By P. DODDRIDGE, D. D.
L O N D O N:
Printed, by H. L. Galarin, Ingram-Court, Fenchurch-Street,
For Vernor and Hood, Poultry and T. Wiche, No.
12, Beech-
Street, Barbican, Bookseller to the Society for promoting
Religious Knowledge among
the Poor.
1799.
—WE HAVE NOT FOLLOWED CUNNINGLY DEVISED FABLES.—
IT is undoubtedly a glory to our age and country, that the nature of moral virtue has been so clearly stated, and the practice of it so strongly enforced, by the views of its native beauty and beneficial consequences, both to private persons and societies. Perhaps, in this respect, hardly any nation or time has equalled, certainly few, if any, have exceeded, our own. Yet I fear I might add, there have been few ages or countries, where vice has more generally triumphed, in its most audacious and, is other respects, most odious forms.
This may well appear a surprising case; and it will surely be
worth our while to inquire into the causes of so strange a circumstance. I cannot
now enter into a particular detail of them. But I am persuaded, none is more
considerable
than that unhappy disregard, either to the Gospel in general, or to its most peculiar
and essential truths, which is so visible amongst us, and which appears to be
continually growing. It is plain, that, like some of old, who thought and
professed themselves the wisest of mankind, or, in other words, the freest thinkers of their
age, multitudes among us have not liked to retain God and his truths in their knowledge:
and it is therefore the less to be wondered at, if God has given them up to a reprobate
mind
The latter of these is our frequent employment, and is what I have, particularly been attempting in the preceding discourses on the power and grace of the Redeemer: the former I shall now, by the divine assistance, apply myself to, in those that follow. And I have chosen the words now before us, as a proper introduction to such a design.
They do indeed peculiarly refer to the coming of our Lord,
which the apostle represents as attested by that glory, of which he was an
eye-witness on the mount of transfiguration, and by that voice from heaven which
he heard there: but the truth of these
I have often touched on this subject occasionally,
but I think it my duty at present to insist something more largely upon it. You
easily apprehend, that it is a matter of the highest importance, being indeed no
other than the great foundation of all our eternal hopes. While so many are daily
attempting to destroy this foundation, it is possible, that those of you,
especially,
who are but entering on the world, may he called out to give a reason of the hope
that is in you
To open and vindicate the proof of Christianity in
all its extent would be the employment of many
discourses; nor would it, on the whole, be proper
to attempt it here. All that I now intend here is,
But, before I proceed, I must desire you to observe, that there is no proof in the
world so satisfactory to the true Christian, as to have felt the transforming power
of the Gospel on his own soul. As that illiterate man whose eyes were
miraculously
opened by Christ, when he was questioned by the Jewish Sanhedrin, who endeavoured
with all their sophistry to prove Christ an impostor, answered with
Nevertheless, it must be acknowledged, that this glorious kind
of evidence is like the white stone, mentioned in the Revelation, in which there
was a new name written, which no man knew, but he who received it
In the prosecution of this great design, I shall endeavour more particularly to shew you,— that, if we take the matter on a general survey, it will appear highly probable, that such a scheme of doctrines and precepts, as we find Christianity to be, should indeed have been a divine revelation;— and then, that, if we examine into the external evidence of it, we shall find it certain, in fact, that it was so, and that it had its original from above.
First, Let me shew, “that, taking the matter merely in theory, it will appear highly probable, that such a system as the Gospel should be indeed a divine revelation.”
To evidence this, I would more particularly prove,—that the state of mankind was such, as greatly to need a revelation;—that there seems from the light of nature, encouragement to hope that God should grant one;— that it is reasonable to believe, if any were made, it should be so introduced and transmitted, as we are told Christianity was; and that its general nature and substance should be such, as we find that of the Gospel is. If these particulars are made out, here will be a strong presumptive evidence, that the Gospel is from God; and we shall have opened a fair way toward that more direct proof, which I principally intend.
1. “The case of mankind is naturally such, as greatly to need a divine revelation.”
I speak not here of man in his original state; though even then,
as many have largely shewn, some instruction from above seemed necessary to inform
him of many particulars, which it was highly expedient that he should immediately
know: but I speak of him in the degenerate condition in which he now so evidently
lies, by whatever means he was brought into it. It is an easy thing to make florid
encomiums on the perfection of natural light, and to deceive unwary readers with
an ambiguous term This Dr. Tindal has done in so gross and palpable a manner,
that, it is surprising that fallacy alone should not have exposed his Christianity,
as old as the creation, to the immediate contempt of every intelligent reader.
But you live at home, and hear these things only by uncertain report. Look then around you within the sphere of your own observation, and see the temper; and character of the generality of those, who have been educated in a Christian, and even in a Protestant, country. Observe their ignorance and forgetfulness of the Divine Being, their impieties, their debaucheries, their fraud, their oppression, their pride, their avarice, their ambition; their unnatural insensibility of the wants, and sorrows, and interests, of each other; and, when you see how bad they generally are in the midst of so many advantages, judge by that of the probable fate of those that want them. Judge, upon these views, whether a revelation be an unnecessary thing.
2. “There is, from the light of nature, considerable encouragement to hope, that God would favour his creatures with so needful a blessing as a revelation appears.”
That a revelation is in itself a possible thing, is evident
beyond all shadow of a doubt. Shall not he that made man’s mouth
Now I acknowledge, that we could not certainly conclude he would
ever do it; considering, on the one hand, how justly they stood exposed to his final
displeasure; and, on the other, what provision he had made by the frame of the
human mind, and of nature around us, for giving us such notices of himself, as would leave us
inexcusable, if we either failed to know him, or to glorify
him as God, as the apostle argues at large
3. We may easily conclude, “that, if a revelation were given, it would be introduced and transmitted in such a manner, as Christianity is said to have been.”
It is exceeding probable, for instance, that it should be taught, either by some illustrious person sent down from a superior world, or at least by a man of eminent wisdom and piety, who should himself have been, not only a teacher, but an example, of universal goodness. In order to this it seems probable, that he would be led through a series of calamity and distresses; since otherwise he would not have been a pattern of the virtues, which adorn adversity, and are peculiar to it. And it might also have been expected, that in the extremity of his distresses, the blessed God, whose messenger he was, should, in some extraordinary manner, have interposed, either to preserve or to recover him from death.
It is moreover exceedingly probable that such a person, and
perhaps also they who were at first employed as his messengers to the world,
should
be endowed with a power of working miracles; both to awaken men’s attention, and to prove a divine mission,
and the consequent truth of their doctrines; some of which might, perhaps, not be
capable of any other kind of proof; or, if they were, it is certain that no method
of arguing is so short, so plain, and so forcible, and, on the whole, so well suited
to the conviction, and probably the reformation, of mankind, as a course of evident,
repeated, and uncontrolled miracles. And such a method of
proof is especially adapted to the populace, who are incomparably the greater part
of mankind,
As for the propagation of a religion so introduced, it seems
no way improbable, that, having been thus established in its first age, it
should
be transmitted to future generations by credible testimony, as other important facts
are. It is certain, that affairs of the utmost moment, which are transacted
amongst
men, depend on testimony; on this, voyages are undertaken, settlements made, and
controversies decided; controversies, on which not only the estates, but the lives,
of men depend. And though it must be owned, that such an historical evidence is
not equally convincing with miracles which are wrought before our own eyes; yet
it is certain, it may rise to such a degree as to exclude all reasonable doubt.
And I know not why we should expect, that the evidence of a revelation should be
such, as universally to compel the immediate assistance of all to whom it is offered.
To me it seems much more likely, that it should be so adjusted, as to be a kind
of touchstone to the tempers and characters of men; capable indeed of giving ample satisfaction to the diligent and candid inquirer, yet attended with some circumstances,
whence the captious and perverse might take occasion to cavil and object. Such might
we suppose the evidence of the revelation would be, and such it is maintained that
of Christianity is. The teachers of it say, and undertake to prove, that it was
thus introduced, thus established, and thus transmitted; and we trust,
that this is a
4. “That the main doctrines contained in the Gospel are of such a nature, as we might in general suppose those of a divine revelation would be, rational, practical, and sublime.”
