive sins? his speeches wherein ho claims to be
+considered as an object of religious homage, if not to be God
+himself? Do you consider these impieties as nothing? I answer by
+asking--the following questions: What would you think of a man
+who, in our times, should set up those extraordinary claims? and
+who should assert, that "eating his flesh, and drinking his blood"
+were necessary to secure eternal life? Who should say, that "he
+and God were one?" and should affirm (as Jesus does in the last
+chapters of John) that "God was inside of him, and dwelt in him;
+and that "he who had seen him, had seen God?" What should we
+think of this? Should we consider such a man an object of wrath, or
+of pity? Should we not directly, and without hesitation, attribute
+such extravagancies to hallucination of mind? Yes, certainly! and
+therefore the Jews were to blame for crucifying Jesus. If Christians
+had put to death every unfortunate, who after being frenzied by
+religious fasting and contemplation, became wild enough to assert,
+that he was Christ, or God the Father, or the Virgin Mary, or even
+the Holy Trinity, they would have been guilty of more than fifty
+murders; for I have read of at least as many instances of this
+nature; and believe that more than two hundred such might be
+reckoned up from the hospital records of Europe alone. And that
+the founder of the Christian religion was not always in one
+coherent consistent mind, I think will appear plain to every
+intelligent physician who reads his discourses; especially those in
+the gospel of John. They are a mixture of something that looks like
+sublimity, strangely disfigured by wild, and incoherent words. So
+unintelligible indeed, that even the profoundest of Christian
+divines have never been able to fathom all their mysteries. To
+prove that I do not say these things rashly, wickedly, or out of any
+malignity towards the character of Jesus, which I really respect and
+venerate, I will establish my assertions by examples. For
+instance--
+
+--Many instances might be adduced of conduct directly
+subversive of the very design, to promote which, he said that he
+was sent into the world. For example, he said that he came to
+preach glad tidings to the poor, and uninformed; and yet he
+declares to his disciples, that ho spake to this very multitude of
+poor and ignorant people in parables, lest they might understand
+him, and be converted from their sins, and God should heal, or
+pardon them. In the 26th chapter of Matthew, Jesus says to his
+disciples, in the garden at Gethsemane, these strange words, "
+Sleep on now, and take your rest--Arise! let us be going," The
+commentators endeavour to get rid of the strange contradictoriness
+of these words, by turning the command into the future; and
+rendering the Greek word translated "now" thus--"for the rest of
+your time," or "for the future." And that he asked them "whether
+they slept for the future"? which appears to be just as rational as
+to have asked, "how they do to-morrow"?!!
+
+Jo. viii. 51, "Verily, verily.(said Jesus) I say unto you, if a man
+keep my saying, he shall never see death "Reader, what dost thou
+think of this saying? Has believing in the Christian religion, at all
+prevented men from dying as in afore time? And should we be at
+all astonished at what the Jews said to him, when they heard this
+assertion--"Then said the Jews unto him. Now we know that thou
+hast a demon [i. e. art mad.] Abraham is dead, and the Prophets,
+and thou sayest if a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of
+death?" So said the Jews, and if in our times, a man was to make a
+similar assertion, should we not say the same?
+
+Many instances might also be given of strange and inconsequent
+reasoning; but I shall only adduce the following. He reproaches the
+Pharisees, Luke xi. 47, 48, for building and adorning the
+sepulchres of the Prophets, whom their wicked fathers slew; and
+says to them, "Your fathers slew them, and ye build their
+sepulchres," and he adds, "that thus they showed that they
+approved the deeds of their fathers!" Surely this is absurd! Did
+the Athenians by setting up a statue to Socrates after his unjust
+death, show to the world that they "approved" the deed of them
+who slew him? did it not show the direct contrary? and was it not
+intended as a testimony of their regret, and repentance?
+
+Again, "Upon you (says Jesus to the Jews) shall come all the
+righteous blood that has been shed upon the earth, from the blood
+of Abel the righteous, to the blood of Zechariah," &c. Now, herein
+is a marvellous thing! how could a man really sent from God,
+assert to the Jews, that of them should be required the blood of
+Abel, and of all the righteous slain upon the earth? Did the Jews
+kill Abel? or did their fathers kill him? No! he was slain by Cain,
+whose posterity all perished in the deluge; how then could God
+require of the Jews who lived four thousand years after the murder,
+the guilt of it; nay more, "of all the righteous blood that had been
+shed upon the earth," were they guilty of all that too? If such
+assertions, and such reasonings do not prove what I asserted, what
+can?
+
+It is said, that Jesus, by giving himself up to suffer death, proved
+the truth of his mission and doctrines, by his readiness to die for
+them. But this is an argument which will recoil upon those who
+advance it. Are there no instances upon record of mild, zealous,
+and amiable men who preached to the savages of America that
+they ought to worship the Virgin Mary? and did they not
+cheerfully die by the most excruciating torments to prove it? Yes
+certainly! and let any Protestant Christian read the accounts of the
+preaching, sufferings, deaths, aye! and miracles too, of the Roman
+Catholic missionaries in Asia, and America; and then let him
+candidly answer whether he is willing to rest the issue of his
+controversy with the Papists upon the argument of martyrdom? We
+all know the power of enthusiasm upon a susceptible mind; and we
+have read of, and perhaps sees, its effects in producing martyrdoms
+among people of all religions, in all parts of the world. Nay, more,
+such is the power of this principle, that even now, women in India
+burn themselves alive on the funeral piles of their husbands, to
+prove, as they say, their love for them, and their determination to
+accompany them to the other world; when it is well known, that
+they burn themselves from the impulse of vanity, and the fear of
+disgrace, if they should not do so. Nay, more still, so little support
+does martyrdom yield to truth, that there are more martyrdoms in
+honour of the false, ridiculous, and abominable idols of Hindostan,
+than any where else. You may see men hooked through the ribs,
+and supported, and whirled round in the air in honour of their gods,
+clapping their hands, and testifying pleasure, instead of crying out
+with pain. You may see in that country, the misguided enthusiastic
+worshippers of misshapen idols prostrate their bodied before the
+enormous wheels of the car of Seeva, and piously suffering
+themselves to be crushed in pieces by the rolling mass. And any
+man who has been upon the banks of the Ganges, can tell you of
+the Yoguis, and of their self-inflicted torments, compared to which,
+even the cross is almost a bed of roses. Indeed the argument of
+martyrdom will support any religion; and it has, in fact, been
+cheerfully undergone by enthusiasts and zealots of all religions, in
+testimony of the firm belief of the sufferers not only in the
+absurdities of Popery, and Brachinanism, but of every, even
+the most monstrous system that ever disgraced the human
+understanding. There have been martyrs for Atheism itself.
+
+This argument of martyrdom has been more particularly applied to
+the Apostles and first Christians. "How can it be imagined, (say
+Christian Divines,) that simple men like the Apostles could be
+induced to leave their employment, and wander up and down, to
+teach the doctrines, and testify to the facts of the New Testament,
+and expose themselves to persecution, imprisonment, scourging,
+and untimely and violent death: unless they certainly knew, that
+both the doctrines, and the facts were true? Besides, what honours,
+what riches, could they expect to get by supporting false doctrine,
+and false testimony?"
+
+To this argument 1 might reply as in the preceding pages, for I
+would ask, have we not seen simple and honest men quit their
+employments, and wander up and down to preach doctrines which
+they not only had no means of certainly knowing to be true, but
+which they did not even understand? Have we not seen such
+men submit to deprivations of every kind, and exposed to
+imprisonment, and the whipping post? And do we not certainly
+know that some such have cheerfully suffered a most cruel death?
+
+Is it possible that any sensible man, after reading the History of the
+Roman Catholic Missionaries, the Baptists, the Quakers, and the
+Methodists, can be convinced of the certain truth of the Christian
+religion, or seriously endeavour to convince another of it, by such
+an argument as the above?
+
+But, much more than this can be said upon this topic; for it can be
+shown, that the Apostles in preaching Christianity, did not suffer
+near so much as some well meaning enthusiasts in modern times
+have suffered, to propagate religious tenets, notoriously false and
+absurd. And that the Apostles could expect to get neither fame, nor
+honour, nor riches by their preaching is doubtful. This is certain
+that they could not lose much. For they were confessedly men of
+the lowest rank in society, and of great poverty--poor fishermen,
+who could not feel a very great regard for their own dignity, or
+respectability. And it was by no means a small thing for such men
+to be considered as divine Apostles, and "in exchange for
+heavenly things," to have the earthly possessions of their converts
+laid at their feet. Peter left his nets, his boat, and boorish
+companions, and after persuading his disciples to receive his words
+for oracles, go where he would, he found ample hospitality from
+them. This, at least, was an advantageous change, and though they
+did not acquire fame, or respect from the higher ranks of society,
+they were at least had in great respect by their followers. Neither
+George Fox, nor Whitfield, nor Westley were honoured by the
+nobility, or gentry, or scholars of England; nor Ann Lee, by the
+most respectable citizens of the United States. Yet among their
+disciples, the Quakers, the Methodists, and the Shakers they were
+held by the most implicit veneration and can any man believe that
+they did not think themselves thus well payed for the trouble of
+making converts?
+
+It is true that the Apostles did not acquire riches, for they were
+conversant only with the poor. But neither had they any to lose, by
+taking up the profession of Apostles, and Preachers. At least by
+preaching the gospel, they obtained food, and clothing, and
+contributions; as is evident from many places in the Epistles,
+where they write to their converts, "It is written, 'thou shalt not
+muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn;'" and Paul tells them,
+that they must not think from this place, that God takes care for
+oxen, "for, (says he,) it was undoubtedly written for our sakes."
+Thus we see that the gospel was by no means altogether
+unprofitable, and many men daily risk their lives for less gain than
+the Apostles did.
+
+As to the dangers to which it is said they exposed themselves, they
+had none to fear, except in Judea, which they quickly quitted,
+finding the Jews too stubborn, and went to the Greeks. From the
+Greeks, and likewise from the Romans, they had not much to fear,
+who were not very difficult or scrupulous in admitting new gods,
+and new modes of worship. Besides this, the Romans for a great
+while seem to have considered the Christians merely as a Jewish
+sect who differed from the rest of the Jews in matters not worth
+notice; as is to be gathered from Tacitus and Suetonius. And if the
+Apostles did speak against the Pagan gods, it was no more than
+what the Roman poets and philosophers did; and the magistrates
+were not then very severe about it. And it is evident from the Acts
+of the Apostles, that the Roman praetors considered the
+accusations against Paul and his companions, as mere trifles. But
+in Judea, where the danger was evident, it was otherwise. When
+Paul was in peril there, on account of his transgressions against the
+law, after being delivered from the Jews by the Roman garrison at
+Jerusalem, he pleaded before Festus and Agrippa, that he was
+falsely accused by the Jews; and he asserted that he had taught
+nothing against the Law of Moses, and his country, but that he only
+preached about the resurrection of the dead; and that it was for this
+that the Jews persecuted him; and ended by appealing to Caesar.
+When yet he knew that this was not the reason of the hatred of the
+Jew against him; but that it was because he taught that
+circumcision, and the Law of Moses were abolished, and no longer
+binding: which is evident to any one who will read the Acts, and
+the Epistle to the Galatians. So you see by what manoeuvre he got
+out of the difficulty: first, by at least equivocating, and then by
+refusing to be tried by his own countrymen, and appealing to
+Caesar; thus securing himself a safe conduct out of Judea, which
+was too dangerous for him. Among the Gentiles, their doctrine had
+a better chance of success, for they taught them marvellous
+doctrines, such as they had been accustomed to listen to, viz. how
+the Son of God was born of a virgin, and was cruelly put to death;
+and that his Divine Father raised him from the dead. The idea of
+God's having a son of a woman did not shock them, for all their
+demigods they believed had been so begotten; and a great part of
+their poems are filled with the exploits and the sufferings of these
+heroes, who are at length rewarded by being raised from earth to
+heaven, as Jesus is said to have been. These doctrines were not
+disrelished by the common people, but were rejected by the wise
+and learned. Accordingly we see that Paul could make nothing of
+the philosophers of Athens, who derided him, and considered him
+as telling them a story similar to those of their own mythology,
+when he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection. And in
+revenge, we see Paul railing against both the stubborn Jews, and
+the incorrigible philosophers, as being unworthy of knowing "the
+hidden wisdom," which was to the one "a stumbling block," and
+to the other, "foolishness," and which he thought fit only for "the
+babes," and "the devout women," with whom he principally dealt.
+
+That the New Testament inculcates an excellent morality, cannot
+be denied; for its best moral precepts were taken from the Old
+Testament. And if the Apostles had not preached good morals, how
+could they have expected to be considered by the Gentiles
+as messengers from God? For if they had inculcated any
+immoralities, such as rebellion, murder, adultery, robbery, revenge,
+their mission would not only have been disbelieved, but they
+would have undergone capital punishment by the sentence of the
+judge, which it was their business to avoid. Mahomet, throughout
+the Koran, inculcates all the virtues, and pointedly reprobates vice
+of all kinds. His morality is merely the precepts of the Old and
+New Testaments, modified a little, and expressed in Arabic. They
+are good precepts, and always to be listened to with respect,
+wherever, and by whomsoever, inculcated. But surely that will not
+prove Islamism to be from God, nor that Mahomet was his
+prophet!
+
+That the Apostles suffered death on account of their preaching the
+gospel, if allowed to be fact, as said before, proves nothing. Many
+have suffered death for false and absurd doctrines. "But whether
+any of the Apostles, (besides James who was slain by Herod,) died
+a natural, or a violent death, the learned Christians do not certainly
+know. For there is extant no authentic history of the Apostles,
+besides the Acts. There are indeed many fabulous narrations
+published by the Papists, called Martyrologies, stuffed with the
+most extravagant lies, which no learned man now regards; and who
+therefore will credit what such books say of the Apostles? Peter is
+said in them to have been put to death at Rome by Nero,
+nevertheless most of the learned men of the Protestants assert, that
+Peter never was in Rome, and as for Paul, no one certainly knows
+where, when, or how ho finished his days. So that if we were even
+to allow the feeble argument of Martyrdom, all the influence and
+weight given to it, it would not apply to the Apostles, who, we are
+sure, derived some benefit, by preaching the gospel, and are not
+sure that they came to any harm by it.
+
+I will conclude this long chapter, by laying before my reader some
+extracts from the book written by Celsus, a heathen philosopher,
+against Christianity, preserved by Origen in his work against
+Celsus. That the entire work of Celsus is lost, is to be regretted; as
+he appears to have been a man of observation, though too sarcastic
+to please a fair inquirer; and from the picture given by him of the
+first Christians, their maxims, and their modes of teaching, and the
+subjects they chose for converts, it appears, that they were the
+exact prototypes of the Methodists and Shakers of the present day,
+both sects which contain excellent people, with hardly any fault
+but credulity.
+
+"If they (i. e. the teachers of Christianity,) say 'do not examine,'
+and the like: it is however incumbent on them to teach what those
+things are which they assert, and whence they are derived."
+
+"Wisdom in life is a bad thing, but folly is good."
+
+"Why should Jesus, when an infant, be carried into Egypt, lest he
+should be murdered? God should not fear being put to death."
+
+"You say that God was sent to sinners: but why not to those who
+are free from sin? What harm is it not to have sinned?
+
+"You encourage sinners, because you are not able to persuade any
+really good men: therefore you open the doors to the most wicked
+and abandoned."
+
+"Some of them say 'do not examine, but believe, and thy faith
+shall gave thee.'"
+
+"These are our institutions, say they, let not any man of learning
+come here, nor any wise man, nor any man of prudence: for these
+things are reckoned evil by us. But whoever is unlearned, ignorant,
+and silly, let him come without fear! Thus they own that they can
+gain only the foolish, the vulgar, the stupid slaves, women, and
+children."
+
+"At first, when they were but few, they agreed. But when they
+became a multitude, they were rent, again and again, and each will
+have their own factions: for factious spirits they had from the
+beginning."
+
+"All wise men are excluded from the doctrine of their faith; they
+call to it only fools, and men of a servile spirit."
+
+"The preachers of their divine word only attempt to persuade silly,
+mean, senseless persons, slaves, women, and children. What harm
+is there in being well-informed; and both in being, and appearing a
+man of knowledge? What obstacle can this be to the knowledge of
+God? Must it not be an advantage?"
+
+"We see these Itinerants shewing readily their tricks to the vulgar,
+but not approaching the assemblies of wise men, nor daring there
+to show themselves. But wherever they see boys, a crowd of
+slaves, and ignorant men, there they thrust in themselves, and show
+off their doctrine."
+
+"You may see weavers, tailors, and fullers, illiterate and rustic
+men, not daring to utter a word before persons of age, experience,
+and respectability; but when they get hold of boys privately, and
+silly women, they recount wonderful things; that they must not
+mind their fathers, or their tutors, but obey them; as their fathers,
+or guardians are quite ignorant, and in the dark; but themselves
+alone have the true wisdom. And if the children obey them, they
+pronounce them happy, and direct them to leave their fathers, and
+tutors, and go with the women, and their play-fellows, into the
+chambers of the females, or into a tailor's, or fuller's shop, that
+they may learn perfection."
+
+Celsus compares a Christian teacher to a quack--"who promises
+to heal the sick, on condition that they keep from intelligent
+practitioners, lest his ignorance be detected."
+
+"If one sort of them introduces one doctrine, another another, and
+all join in saying, 'Believe if you would be saved, or depart:' what
+are they to do, who desire really to be saved? Are they to
+determine by the throw of a die, where they are to turn themselves,
+or which of these demanders of implicit faith they are to believe."
+
+Omitting what Celsus says reproachfully of the moral characters of
+the Apostles, and the first teachers of Christianity, for which we
+certainly shall not take his word; it is easy to perceive from the
+above quotations, that they had more success among simple, and
+credulous people, than among the intelligent, and well-informed.
+Their introductory lesson to their pupils, was, "Believe, but do not
+examine;" and their succeeding instructions seem to have been a
+continued repetition, and practice of the dogma of implicit faith*.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+MISCELLANEOUS
+
+In Matthew, ch. v. Jesus says, "ye have heard that it was said, that
+shalt love thy neighbour and hate thine enemy.'" But this is no
+where said in the Law, or the Prophets; but, on the contrary, we
+read directly the reverse. For it is written, Ex. xxiii. "If thou find
+the ox of thine enemy or his ass going astray, thou shalt certainly
+bring him back to him." "If thou meet the ass of him that hateth
+thee, lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him,
+thou shalt surely help him." Again, Levit. xix. "Thou shalt not
+hate thy brother in thine heart; rebuke thy neighbour, nor suffer sin
+upon him. Thou shalt not revenge, nor keep anger, (or bear any
+grudge,) against the children of thy people; but thou shalt love thy
+neighbour as thyself; I am the Lord." So also in Prov. xxxiv. "
+When thine enemy falleth, do not triumph, and when he stumbleth,
+let not thine heart exult." So also in ch. xxv. "If thy enemy hunger,
+give him food; if he thirst, give him to drink." These precepts are
+to the purpose, and are practicable; but this command of Jesus, "
+Love your enemies," if by loving he means, "do them good," it is
+commanded in the above passages in the Hebrew Law. But if by "
+love," he means to look upon them with the same affection that we
+feel for those who love us, and with whom we are connected by the
+tenderest ties of mature, and friendship, the command is
+impracticable; and the fulfillment of it contrary to nature, and
+those very instincts given us by our Creator. And therefore,
+whoever thinks he fulfills, really fulfills this command, does in fact
+play the hypocrite unknown to himself; for though we can, and
+ought to do good to our enemy, yet to love him is as unnatural as to
+hate our friends.
+
+In Mark ch. ii. 25, Jesus says to the Pharisees, "Have ye not read
+what David did when he hungered, and those that were with him.
+How that he entered into the house of the Lord, in the time of
+Abiathar the High Priest, and did eat of the shew-bread, &c." See
+the same also in Matthew, ch. xii. 3. Luke vi. 3. Now here is a
+great blunder; for this thing happened in the time of Achimelech,
+not in the time of Abiathar; for so it is written, 1 Sam. xxi. "And
+David came to Nob, to Achimelech the Priest, &c." And in the 22d
+chapter it is said that Abiathar was his son.
+
+In Luke ch. i. 26, The angel Gabriel is said to have come from God
+to Mary, when she was yet a virgin, espoused to Joseph, who was
+of the house of David, and announced to her that she should
+conceive, and bear a son, and should call his name Jesus; that her
+holy offspring should be called the Son of God, and that God
+should give unto him "the throne of David his father, and that he
+should rule the house of Jacob for ever, and that to his kingdom
+there should be no end." Now this story is encumbered with many
+difficulties, which I shall not consider; but confine myself to
+asking wherefore, if these things were true, did not the Mother of
+Jesus? and his brethren, knowing these extraordinary things, obey
+his teachings. For it is certain, that they did not at first believe him,
+but, as appears from the 7th chap. of John, derided him. Besides,
+neither did his mother nor his brethren, when they came to the
+house where he was preaching to simple and credulous men, come
+for the purpose of being edified, but "to lay hold of him," to carry
+him home, for said they he is mad, or "beside himself [Mark iii.
+24] which certainly they would not have dared to do, if this story
+of Luke's were true. For their mother would have taught them of
+his miraculous conception, and extraordinary character. Moreover,
+how was it that God did not give him the throne of David, as was
+promised by the Angel to his Mother? For he did not sit upon the
+throne of David, nor exercise any authority in Israel. Moreover,
+how comes it that David is called the Father of Jesus, since Jesus
+was not the son of Joseph, who, according to the Evangelists drew
+his origin from that king. Finally, the saying "that to his kingdom
+there should be no end," is directly contradicted by Paul in the 1st
+Epis. to the Cor. ch. xv: for he says therein, that "Jesus shall
+render up his kingdom unto the Father, and be himself subject unto
+him." Here you see, that the kingdom of Jesus is to have an end;
+for when he renders up his kingdom to the Father, he certainly
+must divest himself of his authority. How then can it be said, that "
+to his kingdom there shall be no end?
+
+Jesus says, John v. 39, "And the Father himself which hath sent
+me, hath borne witness of me; ye have neither heard his voice at
+any time," &c. But how does this agree with Moses, who says,
+Deut. iv. 33, "Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out
+of the midst of fire, as thou hast heard?"--"And we heard his
+voice out of the midst of the fire; we have seen this day, that God
+doth talk with man, and he liveth." Deut. v. 24.
+
+Luke, ch. 4, 17, "And they gave to Jesus the Book of Isaiah the
+Prophet, and he opened the Book, and found this place, where it
+was written, 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, therefore hath he
+anointed me to preach the Gospel; to the poor hath he sent me, that
+I should bind up the broken in heart, proclaim liberty to the
+captives, and sight to the blind; that I should preach the acceptable
+year of the Lord.' And shutting the Book, he gave it to the
+minister, and afterwards addressed them, saying 'This day is this
+Scripture fulfilled in your ears." Here you see the words which
+gave offence; and by turning to Is. in loco. ch. lxi. you may see the
+reason why the inhabitants of Nazareth arose up in wrath against
+him. For these words alledged in Luke, are somewhat perverted
+from the original in Isaiah; for these words, "and sight to the
+blind," are not in Isaiah, but are inserted in Luke for purposes very
+obvious. And 2. he neglects the words following, "and the day of
+vengeance of our God, and of consolation to all who mourn. To
+give consolation to the mourners of Zion; to give them beauty
+instead of ashes, and the oil of joy instead of grief; a garment of
+praise instead of a broken heart," &c. to the end of the chapter.
+From this it is very clear, that this prophecy has no reference to
+Jesus: but Isaiah speaks these things of himself; and the words "
+the Lord hath anointed me," signify, "God hath chosen,
+established me to declare"--what follows. This exposition of
+anointing is confirmed from these passages;--1 Kings, xix ch.
+
+"Anoint a prophet in thy stead," where the sense is, "constitute a
+prophet in thy place." Again, "touch not mine anointed ones, and
+do my prophets no harm," i. e. "Touch not my chosen servants";
+and so in several other places. The meaning, therefore, of Isaiah is,
+that God had appointed, and constituted him a prophet to announce
+these consolations to the Israelites, who were to be in captivity, in
+order that they should not dispair of liberation; and that they
+should have hope, when they read those comfortable words spoken
+by the mouth of Isaiah, at the command of God. For he calls the
+subjects of his message "the broken in heart," "the captives," "
+the mourners of Zion," &c. all which terms are applicable only to
+the Israelites. That this is the true interpretation, will be made
+further evident to any impartial person, by reading the context
+preceding, and following.
+
+Jo. ch. ii. v. 18. "The Jews said to Jesus, what sign showest thou to
+us, that thou doest these things? Jesus answered and said unto
+them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. The
+Jews answered, saying, forty and six years was this temple in
+building, and wilt thou build it in three days?" The Jews could
+never have spoken these words, here related; for the temple then
+standing was built by Herod, who reigned but thirty-seven years,
+and built it in eight years. This, therefore, must be a blunder of the
+Evangelist's.
+
+Jo. xiii. v. 21. Jesus says to his Disciples, "a new commandment I
+give unto you, that ye love one another." This is not true, for the
+love of man towards his neighbour, was not a new precept, but at
+least as ancient as Moses, who gives it, Levit. xix. as the command
+of God, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."
+
+Acts vii. v. 4. "When he (Abraham) went out of the land of the
+Chaldees, he dwelt in Charran; from thence after his father was
+dead, he led him into this land in which ye dwell." This directly
+contradicts the chapter in Genesis where the story of Abraham's
+leaving Haran is related; for it is certain from thence, that Abraham
+left his father Terah in Haran alive, when he departed thence. And
+he did not die till many years afterwards. This chronological
+contradiction has given much trouble to Christian Commentators,
+as may be seen in Whitby, Hammond, &c. &c.
+
+V. 14, Stephen says, "Jacob therefore descended into Egypt, and
+our Fathers, and there died. And they were carried to Sichem, and
+buried in the sepulchre which Abraham bought from the Sons of
+Hemor the Father of Sichem." Here is another blunder; for this
+piece of land was not purchased by Abraham, but by Jacob. Gen.
+xlix. 29; so also see the end of Joshua. But it is evident, that
+Stephen has confounded the story of the purchase of the field of
+Machpelah, recorded in Gen. xxiii. with the circumstances related
+concerning the purchase by Jacob.
+
+In v. 43 of the same chapter, there is another disagreement between
+Stephen's quotation from Amos, and the original. [In the Acts the
+quotation is,--"Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and
+the Star of your God. Remphan, figures which ye made to worship
+them, and I will carry you away beyond Babylon." In Amos, ch. v.
+26--"But ye have borne the tabernacle of Moloch and Chinn your
+images, the Star of your God which ye made," &c.]
+
+So also there is in the speech of James, Acts xv. a quotation from
+Amos, in which to make it fit the subject, (which after all it does
+not fit,) is the substitution of the words, "the remnant of men," for
+the words, "remnant of Edom," as it is in the original.
+
+All these mistakes, besides others to be met with in almost--I was
+going to say in every page, of these Histories of Jesus and his
+Apostles, sufficiently show how superficial was the acquaintance
+of these men with the Old Testament, and how grossly, either
+through design or ignorance, they have perverted it. Indeed from
+these mistakes alone, I should be led strongly to suspect, that the
+Books of the New Testament were written by Gentiles, as I can
+hardly conceive that any Jew could have quoted his Bible in such a
+blundering manner.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+WHETHER THE MOSAIC LAW BE REPRESENTED IN THE
+OLD TESTAMENT AS A TEMPORARY, OR A PERPETUAL
+INSTITUTION.
+
+A very great part of Dogmatic Theology among Christians is
+founded upon the notion that the Jewish Law was a temporary
+dispensation, only to exist till the coming of Jesus, when it was to
+be superseded by a more perfect dispensation.
+
+On the contrary, the Jews are persuaded that their Law is of
+perpetual obligation, and the Doctrine of the Trinity itself is hardly
+more offensive to them, and, as they think, more contradictory to
+the Scriptures, than the notion of the abrogation of it. Now, that the
+Jews are on the right side of this question, i. e., arguing from the
+Old Testament, I shall endeavour to prove by several arguments.
+They are all comprised in these positions, 1. That the Mosaic
+Institutions are most solemnly, and repeatedly declared to be
+perpetual; and we have no account of their being abrogated, or to
+be abrogated in the Old Testament. 2. They are declared to be
+perpetual by Jesus himself, and were adhered to by the twelve
+apostles.
