I

CHA P. v.

That MOSES is the Author of the Book of GENESIS.

SHALL in the fequel of this difcourfe make it appear, that we cannot with reafon conteft the authority of a tradition which hath thofe characters which we find in the relations contained in the book of Genefis the only thing that can be queftioned in this matter is, whether Mofes, the great captain of the Ifraelites, and founder of their com→ monwealth, be the author of it. This therefore is the thing which we ought folidly to evince.

Though it seems that we might difpense with this trouble; forafmuch as it is easy to fhew, that the greateft part of the most confiderable events, which are recorded in the book of Genefis, were generally believed by others as well as the Jews.

At least it must be granted, that these matters have given occafion to most of their fables, viz. to that of the chaos; to that of the marriage of Peleus and Thetis; for the forming of man, to that of Prometheus ; to that of Jupiter's continued laughter for the feven first days of his life, which they looked upon as the original of the folemnity of the feventh day, known amongst the heathens; to that of the golden age, and of the deluge; to the name of Deucalion; to the fable of Janus, to that of the divifion of the world amongft Saturn's fons; to the name of Jupiter Hammon; to the fable of the Titans, and of the changing of women into ftatues of ftone; to the ftories of the inceft the gods committed with their daughters; to that of the firing of the world by Phaeton; and to a great number of other fictions, which cannot be otherwife explained, as the learned have fhewn at large.

Whofoever was the author of Genefis, whether Mofes or another, fure it is that he was exactly informed of the matters he relates, and that he lived foon after Jofeph.

Firft then I fay, that it appears he was fully informed of those matters of which he treats: he fets down the names of the heads or fathers of the feveral nations of the world, and does it fo, that what he faith doth very well agree with what the most ancient hiftorians have left us concerning that matter; he speaks of thefe nations, of the countries they poffeffed, and their kings, as of things he was perfectly informed of; he very carefully diftinguishes the original of these feveral nations: and the fame being at that time commonly known, no hiftorian could reprefent them otherwise than they were, without expofing himself to the laughter of all, by endeavouring to mix fables with relations of this nature.

In the fecond place, I fay, that this book was writ by a man that lived foon after Jofeph: he speaks very exactly of what Jofeph did in his place of chief minister to Pharaoh; in particular, he fets down the first ori- ginal of the fifth penny which the Egyptians, fo many ages after, continued to pay to their kings, being a thing which no Egyptian could be ignorant of.

P 4

And

And lastly, it is vifible, that this book ferves for an introduction to Exodus, and the following books, which have no other foundation but the truth of those things which are related to us there, and do throughout allude and refer to the feveral paffages of it; and that all matters of religion and worship contained in them, are founded upon the truth of the creation, and the promise of the Meffiah, which we find in Genefis ; and upon the truth of all thofe other fucceeding matters of fact, until the coming of the children of Ifrael into Egypt, when Jofeph was chief favourite and minifter of Pharaoh.

But we have yet a more eafy way to make out that Mofes, whofe history is contained in Exodus and the following books, is the author of Genefis.

For first, it cannot be denied that the heathens themselves have acknowledged Mofes for the most ancient law-giver: for this, we have the teftimonies of Plato, Polemus, Artapanus, Pythagoras, Theopompus, and Diodorus Siculus, who places Mofes in the front of fix of the most ancient law-givers thus; Mofes, Sauchnis, Sefonchofis, Bachoris, Amafis, and Darius father of Xerxes.

But further, if, when the Lacedemonians tell us of the laws of their law-giver Lycurgus, and the Athenians of thofe of their Solon, we think ourfelves obliged to believe them, because naturally every nation is fuppofed to be a faithful depofitary of the laws of him who first founded their government; yea, if we do not in the least doubt of thefe relations, though there be no people at this day who live according to the laws of Lycurgus or Solon; can any valuable reafon be imagined, for us to doubt whether Mofes wrote the book of Genefis, when an entire nation have conftantly averred that he did fo? I fay, when all the Jews, who continue at this day, do in all places, where they are fcattered throughout the world equally, and with one confent, maintain that they received this book from him, together with the laws and worship therein contained? nay, when it is notorious that many of them have fuffered martyrdom in confirmation of this truth?