One would imagine, that, in a revelation of a religion from God,
the great principles of natural religion should be clearly asserted and strongly
maintained: such I mean, as the existence
It might indeed be farther supposed, and probably concluded,
that such a revelation would contain some things, which could not have
been learnt from the highest improvements of natural light: and, considering the
infinite and unfathomable nature of the blessed God, it would be more than probable,
that many things might be hinted at, and referred to, which our feeble faculties
should not be able fully to comprehend. Yet we should expect, to find these introduced
in a practical view, as directing us to duties before unknown, or suggesting
powerful motives Particularly on what terms, and to what degree, pardon and happiness
might be expected by sinful creatures.
I shall only add, that, forasmuch as pride appears to be the most reigning corruption of the human mind, and the source of numberless irregularities, it is exceeding probable, that a divide revelation should be calculated to humble the fallen creature, and bring it to a sense of its guilt and weakness; and the more evidently that tendency appears, other things being equal, the greater reason there is to believe, that the original of such a scheme is from above.
Your own thoughts have undoubtedly prevented me in the application of these characters to the Christian revelation. The justice of that application I must not now illustrate at large. But 1 must beg leave to advance one remark, which will conclude what I have to say on this general head: which is, that, as the Christian system is undoubtedly worthy of God, so, considering the manner in which it is said to have been introduced, (separate from the evidence of the facts, which is afterwards to be considered,) it is extremely difficult to imagine, from whom else it could have proceeded.
I will readily allow, that neither the reasonableness of its
doctrines, nor the purity of its morals, will alone prove its divine original;
since it is possible, the reason of one man may discover that which the. reason
of another approves, as being, in itself considered, either true in theory or useful
in practice. But this is not all; for, in the present case, it is evident, that
the first teachers of Christianity professed that they were taught it by divine revelation,
and
And thus much for the first branch of the argument: if you
consider the Christian scheme only in theory, it appears highly probable; since
a revelation was so much needed, might so reasonably be expected, and, if it were
ever given, would, so far as we can judge, be thus introduced, and be in the main
attended with such internal chara6ters. And though we have not as yet expressly
proved, that the Gospel was introduced in such a manner as the defenders of it assert; yet it would be strangely unaccountable, that
so admirable a system of truth and
duty should be advanced by the prince of darkness and the children of wickedness; as it
must have been, if the persons first employed in the propagation of it
were not endowed with power from on high
To embrace the Gospel is so safe and, on the whole, so comfortable
a thing, that I think a wife man would deliberately and resolutely venture his all
upon it, though nothing more could be offered for its confirmation. But, blessed
be God, we have a great
Secondly, “that it is in fact certain, that Christianity is indeed a divine revelation.”
Here I confers the chief stress is to be laid; and therefore
I shall insist more largely on this branch of the argument, and endeavour, by the
divine assistance, to prove the certainty of this great fact. You will naturally
apprehend, that I speak only of what is commonly called a moral certainty Which,
though it amount not to strict demonstration, is
such
kind of evidence as suits past matters of fact, and is sufficient to make a candid
and rational inquirer easy in his assent.
Now, in order to settle this grand point as clearly as I can, I think it may be proper to prove,
I. That the books of the New Testament, as they are now in your hands, may be depended upon as written by the first preachers and publishers of Christianity. And,
II. That hence it will certainly follow, that what they assert is true, and that the religion they teach brings along with it such evidences of a divine authority, as may most justly recommend it to our acceptance.
Each of these heads might furnish out matter for many volumes;
but it is my business to hint at the
I. I am to prove to you, “that the books of the New Testament, now in your hands, were written by the first preachers and publishers of Christianity.”
You see I confine the present proof to the books of the New Testament. Not that I think the authority of the Old to be suspected, or the use of it by any means to be despised. God forbid! it is an invaluable treasure, which demands our daily delightful and thankful perusal, and is capable of being defended in a manner, which, I am persuaded, its subtilest enemies will never be able to answer. But the nature of my present argument, and the limits of my time, oblige me at present to wave the proof it, any farther than as it is implied in, and dependent upon, what I have more immediately in view.
In the process of the discourse, though I shall studiously avoid
any ostentation of learning, yet it will be absolutely necessary to assert some
things, which cannot certainly be known, without some little acquaintance with ancient
writers. You cannot, most of you, be supposed to have formed such an acquaintance;
but 1 take it for granted you will readily believe, that I will not lie for God,
nor talk deceitfully for him
Having premised these things, I go on to the argument, and
shall advance in it by the following
I. It is certain, “that Christianity is not a new religion, but that it was maintained by great multitudes, quickly after the time in which Jesus is said to have appeared.”
That there was, considerably more than sixteen hundred years
ago, a body of men, who went by the name of Christians, is almost as evident, as
that a race of men was then existing in the world; nor do I know, that any have
ever been wild and confident enough to dispute it. If any should for argument-sake
question it, they might quickly be convinced by a considerable number of
Christian
writers, who lived in the same or the next age Such as Clement Romanus, Ignatius, Polycarp, Justin Martyr,
Irenæus, Tatian, Athenagoras, and Theophilus Antiochenus, who all wrote before the
year 200, and some in the first century: not to urge Barnabas, and Hermas; nor
to mention any of those cited by Eusebius; whose books are all lost except
some fragments, preserved chiefly by that excellent writer. Nero quæsitissimis pœnis affecit,
quos, per flagitia iuvisos,
vulgus Christianos appellabat.—Repressa in prætens exitiabilis superstitio,
rursus erumpebat, non modo per Judæam, originem ejus sed per urbem etiam, &c.—Multitudo ingens,
odio humani generis, convicti sunt; & pereuntibus addita— unde miseratio oriebatur, &c.
Tacit. Annal. lib. xv. c. 44. Afflicti suppliciis
Christiani, genus hominum superstitionis novæ ac maleficæ. Sueton. Ner.
cap. xvi. Multi omnis ætatis, omnis ordinis, utriusque sexus, etiam vocantur in periculum.
Neque civitates tantum, sed vicos etiam atquæ agros, superstitionis istius contagio-pervagata est;—prope jam desolata templa,—&
sacra solemnia diu intermissa:—victimas quarum adhuc
rarissimus emptor inveniebatur. Plin. Epist. lib. x. epist. 97. Ετοιμος απολυθηναι του σωματος μη κατα ψιλην
παραταξιν. ως οι Χριστιcονοι.
Marc. Antonin. lib. xi. §. 3. [See also
this emperor’s constitution to the community of Asia, (as inserted by Eusebius
in his ecclesiastical history, lib. iv. cap. 13,) in which he mentions their persecuting the Christians to death;
τους Χριστιανους διωκετε εως δανατου·
and speaks of these persecutions as having continued a considerable time.] N. B.
This was inserted in Melito’s Apology for the Christians, which he wrote in that
emperor’s reign, so that there cannot be the least doubt of its being genuine. Υπο μανιας μεν δυναται τις ουτο διατεθηναι πξος ταυτ
(δο?υφοξους scil. η μαχαιξας)
και υπο εθους ος Γαλιλαοι. Arrian. Epictet.
lib. iv. cap. 7, pag. 400. [This would be the proper place to mention the passage said
to be in Philo Judæus, (who was contemporary with the apostles,) relating
to the Christians in his days, and the methods taken by an embassy from Jerusalem
to prevent the progress of their religion: but, though I verily believe the
fact
to have been true, I omit it, for reasons which the reader will find in a note under
head three of the next sermon.—Some other passages of ancient writers, which might
be very pertinent here, I reserve to mention under some following heads, and particularly
where I shall speak of the miraculous propagation of the Gospel, in Serm. III.]
I shall dismiss this head with observing, that it tends greatly
to the confirmation of Christianity, that each of these celebrated and ancient
pagan writers,
2. “That there was certainly such a person as Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified at Jerusalem, when Pontius Pilate was the Roman governor there.”
