must be very bad, defigning men, who folemnly and publickly fathered upon God, conftitutions, laws, doctrines, and declarations which they knew very well were falfe and fictitious, the creatures of their own invention, obtruded upon the world to serve some selfish, finifter purposes. But, for any thing we can fee, they appear to be perfons of the highest character for honor and probity. In the whole of their conduct we find the utmost integrity and difinterestedness, and in every part of their history and writings the utmoft fimplicity and impartiality.

We may carry this argument further, and fet it in a ftill ftronger light in the cafe of the Prophets. For if, when they declared they fpake in the name of God, and by a commiffion from him, they declared a falfehood, they must certainly know that it was a falfhood; and if they knew it was a falfhood, they were not only very wicked, but even void of common sense. For the Prophets, in a long feries one after another, got nothing by speaking in the name of the Lord, but fcorn and contempt from the generality of their countrymen. When they entered upon the ungrateful office, they renounced all worldly views, and were harraffed and perfecuted in proportion to their fidelity in executing it.

Now, this is too much by far for any pioùs fraud to bear, even in the cafe of a fingle perfon, much more in a series of fucceffion of men in feveral generations. An impoftor, like Mahomet, may carry his pretences very high, but he can never bear the furnace of perfecution. That terrible fcourge will either filence his falfe and arrogant claims, or force him to take up arms, if it is in his power, for his own vindication and fecurity. But the Prophets were naked men, who, without the least dependence upon worldly power or policy, oppofed nothing but a divine commiffion to very unkind and fevere ufage. Now there is nothing to be found in human nature, or in any fuppofeable ftate of things, that can poffibly account for this conduct, but either, that really they had a divine commiffion, or elfe, that they were difordered in their heads, and had loft their fenfes. But their writings prove they were men of good fense, and of a found and excellent judgment; therefore, nothing remains but that they really acted by a divine commiffion.

The force of this argument will be seen even still more evidently in the cafe of the Apoftles. No hiftory in the world has been better preferved than that of the New Teftament. There we find that Jefus Chrift had gathered, while he was upon earth, fome hundreds of Difciples, who all of them made profeffion of faith in him immediately after his death, declaring that he was rifen from the dead, and ascended into heaven. Particularly, the Apoftles, with feveral others, went about preaching the Gospel, first in Judea, then in all parts of the Roman empire, perfuading men to believe in Chrift, affirming that he was the Son of God, that all the wonderful things related of him were true, and that they had a commiffion from Heaven to teach, spread, and propagate his religion every where, though they knew they fhould every where meet with the moft violent oppofition, and the crueleft treatment. Now, they must either be fully convinced in their own minds that their affertions were true; or, if they knew that the Gofpel, and their commiffion to preach it, was a forgery, we must conclude they were distracted,

A

and had loft the use of understanding and reafon. For, fuppofing our bleffed Lord never did or faid any of thofe things, which the Apoftles repeated; and that they had no inftructions or commiffion from him to preach the Gofpel; then we must fuppofe, they entered into a foolish and frantick confederacy after this manner.

"Men and Brethren, what that feducer was, who lived among us "the other day, and how juftly he suffered death for his vile impofture, "we, of all men living, have moft reason to know. And though others, "who were lefs intimately acquainted with him, and his ways of de"ceiving, might have some opinion of his worth and honefty, yet we, "who were the daily companions of his conversation, faw nothing in him " answerable to the greatness of his pretenfions, but that his defign was, by all the boldeft arts of craft and hypocrify, to get a name in the "world; and therefore let us enter into the most folemn agreement to "propagate the belief of this notorious cheat among mankind, and to feign all manner of lies in its confirmation; to aver that we saw him "reftore eyes to the blind, ears to the deaf, and life to the dead; and "though it be all falfe, yet let us confidently report and affert it to the 66 very laft drop of our blood.

"Ánd because, after all his great and glorious pretences of being no "less than the Son of God, he was at laft executed as a vile malefac"tor, with all the circumftances of fhame and difhonour, we must "agree among ourselves upon some story to wipe off this difgrace. Let "us therefore refolve to affirm, with undaunted fteddinefs, that after "he was thus difhonourably crucified, the third day he rose again; " often conversed with us, in the fame familiar way as he had always "done before his execution; and that, after a while, we saw him " afcend up into heaven. But then, we must be sure to stand unalter"ably to this bold falfhood, and perfevere to death itself in the affer

tion. For what abfurdity is there in throwing away our lives with "no other prospect than that of final perdition? And why should any "man think it hard to fuffer ftripes, bonds, imprisonments, reproaches, "difhonour, and death itself, with this view only?"

