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That how common foever Oracles may have been amongst the Pagans, yet nothing amongst them can justly be compared with those which are found amongst the Jews.

NE of the greatest objections which can in all probability be made against this furprizing feries of Oracles, which are found C in the books of the Old Teftament, is taken from that great number of Oracles which are found amongst the Pagans. This objection deferves to be confidered, because it will more clearly domonftrate the authority of the Prophetical books, which are in the hands of the Jews.

I confess there have been falfe prophets: and indeed, fince God has given us marks to diftinguifh them from true ones, which may be feen in the books of Mofes, it cannot be denied but there have been fome false prophets. And that moreover, the hiftory of the Prophets discovering to us impoftors frequently, we may freely acknowledge, that amongst the Pagans, and the people bordering upon Judea, there have been men who have boasted of predictions of things to come, as well as amongst the fews.

I confefs alfo, that fome Heathen writers fpeak of certain oracles, which in all appearance are very well circumftantiated, and of which they relate a very exact accomplishment.

But feveral things ought to be obferved upon this argument, which deserve an attentive confideration.

I. We fee that their most celebrated things have been only an imitation of what was done amongst the Jews. The Egyptians imitated the Urim and the Thummim of the Jewish high prieft. And they appropriated to him the right of giving oracles: and fo we fee they are given by a voice from heaven, which the Jews faw was granted to their Prophets. We may fee it in the hiftory of Socrates's life, and in Apuleius, P. 339.

II. We fee that the fame Pagan hiftorians take notice that very many, even the greatest part of their oracles, were very ambiguous, and falfe. The philofophers, and Tully particularly, openly laugh'd at them (Lib. I. II. de Divinatione.) They thought it a ridiculous thing that Apollo Delphicus, the god of poetry, fhould give his answers in very bad verfe, and at last be reduced to profe. Eufebius quotes a difcourfe of Oenomaus a Greek philofopher, who wrote against oracles, to decry them as impostures.

III. We fee, that those oracles which had acquired the greatest reputation by their accomplishment, were borrowed from the Prophets of the fynagogues. We have an illuftrious example in the birth of Cyrus, which the Prophet Ifaiah had foretold, about the year of the world 3292. and concerning which they pretend to fhew prophecies of Nebuchadnezzar and Cræfus, about the year 3492 (e), which shows that if the thing

(e) Abydenus. Herodot, lib. i. cap. 55. & 91.

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was really known to them, they could not have known it but by the prophetical writings which were amongst the Jews, and which could not have been concealed from them, because the Jews read them with care, to comfort themselves under that captivity to which they were reduced by Nebuchadnezzar.

IV. It is in effect proved by examining their oracles, moft of which were either falfe or forged. This Eufebius has clearly proved, [de Prapar. Evangelica, Lib. IX. cap. 5.] The proverb of the Sibyll's or Delphick prieftefs's, favouring of Philip, is commonly known. It was eafie for thefe Heathen princes to biafs their people with fuch predictions. But what Eufebius fays (ƒ), puts the thing beyond all queftion, for he exprefly fhews, that when the priests were put to the rack, they confeffed the whole contrivance of thofe oracles, which they pronounced to abuse the credulity of the people.

V. We ought to obferve, that we cannot find great numbers of oracles upon the fame fubject, whereas one fee's that the Prophets follow'd (as it were) Mofes's model of the state of the commonwealth of the Jews, and that they frequently concur in foretelling the fame facts from one generation to another.

VI. We ought to remember that these oracles were not kept within the limits of one fingle state or nation.

VII. It may be faid that they were not publickly known, having been only propofed in private places, before a very few, and in fhort, that they were not actually known to the most part of the neighbouring people; whereas one fee's that the Jewish Prophets gave their oracles in the moft folemn affemblies, and when they were committed to writing, they were known to all thofe who had any commerce with that nation. So that Ijaiah's prophecies were queftionlefs known to Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus, who look'd upon himself as defigned by God to restore their liberty to the fetus. We may make the fame judgment of the book of Daniel, which was known to Alexander without all queftion, as one may collect from the favourable reception the Jews found from him. VIII. We ought to obferve, that these pretended oracles were given, for the most part, in favour of thofe princes, who could fatisfie the greedinefs of the priests. Whereas the Prophets among the Jews lived in the most dif-interested manner in the world, and ufually pronounced nothing but reproaches and menaces of cruel calamities to thofe princes who had the government in their hands. Their miniftry confifted in a couragious oppofition to the corruptions in their laws, and their religion, and in cenfuring their princes and governours with a fingular intrepidity; and indeed, we fee that moft of them met with the punishment of their boldness, and made trial of the most cruel tortures.