It can never be imagined, that multitudes of people should
take their name from Christ, and sacrifice their lives for their adherence to him,
even in the same age in which he is said to have lived, if they had not
been well assured there was such a person. Now several of the authors I have mentioned
plainly assert, that the Christians were denominated from Christ: nay, Tacitus
expressly adds, “that he was put to death under Pontius Pilate, who
was procurator of Judæa, in the reign of Tiberius Auctor nominis ejus Christus, qui Tiberio imperitante
per procuratorem Pontium Pilatum supplicio affectus erat. Tacit. ubi supra. Vid. Justin Mart. Apolog. Oper. pag. 76. & Tertul. Apolog. op.
xxi. Buxtorf. Lexic. Talmud. in voce תלוי Τον δε ανεσκολοπισμενον
εκεινον σοφιστην αυτον
προσκυνωσι· Lucian de Morte Peregrini,
Oper. tom. ii. pag. 568.—[I might here introduce a great many other remarkable particulars
from this writer, which relate to “the fortitude of the Christians
in bearing sufferings, their entire submission to the authority of
Jesus, their unparalleled charity to each other; the prophets and messengers of
their churches, and the great progress of their religion.” All these things are
mentioned in the Pseudomantis, and the Death of Peregrinus, which
are undoubtedly Lucian’s: not to mention those very memorable
passages in the Philopatris, which is of a much later date. But
a particular detail of these things would swell this note to a very improper
bulk.] Spartian. de Vita Severi, cap. xxix. & xliii. Euseb. Demonstr. Evang. lib. iii. pag.
134. I say nothing of the celebrated passage in Josephus,
(Antiq.
lib. xviii. cap. 4,) because it has been disputed; though I
know no considerable objection against it, but its being so honourable to
Christianity,
that one would hardly imagine a Jew could write it.
3. It is also certain, “that the first publishers of this religion wrote books, which contained an account of the life and doctrine of Jesus their Master, and which went by the name of those that now make up our New Testament.”
It was in the nature of things exceeding probable, that what
they had seen and heard, they would declare and publish to the world in writing
The greatest adversaries of Christianity must grant, that we
have books of great antiquity, written some fourteen, others fifteen, and some sixteen,
hundred years ago Such as Tatian, Irenæus, Tertullian, Clement Alexandrinus,
Origen, Eusebius, and many others: See Jones of the Canon, Part
iv. Introduct. Justin Martyr’s Controversy with Trypho, and
Origen’s
with Celsus, prove that Jews and heathens allowed, not only that there were
such books, but that they contained the religion of Christians. Euseb. Eccles.
Hist. lib. vi. cap. 25.
On the whole, then, you see, that the primitive church did receive certain pieces, which bore the same titles with the books of our New Testament. Now I think it is evident, they were as capable of judging whether a book was written by Matthew, John, or Paul, as an ancient Roman could be of determining whether Horace, Tully, or Livy, wrote those which go under their names. And I am sure, the interest of the former was so much more concerned in the writings of the apostles, than that of the latter in the compositions of the poets, orators, or even their historians, that there is reason to believe, they would take much greater care to inform themselves fully in the merits of the cause, and to avoid being imposed upon by artifice and fiction. Let me now shew,
4. “That the books of the New Testament have been preserved in the main uncorrupted, to the present time, in the original language in which they were written.”
This is a matter of vast importance, and, blessed be God, it is attended with proportionable evidence; an evidence, in which the hand of Providence has indeed been remarkably seen; for I am confident, that there is no other ancient book in the world, which may so certainly and so easily be proved to be authentic.
And, here, I will not argue merely from the piety
of the primitive Christians, and the heroic resolution
with which they chose to endure the greatest extremities, rather than they would
deliver up their Bibles, (though that be a consideration of some evident
Nor must I omit to remind you, that in every age, from the
apostles
time to our own, there have been numberless quotations made from the books of the
New Testament; and a multitude of commentaries in various languages, and some
of very ancient date, have been written upon them: so that, if the books themselves were lost, I believe they might, in a great measure, if not entirely, be recovered
from the writings of others. And one might venture to say, the quotations, which
have ever been made from all the ancient writings now remaining
I say, in the main, because we readily allow, that the hand of a printer, or of a transcriber, might chance, in some places, to insert one letter or word for another, and the various readings of this, as well as of all other ancient books, prove, that this has sometimes been the case. Nevertheless, those various readings are generally of so little importance, that he, who can urge them as an objection against the assertion we are now maintaining, must have little judgement or little integrity; and indeed after those excellent things which have been laid on the subject by many defenders of Christianity, if he have read their writings, he must have little modesty too. .
Since then it appears, that the books of the New Testament, as they now stand in the original, are, without any material alteration, such as they were, when they came from the hands of the persons whose names they bear, nothing remains to complete this part of the argument, but to shew,
5. “That the translation of them, now in your hands, may be depended upon, as in all things most material, agreeable to the original.”
This is a fact of which the generality of you are not capable
of judging immediately. yet it is a matter of great importance: it is, therefore, a very great
pleasure to me to think, what ample evidence you may find another way, to make your minds as easy
on this head as you could reasonably wish them: I
There are, to be sure, very few of us, whose office it is publicly to preach the Gospel, who have not examined this matter with care, and who are not capable of judging in so easy a case. I believe you have seen few in the place where I now stand, that could not have told you, as I now solemnly do, that, on a diligent comparison of our translation with the original, we find that of the New Testament, (and, I might also add, that of the Old,) in the main, faithful and judicious. You know, indeed, that we do not scruple on some occasions to animadvert upon it; but you also know, that these remarks affect not the fundamentals of religion, and seldom reach any farther than the beauty of a figure, or, at most, the connexion of an argument. Nay, I can confidently say, that, to the best, of my knowledge and remembrance, as there is no copy of the Greek, so neither is there any translation of the New Testament, which I have seen, whether ancient or modern, how defective and faulty soever, from which all the principal facts and doctrines of Christianity might not be learnt, so far as the knowledge of them is necessary to salvation, or even to some considerable degrees of edification in piety. Nor do I except from this remark, even that most erroneous and corrupt version, published by the English Jesuits at Rheims, which is, undoubtedly, one of the worst that ever appeared in our language.
But I desire not, that, with respect to our own translation of the
New Testament, a matter of so great moment as the fidelity of it should rest on my testimony
alone, or, entirely, on that of any of my brethren, for whose integrity and learning
you may have the greatest and justest esteem. I rejoice to say, that this is a head,
on which we cannot possibly deceive you, if we were ever
so desirous to do it.
You see then, on the whole, how much reason there is to believe, “that the books of the New Testament, as they are now in your hands, were written by those whole names they bear, even the first preachers and publishers of Christianity.”
This is the grand point; and hence it will follow, by a train
of easy and natural consequences, that the Gospel is most certainly true: but
that is a topic of argument abundantly sufficient to furnish out matter
for another discourse. May God command this blessing on what has already been laid
before us, that, through the operation of his Spirit, it may
be useful for establishing our regard to the
—WE HAVE NOT FOLLOWED CUNNINGLY DEVISED FABLES.—
WHEN we are addressing ourselves to an audience of professing
Christians, I think, we may reasonably take it for granted, in the main course of
our ministry, that they believe the truth of the
I beg, therefore, that you would renew your attention, while I resume the thread of my discourse, an entire dependence on the blessed Spirit, by whom the Gospel was at first revealed and confirmed, to add success to this humble attempt for its service and for your edification.
I am now shewing you, that Christianity, which before appeared in theory probable and rational, has, in fact evidence: not only that it may be, but that it certainly is, true;—as it is certain, that the New Testament, as now in your hands, is genuine;—and as it may, with great evidence, be argued from hence, that the Gospel is a revelation from God. The first of there points I have endeavoured to prove at large; and, without repeating what I said in confirmation of it, I now proceed to shew,
“That, from allowing the New Testament to be genuine, it will certainly follow, that Christianity is a divine revelation.”
And, here, a man is, at first, ready to be lost in the multiplicity of arguments which surround him. It is very easy to find proofs; but difficult to range and dispose them in such an order, as best to illustrate and confirm each other. Now I choose to offer them in the following series, which seems to me the most natural, and, perhaps, may be most intelligible to you.
The authors of the books contained in the New Testament were
certainly capable of judging concerning the truth of the facts they attested:—their character, so far as we can judge of it by their writings, renders
them worthy of regard;—and they
were under no temptation to attempt to impose on the world, by such a story as they have given us, if it had
been false: so that, considering all things, there, is no
reason
to believe they would attempt it:
1. It is exceeding evident, “that the writers of the New Testament certainly knew, whether the facts they asserted were true or false.”