This, or fomething like it, must be the fenfe and refolution of the Apostles and first preachers of the Gofpel, upon fuppofition they knew and believed, that the Gofpel, and their commiffion to preach it, was a forgery. In this cafe, a fet of men in private and low life, without any manner of worldly power or intereft; in the certain profpect of all manner of oppofition, of facrificing all that is dear and valuable in life, of fuffering all manner of indignities, tribulations, and cruelties, and of expofing themselves to all the terrors of death; muft agree together to propagate throughout the whole world a system of falfhood, knowing it to be fuch, directly contrary to their own confciences, and to all their interefts both in this, and a future world.

None but a company of madmen, feized with the most extravagant frenzy, and void of all sense and reason, could poffibly join in such a defign. Whereas, if we peruse their writings, we fhall find that the Apostles were men of the finest sense; not only in full poffeffion of understanding, but endowed with knowledge and wisdom in a degree far beyond the most eminent philosophers, or masters of reason, that ever

had

had been in the world. They had a furprifing acquaintance with God. and the perfections of his nature; they fet the difpenfations of his wif dom, and the grand defigns of his love, in the cleareft and moft amiable light; they well understood the whole fyftem of morality, and fixed every branch of it upon its proper foundation; upon principles either selfevident or allowed, they demonftrate and establish the whole fcheme of the Gofpel. The Apoftles were fo far from being void of common - fense, that they were, in fact, men of the best fenfe, of the most accurate and fublime knowledge, of the moft excellent and Divine Spirit, next to their Lord and Mafter, that the world ever was acquainted with. Therefore their efpoufing and afferting the Gofpel with so much zeal could not proceed from any diforder in their heads.

There remains then, but one other cause to which it can poffibly be affigned, and it is this, that they were fully perfuaded of the truth of what they reported. And if they were fully perfuaded of the truth of what they reported, then it follows, that what they reported was certainly true. They were fully fatisfied that it was true, and they were perfectly capable of receiving the cleareft evidence, and fulleft fatisfaction. For obferve, what they reported was not a matter of meer opinion, as in the cafe of fuperftition, nor a warm fuggeftion or fecret impulfe upon their minds, as in the cafe of enthufiafm, but bare fimple matter of fact. We cannot, fay they, but speak the things, which we have feen and heard. Acts iv. 20. They were things, not which they conceited, or fancied, but which all of them, which great multitudes of all forts of people, had often and openly, for the space of three or four years together, feen with their eyes, and heard with their ears. And that they were not mistaken, or deceived, they were fo fully fatisfied, that they ventured all they had in the world, and life itself, upon the truth of what they had heard and feen. Confequently, their affurance must be in the highest and fulleft degree of fatisfaction, leaving no room for doubt or uncertainty.

However fome now a days may cavil and object, it is certain the Apoftles, who were the familiar companions of our Lord, had not the leaft fcruple or difficulty about any thing related in the Gofpel. They were perfectly fatisfied they faw Christ upon earth; that they converfed with him; that they heard the gracious words which proceeded from his: mouth; that they faw him work all his miracles; that they faw him, crucified and dead; that they faw him alive again within a few days; that they heard him give them a commiffion to preach the Gospel to all nations, and promise them fuccefs; that they actually faw him afcend up into heaven; that the Holy Ghoft actually fell upon them on the day of Pentecoft; and that by his influences they actually felt themselves indowed with new and miraculous powers which accompanied them dur ing the course of their miniftry. And, to their being fully perfuaded of the truth of these things, and to no other poffible caufe, can we affign' their steddy and zealous endeavours to publish and spread the Gospel every where.

Add to all this, that the Apoftles were furprisingly fuccessful in preaching the Gospel. These men in private and low life, thefe defenceless men, quite deftitute of all temporal power and intereft, only by the force

of

of truth, the truth of the Gospel which they preached, and the power which they received from their Mafter, after he was gone to heaven, encountered the fury of the multitude, the most inveterate prejudices of the whole world, the zeal of fuperftition, the hatred of the Jews, the contempt of the Greeks, the power of the Romans, the pride of the phi lofophers, and the policy of fatefmen; all thefe difficulties they encountered, and furmounted them all. The doctrine they taught, like the fun, inlightened the whole world, in a manner, all at once; and infinite multitudes of people, both from cities and villages, were, by the Apoftles preaching, brought into the church, like corn into a granary.