IX. Last of all, we ought to take notice, that as the oracles which are mentioned in Heathen authors, were only of facts of small importance to thofe people, amongst whom it is faid that they were pronounced, fo we do not find that they thought themselves much concerned in their preservation; whereas one fee's that the Jewish nation were fo perfwaded of the truth of thefe oracles, with which they were entrusted, that nothing to this very day could ever oblige them to difcontinue the read

(f) Lib. iv. de Præparat. Evangel. Lib. iv. initio.

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ng of them, whatever difputes they may otherwife have with the Chrif tians, who make use of them to establish their pretentions, notwithftanding all the claims of the fynagogue.

When this is laid down, it would feem as if I might reasonably con→ clude, that the wonderful variety of oracles which are to be found amongst the Jews, cannot be at all weakned by thofe oracles of which we find fo frequent mention in Pagan writers..

But we ought to go further, in explaining two things, which will perfectly clear this matter; one is, that the Hiftorical and Prophetical Books of the Old Teftament, after Mofes, can be no forgeries; the other is, that in truth, thofe Oracles which we find inserted in those books, could not poffibly have been forged after their completion.

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That the Books, in which we may find thefe Oracles, were never forged. **HAVE obferved formerly, that it is abfolutely neceffary that

the authority of thofe Books, in which these Oracles are infert**ed, be established, before we can build upon the authority of the Oracles. And indeed, if we cannot clearly fhew that these Books were written, and publickly known, before the things happened, which are faid to be accomplishments of those preceding Oracles, it would be natural to call in question the authority of thefe Oracles. But it is very eafie to fatisfie an equitable reader herein, and to establish in general, or feverally, the existence of these prophetical writings, before the times in which those facts happened which we propofe as the accomplishment of thofe prophecies.

I fhall make ufe of two forts of reflexions to establish my propofition. The first confifts in general confiderations upon the books themselves : the second has respect to particular facts, which are uncontested, and whence the fame truth very naturally results.

I. We ought to obferve, that whereas in Genefis Mofes makes use of no other epocha to fix the time of any event, but the years of the life of fome famous Patriarch: as for inftance, he fixes the flood to the 600 year of Noah's age; in Exodus and Numbers (g) he uses the time of their coming out of Egypt for his epocha; in the books of the following authors, the years from their departure out of Egypt were carefully fet down 'till the fourth year of king Solomon's reign, which was 480 years after their departure. This was a character to fix the time of all thofe who lived after that epocha.

II. The building of the temple began a new epocha amongst the Jews, as appears from II Chron. VIII. 1. tho' they began after that time to reckon by the years of the kings of Juda and Ifrael, as appears by the

(g) Exod, xix. Numb, xxxiii. 38.

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books of the first Prophets. Which is a character fufficiently certain, to diftinguish those who liv'd after Solomon, with the time when they liv'd.

III. It's plain, that the Babylonifh captivity, and afterwards their fubjection to the Perfian empire, obliged them to fix their events, and to date their prophecies, by the years of the governments of thofe foreign kings. [See Daniel, Ezechiel, Zechariah, and Haggai.] So the author of the book of Maccabees refers to the years of the Seleucida. Now, that we may the better perceive the force of this obfervation, we must remember three things. 1. That the authors who lived after the carrying away of the Jews into Babylon, make ufe of fome Chaldee terms, which are not to be found in the foregoing Prophets. For we may fee in the books of Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, the fame ftyle with Ezra, Nehemiah, and Daniel (b). 2. The authors of these books, give names to the months, which they had not before the captivity. The Jews only called their months, firft, and fecond, &c. and fo they gave names which were unheard of before (i). 3. The authors of these prophecies take particular notice of any newly inftituted fafts; thus we see that the Prophet Haggai mentioned thofe fafts of which we have nothing in the law, but which were instituted during the captivity.

