means of fecuring their integrity and purity, if we could suppose any defign to corrupt them.

Fourthly, The hesitation and difficulty with which a few books of the New Teftament were received into the canon, fhew the great concern of the primitive Chriftians about their canon, i. e. the high importance of the books received into it, and are therefore a ftrong evidence, firft, for the genuineness and truth of the books which were received without hefitation; and then for these others, fince they were received univerfally at laft.

Fifthly, The great religious hatred and animofity which fubfifted between the Jews and Samaritans, and between feveral of the antient fects amongst the Chriftians, fhew of what importance they all thought their facred books; and would make them watch over one another with a jealous eye.

PROP. 7.

THE LANGUAGE, STYLE, AND MANNER OF WRITING, USED IN THE BOOKS OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS, ARE ARGU← MENTS OF THEIR GENUINENESS.

HERE I obferve, firft, That the Hebrew language, in which the Old Teftament was written, being the language of an antient people, and one that had little intercourfe with their neighbours, and whofe neighbours alfo fpake a language that had great affinity with their own, would not change fo faft as modern languages have done, fince nations have been variously mixed with one another, and trade, arts, and fciences, greatly extended. Yet fome changes there muft be, in paffing from the time of Mofes to that of Malachi. Now, I apprehend, that the Biblical Hebrew correfponds to this criterion with fo much exactness, that a confiderable argument may be deduced thence in favour of the genuinenefs of the books of the Old Teftament.

Secondly, The books of the Old Teftament have too confiderable a diverfity of ftyle to be the work either of one Jew (for a Jew he muft be, on account of the language), or of any fet of contemporary Jews. If therefore they be all forgeries, there must be a fucceffion of impoftors in different ages, who have concurred to impofe upon pofterity, which is inconceiveable. To fuppofe part forged, and part genuine, is very harth; neither would this fuppofition, if admitted, be fatisfactory.

Thirdly, The Hebrew language ceafed to be fpoken, as a living language, foon after the time of the Babylonith captivity: but it would be difficult or impoffible to forge any thing in it, after it was become a dead language. For there was no grammar made for the Hebrew till many ages after; and, as it is difficult to write in a dead language with exactnefs even by the help of a grammar, so it seems inpoffible without it. All the books of the Old Testament must therefore be, nearly, as antient as the Babylonifh captivity; and, fince they could not all be written in the fame age, fome muft be con

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fiderably more antient; which would bring us again to a fucceffion of confpiring impoftors.

Fourthly, I his last remark may perhaps afford a new argument for the genuineness of the book of Daniel, if any were wanting. But indeed the Septuagint translation fhews both this, and all the other books of the Old Teftament, to have been confidered as antient books, foon after the times of Antiochus Epiphanes, at least.

Fifthly, There is a fimplicity of ityle, and an unaffected manner of writing, in all the books of the Old Teftament; which is a very ftrong evidence of their genuinenefs, even exclufively of the fuitableness of the circumftance to the times of the fuppofed authors..

Sixthly, The ftyle of the New Teftament is alfo fimple and unaffected, and perfectly fuited to the time, places, and perfons. Let it be oblerved farther, that the ufe of words and phrafes is fuch, alfo the ideas, and method of reafoning, as that the books of the New Teftament could be written by none but perfons originally Jews, which would bring the inquiry into a little narrower compass, if there was any occafion for this.

One may alfo obferve, that the narrations and precepts of both Old and New Teftainent are delivered without hefitation; the writers teach as having authority; which circumftance is peculiar to thofe who have both a clear knowledge of what they deliver, and a perfect integrity of heart:

PROP. VIII.

THE VERY GREAT NUMBER OF PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCES OF TIME, PLACE, PERSONS, &C. MENTIONED IN THE SCRIPTURES,

ARE ARGUMENTS BOTH OF THEIR GENUINENESS AND TRUTH.

THAT the reader may understand what I mean by these particular circumftances, I will recite fome of the principal heads, under which they may be claffed.