+
+1. Nothing can be more expressly asserted in the Old Testament
+than the perpetual obligation of those rites which were to
+distinguish the Jews from other nations. It appears, for instance,
+(from the 17th ch. of Genesis,) in the tenor of the covenant made
+with Abraham, that circumcision was to distinguish his posterity,
+to the end of time. It is called "an everlasting covenant" to be kept
+by his posterity through all their generations. See the ch. where the
+condition of the covenant is, that God would give to Abraham and
+his posterity, the perpetual inheritance of the promised land with
+whatever privileges were implied in his being their God, on
+condition that their male children were circumcised in testimony of
+putting themselves under that covenant. There is no limitation with
+respect to time; nay it is expressly said that the covenant should be
+perpetual.
+
+The ordinance of the Passover is also said to be perpetual, Ex. xii.
+14, &c. "And this day shall be unto you for a memorial, and you
+shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations.
+You shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever." This is repeated
+afterwards, and the observance of this rite is confined to Israelites,
+Proselytes, and slaves who should be circumcised, v. 48.
+
+The observance of the Sabbath was never to be discontinued, Ex.
+xxxi. 16. "Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath
+throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign
+between me and the children of Israel for ever."
+
+The appointment of the Family of Aaron to be Priests, was to
+continue as long as the Israelites should be a nation. See Lev. vii.
+35.
+
+The Feast of Tabernacles was to be forever. Lev. xxiii. 41. "It
+shall be a statute for ever, in your generations." The observance of
+this Festival is particularly mentioned in the prophecies, which
+foretell a future settlement of the Jews in their own land, as
+obligatory on all the world; as if an union of worship at Jerusalem
+was to be, according to them, effected among all nations by the
+united observance of this Festival there, see Zech. 14; what he
+there says is confirmed by what Isaiah prophecied concerning the
+same period. Is. 2. "It shall come to pass in the last days, that the
+mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the
+mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations
+shall flow unto it. And many people shall go, and say, Come ye,
+and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the
+God of Jacob, and He will teach us of his ways, and we will walk
+in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the Law, and the word
+of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations,
+and rebuke many people, and they shall beat their swords into
+ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation. shall not
+lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any
+more."
+
+With respect to all the Laws of Moses, it is evident from the
+manner in which they were promulgated, that they were intended
+to be of perpetual obligation upon the Hebrew nation, and that by
+the observance of them they were to be distinguished from the
+other nations, see Deut. xxvi. 16.
+
+The observance of their peculiar Laws was the express condition
+on which the Israelites were to continue in possession of the
+promised land; and though on account of their disobedience they
+were to be driven out of it, they had the strongest assurances given
+them that they should never be utterly destroyed, like many other
+nations who should oppress them; but that on their repentance God
+would gather them from the remote parts of the world, and bring
+them to their own country again. And both Moses, and the later
+Prophets assure them, that in consequence of their becoming
+obedient to God in all things, which it is asserted they will, (and
+which may be the natural consequence of the discipline they will
+have gone through,) they shall be continued in the peaceable
+enjoyment of the land of promise, in its greatest extent to the end
+of time. See to this purpose Deut. iv. 25, &c.; also. Deut. 30,
+where it is thus written.
+
+"And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon
+thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and
+shalt call them to mind among all the nations whither the Lord thy
+God hath driven thee; and shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and
+shall obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day,
+thou and thy children, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul; that,
+then, the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have
+compassion upon thee, and will return, and gather thee from all the
+nations whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee. If any of
+thine be driven out unto the utmost parts of heaven, from thence
+will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch
+thee. And the Lord thy God will bring thee unto the Land which
+thy Fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it, and He will do
+thee good, and multiply thee above thy Fathers. And the Lord thy
+God will circumcise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the
+Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, that thou
+mayest live; and the Lord thy God will put all these curses upon
+thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee.
+And thou shalt return, and obey the voice of the Lord, and do all
+his commandments which I command thee this day." &c.
+
+"What an extent of prophecy, and how firm a faith in the whole of
+it do we see here! (says Dr. Priestly.) The Israelites were not then
+in the land of Canaan. It was occupied by nations far more
+numerous, and powerful than they; and yet it is distinctly foretold
+in the 4th ch. that they would soon take possession of it, and
+multiply in it: and that afterwards they would offend God by their
+idolatry, and wickedness, and would in con-sequence of it be
+driven out of their country; and without being exterminated or
+lost, be scattered among the nations of the world; that by this
+dispersion, and their calamities, they would at length be reformed,
+and restored to the divine favour, and that then (as in the quotation)
+in the latter days they would be gathered from all nations, and
+restored to their own country, when they would observe all the
+laws which were then prescribed to them. Past history, and present
+appearances, correspond with such wonderful exactness to what
+has been fulfilled of this prophecy, that we can have no doubt with
+respect to the complete accomplishment of what remains to be
+fulfilled of it."
+
+What was first announced by Moses, is repeated by Isaiah and
+other prophets, assuring them of their certain return wherever
+dispersed, to their own land in the latter days; and that they should
+have the undisturbed possession of it to the end of time.
+
+It has been objected, that the term "for ever" is not always to be
+understood in its greatest extant, but is to be interpreted according
+to circumstances. This for the sake of saving time I will
+acknowledge. But the circumstances in which this phrase is used in
+the passages already adduced, and in a number of others of similar
+import which might be adduced, clearly indicate, that it is to be
+understood in those passages to mean a period as long as the
+duration of the Israelitish nation, which elsewhere is said to
+continue to the end of the world.
+
+For this reason, among others, this final return of the Jews from
+their present dispersed state, cannot at any rate be said to have
+been accomplished at their return from the Babylonish captivity.
+
+For that captivity was not by any means such a total dispersion of
+the people among all nations, as Moses, and the later prophets
+have foretold. Nor does their possession of the country subsequent
+to it, at all correspond to that state of peace, and prosperity, which
+was promised to succeed this final return.
+
+Figures of speech must, no doubt, be allowed for. But if the whole
+of the Jewish polity was to terminate at the destruction of
+Jerusalem by Titus, (as is maintained by Christians,) while the
+world is still to continue, the magnificent promises made to
+Abraham, and his posterity, and to the nation, in general,
+afterwards, have never had any proper accomplishment of all.
+Because with respect to external prosperity, which is contained in
+the promises, many nations have hitherto been more distinguished
+by God, than the Jews. Hitherto the posterity of Ishmael has had a
+much happier lot than that of Isaac. To say, as Christians do, that
+these prophecies have had a spiritual accomplishment in the spread
+of the Gospel, when there is nothing in the phraseology in which
+the promises are expressed, that could possibly suggest any such
+ideas, nay, when the promise itself in the most definite language
+expresses the contrary, is so arbitrary a construction as nothing
+can warrant. By this mode of interpretation, any event may be said
+to be the fulfillment of any prophecy whatever.
+
+Besides, it is perfectly evident, that these prophecies, whether they
+will be fulfilled, or not, cannot yet have been fulfilled. For all the
+calamity that was ever to befall the Jewish nation is expressly said
+to bear no sensible proportion to their subsequent prosperity:
+whereas, their prosperity has hitherto borne a small proportion to
+their calamity; so that had Abraham really foreseen the fate of his
+posterity, he would on this idea, have had little reason to rejoice in
+the prospect.
+
+It may be said, that the prosperity of the descendants of Abraham,
+was to depend on a condition, viz., their obedience, and that this
+condition was not fulfilled. But, besides that the Divine Being must
+have foreseen this circumstance, and therefore must have known
+that he was only tantalizing Abraham with a promise which would
+never be accomplished; this disobedience, and the consequences of
+it are expressly mentioned by Moses, and the other Prophets, only
+as a temporary thing, and what was to be succeeded by an effectual
+repentance, and perpetual obedience, and prosperity.
+
+Among others, let the following prophecy of Isaiah (in which the
+future security of Israel is compared to the security of the world
+from a second deluge) be considered, and let any impartial person
+say, whether the language does not necessarily lead those who
+believe the Old Testament, to the expectation of a much more
+durable state of Glory, and Happiness, than has, as yet, fallen to the
+lot of the posterity of Abraham.
+
+Is. 54, 7. "For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great
+mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee
+for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on
+thee, saith the Lord, thy Redeemer. For this is as the waters of
+Noah unto me. For as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should
+no more go over the earth, go have I sworn, that I would not be
+wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall [or
+"may"] depart, and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not
+depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be
+removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.--All thy
+children shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of
+thy children. In righteousness shalt thou be established. Thou shalt
+be far from oppression, for thou shalt not fear; and from terror, for
+it shall not come nigh thee. No weapon formed against thee, shall
+prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment,
+thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the
+Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord."
+
+Here, as also in Moses, and other Prophets, an establishment in
+righteousness is promised to the Israelites, such as shall secure
+their future prosperity; and this promise has not yet been fulfilled.
+The promise of future virtue as connected with their future
+happiness, is also clearly expressed in Jer. ch. iii. 18.
+
+Had the Jewish nation become extinct, or likely to become so, it
+might, with some plausibility, have been said by Christians, that
+the purposes of God concerning them were actually fulfilled, and,
+therefore, that the words of the promise must have had some other
+signification than that which was most obvious. But the Jews are as
+much a distinct people as they ever were, and therefore seem
+reserved for some future strange destination.
+
+On the whole, it must be allowed, that the settlement of Israel in
+the land of Canaan, foretold with such emphasis by the Prophets, is
+a settlement which has not yet taken place, but may take place in
+that period so frequently, and so emphatically, distinguished by the
+title of "the latter days;" and therefore that whatever is said of
+Jewish customs, or modes of worship in "the latter days?" is a
+proof of the meant restoration of their ancient religious rites.
+
+That the institutions of the Mosaic Law are to be continued on the
+restoration of the Jews to their own land after their utter dispersion,
+is asserted by Moses himself in one of the passages already quoted;
+but is more clearly expressed by the subsequent Prophets. In some
+of their prophecies, particular mention is made of the observance
+of Jewish festivals, and of sacrifices; and in Ezechiel we find a
+description of a magnificent Temple, which being closely
+connected with his prophecy of the future happy state of the
+Israelites in their own land, cannot be understood of any other than
+a Temple which is then, according to the Hebrew Prophets, to be
+reared with greater magnificence than ever. Mention is also made
+of "the Glory of the Lord," or that effulgent Shechinah which was
+the symbol of the divine presence, filling this Temple, as it did that
+of Solomon.
+
+Ezech. xliii. 1, &c. "Afterward he brought me to the gate, even the
+gate that looketh toward the East; and behold the glory of the Lord
+came from the way of the East, and his voice was like the noise of
+many waters, and the Earth shined with his Glory.--And the Glory
+of the Lord came into the house by the way of the gate, whose
+prospect is toward the East. So the Spirit took me up, and brought
+me into the inner court, and behold the Glory of the Lord filled the
+house.--And he said unto me, Son of man, the place of my
+Throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in
+the midst of the children of Israel for ever, and my holy name shall
+the house of Israel no more defile," &c.
+
+Towards the end of the same chapter we read an account of the
+dedication of this new Temple by sacrifices; and particular
+directions are given in the succeeding chapters for the Priests, and
+for the Prince. If, therefore, there be any truth in these prophecies,
+the Jews are not only to return to their own country, and to be
+distinguished among the nations, but are to rebuild the Temple, and
+to restore the ancient worship.
+
+Having proved that the Old Testament declares the perpetuity of
+the Mosaic Law, I proceed, 2dly, to prove that it is declared to be
+perpetual by Jesus himself.
+
+But before I adduce my proofs, I beg leave to premise, that when
+any Law is solemnly enacted, we expect that the abrogation of it
+should be equally solemn, and express, in order that no room for
+dispute may remain upon the subject. Accordingly, it is the
+custom, I believe, in all countries, not to make any new Law,
+contradictory to another before subsisting, without a previous
+express abrogation of the old one. And certainly it appears to me a
+strange notion to suppose, that the elaborate and noble Law given
+from mount Sinai amidst circumstances unexampled, awful, and
+tremendously magnificent, and believed to have been declared by
+the voice of God to be a perpetual and everlasting Code, should
+vanish, perish, and be annihilated by the mere dictum of twelve
+fishermen!!
+
+But the fact is otherwise, for Jesus was so far from teaching the
+abrogation of that law, that he expressly says--" Think not that I
+am come to destroy the law, or the Prophets, I am not come to
+destroy, but to fulfill. 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." This is a most explicit declaration that not the
+smallest punctilio in the law of Moses was intended to be set aside
+by the Gospel. Nay more, he expressly commanded his disciples to
+the same purpose--"The Scribes and Pharisees (says he,) sit in
+Moses' seat; all therefore whatsoever they command you, that
+observe, and do."
+
+It is said in answer to this by Christian Divines, that his discourse
+relates to things of a moral nature, and that he only meant, that no
+part of the Moral Law was to be abolished. But besides that the
+expression is general, there could be no occasion to make so
+solemn a declaration against what he could not have been
+suspected of intending, viz. of abolishing the moral law. He seems
+in his discourse to have had in view the additions that had been
+made to the law. These he sets aside, but no part of the original law
+itself.
+
+It has also been urged that by fulfilling, may be meant such an
+accomplishment of it as would imply the superseding of it when
+the purposes for which it was instituted should be answered. To
+silence this explication it will be sufficient to produce a few out of
+many passages of the New Testament where the term fulfil occurs
+in connexion with the term law. Thus Paul says, Gal. v. 14, "All
+the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, thou shalt love thy
+neighbour as thyself," and again. Rom. xiii. 8, "He that loveth
+another, hath fulfilled the law." But certainly, notwithstanding this
+fulfilment of the moral law, it remains in as full force as ever.
+
+The Apostles understood Jesus to mean as we have asserted. For it
+is evident from the Acts, that the Christians at Jerusalem were
+zealous in attachment to the law of Moses; this is evident from
+their surprise at Peter's conduct with regard to Cornelius; and in
+the dispute about imposing circumcision upon the Gentiles;
+observe there was no dispute about its being obligatory upon Jews.
+
+Paul was indeed vehemently accused of teaching a contrary
+doctrine, as we find in the history of the transactions respecting
+him in his last journey to Jerusalem. Acts xxi. 21," They (i. e. the
+Christians) are informed of thee (says James to Paul) that thou
+teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles, to forsake
+Moses, saying that they ought not to circumscise their children,
+neither to walk after the custom." Here James gives Paul to
+understand that he considered the report as a calumny, and
+accordingly, to convince the Jewish Christians that it was a false
+report, he advises Paul to be at charges with some Jewish
+Christians, who were under a vow of Nazaritism, (which is an
+instance in point to prove that the first Christians kept the law,) and
+thus publicly manifest that he himself "walked orderly, and kept
+the law." Paul complies with this advice, and purified himself in
+the temple, and did what was done in like cases by the strictest
+Jews. He also circumcised Timothy, who was a convert to
+Christianity, because he was the son of a Jewish Mother. And he
+solemnly declared in open court. Acts xxv. 8, "Against the law of
+the Jews, neither against the Temple, have I offended any thing at
+all," and again, to the Jews at Rome, Acts xxviii., 7, he assures
+them that "he had done nothing against the people, or the customs
+of the fathers."
+
+But some men will say," did not Paul expressly teach the
+abrogation of the law, in his Epistles, especially in that to the
+Galatians?" I answer, he undoubtedly did; and in so doing he
+contradicted the Old Testament, his master Jesus, the twelve
+Apostles, and himself too. But how can this be? I answer, it is
+none of my concern to reconcile the conduct of Paul; or to defend
+his equivocations. It is pretty clear, that he did not dare to preach
+this doctrine at Jerusalem. He confined this "hidden wisdom," to
+the Gentiles. To the Jews he became as a Jew; and to the
+uncircumcised as one uncircumcised, he was "all things to all
+men!" and for this conduct he gives you his reason, viz. "that he
+was determined at any rate to gain some." If this be double
+dealing, dissimulation, and equivocation, I cannot help it; it is none
+of my concern, I leave it to the Commentators, and the
+reconciliators, the disciples of Surenhusius; let them look to it;
+perhaps they can hunt up some "traditionary rules of interpretation
+among the Jews," that will help them to explain the matter.
+
+Lastly, it has been said that there was no occasion for Jesus, or his
+Apostles to be very explicit with respect to the abolition of the
+laws of Moses, since the Temple was to be soon destroyed, when
+the Jewish worship would cease of course.
+
+This argument, flimsy as it is, is nevertheless the instar omnium of
+the Christian Divines to prove the abolishment of this Law: (for the
+other arguments adduced by them as prophecies of it from the 1
+ch. of Isaiah, and some of the Psalms, are nothing, to the purpose;
+they being merely declarations of God, that he preferred obedience
+in the weightier matters of the Law; Justice, Mercy, and Holiness,
+to ceremonial observances; and that repentance was of more avail
+with him than offering thousands of rams, and fed beasts,) and this
+argument like so many others, when weighed in the balance, will
+be "found wanting."
+
+For, as the destruction of the Temple by Nebuchadnezzar certainly
+did not abolish the Law, so neither did the destruction by Titus, do
+it. And as it would be notoriously absurd to maintain the first, so it
+is equally so to maintain the last, position. Besides, a very
+considerable part of that Law can be, and for these seventeen
+hundred years, has been kept without the Temple. As for example,
+circumcision, distinction of meats, and many others. And when, if
+ever, they shall return to their own land, and rebuild the Temple,
+they will then, according to the Old Testament, observe the whole,
+and with greater splendour than ever.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+ON THE CHARACTER OF PAUL AND HIS MANNER OF
+REASONING.
+
+
+As Christians lay great stress upon their argument for the truth of
+their Religion, derived from the supposed miraculous conversion
+of Paul; and since almost the whole of Systematic Christianity is
+built upon the foundation of the Epistles ascribed to him, we shall
+pay a little more attention to his character and writings.
+
+Paul was evidently a man of no small capacity, a fiery temper,
+great subtilty, and considerably well versed in Jewish Traditionary,
+and Cabbalistic Learning, and not unacquainted with the principles
+of the Philosophy called the "Oriental." He is said by Luke to have
+been converted to Christianity by a splendid apparition of Jesus,
+who struck him to the ground by the glory of his appearance. But
+by the Jews and the Nazarene Christians, he is represented as
+having been converted to Christianity from a different cause. They
+say that being a man of tried abilities and of some note, he
+demanded the High Priest's daughter in marriage, and being
+refused, his rash and rageful temper, and a desire of revenge, drove
+him to join the "sect of the Nazarenes," at that time beginning to
+become troublesome to the Sanhedrim. However this may be,
+whether he became a Christian from conviction, or from ambition;
+it is certain from the Acts that he always was considered by the
+Jewish Christians, as a suspected character; and it is evident that he
+taught a different doctrine from that promulgated by the twelve
+apostles. And this was the true cause of the great difficulty he was
+evidently under of keeping steady to him, his Gentile converts. For
+it is evident from the Epistles to the Galatians, and the Corinthians,
+that the Jewish Christians represented Paul to them as not "sound
+in the Faith," but as teaching a different doctrine from that of the
+Twelve, and so influential were these representations, that Paul had
+the greatest difficulty in keeping them to his System.
+
+That there were two Parties, or Schools in the first Christian
+church, viz. the adherents of the Apostles, and the Disciples of
+Paul, is evident from the New Testament, and has been fully, and
+unanswerably proved by the learned Semler, the greatest scholar
+certainly in Christian Antiquities, that ever lived. The knowledge
+of this secret, accounts for the different conduct of Paul when
+among his Gentile converts, from that which he pursued when with
+the apostles at Jerusalem. He had a difficult part to act, and he
+managed admirably. He was indeed, as he says, himself, "all
+things to all men," a Jew with the Jews, and as one uncircumcised
+among the uncircumcised. To the Jews, he asserted, that he "
+taught nothing contrary to the Law, and the Prophets," and when
+brought before the Sanhedrim for teaching otherwise than he said,
+he dexterously got himself out of tribulation, by throwing a bone of
+contention among the Council, and setting his Judges together by
+the ears. "And when Paul perceived that the one part (of the
+Council) were Sadducees, and the other, Pharisees, he cried out in
+the Council: Brethren, I am a Pharisee, and the son of a Pharisee;
+concerning the hope of the resurrection of the dead, I am now
+judged. And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the
+Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the multitude was divided. For
+the Sadducees say there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit;
+but the Pharisees confess both. And there was a great cry, and the
+Scribes that were on the part of the Pharisees, arose and strove,
+saying, "We find no evil in this man" &c. This, indeed, was a
+masterly manoeuvre, and produced the desired effect; and Paul by
+this shows his knowledge of the human heart, in trusting to make
+his Judges forget what he was accused of, by making an appeal to
+their sectarian passions. For, in truth, he was not accused
+concerning his opinion about "the hope, and the resurrection of the
+dead," but for the following cause, as his accusers vociferated (in
+the xxi. ch.) when they seized him in the Temple, "Men of Israel,
+Help! This is the man, who teacheth all men every where against,
+the people, and the Law, and this place."
+
+These strokes of character enable us to understand the man; and I
+shall now go into the consideration of some of the arguments he
+has deduced from passages in the Old Testament in support of his
+opinions; after premising, that the truth of the story of the manner
+of his conversion depends entirely upon his own assertion; and
+whether his credibility be absolutely unimpeachable, can be easily
+determined by an impartial consideration of the history of his
+conduct already mentioned. I will only add upon this subject, that
+in telling the story of his conversion, he ought to have had a better
+memory; for in telling it once in xxvi. ch. of Acts, he says, in
+describing his miraculous vision, that "those that were with me,
+saw indeed the light, and were afraid, but heard not the words of
+him that spake to me;" and thus he directly contradicts the story of
+it recorded in Acts ix., where it is said, "that the men who
+journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing the voice, but seeing
+no one."
+
+In the 9th chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, v. 24, he thus
+proves; that the Old Testament prophecied of the conversion of the
+Gentiles, to the Gospel--"Even us whom he hath called, not of the
+Jews only, but also of the Gentiles, as he saith also in Hosea "I
+will call them my people, which were not my people; and her
+beloved, which was not beloved. And it shall come to pass, that in
+the place where it was said unto them, you are not my people, there
+shall they be called the sons of the living God."--Is not this to the
+purpose? yet, in applying this passage to the Gentiles, Paul has
+wilfully, (yes wilfully, for Paul was a learned man, and knew better)
+perverted the original from its proper reference, and has passed
+upon his simple converts., who did not know so much of the
+Jewish Scriptures, as he did, a prophecy relating entirely to the
+Jews, as referring to the Gentiles!! By turning to Hosea, Reader,
+you will find this to be verily the case; here is the passage, "Then
+said God, call his name (Hosea's son) Loammi, for ye (the
+Israelites) are not my people, and I will not be your God, yet the
+number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea,
+which cannot be measured, nor numbered. And it shall come to
+pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, ye are not my
+people, there shall it be said unto them, ye are the sons of the living
+God." Hosea chapter i
+
+"Again v. 33. "As it is written, Behold I lay in Zion a stone of
+stumbling, and a rock of offence, and every one who believeth in
+him shall not be ashamed." Here Paul has pieced two passages
+together, which in the originals are disconnected. For in the 8th
+chapter of Isaiah it is written, "Sanctify the Lord of Hosts
+himself, and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And
+he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling, and for a
+rock of offence, to both the houses of Israel; for a gin, and for a
+snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem." And in the 28th chapter it is
+written, "therefore, thus saith the Lord God, behold I lay in Zion
+for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a
+sure foundation, he that believeth shall not be ashamed," (or
+disappointed) Here "you see, reader, that he jams two distant
+passages together no ways related; and alters some words, and
+applies them to Jesus, with whom, it appears from the context of
+Isaiah, they have no concern.
+
+Ch. x. v. 6. "The scripture saith, 'say not in thine heart, who shall
+ascend into Heaven? (that is, that he may bring down Jesus from
+above.) Again, 'who shall descend into the abyss?' (that is, that he
+may bring up Jesus from the dead.) But what saith it? ' The word
+is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart.' (that is the
+word of Faith which we speak.) For if thou confess Jesus with thy
+mouth, and believe in thine heart that God raised him from the
+dead, thou shalt be saved." Here you will see another instance of
+misapplication of Scripture by Paul, in order to dazzle the eyes of
+his simple and credulous converts, for let any one took at the place
+in the Scripture whence the quotation is taken, arid he will
+immediately see the inapplicability of the words, and the
+adulteration of those of the original, in order to make them apply.
+For the Scripture quoted speaks of, and refers to penitence, and.
+not at all about believing on, or bringing down Jesus from Heaven,
+or up from the dead; for here are the words, Deut. 30.--"If thou
+be converted to the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all
+thy mind."--Immediately is subjoined--"For this Law which I
+command you this day is not far from thee; neither is it afar off. It
+is not in Heaven, that thou shouldst say, who shall ascend for us
+into Heaven, that he may bring it unto us, and declare it to us that
+we might do it," &c. The sense of the whole is, that God wills us to
+repent of sin; and that you may know when you have sinned, you
+have only to look at his Law, which is not in Heaven, nor afar off,
+but is put in your own hands, and is perfectly familiar with your
+heart, and lips.
+
+1 Cor, ch. v. 1. Paul accuses one of the Christians of the church of
+Corinth of the crime of incest, because he had married his
+step-mother, and orders them to excommunicate him. But Paul, in all
+his Epistles and teachings to the Gentiles, pronounced them free
+from the Law of Moses. Wherefore then for the violation of one of
+those Laws interdicting such a marriage, does he so vehemently,
+blame them? Such a marriage is not forbidden in the Gospel: it was
+forbidden to them no where in the Scriptures but in the Mosaic
+Code. Therefore, Paul must have founded his judgment against the
+criminal upon the dictum of that law in such cases. Paul puts the
+man under a curse; and it is the Mosaic Law which says, Deut. 27,
+"Cursed is he who lieth with his father's wife." It seems,
+therefore, that Jesus did not deliver his followers from "the curse
+of the law," as Paul taught them it did in Gal. iii. 13.
+
+1 Cor. ch. x.:--"And let us not pollute ourselves with fornication,
+as some of them were polluted, and fell in one day to the number
+of twenty-three thousand." Here is a blunder, for it is written "
+twenty-four thousand."--Num. 25.
+
+Gal. iii., 13, Paul says, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of
+the law, being made a curse for us; for it is written, cursed is every
+one that hangeth on a tree." What he says of the Christ, or the
+Messiah redeeming from the curses written in the law, that by no
+means agrees with truth; for no Jew can be freed from the curses of
+the law, but by repenting of his sins, and becoming obedient to it.
+And in alledging the words "cursed is every one that hangeth on a
+tree," from Deut. xxi., he, as usual, applies them irrelevantly.
+
+Paul says, Gal. iii, 10:--"For as many as are of the works of the
+law, are under the curse; for it is written, Deut. xxvii. 26, ' Cursed
+is every one that continueth not in all things written in the book of
+the law to do them.'" And he interprets this to mean that all
+mankind, Jews and Gentile, are liable to damnation, (except those
+who are saved by faith) because no man ever did continue in all
+things written in the law. Now, in the first place I would observe,
+that Paul has inserted the word "all" in the passage he quotes from
+Deuteronomy, (in the original of which it is not) in order to make it
+support his system; for the whole of his argument is built upon this
+one surreptitiously inserted word. 2. The words according to the
+original are simply these:--"Cursed is he that continueth not the
+words of this law to do them;" i. e.,--He who disobeys, or neglects
+to fulfil the commands of the law, shall be under the curse
+denounced upon the disobedient. But who would conclude from
+this that repentance would not remove the curse? Does not God
+expressly declare in the xxx. ch. of Deut., that if they repent, the
+curses written shall be removed from them? And have we not
+innumerable instances recorded in the Old Testament, of sinners,
+and transgressors of this very law, received to pardon and favour,
+upon repentance and amendment? So that this argument founded
+upon an unwarrantable undeniable interpolation, and supported by
+bad logic, is every way bad, and insulting to God and his (by Paul
+acknowledged) word.
+
+Gal ch. iii. 16:--"To Abraham, and his seed were the promises
+made, He saith not ' and to seeds,' (as of roomy) but as of one, '
+and to thy seed,' which is Christ." Here is an argument which one
+would think too far-fetched, even for Paul; and it is built on a
+perversion of a passage from Genesis, which Paul, bold as he was
+in these matters, certainly would not have ventured, if he had not
+the most assured confidence in the blinking credulity of his
+Galatian converts. His argument in this place is drawn from the
+use of the word "seed" in the singular number, in the passage of
+Genesis, from whence he quotes. And because the word seed is in
+the singular number, fag tells the "foolish Galatians," as he justly
+calls them, that this "seed" must mean one individual (and not
+many,) "which," says he, "is Christ." Now, let us look at the xv.