I omit now to mention the confent of the Chriftians, who, though they be not defcended of Abraham, and do not obferve the greatest part of the laws of Mofes, yet do not ceafe highly to defend this truth throughout the world, the Gofpel in their fenfe being nothing elfe but the lite ral accomplishment of that promife, The feed of the woman fall bruife the head of the ferpent. I fhall fhew, in the fequel of these my Reflexions, with how much juftice they affent to this truth; but at prefent I tie myfelf only to the teftimonies of the Jews, and that which confirms the authority thereof.

CHAP. VI.

I

That the Book of GENESIS could not be forged under the name of Moses.

SHOULD never have done, fhould I go about to fet down all the observations which might be made in comparing this book of Genefis with other hiftories commonly known to the world, and whofe faithfulness is unquestionable. Without entering upon this comparison, we may boldly affert, that there is no hiftory in the world whofe author we can be fo fure of, as that Mofes was the penman of Genefis.

- But I go further, and affert, that the Jews could not be mistaken in the teftimonies they give to this truth; which I prove by these two re

marks.

The firft is, That their obfervations, both civil and religious, are at this day founded upon no other principles than those which we find in Genefis as, for instance, they compute the beginning of their day from the preceding evening, they keep the fabbath, they obferve circumcifion, they abstain from eating the mufcle which is in the hollow of the thigh, &c. The obfervation of which laws is indeed prefcribed to them in the other books of Mofes; but the occafion and ground of them all is nowhere to be found but in Genefis, to which all these laws have a natural relation.

The fecond is, That the book of Genefis taking for granted, that the pofterity of Abraham, as well as his ancestors, had always obferved the fabbath and circumcifion; and the books of Mofes ordering the fame to be conftantly read in every family, to which the fabbath-day was more peculiarly appropriated, and the whole to be read over every feventh year, as we know the Jews practice was, according to the law of Mofes the firft of which injunctions they practice ftill in all places, and have left off the other, only because they cannot do it now they are out of their own land; I fay, fuppofing all this, it is abfolutely impoffible that any other than Mofes could have made this book to be received.

The forgery, at the beginning, would have been palpable, even to children themselves: as, for example, let us fuppofe that Solomon had formed a defign of deceiving the people, in publishing the book of Genefis for a book of Mofes; is it poffible he fhould fo far impofe on his people, as to make them to receive the faid book all at once, as that which had been conftantly read in their families every feventh day, and year, and that for 600 years before his time? and therefore, as a book that had been fo long in all their families, though indeed it was never heard of by them before that time.

If an impoftor can create a belief in others, that he hath fome fecret communication with the Deity, thofe who are thus perfuaded by him, will eafily fubmit themselves to his laws; but it is abfolutely impoffible that a whole people fhould all at once forget whatsoever they have learned

or

or heard of their parents or forefathers, and inftead thereof admit of tales forged at pleasure.

Some nations have been fo ridiculous, to derive themselves from a fabulous original; but they never fell into fuch mistakes about those things which were at no great distance from the time in which they lived.

Befides, we know that these fabulous originals never made fo lively an impreffion upon the minds of a whole nation, especially the learned amongst them, as generally to be believed; but we rather find, that they have endeavoured to reconcile them to truth, by fhewing fomething elfe was hinted thereby, as we may fee by the explication the heathens themselves have given us of all their fables, and utterly rejected those which they could not reconcile to good fenfe.

But in this cafe, we find a whole nation to this very day maintaining all the matters of fact related in Genefis, and in particular that of the creation, as of matters whofe memorial they have conftantly celebrated every feventh day, fince the time they first happened.

Lastly, It cannot be denied but that this book was conftantly used to be read ainongst the Jews, especially on the fabbath-day, and that under the name of Mofes; for inftance, fince the time of Jefus Chrift, or fince that of David: neither can it be denied, but this conftant reading was obferved by virtue of a law contained in the said book. Now, if this law has always been in this book from the first appearing of it, which cannot be queftioned, how was it poffible to forge and foift in this book under the name of Mofes, the founder of the Jewish government? I say, this book, which, befides all this, contains fuch extraordinary matters, and is the very foundation of all their religion.