And this they must have known, for this plain reason; because
they tell us, they did not trust merely to the report, even of persons whom
they thought most credible; but were present themselves when several of
the most important facts happened, and so received them on the testimony of their own
senses. On this, St. John, in his Epistle, lays a very great and reasonable
stress: that which we have seen with our eyes, and that not only by a sudden
glance, but which we have attentively looked upon, and which even our hands have
handled of the word of life, i. e. of Christ and his Gospel,—declare we
unto you
Let the common sense of mankind judge here. Did not Matthew and
John certainly know, whether they had personally and familiarly conversed with
Jesus of Nazareth, or not? Whether he had chosen
Did not Luke know, whether he was in the ship with Paul, when
that extraordinary wreck happened, by which they were thrown ashore on the island
of Malta? Did he not know, whether, while they were lodged together in the
governor’s house, Paul miraculously healed one of the family, and many other
diseased persons in the island, as he positively asserts he did
Did not Paul certainly know, whether Christ appeared to him on
the way to Damascus, or not? Whether he was blind, and afterwards, on the prayer
of a fellow-disciple, received his sight? or, was that a circumstance, in
which there could be room for
To add no more, did not Peter know, whether he saw the glory
of Christ’s transfiguration, and heard that voice, to which he expressly refers,
when he says in the text, we have not followed cunningly deviled fables,—but were
eye-witnesses of his majesty,—when there came such a voice to him; and
this voice we heard
Now Matthew, John, Luke, Paul, and Peter, are by,
far the most considerable writers of the New Testament; and I am sure, when you reflect on these particulars, you must own, that there are few historians,
ancient or modern, that could so certainly judge of the truth of the
facts they have related. You may perhaps think, I have enlarged too much, in
stating so clear a case: but, you will please to remember, it is the foundation
of the whole argument; and that this branch of it alone cuts off infidels from that refuge, which, I believe, they would generally
choose, that of pleading the apostles were enthusiasts; and leaves them silent,
unless they will say they were impostors: for, you evidently see, that, could we
suppose these facts to be false, they could by no means pretend an involuntary
mistake, but must, in the most criminal and aggravated sense, as Paul himself
expresses it, be found false witnesses of God
2. “That the character of these writers, so far as we can judge by their works,
seems to render
I shall not stay to shew at large, that they appear to have been persons of natural sense, and, at the time of their writing, of a composed mind; for, I verily believe, no man, that ever read the New Testament with attention, could believe they were idiots or madmen. Let the discourses of Christ, in the Evangelists, of Peter and Paul, in the Acts, as well as many passages in the Epistles, be perused; and I will venture to say, he, who is not charmed with them, must be a stranger to all the justest rules of polite criticism, but he, who suspects that the writers wanted common sense, must himself be most evidently destitute of it; and he, who can suspect they might possibly be distracted, must himself, in this instance at least, be just as mad as he imagines them to have been.
It was necessary, however, just to touch upon this; because, unless we are satisfied that a person be himself in what he writes, we cannot pretend to determine his character from his writings. Having premised this, I must entreat you, as you peruse the New Testament, to observe what evident marks it bears of simplicity and integrity, of piety and benevolence; which, when you have observed, you will find them pleading the cause of its authors, with a resistless, though a gentle, eloquence; and powerfully persuading the mind, that men, who were capable of writing so excellently well, are not, without the strongest evidence, to be suspected of acting so detestably as we must suppose they did, if, in this solemn manner, they were carrying on an imposture, in such circumstances as attended the case before us. For,
(1). The manner, in which they tell their amazing story, is most
happily adapted to gain our belief.
(2). Their integrity does likewise evidently appear, in the
freedom with which they mention those circumstances, which might have exposed
their Master and themselves to the greatest contempt amongst prejudiced and inconsiderate
men,
such as they knew they must generally expect to meet with.—As to
their Master, they scruple not to own, that his country was infamous
(3). It is certain, that there are in their writings the most genuine
traces; not only of a plain and honest, but a most pious and devout, a most benevolent and
generous, disposition. These appear, especially,
in the epistolary parts of the New Testament, where, indeed, we should reasonably expect to find them: and
of these I may confidently affirm, that the greater progress any one has made,
in love to God N. B. Those, who are acquainted with the New Testament,
will know, that this is but a specimen the texts which might easily be collected on
each of these heads: yet, were the energy of these few attentively considered, I cannot
but think, that every well-disposed mind would be deeply struck and powerfully
convinced by them.
Where then there are such genuine marks of an excellent character, not only in laboured discourses, but in epistolary writings, and those, sometimes, addressed to particular and intimate friends, to whom the mind naturally opens itself with the greatest freedom, surely no candid and equitable judge would lightly believe them to be all counterfeit; or would imagine, without strong proof, that persons, who breathe such exalted sentiments of virtue and piety, should be guilty of any notorious wickedness: and, in proportion to the degree of enormity and aggravation attending such a supposed crime, it may justly be expected, that the evidence of their having really committed it should be unanswerably strong and convincing.
Now, it is most certain, on the principles laid down above, that,
if the testimony of the apostles was false, they must have acted as detestable and
villanous a part as one can easily conceive. To be found (as the apostle, with
his usual energy, expresses it) false witnesses of God
And the inhumanity of such a conduct would, on the whole, have been equal to its impiety: for, it was deceiving men in their most important interests, and persuading them to venture their whole future happiness on the power and fidelity of one, whom, on this supposition, they knew to have been an impostor, and justly to have suffered a capital punishment for his crimes.
It would have been great guilt, to have given the hearts and devotions of men so wrong a turn, even though they had found magistrates ready to espouse and establish, yea, and to enforce, the religion they taught. But to labour to propagate it in the midst of the most vigorous and severe opposition from them, must equally enhance the guilt and folly of the undertaking: for, by this means, they made themselves accessory to the ruin of thousands; and all the calamities, which fell on such proselytes, or even their descendants, for the sake of Christianity, would be, in a great measure, chargeable on these first preachers of it. The blood of honest. yea, and (supposing them, as you must, to have been involuntarily deceived,) of pious, worthy, and heroic persons, who might otherwise have been the greatest blessings to the public, would, in effect, be crying for vengeance against them; and the distresses of the widows and orphans, which those martyrs might leave behind them, would join to swell the account.
So that, on the whole, the guilt of those malefactors, who are, from time to time, the victims of public justice, even for robbery, murder, or treason, is small, when compared with that which we have now been supposing: and, corrupt as human nature is, it appears to me utterly improbable, that twelve men should be found, I will not say, in one little nation; but even on the whole face of the earth, who could be capable of entering into so black a confederacy, on any terms whatsoever.
And now, in this view of the case, make a serious pause, and compare with it what we have just been saying of the character of the apostles of Jesus, so far as an indifferent person could conjecture it from their writings; and then say, whether you can, in your hearts, believe them to have been these abandoned wretches, at once the reproach and astonishment of mankind? You cannot, surely, believe such things of any, and much less, of them; unless it shall appear, they were in some peculiar circumstances of strong temptation; and, what those circumstances could be, it is difficult even for imagination to conceive.
But history is so far from suggesting any unthought-of fact, to help our imagination on this head, that it bears strongly the contrary way; and hardly any part of my work is easier, than to shew,
3. “That they were under no temptation to forge a story of this kind, or to publish it to the world, knowing it to be false.”
They could reasonably expect no gain, no reputation by it: but,
on the contrary, supposing it an imposture, they must, with the most ordinary
share of prudence, have foreseen infamy and ruin, as the certain consequences of
attempting it. For, the ground foundation of their scheme was, that Jesus of Nazareth,
who was crucified at Jerusalem by the [I do not here mention Philo Judæus, as
speaking of “an embassy sent from the Jews, in his early days, to their
brethren in all parts of the world, exhorting them to resist the progress of Christianity.”
For, though Bishop Atterbury asserts, that there is such a passage,
(Serm. vol. i. pag. 117,) I have never been able to find or to hear of it; and,
therefore, am ready, to believe, it was a very pardonable slip of his Lordship’s memory, and that the passage he intended to refer to was a
very celebrated and important one in Justin Martyr’s, Dialogue with Trypho the
Jew, in which he expressly asserts such a fact, in a manner,
which his integrity and good sense would never have permitted, had he not certainly known it to be true. For
he addresses the learned Jew, with whom he was disputing, in those memorable words,
Ου μονον ου μετενοησατε
εφ᾽ οις επραξατε κακοις
αλλα ανδρας εκλεκτες απο
Ιερουσαλημ
εκ_ εξαμηνοι τοτε
εξεπεμψατε
εις πασαν την γην, λεγοντες,
αιρεσιν α θεον Χριστιανων
πεφηνεναι,
καταλε_οντες ταντα απερ
καθ᾽ ημων οι αγνουυντες ημας
παντες λεγουσιν.