+ch. of Gen., from whence he quotes, and we shall see the force of
+this singular argument, derived from the use of the singular
+number. "And He (God) brought him (Abraham) forth abroad, and
+said. Look now towards heaven, and tell the stars if thou be able to
+number them, and He said unto him, so shall thy seed be.--And He
+said, know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that
+is not theirs, and they shall afflict them, &c., afterwards they shall
+come out with great substance.--In that same day the Lord made a
+covenant with Abraham, saying, unto thy seed have I given this
+land," &c. Again, ch. xxii., God said to Abraham by his Angel, "I
+will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which
+is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his (or
+its) enemies, and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be
+blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice! Reader, what do you
+think now of Paul's argument from the use of the singular number?
+Which is most to be admired? His offering such an argument to
+the Galatians; (for being a learned man, he certainly knew that the
+argument was nought,) or their credulity in receiving such
+reasoning as Divine? Really, I fear there is some reason for
+admitting as true what Celsus maliciously says of the simplicity of
+the Primitive Christians, if Paul could with impunity feed his
+"spiritual babes" with such pap as this!
+
+I intended to have concluded this subject, by bringing under
+examination some of the arguments and quotations in the Epistle
+to the Hebrews; but upon looking over that Epistle, and
+contemplating my task, I confess I shrink from it. That Epistle is so
+replete with daring, ridiculous, and impious applications of the
+words of the Old Testament, that I am glad to omit it; and I think
+after the specimens which have been already brought forward, that
+my reader is quite as much satiated as myself. I will, therefore,
+bring forward only one quotation, which is alledged in that Epistle
+to prove the abolition of the law of Moses; and as for the rest, I
+content myself with referring those who want to know more of it,
+to the pieces written by the celebrated Dr. Priestley upon Paul's
+arguments in general, and those in that Epistle in particular,
+preserved in his Theological Repository, where he will see
+absurdity in reasoning, and, something worse, in quotation,
+exposed in a masterly manner. Indeed, some learned Christians are
+so sensible of the insuperable difficulties attending every attempt
+to reconcile that Epistle to the Doctrine of inspiration, or even to
+common sense, that they avoid the trouble, by denying that Paul
+could have been the author of such a work, and attribute it to the
+same, or a similar, hand, with that which forged the marvellous
+Epistle ascribed to Barnabas.
+
+The quotation brought forward in the Epistle to the Hebrews, to
+prove the abrogation of the Mosaic Law, and the substitution of a
+new one, is taken from Jer. xxxi. 31, &c.--"Behold the days
+come saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the
+house of Judah. Not according to the covenant which I made with
+they fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them
+out of the land of Egypt, (which my covenant they brake, although
+I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord.) But this shall be the
+covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days
+saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it
+in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people;
+and they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, saying
+know the Lord, for they shall all know me from the least of them
+unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord, for I will forgive their
+iniquity, and will remember their sins no more." Upon this passage
+the author of the Epistle observes "in that he saith 'a new
+covenant,' he hath made the first old;" and he sagely concludes "
+now that which decayeth, and waxeth old, is ready to vanish away!!"
+and takes the quotation to be a prophecy of the abolition of the
+old law, and the introduction of the Gospel Dispensation.
+
+Now, I would observe on his reasoning, in the first place, that,
+allowing for a moment his interpretation of the prophecy to be
+correct, (i. e., that it signifies the abolishment of the old, and an
+introduction of a new law) the prophecy, at any rate, cannot refer to
+Jesus, or the Gospel; for so far from having been fulfilled in the
+time of Jesus, or his Apostles, it has not been fulfilled to this day;
+for certainly God has not yet made a new covenant with the Jews,
+to whom the prophecy refers, nor has he yet "put his law in their
+hearts;" nor "caused them to walk in it;" neither has he yet "
+forgiven their sins, or forgotten their iniquities," since they are
+even now suffering, the consequences of them.
+
+I will now retract what I granted, and assert that the prophet did not
+mean an abolition of the Mosaic, and the introduction of a new,
+law; for though the prophet speaks of a new covenant, he says
+nothing of a new law; but on the contrary, asserts that this new
+covenant would be effectual to make them obey the law. God
+promised to put his law within their hearts (not out of
+remembrance, as the catechisms say;) and in this alone this
+covenant differs from the one entered into at Mount Sinai. For,
+then, though the law was given them, it was not "put within their
+hearts," but they were apt, to their own controul, to obey it, or not,
+being assured, however, that happiness should be the reward of
+obedience, and death and excision the punishment for revolt
+and disobedience. And you will moreover observe, that,
+notwithstanding what is here called a new covenant, nothing is
+here said of the abrogation of any former covenant, or constitution,
+or of any new terms, that would be required by God on the part of
+the Israelites. The prophet, by expanding his idea, sufficiently
+explains his whole meaning, which is evidently this, viz.: That God
+would make a new, and solemn promise to the Israelites, that they
+should be no more out of favor with him; that their hearts would be
+hereafter so right with God, that in consequence of it, they would
+continue in the quiet possession of their country to the end of time;
+and all this is intimated by Moses, in the quotation from
+Deuteronomy, quoted in the last chapter.
+
+Thus is the passage perfectly consistent with those in the Old
+Testament, which affirm, (whether right or wrong is not my
+concern) the perfection and perpetuity of the Mosaic Law. "
+Remember," are the last words of the last of the prophets,
+Malachi,--"Remember the Law of Moses, my servant which I
+commanded unto him in Horeb, with the Statutes, and Judgments."
+Also in the Psalms:--"The Law of the Lord is perfect, converting
+the soul. The Testimony of the Lord is faithful, bringing wisdom
+to the simple. The Precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the
+heart, and enlightening the eyes." "The works of his hands are
+Truth, and Judgment. All his Precepts are sure. They stand fast for
+ever and ever: being done in Truth and Uprightness."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+EXAMINATION OF SOME DOCTRINES IN THE NEW
+TESTAMENT DERIVED FBOM THE CABALLA, THE
+ORIENTAL PHILOSOPHY, AND THE TENETS OF
+ZOROASTER.
+
+I have said in the preceding chapter, that Paul was well versed in
+Cabbalistic Learning, and not unacquainted with the principles of
+the Philosophy styled "the Oriental;" and to prove and exemplify
+this assertion, is the subject and intention of this chapter. None but
+the learned know, how much of Systematic Christianity is derived
+from the Cabbalism of the Jews; the Religion of the Magi of
+Persia; and the Philosophy of the Bramins of Indostan. I shall
+attempt to lay open these Theological Arcana, and make them
+known to those who ought to know what they have been kept in
+ignorance of.
+
+Many of my readers have, no doubt, frequently puzzled themselves
+over these words of Paul's, Eph. v. 30:--"For we are members of
+his (Christ's) body, of his flesh, and of his bones. Because of this,
+a man shall leave his father, and mother, and shall cleave to his
+wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This mystery is great,
+but I speak concerning Christ and the Church." This passage
+exemplifies the connexion between Christ and the Church, by that
+which subsists between a man and his wife; and this Paul calls "a
+great mystery;" and it no doubt must be a very mysterious passage
+to all those who are unacquainted with the cabbalistic notion to
+which it alludes, and refers. To illustrate the passage, and to prove
+that Paul raised his Cabbalism with his religion, I shall set down
+here the note of Dr. Whitby, the Christian Commentator, upon the
+text of Paul.
+
+"The learned Dr. Allix saith, The first match between Adam and
+Eve, was a type of that between Christ and his Church; and in this,
+saith he, the Apostle follows the Jewish notions. The Jews say, the
+mystery of Adam, is the mystery of the Messiah, who is the
+Bridegroom of the Church. These two persons, therefore, confirm
+the observation of Munster, that the creation of the woman from
+the rib of the man, was made by the Jews to signify the marriage of
+the celestial man who is blessed, or of the Messiah, with the
+Church; whence the Apostle applies the very words which Adam
+said concerning Eve his spouse, to the Church, who is the spouse
+of Christ; saying, "for we are members of his body, of his flesh,
+and of his bones." For the explanation of these words, take what
+follows:--"The profoundest of the Jewish Divines, whom they
+now call Cabbalists, having such a notion as this among them, that
+sensible things are but an imitation of things above, conceived
+from thence, that there was an original pattern of love and union,
+which is between a man and his wife in this world. This being
+expressed by the kindness of Tipheret and Malchut, which are the
+names they give to the invisible Bridegroom and Bride in the upper
+world. And this Tiphiret, or the celestial Adam, is so called in
+opposition to the terrestrial Adam; as Malchut also (i. e., the
+kingdom) they call by the name of Chinnereth Israel the
+Congregation of Israel, who is, they say, united to the celestial
+Adam as Eve was to the terrestrial." So that in sum, they seem to
+say the same that Paul doth, when he tells us, that "marriage is a
+great mystery, but he speaks concerning Christ and his Church."
+For the marriage of Tipheret and Malchuth, is the marriage of
+Christ, "the Lord from Heaven," ("the first man was of the Earth
+earthly, the second man is the Lord from Heaven," says Paul I Cor.
+xv.,) with his spouse the Church, which is the conjunction of Adam
+and Eve, and of all other men and women descended from them.
+Origen also seems to have had some notion of the relation of this
+passage to Adam and Eve, when he speaks thus:--"If any man
+deride us for using the example of Adam and Eve in these words,
+'and Adam knew his wife,' when we treat of the knowledge of
+God, let him consider these words--'This is a great mystery.'"
+Tertullian frequently alludes to the same thing, saying--"This is a
+great sacrament, carnally in Adam, spiritually in Christ, because of
+the spiritual marriage between Christ and the Church."
+
+Thus far Dr. Whitby, and the intelligent reader, who is acquainted
+with the dogmas and philosophy of Indostan, will not fail to see
+through this cloud, of words the origin of this analogy of Paul. The
+fact is, that in India and in Egypt, the Divine creative power which
+produced all things and energizes in everything, was symbolized
+by the Phallus; and to this day, in Hindostan, the operation of
+Diety upon matter is symbolized by images of the same; and in the
+darkest recesses of their Temples, which none but the initiated
+were permitted to enter: the Phallus of stone is the solitary idol,
+before which the illuminated bowed. This symbol, though
+shameful and abominable, is yet looked upon in India with the
+profoundest veneration, and is not with them the occasion of
+shame or reproach. It is, however, a blasphemous abomination; and
+the marriage between Christ and the Church ought not to have
+been thus illustrated by Paul, who reproached the heathen
+mysteries as "works of darkness," which mysteries, in fact,
+consisted principally in exhibiting these symbols, and similar
+abominations.
+
+But, it may be asked, what is the meaning of the other clause of the
+verse--what could Paul mean by the strong language, "We are
+members of his body? of his flesh, and of his bones?" Why, my
+reader, he meant, that Christians were really part of the body of
+Christ and if you desire to know How he imagined this union to be
+effected, I request you to see the 10th ch. of the 1st Epistle to the
+Corinthians, where at the 16th verse he thus writes to them:--"The
+cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation of the blood
+of Christ? The loaf (according to the Greek original) which we
+break, is it not a participation of the body of Christ? for, Because
+the loaf is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake
+of that one loaf." Again, ch. xi. 19, "For he that eateth, and
+drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not
+distinguishing (or discovering) the Lord's body;" and in ch. xii.
+27, he says to them, "Ye are the body of Christ, and his members
+severally." (See the original of these passages in Griesbach's
+Greek Testament.) Thus you see, reader, that Paul considered
+Christians "as members of his (Christ's) body, of his flesh, and of
+his bones," because they partook of one loaf, which was the body
+of Christ. The Papists are in the right, and have been much
+slandered by the Protestants, for the doctrine of Transubstantiation,
+or at least the Real Presence, is as plainly taught in the New
+Testament, as the doctrine of the Atonement. You have seen what
+Paul believed upon this subject, and I shall corroborate the sense I
+put upon his words, by the words of Jesus, his master, and by
+quotations from the earliest Fathers.
+
+Jesus says, John vi.--"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 which I will give is my flesh, which I will give for
+the life of the world." The Jews, therefore, contended among
+themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
+Jesus, therefore, said unto them, "Verily, verily, I say unto you,
+unless ye eat the flesh of the son of man, and drink his blood, ye
+have not life in you. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my
+blood, hath everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
+For my flesh is verily food, and my blood is verily drink. He that
+eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in
+him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father,
+(here is an oath) so he likewise that eateth me shall live by me."
+
+This strange doctrine was the faith of the Primitive Christians, as is
+well known to the learned Protestants, though they do not like to
+say so to their "weaker brethren."
+
+Ignatius says, "There is one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
+one cup in the unity of his blood;" and of certain heretics he says,
+"they confess not the Eucharist to be the flesh of our Saviour Jesus
+Christ."
+
+Justin Martyr, in his Apology, asserts that the consecrated bread
+"is, some how or other, the flesh of Christ."
+
+In the dispute with Latimer about Transubstantiation, it is
+acknowledged by the most candid writers, that the Roman
+Catholics had much the advantage. It must have been so, where
+quotations from the Fathers were allowed as arguments. For what
+answer can be made to the following extracts?--" What a miracle
+is this! He who sits above with the Father, at the same instant, is
+handled by the hands of men." [Chrysostom.] Again, from the
+same, "That which is in the cup, is the same which flowed from
+the side of Christ." Again, "Because we abhor the eating of raw
+flesh; therefore, it appeareth bread, though it be flesh."
+[Theophylact.] Or to this?--"Christ was carried in his own hands,
+when he said 'this is my body.'" [Austin,] Or to this?--"We are
+taught, that when this nourishing food is consecrated, it becomes
+the body and blood of our Saviour." [Justin Martyr.] Or, lastly, to
+this? [from Ambrose]--" It is bread before consecration, but after
+that ceremony, it becomes the flesh of Christ."
+
+Another doctrine which Paul derived from the Oriental Philosophy,
+and Which makes a great figure in his writings, is the notion, that
+moral corruption originates in the influxes of the body upon the
+mind.
+
+"It was one of the principal tenets of the Oriental Philosophy, that
+all evil resulted from matter, and its first founder appears to have
+argued in the following manner:--"There are many evils in the
+world, and men seem impelled of a natural instinct to the practice
+of those things which reason condemns. But that eternal mind,
+from which all spirits derive their existence, must be inaccessible
+to all kinds of evil, and also of a most perfect and beneficent
+nature; therefore, the origin of these evils with which the world
+abounds, must be sought somewhere else, than in the Deity. It
+cannot abide in him who is all perfection, and, therefore, it must be
+without him. Now, there is nothing without or beyond the Deity but
+matter; therefore, matter is the centre and source of all evil, of all
+vice."
+
+One of the consequences they drew from this hypothesis was, that
+since All evil resulted from matter, the depravity of mankind arose
+from the pollution derived to the human soul, from its connexion
+with the material body which it inhabits; and, therefore, the only
+means by which the mind could purify itself from the defilement,
+and liberate itself from the bondage imposed upon it by the body,
+was to emaciate and humble the body by frequent fasting, and to
+invigorate the mind to overcome and subdue it by retirement and
+contemplation.
+
+The New Testament, though it does not recognise this principle of
+the Oriental Philosophy, "that evil originates from matter," yet
+coincides with it in strenuously asserting that the corruption of the
+human mind is derived from its connexion with the human body.
+
+To prove this proposition, I shall show that Paul calls all crimes the
+works of the flesh." "Now, the works of the flesh are manifest,
+(says he, Gal. v. 19,) which are these: adultery, fornication,
+uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions,
+rivalries, wrath, disputes, divisions, heresies, envyings, murders,
+drunkenness, revellings, and such like." He also describes the
+conflict between the flesh and the spirit, or mind, in these terms:--
+"For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good, for
+to will is present with me, but to perform that which is good, I find
+not, but the evil which I would not, that I do. For I delight in the
+law of God according to the inner man, but I see another law in my
+members warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me
+into captivity to the law of my sin in my members. O wretched
+man that I am! who will deliver me from the body of this death?"
+(or this body of death.) And he goes on to observe, "That I, the
+same man, with my mind serve the law of God, but with my flesh
+the law of sin."--Rom. vii. "For the flesh desireth against (or in
+opposition to) the spirit, and the spirit against "the flesh, and these
+are contrary the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things
+that ye would."
+
+"Those that are Christ's (says Paul, Gal. v. 24) have crucified the
+flesh, with its passions and desires." And they are commanded
+(Rom. vi. 12 and viii. 13) "to mortify," or, according to the
+original, "put to death or "kill their members;" and Paul himself
+uses language upon this subject exceeding strong. He represents (1
+Cor. ix. 27) his mind and body as engaged in combat, and says, "I
+buffet my body, and subject it." The word here translated "
+subject," in the original, means "to carry into servitude," and is a
+term taken from the language of the olympic games where the
+boxers dragged off the arena, their conquered, disabled, and
+helpless antagonists like slaves, in which humbled condition the
+Apostle represents his body to be with respect to his mind.
+
+From this notion of the sinfulness of "the flesh," we are enabled to
+apprehend Paul's reasonings about the sufferings of Jesus "in the
+flesh." "Since the children are partakers of flesh and blood, Christ
+himself also in like manner partook of them"--Heb. ii. 14. "For
+(says Paul) what the law could not do in that it was weak through
+the flesh, God hath done, who by having sent his own son in the
+likeness of sinful flesh, and on account of sin, hath condemned sin
+in the flesh."--Rom. viii. 3. "But now, through Christ Jesus, ye
+who formerly were far off, are brought near by the blood of Christ.
+For he is our Peace who hath made both one, and hath broken
+down the middle wall of partition between us, having abolished by
+his flesh the cause of enmity."--Ephes. ii. 16. "You that were
+formerly aliens, and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet he
+hath now reconciled by his fleshly body, through his death."--Col.
+i. 20.
+
+Though these notions are sufficiently strange, yet they are not so
+very remarkable as the one I am about to consider. It is a singular,
+and a demonstrable fact, that the fundamental scheme of
+Christianity was derived from the religion of the ancient Persians,
+The whole of the New Testament scheme is built upon the
+hypothesis, that there is a powerful and malignant being, called the
+Devil and Satan, the chief of unknown myriads of other evil spirits;
+that he is, by the sufferance of God, the Prince of this world, and is
+the Author of sin, woe and death; the Tempter, the Tormentor of
+men, and the Tyrant of the Earth; that the Son of God, to deliver
+mankind from the vassalage of this monster, descended from
+heaven, and purchased their ransom of the Tyrant, at the price of
+his blood; for observe, my reader, that the idea of the death of
+Jesus being an atonement to God for the sins of men, is a modern
+notion; for the Primitive Christians, all of them, considered the
+death of Jesus as a ransom paid to the Devil, as may be proved
+from Origen and other Fathers. That the New Testament represents
+this character as the sovereign of this world, may be proved by the
+following passages:--"All this power will I give thee, and the
+glory of them, (said the Tempter to Jesus, when he showed him all
+the kingdoms of the earth,) for it is delivered unto me, and to
+whomsoever I will, I give it." Luke iv., Jesus calls him "the Prince
+of this world;" John xii., and elsewhere. In his commission to Paul,
+he calls embracing his religion, "turning from darkness unto light,
+and from the power of Satan to God."--. Acts xxvi. 18.
+Accordingly we find, that to become a Christian was considered as
+being freed from the tyranny of Satan. "God hath given life to
+you, (says Paul) who were dead in offences, and sins; in which ye
+formerly walked, according to the course (or constitution) of this
+world, according to the Prince of the Power of the air."--
+Ephesians ii., 1. And again:--"If our gospel be covered, (or hid)
+it is covered among those that are lost, among those unbelievers,
+whose minds the God of this world hath blinded, to the end that the
+glorious gospel of Christ should not enlighten them."--2 Cor. iv.
+4. John says in his Epistle, that "the whole world lieth in the
+power of the wicked one;" and Jesus in the gospels compares him
+to "a strong man armed, keeping his goods;" and himself to one
+stronger than he, who strippeth him of the arms in which he
+trusted, and spoileth his goods. "For this purpose was the Son of
+God manifested, that he might destroy the works of the Devil."--1
+John iii. 8. And it is said, "that he came to send forth the captive
+into liberty, and to heal those who were oppressed of the Devil."
+Men are also said to have been "taken captive of the Devil, to
+fulfil his will."--2 Timothy ii. 26. And we find that the Christians
+attributed all their sufferings to the opposition of this Being. "Put
+on (says Paul) the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to
+stand against the wiles of the Devil. For we struggle not against
+flesh and blood only; but against principalities, against powers,
+against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against wicked
+spirits in high places."--Ephesians vi. 12. Christians are also said
+to be delivered by God from the power of darkness, and to be
+translated into the kingdom of his dear son. That is, as Christians
+were considered as being the subjects of Jesus, and the rest of the
+world as being of the kingdom of Satan, when a man became a
+Christian he was translated from the kingdom of one, to the
+kingdom of the other. Jesus accused the Devil as being the author
+of all evil, as a liar, and the father of lies, and a murderer of men,
+and of women, too, as appears in the Gospel, from the account of
+that one, whose back the Devil had bowed down for eighteen
+years--Luke xiii. 10--(on what account it does not appear.) In
+short, the New Testament represents to him as being the source of
+all evil and mischief, and the promoter of it; and the whole world
+as being his subjects, and combined with him against all good.
+
+But how does all this prove that these notions were derived from
+the religion of the ancient Persians? I answer by requesting you,
+my reader, to peruse, attentively, the following account of the
+fundamental principles of the religion of Zoroaster, the prophet of
+the Persians.
+
+The doctrine of Zoroaster was, that there was one Supreme Being,
+independent, and self-existing from all eternity; that inferior to
+him, there were two Angels, one the Angel of Light, who is the
+Author and Director of all Good; and the other, the Angel of
+Darkness, who is the Author and Director of all Evil; that these
+two are in a perpetual struggle with each other; and that where the
+Angel of Light prevails, there the most is good; awl where the
+Angel of Darkness prevails, there the most is evil. That this
+struggle shall continue to the end of the world; that then there shall
+be a general resurrection, and a day of judgment, wherein just
+retribution shall be rendered to all according to their works; after
+which, the Angel of Darkness, and his followers, shall go into a
+world of their own, where they shall suffer in darkness, the
+punishment of their evil deeds. And the Angel of Light, and his
+followers, shall also go into a world of their own, where they shall
+receive, in everlasting light, the reward due to their good deeds.
+
+It is impossible but that the reader must see the agreement of the
+doctrines of the New Testament with all this; and since it is
+undoubted, that these tenets of Zoroaster are far more ancient than
+the New Testament, and since, as we have seen, that that book is
+much indebted to oriental notions for many of its dogmas, there is
+no way of accounting for this coincidence (that I know of), besides
+supposing the Devil of the New Testament to be of Persian origin.
+It is, however, in my power to make this coincidence still more
+striking from the words of Jesus himself, who says, (Matthew xiii.
+24), "The kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed
+in his field, but while men slept, his enemy (mark the expression)
+his enemy came, and sowed tares among the wheat; but when the
+blade sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares
+also. So the servants of the householder came near, and said unto
+him, ' Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? whence,
+then, hath it tares?' And he saith unto them, an enemy hath done
+this." You know the rest of the parable. The explanation of it is as
+follows:--"He who soweth the good seed is the Son of Man, and
+the field is the world; and the good seed are the sons of the
+kingdom, and the tares are the sons of the Evil One, and the enemy
+who sowed them is the Devil." Here you see, as far as it goes, a
+precise agreement with the doctrine of Zoroaster; and to complete
+the resemblance, you need but to recollect, that at the day of
+Judgment, according to the words of Jesus, the wicked go into the
+fire prepared for the Devil and his angels; and the righteous go into
+life eternal with the Son of God.
+
+But is there not a Satan mentioned in the Old Testament, and is he
+not there represented as an evil and malevolent angel? I think not.
+This notion probably arises from the habit of interpreting the Old
+Testament by the New. The Satan mentioned in the Old Testament,
+is represented as God's minister of punishment, and as much his
+faithful servant as any of his angels. The prologue to the book of
+Job certainly supposes that this angel of punishment, by office,
+appeared in the court of Heaven, nay, he is ranked among "the
+Sons of God." This Satan is merely the supposed chief of those
+ministers of God's will, whose office is to execute his ordered
+commands upon the guilty, and who may be sometimes, as in the
+case of Job, the minister of probation only, rather than of
+punishment; and there is no reason why he should be ashamed of
+his office more than the General of an army, or the Judges of the
+criminal courts, who, though they are not unfrequently ministers of
+punishment are not, therefore, excluded the royal presence; but on
+the contrary, their office is considered as honourable;--i. e.,
+punishment without malevolence, does not pollute the inflictor.
+Consider the story of the destruction of Sodom, Genesis xix.; of
+Egypt; Exodus xxii.; of Sennacherib, 1 Kings xxix. 35; also Joshua
+v. 13. The term Satan signifies an adversary, and is applied to any
+angel sent upon an errand of punishment For example, Numbers
+xxii. 23, "The Angel of the Lord stood in the way, for an adversary
+(literally, for a Satan) against Balaam, with his sword drawn in his
+hand." "Curse ye Meroz, saith the Angel of the Lord," whose
+office is to punish. So also Psalms xxxv. 5, "Let the Angel (of
+punishment) of the Lord chase them, (i. e., drive them before him
+in a military manner; pursue them:) let their way be dark and
+slippery, and the Angel of the Lord following them."
+
+2 Samuel xxiv. 16:--"The Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel--the
+angel (of punishment) stretched forth his hand and smote the
+people."--1 Chronicles xxi. 16:--"David saw the angel (of
+punishment) having a drawn sword in his hand."
+
+This notion is referred to, in the Apocryphal History of Susannah,
+verse 69. "The Angel of the Lord waiteth with his sword that he
+may cut thee in two."
+
+Thus we see, that the term Satan is in the Old Testament applied to
+any Angel of the Lord sent upon an errand of punishment. And the
+term itself is so far from being reproachful (for David is said, 1
+Samuel xxix. 4, to have been "a Satan to the Philistines,") that I
+am not sure, that if I had by me a Hebrew concordance, but I could
+point out places, where God himself is represented as saying, that
+he would be an adversary or a Satan to bad men and wicked
+nations. And though there is in the Old Testament a particular
+angel styled, by way of eminence, "The Satan," it is so far from
+being evident that he is an evil being, that I would undertake to
+give good reasons to prove that this distinguished angel is the real
+prototype, from whence the impostor Mahomet took the idea of his
+"Azrael," the "Angel of Death;" who, in the Koran, is certainly
+represented as being as much the faithful servant of God, as any of
+the Angelic Hosts.
+
+In fine, the doctrine of the Old Testament upon this matter may be
+thus expressed:--"These be spirits created for vengeance, which
+in their fury lay on sore strokes; in the time of destruction, they
+pour out their force, sad appease the wrath of him that made them.
+They shall rejoice in his (God's) commandment, and they shall be
+ready upon earth, when need is: and when their time is come, they
+shall not transgress his word." Ecclesiasticus xxxix. 28.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+A CONSIDERATION OF THE "GIFT OF TONGUES," AND
+OTHER MIRACULOUS GIFTS ASCRIBED O THE PRIMITIVE
+CHRISTIANS; AND WHETHER RECORDED MIRACLES ARE
+INFALLIBLE PROOFS OF THE DIVINE AUTHORITY OF
+DOCTRINES SAID TO HAVE BEEN CONFIRMED BY THEM.
+
+Paul, in his 1st Epistle to the Corinthians, speaks to them as
+possessing several spiritual gifts, conferred on them by his
+ministration; such as the gift of prophecy, discerning of spirits, and
+speaking in unknown tongues. He gives them directions about the
+proper use of their gifts, and speaks to them as absolutely
+possessing those gifts, with the utmost confidence. Dr. Paley, in his
+Defence of Christianity, lays great stress upon the manner in which
+Paul addresses the Corinthians upon these miraculous powers; and
+he considers it as an absolute proof of the truth of Christianity--
+because, he says, it is not conceivable that Paul could have had the
+boldness and presumption to speak to these men concerning the
+use and abuse of these gifts, if they really had them not.
+
+I am ready to confess, that this argument of Dr. Paley puzzled me;
+for though I was satisfied that Paul had imposed upon their
+credulity many irrelevant passages from the Scriptures as proofs of
+Christianity, yet I could not imagine that he could presume so
+much upon their stupidity, as to give them directions about the
+management of their miraculous powers, which being matters of
+fact known to themselves, therefore, if false, I conceived must
+place Paul in their minds in the light of a banterer, when he told
+them of gifts, which their own consciousness, I thought, must
+make them sensible they had not. I say I was puzzled with this
+argument, until I happened to meet with some extracts from
+Brown's "History of the Shakers," which convinced me at once,
+from the obvious likeness between these Shakers and the primitive
+Christians, that Paul might have written to the Corinthians "
+concerning their spiritual gifts," with perfect impunity.
+
+This Brown had been a Shaker himself, and while with them, he
+was as great a believer in his own and their gifts, as the Corinthians
+could be; and since it must be obvious, that the gifts of these
+Shakers are mere self-delusions, there is, then, in our own times an
+example of the gifts of the primitive Christians, which enables us
+to comprehend their nature and character perfectly well.
