صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني

One cannot imagine any circumftances more conducible than these, to the preferving the diftinét knowledge of those important truths which were the foundations of religion.

[ocr errors][merged small][merged small]

That the Tradition which gives us an account of the Perfwafion which the Ancients had of the Truth of the Creation of the World, and of the Promife of the MESSIAH, before MOSES cannot be suspected.

[ocr errors]

I

HAVE fhew'd, I think, evidently enough, that both the Creation, and the promise of the Meffiah, with all the other things xx depending upon them, might have been known certainly by Adam and his children, and fo afterwards be handed down to all his pofterity till Mofes's time.

From Adam to Noah there is but one man, viz. Methuselah, who joyned hands with both.

From Noah to Abraham, there is but one man, viz. Sem, who faw them both for a confiderable time.

From Abraham to Jofeph, there is but one man, viz. Ifaac, Joseph's grandfather.

From Jofeph to Mofes, there is but one man, viz. Amram, who might have feen Jofeph long enough.

Those characters of time which Mofes hath fo carefully obferved, do plainly evidence, that the creation, and the promise of the Meffiah, might be diftinctly known for if we suppose a continued fucceffion of Adam's offspring, it was not eafie to impose upon men in that matter; and that, because every one of those who were contemporaries with Mofes, being able to run up his own pedigree as far as the flood, nay, even up to Adam, by as compendious a way as Mofes could do his own; they would have treated those with the utmost degree of scorn, who should have attempted to forge any thing contrary to what was publickly and univerfally known; and fo it was equally impoffible, that the truth of things fo important as the creation, and the promife of the Meffiah were, fhould

be unknown.

Befides, I think I have plainly fhew'd, that many actions recorded by Mofes, tho' very ftrange in themselves, and which the Atheists look upon as abfurd and ridiculous, have proceeded from no other principle than from the ftrong perfwafion of the truth of those facts, according as in a long series of ages, every one of the ancients following his own humour and prejudices, framed to himself a particular idea differing from the true fense of the promife of the Meffiah.

It cannot reasonably be objected, that all this is only grounded upon the uncertain authority of tradition: for tho' I grant that tradition, as to facts of another nature, be dubious and uncertain, and not to be too

much

much relyed upon in matter of belief, yet this hath fuch very particular characters as keep up its own authority.

First, it supposeth a small number of persons from Adam to Mofes, who put it in writing.

Secondly, it fuppofeth, that those who have preserved this tradition, lived very long, and for the most part, for many centuries of years.

Thirdly, it relates to fuch facts as every one is defirous to be rightly inform'd of, and which he is particularly concern'd to examine, as relating to his own private intereft, because they are the principles of his actions, and the rules of his conduct both in civil and religious

matters.

Fourthly, it fuppofeth such real marks as served to keep it up; such as the pains of child-bearing, the paradife before the flood, the duration of the ark after the flood.

Fifthly, it fuppofeth a publick service and worship, whose celebration is repeated fifty two times a year, that the remembrance of it should be preferved by all posterity.

Sixthly, It was preserved entire by paffing from father to son, and we know that fathers or mothers do not naturally engage in a defign of deceiving their children.

Seventhly, it fuppofeth strange controverfies betwixt brothers, the elder having almost all been excluded, and the younger, as Abel, Seth, Abraham, Ifaac, Jacob, Juda, chofen to accomplish the promise of the Meffiah, which bred great jealousies, and tended much to preserve those ideas of

the truth.

Laftly, it fuppofeth great contests betwixt whole nations, who all strove one with another for the advantage of being the heirs of the promise, and depofitaries of those verities; as the Moabites, for inftance, the Ammonites, the Ishmaelites, the Edomites, and the Jews: each of them pretending to a preference before the others, by God himself, and so mak◄ ing it a matter of credit and honour to themselves. All these characters contribute to the diftinct prefervation of the knowledge of any truth.

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

An Explication of MOSES's Way of Writing; where it is fhew'd, that in Writing the Book of GENESIS, he mentioned nothing but what was then generally known.

**HIS is a truth which at first I took for granted, and afterwards Tproved it, the reasons whereof I explained particularly as I went **on. But it ought to be fixed as folidly as the matter will bear, because it often happens, that those who do not foresee the confequences which may be drawn from the contrary opinion, do contradict it before they are aware of it; and that too under pretence of exalting the Divine

R 4

authority

CH. XVIII. authority of the book of Genefis: which gives occafion to the Atheists to look upon it no otherwife than as learned men do, on the greatest part of legends.

The prophetical spirit acts in two manners.

The First is by way of revelation, in refpect of thofe things the prophet hath no knowledge of. Thus the Evangelift St. John hath foretold thofe events, which we read of in the Revelations: for those events being all hidden under the fhadows of futurity, it was impoffible for him to have foretold them, unless the spirit of God had immediately revealed them to him.

The fecond is by way of direction, in refpect of thofe things with which the Prophet was himself acquainted, either because he was an eyewitness of them himself, or because he learnt them from those who were fo.