“You were to far from repenting of the crime you had
committed, (in crucifying Christ,) that you sent chosen men of the
most distinguished character all over the world, representing the Christians
as an atheistical sect, and charging us with those things which the ignorant
Heathens object against us.” Justin Mart. Dialog. cum Tryph. pag. 172,
Thirlb.—Eusebius and Origen have both mentioned the same
sect, which is in itself very probable; and
there may possibly be some reference to it, Acts, xxviii. 22, where the
Jews at Rome say, A. concerning this sect (of Christianity,)
we know that it is every where spoken against.]
Nor, could they expect a much better reception amongst the Gentiles;
with whom their business was, to persuade them to renounce the gods of their ancestors,
and to depend on a person who had died the death of a malefactor and a slave; to
persuade them to forego pompous idolatries in which they had been educated, and
all the sensual indulgences with which their religion (if it might be called a religion) was
attended; to worship one invisible God, through one Mediator, in the
most plain and simple manner; and to receive a set of precepts, most directly calculated
to control and restrain, not only the enormities of men’s actions, but the irregularities
of their hearts. A most difficult undertaking! and, to engage them to this, they
had no other arguments to bring, but such as were taken from the
views of an invisible state of happiness or misery, of which they asserted their
crucified Jesus to be the supreme disposer; who should, another day, dispense
his blessings or his vengeance, as the Gospel had been embraced or rejected. Now,
could it be imagined, that men would easily be persuaded, merely on the credit of
their affirmation, or in compliance with their importunity, to believe things, which,
to their prejudiced minds, would appear so improbable, and to submit to impositions
to their corrupt inclinations so insupportable? And, if they could not persuade
them to it, what could the apostles then expect? what, but to be insulted
as fools or madmen, by one sort of people; and, by another, to be persecuted
with the most savage and outrageous cruelty, as
[Compare
4. “That, humanly speaking, they must quickly have perished in it, and their foolish cause must have died with them, without ever gaining any credit in the world.”
One may venture to say this in general, on the principles which I before laid down: but it appears still more evident, when we consider the nature of the fact they asserted, in conjunction with the methods they took to engage men to believe it; methods, which, had the apostles been impostors, must have had the most direct tendency to ruin both their scheme and themselves.
(1). Let us a little more particularly reflect on the nature of that grand fact, the death, resurrection, and exaltation, of Christ; which, as I observed, was the great foundation of the Christian scheme, as first exhibited by the apostles.—The resurrection of a dead man, and his ascension into, and abode in, the upper world, was so strange a thing, that a thousand objections would immediately be raised against it; and some extraordinary proof would justly be required as a balance to them. Now I wish the rejecters of the Gospel would set themselves to invent some hypothesis, which should have an appearance of probability, to shew how such an amazing story should ever gain credit in the world, if it had not some very convincing proof. Where, and when, could it first begin to be received? Was it in the same or a succeeding age? Was it at Jerusalem, the spot of ground on which it is said to have happened, or in Greece, or Italy, or Asia, or Africa? You may change the scene, and the time, as you please, but you cannot change the difficulty.
Take it in a parallel instance. Suppose twelve
men in London were now to affirm, that a person
executed there as a malefactor, in a public manner,
(2). The manner in which the apostles undertook to prove the
truth of their testimony to this fact; and it will evidently appear, that,
instead
of confirming their scheme, it must have been sufficient utterly to have
overthrown it, had it been itself the most probable imposture that the wit of man could ever
have contrived.—You know, they did not merely assert, that they had seen miracles
wrought by this Jesus, but that he had endowed themselves with a variety of miraculous
powers. And these they undertook to display, not in such idle and useless tricks as
sleight of hand might perform, but in such solid and important works, as
appeared worthy a divine interposition, and entirely superior to human power; restoring,
as they pretend, sight to the blind, soundness to lepers, activity to the lame,
and; in some instances, life to the dead. Nor were these things undertaken in a
corner, in a circle of friends or dependants; nor were they said to be wrought on
such as might be suspected of being confederates in the fraud; but they were done
often in the public streets, in the sight of enemies, on the persons of such as
were utter strangers to the apostles, but sometimes well known to neighbours and spectators as having long laboured under these calamities, to human
skill utterly
incurable
Nor is there any room at all to object, that, perhaps, the apostles
might not undertake to do these things on the spot, but only assert they had done
them elsewhere: for, even then, it would have been impossible they should have
gained credit; and they would have seemed the less credible, on account, of such
a pretence. Whatever appearances there might
But to come still closer to the point: if the New Testament
be genuine, (as I have already proved it,) then, it is certain that the apostles
pretend to have wrought miracles in the very presence of those, to whom their writings
were addressed; nay, more, they profess likewise to have conferred those miraculous
gifts, in some considerable degrees, on others I cannot but look upon it as a kind and remarkable providence
to this purpose, that there is still extant an epistle of Clemens Romanus to the
church at Corinth, probably written before the year of Christ 70, in which he plainly
refers to
5. “That it is certain, in fact, that the apostles did gain early credit; and succeeded in a most wonderful manner;” whence it will follow, that their testimony was true.
That the apostles did indeed gain credit in the world is evident,
from what I before offered to prove the early prevalence of Christianity in it;
and may farther be confirmed from many passages in the Πεπλερωκεναι. Euseb. Histor. Eccles. lib. iii. cap.
1. Compare
So great was the number of those, who were proselyted
to Christianity by the preaching of the apostles; and we have all imaginable
reason to believe, that there were none of all these proselytes, but what were fully persuaded
of the truth of the testimony they bore; for, otherwise, no imaginable reason can
be given for their entering themselves into such a profession. The apostles had
no secular As for the distribution of goods in Judæa, it is plain it was
peculiar to that time and country; and the extraordinary persecution, which from
the very infancy of Christianity prevailed there, was more than an equivalent for
any advantage which the poorest of the people could gain by it. I did not, therefore,
think it necessary to mention it.
Nor will it signify any thing to object, that most of these converts were persons of a low rank and ordinary education, who, therefore, might be more easily imposed upon than others: for, (not to mention Sergius Paulus, Dionysius the Areopagite, or the domestics of Cæsar’s household, with others of superior stations in life,) it is sufficient to remind you, that, as I have largely shewn, the apostles did not put their cause on the issue of laboured arguments, in which the populace might quickly have been entangled and lost, but on such plain facts, as they might judge of as easily and surely as any others; indeed, on what they themselves saw, and, in part too, on what they felt.
Now, I apprehend, this might be sufficient to bring the matter
to a satisfactory conclusion. You
And now then, after this, the reasonableness of receiving the Gospel, on admitting the truth of what they testified concerning Christ, is an easy consequence.—Yet, some things are to be offered under this head, which are of great weight, and would not so conveniently have fallen under any of the former: and some considerable additional evidence to the truth of Christianity arises, from what has happened in the world since its first propagation. And, therefore, I choose rather to make a distinct discourse on these, with the improvement of the whole, than to throw together the hints of them in so hasty a manner as I must do, should I attempt to dispatch the subject in this discourse, the just limits of which. I have already transgressed, lest the great chain of the argument should be broken.
—WE HAVE NOT FOLLOWED CUNNINGLY DEVISED FABLES.—
AS I had before proved the books of the New Testament to be genuine, I proceeded in my last discourse to argue thence the certain truth of the Christian revelation; and we have made some considerable progress in the argument.
The matter, in short, stand thus.—The authors of the New Testament certainly knew, whether the facts they asserted were true or false; so that they could not themselves be deceived:—neither can we think they would attempt to deceive others, since they appear, by their manner of writing, to have been persons of great integrity and goodness;—and, it is likewise evident, they could have no temptation to attempt a fraud of this nature:—however, if they had attempted it, we cannot imagine they could have gained credit in the world, if the facts they asserted had not been true:—nevertheless, they did gain credit in a very remarkable manner; whence it plainly follows that those facts were true.—Now I am to shew farther, to complete the proof of our grand proposition,
6. “That, admitting the facts which they testify concerning Christ to be true, then it was reasonable for their contemporaries, and is reasonable for us, to receive the Gospel, which they have transmitted to us, as a divine revelation.”