+
+"Many of them," (the Shakers) says Mr. Brown, "professed to have
+visions, and to see numbers of spirits, as plain as they saw their
+brethren and sisters, and to look into the invisible world, and to
+converse with many of the departed spirits, who had lived in the
+different ages of the world, and to learn and to see their different
+states in the world of spirits. Some they saw, they said, were
+happy, and others miserable. Several declared, that they often were
+in dark nights surrounded with a light, sometimes in their rooms,
+but more often when walking the road, so strong, that they could
+see to pick up a pin, which light would continue a considerable
+time, and enlighten them on their way. Many had gifts to speak
+languages, and many miracles were said to be wrought, and
+strange signs and great wonders shown, by the believers.
+
+And these poor creatures believed, and at this day do believe, all
+this. They are not, you will observe, artful impostors, for the
+Shakers are, certainly, a harmless and a moral people, and yet they
+confidently asserted (and continue to assert), that they had these
+miraculous powers of "discerning spirits, speaking with tongues,
+and doing great signs and wonders" Nevertheless, it must be
+evident, that these powers were conferred upon them only by their
+enthusiasm and heated imaginations.
+
+I have heard of the Shakers before, and have been informed, that
+those in New England are so convinced of their miraculous
+capabilities, that they have been known, in order to save their
+neighbours the trouble of applying to the tinman, charitably to
+offer to join the gaping seams of their worn-out tin coffee-pots, and
+other vessels, "without the carnal aid of solder," merely by a
+touch of their wonder-working fingers.
+
+Mr. Brown, in describing their mode of conduct, in their religious
+assemblies, unwittingly gives a striking exposition of the 1st
+Epistle to the Corinthians. He describes "the brethren and sisters"
+praying, singing, dancing, and preaching in known and unknown
+tongues, and sticking out their arms, and extatically following their
+noses round the church.
+
+He says, respecting such as speak in unknown tongues, "they have
+a strong faith in this gift, and think a person greatly favoured who
+has the gift of tongues; and at certain times, when the mind is
+overloaded with a fiery, strong zeal, it must have vent some way or
+other; their faith, or belief, at the time being in this, gift, and a will
+strikes the mind according to their faith, and then such break out in
+a fiery, energetic manner, and speak they know not what, as I have
+done several times. Part of what I spake at one time was--
+
+"Liero devo jerankemango, ad sileambano, durem subramo,
+deviranto diacerimango, jasse vah pe cri evanigalio; de vom grom
+seb crinom, os vare cremo domo."
+
+"When a person runs on in this manner for any length of time, I
+now thought it probable that he would strike into different
+languages, and give some words in each their right pronounciation,
+as I have heard some men of learning, who were present, say a few
+words, were Hebrew, three or four Greek, and a few Latin."
+
+In another place he gives an account of his maiden speech in an
+unknown tongue; and it is easy to conjecture how he came by his
+gift, by attending to what passed before he broke out. Here it is:--
+"We danced for near an hour, several turned round like tops, and,
+to crown all, I had a gift to speak in some other language; but the
+greatest misfortune was, that neither I, nor any other, understood
+what I said."
+
+My reader will not be surprized after this, at hearing them say, that
+the spectators of "these signs and wonders," instead of being
+properly affected, considered the performers as "out of their wits."
+
+Let us, now, compare this account with what Paul says upon
+similar subjects, in the 14th chapter of the 1st Epistle to the
+Corinthians. He advises them, in exercising their gifts, to a discreet
+use of them, as follows:--"He who speaketh in an unknown
+tongue, speaketh not to men, but to God, for no man understandeth
+him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries." Again: "For if
+the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to
+battle? So, likewise, unless ye utter by the tongue words to be
+understood, how shall it be known what is spoken, for ye will
+speak to the air?" And as others did not understand the
+Corinthians speaking in unknown tongues, so it seems, too, that the
+Corinthians themselves were in the same unfortunate predicament
+with the Shakers, in not knowing the meaning of what they
+themselves said on these occasions. This is clear from this
+argument of Paul:--"Wherefore, let him that speaketh in an
+unknown tongue, pray that he may interpret." Why, pray that he
+may interpret, if he understood himself? Does a man who speaks
+with understanding a foreign language, need to pray that he may be
+enabled to interpret what he says in his mother tongue? Surely
+every man who understands himself, can naturally do this? After
+more to the same purpose, Paul wisely concludes his argument by
+declaring, "that he would rather speak in the church five words
+with understanding, (i. e., knowing what he said) that he might
+instruct others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown
+tongue." And he fortifies his reasoning by this sensible remark, "If,
+therefore, the whole church come together into one place, and all
+speak in unknown tongues, and those that are unlearned, or
+unbelievers, come in, will they not say, that ye are mad?" as the
+spectators said of the Shakers.
+
+He advises them, therefore, to conduct their assemblies with less
+uproar than formerly, and exhorts them as follows:--"How is it,
+then, brethren, when you come together, hath each of you a psalm,
+hath he a doctrine, hath he an unknown tongue, hath he a
+revelation? Let all things be done to edifying. Now, if any man
+speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at most by three,
+and that in succession, and let one interpret; but if there be no
+interpreter, let such keep silence in the church, and let him speak to
+himself and to God. And let two or three prophets speak, and let
+the others discern. But if any thing be revealed to another who
+sitteth by, let the first keep silence. For ye may all prophecy, one
+by one, that all may learn, and all may be exhorted."
+
+I presume it will be needless to point out more particularly, the
+perfect correspondence between "the spiritual gifts" of the
+Corinthians, and those of the Shakers. And I would ask the
+venerable Paley, if it were now possible, whether an apostolical
+epistle of Ann Lee, William Lee, or Whitaker, (the spiritual
+mother and. fathers of the Shakers,) addressed to them, and
+seriously giving directions about the use of "their gifts of working
+miracles, and speaking with tongues," would be sufficient to prove
+that they really had those gifts? And, moreover, (to make the cases
+more analogous) suppose that the Shakers from this time become
+the dominant sect throughout the religious world, and kept the
+upper hand during a series of a thousand or two thousand years,
+taking especial care to collect and burn up every writing of their
+enemies and opposers. How should we, (supposing ourselves all
+the while invisible spectators of the thing), how should we pity our
+posterity, who, at the end of that period, should be gravely told by
+the learned and mitred advocates of Shakerism, that the miracles of
+the founders, and first followers of their religion were certainly
+true, for that they were honest and good men, with no motive to
+deceive, and had addressed letters to their first converts, wherein
+they make express mention of their possessing these gifts; and give
+in the simplest and most unassuming manner, directions for using
+them. Suppose, then, that our posterity, having been deprived by
+the prudential care of the old fathers of the then established church,
+of the means of detecting the fallacy which we possess; suppose
+that they should believe all this, and devoutly praise God every day
+for confirming the doctrines of his servants Lee and Whitaker, "
+with signs following"--how should we pity their delusion, and.
+what should we think of the unlucky authors of it.
+
+From all this, I think my reader must be sensible how extremely
+fallacious are all proofs of doctrines, pretended to be from God,
+derived from Miracles said to have been wrought in proof of their
+Divine authority.
+
+Miracles are related to have been performed in support of all
+religions without exception; even the followers of Mahomet,
+though he did not claim the power of working miracles, have said
+that he did. And they will tell you, that in proof of his mission, he,
+in the presence of hundreds, divided the moon with his finger, and
+put half of it in his pocket!*
+
+Speaking of the gift of healing diseases, which the Primitive
+Christians claimed. Dr. Middleton, in his Free Inquiry, observes--
+"But be that as it will the pretence of curing diseases, by a
+miraculous power, was so suc-cessfully maintained in the heathen
+world by fraud, and craft, that when it came to be challenged by
+the Christians, it was not capable of exciting any attention to it
+among those who themselves pretended to the same power; which,
+although the certain effect of imposture, was yet managed with so
+much art, that the Christians could neither deny nor detect it; but
+insisted always that it was performed by demons, or evil spirits,
+deluding mankind to their ruin; and from the supposed reality of
+the fact, they inferred the reasonableness of believing what was
+more credibly affirmed by the Christians, to be performed by the
+power of the true God. "We do not deny says Athenagoras, "that,
+in different places, cities, and countries, there are some
+extraordinary works performed in the name of idols, from which
+some have received benefit, others harm." And then he goes on to
+prove that they were not performed by God, but by demons.
+Doctor Middleton then proceeds, (p. 77.) "whatever proof, then,
+the primitive Church had among themselves, yet it could have but
+little effect towards making proselytes among those who pretended
+to the same gift; possessed more largely, and exerted more openly,
+than in the private assemblies of the Christians. For in the Temple
+of Esculapius, all kinds of diseases were believed to be publicly
+cured by the pretended help of that deity: in proof of which, there
+were erected in each temple columns, or tables of brass, and
+marble, on which a distinct narrative of each particular cure was
+inscribed." He also observes that--"Pausanias writes, ' that in the
+temple at Epidauras there were many columns anciently of this
+kind, and six of them remaining in his time inscribed with the
+names of men and women cured by the god, with "an account of
+their several cases, and the method of their cure; and that there was
+an old pillar besides, which stood apart, dedicated to the memory
+of Hippolytus, who had been raised from the dead!' Strabo, also,
+another grave writer, informs us, that these temples were
+constantly filled with the sick, imploring the help of the god: and
+that they had tables hanging around them, in which all the
+miraculous cures were described." Dr. Middleton then proceeds
+thus--"There is a remarkable fragment of one of these tables still
+extant, and exhibited by Gruter, in his collection, as it was found in
+the ruins of Esculapius' Temple, in the island of the Tyber, at
+Rome, which gives an account of two blind men restored to sight,
+by Esculapius, in the open view, and with loud declamations of the
+people, acknowledging the manifest power of the god!!" Upon
+which he remarks, that "the learned Montfaucon makes this
+reflection, ' that in this, are seen either the wiles of the Devil, or
+the tricks of Pagan priests, suborning men to counterfeit diseases,
+and miraculous cures.'" He then proceeds, (p.79)--"Now, though
+nothing can support the belief, or credit of miracles more
+authentically than public monuments erected in proof, and memory
+of them at the time they were performed, yet, in defiance of that
+authority, it is certain all these Heathen miracles were pure
+forgeries, contrived to delude the multitude; and, in truth, this
+particular claim of curing diseases miraculously, affords great
+room for such a delusion, and a wide field for the exercise of
+craft."
+
+I need not observe, that by far the greater part of the miracles
+recorded in the New Testament, are casting out devils, and healing
+diseases, powers claimed by the heathens as well as these
+Christians: and these miracles, (undoubtedly false) are as well, if
+not far better authenticated than those of the New Testament: for
+books may be forged, but public monuments of brass and marble
+are not so capable of being so: and these are always con-sidered
+as better evidence for facts than books. What then will the
+Christian say to this? for since these miracles, recorded on brass
+and marble, inscribed with the narratives of them almost
+immediately after the occurrence of them, are unquestionably Lies;
+what can he pretend to say of those recorded in books certainly
+written many years after the events they record, and, as will be
+proved hereafter, more than suspected to be apocryphal?
+And what would become of truth? and who would be able to
+distinguish truth from falsehood, in matters of religion, if attested
+miracles, such as these, are sufficient to establish the divine
+authority of doctrines said to be confirmed by them? Miracles are
+as numerous, and better authenticated on the part of Jupiter,
+Apollo, and Esculapius, than on the part of Christianity. They are
+strong on the part of Popery against Protestantism: for the Roman
+Catholic Churches in Europe are full of monumental records of
+miracles wrought by the Virgin Mary and the Saints, in favour of
+their worshippers. Nay, there never were miracles better proved, as
+far as human testimony could prove them, than the famous miracle
+mentioned by Gibbon in his History of the Roman Empire, where
+he relates the story of the Arian Vandals cutting out the tongues of
+a great number of orthodox Athanasians, who, strange to tell,
+preached as much to the purpose, in favour of the Trinity, without
+their tongues, as they did with them! Never was there a miracle
+better authenticated by testimony than this. It is mentioned
+by all the Christian writers of that age. It is mentioned
+by two contemporary Roman historians, one of whom lived in
+Constantinople, and who says he looked into the mouths of some
+of these confessors, who had in fact their tongues cut out entirely
+by the roots; and it is recorded in the archives of the Eastern
+Empire.
+
+Is not this testimony enough; and yet, is it sufficient to prove the
+doctrine of the Trinity? Is it adequate to prove, that "the ancient of
+days" became a little child; was born of a woman, suckled,
+*******, &c., &c.; and that "He who liveth for ever and ever,"
+was whipped, was hanged, and died upon the cross, and was buried?
+Can this miracle, well attested as it is, prove for truths, such
+strange, such shocking things as these?
+
+The miracles of the Abbe Paris, too, are proved to be true, as far as
+testimony can prove any thing of the kind. For they happened
+within a hundred years, were seen by many, and were sworn to
+before the magistrates; by some of the most respectable inhabitants
+of the city of Paris. How can men, who pretend to believe the
+miracles of the New Testament upon such meagre evidence as they
+have in their favour, consistently reject the miracles of the Abbe
+Paris? attested by evidence recent, respectable, and so strong, that
+to this day, the juggle, and the means by which so many
+respectable people were imposed upon, have never yet been
+thoroughly developed, and explained.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+APPLICATION OF THE TWO TESTS, SAID, IN
+DEUTERONOMY, TO HAVE BEEN GIVEN BY GOD, AS
+DISCRIMINATING A TRUE PROPHET FROM A FALSE ONE,
+TO THE CHARACTER AND ACTIONS OF JESUS.
+
+In the 18th chapter of Deuteronomy God says,--"The Prophet
+which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not
+commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other
+gods, even that Prophet shall die. And if thou say in thine heart,
+how shall we know (or distinguish,) the word which the Lord hath
+not spoken?" Here is the criterion. "When a Prophet speaketh in
+the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass; that
+is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken. That Prophet hath
+spoken presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him."
+
+Again, Deuteronomy 13, "If there arise among you a Prophet, or a
+dreamer of dreams, and give you a sign or a wonder (i. e. a
+miracle,) and the sign or wonder come to pass, whereof he spake
+unto thee saying, let us go after other gods, which thou hast not
+known, and let us serve them: thou shalt not hearken unto the
+words of that Prophet, or that dreamer of dreams; for the Lord
+your God proveth (or tryeth) you, to know whether ye love the
+Lord your God with all you heart, and with all your soul."
+
+And now Christian reader, I ask you what you think of miracles, or
+"signs and wonders," as proof of a divine mission, to teach
+doctrines novel and innovating, after such clear and unequivocal
+language as this, from such high authority? I am sure, that if you
+are a sincere lover of truth, you must certainly abandon that ground
+as untenable. For, from these direc-tions, the Jews were
+commanded these things#. 1. That the Prophet who presumes to
+speak a word, as from God, which God hath not commanded him
+to speak, must be put to death. 2. That the test, or criterion by
+which they are to discern a false prophet from a true one, is this:
+not his miracles, but the fulfillment of his words. If what he says
+comes to pass, he is a true prophet; if the event foretold does not
+take place, he has spoken presump-tuously, and must die the
+death. 3. "If any man arise in Israel," and advise, or teach them to
+worship any other besides the Eternal; and in proof of the divinity
+of his mission promise a sign, or a wonder, and in fact does bring
+to pass the sign or wonder promised, he is nevertheless, not to be
+hearkened to; but to be put to death. And these criteria given by
+God, or Moses, as the means whereby they might know a true
+Prophet from a false one, most exquisitely prove his wisdom and
+foresight. For if he had not expressly excluded miracles, or "signs
+and wonders," from being proof of the divinity of doctrines, the
+barriers which divided his religion from those of idolaters, must
+have been broken down; since, as we have seen, well attested
+miracles (meaning always by miracles, "signs and wonders,"
+brought to pass by human agency,) are related to have been
+performed in proof of the divinity of every religion under Heaven.
+But veritable prophecy is, and can he a proof proper only to a true
+Revelation, because none can know what is to come but God, and
+those sent by him. Accordingly, we find that the Jewish Prophets
+were not acknowledged as such, but on account of their foretelling
+the truth, or being supposed to do so.
+
+Thus, it is said, 1 Samuel iii. 20, "And all Israel, from Dan even
+to Beersheba, knew, that Samuel was established to be a Prophet
+of the Lord." Why? Because he performed miracles? No! he
+performed none. But he was known as a Prophet because "the
+Lord was with him, and let none of his words fall to the ground," i.
+e. fail of their accomplishment. The same, may be said of all the
+Hebrew Prophets, from Nathan to Malachi. For though Elijah and
+Elisha performed miracles, yet it was not in proof of their mission,
+for that was established before; but these miracles were occasional
+acts of beneficence, or protection, but were never considered, or
+offered by them as proofs of their being sent from God.
+
+These things being by this time, it is hoped, made plain and
+evident, let us now test the character of Jesus as a true Prophet, by
+the criteria, by Christians, and by the Jews, believed to be given by
+God. If his prophecies were fulfilled, and if he taught the worship
+of no other being besides the Eternal, he was, according to the Old
+Testament, a true Prophet. But if any of his prophecies were not
+fulfilled, or, if he taught the worship of any other Being besides the
+Eternal, he was not a true Prophet.
+
+And here it must be recollected, that those prophecies of Jesus
+only, can be brought forward in this question, which were
+committed to writing, before the event foretold came to pass; and
+therefore all Jesus' prophecies concerning the manner and
+circumstances of his death, &c., must be set aside, as all those
+events are allowed to have taken place before any of the Gospels
+were written; and of course it is not certain that Jesus did actually
+foretell them. This is acknowledged by Christians; and accordingly
+they confine themselves to bringing forward as conclusive
+evidence in their favour, his Prophecy of the Destruction of
+Jerusalem, and the events following. Here it is. Luke xxi. 21.
+"When ye shall see Jerusalem com-passed 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 which are in the counter, 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 which 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 of the Gentiles, until
+the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. And there shall be signs in
+the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars, and upon the earth
+distress of nations with perplexity, the sea and waves roaring,
+man's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those
+things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of the
+heavens shall be shaken. And then, shall they see the Son of Man
+coming in a cloud, with power, and great glory. And when these
+things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads;
+for your redemption draweth nigh. And he spake to them a parable,
+Behold the fig tree and all the trees. When they now shoot forth, ye
+see, and know of your own selves, that summer is now nigh at
+hand. So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know
+ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. Verily I say unto you,
+this generation shall not pass away till all be fulfilled. Heaven and
+earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away."
+
+Such is the prophecy, and on it I would remark, first, that what
+Jesus here foretells concerning Jerusalem did in fact come to pass.
+But that was not a fulfillment of his prophecy, but of Daniel's, who
+did, as is set down in the 7th chapter of this work, expressly
+foretell the utter destruction of the city and the temple. And it was
+from Daniel that Jesus obtained his know-ledge of the approach of
+that event. For he expressly cites Daniel, Matthew xxiv. 15; Mark
+xiii. 14; and you will please to observe reader, that he refers to him
+in this quotation from Luke, in the words, "these be the days of
+vengeance that all things which are written, may be fulfilled. So
+that in foretelling the destruction of Jerusalem he did no more than
+any Jew of that age, who attentively read their Scriptures, could
+have done, and. been no prophet either.
+
+2. It would have been better for his reputation as a Prophet, if he
+had stopped short where Daniel stopped. For what he goes on to
+foretell has not been fulfilled. For he proceeds to say, that "there
+shall be signs in the sun, and the moon, and the stars," &c. All this
+is taken from the 2nd chapter of Joel, who says that such things
+shall take place; not, however, at the destruction of Jerusalem, but
+in "the latter days," at the time of the restoration of Israel. So that
+here Jesus has been rather unlucky. For, in truth, there were no
+signs in the sun, and the moon, and the stars, at that time; neither
+was there upon earth any "great distress of nations," except in
+Judea. Nor were "the powers of heaven" shaken. Certainly, they
+did not see Jesus "coming in the clouds of heaven, with power,
+and great glory;" and most assuredly, that generation did pass
+away, and many others since, and "all these things" have not been
+fulfilled.
+
+I know very well, and have very often smiled over the contrivances
+by which learned Christians have endeavoured to save the credit of
+this prophecy. They say that--it is a figurative prophecy relating
+entirely to the destruction of Jerusalem, which did in fact take
+place in that generation; that the expressions about the "distress of
+nations," and "the sea and waves roaring," the "signs in heaven,"
+&c., are merely poetical; and that the shaking of the powers of
+heaven was merely the shaking and pulling-down the stones of the
+temple, figuratively called heaven; and that the glorious coming of
+Jesus "in the clouds of heaven, with power, and great glory,"
+meant merely, that he sent Titus, and the Romans to destroy,
+Jerusalem, or perhaps might have been an invisible spectator
+himself.
+
+The reader will easily see, that all this is nonsense. And the
+Commentator Grotius, after meddling a great while in this
+troublesome business, at length ventures to insinuate, that God
+might have suffered Jesus to be in a mistake about the time of his
+second coming, and to tell the Apostles what he did, for the sake of
+keeping up their spirits!
+
+But to annihilate the figurative hypothesis of these well-meaning
+Commentators at once, it will be only necessary to bring forward
+the testimony following. 1. The other Evangelists make an express
+distinction between the destruction of Jerusalem and the coming of
+Jesus; and not only so, but represent him as saying, that after that
+event, (i. e., the destruction of Jerusalem, "in those days," i. e., in
+the same era in which that event took place,) "the son of man shall
+come," &c. Witness for me, Mark, chapter xiii. 24:--"But in those
+days, after that tribulation, (i. e., the destruction of Jerusalem)
+shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,
+and the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven
+shall be shaken. And then shall they see the son of man coming in
+the clouds, with power and glory; and-then shall he send his
+angels, and shall gather his elect from the four winds, from the
+uttermost part of the earth, to the uttermost part of heaven Verily, I
+say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things
+be accomplished." This is decisive, and cannot be evaded.
+
+2. The Apostles and Primitive Christians believed that Jesus would
+come in that generation, as is evident from many passages of the
+New Testament. Paul's Epistles to the Thessalonians prove this,
+and contain an argument to them, intended to allay their terrors, or
+their impatience. John says in his first Epistle, chapter ii. 18,
+"Little children, it is the last hour; and as ye have heard that
+Antichrist should come, even now (or already) there are many
+Antichrists, whereby know that it is the last hour." Many passages
+of similar import might be brought forward. The meaning of it is
+this--It appears from Paul's 2nd Epistle to the Thessalonians, that
+just before the second coming of Jesus, there was a personage to
+appear who was to be called Antichrist, i. e., an enemy to the
+Messiah. (This notion they got from the interpretation given by the
+angel of the vision of the "little horn" in Daniel.) John, therefore,
+seeing many Antichrists, i. e., opposers of the pretensions of Jesus,
+considered the sign, and thus knew that it was ''the last hour," and
+that his master was soon to appear.
+
+It appears from the 2nd Epistle of Peter, chapter iii., that there
+were many in his days who scoffed at his master, saying,
+contemptuously, "where is the promise of his coming?" And Peter
+replies by telling them that their contempt is misplaced, for that
+"one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand
+years as one day." John, in the 1st chapter of Revelations, says,
+concerning the coming of Jesus, "Behold he cometh with clouds,
+and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him, and
+all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him." And in the last
+chapter of Revelations he represents Jesus, as saying, "Surely I
+come quickly"!
+
+In short, the Apostles, when they wanted to encourage their
+desponding proselytes, they usually did it with such words as
+these,--"Be anxious for nothing, the Lord is at hand."--"Behold!
+the Judge standeth before the day."--"Be patient, therefore,
+brethren, (says James) for the coming of the Lord cometh nigh."
+And this persuasion did not end, as might be expected, with that
+century; for we find that the heathens frequently laughed at the
+expec-tations of the Primitive Christians, who, till the fourth
+century, never gave up the expectation of the impending advent of
+their master. Nay, so rooted was the idea in their minds, that,
+understanding the words of Jesus concerning John, "if I will that
+he tarry till I come, what is that to thee," to mean that that disciple
+should not die, but survive till the glorious appearance of his lord,
+so far were they from being convinced of the vanity of their
+expectations by that Apostle's actual decease, that they insisted,
+that, though he was buried, he was not dead, but only slept, and
+that the earth over his body rose and fell with the action of his
+breathing!!
+
+It is now hardly necessary to add, that Jesus did not at all answer
+the character of a true prophet, when tested by the criterion laid
+down in Deuteronomy for ascertaining the truth of the claims of a
+prophet to a divine mission.
+
+Let us now see, whether he taught the worship of other beings
+beside the Eternal, for if he did, the other test laid down in
+Deuteronomy will also decide against him. Now, did he not
+command the worship of himself in these words, "All men should
+honour the Son, even as they honour the Father?" This, certainly,
+commands to render to Jesus the same homage which is rendered
+to God. I might prove that his disciples did worship him, by
+referring to many passages in the New Testament, especially in the
+Revelations, in the latter part of which, Jesus is represented as
+saying, "I am the Alpha, and the Omega, the beginning, and the
+end, the first, and, the last," terms applied to the Eternal in Isaiah,
+where God says, (as if in express opposition to such doctrine) that
+"there is no God with him: He knows not any; there was none
+before him, neither shall there be any after him." I could also
+adduce many passages relating to the Eternal of Hosts, quoted
+from the Old Testament, and applied in the New to Jesus. Witness
+"the following:--John xii. 41, alludes to Isaiah vi. 5; Revelations
+i. 8,.11, 17, and ii. 8, to Isaiah xli. 4, xliii. 11, and xliv. 6; John
+xxi. 16, 17, and Revelations ii. 23, to 1st Kings viii. 39; John vii.
+9, Jeremiah xi. 20, and xvii. 20, Revelations xx. 12,. to Isaiah xl.
+10; and, to crown all, Jesus, in Revelations i. 13, 14,15, 16, 17, is
+described in almost the same words as is the Supreme God; "the
+Ancient of Days" in Daniel, 7th chapter; and were there not other
+proofs in abundance to this purpose, this resemblance alone would
+decide me.
+
+I now leave it to the cool judgment of the reader, whether Jesus
+prophecied truly, or did, or did not, teach the duty of paying
+religious homage to other beings besides God? and, if so, it is
+consequent, according to the tests by Christians acknowledged to
+be given by God himself in Deuteronomy, that if Jesus was not
+sent by, or from, him; for if he was--God's own words would be
+contradicted by God's own deeds.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+EXAMINATION OF THE EVIDENCE, EXTERNAL AND
+INTERNAL, IN FAVOR OF THE CREDIBILITY OF THE
+GOSPEL HISTORY.
+
+In the preceding chapters, I have taken the New Testament as I
+found it, and have argued upon the supposition that Jesus and the
+apostles really said, and reasoned, as has been stated. I will now
+endeavour to show, by an examination of the authenticity of the
+four gospels, that it is not certain that they were really guilty of
+such mistakes as are related of them in those books.
+
+*The life and doctrines of Jesus, and his followers, are contained in
+the pieces composing the volume called the New Testament. The
+genuineness of the books, i. e., whether they were written by those
+to whom they are ascribed, must be judged of, from the external
+testimony concerning them, and from internal marks in the books
+themselves; for the miraculous acts therein, and therein only,
+contained and related, cannot prove the truth and authenticity of
+the books, because the authority and credibility of the books
+themselves must be firmly established, before the miracles related
+in them can reasonably be admitted as real facts.
+
+Now, the external evidence in favour of these books, is the
+testimony of those men called "the fathers;" and as the value of
+testimony depends upon the character of the witnesses, it would be
+proper, first, to state as much as, can be learned of these men. As
+time will not permit me to adduce all that might be said upon this
+subject, I shall here only take upon me to assert, that they were
+most credulous, superstitious, and weak men, and, what is worse,
+made no scruple of falsifying, to support and favour what they
+called "the cause of truth;" for they were writers of apocryphal
+books, attributing them to the apostles, and, moreover, great
+miracle-mongers, who vamped up stories of prodigies to delude
+their followers, and which they themselves knew to be false. I say,
+I take upon me to assert this; and to confirm and establish this
+accusation, I refer the reader to Dr. Middleton's "Free Enquiry," a
+learned Christian, who, therefore, had no interest to misrepresent
+this matter; and he will there find these accusations amply verified,
+and traits of character proved upon them. By no means favourable
+to the credibility of their testimony.
+
+The first of these Fathers whose testimony is usually adduced to
+prove the authenticity of the Gospels, is Papias, a Disciple of John.