All this, taken together, amounts to a fufficient proof, that the Apoftles are to be credited when they affirm, that they received their inftructions and commiffion from the Son of God; and upon the foot of this argument alone, I am, for my own part, as fully convinced that the Apostles were inspired by the Spirit of God, and that they have in their writings infallibly delivered the truth, in all things pertaining to the Chriftian faith and doctrine, as I am of any mathematical propofition, or that twice two is equal to four. The proof indeed is of a different kind, but fully convincing and fatisfactory.

And if our Lord came from God to teach us the truth, and if his Apoftles received from him their inftructions, commiffion, and the holy Spirit, then it follows, that the books of Mofes, and of the Prophets, are undoubtedly the word of God, and that the facred hiftory may be depended upon as a true account of things; for those books are not only afferted by our Lord, and his Apoftles, in general, to be the word of God, given by Divine inspiration, and a true rule of knowledge, faith, and doctrine, but particular paffages are frequently produced in proof or confirmation of the doctrine they taught; and almoft every fingle part of the history, from the begining to the end, as of Adam, Enoch, Noah, the Deluge, Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham, the Ifraelites, and their miraculous deliverance from Egypt and fettlement in the land of Canaan, and all the surprising events in their story, are refered to as true and authentic.

What Jefus Chrift and his Apostles have reported and taught in the books of the New Teftament, is certainly the truth, as they received it from God. And if fo, then the Scriptures of the Old Teftament are alfo given by infpiration of God, a ftorehouse of facred and religious knowledge, of undoubted credit and veracity, for our Lord and his Apostles have reprefented and established them as fuch.

Thus the frequent and exprefs affertions of Mofes, the Prophets, and the Apofles, taken in connection with their proper circumftances, is a proof of the truth of revelation as it stands in the Scrip

tures.

Let me recommend it to your ferious confideration, that we certainly have in our hands an ineftimable treasure, a revelation from heaven, a fure word of prophecy, fhining as a light in a dark place, a magazine of the most excellent knowledge, clearly difplaying the Divine nature and perfections, opening fully the difpenfations of his wifdom and goodnefs from the begining of the world; fhewing the riches of his grace and love to mankind, delivering the most excellent precepts of wisdom,

truth,

truth, and holinefs, for the purifying our hearts, and directing our converfation, and propofing the nobleft motives to ingage us to, and incourage us in, the practice of all virtue and goodnefs. We cannot over-value this bleffing, neither can we despise it without great guilt. We are accountable to God for the use we make of it. Let us efteem it in proportion to its worth, and study it as the rule of our life, as the grand fource of our comfort and hope, and as an infallible guide to eternal glory.

CHA P. XLI.

The Divine Original and Authority of the Scriptures, proved from the Har and Agreement of the feveral WRITERS of them.

H

mony

AVING gone through the firft argument, I proceed-To prove the Divine Original and Authority of the Scriptures; which we may do from the Harmony and Agreement of the feveral Writers of them.

They are not a book compiled by a fingle author, nor by many hands acting in confederacy in the fame age; in which cafe there would be no difficulty in compofing a confiftent scheme, nor would it be any wonder to find the several parts in a juft and clofe connection; but the Scriptures were done by feveral hands, in very different conditions of life, from the throne and fcepter down to the loweft degree, and in very diftant ages, through the long space of about 1500 years, when the world muft have put on a quite new face, and men must have different interests to purfue; which naturally would have led a spirit of impofture to have varieď its schemes, and to have adapted them to different stations in the world, and to the different turns and changes in every age.

David wrote about 400 years after Mofes, and Ifaiah about 250 after David, and Matthew more than 700 years after Isaiah. And yet thefe authors, with all the other Prophets and Apoftles, write in perfect Harmony, confirming the Authority of their predeceffors, labouring to reduce the people to the obfervance of their inftructions, and loudly exclaiming against the neglect and contempt of them, and denouncing the fevereft judgments upon fuch as continued difobedient.

This was the principal work of the Prophets in a long fucceffion. And it is well known our Lord came not to deftroy the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfil, i. e. to vindicate and illuftrate their meaning, to compleat what was imperfect, and to answer the highest ends of what was typical and figurative. Now this is a very ftrong proof, that the Scriptures were throughout dictated by one and the fame fpirit, which could be no other than the Spirit of God, and of truth. It is allowed, as in the cafe of Mahometifm, that an imposture, or religious fraud, may

be