There are then mentioned, in the book of Genefis, the rivers of Paradife, the generations of the antediluvian patriarchs, the deluge with its, circumstances, the place where the ark refted, the building of the tower of Babel, the confufion of tongues, the difperfion of nankind, or the divifion of the earth amongst the pofterity of Shem, Ham, and Japhet, the generations of the poftdiluvian patriarchs, with the gradual fhortening of human life after the flood, the fojournings of Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob, with many particulars of the itate of Canaan, and the neighbouring countries, in their times, the deftruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the ftate of the land of Edom, both before and after Efau's time, and the defcent of Jacob into Egypt, with the ftate of Egypt before Mofes's time.

In the book of Exodus are the plagues of Egypt, the inftitution of the paffover, the paffage through the Red Sea, with the deftruction of Pharoah and his hoft there, the miracle of manna, the victory over the Amalekites, the folemn delivery of the law from mount Sinai, many particular laws both moral and ceremonial, the worship of the golden calf, and a very minute description of the tabernacle, priests garments, ark, &c.

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In Leviticus we have a collection of eetemonial laws, with all their particularities, and an account of the deaths of Nadab and Abihu. The book of Numbers contains the fifft and fecond numberings of the feveral tribes, with their genealogies, the peculiar offices of the three feveral families of the Levites, many ceremonial laws, the journerings and encampments of the people in the wilderness during forty years; with the relation of fome remarkable events which hap pened in this period, as the fearching of the land, the rebellion of Korah, the victories over Arad, Sihon, and Og, with the divifion of the kingdoms of the two laft among the Gadites, Reubenites, and Manaffites, the hiftory of Balak and Balaam, and the victory over the Midianites, all defcribed with the feveral particularities of time, place, and perfons.

The book of Desteronomy contains a recapitulation of many things contained in the three laft books, with a fecond delivery of the law, chiefly the moral one, by Mofes upon the borders of Canaan, just before his death, with an account of this.

In the book of Jothua, we have the paffage over fordan, the conqueft of the land of Canaan in detail, and the divifion of it among the tribes, including a minute geographical defcription.

The book of Judges recites a great variety of public tranfactions, with the private origin of fome. In all, the names of times, places, and perfons, both among the Ifraelites, and the neighbouring nations, are noted with particularity and fimplicity.

In the book of Ruth is a very particular account of the genealogy of David, with feveral incidental circumftances.

The books of Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah, contam the tranfactions of the kings before the captivity, and gover nors afterwards, all delivered in the fame circumftantial manner. And here the particular account of the regulations facred and civi established by David, and of the building of the temple by Solomon, the genealogies given in the beginning of the first book of Chronicles, and the lifts of the perfons who returned, fealed, &c. after the captivity, in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, deferve efpecial notice, in the light in which we are now confidering things.

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The book of Efther copains a like account of a very remarkable event, with the inftitution of a feftival in memory of it.

:

The book of Pfalms mentions many hiftorical facts in an incidentak way; and this, with the books of Job, Proverbs, Ecclefiaftes, and Canticles, allude to the manners and cuftoms of antient times in various ways.

In the Prophecies there are fome hiftotical relations; and in other parts the indirect mention of facts, times, places, and perfons, is interwoven with the predictions in the most copious and cireumftantial.

manner.

If we come to the New Teftament, the fame obfervations present themfelves at firft view. We have the names of friends and enemies, Jews, Greeks, and Romans, obfcure and illuftrious, the times, places, and circunftances of fa&s, fpccified directly, and alluded to. indirefly,

Indirectly, with various references to the customs and manners of thofe times.

Now here I obferve, firft, that, in fact, we do not ever find, that forged or falfe accounts of things fuperabound thus in particularities. There is always fome truth where there are confiderable particularities related, and they always feem to bear fome proportion to one another. Thus there is a great want of the particulars of time, place, and perfons, in Manetho's account of the Egyytian dynasties, Ctefias's of the Affyrian kings, and thofe which the technical chronologers have given of the antient kingdoms of Greece; and, agreeably thereto, these accounts have much fiction and falfhood, with fome truth: whereas Thucydides's hiftory of the Peloponnefian war, and Cæfar's of the war in Gaul, in both which the particulars of time, place, and perfons, are mentioned, are univerfally esteemed true to a great degree of exactness.

Secondly, a forger, or a relater of falfhoods, would be careful not to mention fo great a number of particulars, fince this would be to put into his reader's hands criterions whereby to detect him. Thus we may fee one reafon of the fact mentioned in the last paragraph, and which in confirming that fact confirms the propofition here to be proved.