+The character given of him by Eusebius is, that "he was a
+superstitious, and credulous man." And this is easily proved by
+recording some of the stories, concerning Jesus, and his followers,
+written by this Papias in a book extant in the time of Eusebius. One
+of these stories is mentioned by Irenoeus, who says, that Papias
+had it from John; who, according to Papias, said, that Jesus said,
+that--" The days shall come, in which there shall be vines, which
+shall severally have ten thousand branches; and every one of these
+branches shall have ten thousand lesser branches; and every one of
+these branches shall have ten thousand twigs; and every one of
+these twigs shall have ten thousand clusters of grapes; and every
+one of these grapes being pressed shall yield two hundred and
+seventy-five gallons of wine. And when a man shall take hold of
+any of these sacred bunches, another bunch shall cry out "I am a
+better bunch, take me, and bless the Lord by me!" There's a
+Munchausen for you, reader! Well! this Papias is the first witness
+who lived after Matthew, who has spoken of his Gospel. He lived
+about the year 116 after Jesus. And what does he say of it? Why
+this. "Matthew composed a writing of the Oracles (meaning
+without doubt the Doctrines of the Gospel,) in the Hebrew
+Language, and every one interpreted them as he was able." So far
+as this Testimony goes it is positive evidence, that the only Gospel
+of Matthew extant in 116, was extant in Hebrew; and there was
+then no translation, of it, for "every one interpreted as he was
+able." The present gospel called of Matthew was then not written
+by him, for it is in Greek. And that it has not at all the air of being
+a translation is asserted by most of the learned. As it stands then, it
+was not written by Matthew: and that it cannot be a translation of
+Matthew's Hebrew, is not only plain from the circumstance of its
+style, and other marks understood by Biblical Critics, but can also
+be proved by another story related by this same Papias concerning
+the manner of the death of Judas. "His body, and head (says
+Papias) became so swollen, that at length he could not get through
+a street in Jerusalem, where two chariots might pass abreast, and
+having fallen to the ground, he--burst asunder.
+
+Now though this ridiculous story is undoubtedly false, yet it is not
+credible that Papias, who had so great a reverence for the Apostles
+as to collect and gather all "their sayings," would so flatly by his
+story of the death of Judas contradict the story of Matthew, if the
+Hebrew Gospel of Matthew contained that part of the Greek
+Gospel of Matthew which relates the manner of Judas' Death.
+
+Justin Martyr lived after Papias, in the middle of the second
+century; and though he relates many circumstances agreeing in the
+main with those recorded in the Gospels, and appears to quote
+sayings of Jesus from some book or books; yet it is substantially
+acknowledged by Dr. Marsh, the learned annotator on Michaelis's
+Introduction, that these quotations are so unlike the words, and
+circumstances in the received Evangelists to which they appear to
+correspond, that one of two things must be true; either, that Justin,
+who lived 140 years after Jesus, had never seen any of the present
+Gospels; or else, that they were in his time in a very different state
+from what they now are.
+
+The next Christian father who mentions the Gospel of Matthew is
+Irenoeus, who says also that "Matthew wrote his gospel in the
+Hebrew Language." The character of Irenoeus is discoverable
+from his work against the Heresies of his time, to that I refer the
+Reader, who will find him to have been a zealous, though a very
+credulous, and ignorant man; for he believed the story of Papias
+just quoted, and many others equally absurd. He however furnishes
+this important intelligence, that in the second century, the Christian
+world was overrun with heresy, and a swarm of apocryphal, and
+spurious Books were received by many as genuine.
+
+The next witness in favour of the Gospel is Tertullian, who lived in
+the latter end of the second century. And the soundness of his
+Judgment, and his capability to distinguish the genuine Gospels
+from among a hundred apocryphal ones, and above all his regard
+for truth, may be judged of from these proofs given by himself. He
+asserts upon his own knowledge, "I know it," says he--"that the
+corpse of a dead Christian, at the first breath of the prayer made by
+the priest, on occasion of its own funeral, removed its hands from
+its sides, into the usual posture of a supplicant; and when the
+service was ended, restored them again to their former situation."
+(Tertul. de anima c. 51.) And he relates as a fact, which he, and all
+the orthodox of his time credited, that--"the body of another
+Christian already interred moved itself to one side of the grave to
+make room for another corpse which was going to be laid by it."
+And it is on the testimony of such men as these, that the
+authenticity of the gospels entirely depends as to external
+evidence; for these are all the witnesses that can be produced as
+speaking of them, who lived within two hundred years after Jesus:
+Three men, (for Justin cannot be reckoned as a witness in favour of
+the gospels.) Three men, who are all of them evidently credulous,
+and two of whom are certainly *****.
+
+To convince a thinking man that histories recording such very
+extraordinary, ill supported, improbable facts as are contained in
+the gospels are divine, or even really written by the men to whom
+they are ascribed, and are not either some of the many spurious
+productions with which (as we learn from Irenoeus) that early age
+abounded, calculated to astonish the credulous, and superstitious,
+or else writings of authors who were themselves infected with the
+grossest superstitious credulity; of what use can it be to adduce the
+testimony of the very few writers, of the same, or next succeeding
+age, when the very reading of their works shews him that they
+themselves were tainted with that same superstitious credulity, of
+which are accused the real authors of the New Testament?
+
+It is an obvious rule in the admission of evidence in any cause
+whatsoever, that the more important the matter to be determined
+by it is, the more unsullied and unexceptionable ought the
+characters of the witnesses to be. And when no court of Justice, in
+determining a question of fraud to the amount of six pence, will
+admit the' testimony of witnesses who are themselves notoriously
+convicted of the same offence of which the defendant is accused;
+how can it be expected, that any reasonable, unprejudiced person,
+should admit similar evidence to be of weight, in a case of the
+greatest importance possible, not to himself only; but to the whole
+human race?
+
+But there is still a greater defect in the testimony of those early
+writers, than their superstitious credulity, I mean their disregard of
+honour, and veracity, in whatever concerned the cause of their
+particular system.
+
+Though Luke asserts, that many (even before he wrote his histories
+for the use of Theophilus,) had written upon the same subject:
+(who of course must have been of the Jewish nation,) and many
+more must have been written afterwards, whose writings must have
+been particularly valuable yet so singularly industrious have the
+fathers, and succeeding sons of the orthodox church been, in
+destroying every writing upon the subject of Christianity, which
+they could not by some means, or other, apply to the support of
+their own unholy superstition, that no work of importance of any
+Christian writer, within the three first centuries, hath been
+permitted to come down to us, except those books which they have
+thought fit to adopt, and transmit to us as the canon of apostolic
+scripture; and the works of a few other writers, who were all of
+them, not only converts from Paganism, but men who had been
+educated and well instructed in the Philosophic Schools of the
+latter Platonists, and Pythagoreans.
+
+The established maxim of these schools was, that it was not lawful
+only, but commendable to deceive, and assert falsehoods for the
+sake of promoting what they considered as the cause of truth and
+piety, and the effects of this maxim, which was fully acted upon by
+both orthodox Christians, and heretics, produced a multiplicity of
+false, and spurious writings wherewith the second century
+abounded.
+
+Nay, they did not spare from the operation of this maxim, the
+scriptures themselves. For they stuffed their copies of the
+Septuagint with a number of interpolated pretended prophecies
+concerning Jesus, and his death upon the cross; forgeries as weak,
+and contemptible, and clumsy in themselves, as they were impious
+and wicked. Whoever desires to see a number of them; may find
+them in the dispute, or dialogue of Justin with Trypho the Jew;
+where he will see the simple Justin bringing them out passage after
+passage against the stubborn Israelite, who contents himself with
+coolly answering, that these marvellous prophecies were not to be
+found in his Hebrew bible!
+
+There is also another well known, incontrovertible proof of the
+deceit and falsehood of the leading Christians of early times, of
+which every person in the least conversant with the ecclesiastical
+history of those times must be convinced--their pretended power
+of working miracles! On this subject I shall say nothing, but refer
+the reader to the work of Dr. Middleton already mentioned, for an
+ample account of their lying wonders, which they imposed as
+miraculous upon the simple people.
+
+With regard to the internal evidence for the authenticity of the
+writings; composing the New Testament, it is still less satisfactory
+than the external evidence. And this may be well believed, when
+the reader is informed that the great Semler, after spending his life
+in the study of ecclesiastical history; and antiquities, which he is
+allowed to have understood better than any before him, affirmed to
+his astonished coreligionists, that, except the Gospel of John, and
+the Apocalypse, the whole New Testament was a collection of
+forgeries written by the partizans of the Jewish and Gentile parties
+in the Christian church, and entitled apostolic, in order the better to
+answer their purpose. This opinion has been in part adopted in
+England, by a learned and shrewd clergyman named Evanson, who
+has almost demonstrated, that the Greek Gospel of Matthew was
+written in the second century after the birth of Jesus by a Gentile.
+For he proves that it could not be written by a Jew, on account of
+geographical mistakes, and manifest ignorance of Jewish customs.
+He also gives good reasons for rejecting the authenticity of some
+of the epistles. In short, he has poured such a flood of light upon
+the eyes of his terrified brethren, as will, ere long, no doubt enable
+them to see a little clearer than heretofore.
+
+He gives several instances of geographical blunders in Matthew. I
+shall mention only one. Matthew says, in the 2nd chapter, that
+when Joseph, the husband of Mary, returned from Egypt, "hearing
+that Archelaus reigned in Judea, he was afraid to go thither, and
+therefore turned aside, into the parts of Galilee." Now this, as will
+appear from a map of Palestine, is just like saying, "a man at
+Philadelphia, intending to go to the State of New York, on his route
+heard something which made him afraid to go thither, and
+therefore he turned aside--into Boston!"
+
+That the author of that Gospel was ignorant of Jewish customs will
+be evident from the following circumstances. He says Jesus told
+Peter, that before the cock crew he would deny him thrice; and that
+afterwards, when Peter was cursing and swearing, saying "I know
+not the man! immediately the cock crew." Now it is unfortunate
+for the credit of this story, that it is well known, that in conformity
+with Jewish customs, at that time subsisting, no cocks were
+allowed to be in Jerusalem, where Jesus was apprehended. This is
+known, and acknowledged by learned Christians, who have
+extricated themselves from this difficulty, by proving that the
+crowing of the cock, here mentioned, does not mean, as it appears
+to mean, absolutely the crowing of a cock, but that it means--what
+dost thou think reader? why it means---the sound of a trumpet!!*
+
+According to Luke, as soon as Jesus was dead, Joseph of
+Arimathea went to Pilate, and begged his body, and hasted to bury
+it, because the Sabbath (which began at sunset,) drew on; that his
+female disciples attended the burial; observed how the body was
+placed in the sepulchre, and returned and prepared spices and
+ointments to embalm it with, before the Sabbath commenced; and
+then rested the Sabbath day, according to the commandment.
+
+The pretended Matthew, however, tells us, that "when the even
+was come (i. e., when the Sabbath day was actually begun,) Joseph
+went to beg the body--took it down, wrapped it in linen, and
+buried it; and that Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, were
+sitting over against the sepulchre. From the time that this writer has
+thought fit to allot for the burial of Jesus, it is evident, that he was
+not only no Jew, but so ignorant of the customs of the Jews, that
+he did not know that their day always began with the evening, or
+he would never have employed, Joseph in doing what no Jew
+would, nor dared to have done, after the commencement of the
+Sabbath. He takes no notice at all of the preparation made by the
+women, mentioned by Luke; for that would not have agreed with
+the sequel of his story. But to make up for that omission, he
+informs us of a circumstance not mentioned at all by the other
+Evangelists. For he tells us that "on the next day which followeth
+the day of preparation, the Chief Priests, and Pharisees came
+together unto Pilate," &c. "The next day which followeth the day
+of preparation!!"--such is the periphrasis that he uses for the
+Sabbath day! It is well known that among the Jews it was, and is,
+customary to prepare, and set out, in the afternoon of the Friday,
+all the food and necessaries for every family during the Sabbath
+day. Because they were forbidden to light a fire, or do any servile
+work, on that day; and therefore Friday was very properly called
+"the day of preparation." But it appears to me next to impossible,
+that any Jew would call the sabbath "the day that followeth the day
+of the preparation." Yet this singular historian so denominates it,
+and moreover, goes on to inform us, that the chief priests, and
+Pharisees went to Pilate to ask for a guard to place round the
+sepulchre, till the third day, to prevent his disciples from stealing
+away his body, and then saying, that he was risen from the dead;
+and that after obtaining the governor's permission, "they, went,
+and secured the sepulchre by sealing the stone that was rolled
+against it; and setting a watch." Though there appears nothing very
+strange in this account to a Christian, yet, I assure my reader, that
+to the Jews, it ever did, and must appear utterly incredible. For it is
+wonderful! that the Jewish rulers, and the rigorous Pharisees
+should in so public a manner thus violate the precept for observing
+the Sabbath day; for the penalty of this action of theirs was no less
+than death! More wonderful still is it that they should have so
+much better attended to, and comprehended the meaning of the
+prediction of Jesus to his disciples, than his own disciples did; and
+most wonderful of all, that a Roman Proconsul should consent to
+let his troops keep watch round a tomb, for fear it should be
+thought that a dead man was come to life again.
+
+But though our author's history of these extraordinary facts is
+neither consistent with reason, and probability, nor with the other
+histories of the same event; it proceeds in pretty strict conformity
+to the manner in which it sets out. For to convince us still more
+fully that the author was totally ignorant of the mode of computing
+time in use among the Jews, and habituated to that in use among
+the Greeks and Romans? He reckons the Sabbath to last till day
+light on Sunday morn, and says, (chapter xxviii.), "that in the end
+of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn, towards the first day of the
+week," the two Marys before mentioned, came, (not as in Luke, to
+embalm the body, for, with a guard round the sepulchre, that would
+have been impracticable, but) to see the sepulchre. "Whilst they
+were there, the author tells us, there was another great earthquake,
+and an angel descended, rolled away the stone, and sat upon it, at
+whose sight, the soldiers trembled, and were frighted to death. But
+to prevent the like effect of his appearance upon the women, he
+said unto them, fear not ye, for I know that ye seek Jesus who was
+crucified. That the women as well as the soldiers were present at
+the descent of this angel, appears not only from there being nobody
+else, by whom these uncommon circumstances could have been
+related, but also by the pronoun personal ye, inserted in the original
+Greek, which in that language is never done, unless it be
+emphatically to mark such a distinction, or antithesis, as there was
+on this occasion, between them and the Roman guard. Here,
+however, the author is inadvertently inconsistent with himself, as
+well as with the other evangelists; and forgetting that the sole
+intent of rolling away the stone, was to open a passage, absolutely
+necessary to the body of Jesus to come forth out of the sepulchre;
+and that if he had risen and come forth after the angel had rolled it
+away, both the women and the soldiers must have seen him rise, he
+makes the angel bid them look into the sepulchre, to see--that he
+was not there! and tell them that he was already risen; and that he
+was gone before them into Galilee, where they should see him! In
+their way, the author adds, Jesus himself met the women, and said,
+"be not afraid, go tell my brethren to go into Galilee, and there
+shall they see me." He says that the eleven apostles went
+into Galilee, to an appointed mountain, and saw him there;
+notwithstanding that some of them were so incredulous, as not
+to believe even the testimony of their own senses.
+
+In the interim, whilst the women were going to the apostles, the
+author tells us, "some of the watch;" some strictly disciplined
+Roman soldiers left their station to bring an account of what had
+passed, not to the Governor their General, nor to any of their own
+officers--but to the chief priests of the Jews! that they assembled a
+council of the elders upon the occasion, and after deliberating what
+was to be done, induced the soldiers, by large bribes, to run the risk
+of being put to death themselves, upon the highly improbable
+chance of the Jewish rulers having influence sufficient with the
+Roman Proconsul to prevail on him to submit to the indelible
+infamy of neglecting the discipline of the army under his
+command, to such a degree, as to suffer an entire guard of soldiers
+avowedly to sleep upon their station, without any notice being
+taken of it! and to say "his disciples came and stole him away
+whilst we slept." This incredible story is another instance how
+necessary it is, that those who do not adhere closely to the truth,
+should have extraordinary good memories to enable them to keep
+clear of absurdities, or palpable contradictions in their narrations.
+For, consider the circumstances. How were the tongues of these
+soldiers to be restrained among the inquisitive inhabitants of a
+large city, (at that time too, greatly crowded on account of the
+paschal feast,) not only in their way to the chief priests; but also
+during the whole time while the priests assembled the Sanhedrim,
+and were deliberating what was to be done? And if that part of the
+watch, who, the author says, came to inform the chief priests, were
+poltroons enough for the sake of a bribe to undergo so shameful a
+disgrace to themselves, as well as to hazard the resentment of their
+General, how could they undertake that all their comrades who
+remained at the sepulchre would do the same? and to what
+purpose could the Jewish council bribe some, without a possibility
+of some one knowing how the rest of the corps would act? And
+even supposing all these difficulties surmounted, and that the
+whole guard had agreed, and persisted in saying, "his disciples
+stole him away while we slept," of what service could that be to
+the Jewish rulers? For if the guards were asleep, they could be no
+evidence to prove that the body was taken away; and it might be
+just as probable that he might rise to life again while the watch was
+asleep, as it was if no watch had been set.
+
+In a word, it appears from the numbers of Latin words in Greek
+characters, which this book contains; from the numerous
+geographical blunders; and the author's evident ignorance of the
+customs of the Jews: from the form of Baptism enjoined at the
+conclusion, which was not in use in the first century, as appears
+from the form mentioned as then used in the Acts; from the Roman
+Centurion's being made to call Jesus "a Son of a God," which
+words in the mouth of a Pagan could only mean that he must be a
+Demigod, like Bacchus, Hercules, or Esculapius: it is clear that this
+Gospel is the patched work composition of some convert from the
+Pagan schools. At any rate, his gospel flatly contradicts the others
+in several important particulars in the history of the Resurrection.
+For he represents the apostles as being commanded by the Angel
+and by Jesus, to go to Galilee, in order to see him; and that they
+went there, and saw him on a mountain. Yet it is said by the other
+Evangelists, see Luke, ch. 24, and Acts 1, that he appeared on the
+saw day of the resurrection to Peter at Jerusalem; to two other
+disciples as they went to Emmaus; and on the succeeding night to
+this whole congregation of the Disciples, not in Galilee, but in
+Jerusalem, and that by his express command the apostles did not
+go into Galilee, but remained at Jerusalem till the feast of
+Pentecost.
+
+But as this author differs from the other Evangelists, so they also
+differ among themselves. And the latter part of the last chapter of
+Mark is so irreconcilable to the other historians of the resurrection,
+that in many Manuscripts it is found omitted. And that gospel ends
+in them, at the eighth Terse of the last chapter. And Mr. West, in
+his attempted reconciliation of their accounts of the resurrection, is
+obliged to make a number of postulates, to take a number of things
+for granted, which might be denied: and after elaborately arranging
+the stage for the performance, he sets the women, and the disciples
+a driving backwards, and forwards, from the city to the sepulchre,
+and from the sepulchre to the city, and so agitated that they
+forgot to know each other when they cross in their journeys.
+Notwithstanding his great ingenuity in reconciling contradictions,
+in which he beats Surenhusius himself, he makes but a sorry piece
+of work of it after all. He had much letter have let it alone; for his
+work upon the resurrection which he calls "the main fact of
+Christianity," displays these contradictions in so glaring a light,
+that the very laboured ingenuity of his methods of reconciliation,
+inevitably, suggests "confirmation strong" to the keen-eyed
+reader, of that irreconcilability which the author endeavors to
+refute. What rational man therefore can reasonably be required to
+believe the story of a resurrection pretended to have been seen and
+known, only by the party interested in making it believed! when in
+their testimony even, they do not agree but contradict each other?
+
+There is really an immense number of discrepancies and
+contradiction in the New Testament which the acumen of learned
+Christians has of late discovered, and pointed out to the world.
+And Mr. Evanson, in his work on "the Dissonance of the four
+Evangelists," has collected a mass enough, I should think, to terrify
+the most determined Reconciliator that ever lived. It is a little
+remarkable, that Mr. Evanson has asserted, and has proved, the
+spuriosness of the Gospel ascribed to John, which Semler spared,
+in the general wreck which he made of the authenticity of the
+other books of the New Testament. Mr. Evanson says, in his
+examination of it, what has been said before, that the speeches
+ascribed to Jesus in it, are most incoherent, contradictory, and
+falsified by well known facts. And indeed the author of the book
+itself, sterns to be sensible of this; for he very naturally represents
+the Jews repeatedly accusing Jesus of being mad. "He hath a
+devil, and is mad, (say they to the multitude) why hear ye him?"
+and so in other places. Mr. Evanson considers this work as the
+composition of a converted Platonist or of a" Platonizing Jew; the
+latter we think to be the most correct opinion; since it is evident
+that the author of that gospel had the works of Philo at his fingers'
+ends, which is more than can be supposed of John. As Semler
+excepted the Gospel of John only, so Mr. Evanson excepts the
+Gospel of Luke only from the charge of spuriousness: though he
+says that it is grossly corrupted, and interpolated. From these
+corruptions and interpolations, he endeavours to purify it; in which
+attempt wo think he has had very indifferent success. In short, his
+work has proved, (what he did not himself contemplate) that the
+providence of the God of truth has taken care, that so many
+absurdities and contradictions, should be contained in these books
+of the New Testament which were written to establish a mistake, as
+must I conceive, satisfy any man, who has them once pointed out
+to him, that the doctrine of those books is not, and cannot be from
+God.
+
+But it may be still asked, "how did this notion of the resurrection
+of Jesus become current?" "How can you account for the apostles
+believing such a thing?" We answer sincerely--we cannot
+absolutely ascertain. The Jews of that age have left no documents
+upon this business. The origin of the Christian religion is so
+extremely obscure, that Josephus takes no notice of it at all, (for
+the passage relating to Christian affairs now found in Josephus are
+notorious interpolations.) And it is evident from the Chronological,
+and other mistakes about Jesus, in the Talmud, that the curiosity of
+the learned Jews had never been interested by Christianity, till so
+long after Jesus, that the memory of him, and his, was almost
+entirely lost among that nation. And it appears from the last
+chapter of the Acts, that when Paul was received by the Jews at
+Rome, he had not been considered by the Jews of Jerusalem as of
+sufficient importance, as to cause them to warn their brethren of
+the Dispersion concerning him; for these Jews tell Paul, on his
+enquiring, that they had not received any letters concerning him
+from Jerusalem. So that we can offer nothing but conjecture, to
+solve the difficulty.
+
+It has been said by some, (and it is by no means an hypothesis
+destitute of plausibility) that Jesus was indeed crucified, but did
+not actually die on the cross. It is evident that Pilate was extremely
+desirous to save his life; and is it impossible that the Roman
+soldiers, who crucified him, had secret orders? Consider the
+ciscumstances. He was crucified at our nine in the morning, and
+was taken from the cross at about three in the afternoon. Now,
+crucifixion is not a death which kills men in six hours, and men
+have been known to have lived fastened to the cross for more than
+two days. Consider, besides, that when the soldiers gave the coup
+de grace to the two robbers, that they did not break the legs of
+Jews. This, the author of the Gospel according to John says, they
+did, in order to fulfill a prophecy; but I leave it to my reader,
+whether it is not more likely that they did so in order to fulfill
+secret orders? But to make up for that omission, the author adds,
+that they pierced Jesus with a spear. Now, besides that this is not
+mentioned by the other Evangelists, the very manner in which this
+circumstance is mentioned, and eagerly affirmed by him, looks as
+if the author was aware of the likelihood of a suspicion of the fact
+we are trying to prove probable, and that he wrote this in order to
+obviate it. And after all, the gospel according to John was certainly
+not written by him, and, therefore, what the author of it observes,
+may be true, or not. You will observe also, reader, that the body of
+Jesus was given by Pilate to his friends immediately; a favour
+never vouchsafed by the Romans in such a case, except "speciali
+gratia." You will observe also, that the body was taken down by
+his friends, no doubt with great care; probably was washed from
+the blood, and rubbed perfectly dry; and was deposited in the cave
+or sepulchre, with a large quantity of spices, and aromatics. Now
+suppose that Jesus only swooned on the cross, and that his naked
+body, after being cleansed as aforesaid, was laid in the new
+sepulchre where the air was cool and fresh, wrapped in a
+considerable quantity of dry linen, together with many spices, and
+aromatics, what could be more opportune, or proper, to stimulate
+his drowsed senses, and recall the unfortunate sufferer to life?
+Suppose then, that on awaking from his trance, he disengaged
+himself, and took himself away as secretly as possible, might not
+all this have happened? Is it impossible? And does it not look
+plausible? It is not improbable that he might after this have
+shewed himself privately to his particular disciples; for you will
+recollect, reader, that the appearances of Jesus to his disciples after
+his crucifixion were to them, only, and for the most part in the
+night. And it is by no means impossible, that the twelve apostles,
+who were, I doubt not, well meaning men, though extremely
+simple and credulous; I say it is thus by no means impossible, that
+they might have believed sincerely, that their master had risen
+from the dead. This hypothesis must not be considered only as the
+brain work of an unbelieving sceptic; for it has been (in its main
+principle) advanced, and elaborately defended by Dr. Paulus the
+professor of divinity in the principal University in Bavaria.
+
+It is true, that it may be said, that this is all hypothesis, and mere
+conjecture. We allow it; it is true; and we assert that the account
+given by the Evangelists is no better, nay, worse than conjecture,
+as it is a mere forgery of the second century! For no man, we think,
+who knows all that has been made known by biblical critics, in
+later years, will now seriously contend for the literal truth of that
+account. [See Appendix A.]
+
+If all this will not satisfy the man that "believeth all things," our
+last resource is to demy the act of this resurrection. And this we
+can do with perfect sang froid, as we know very well that it cannot
+be proved; for the only testimony in favour of it, are the four
+evangelists; four witnesses, the like of whose written testimony,
+with reference thereto, (being as contradic-tory as that is,) to say
+no more, certainly would not, we believe, be received in a modern
+court of justice, to settle the fact about a debt of five dollars. And if
+it be still urged, that such a story is unparalleled, and therefore
+respectable; we say that it is not unparalleled; as we have an
+account of a false Messiah, who applied the prophecies to himself,
+had a forerunner, and more than two hundred thousand followers,
+who publicly acknowledged him for the Messiah, raised
+contributions, and supported him magnificently. He too, quoted the
+prophets as speaking concerning him, and was said to have worked
+divers miracles, and was ultimately put to death by the order of the
+Grand Seignor at Constantinople; yet nevertheless was said to have
+been, seen again by certain of his followers, who wrote books in
+favour of that fact, and of his Messiahship. Many learned Rabbins
+enrolled themselves as his disciples, and wrote controversial works
+in his cause, as Paul did. And to conclude, his party was not
+entirely extinct within a very few years. Yet, notwithstanding all
+this, he was an impostor; and no man now believes the stories of
+his miracles, or his resurrection; notwithstanding that both are
+affirmed by more recent, more learned, and more respectable
+testimony than is, or can be, offered, in favour of the Messiahship
+of Jesus. The name of this famous impostor was Shabathai Tzevi,
+and his history is given by Basnage, in his history of the Jews, [and
+by other writers of Jewish history. See on this subject the Sepher
+Torath Hakenaoth, page 2. The learned Mr. Zedner has extracted
+the life of Shabetai Tsebi from tins book, and published it, with a
+German translation, in his Auswahl historischer Stucke aus
+Hebraischen Schriftstellern, Berlin, 1840.--D.]
+
+I wish the Christian reader to peruse carefully, and cooly, that
+account; and if he then persists in believing the history given by
+the evangelists; with such faith as his, he certainly ought to be able
+to move mountains; and I have no doubt at all, that with such a
+good natured understanding as his, if he had found in his New
+Testament the story of Jonah misquoted, and and by a small
+transposition a la mode de Surenhusius, representing that "Jonah
+swallowed the whale!" this sturdy "confidence in things not seen,"
+would, I doubt not have enabled him without difficulty to swallow
+the prophet with the whale in his belly.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+OF THE PECULIAR MORALITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT,
+AS IT AFFECTS INDIVIDUALS.
+
+I have already expressed my respect for the character of Jesus. And
+I again declare, that I request it may be distinctly understood, that
+by nothing that I have said do I intend to impeach, or to deprecate
+his moral character. Whatever may have been his defects, or
+whatever were his foibles, they must have been the faults of his
+mind, not of his heart. For, though he may hare been a mistaken
+enthusiast; yet I do firmly believe, That, with such a character as
+he is represented to have possessed, he could not have been either
+a hypocrite, or a wilful impostor. And if it be replied, that I have,
+by some observations on his conduct, indirectly impeached the
+perfection of his moral character; I answer, that if so, it is certainly
+my misfortune, but it may not be his fault. To explain this
+observation, I request the reader to recall to mind, that Jesus wrote
+nothing himself! that the only accounts we have of him, are
+contained in books, probably apocryphal, certainly not generally
+known till after the middle of the second-century from his birth.