The great thing they asserted was, that Jesus was the Christ,
and that he was proved to be so,—by prophecies accomplished in him, and by miracles
wrought by him, and by others in his name. Let us attend to each of these, and,
I am persuaded, we shall find them no contemptible arguments; but must be forced
to acknowledge, that, the premises being established, the conclusion most
easily
and necessarily follows: and this conclusion, that Jesus is the Christ, taken in
all its extent, is an abstract of the Gospel-revelation, and, therefore, is sometimes
put for the whole of it
The apostles, especially when disputing with the Jews, did frequently
argue from “the prophecies of the Old Testament;” in which, they say, many things
were expressly foretold, which were most literally and exactly fulfilled in
Jesus
of Nazareth
On searching these ancient and important records, we find, not
only in the general, that God intended to raise up for his people an illustrious
Deliverer, who, amongst other glorious titles, is sometimes called the
Besides these most material circumstances, there were several
others relating to him, which were either expressly foretold, or, at least, hinted
at; all which, with those already mentioned, had so evident an accomplishment in
Jesus, (allowing the truth of the facts which the apostles testified concerning him,)
that we have no reason to wonder, that they should receive the word with all readiness,
who searched the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so predicted there,
as the apostles affirmed
When the apostles were preaching to heathens, it is, indeed,
true, that they generally waved the argument from prophecy, because they were not
so capable judges of it: but, then, they insist on another, which might as soon
captivate their belief, and as justly vindicate it, I mean, “the miracles performed by
Christ,
and those commissioned and influenced by him.” Many of these were of such a nature
as not to admit of any artifice or deceit: especially, that most signal one, of
his resurrection from the dead, which I may call a miracle performed by, as well
as upon, Christ; because he so expressly declares, that he had himself a power
to resume his life at pleasure
I persuade myself you are convinced by all this,
that they, who on the apostles testimony believed that the prophecies of the Old
Testament were accomplished in Jesus, and that God bore witness to him by miracles,
and raised him from the dead, had abundant reason to believe that the doctrine
which Christ taught was divine, and his Gospel a revelation from heaven. And, if
they had reason to admit this conclusion, then, it is plain, that we, who have
such satisfactory evidence, on the one hand, that the testimony of the apostles was credible,
and, on the other, that this was the substance of it, have reason also to admit
this grand inference from it, and to embrace the Gospel as a faithful saying, and
as well worthy of all acceptation
7. In the last place, “that the truth of the Gospel has received farther, and very considerable confirmation, from what has happened in the world since it was first published.”
And here I must desire you more particularly to consider,—on
the one hand, what God has
(1.) Consider “what God has been doing to confirm the Gospel since its first publication,” and you will find it a farther evidence of its divine original.
I might here argue at large, from its surprising propagation in the world;—from the miraculous powers, with which, not only the apostles, but succeeding preachers of the Gospel, and other converts, were endowed;—from the accomplishment of prophecies recorded in the New Testament;—and from the preservation of the Jews as a distinct people, notwithstanding the various difficulties and persecutions through which they have passed.
I might particularly urge, in confirmation of the truth of Christianity, “the wonderful success with which it was attended, and the surprising propagation of the Gospel in the world.”
I have before endeavoured, under a former head, to shew you, that the Gospel met with so favourable a reception in the world, as evidently proved, that its first publishers were capable of producing such evidence of its truth as an imposture could not admit. But, now, I carry the remark farther, and assert, that, considering the circumstances of the case, it is amazing that even truth itself, under so many disadvantages, should have so illustrious a triumph; and that its wonderful success does evidently argue such an extraordinary interposition of God in its favour, as may justly be called a miraculous attestation to it.
There was not only one of a family or two of a city taken,
and brought to Zion Prope jam desolata templa—& sacra solennia diu intermissa. Plin. Epist. x. 97. Hesterni sumus, & vestra omnia implevimus, urbes,
insula, castella, municipia, conciliabula, castra ipsa, tribus, decurias, palatium,
senatum, forum; sola vobis relinquimus templa:—potuimus & inermes, nec rebelles,
sed tantummodo discordes, solius divortii adversus vos dimicasse;—suffudisset dominationem vestrum tot amissio civium,
& ipsa destitutione
punisset. Tertul. Apolog. cap. xxxvii. [[Ουδε εν γαρ ολως εστι το γενος ανθρωπων, ειτε Βαρ__αρον,
ειτε Ελληνων, ειτε απλως ῳτινιουν ονοματι προσαγορευομενων, η
Αμαξοϐιων, η Αοιλων καλουμενων, εη εν σκηναις κτηνοτροφων, εν
οις μη, δια του ονοματος του σταυξωθεντος Ιησου ευχαι και ευχαξιστιαι
τω ποτρι και ποιητη των ολων γινονται.
Justin. Mart. pag. 388, edit. Thirlb.
Now, how can we account for such a scene as this, but
by saying, that the hand of the Lord was with the first preachers of the Gospel,
and, therefore,
Had this new religion, so directly contrary to all the prejudices of education, been contrived to sooth men’s vices, to assert their errors, to defend superstitions, or to promote their secular interests, we might easily have accounted for its prevalence in the world. Had its preachers been very profound philosophers, or polite and fashionable orators, many might have been charmed, at least for a while, to follow them; or, had the princes and potentates of the earth declared themselves its patrons, and armed their legions for its defence and propagation, multitudes might have been terrified into the profession, though not a soul could, by such means, have been rationally persuaded to the belief of it. But, without some such advantages as these, we can hardly conceive how any new religion should so strangely prevail; even though it had crept into the world in its darkest ages and most barbarous countries, and though it had been gradually proposed in the most artful manner, with the finest veil industriously drawn over every part which might at first have given disgust to the beholder.
But you well know that the very reverie of all this was the case
here. You know, from the apparent constitution of Christianity, that the lusts and
errors, the superstitions and interests, of carnal men would immediately rise up
against it as a most irreconcilable enemy. You know, that the learning and wit of
the Greeks and the Romans were early employed to overbear and ridicule it. You know,
that, as all the herd of heathen deities were to be
Had one of the wits or politicians of these ages seen the
apostles,
and a few other plain men, whet had been educated amongst the lowest of the people,
as most of the first teachers of Christianity were, going out, armed with nothing
but faith, truth, and goodness, to encounter the power of princes, the bigotry of priests, the learning of philosophers, the rage of the populace, and the prejudices
of all; how would he have derided the attempt, and said, with Sanballat, What will
these feeble Jews do
I might here farther urge “those miracles, which were
wrought in confirmation of the Christian doctrine,
The most signal and best attested of these was the dispossession
of devils; whom God seems to have permitted to rage with an unusual violence about
those times, that his Son’s triumph over them might be so much the more remarkable,
and that the old serpent might he taken in his own craftiness. I doubt not, but
many of you have heard, that, more than two hundred years after the death of
Christ,
some of the most celebrated defenders of the Gospel, which the church has in any
age produced, I mean Tertullian Tertul. Apolog. cap. xxii. Minut. Fæl. cap. xxvii.
I wave the testimonies of some later writers of the Christian
church, lest the credulity of their temper, joined with the circumstances attending
some of the facts they
record, should furnish out objections against their testimony; though, I think,
we cannot, without great injustice to the character of the learned and pious Augustin,
suspect the truth of some amazing facts of this kind, which he has attested as of
his own personal and certain knowledge Augustin,
de Civit. Dei, lib. xxii. cap. 8.
Nor must I, on this occasion, forget to mention the accomplishment of several prophecies, recorded “in the New Testament,” as a farther confirmation given by God to the Gospel.
The most eminent and single instance, under this head, is that
of our Lord’s prediction concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, as it is recorded
by St. Matthew in his twenty-fourth chapter. The tragical history of it is
most
circumstantially described by Josephus, a Jewish priest, who was an eye-witness
of it; and the description he has given of this sad calamity so exactly corresponds
to the prophecy, that one would have thought, had we not known the contrary, that
it had been written by a Christian on purpose to illustrate it: [and one can never
enough admire that series of amazing providences, by which the author
was preserved from the most imminent danger; that he might leave us that invaluable treasure which his writings contain Joseph. Bell. Jud. lib. iii. cap. 8.