I will not repeat here what I mentioned in the third chapter, to make the vanity of thofe men appear, who imagine the book of Genefis, and the four that follow it, might have been forged by others, under Moses his name yet I think I ought, before I proceed further, to remove a feeming difficulty, which is often alledged by this fort of people: for, fay they, it cannot be that these books were ever read with that care and conftancy we fpeak of, becaufe a time can be pointed at, wherein the faid book was wholly unknown in the kingdom of Judah; and indeed, the hiftory plainly informs us, that the book of the law was found again in the reign of fofias; from whence they infer that, if it were then unknown, it might as well be forged.

But indeed they may conclude from hence, that which willingly we allow them, that there was a time wherein ungodlinefs did prevail, and idolatry was publicly established in the kingdom of Judah itself, yet can they not from this inftance draw any other confequence which might fupport their pretenfions.

They muft needs acknowledge first, that the books of Mofes were not only amongst the three tribes, but alfo amongst the ten, fince the time of their revolt under Rehoboam; that they who were carried by Salmanafar into the land of Affyria, had the faid books amongst them, as well as thofe of the ten tribes who were left in their own country. Thus we fee, that when the king of Allyria fent fome of the priests of

Samaria

Samaria to inftruct the colony which he had fettled in their country, in the law of God, it is not faid that those priests went to borrow the law of Mofes from them of Judah, nor that the faid law was altogether unknown in that country; but only that they had formerly violated the law of God, in ferving ftrange gods, as they ftill did; but that, withal, they kept the law of God, which to this day is yet found among their pofterity.

Secondly, It is evident that, though the wickednefs and violence of Manaffeb caufed a great change in matters of religion, yet not fo great but that his fubjects notwithstanding had ftill the books of Mofes amongst them, the blood which he fhed in Jerufalem was an evident fign that there were some godly men left amongst them, who continued true to their religion, and obferved the laws of God. Befides, if we confider his repentance, we must conclude, that towards the end of his reiga he did in fome degree re-establish the purity of that religion he had before profaned, a main part of which was the expounding and reading of the books of Mofes, according to thofe laws before mentioned.

In the third place it is vifible, that the reafon why Hilkiah, having found the book of the law in the temple as they were cleanfing and repang it, fent the fame to Jofiah, was not because there was no other fuch book left in Judah, but because the faid book being written by the hand of Mofes himself, there feemed to be fomething very extraordinary in the finding of it at that very time when they were endeavouring a reformation; and it was this circumftance which did in a more particular manner excite the zeal of this good prince. And indeed, if we fuppofe that Jofiah had never before feen the book of the law, how could he have applied himself to the reforming of his country, his people, and the temple, in the manner which is recorded in the book of Kings? How could a fufficient number of copies of it be difperfed over all his kingdom in an inftant, to inform the people about the ceremonials of the paffover, which foon after was fo folemnly celebrated by them? Or, how is it poffible that the Levites, the priests, and people, could have been all of the fudden inftructed in all the points to be observed in the performing of that holy folemnity.

It is apparent that the facred Hiftorian did for no other reafon take notice of this circumftance, that the book found was of Mofes's own hand writing, but to make it appear that their devout refpect for this book was not wholly ftifled, as having been by them carefully hid from the fury of their idolatrous kings, and laid up in fome fecret place of the temple, where now they had fo happily found it again.

Over and above what hath been faid already, we are to obferve, that how great foever the wickedness of the kings of Judah and Ifrael was, as well as that of their objects, yet the fame generally confifted in nothing elfe but the imitation of the worship of their neighbour nations, as to fome particulars, which though they were forbid by the law, yet they left the far greater part of their religion in full force. This we have an inftance of in the time of Ahab, where we find Elijah reproaching the Iraelites with the monftruous alliance they had made betwixt the worship of God and that of Baal, which queen Jefabel had introduced.

3

All