+The gospels now extant do not appear to have been known to
+Justin Martyr; and the earliest fathers, in their writings, generally
+quote traditions concernng Jesus, instead of histories. Since these
+things are so, who knows, but that the authors of the histories of
+him now extant, have attributed to him words and actions of which
+he was guiltless. We know how prone mankind are to invent
+falsehoods concerning eminent men; for instance, Mahomet
+expressly disclaimed the power of working miracles, and yet the
+writings of his early followers ascribe hundreds to him. Why may
+it not be possible then, since Jesus wrote nothing himself, that
+these books ascribe to him words and actions he neither spake nor
+performed? God grant that this may one day be proved! For I
+should rejoice to find the meek, gentle, and amiable man of
+Nazareth proved guiltless of the follies and impieties attributed to
+him in the New Testament as I find it, and to reason concerning the
+works and words of Jesus, as I find them there expressed, yet I
+would earnestly request the reader to consider me willing and
+desirous to exempt the author, or rather the cause of the Christian
+religion, from the reproach of the sentiments I am bound by my
+regard for one God, and his attributes, to express for the system
+itself. Yes! I can in my own mind separate Jesus from his religion
+and his followers. I read with admiration many of his beautiful
+parables. I shall ever contemplate his mildness, and benevolence
+with respect; and I peruse, with pity, the recital of his sufferings,
+and cruel death. All this I have done, and I believe I shall ever do;
+but I cannot! I cannot, in effect, deny the one living and true God,
+and renounce my reason, and common sense, by believing all the
+contradictory and strange doctrines contained in the New
+Testament.
+
+Having unburthened my mind upon this subject, and frankly
+expressed my sentiments and feelings with regard to the character
+of Jesus; I hope I may now be allowed (without incurring the
+charge of maliciously exposing him, or the twelve apostles, to
+reproach) to state my opinions with regard to the merit of the
+moral maxims, ascribed to him and them, in the New Testament.
+And I again caution the reader, that he is not obliged to lay to his,
+or their, charge, the mischievous consequences that originated
+from acting upon these maxims and principles, since it is by no
+means impossible that they may have been falsely ascribed to him
+and to them.
+
+Now then, let us attend to the subject of the chapter, viz., the moral
+maxims ascribed to Jesus. These moral maxims consist of 1st,
+Those which were adopted by him from the Old Testament. 2d,
+Those of which he himself is described as the author. With the
+consideration of those of the first class I shall not trouble the
+reader, but shall devote this chapter to the examination of those
+which are supposed to have originated from him. These are, 1st, '
+Do to others what you would that others should do to you.' 2d, '
+Resist not the injurious person; but if a man smite thee on one
+cheek, turn to him the other also.' 3d, If a man ask thy cloak, give
+him thy coat also.' 4th, ' If thou wouldest be perfect, sell all that
+thou hast, and give to the poor; and come follow me.' 5th, ' Unless
+a man hate his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and
+possessions, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.'
+6th, ' Take no thought for the morrow.'
+
+With regard to the first of these maxims, it does not belong to
+Jesus, as the author. It is found in the book of Tobit, chapter iv.
+15, and it was a maxim well known to the Rabbins. It is found in
+the Talmud verbatim. "What thou wouldest not have done to thee,
+do not thou to another." (Tal. Bab. Schabbat. fol. 31.) So also
+Hillel addressed a proselyte thus, "What is hateful to thee, do not
+thou to thy neighbour." Several other expressions of Jesus were, it
+appears from the Talmud, proverbial expressions in use among the
+Jews. For instance, the original of that saying recorded Matthew
+vii. 2. "With whatsoever measure ye mete," &c., is found in the
+Talmud of Babylon (Sanhedrim fol. 100, Sotah, chapter 4, 7, 8,9.)
+"With whatsoever measure any one metes it shall be measured to
+him. So also the original of that expression of "Cast out the beam
+out of thine own eye, and then thou shalt see clearly to cast the
+mote out of thy brother's eye is to be found in the Talmud*.
+
+What is called by Christians "the Lord's Prayer," is merely a few
+clauses taken from Jewish prayers, and put together. Very many
+instances of a similar nature to these might be produced; but, as I
+must be brief, the reader is referred for further satisfaction to the
+works of Lightfoot, where he will learn, by extracts from Jewish
+writings, the source, and meaning of many more of the sayings of
+Jesus.
+
+I now proceed to the most disagreeable part of the subject, viz.:
+The consideration of the other maxims mentioned, which, it must
+be allowed, do belong to Jesus, or at least to the New Testament,
+since they are the peculiar moral principles of Christianity, and the
+honour of them can be challenged by, I believe, no other religion.
+
+These precepts are so extremely hyperbolical, that they are not,
+and cannot be perfectly observed by any Christian, who does not
+detach himself completely from the business of society; and these
+maxims, (which, as I said before, are the only parts of the morality
+of the New Testament, which are not borrowed,) never have been
+obeyed by any but the primitive Christians; and by the Monks, and
+Anchorets; for even the Quakers and Shakers, eminent as they are
+in Christian morality, have never been able to come quite up to the
+self denial required by the New Testament.
+
+Indeed, the moral maxims peculiar to Christianity are
+impracticable, except by one who confines his wealth to the
+possession of a suit of clothes, sad wooden platter, and who lives
+in a cave, or a monastery. They bear the stamp of enthusiasm upon
+their very front, and we have always seen, and ever shall see, that
+they are not fit for man: that they lift him out of the sphere in
+which God designed him to move; that they are useless to society,
+and frequently produce the most dangerous consequences to it. In a
+word, in these maxims we find commands, the fulfillment of
+which, is impossible by any man who is a husband, a father, or a
+citizen.
+
+It is an outrage to human nature, and to common sense, to order a
+virtuous man, in order to reach perfection, to strip himself of his
+property; to offer the other cheek to receive a new outrage; not to
+resist the most unjust violence, injury, and insult; not to defend
+himself, or his property, when "sued at the law;" to quit his house
+and goods, and to hate his parents, and brethren, and wife, and
+children, for the sake of Jesus; to refuse and reject innocent
+pleasures; to deny himself lawful enjoyments, appointed by the
+Creator to make the existence of man a blessing to himself and
+others.
+
+Who does not see in these commands the language of enthusiasm
+of hyperbole? These maxims! are they not directly fitted to
+discourage, and debase a man? to degrade him in his own eyes, and
+those of others? to plunge him into despair? And would not the
+literal fulfillment of them prove destructive to society? What shall
+we say of that morality which orders the heart to detach itself from
+objects, which God, and reason, and nature order it to love? To
+refuse to enjoy innocent and lawful happiness,--what is it but to
+despise the benefits of God? What real good can result for society
+from these melancholy virtues, which Christianity regards as
+perfections? Will a man become more useful to society when his
+mind is perpetually inquieted by imaginary terrors, by mournful
+thoughts, which prevent him from fulfilling the duties he owes to
+his family, his country and those with whom he is connected?
+
+It may be safely said, that enthusiasm is the base of the morality of
+Christianity; I say, the morality of Christianity, meaning thereby,
+not the morality of those called Christians, but the morality
+expressed, and required in the New Testament. The virtues it
+recommends, are the virtues caricatured, and rendered extravagant;
+virtues which divide a man from his neighbour, and plunge him in
+melancholy, and render him useless, and unhappy In this world we
+want human virtues, not those which make a man a misanthrope.
+Society desires, and wants virtues that help to maintain it, which
+gives it energy and activity. It wants virtues which render families
+industrious, and united; and which incite, and enable every one to
+obtain lawful pleasures, and to augment the general felicity. But
+the peculiar virtues of the New Testament, either debase the mind
+by overwhelming fears, or intoxicate it with visionary hopes, both
+which, are equally fitted to turn away men from their proper duties.
+
+In truth, what advantages can society derive from those virtues
+styled by Christians, Evangelical? which they prefer to the social
+virtues, the real and the useful, and without which, they assert, a
+man cannot please God, Let us examine these vaunted perfections,
+and let us see of what utility they can be to society, and whether
+they really merit the preference which is given them by their
+advocates.
+
+The first of these Christian virtues, which serves as a base for all
+the others, is faith. It consists in believing the truth of dogmas, of
+absurd fables, which Christianity (according to the catechisms)
+orders its disciples to believe--dogmas, as absurd and impossible
+as a square circle, or a round triangle--from which we see, that
+this virtue exacts an entire renunciation of common sense; an
+assent to incredible facts, and a blind credulity in absurd dogmas,
+which, yet, every Christian is required to believe, under pain of
+damnation.
+
+This virtue, too, though necessary to all men, is, nevertheless, the
+gift of heaven! the effect of special grace. It forbids doubt and
+examination; it "forbids a man the right to exercise his reason; it
+deprives him of the liberty of thinking, and degrades him into a
+bearded baby.
+
+This faith vanishes when a man reasons; this virtue cannot sustain
+a tranquil scrutiny. And this is the reason why all thorough going
+Christians are naturally, and, consequently, the enemies of science.
+This miraculous faith, which "believeth all things," is not given to
+persons enlightened by science and reflection, and accustomed to
+think. It is not given but to those who are afraid to think, lest they
+should offend God.
+
+The next Christian virtue which flows from the first, is hope,
+founded upon the promises which the New Testament makes to
+those who render themselves miserable in this life. It nourishes
+their enthusiasm, it makes them "forget the things that are on earth,
+and reach forward unto the things" which are in another world. It
+renders them useless here below, and makes them firmly believe
+that God will recompense in heaven, the pains they have taken to
+make themselves miserable on earth. How can a man, occupied
+with such expectations of heavenly happiness, concern himself at
+all with, or for, the actual and present happiness of those around
+him, while he is indifferent as to his own? And how can he help
+this, when he believes that "friendship with the world is enmity
+with God?"
+
+The third virtue is charity. We have elsewhere said, that if
+universal love or charity means only general benevolence, and a
+desire to makes others happy, and to do them good, all this is
+commanded by reason and the ancient revelation; but if by this
+precept it is commanded to love those who hate, oppress or insult
+us, we do not at all scruple to assert, that the thing is impossible,
+and unnatural. For, though we can abstain from hurting our
+enemy; or even can do him good, we cannot really love him. Love
+is a movement of the heart, which is governed and directed by the
+laws of our nature, to those whom we think worthy of it, and to
+those only.
+
+Charity, considered as general benevolence of disposition, is
+virtuous and necessary. It is nothing more than a feeling which
+interests us in favour of our fellow beings. But how is this feeling
+consistent with the peculiar doctrines of the gospel? According to
+its maxims, it is a crime to offer God a heart, whoso affections are
+shared by terrestrial objects. And besides, does not experience
+show, that devotees obliged by principle to hate themselves, are
+little disposed to give better treatment to others?
+
+We should not be surprised that maxims, originating with
+enthusiasm, should aim at, and have the effect of, driving man out
+of himself. In the delirium of its enthusiasm, this religion forbids a
+man to love himself. It commands him to hate all pleasures but
+those of religion, and to cherish a long face. It attributes to him as
+meritorious, all the voluntary evils he inflicts upon himself. From
+thence originate those austerites, those penances, destructive to
+health; those cruel privations by which the inhabitants of the
+monastic cell kill themselves by inches, in order to merit the joys
+of heaven. Now, how can good sense admit that God delights in
+seeing his creatures torment themselves?
+
+It may be said to all this, perhaps, that this is mere declamation, for
+Christians now a days do not torment themselves, but live as
+comfortable as others. To this I answer that Christianity is to be
+judged not by what Christians do, but by what it commands them
+to do. Now, I presume it will not be denied that the New Testament
+commands its professors to renounce the world, to be dead to the
+world, to "crucify the flesh with its passions, and desires."
+Certainly these directions were literally complied with by the
+primitive Christians; and, in doing so, they acted consistently. In
+those times, the deserts, the mountains, the forests were peopled
+with perfect Christians; who withdrew from the world, deprived
+their families of support, and their country of citizens, in order to
+lead unmolested "the divine life." It was the New Testament
+morality that spawned those legions of monks and cenobites, who
+thought to secure the favour of heaven, by burying their talents in
+the deserts, and devoting themselves to inaction and celibacy.
+
+And at this very day we see these very same things in those
+Christian countries, which are truly faithful to the principles of
+their religion.
+
+In fine, Christianity seems from the first, to have taken pains to set
+itself in point blanc opposition to nature, and reason. If it admits
+and includes some virtues ordered and appointed by God, good
+sense, and universal experience; it drives them beyond their
+bounds into extravagance. It preserves no just medium, which is
+the point of perfection. Voluptuousness, adultery and debauchery
+are forbidden by the laws of God and reason. But Christianity not
+content with commanding, and encouraging marriage, as did the
+Old Testament, must forsooth go beyond it, and therefore
+encourages celibacy, as the state of perfection God says, in
+Genesis, "it is not good that man should be alone. I will make a
+companion for him." And he blessed all his creatures, saying, "
+increase and multiply." But the gospel annuls this law, and
+represents a single life to be most pleasing, to the very being,
+whose very first command was, "increase and multiply"! It advises
+a man to die without posterity, to refuse citizens to the state, and to
+himself, a support for his old age.
+
+"It is to no purpose to deny that Christianity recommends all this; I
+say, it substantially does! and I boldly appeal,--not to a few
+Protestant Divines,--but to the New Testament; to the Homilies
+of the Fathers of the Church; to the History, and Practice of the
+Primitive Christians; to the innumerable Monasteries of Europe,
+and Asia; to the immense multitudes who have lived, and died
+hermits; and, finally, (because I know very well, the Protestant
+divines attribute these follies to the influence of Platonism,
+Pythagoranism, and several other isms upon pure Christianity) I
+appeal to living evidence now in the world, to the only
+thoroughgoing Christians in it, viz., to the Society of the Shakers,
+who I maintain, and can prove, to be true, genuine imitators of the
+Primitive Christians, and a perfect exemplification of their
+manners, and modes of thinking. I adduce them the more
+confidently, because, being simple, and unlearned, their character
+has been formed by the spirit of the New Testament, and perfectly
+represents the effects of its principles fully carried out, and acted
+upon. They never heard of Platonism, or of Pythagoras in their
+lives, and, consequently, the polemic tricks, and evasions, which
+have been, as hinted just now, resorted to by Protestant divines, to
+shift from the shoulders of Christianity to those of Plato or
+Pythagoras, the obnoxious principles we have been considering,
+are of no use in this case, as, whatever the characters of these
+Shakers may be, they were formed by the New Testament, and by
+nothing else; and I believe, that every scholar in ecclesiastical
+history, who reads Brown's history of the Shakers, will be
+immediately and powerfully struck with the resemblance
+subsisting between them, and the Christians of the two first
+centuries.
+
+As examples of the effects of those precepts of Christian morality,
+which command us to hate father, and mother, and sister, and
+brother, for the Bake of Jesus, take the following extracts from the
+history referred to.
+
+"According to their faith, natural affection must be eradicated; and
+they say they must love all equally alike, as brothers, and sisters in
+the gospel. It would exceed the limits of this work to give a
+particular account of the various schemes that have been contrived,
+to destroy all natural affection and social attachment between man
+and wife, parent and child, brothers and sisters; especially towards
+such as have left the society. Two instances that occurred about
+this time, as specimens of others, may suffice. A mother, who had
+renounced the faith, (i. e. left the society,) come to Niskeuna to
+see, her daughter. Eldress Hannah Matterson told the daughter to
+go into the room to her carnal mother, and say, ' What do you
+come here for? I don't want you to come and see me with your
+carnal affections!' 'The mother being grieved, replied, 'I did not
+expect that a daughter of mine would ever address me in that
+manner.'
+
+'The daughter, in obedience to what she was taught, replied again,
+'You have come here with your carnal fleshly desires, and I don't
+want to see you,' and left her mother."
+
+"Some time after, one Duncan Shapley, who had belonged to the
+society, called to see Abigail, his sister, at Niskeuna, whom he had
+not seen for six or seven years; but he was not admitted: he waited
+some time, being loath to go away without seeing her. At last she
+was ordered to go to the window and address him in the language
+of abuse and scurrility. The words she made use of, it would be
+indecent to mention. For this she was applauded, and that in the
+author's hearing, when he belonged to the society."
+
+This man gives a very curious account how the elders treated "
+their babes," in their spiritual nursery; but I shall notice only one or
+two examples, which illustrate what I have advanced concerning
+the natural hostility of the spirit of the New Testament towards
+science. "I know of several, who, soon after they joined the
+Church, have been counselled by the Elders to dispose of their
+books; and have accordingly done it. Elder Ebenezer being at my
+house one day, on seeing a number of books, he said--'Ah!
+Thomas must put away his books if he intends to become a good
+believer.'
+
+As an instance of its effects upon the human understanding, take
+the following:--"A short time after, being at a believer's house,
+at eleven o'clock at night, they all having retired to rest, and I
+laying awake in a dry well finished room, in which was a stove and
+fire, there fell a large drop of water on my temples; on
+examination, I could not discover where the water came from. I
+told the believers of it in the morning."
+
+"One said, ' Ah! it is a warning to you respecting your unbelief.'
+
+"I then assigned some inconclusive reason, how the drop might
+have become formed in the room, and its falling."
+
+"One replied, 'Ah! that is the way you render a natural reason for
+the cause of every thing, and so reason away your faith and
+yourself out of the gospel.'"
+
+As another proof, that genuine Christianity discourages marriage,
+and considers celibacy as the only state of perfection, the Shakers
+allow of no marriages at all.
+
+Thus you see that, among these people, to become a "good
+believer," you must insult your parents, revile your brother, depise
+learning, and never render a "natural reason" for any thing, lest
+you should "reason away your faith, and yourself out of the
+gospel."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+ON THE PECULIAR MORALITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT,
+AS IT AFFECTS NATIONS AND POLITICAL SOCIETIES.
+
+After having seen the uselessness, and even the danger, to
+individuals, of the perfections, the virtues, and the duties, which
+Christianity peculiarly commands; let us now see whether it has a
+more happy influence upon politics; or whether it produces real
+happiness among the nations with whom this religion is
+established, and the spirit of it faithfully observed. Let us do so,
+and we shall find, that wherever Christianity is established and
+obeyed, it establishes a set of laws directly opposed to those of a
+well ordered national society; and it soon makes this disagreement
+and incompatibility distinctly to be felt.
+
+Politics are intended to maintain union and concord among the
+citizens. Christianity, though it preaches universal love, and
+commands its followers to live in peace; yet, by a strange
+inconsistency, consequentially annihilates the effect of these
+excellent precepts, by the inevitable divisions it causes among its
+followers, who necessarily understand differently the Old and New
+Testaments, because the latter is not only irreconcilably
+contradictory to the former, but it is even inconsistent with itself.
+From the very commencement of Christianity, we perceive very
+violent disputes among its founders and teachers; and through
+every succeeding century, we find, in the history of the Church,
+nothing but schism and heresy. These are followed by persecutions
+and quarrels, exceedingly well adapted to destroy this vaunted
+spirit of concord, said by its defenders to be peculiar to Christianity;
+and the existence of which is, in fact, impossible in a religion
+which is one entire chaos of obscure doctrines and impracticable
+precepts. In every religious dispute, both parties thought that God
+was on their side, and, consequently, they were obstinate and
+irreconcilable. And how should it have been otherwise, since they
+confounded the cause of God with the miserable interests of their
+own vanity? Thus, being little disposed to give way on one part or
+the other, they cut one another's throats; they tormented, they burnt
+each other: they tore one another to pieces; and having
+exterminated or put down the obnoxious sects, they sung Te Deum.
+
+It is not my intention to pursue, in this place, the horrid detail of
+ecclesiastical history, as connected with that of the Roman empire.
+Mr. Gibbon has exhibited in such colours this dreadful record of
+follies, and of crimes, that it is difficult to see how the maxim of
+judging the tree by its fruit, will not fatally affect the cause of the
+Christian religion. I refer to Mr. Gibbon's history as a cool and
+impartial narrative; for I am well satisfied that, so far from having
+reason to complain of him, the advocates of Christianity have very
+great reason, indeed, to thank him for his forbearance, since, with
+his eloquence, he might have drawn a picture that would have
+made humanity shudder. For, throughout the whole history, if a
+man had wished to know what was then the orthodox faith, the best
+method of ascertaining it, would have been, undoubtedly, to ask, "
+What is the catechism of this public executioner."
+
+The Christian religion was, it is evident from his history, the
+principal, though by no means the only cause of the decline and
+fall of the Roman empire. Because it degraded the spirit of the
+people, and because it produced monks and hermits in abundance,
+but yielded no soldiers. The heathen adversaries of Christianity
+were in the right when they said, that "if it prevailed, Rome was no
+more!" The Christians would not serve in the armies of the
+emperor, if they could possibly avoid it. They justly considered the
+profession of a soldier, and that of a Christian, as incompatible.
+Celsus accuses them of abandoning the empire, under whose laws
+they lived, to its enemies. And what is the answer of Origen to this
+accusation? Look: at his pitiful reply! He endeavours to palliate
+this undutiful refusal by representing that--"the Christians had
+their peculiar camps, in which they incessantly combatted for the
+safety of the emperor and empire, by lifting up their right hands--
+IN PRAYER!!" (See Origen contra Celsum, Lib. 8, p. 437.) This is
+a sneaking piece of business truly! But Origen could have given
+another answer, if he had dared to avow it, which is, that his
+co-religionists, in his time, had not ceased to expect their master
+momentarily to appear; and, of course, it little mattered what
+became of the emperor, or the empire. This notion was the
+principal engine for making proselytes; and it was by this
+expectation that many were frightened into baptism.
+
+That Christianity was considered incompatible with the military
+profession, is evident from many passages of the fathers. And one
+of them, I believe, Tertullian, ventures to insinuate to the
+Christians in the legions, the expediency of deserting, to rid
+themselves of "their carnal employment." Nay, to such a height did
+this spirit prevail, that it never stopped till it taught the Roman
+youth in Italy the expedient of cutting off the thumbs of their right
+hands in order to avoid the conscription, and that they might be
+allowed to count their beads at home in quiet.
+
+If we examine, in detail, the precepts of this religion, as they affect
+nations, we shall see, that it interdicts every thing which can make
+a nation flourishing. We have seen already the notion of
+imperfection which Christianity attaches to marriage, and the
+esteem and preference it holds out to celibacy. These ideas
+certainly do not favour population, which is, without contradiction,
+the first source of power to every state.
+
+Commerce is not less obnoxious to the principles of a religion
+whose founder is represented as denouncing an anathema against
+the rich, and as excluding them from the kingdom of heaven. All
+industry is equally interdicted to perfect Christians, who are to
+spend their lives "as strangers, and pilgrims upon earth," and who
+are "not to take care of the morrow."
+
+Chrysostom says, that "a merchant cannot please God, and that
+such a one ought to be chased out of the church."
+
+No Christian, also, without being inconsistent, can serve in the
+army. For a man, who is never sure of being in a state of grace, is
+the most extravagant of men, if, by the hazard of battle, he exposes
+himself to eternal perdition. And a Christian who ought to love his
+enemies, is he not guilty of the greatest of crimes, when he inflicts
+death upon a hostile soldier, of whose disposition he knows
+nothing: and whom he may, at a single stroke, precipitate into hell?
+A Christian soldier is a monster! a non-descript! and Lactantius
+affirms, that "a Christian cannot be either a soldier, or an accuser
+to a criminal cause." And, at this day, the Quakers, and
+Mennonites refuse to carry arms, and, in so doing, they are
+consistent Christians.
+
+Christianity declares war against the sciences; they are regarded as
+an obstacle to salvation. "Science puffeth up." says Paul. And the
+fathers of the church, St. Gregory, St. Ambrose, and St. Augustine
+denounce vehemently astronomy, and geometry. And Jerome
+declares, that he was whipped by an angel only for reading that
+Pagan Cicero.
+
+It has been often remarked, that the most enlightened men are
+commonly bad Christians. For independent of its effects on faith,
+which science is exceedingly apt to subvert, it diverts the Christian
+from the work of his salvation, which is the only thing needful. In
+a word, the peculiar principles of Christianity literally obeyed,
+would entirely subvert from its foundations every political society
+now existing. If this assertion is doubted, let the doubter read the
+works of the early Fathers, and he will see that their morality is
+totally incompatible with the preservation and prosperity of a state.
+He will see according to Lactantius, and others, that "no Christian
+can lawfully be a soldier." That according to Justin, "no Christian
+can be a magistrate." That according to Chrysostom, "no Christian
+ought to be a merchant" And that according to several, "no
+Christian ought t study." In fine, joining these maxims together
+with those of the New Testament, it will follow, that a Christian,
+who as he is commanded, aims at perfection, is a useless member
+of the community, useless to his family, and to all around him. He
+is an idle dreamer, who thinks of nothing but futurity; who has
+nothing in common with the interests of the world, and according
+to Tertullian "has no other business but to get out of it as quietly as
+possible."
+
+Let us hearken to Esebius of Caesarea, and we shall abundantly
+discover the truth of what has been said.
+
+"The manner of life, (says he,) of the Christian church, surpasses
+our present nature, and the common life of men. It seeks neither
+marriage, nor children, nor riches. In fine, it is entirely a stranger
+to human modes of living. It is entirely absorbed in an insatiable
+love of heavenly things. Those who follow this course of life, have
+only their bodies upon earth, their whole souls are in heaven, and
+they already dwell among pure and celestial intelligences, and they
+despise the manner of life of other men" Demonstrat. Evang. vol.
+ii. p.29.
+
+Indeed a man firmly persuaded of the truth of; Christianity cannot
+attach himself to any thing here below. Every thing here is "an
+occasion of stumbling, a rock of offence." Every thing here, diverts
+him from thinking of his salvation. If Christians in general,
+happily, for society, were not inconsistent, and did not neglect the
+peculiar precepts of their religion, no large society of them could
+exist; and the nations enlightened by the gospel would turn
+hermits, and nuns. All business, but fasting and prayer, would be at
+an end. There would be nothing but groaning in "this vale" of
+tears;" and they would make themselves, and others, as miserable
+as possible, from the best of motives, viz; the desire to fulfill what
+they mistakenly conceived to be the will of God.
+
+Is this a picture taken from the life, or is it a fanciful representation
+of something different from the peculiar morality of the New
+Testament? This serious question demands a serious answer. If it
+be such as it is represented above and such it really appears to me,
+and such I have unfortunately experienced its operation to be on
+my own mind--I would respectfully ask--can such a religion,
+whose peculiar principles tend to render men hateful, and hating
+one another: which has often rendered sovereigns, persecutors, and
+subjects, either rebels, or slaves: a religion, whose peculiar moral
+principles and maxims, teach the mind to grovel, and humble, and
+break down the energies of man; and which divert him from
+thinking of his true interests, and the true happiness of himself and
+his fellow men. Can such a religion, I would respectfully ask, be
+from God, since where fully obeyed, it would prove utterly
+destructive to society?
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+A CONSIDERATION OF SOME SUPPOSED ADVANTAGES
+ATTRIBUTED TO THE NEW, OVER THE OLD, TESTAMENT;
+AND WHETHER THE DOCTRINE OF A RESURRECTION,
+AND A LIFE TO COME, IS NOT TAUGHT IN THE OLD
+TESTAMENT; IN CONTRADICTION TO THE ASSERTION,
+THAT "LIFE AND IMMORTALITY WERE BROUGHT TO
+LIGHT BY THE GOSPEL."
+
+From the preceding chapters, you may judge, reader, of the justice
+and truth of the opinion, that "the yoke of Christian morality is
+easy, and its "burthen light;" and also of the veracity and fairness
+of that constant assertion of divines, "that Jesus came to remove
+the heavy yoke of the Mosaic Law, and to substitute in its room
+one of easier observance."--Whether this, their assertion, be not
+rash, and ill founded, I will cheerfully leave to be decided by
+any cool and thinking man, who knows human nature, and is
+acquainted with the human heart. I say, I would cheerfully leave it
+to such a man, "whether the Mosaic Law, with all its numerous
+rites, and ceremonial observances, nay, with all "the (ridiculous)
+traditions of the Elders," superadded, would not be much more
+bearable to human nature, and much easier to be observed and
+obeyed, than such precepts as these, "Sell all thou hast, and give it
+to the poor." "If a man ask thy cloak, give him thy coat also."
+"Resist not the injurious person, but if a man smite thee on one
+cheek, turn to him the other also." "Extirpate and destroy all carnal
+affection, and love nothing, but religion." "Take no thought for
+to-morrow;"--I am confident that the decision would be given in
+my favour; and have no doubt, that with thinking men, the contrary
+opinion would be instantly rejected with the contempt it merits.