We have no need of any farther evidence, than we find in him,
of the exact accomplishment of what was prophesied concerning the destruction of Jerusalem: but our Lord had also foretold the long continued desolation of their temple [Cum itaque fortiter rei instaret Alypius,
juvaretque provinciæ rector, metuendi globi flammarum, prope, iundamenta crebris
assultibus crumpentes, seccie locum, exustis aliquoties operantibus, inaccessum;
hocque modo, elemento destinatius repellente, cessavit inceptum.
Ammian. Marcell. lib. xxiii. sub init. I think one might
argue the author to have been a heathen, from this cold way of telling a story
so glorious to Christianity: “the element repelling them by a kind of obstinate
fatality.” The learned reader will easily observe with how different an air
Socrates
(Hist. lib. iii. cap. 20) and Sozomen (Hist. lib. v.
cap. 22) recount,
and most reasonably triumph in it.]
The prediction of St. Paul concerning the man of sin, and
the apostasy of the later times [I can, with great pleasure, refer my reader to the learned
commentary on this book lately published by the Reverend
Mr. Lowman; from which I have received more satisfaction, with respect to many of its difficulties, than
I over found elsewhere, or expected to have found at all.] Hinc igitur apud nos futurorum
quoque fides tuta est, jam scilicet
probatorum, quia cum illis quæ quotidie probantur prædicebantnr.
Tertul. Apol,
cap. xx.
“The preservation of the Jews as a distinct people” is another particular, under this head, which well deserves our attentive regard.
It is plain they are vastly numerous, notwithstanding all the
slaughter
and destruction of this people in former and in later ages. They are dispersed
in various most distant nations, and particularly in those parts of the world where Christianity is professed:
and, though they are exposed to great hatred and contempt, on account of their different
faith, and in mot places subjected to civil incapacities, if not to unchristian
severities; yet they are still most obstinately tenacious of their religion; which
is the more wonderful, as their fathers were so prone to [This important thought is most excellently illustrated in that
incomparable old Book of Dr. Jackson’s, called, The Eternal Truth of the Scriptures,
&c. especially Book I. Part I. Sect. III. Chap. 10-13. The whole
of the section is very curious.] Spectat. vol. vii. No. 495.
Thus has Christianity been farther confirmed, since its first publication, by what God has done to establish it. It only remains that we consider,
(2.) What confirmation it receives, “from the methods which its enemies have taken to destroy it.”
And these have generally been, either persecution, or falsehood, or cavilling at some particulars in the revelation, without entering into the grand argument on which it is built, and fairly debating what is offered in its defence. Now, who would not think the better of a cause for being thus attacked?
At first, you know, that the professors, and especially the preachers,
of the Gospel were severely persecuted. In every city, bonds and imprisonments awaited
them
The time would fail me, should I attempt particularly to shew,
how these unrighteous methods were pursued in succeeding ages and distant countries.
The savage cruelties of Nero to these innocent and holy men were such as raised
the pity even of their enemies [This a haughty and cruel enemy confesses, even while he blasphemes
the religion of these glorious confessors:—Quanquam adversus sontes,
& novissima exempla meritos, miseratio oriebatur.
Tacit. Annal. lib. xv. §. 44.]
These early enemies of the Gospel added falsehood and slanders
to their inhumanities. They endeavoured to murder the reputations of the
Christians
as well as their persons, and were not ashamed [to represent them as haters of the
whole human species Odio humani generis convicti sunt.
Tacit. ubi supra. [This matter is set in the clearest and most beautiful light
by the sagacious Mr. Warburton, in his Divine Legation of Moses, (vol. i. pag.
292-295,) to whose labours the learned and the Christian world are indebted
beyond expression for as great a number of original thoughts as are, perhaps,
any where to be found in an equal compass.]
Such were the infamous and scandalous methods by which the
Gospel was opposed in the earliest ages of the church; and I cannot forbear
adding, “that the measures more lately taken to subvert it, especially amongst
ourselves,
seem to me rather to reflect a glory upon it.” Its unhappy enemies have been told
again and again, that we put the proof of it on plain fact. They themselves
do not and cannot deny, that it prevailed early in the world, as we have shewn at
large. There must have been some man, or body of men, who first introduced it: they
generally confess that Christ and his apostles were the persons; and these
apostles
(on whose testimony what we know of Christ chiefly depends) must have been enthusiasts
or impostors, if their testimony was false. Now, which of these schemes will the
unbeliever take? It seems, that the deists of the present age fix on neither, as
being secretly conscious they can support neither, but they content themselves with
cavilling at some circumstances attending the revelation, without daring to encounter
its grand evidence; i. e. they have been laboriously attempting to prove it “to
be improbable, or absurd, to suppose that to have been, which nevertheless plainly appears to have been, fact.” One most weakly and
sophistically pretends
to prove, in defiance of the common sense of mankind, that the light of nature
is a perfect rule, and, therefore, that all revelation is needless, and indeed
impossible.
Another disguises the miracles of Christ by false and foolish representations
of them, and then sets himself to ridicule them as idle tales. And a third takes
a great deal of fruitless pains to shew, that some prophecies referred to in the
New Testament are capable of another sense, different from that in
which the apostles have taken them. These things have been set
in a very artful and fallacious light by persons, whose names will be,
perhaps, transmitted to posterity, with the infamous glory of having been
leaders in the cause of infidelity:
The cause of Christianity has greatly gained by debate, and the Gospel comes like fine gold out of the furnace, which, the more it is tried, the more it is approved. I own, the defenders of the Gospel have appeared with very different degrees of ability for the work; nor could it be otherwise, amongst such numbers of them; but, on the whole, though the patrons of infidelity have been masters of some wit, humour, and address, as well as of a moderate share of learning, and generally much more than a moderate share of assurance; yet, so great is the force of truth, that (unless we may except those writers, who have unhappily called for the aid of the civil magistrate in the controversy) I cannot recollect, that I have seen any defence of the Gospel, which has not, on the whole, been sufficient to establish it, notwithstanding all the sophistical arguments of its most subtile antagonists.
[This is an observation, which is continually gaining
new strength as new assaults are made upon the Gospel. And I cannot forbear saying, that, as if it were
by a kind of judicial infatuation, some, who have distinguished themselves in the wretched
cause of infidelity, [I mention not here that mean buffoonery and scurrility, that
industrious, though awkward, disguise, and monstrous mixture of the sceptic and dogmatist
which the learned and ingenious Mr. Warburton has animadverted upon with such
justice
and spirit, in his fine dedication to the Divine Legation of Moses demonstrated.]
Thus I have given you a brief view of the chief arguments in proof of Christianity; and the sum of the whole is this:
The Gospel is probable in theory; as, considering the nature
of God and the circumstances of mankind, there was reason to hope a revelation might
be given; and, if any were given, we should naturally apprehend its internal evidence
would be such as that of the Gospel is, and its external such as it is said to be.
But it is also true in fact; for, Christianity was early professed, as it was
first
introduced by Jesus of Nazareth, whole life and doctrines were published by his
immediate attendants; whose books are preserved still in their original language,
and, in the main, are faithfully translated into our own: so that the books
of the New Testament now
I shall conclude what I have to say on this subject, with a few words by way of reflection.
1. Let us gratefully acknowledge the divine goodness, in favouring us with so excellent a revelation, and confirming it to us by such an ample evidence.
We should be daily adoring the God of nature, for lighting up
the sun, that glorious, though imperfect, image of his own unapproachable lustre; and appointing it to gild the earth with its various rays, to cheer us
with its benign influences, and to guide and direct us in our journeys and
our labours. But how incomparably more valuable is that day-spring from on high
which has visited us, that sun of righteousness, which is risen upon us, to give
light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide our
feet into the way of peace
Let me here particularly address myself to those,
whose education and circumstances of life have given
them opportunities of a fuller inquiry into the state
of those ancient or modern nations, that have been
left merely to the light of unassisted reason; even to
you, sirs, who are acquainted with the history of their
gods, the rites of their priests, the tales, and even
the hymns, of their poets, (those beautiful trifles;)
nay, I will add, the reasonings of their sagest philosophers, all the precarious and all the erroneous
things they have said, where religion and immortality
are concerned [The great author I mentioned above (pag. 301, note †)
has shewn, in a most convincing manner, that the whole body of the Greek
philosophers disbelieved the doctrine of future rewards and punishments, though they popularly taught it as necessary to
society; and
held no other immortality of the soul, than what was the result
of a most atheistical notion, (modernly known by the name of Spinozism,) that
the universe was God, (see Dr. Warburton’s Divine Legation of Moles, book iii.
sect.