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Thirdly, a forger, or à relater of falfhoods, could fcarce furnish out fuch lifts of particulars. It is eafy to conceive how faithful records kept from time to time by perfons concerned in the tranfactions thould contain fuch lifts; nay, it is natural to expect them in this cafe, from that local memory which takes ftrong poffeffion of the fancy in those who have been prefent at tranfactions; but it would be a work of the highest invention, and greatest ftretch of genius, to raise from nothing fuch numberless particularities, as are almost every-where to be met with in the fcriptures. The account given of memory, imagination, and invention, in the foregoing part of thefe obfervations, fets this matter in a ftrong light.

There is a circumftance relating to the Gofpels, which deferves particular notice in this place. St. Matthew and John were apoftles; and therefore, fince they accompanied Chrift, muft have (this local memory of his journeyings and miracles. St. Mark was a Jew of Judæa, and a friend of St. Peter's; and therefore may either have had this local memory himself, or have written chiefly from St. Peter, who had. But St. Luke, being a profelyte of Antioch, not converted perhaps till feveral years after Chrift's refurrection, and receiving his accounts from different eye-witneffes, as he fays himfelf, could have no regard to that order of time, which a local memory would fuggeft. Let us fee how the Gofpels anfwer to thefe pofitions. St. Matthew's then appears to be in exact order of time, and to be a regulator to St. Mark's and St. Luke's, fhewing St. Mark's to be nearly fo, but St. Luke's to have little or no regard to the order of time in his account of Chrift's miniftry. St. John's Gospel is, like St. Matthew's, in order of time; but as he wrote after all the reft, and with a view only of recording fome remarkable particulars, fuch as Chrift's ac

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tions before he left Judea to go to preach in Galilee, his difputes with the Jews of Jerufalem, and his difcourfes to the apoftles at his laft fupper, there was lefs opportunity for his local memory to fhew itself. However, his recording what pafled before Chrift's going into Galilee might be in part from this caufe, as St. Matthew's omiffion of it was probably from his want of this local memory. For it appears, that St. Matthew refided in Galilee; and that he was not converted till fome time after Chrift's coming thither to preach. Now this fuitablenefs of the four Gofpels to their reputed authors, in a circumftance of fo fubtle and reclufe a nature, is quite inconfiftent with the fuppofition of fiction or forgery. This remark is chiefly taken from Sir Ifaac Newton's chapter concerning the times of the birth and paffion of Chrift, in his comment on Daniel.

Fourthly, if we could fuppofe the perfons, who forged the books of the Old and New Teftaments, to have furnished their readers with the great variety of particulars above-mentioned, notwithstanding the two reafons here alleged againft it, we cannot, however, conceive, but that the perfons of thofe times when the books were published muft, by the help of thefe criterions, have detected and expofed the forgeries or falfehoods.. For thefe criterions are fo attefted by allowed facts, as at this time, and in this remote corner of the world, to eftablish the truth and gemuinencfs of the fcriptures, as may appear even from this chapter, and much more from the writings of com mentators, facred critics, and fuel other learned men as have given the hiftorical evidences for revealed religion in detail; and by parity of reafon they would fuffice even now to detect the fraud, were there any: whence we may conclude, à fortior, that they muft have enabled the perfons who were upon the fpot, when the books were publifhed, to do this; and the importance of many of thefe particulars, confidered under Prop. 6, would furnish them with abundant motives for this purpofe. And upon the whole I infer, that the very great number of particulars of time, place, per fons, &c. mentioned in the fcriptures, is a proof of their genuinenefs and truth, even previously to the confideration of the agreement of these particulars with history, natural and civil, and with one another, of which I now proceed to treat.

PROP. IX.

THE AGREEMENT OF THE SCRIPTURES. WITH HISTORY, NATURAL AND CIVIL, IS A PROOF OF THEIR GENUINENESS TRUTH.

AND

THUS the hiftory of the fall agrees in an eminent manner both with the obvious facts of labour, forrow, pain, and death, with what we fee and fect every day, and with all our philofophical inquiries into the frame of the human mind, the nature of focial life, and the origin of evil, as may appear from thefe papers amongst other writings of the fame kind. The feveral powers of the little world within a man's own breaft are at variance with one another as well as thofe of the great world; we are utterly unable to give a complete