+
+Whether the Mosaic Code be the best possible, or really divine, is
+of no consequence in this inquiry, and is with me another question
+from that of its inferiority to that of the New Testament. I do by no
+means assert the former; but have no hesitation to give my opinion,
+after a pretty thorough examination of the subject, that the
+reflections of Paul, and those usually thrown out against the
+Mosaic Code by Theologians, when comparing it with that of the
+New Testament, in order to deprecate the former, appear to me
+extremely partial and unjust; and so far from true, that I think, that
+the ancient law has the advantage over the precepts of the New
+Testament, in being, at least, practicable and consistent.*
+
+Another unfounded reproach which Theologians, in order to
+magnify the importance of the New Testament, cast upon the Old,
+is this: They say, that the Old Testament represents God only as
+the tutelary Deity of the Israelites, and as not so much concerned
+for the rest of mankind. To show that this is a very mistaken
+notion, and to manifest that the Eternal of the Old Testament is
+represented therein, not as the God of the Jews only, but also of the
+Gentiles, I refer to these words:--"The Lord thy God is God of
+gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty and a terrible; who
+regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward. He doth execute the
+judgment of the fatherless, and widow, and loveth the stranger, in
+giving him food and raiment. Love ye, therefore, the stranger.
+Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him, for ye know the
+heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
+Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously
+between a man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him.
+One law shall be to him that is home born, and to the stranger that
+sojourneth among you. The stranger that dwelleth with you shall
+be as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself. I am
+the Lord your God."
+
+Indeed, so little truth is there in the notion, that the law and
+religion of the Old Testament were established with the intention
+of confining them to one people, exclusive of all others, that the
+Old Testament certainly represents them in such manner, as
+shows, that they were intended to be as unconfined as the
+Christian, or Mahometan; its religion, in fact, admitted every one
+who would receive it. And what is more, it can be proved that the
+Old Testament dispensation claims, as appears from itself, to have
+been given for the common advantage of all mankind. And it is
+asserted in it, (whether truly or not, is not the question; it is
+sufficient for my purpose, that it asserts it), that the religion
+contained in it, will one day be the religion of all mankind. For it
+declares that Jerusalem will be the centre of worship for all
+nations, and the temple there, be "the house of prayer for all
+nations;" that the Eternal will be the only God worshipped; and his
+laws the only laws obeyed. It represents Abraham and his posterity
+as merely the instruments of the Eternal to bring about these ends;
+it is repeatedly declared therein, that the reason of God's
+dispensations towards them was, "that all the earth might know that
+the Eternal is God, and that there is no other but Him." According
+to its history, when God threatened to destroy the Israelites for
+their perverseness in the wilderness, and offers Moses, interceding
+for them, to raise, up his seed to fulfil the purposes for which he
+designed the posterity of Abraham; he tells Moses that his purpose
+should not be frustrated through the perverseness of the chosen
+instruments; "but, (saith He), as surely as I live, all the earth shall
+be filled with the glory of the Lord," Numbers xiv. 21. Many
+passages of similar import are contained in the Psalms, and the
+Prophets. In fact, there is no truth at all in the statement of the
+Catechisms, that the Old Testament was merely preparatory, and
+intended merely to prepare the way for "a better covenant," as
+Paul says; even for another religion, (the Christian) which was to
+convert all nations; for, (if the Old Testament be suffered to tell its
+own story,) we shall find, that it claims, and challenges the honour
+of beginning, and completing, this magnificent design solely to
+itself. I was going to overwhelm the patience of the reader with
+quotations from it, to this purpose; but being willing to spare him
+and myself, I will only produce one, which, as it is direct and
+peremptory to this effect, is as good as a hundred, to demonstrate
+that the Old Testament at least claims what I have said. Zech. viii.
+20, "Thus saith the Eternal of Hosts: It shall yet come to pass, that
+there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities; and the
+inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying: "Let us go
+speedily to pray before the Eternal, and to seek the Eternal of
+Hosts: I will go also. Yea, many people, and strong nations shall
+come to seek the Eternal of Hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before
+the Eternal. Thus saith the Eternal of Hosts: In those days it shall
+come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all the languages
+of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew,
+saying, we will go with you."
+
+Be it so, it may be said;--"Still, it is to Christianity the world
+owes the consoling doctrine of a life to come. Life and immortality
+were brought to light by the Gospel," say the Christian divines; and
+they assert, that the doctrine of a resurrection was not known to
+Jew or Gentile, till they learned it from Jesus' followers. The Old
+Testament, (say they,) taught the Jews nothing of the glorious
+truths concerning "the resurrection of the body, and the life
+everlasting," their "beggarly elements" confined their views to
+temporal happiness, only." These assertions I shall prove from the
+Old Testament itself, to be contrary to fact; for the Jews both knew,
+and were taught by their Bibles to expect a resurrection, and
+believed it as firmly as any Christian can, or ever did. For proof
+hereof, I shall, in the first place, quote the 37th chapter of Ezekiel,
+and which is as follows, "The hand of the Lord was upon me, and
+carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the
+midst of the valley, which was full of bones. And caused me to
+pass by them round about, and behold there were very many in the
+open valley, and behold they were dry.--And he said unto me.
+Son of man, can these bones live? and I answered, O Lord God,
+thou knowest. Again he said unto me. Prophecy upon these bones,
+and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.
+Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones, behold I will cause
+breath to enter into you, and ye shall live, and I will lay sinews
+upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you; and cover you with
+skin, and put breath into you; and ye shall live, and know that I am
+the Lord. So I prophesied as I was commanded, and, as I
+prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a shaking, and the bones
+came together, bone to his bone. And "when I beheld, lo, the
+sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered
+them above; but there was no breath in them. Then said he unto
+me. Prophecy son of man, and say unto the wind, thus saith the
+Lord God, come from the four winds, O breath! and breathe upon
+these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded
+me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up
+again upon their feet, an exceeding great army."
+
+A plainer resurrection than this is, I think never was preached
+either by Jesus or his followers. Again, Daniel the prophet says,
+"Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some
+to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt,"
+Daniel xii. 2. Now Ezekiel lived almost six hundred years before
+Jesus, and Daniel was contemporary with the former; and is it not a
+little surprising, that the Jews should learn, for the first time, the
+doctrine of a resurrection of the followers of Jesus Christ, when
+they knew of the resurrection almost six hundred years before he
+was born? Isaiah also, (who lived before either Ezekiel or Daniel),
+in the 26th chapter of his prophesies, (exciting the Jews to have
+confidence in God, and not to despair on account of their captivity,
+and the troubles and afflictions which they should suffer therein),
+foretells to them that death would not deprive them of the reward
+of their piety and virtue; for God would raise them from the dead,
+and make them happy. "Thy dead men shall live, my dead bodies#
+(i. e., the bodies of God's servants) they shall arise. Awake! and
+sing! ye that dwell in the dust, for thy dew is as the dew of herbs,"
+The meaning of the last clause is--that, as the grass, which in
+Oriental countries becomes brown and shrivelled by the heat of the
+sun; from the effects of the dew it changes and springs up, as it
+were, in a moment, green and fresh and beautiful; so, by the
+instantaneous influence of the word of God, the dry and decayed
+remains of mortality shall become blooming with immortal
+freshness and beauty. See also Hosea xiii. 14. I might easily
+multiply passages from the Old Testament, to prove that the
+doctrine of a resurrection was familiar to the ancient Israelites, but
+I suppose that what I have already produced, is sufficient. Those,
+however, who wish to see the subject more thoroughly examined,
+are referred to "Greave's Lectures on the Pentateuch," a work
+lately published in Europe, highly honourable to the author. See
+also a Tract upon this subject, published by Dr. Priestley, in 1801.
+
+I shall only add one observation more on this subject, viz., that it is
+very singular that Christian divines should assert, that "life and
+immortality were first brought to light by the Gospel," when the
+New Testament itself represents the resurrection of the dead as
+being perfectly well known to the Jews, and describes Jesus
+himself as proving it to the Sadducees out of the Old Testament!!!
+
+
+
+CONCLUSION.
+
+I have now finished my work, which I have written in order to
+exculpate myself, and to do justice to others; and having
+re-examined every link of the chain of my argument, I think it amply
+strong to support the conclusions attached to it. Though there
+might have been drawn from the Old and New Testaments, many
+additional arguments corroborative of what has been said, yet, at
+present, I shall add no more; as I think that what has been brought
+forward has just claims to be considered by the impartial as quite
+sufficient to prove these two points--that the New Testament can
+neither subsist with the Old Testament, nor without it; and that the
+New Testament system was built first upon a mistake, and
+afterwards buttressed up with forged and apocryphal documents.
+
+Let the candid now judge, whether the author, knowing these
+things, or, at least persuaded of their truth, could have persisted in
+affirming, (in a place where sincerity is expected), in the name of
+the Almighty, that the claims of the New Testament were valid,
+without being a hypocrite, and an impostor.
+
+Let them also consider, whether, after being unable to obtain a
+satisfactory refutation of the objections contained in this volume,
+his resigning a profession whose duties obliged him to say what he
+was convinced was false, was conduct to be reprehended. And
+lastly, he appeals to the good sense of the public, for a decision,
+whether, with such objections and difficulties weighing upon his
+mind, as he has now exposed, his conduct in that respect can
+reasonably be attributed to the unmanly influence of caprice and
+fickle-ness, (as has been circulated by some who had an interest in
+making it believed;) or to the just influence of motives deserving a
+better name.
+
+With regard to the unfortunate people whose arguments have been
+brought forward in this volume, we have, reader, now gone over,
+and distinctly felt, the whole ground of the controversy between
+them and their persecutors, mentioned in the Preface. And as they
+make use of the Old Testament as a foundation, admitted, and
+necessarily admitted by Christians, to be of divine authority, and
+are surrounded by the bulwarks they have raised out of the
+demolished entrenchments of their adversaries, I do not see but
+that "their castle's strength may laugh a siege to scorn." And after
+reviewing, and revolving, over and over in my own mind the
+arguments on both sides, I am obliged to believe, that the stoutest
+Polemical Goliath who may venture to attack it, especially their
+strong hold--their arguments about the Messiahship, will find to
+his cost, that when his weak point is but known, the mightiest
+Achilles must fall before the feeblest Paris, whose arrow is--aimed
+at his heel.
+
+The author hopes, and thinks he has a right to expect, that whoever
+may attempt to answer his book, will do it fairly, like a man of
+candour; without trying to evade the main question--that of the
+Messiahship of Jesus. He fears, that he shall see an answer
+precisely resembling the many others he has seen upon that
+subject. Except two--those of Sukes, and Jeffries. (who
+acknowledge that miracles have nothing to do with the question of
+the Messiahship, which can be decided by the Old Testament only;)--
+all that he has ever met with, evade this question, and slide
+over to the ground of miracles. Such conduct in an answerer of this
+book would be very unfair, and also very absurd. For the case is
+precisely resembling the following--A father informs by letter his
+son in a foreign country, that he is about to send him a Tutor,
+whom he will know by the following marks; "He is learned in the
+mathematics, and the physical sciences; acquainted with the
+learned languages, and an excellent physician; of a dark
+complexion; six feet high, and with a voice loud, and
+commanding." By and by, a man comes to the young man,
+professing to be this tutor sent to him by his father. On examining
+the man, and comparing him with the description in his father's
+letter, he finds him totally unlike the person he had been taught to
+expect. Instead of being acquainted with the sciences, therein
+mentioned, he knows nothing about them; instead of being "six
+feet high, of a dark complexion, and with a voice loud and
+commanding," he is a diminutive creature of five feet, of a light
+complexion, with a voice like a woman's.
+
+The young man, with his father's letter in his hand, tells the
+pretended tutor, that he certainly cannot be the person he has been
+told to expect. The man persists, and appeals to certain "wonderful
+works" he performs in order to convince the young man, that he is
+acquainted with the sciences aforesaid, and that he is also six feet
+high; of a dark complexion; and talks like an Emperor! The young
+man replies. "Friend, you are either an enthusiast, a mad man, or
+something worse. As to your ' signs and wonders,' I have been
+warned in my father's letter to pay no regard to any such things in
+this case. Besides, you ought to be sensible, that your identity with
+the person I am taught by my father's letter to expect, can be only
+determined by comparing you with the description of him given
+therein. Whether your 'wonderful works' are real miracles or not, I
+neither know, nor care. At any rate, they cannot, in the nature of
+things, be any thing to the purpose in; this case. For you to pretend,
+that they prove what you offer them to prove, is quite absurd; you
+might as well, and as reasonably, pretend, that they could prove
+Aristotle to have been Alexander; or the Methodist George
+Whitfield to be the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte!"
+
+To conclude, if any person should feel inclined to attempt to refute
+this book, let him do it like a man; without evading the question, or
+equivocating, or caviling about little things. Let him consider the
+principal question, and the main arguments on which he perceives
+that the author relies, and not pass over these silently, and hold up
+a few petty mistakes and subsidiary arguments as specimens of the
+whole book. Such a mode of defence would be very disengenuous,
+and with a discerning reader, perfectly futile and insufficient. It
+would be as if a man prostrate, and bleeding under a lion whose
+teeth and claws were infixed in his throat, should tear a handful of
+hairs out of the animal's mane, and hold them up as proofs of
+victory.
+
+In fine, let him, before his undertaking, carefully consider these
+pungent words of Bishop Beveridge, "Opposite answers, and
+downright arguments advantage a cause; but when a disputant
+leaves many things untouched, as if they were too hot for his
+fingers; and declines the weight of other things, and alters the true
+state of the question: it is a shrewd sign, either that he has not
+weighed things maturely, or else (which is more probable,) that he
+maintains a desperate cause."
+
+FINIS.
+
+
+
+APPENDIX A.#
+
+As reasons for this assertion, (that "the account of the resurrection
+given by the evangelists is no better, nay, worse, than conjecture,
+as it is a mere forgery of the second century.--Vide page 86) take
+the following facts, which are now ascertained, and can be
+proved:--1. Several sects of Christians in the first century, in the
+apostolic era, denied that Jesus was crucified, as the Basildeans,
+&c. The author of the epistle ascribed to Barnabas, I think, denied
+it, and the author of the gospel of Thomas certainly did. 2. The
+Jewish Christians, the disciples of the twelve apostles, never
+received, but rejected every individual book of the present New
+Testament. They held in especial abomination the writings of Paul,
+whom they called "an apostate;" and there is extant, in "
+Cotelerius' Patres Apostolici," a letter ascribed to Peter, written to
+James at Jerusalem wherein he complains bitterly of Paul, styling
+him "a lawless man," and a crafty misrepresenter of him (Peter,)
+and his doctrine, in that Paul represented, every where, Peter as
+being secretly of the same opinions with himself; against this he
+enters his protest, and declares that he reprobates the doctrine of
+Paul. (See Appendix B.) 3. It is certain, that from the beginning,
+the Christians were never agreed as to points of faith; and that the
+apostles themselves, so far from being considered as inspired, and
+infallible, were frequently contradicted, thwarted, and set at naught
+by their own converts: and there were as many sects, heresies, and
+quarrels, in the first century, as in the second or third. 4. Jesus and
+his apostles were no sooner off the stage, than forgeries of all kinds
+broke in with irresistible force: Gospels, Epistles, Acts,
+Revelations without number, published in the names, and under the
+feigned authority, of Jesus and his apostles, abounded in the
+Christian church; and as some of these were as early in time as any
+of the writings in the present canon of the New Testament, so they
+were received promiscuously with them, and held in equal credit
+and veneration, and read in the public assemblies as of equal
+authority with those now received. 5. The very learned and pious
+Dodwell, in his Dissertations on Iraeneus avows, that he cannot
+find in ecclesiastical antiquities, (which he understood better than
+any man of his age,) any evidence at all, that the four Gospels were
+known or heard of, before the time of Trajan, and Adrian, i.e.
+before the middle of the second century, i. e. nearly a hundred
+years after the apostles were dead. (See Appendix C.) Long before
+this time, we know that there were extant numbers of spurious
+gospels, forged, and ascribed to the apostles; and we have not the
+least evidence to be depended on, that those now received were not
+also apocryphal. For they were written nobody certainly knows by
+whom, or where, or when. They first appeared in an age of
+credulity, when forgeries of this kind abounded and were received
+with avidity by those whose opinions they favoured, while they
+were rejected as spurious by many sects of Christians, who
+asserted that they were possessed of the genuine apostles, which,
+however, those who received "the four," denied. 6. All the
+different sects of Christians, without a known exception, altered,
+interpolated, and without scruple garbled, their different copies of
+their various and discordant gospels, in order to adapt them to their
+jarring and whimsical philosophical notions, Celsus accuses them
+of this, and they accuse each other. And that they were continually
+tampering with their copies of the books of the New Testament, is
+evident from the immense number of various readings, and from
+some whole phrases, and even verses, which for knavish purposes
+were foisted into the text, but have been detected, and exposed by
+Griesbach, and others. They also forged certain rhapsodies under
+the name of "Sybbiline Oracles," and then adduce them as
+prophetic proofs of the truth of their religion. They also
+interpolated certain clumsy forgeries as prophecies of Jesus into
+their copies of their Greek version of the Old Testament. 7. The
+present canon of the New Testament has never been sanctioned by
+the general consent of Christians. The Syrian church rejects some
+of its books;--some of its books were not admitted until after long
+opposition, and not until several hundred years after Jesus. The
+lists of what were considered as canonical books, differ in different
+ages, and some books now acknowledged by all Christians to be
+forgeries, were in the second and third centuries considered as
+equally apostolic as those now received, and as such, were publicly
+read in the churches. 8. The reason why we have not now extant
+gospels, different and contradictory to those now received, is,
+because that the sect or party which finally got the better of its
+adversaries, and styled itself Catholic, or orthodox, took care to
+burn and destroy the heretics, and their gospels with them. They
+likewise took care to hunt up and burn the books of the pagan
+adversaries of Christianity, "because they were shockingly
+offensive to pious ears." 9. Semler considered the New Testament
+as a collection of pious frauds, written for pious purposes, in the
+latter part of the second century, (the very time assigned for their
+first appearance by Dodwell.) Evanson adopts, and gives good
+reasons for a similar opinion with regard to most of the books
+which go to compose it. Lastly. The reason why the New
+Testament canon has been so long respected, seems to have been
+purely owing to the credulity of the ignorant, and the laziness,
+indifference, or fears of the learned.
+
+Douglas, in his famous "Criterion," gives us, as infallible tests, by
+which we may distinguish when written accounts of miracles are
+fabulous, the following marks:--
+
+1. "We have reason to suspect (he says) the accounts to be false,
+when they are not published to the world till after the time when
+they are said to have been performed."
+
+2. "We have reason to suspect them to be false, when they are not
+published in the place where it is pretended the facts were
+wrought, but are propagated only at a great distance from the
+supposed scene of action."
+
+3. "Supposing the accounts to have the two fore-mentioned
+qualifications, we still have reason to suspect them to be false, if in
+the time when, and at the place where, they took their rise, they
+might be suffered to pass without examination."
+
+These are the marks he gives us as infallible tests by which we
+may distinguish the accounts of miracles in the New Testament to
+be true; and accounts of miracles in other books (though supported
+by more testimony than the former,) to be false; with how much
+justice, may be evident from the following observations:--
+
+1. If "we have reason to suspect the accounts to be false, when
+they are not published to the world till long after the time when
+they are said to have been performed," then we have reasons to
+suspect the accounts given in the four gospels; for we have no
+proof in the world, that any of them were written till nearly one
+hundred years after the supposed writers of them were all dead.
+
+2. If "we have reason to suspect them to be false, when they are
+not published in the place where it is pretended the facts were
+wrought, but are propagated only at a great distance from the
+supposed scene of action," then it is still further evident that the
+accounts in question are not true. For they were apparently none of
+them published in Judea, the scene of the events recorded in them.
+But it is pretty clear that they were written in countries at a
+distance from Palestine. And the facts recorded in them were-no
+where so little believed as in Judea, among the people in whose
+sight they are said to have been wrought, where they ought, if true,
+to have met with most credit. It is, however, evident from the
+histories themselves, that these stories were laughed at, by the
+learned and intelligent of the Jewish nation, and disbelieved by the
+great body of the people. In truth the first Christians were merely
+one hundred and twenty Galilaeans, who asserted to their
+co-religionists, that Jesus of Nazareth was the ejected Messiah. It
+was a mere national quarrel between the great body of the Jews, and a
+few schismatics. This is evident from the Acts, where we find that
+for several years they confined their preaching to Jews only. Till
+the conversion of Cornelius, they do not appear to have thought the
+Gentiles any way interested in their dispute with their countrymen.
+So that it is not improbable, (as the Jewish Christians dwindled
+very rapidly,) that had it not been for the Gentile proselytes to
+Judaism, Christianity would have perished in its cradle. These
+people were very numerous, and formed the connecting link
+between the Jews and the Gentiles. And it was through the medium
+of these people, that Christianity became known to the heathens.
+For we find that after the apostles could make nothing of the
+stubborn Jews "they shook their garments, and told them that from
+henceforth we go to the Gentiles."--Accordingly, when the
+apostles preached in the synagogues, and the Jews contradicted,
+and blasphemed," and made fun of their mode of proving from the
+prophets, "that Jesus was the Christ; yet the "proselytes and devout
+women" listened, and believed.
+
+3. If "supposing the accounts to have the two foregoing
+qualifications, we still may suspect them to be false; if, in the time
+when, and in the place where, they took their rise, they might be
+suffered to pass without examination," we have still less reason to
+believe the gospels. For one reason why they might be suffered to
+pass without examination is, where the miracles proposed
+coincided with the notions and superstitious prejudices of those
+whom they were reported, and who, on that account, might be
+prone to receive them unexamined. Now, we have documents in
+plenty, which abundantly prove, along with the virtues, the
+extreme credulity and simplicity of the Primitive Christians, whose
+maxim was, "believe, but do not examine, and thy faith shall save
+thee." Another very good reason why they might be suffered to
+pass without, examination is, that the miracles of the gospels were
+entirely unknown to, or at least acknowledged by, any heathen or
+Jew of the age in which they are recorded to have happened.
+Nobody seems to have known a syllable about them but the
+apostles and their converts. Even the books of the New Testament
+were not generally known to the heathens until some hundred years
+after the birth of Jesus; and it seems from the few fragments of
+their works come down to us, that the only notice they did take of
+them, was to accuse them of telling lies and old wives fables. And
+as for the Jews, the origin and early propagation of Christianity
+was so very obscure, that those who lived nearest the times of the
+apostles, do not seem to have known any thing about them, or their
+doctrines.
+
+Though a little out of place, yet I will here adduce a fact which
+illustrates and exemplifies the power of enthusiasm, to make
+people believe they saw what they did not see. Lucian gives an
+account of one Peregrinus, a philosophist very famous in his time,
+who had a great number of disciples. He ended his life by throwing
+himself, in the presence of assembled thousands, into a burning
+pile. Yet such was the enthusiastic veneration of his followers,
+that some of his disciples did solemnly aver, that they had seen
+him after his death, clothed in white, and crowned; and they were
+believed, insomuch that altars and statues were erected to
+Peregrinus as to a demi-god. See Lucian's account.
+
+
+
+APPENDIX B.
+
+See Cotelerius "Patres Apostolic," Tom. 1, p. 602.
+Extract of a letter from Peter to James, prefixed to the
+Clementines.
+
+"For, if this be not done, (says Peter, after entreating James not to
+communicate his preachings to any Gentile without previous
+examination,) our speech of truth will be divided into many
+opinions, nor do I know this thing as being a prophet, but as seeing
+even now the beginning of this evil. For some from among the
+Gentiles have rejected my legal preaching, embracing the trifling,
+and lawless doctrine of a man who is an enemy; and these
+things, some have endeavoured to do now in my own lifetime,
+transforming my words by various interpretations, to the
+destruction of the Laws: as if I had been of the same mind, but
+dared not openly profess it, (see Galatians ii. 11, 12, &c.,) which
+be far from me! For this were to act against the law of God, spoken
+by Moses, and which has the testimony of our Lord for its
+perpetual duration; since he thus has said, "Heaven and earth shall
+pass away, yet one jot, or one tittle, shall not pass from the law."
+But these, I know not how, promising to deliver my opinion, (see
+Galatians as above) take upon them to explain the words they
+heard from me, better than I that spoke them; telling their disciples,
+my sense was that of which I had not so much as thought. Now, if
+in my own life time, they dare feign such things, how much more
+will those that come after, do the same."
+
+
+
+APPENDIX C.
+
+Extract from Dodwell's Dissertations on Irenaeus, Diss. 1, p.p. 38,
+39.
+
+"The Canonical writings (i. e. of the New Testament), lay
+concealed in the coffers of private churches, or persons, till the
+latter times of Trajan, or rather perhaps of Adrian; so that they
+could not come to the knowledge of the church. For if they had
+been published, they would have been overwhelmed under such a
+multitude as were then of apocryphal and suppositious books, that
+a new examination and a new testimony would be necessary to
+distinguish them from these false ones. And it is from this new
+testimony (whereby the genuine writings of the apostles were
+distinguished from the spurious pieces which went under their
+names,) that depends all the authority which the truly apostolic
+writings have formerly obtained, or which they have at present in
+the Catholic Church. But this fresh attestation of the canon is
+subject to the same inconveniences with those traditions of the
+ancient persons that I defend, and whom Irenaeus both heard and
+saw; for it is equally distant from the original, and could not be
+made except by such only as had reached those remote times. But
+it is very certain that before the period I mentioned of Trajan's
+time, the canon of the sacred books, was not yet fixed, nor any
+certain number of books received in the Catholic Church, whose
+authority must ever after serve to determine matters of faith;
+neither were the spurious pieces of heretics yet rejected, nor were
+the faithful admonished to beware of them for the future. Likewise,
+the true writings of the apostles used to be so bound up in one
+volume with the apocryphal, that it was not manifest by any mark
+of public censure which of them should be preferred to the other.
+We have at this day, certain authentic writings of ecclesiastical
+authors of those times, as Clemens Romanus, Barnabas, Hermas,
+Ignatius, and Polycarp, who wrote in the same order wherein I
+have named them, and after all the other writers of the New
+Testament, except Jude, and the two Johns. But in Hermas you
+shall not meet with one passage, or any mention of the New
+Testament; nor in all the rest is any one of the evangelists called by
+his own name. And if sometimes they cite any passages like those
+we read in our gospels; yet, you will find them so much changed,
+and for the most part so interpolated, that it cannot be known,
+whether they produced them out of ours, or some apocryphal
+gospels; nay, they sometimes cite passages which it is most certain
+are not in the present gospels. From hence, therefore, it is evident
+that no difference was yet put between the apocryphal and
+canonical books of the New Testament, especially if it be
+considered, that they pass no censure on the apocryphal, nor leave
+any mark whereby the reader might discern whether they attributed
+less authority to the spurious than to the genuine gospels; from
+whence it may reasonably be suspected, that if they cite sometimes
+any passages conformable to ours, it was not done through any
+certain design, as if dubious things were to be confirmed only by
+the canonical books, so as it is very possible that both those and the
+like passages may have been borrowed from other gospels besides
+these we now have. But what need I mention books that are not
+canonical, when indeed it does not appear from those of our
+canonical books which were last written, that the church knew any
+thing of the gospels, or that the clergy made a common use of
+them. The writers of these times do not chequer their works with
+texts of the New Testament, which yet is the custom of the
+moderns, and was also theirs in such books as they acknowledge
+for scripture; for they most frequently cite the books of the Old
+Testament, and would, doubtless, have done so by those of the
+New, if they had then been received as canonical."
+
+So far Mr. Dodwell, and (excepting the genuineness of the writings
+of Barnabas and the rest, for they are incontestably ancient,) it is
+certain that the matters of fact with regard to the New Testament
+are all true. Whoever has an inclination to write on this subject, is
+furnished from this passage with a great many curious disquisitions
+wherein to show his penetration and his judgment, as--how the
+immediate successors and disciples of the apostles could so grossly
+confound the genuine writings of their masters with such as were
+falsely attributed to them; or since they were in the dark about
+these matters so early, how come such as followed them, by a
+better light; why all those books which are cited by the earliest
+fathers with the same respect as those now received, should not be
+accounted equally authentic by them; and what stress should be
+laid on the testimony of those fathers, who not only contradict one
+another, but are often inconsistent with themselves, in relating the
+very same facts; with a great many other difficulties, which
+deserve a clear solution from any capable person.
+
+I have said the ancient heretics asserted that the present gospels
+were forgeries. As an example of this, take the following, from the
+works of Faustus, quoted by Augustine, contra Faustum Lib. 32, c.
+2. "You think, (says Faustus to his adversaries,) that of all the
+books in the world the Testament of the Son only, could not be
+corrupted; that it alone contains nothing which ought to be
+disallowed; especially when it appears, that it was not written by
+the apostles, but a long time after them, by certain obscure persons,
+who, lest no credit should be given to the stories they told of what
+they could not know, did prefix, to their writings, the names of the
+apostles, and partly of those who succeeded the apostles, affirming,
+that what they wrote themselves, was written by these. Wherein
+they seem to me to have been the more heinously injurious to the
+disciples of Christ, by attributing to them what they wrote
+themselves so dissonant and repugnant; and that they pretended to
+write those gospels under their names, which are so full of
+mistakes, of contradictory relations and opinions, that they are
+neither coherent with themselves, nor consistent with one another.