We must blind ourselves of purpose, to conceive that any impoftor could forge books, which have fo exact a relation, and fuch certain characteristicks to fix them to the time in which every author lived, and to the circumstances wherein he wrote. We must of neceffity grant, that before fuch an impoftor could bring about fuch a defign, he must have made himself mafter of the whole prophane hiftory, to fix fo exactly the hiftory of the Jewish nation, and of thofe oracles which have been given in circumstances which are unintelligible without the help of prophane hiftories of different nations.

I come now to facts which cannot be contested. It is fufficient that thofe facts be acknowledged as true, to eftablish in general the truth of those books whereof we teach.

I. It cannot be denied, that the Jews preserve these oracles to this day, with great fidelity.

H. It cannot be denied, that they are in the hands of Chriftians, who preferve them as well as the Jews, fince they have been separated from them; that is, for almoft feventeen ages.

III. It cannot be denied, that these prophecies have been exactly read by the Jews, because of thofe oracles upon which they believe, to this day, that the whole happiness of their nation is founded.

IV. It cannot be denied, that the Jews have read thefe Books exactly to refute the Disciples of Jefus Chrift, who have pretended from the first age of their appearing, that Jefus Chrift is the Meffiah mark'd out by thefe oracles. In fhort, whereas the Chriftians pretend to prove by the accomplishment of the ancient oracles, that Jefus Chrift was the Meffiah: It is known, that the Jews endeavour to this day to wrest the sense of thefe oracles, and to fhew that there are many things which are not lite

(b) Ezech. xl. 1. Daniel x. Zach. i. Hagg. i. (i) Talm. Rojch. Hassanah. c. 1.

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rally accomplished, and which by confequence cannot be apply'd to Jefus Chrift.

V. It cannot be deny'd, that moft of the controverfies of the Jews with the Chriftians, only regard the application of the text of the prophetical authors. The Chriftians explain them in a myftical fenfe, the Jews maintain that they ought to be explained literally.

VI. It cannot be deny'd that about 300 years before the birth of our Saviour, the prophetical books were tranflated, and put into the hands of the Egyptians, having been carried to, and tranflated at Alexandria, by a publick order of the whole nation, for the fatisfaction of a King of Egypt. The hiftory of that verfion which put thofe facred books into the hands of the Greeks, and the Jews who dwelt in Egypt, is the most famous thing in the world, and which made thofe books perfectly known.

Here we have now thefe books in Hebrew, and in Greek, that is to fay, in the primitive language of the Jews, and the vulgar language of the empire which Alexander founded.

It is known, that from that time the Chriftians took care to make great numbers of tranflations into all the vulgar tongues, after the preaching of the gofpel; and that they preferved thofe ancient books as the firft elements of their religion.

Now it will be fufficient to acknowledge thofe truths, to confider;

That thofe oracles were true which foretold things which happened almoft four ages after their prediction. Thus, for inftance, the deftruc tion of ferufalem; the overthrow of the Jewish ftate; the calling of the Gentiles to the fervice of the God of Ifrael; the deftruction of the Syrian and Egyptian monarchies; are all contained in the books of Daniel, Haggai, Zachariah, and Malachi.

Now there is not more difficulty to conceive, that fuch authors as Ifaiah, Amos, Joel, fhould have foretold the fame thing eight or nine hundred years before, than there is to believe that they were foretold by those who liv'd but little above four ages before they actually came to pafs. There is therefore no difficulty in conceiving that these antient oracles were propofed as we fee them, and in those times to which we find them fixed.

But we ought to go further into this matter, and to establish the same thing by the confideration of the things themselves.

I confefs that we might have a fufpicion of thofe oracles which are not related upon the faith of a publick volume. As for inftance, thofe of Elijah, Elifba and Uriah the fon of Shemaiah, who feem never to have publifhed any thing.

But here we are to obferve, 1, That usually the authors who publish the oracles, are not the fame with those who tell us of their accomplishment. 2. That the oracles of which we now speak, were upon subjects perfectly known, and upon very illuftrious exigencies. What more illuftrious than the deftruction of Ahab's family, foretold by Elijah? What more extraordinary than the manner of Jezebel's death, foretold by the fame prophet?

In fhort, we ought to take notice, I. That thefe oracles were written for the most part in compleat volumes: We have fixteen prophets fufficiently diftinguish'd by their proper volumes,

II. Each

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