2, 3, 4,) which surely is one of the strongest proofs of the need of a revelation that
the world ever saw, and the most affecting comment on the words of the learned
apostle,
2. What reason have we to pity those, who reject this glorious Gospel, even when they have opportunities of inquiring into its clearest evidences?
Such, undoubtedly, there are in our own age and nation; and
surely
we should sometimes bestow a compassionate thought upon them, and lift up an humble
prayer for them; if God, peradventure, will give them repentance to the acknowledging
of the truth, that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who
are now led captive by him at his pleasure
3. How reasonable is it, that Christians should form a familiar acquaintance with the great evidences of our own common faith!
It is what we so apparently owe to the honour of
God, to the interest of Christ, to the peace of our
own souls, and the edification of others, that I hope
I need not urge it at large; especially considering
what was said in the introduction to these discourses.
In consequence of all, let it be your care to make the
evidences of Christianity the subject of your serious
reflections and of your frequent converse: especially, study your Bibles, where there are such marks of truth
and divinity to be found, that, I believe, few that have
familiarly known them, and have had a relish for
them, were ever brought to make shipwreck of the
faith as it is in Jesus. Above all, let it be your care
to as on the rules which are here laid down; and,
then, you will find your faith growing in a happy
4. How solicitous should we be to embrace and obey that Gospel, which comes attended with such abundant evidences!
I may undoubtedly address myself to most of you, my friends,
and say, as Paul did to king Agrippa, Believest thou the prophets [
In this Gospel, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven
against
all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men; but it is revealed with redoubled terror
against that audacious sinner, who holds the truth in unrighteousness
Oh let it be most secretly and frequently recollected, that this
Gospel is the touch-stone, by which you are another day to be tried; the balance,
in which an impartial Judge will weigh you; and must, on the whole, prove your
everlasting triumph or your everlasting torment. The blessed God did not introduce
it with such solemn notice, such high expectation, such pompous miracles, such awful
sanctions, that men might reject or dishonour it at pleasure; but will certainly
be found, to the greatest and meanest, of those that hear it, a favour of life unto
life or a favour of death unto death
Let it therefore be your immediate care, to inquire which of
there it is like to prove to your souls; since it is so far from being a vain
thing, that it is really your very life
And as for you, my brethren, who have received Christ Jesus
the Lord, be exhorted to walk in him
Printed by H. L. Galabin, Ingram-Court, London.
Genesis
Exodus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
Nehemiah
Job
Psalms
2:2 2:8 16:9 16:10 16:11 18:27 19:4 19:93 22:27 58:4 58:5 74:20 86:9 110:1
Isaiah
2:2 2:3 5:20 6:9 6:10 7:14 11:1 11:10 26:19 29:10 35:5 35:6 42:1 42:1 42:4 42:4 42:6 42:7 43:1 45:22 49:4 49:5 49:6-12 53:1 53:2-4 53:7-9 53:9 53:10-12 60:22 61:1 65:2
Jeremiah
3:14 23:5 23:5 23:6 23:6 30:8-24 31:31-40 50:4 50:5
Ezekiel
11:17-20 20:34-44 34:11-31 36:21-38 37:21 37:28
Daniel
2:13 2:14 2:27 9:25 9:25-27 9:26 9:26
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Micah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
Matthew
4:18-21 5:6 5:48 8:20 8:26 9:3 9:9 10:3 10:16-25 10:28 10:29 10:30 11:19 12:25-29 13:16 13:55 16:18 16:22 16:23 16:26 17:20 20:20-24 22:37 22:39 23:34 23:38 24:2 25:46 26:5 26:36 26:65 26:69-74 27:32-44 27:63
Mark
6:3 9:32 9:34 9:38 10:29 10:30 10:35-44 10:39 12:29 16:14
Luke
1:4 1:78 1:79 2:4-7 5:8 5:10 7:34 8:3 9:45 9:46 9:54 14:27 18:34 21:12 21:17 22:24 22:26 22:44 23:2 24:25 24:49
John
1:45 1:46 2:19 2:21 3:36 5:16 7:20 7:48 7:52 7:77 8:48 9:16 9:25 10:18 10:20 10:31-36 15:20 15:21 16:2-33 17:3 19:12 19:27 19:35 20:24-27 21:18 21:19
Acts
2:24-32 2:25-31 3:1-10 3:15 3:18-25 4:10 4:17 5:15 5:30 5:31 5:32 5:40 5:40 7:37 7:57 7:58 7:58 7:59 8:1 8:1 8:4 8:17 8:35 8:37 9:1 9:2 9:16 9:22 9:23 9:24 9:33-42 10:40 10:41 10:43 11:19 11:21 12:1-4 12:2 12:2 13:23 13:27 13:30-39 13:32-37 13:40 13:41 13:50 14:5 14:8-10 14:19 14:22 15:37-40 16:19-24 17:2 17:3 17:3 17:5-8 17:11 17:31 18:5 18:12 18:13 19:6 19:11 19:12 20:3 20:9-12 20:20 20:21 20:23 20:23 20:24 20:24 20:31-35 21:13 21:20 21:27 21:28 22:4-5 22:22 23:14 26:10 26:11 26:11 26:22 26:23 26:23 26:27 26:27 26:29 27:7-9 28:7-9 28:23
Romans
1:18 1:20 1:22 1:28 2:6-10 2:8 4:11 4:13 4:20 6:27 8:16 8:36 9:1-3 10:9 10:18 11:25-27 12:1 12:1 12:3 12:16 13:8-10 13:13 13:14 14:3 14:7 14:8 14:10 14:13 14:19 15:1 15:1 15:2 15:2 15:18 15:19
1 Corinthians
1:5 1:7 1:12 1:17 1:17 1:21 1:23 1:23 1:23 1:24 2:1 2:1 2:2 2:4 2:4 2:5 2:8 2:13 4:9 4:11-13 6:20 8:3 8:9-13 9:2 9:27 10:24 10:31 12:8-11 12:28-30 13:4-7 14:1-18 14:25 14:26 15:3-8 15:9 15:10 15:12-22 15:15 15:15 15:15 15:29-32 15:38
2 Corinthians
1:8 1:9 1:12 2:16 3:16 4:2 4:6 4:8-11 4:15 4:18 5:1-8 6:4 6:5 6:8 6:9 7:1 10:10 11:5 11:6 11:6 11:23-27 12:1-7 12:10 12:12 12:13 12:15 13:3 13:8 13:10 14:1-14
Galatians
2:11-14 3:1 3:2 3:5 5:22 5:24 6:10 6:14 6:17
Ephesians
Philippians
1:17 1:21-23 1:28-30 2:4 2:15 2:16 2:17 2:18 3:11 3:12 4:8
Colossians
1 Thessalonians
1:6 2:7 2:8 2:11 2:12 2:14 2:15 3:3 3:4 4:2 4:4
2 Thessalonians
1 Timothy
1:13 1:15 1:15 2:1 2:5 4:1-3 6:6 6:10
2 Timothy
1:8 1:12 2:3 2:3 2:4 2:9 2:12 2:13 2:21 2:25 2:26 3:11 3:12 3:12 4:5 4:6 4:7 4:8
Titus
Hebrews
10:22 10:28 10:29 10:32-34 11:6 12:4 12:14 13:9
James
1:18 1:27 2:6 5:10 5:10 5:11 5:11
1 Peter
1:1 1:22 1:23 2:15 2:19 2:20 2:20 2:21 3:14-17 3:15 4:1 4:1 4:11 4:12-16 4:12-16 4:17 5:5 5:9
2 Peter
1:6 1:16 1:16 1:16 1:16 1:16 1:17 1:18 1:18
1 John
1:1 1:3 1:3 2:15 2:16 2:22 3:3 4:16-21 5:1 5:1-3 5:10 5:19
Revelation