+What is this, therefore, but to throw a calumny on good men, and
+to fix the accusation of discord on the unanimous society of
+Christ's disciples."
+
+
+
+ADDENDA.
+There is, in the Gospel ascribed to John, a passage, quoted as a
+prophecy, which, as it has been looked on as a proof text, ought to have
+been mentioned in the 7th chapter. It is this. The evangelist (John xix.
+23) says, "Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his
+garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his
+coat--now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They
+said, therefore, among themselves, ' Let us not rend it, but cast lots
+for it'; that the Scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, 'They
+parted my raiment among them and for my vesture they did cast lots.'
+"Now, however plausible this prophesy may appear, it is one of the most
+impudent applications of passages from the Old Testament that occurs in
+the New. It is taken from the 18th verse of the 22d Psalm, which Psalm
+was probably made by David, in reference to his humiliating and wretched
+expulsion from Jerusalem by his son Absalom, and what was done in
+consequence, viz., that he was hunted by ferocious enemies, whom he
+compares to furious bulls, and roaring lions, gaping upon him to devour
+him; that his palace was plundered, and that they divided his treasured
+garments, (in the East, where the fashions never change, every great man
+has constantly presses full of hundreds and thousands of garments, many
+of them very costly: they are considered as a valuable part of his
+riches), and cast lots for his robes. This is the real meaning of this
+passage quoted as a prophecy. In the same Psalm, there is another verse,
+which has been from time immemorial quoted as a prophecy of the
+crucifixion, (v. 16,) "They pierced my hands and my feet." In the
+original, there seems to have been a word dropped importing "they
+tear," or something like it, for it is literally, "Like a lion--my hands
+and my feet," and there is there no word answering to "pierced." The
+meaning, however, of the verse is not difficult to be discerned, "dogs
+have compassed me; the assembly of wicked men have enclosed me; like a
+lion--(they tear) my hands and my feet." The meaning may be discovered
+from the context, where David represents himself as in the utmost
+distress, helpless, and abandoned amidst his enemies, raging like wild
+beasts around him; then, by a strong, but striking Oriental figure, he
+represents himself like a carcass surrounded by dogs, who are busied in
+tearing the flesh from his bones; their teeth fixed in his hands and
+feet, and pulling him asunder. This is the import of the place, and this
+interpretation is at last adopted, for the first time, I believe, by
+Christians, in the new version of the Psalms used by the Unitarian
+Church in London.
+
+There is not a more palpable instance of the facility with which good
+natured and voracious piety is made to swallow the most flimsy
+arguments, if only agreeable to its wishes and wants, than the case
+under consideration. This Psalm, containing these passages, "they
+parted my raiment among them;" and "they pierced my hands and my feet,"
+is read, and for ages has been read, in the name of God, to the good
+people of the Church of England, on every Good Friday, as undoubtedly a
+prophesy of the Crucifixion; when yet the learned divines of the Church
+of England (and of these it can boast a noble Catalogue indeed)
+certainly know, and are conscious that the Psalm, which contains these
+passages, has no more relation to Jesus, than it has to Nebuchadnezzar.
+
+A reference ought to have been subjoined at the end of the 10th chapter
+to the dialogue, called "Philopatris" in Lucian's Works, for an account
+of the customs, habits, and personal appearance of the early Christians,
+corroborative of what is said in the 17th and 18th chapters of this
+work. Lest, however, Lucian's testimony in this matter should be
+objected to, because he was a satirist, and, of course, may have been
+guilty of giving an overcharged picture of the subjects of his ridicule,
+I request the reader to peruse, if he can obtain it, "Lami's Account of
+the domestic habits and personal appearance and practices of the
+primitive Christians." Lami was a very learned and sincere Christian,
+and of course his testimony cannot be objected to, and the reader will
+find, on a perusal of his work, that what I have asserted in the 17th
+and 18th chapters is altogether true, and not the whole truth neither.
+Indeed, that the statements in those chapters, as to the effects of the
+peculiar maxims of the New Testament upon the heart and understanding,
+are substantially correct, will, I believe, be discovered by asking any
+honest individual among the Methodists, who is an enthusiast, i. e
+sincere, and thorough-going in his religion. I have no doubt that he or
+she will avow, without hesitation, to the enquirer, and glory in it,
+that chastity is more honourable than marriage; that faith is every
+thing; that doubt is damnable, and a proof of "an unregenerated mind;"
+that all the goods and pleasures of this world are "trash;" that human
+institutions are mere "carnal ordinances;" and that human science and
+learning is a snare to faith and an abomination to a true disciple of
+the cross.
+
+
+
+Published 1785.
+
+* In the present day, various-attempts, insidious and powerful, have
+been made, even here, to coerce in matters of conscience, and to
+overthrow those wise barriers to the destructive effects of sectarian
+fanaticism and intolerance, which the great founders of the Republic, to
+their everlasting glory, erected.--D.
+
+* Do you know (says Rousseau) of many Christians who have taken the
+pains to examine, with care, what the Jews have to say against them? If
+some persons have seen any thing of the kind, it is in the books of
+Christians, A fine way, truly, to get instructed in the arguments of
+their adversaries! But what can they do? If any one should dare to
+publish among us, books, in which be openly favours their opinions, we
+punish the author, the editor, the bookseller. This policy is
+convenient, and sure always to be in the right. There is a pleasure in
+refuting people who dare not open their lips"--(Emilius.) In the same
+work he says that "he will never be convinced that the Jews have not
+something strong to say, till they shall be permitted to speak for
+themselves without fear, and without restraint." It was this hint of
+Rousseau which first excited the author's curiosity with regard to the
+subject of this book.--E.
+
+* There are a great many persons who conceive that Christianity is
+sufficiently proved to be true, if the miracles of Jesus are true, even
+without any regard to the prophecies, so often appealed to by him. But
+supposing the miracles to be true; yet no miracles can prove that which
+is false in itself to be true. If therefore Jesus be not foretold as the
+Messiah in the Old Testament, no miracles can prove Jesus to be the
+Messiah foretold. Nay, it would be a stronger argument to prove Jesus to
+be a false pretender, that he appealed to prophecies as relating to him,
+when in fact they had no relation whatever to him; and by that means
+imposed upon the ignorant people; than it would be that he came from
+God, merely because he worked miracles; for "False Christs and false
+prophets may arise, and may show such great signs and wonders as to
+deceive, if it were possible, the very elect." Matt. xxiv. 24. Yet no
+Christian would allow it to be argued from thence, that those false
+Christs were true ones: nor would any one conclude; that a man came from
+God, (notwithstanding any miracle he might do) if he appealed to
+Scripture for that which is no where in it. In fine, if miracles would
+prove the Messiahship of Jesus, so also they would prove the Messiahship
+of the false Christs, and false prophets spoken of above. Nay more, they
+would demonstrate the Divine mission of Antichrist himself; who,
+according to the epistle to the Thessalonians, (2 Thes. ch. ii. 8, 9,10)
+and the Revelations, ch. xiii. 13, 14, was to perform "great signs and
+wonders," equal to any wrought by Jesus, for the same Greek words are
+used to express the wonderful works or "great signs and wonders" of
+Antichrist, which are elsewhere used to express the miracles, or "great
+signs and wonders" of Jesus himself.
+
+It is a striking circumstance, that the earliest apologists for
+Christianity laid little stress upon the miracles of its founder.
+
+Justin Martyr, in his Apology, is very shy of appealing to the miracles
+of Jesus in confirmation of his pretentions; he lays no stress upon
+them, but relies entirely upon the prophecies he quotes as in his favor.
+Jerome, in his comment on the eighty-first Psalm, assures us, "that the
+performance of miracles was no extraordinary thing: and that it was no
+more than what Appollonius, and Apulias, and innumerable impostors had
+done before."
+
+Lactantius saw so little force in the miracles of Christ, exclusive of
+the prophecies, that he does not hesitate to affirm their utter
+inability to support the Christian religion by themselves. [Lactan. Div.
+Inst. L. v. c. 3.]
+
+Celsus, observing upon the words of Jesus, that "false prophets and
+false Christs shall arise, and show grant signs and wonders," sneeringly
+observes, "A fine thing truly! that miracles done by him should prove
+him to be a God, and when done by others should demonstrate them to be
+false prophets and impostors."
+
+Tertullian, on the words of Jesus, here referred to by Celsus, says as
+follows;
+
+"Christ, foretelling that many imposters should come and perform many
+wonders, shews, that our faith cannot without great temerity be founded
+on miracles, since they were so early wrought, by false Christians
+themselves." [Tertul. in Marc. L. ii. c. 3.]
+
+Indeed, miracles in the two first centuries were allowed very little
+weight in proving doctrines. Since the Christians did not deny, that the
+heathens performed miracles in behalf of their gods, and that the
+heretics performed them as will as the orthodox. This accounts for the
+perfect indifference of the heathens to the miracles said to have been
+performed by the founders of Christianity. Hierocles speaks with great
+contempt of what he calls "the little tricks of Jesus," And Origen, in
+his reply to Celsus, waves the consideration of the Christian miracles:
+"for (says he) the very mention of these things sets you heathens upon
+the. broad grin." Indeed, that they laughed very heartily at what in
+the eighteenth century is read with a grave face, is evident from the
+few fragments of their works written against Christianity which has
+escaped the burning zeal of the fathers, and the Christian emperors; who
+piously sought for, and burned up, these mischievous volumes to prevent
+their doing mischief to posterity. This conduct of theirs is very
+suspicious. Why burn writing they could so triumphantly refute, if they
+were refutable? They should have remembered the just reflection of
+Arnobius, their own apologist, against the heathens, who were for
+abolishing at once such writings as promoted Christianity.--"Intercipere
+scripta et publicatam velle submergere lectionem, non est Deos
+defendere, sed veritatis testificationem timere."[Arnob. contra
+Gentes. Liber ni.]--E.
+
+
+* Before going into the consideration of the following prophecies, the
+author would warn the reader to bear in mind, that whether these
+prophecies ever will be fulfilled, is a question of no import in the
+world to the question under consideration, which is--whether they have
+been fulfilled eighteen hundred years ago, in the person of Jesus
+Christ, who is asserted by Christians to be the person foretold in these
+prophecies, and to have fulfilled their predictions. This question can
+be easily decided, and only, we think, by appealing to past history, and
+to the scenes passing around us, and comparing them with these
+predictions.--E.
+
+
+* The word in the original being Vayikra, in the Kal or Active form of
+the verb, and not Vayikare the Niphal or Passive form.--D.
+
+
+# reprove or argue.--D.
+
+
+* Or, in righteousness.--D.
+
+
+# Mr. English very properly takes notice of the disjunctive accent
+(Pasek) occurring here in the text.--D.
+
+
+# For a more correct enumeration of the thirteen cabalistic rules of
+exposition, the English reader is referred to vol. 1, page 209, of the
+"Conciliator" of B. Menasseh ben Israel, translated by E, H. Lindo,
+Esqr.--D.
+
+
+# Mr. E. was, doubtless, aware that this is an exposition given by
+Jewish Commentators.--D.
+
+# There exists an English translation of this work by Abraham de Sola.
+--D.
+
+
+* The person here spoken of by Isaiah is said to make his grave with the
+wicked, and be with the rich in his death. Whereas Jesus did exactly the
+contrary. He was with the wicked (i. e., the two thieves) in his death,
+and with the rich (i.e., Joseph of Arimathea) in his grave, or tomb. In
+the original, the words may be translated that "he shall avenge, or
+recompence upon the wicked his grave, and his death upon the rich." Thus
+does the Targum and the Arabic version interpret the place, and Ezekiel
+ix. 10, uses the verb in the verse in Isaiah under consideration
+translated (in The English version)--"He made," &c--in the same sense,
+given to this place in Isaiah, by the Targum, and the Arabic, as said
+above. See the place in Ezekiel, where it is translated--"I will
+recompence their way upon their head." See also Deut. xxi. 8, in the
+original. The Syriac has it--"The wicked contributed to his burial, and
+the rich to his death." The Arabic--"I will punish the wicked for his
+burial, and the rich for his death." The Targum--"He shall send the
+wicked into hell, and the rich who put him to a cruel death."--E.
+
+# Or, shall destroy.--D.
+
+* The remainder of this chapter is taken from Levi and Wagenseil.--E.
+
+* The reader is requested to consider the reasoning in the last
+paragraph. The prophecy in the second chapter of Daniel, is commonly
+supposed to relate to the four Great Empires, the Babylonian, Persian,
+Grecian and Roman. This last, it is (according to this interpretation,)
+foretold, should be divided into many kingdoms, and that 'in the latter
+days of these kingdoms,' (which are now subsisting) God would set up a
+kingdom which would never be destroyed,--that of the Messiah. Of course,
+according to this interpretation, the kingdom of the Messiah was not to
+be not only sustain after the destruction of the Roman Empire, but not
+till the latter days of the kingdoms which grew up out of its ruins;
+whereas, Jesus was born in the time of Augustus, i. e., precisely when
+the Roman Empire itself was in the highest of its splendour and vigour.
+This is a remarkable, and very striking, repugnance, to the claims of
+the New Testament, and, if substantiated, must overset them entirely.--E.
+
+* The sum of our argument may be expressed thus. God is represented in
+the prophecies of the Old Testament as designing to send into the world
+an eminent deliverer, descended from David, the peace and prosperity of
+whose reign should far exceed all that went before him, in whom all the
+glorious things foretold by the prophets should receive their entire
+completion; and who should be distinguished by the character of the
+Messiah or Christ. This is an article of faith common to Christians and
+Jews. But that Jesus of Nazareth should be esteemed this Messiah, and
+that Christians can support that opinion, by alledging the prophecies of
+the Hebrew scriptures as belonging to, and fulfilled in, him, is what we
+can by no means allow, and that especially on account of these
+inconsistencies.
+
+1. Because, these prophecies, acknowledged on both sides to point out
+the Messiah, could not otherwise answer the end of inspiring them than
+by an accomplishment so plain and sensible as might sufficiently
+distinguish the person meant by them to be that Messiah. But no such
+accomplishment, we contend, can possibly be discerned in Jesus, and,
+consequently, he cannot be the person meant by them.
+
+2. Because, several predictions which Christians apply to Jesus, are
+wrested to a meaning which quite destroys the historical sense of
+scripture, and breaks the connexion of the passages from whence they are
+taken. Thus many shreds and loose sentences are culled out for this
+purpose, which do not appear to have any relation to Jesus, or to the
+Messiah either; but to have received their proper and intended
+completion in some other person, whom the prophet, as is manifest, had
+then only in view.
+
+3. Because, in their forced applications of the prophecies, Christians,
+finding themselves hard pressed by the simple and natural construction,
+forsake the literal, and take shelter in spiritual and mystical senses;
+fly to hyperboles and strained metaphors, and thus expound the true
+meaning and importance of the prophecies quite away; the intent whereof
+being to instruct men in so necessary a point of faith as that relating
+to the Messiah, it is reasonable to think they would be delivered in the
+most perspicuous and intelligible terms. Since ambiguous expressions
+(capable of such strange meanings as they pretend,) would be too
+slippery a foundation to build such a point of faith upon; would be of
+no use, or worse than none; would be unable to teach the clear truth,
+and apt to ensnare men into dangerous errors, by leaving too great a
+latitude for fanciful interpretations, and introducing darkness and
+confusion, and contradiction inexplicable.
+
+4. Because, admitting (as indeed it never was, or can be denied) that
+many passages of scripture, and of prophetical scripture especially,
+must be figuratively taken; yet, we must always put a wide difference
+between a sense not just as the words in their first signification
+import, and a sense directly the contrary of what they import. And yet
+we complain that this latter is the sense which Christians labour to
+obtrude upon the gainsayers. We say, that a kingdom of this world, and
+not of this world; contempt and adoration; poverty and magnificence;
+persecution and peace; sufferings and triumph; a cross and a throne;
+the scandalous death of a private man upon a gibbet, and the everlasting
+dominion of a universal monarch, must be reconciled, and mean the self
+same thing, before the prophecies appealed to, can do their cause any
+service. Granting, then, the goodness of God (according to them,) to
+have been better than his word, by giving spiritual blessings, instead
+of temporal; yet, what will become of the truth of God, if He act
+contrary to his word, even when it would be for our advantage, if He
+misleads people by expressions, which, if they mean any thing at all,
+must mean what the Jews understand by them?
+
+In short, it seems to me, that if Providence has, in truth, any concern
+with the predictions of the Old Testament, it could not have taken more
+effectual care to justify the unbelief and obstinacy of the Jews, than
+by ordering matters so, that the life and death of Jesus should be so
+exactly, and so entirely, the very reverse of all those ideas under
+which their prophets had constantly described, and the Hebrew nation as
+constantly expected of their Messiah, and his coming; and to suppose
+that the Supreme Being meant to describe and point out such a person as
+Jesus by such descriptions of the Messiah as are contained in the Old
+Testament, is certainly substantially to accuse him of the moat
+unjustifiable prevarication, and mockery of his creatures.
+
+In order that the subject we are examining, and the arguments we make
+use of, may be clearly understood by the reader, he is requested to bear
+in mind, that the author reasons all along upon the supposed Divine
+authority of the Old Testament; which is admitted by both Jews and
+Christians. Whether the supernatural claims of the Old Testament be
+just, or not, is of no consequence in the world to the controversy we
+are considering. For the dispute of the Jew with the Christian is one
+thing, and his dispute with the sceptic is another, totally different.
+For whether such a personage as the Messiah is described to be, has
+appeared eighteen hundred years ago, is quite a different thing from the
+question, whether such a personage will appear at all. The Christian
+says, that he has appeared in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. This the
+Jew denies, but looks forward to the future fulfilment of the promises
+of his Bible, while the Sceptic denies that the Messiah has come, or
+ever will.
+
+But the subject at present under consideration is the dispute of the Jew
+with the Christian, who acknowledges the Old Testament to be a
+Revelation, upon which a new Revelation, that of the New Testament, is
+founded and erected. To him the Jew argues, that if the Old Testament be
+a Divine Revelation, then the New Testament cannot be a Revelation,
+because it contradicts, and is repugnant to, the Old Testament, the more
+ancient, and acknowledged Revelation. Now God cannot be the author of
+two Revelations, one of which is repugnant to the other. One of them is
+certainly false. And if the Christian, conscious of the difficulty of
+reconciling the New, with the Old, Testament, attempts to support the
+New, at the expense of the Old, Testament, upon which the former is, and
+was, built by the founders of Christianity; then the Jew would tell
+him, that he acts as absurdly as would the man who should expect to make
+his house the firmer, by undermining, and weakening its foundation.
+
+So that whether the Christian affirms, or denies, he is ruined either
+way. For he is reduced to this fatal dilemma. If the Old Testament
+contains a Revelation from God, then the New Testament is not from God,
+for God cannot contradict himself: and it can be proved abundantly, that
+the New Testament is contradictory, and repugnant to the Old and to
+itself too. If, on the other hand, the Old Testament contains no
+Revelation from God, then the New Testament must go down at any rate
+because it asserts that the Old Testament does contain a Revelation from
+God, and builds upon it, as a foundation.--E.
+
+* There was nothing which gave the author, in writing this Book, so much
+uneasiness, at the apprehension of being supposed to entertain
+disrespectful sentiments of the Founder of the Christian Religion. I
+would most earnestly entreat the reader to believe my solemn assurances,
+that by nothing that I have said, or shall be under the necessity of
+saying, do I think, or mean to intimate the slightest disparagement to
+the moral character of one, whose purity of morals, and good intentions,
+deserve any thing else but reproach. That he was an enthusiast, I do not
+doubt, that he was a wilful impostor I never will believe. And I protest
+before God, that from the apprehensions above-mentioned alone, I would
+have confined the contents of this volume to myself, did I not feel
+compelled to justify myself for having quitted a profession: and did I
+not, above all, think it my duty, to make a well meant attempt, which I
+hope will be seconded, to vindicate the unbelief of an unfortunate
+nation, who, on that account, have for almost eighteen hundred years,
+been made the victim of rancorous prejudice, the most infernal
+cruelties, and the most atrocious wickedness. If the Christian religion
+be, in truth, not well founded, surely it is the duty of every honest
+and every humane, man, to endeavour to dispel an illusion, which
+certainly has been, notwithstanding any thing that can be said to the
+contrary, the bona fide, and real cause of unspeakable misery, and of
+repeated, and remorseless plunderings, and massacres, to an unhappy
+people; the journal of whose sufferings, on account of it, forms the
+blackest page in the history of the human race, and the most detestable
+one in the history of human superstition.--E.
+
+* Jerome, in his Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians, says, that
+"The Church of Christ was not gathered from the Academy, or the Lyceum,
+but from the lowest of the people." [Vili Plebecula.] And Coecilius, in
+Minutius Felix, says, that the Christian assemblies were made up "de
+ultima faece collectis, imperitioribus, et mulieribus credulis sexus
+suae facilitate labentibus," i. e. "that they consisted of the lowest
+of the mob, simple and unlearned, men, and credulous women."
+
+The president of a province is introduced, by Prudentius as thus
+addressing a martyr:--"Tu qui Doctor, ait, seris novellum Commenti
+genus, ut Leves Puellae, Lucos destituunt, Jovem relinquant; Damnes, si
+sapias, ANILE DOGMA."
+
+The Christian Fathers confess, and glory in it, that the greater part of
+their congregations consisted of women and children, slaves, beggars,
+and vagabonds.
+
+The Jewish Christians were, as appears evidently from the New Testament,
+exceedingly poor, and therefore there is frequent mention made of
+contributions for "the poor Saints at Jerusalem." From thence it was
+that the Jewish Christians got the name of Ebionites, i. e. Poor. The
+Jewish Christian Church consisted of the dregs of the Jewish people,
+simple and ignorant men, Samaritans, &c. No person in Judea of eminence,
+or learning, appears to have joined the sect of the Nazarenes, except
+Paul; after the destruction of Jerusalem they gradually dwindled in
+number, and became extinct.--E.
+
+* I will here lay before the reader the arguments advanced by the
+Mahometans in behalf of the miracles of their prophet, extracted from
+the learned Reland's account of Mehometanism. They say that--"the
+miracles of Mahomet and his followers have been recorded in innumerable
+volumes of the most famous, learned, pious, and subtle Doctors of the
+Mahometan Faith, who let nothing pass without the strictest and severest
+examination, and whose tradition, therefore, is unexceptionable among
+them; that they were known throughout all the regions of Arabia, and
+transmitted by common and universal tradition from father to son, from
+generation to generation. That the books of Interpreters and
+Commentators on the Koran, the books of Historians, especially such as
+give an account of Mahomet's life and actions, the books of annalists
+and lawyers, the books of mathematicians and philosophers, and, last of
+all, the books of both Jews and Christians concerning Mahomet, are full
+of his miracles. That if the authority of so many great and wise doctors
+be denied, then, for their part, they cannot see but that a universal
+scepticism as to all other accounts of miracles must obtain among people
+of all persuasions. For authority being the only proof of facts done out
+of our time, or out of our sight, if that be denied, there is no way to
+come to the certainty of any such, without immediate inspiration; and
+all accounts of matters recorded in history, must be doubtful and
+precarious."
+
+"And these witnesses would not have dared to assert these miracles
+unless they were true; for such as forged any miracles for his, which he
+really did not, lay under a hearty curse from the prophet. For it was a
+received tradition among the faithful, that Mahomet denounced hell and
+damnation to all those who should tell any lies of him. So that none who
+believed in Mahomet, durst attribute miracles to him which he was not
+concerned in; and those who believed not in him, would certainly never
+have given him the honour of working any, unless he had done so."
+Christian reader, thou seest how much can be said, and how many
+respectable witnesses and authorities can be adduced to prove that
+Mahomet wrought miracles. Canst thou adduce more, or better, authorities
+in behalf of the miracles of the New Testament? Art thou not rather
+satisfied how fallacious the evidence of testimony is in all such cases?
+
+This is not all that the Mahometan might urge in behalf of his prophet,
+for he might tell the Christian, boasting that Jesus and his Apostles
+converted the Roman world from idolatry, that they overthrew one system
+of idolatry, only to build up another, since the worship of Jesus, the
+Virgin Mary, and the Saints, and their images was established in a few
+hundred years after Jesus, and continues to this day; an idolatry as
+rank, and much more inexcusable than the worship of the ancient Greeks
+and Romans. Whereas, Mahomet cut "up root and branch, both Christian and
+Pagan idolatry, and proclaimed one only God as the object of adoration;
+and if the Christian should urge the rapid propagation of Christianity,
+the Mahometan might reply, that Mahomet was a poor camel-driver, but
+that Islamism made more progress in one hundred years, than Christianity
+did in a thousand; that it was embraced by the noble, the great, the
+wise, and the learned, almost as soon as it appeared; whereas,
+Christianity was skulking and creeping among the mob of the Roman Empire
+for some hundred years before it dared to raise its head in public view.
+If the Christian should reply to this, by ascribing the success of
+Mahometanism to the sword, the Mahometan might reply, with truth, that
+it was a vulgar error; for that vastly more nations embraced Islamism
+voluntarily, than there were who freely received Christianity; and he
+might remind him, how much Christianity owed to the accession of
+Constantine; to Charlemagne; and the Teutonic Knights; and bid him
+recollect that the monks were assisted by soldiers to convert to
+Christianity almost every nation in Modern Europe.--E.
+
+# Compare the above with Maimonides, Hilchot Yessode Hattorah, from
+chapter 7.--D.
+
+* The reader is requested by the author to understand, and bear in mind,
+that it is not at all intended by any of the observations contained in
+this chapter on the histories of the four evangelists, to reflect upon,
+or to disparage, the characters of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, under
+whose names they go; because he believes, and thinks it is proved in
+this chapter, that the real authors of these histories were very
+different persons from the Apostles of Jesus; and that, in fact, the
+accounts were not written till the middle of the second century, about a
+hundred year's after the supposed authors of them were dead. Of course,
+none of the observations contained in the chapter relative to these
+histories, ware considered, or intended, to apply to any of the twelve
+apostles, who were not men who could make such mistakes as will be
+pointed out. These mistakes belong entirely to the authors who have
+assumed their names.--E.
+
+* That the pretended Gospel of Matthew was not written by Matthew, or by
+an, inhabitant of Palestine, may also be inferred, I think, from the
+blundering attempts of the author of it to give the meaning of some
+expressions uttered by Jesus, and used by the Jews, in the language of
+the country, which was the Syro Chaldaic; and which the real Matthew
+could hardly be ignorant of. For instance, he says that Golgotha
+signifies--"the place of a skull." Matthew xxvii. 33. Now, this is not
+true, for Golgotha, or as it should have been written, Golgoltha, does
+not signify "the place of a skull," but simply "a skull." The Gospels
+according to Mark, and John, are guilty of the same mistake, and thus
+betray the same marks of Gentilism. Again, the pretended Matthew says,
+that Jesus cried on the cross, "Eli Eli lama, sabackthani," which he
+says meant, "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Matthew
+xxvii. 46.) If the reader will look at what Michaelis, in his
+introduction to the New Testament, says upon this subject, he will find
+the real Syro Chaldaic expression which must have been used by Jesus, to
+be so different from the one given by the supposed Matthew, that he
+will, (and the observation is not meant as a disparagement to the real
+Matthew, who certainly had no hand in the imposition of the Gospel
+covered with his name) I suspect be inclined to believe, that this
+pretended Matthew's knowledge of the vulgar language of the Jews, used
+in Christ's time, must have been about upon a par with the honest
+sailor's knowledge of French; who assured his countrymen, on his return
+home, that the French called a horse a shovel and a hat a chopper!--E.
+
+* See Addenda, No. 2.
+
+* The author had prepared, in order to subjoin in this place, an
+examination of the Mosaic Code, and a development of its principles,
+which he thinks would have satisfied the reader of the truth of what he
+has said in the last paragraph. But as it would have too much increased
+the bulk of the volume, it has been omitted. It is an institution
+however curious enough to be the subject of an interesting discussion,
+which he should be happy to see from the hands of one able to do it
+justice.--E.
+
+# Mr. English, it will be perceived, differs in his translation of the
+Hebrew word 'nebelati,' which is, certainly, in the singular number, and
+not plural. The correct rendering is, doubtless, "with my dead body
+they," &c.; but this weakens not at all his argument, which is
+essentially a Jewish one. See the Commentators, Chizoook Emunah, &c.
+&c.--D.
+
+# This was, originally, a note; but, in order not to divert too much the
+reader's attention, it has been thought advisable to insert it here.--D.
+
+
+
+
+
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