no difagreeable apprehenfions, on account of any thing that I bave published to the world, pag.353,

354.

We are now to obferve what Mr. Chubb has faid of the great fact on which the credibility of the Gofpel has its fupport, viz. the refurrection of Chrift.-And from the different appearances of the risen Jefus, that are recorded, he thus expreffeth himself; And does not this minifter a temptation to men to think and fay, that if the bu- XXIV. finefs of Chrift's refurrection was not a fraud; yet Chriff's it looks very much like it, and feems to have the refurrecfame appearance as if it was fo, Vol. I. p. 358.

But can there be fo much as the femblance of fraud, detected from the hiftory, when all those appearances answered their end; and did convince those to whom they were made, that he was actually rifen? Is there an intimation, once given, that any man thought himself impofed upon, or deceived by them? Did not the perfons who faw him, rifque their lives upon the truth and certainty of their having feen, known, and conversed with the rifen Jefus? The very inftructions they received from him, demonstrated the truth of his being the very perfon, whom the Jews had crucified. And his appearing to them in different forms, was fo far from weakening, that it strengthened and confirmed the facts of his death and refurrection. So that if we fuppofe, with the objector, he fometimes did appear as a tall, and fometimes as a little man, fometimes with greater bulk of body than at other times; what had any, or all of this to do with deception? The difference of stature, or of bulk, could no more hinder him from being known to them, than the transfiguration on the mount, had made him lefs known to Peter, James, and John. On the other hand, they would confider our Lord's body, as

a

Sea.

tion looks

much like

a fraud.

Seat.

a refurrection body; no longer fubject to the laws of this temporary, material fyftem. It was, and must be capable of compreffion and expansion, at his own pleasure: and this too, tho' it was the Jame body in which he had fuffered. It is now indeed in no refpect fufceptible of pain or injury, as it had been before; for the whole animal economy is altered. No more circulation of the blood; the diastole and fiftole of the heart is useless, as the body is a vehicle immediately actuated by a felf-moving, intelligent fpirit. Hence it is, that we are told of his bidding Thomas thrust his band into his fide; fince it would not cause an uneafy fenfation, nor was it any injury to him, that the divifion, made by the fpear, yet remained. It was the fame identical body fet free from all the incumbrances of mortality? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and fee, for a fpirit has not flesh and bones, as ye fee me have, Luke xxiv. 39.

The different appearances were much more in character, than an uniform, unaltered bodily form would have been. It proved him to be rifen indecd. His identical famenefs had other more fubftantial proofs than the numerical fameness of material particles could afford. Nay, these could not poffibly be, from the effufion of blood on the crofs, made from all his wounds: unless the old mafs of blood, for which he has now no occafion,, had been replaced. And I understand St. Paul as having this idea, when he fays, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, i. e. flefh and blood, or the body of man, as it is now con, ftituted. It is now, a fpiritual, and not a natural body, fuited unto a state of beatification and glory!

Not fatisfied with what was faid above, he tells XXV. us, that the refurrection of Chrift does not appear

plainly,

refurrec

plainly, to him, defigned and intended clearly to Chrift's evince the poffibility and certainty of a 'refurrection tion not to eternal life; because it appears to be directed to defigned anfwer another purpose; and because it does not feem to evince wifely directed to answer this. Vol. I. p. 334-a refur339.

What was that other purpose, which it was directed to answer? It was to gather, or rather to keep together bis difpirited difciples, to commiffion and qualify, and fend them forth to preach the gospel.

Was it fo? What was the Gofpel they taught? Why, that God had raised up Jefus from the dead, whom the Jews had wickedly put to death: and that he was rifen the first fruits of them who fleep that by this fame Jefus, God will raife all the dead. This was the Gofpel, which he authorized, commiffioned, and qualified them to teach, and to commit to writing, after they had confirmed it, by the miracles which they wrought in the name of the rifen Jefus. A doctrine that Christ himself had taught, when he said, that he was the refurrection and the life, and that he would give his flesh for the life of the world. A doctrine, which affures us, that if we have now our converfation in heaven, we may look for the faviour from thence, to change our bodies of humiliation, and fashion them like to his glorious body. Agreeable to his own teachings, that he will come again, and take all his faithful difciples to himself, that where he is, there they may be alfo.

Thefe are effential parts of the Gospel, which the apoftles were commiffioned and qualified to preach: which makes it evident, that his refurrection, and manifeftation of it to his difciples, had this end principally in view, viz. to evince not only the poffibility, but the certainty of a re

rection to

eternal

life.

Seat.

furrection unto eternal life. It is very apparerit that Feftus the Roman governor, having collected all the materials in the Jews accufations of Paul, fums them up in this fingle point, viz. certain queftions they had against him of their own religion, even of one Jefus, which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive, A&t. xxv. 19. This is the report he makes to King Agrippa: from which affirmation, St. Paul had inferred the certainty of a refurrection to eternal life, of all the virtuous and holy. And his having feen the exalted Jefus, and converfed with him, was a full afsurance to him of the truth of the doctrine. He had likewife collected Christ's feveral appearances, from the teftimony of the other apostles, 1 Cor.xv.from whence he argues not only the certainty of the refurrection-body, but also its very nature and abili ties. The establishing of this doctrine was the plain defign and intention of Chrift's appearing unto, and informing his difciples in the nature of their office, for which he qualified them. So that one would, out of charity to Mr. Chubb, be tempted to conclude, that his head was fomewhat difordered when he wrote his farewel. However, one may fairly conclude, he had no freedom of thought; but that he wrote under very strong prejudices.

It is not at all to be wondered at, that we find XXVI. him rejecting the accounts of Enoch and Elijah's Enoch and not tafting death: which, he fays, have not fufficiElijah's ent ground of credit, being only related by fingle rejected. hiftorians, Vol. I. p. 311.

tranflation

A fingle hiftorian, whatever credit he may have had in the world, is no valid teftimony with Mr. Chubb. And if there has happened to be three or four concerned in writing the hiftory of a perfon, who was put to death by the Jew-nation, at the time of their having a Roman governor; and much against his judgment that he paffed

paffed fentence: tho' thefe hiftorians all agree in that crucified perfon's being raised from the dead, and miracles are wrought for fifty or fixty years after, in all parts of the world, in evidence of the truth of this fingle fact; yet, it looks much like a fraud, and the evidence was not wifely conducted! We must not therefore be furprized that he can reject the teftimony of fingle hiftorians about the tranflation of Enoch and Elijah. For more than this, being once perfuaded that there never could be any fuch thing as a miracle; and that this state may poffibly be the only state of man; it was quite natural for him to reject all reasoning and evidence about God's raising up Chrift from the dead. These intervening ideas hindered his mind from feeing the force of evidence.

With Chriftians, thefe two events are credible: the one in the antediluvian age, the other toward the middle of the Jewish state. Of the former, let me use the words of moft amiable man:

As the death of the first parent must occafion me lancholy thoughts in his furviving children; the tranflation of Enoch was proper to fupport them, fince thereby affurance was given to the pious of a future happy life: he walked with God, and was not, for God took him.-It could not but be looked upon as defigned for an encouragement and motive to piety and virtue. See Dr. Jer. Hunt's Effay for plaining the fcripture revelations.

The other inftance, viz. that of Elijah, was at a time when the few nation was become very wicked and idolatrous. And it seems that Elijah, had been a most remarkable prophet, and had wrought miracles in honour of the true God, against the falfe ones whom Abab's priests worfhipped. Again,

N