40

Now this direction of the spirit confifts in the guiding the Prophets fo as that he may write of his fubject, just as it was either spoken or done. Thus the Evangelifts St. Matthew, and St. John, drew up an abridgment of those fermons of our Saviour, which they had heard, and of those miracles which they had seen.

And thus St. Luke, and St. Mark, have written of those things which they had heard from those that were eye-witneffes of them, as St. Luke particularly tells us.

Now I affirm, that when Mofes wrote the book of Genefis, he had only the fecond fort of prophetical influences, and not the firit; although in our disputes against Atheists, to convince them by arguments from matters of fact, we may confider him only as an hiftorian, who might have written his book without any other particular direction, and might have preserved in it the memory of those ancient events which were then ge nerally known.

Now what fide foever divines may take in their disputes against the Atheists, I may eafily establish my affertion: first, because it is not neceffary to fuppofe an entire revelation, where tradition being distinct enough, is fufficient to preserve a clear remembrance of all those facts.

Now it cannot be denied, but that the tradition concerning the creation and the promise of the Meffiah was of this nature, especially if we confider the little extent of it, and the immediate fucceffion of Mofes's ancestors, down to himself.

Secondly, if Abraham's and Jacob's travels through fo many places, were, as I have obferved already, very useful to give them a further view of the common belief of all the feveral nations defcended from Noah, and of their agreement in this tradition, it were unjust to fuppofe that Mofes's forty years fojourning in the country of Midian, and that too when he was forty years old, and confequently had that ripeness of age and judgment as is fitteft for fuch observations, did not serve to acquaint him with the several paffages he records of Abraham, as well as of the feveral divifions of his posterity.

Thirdly, we may obferve in the book of Genefis a way of writing very different from that which we fee in the greatest part of Exodus, and in the following books; for whereas God fpeaks to him in those latter books, which he always did vivâ voce. (And the Jews have wifely ob

ferved,

ferved, that herein confifted Mofes's advantage above the other Prophets to whom God was used to speak only in dreams and vifions.) He uses commonly those words, And the Lord fpake unto me. He marks out the place where God fpoke to him, as well as the time and occafion of God's speaking to him, which he do's not in his book of Genefis.

Fourthly, the book of Genefis is not divided into feveral revelations, as all prophecies are, wherein the feveral returns of the holy Spirit of God are all exactly fet down; which was abfolutely neceflary, not only to ease the reader, who might be tired, if he was to carry a long series of predictions in his mind at once, as if it were only one fingle vifion or revelation; but also to condefcend to the nature of the minds of men: for according to the rules of probability, we cannot fuppofe them to be filled with fo many differing idea's at the fame time, but a great confufion muft neceffarily follow.

But fuppofing that these observations fhould be thought infufficient, yet thofe that follow will feem capable of convincing the minds of all. There are in the book of Genefis certain characters of its being written in that way which I speak of. First, one needs only just look into that book, and he will see that the ancientest facts, which are those of which we most desire a particular account, are there described in a very fhort and concise manner. The hiftory of 1656 years is all contained in eight chapters; there are no actions defcribed therein with more circumstances, than only fome few of the most important, the remembrance whereof was ftill fresh amongst them. The hiftory of Lamech's polygamy, and the murders of which he was guilty, is there fet down fo compendiously, that it is very obscure.

Secondly, one fees that he speaks more copiously of all that had been transacted near his time: he explains and mentions all the particulars and circumstances thereof. He speaks fo fhortly of Melchifedeck, that it is doubted to this day, whether he was not the Patriarch Sem, or fome other faithful worshipper of the true God fettled in the land of Canaan; whereas he fets down at length all the particulars of the hiftory of Abraham, of Ifaac, and of Jacob, whofe laft oracles which he spoke on his death-bed, he carefully records.

Thirdly, he defcribes with the fame exactness all the genealogies of the Edomites, their feveral tribes, and the names of their heads and captains, &c. As when he fpeaks of those of the people of Ifrael, which indeed he could eafily do, having liv'd forty years of his life amongst those nations, as well as he had other forty years amongst the I raelites.

Those who maintain the contrary opinion, muft of neceffity fuppofe, firft, That tradition is of no ufe at all to preferve the idea of any illuftrious action.

Secondly, That in Mofes's time there were none who knew any particulars of the hiftory of the flood, &c. of the tower of Babel, of the divifion of tongues; tho' we fee plainly, both by the nature of the facts themselves, in which all nations were concern'd, and by Mofes his description, that the generality of mankind were fufficiently inftructed in them already.

Thirdly, It must be supposed that Mofes hath fet down the manner

how

1

how that tradition was infallibly preferved fo carefully to no purpose, tho' he took notice of all the circumftances neceffary for that effect.

Fourthly, They muft fuppofe that Mofes, whilft he fojourned in the land of Midian, heard nothing either of their original and pedigree, nor yet of the other neighbouring nations who were defcended from Abraham, altho' all these nations valued themselves upon their being defcended from that Patriarch, and kept up their feveral pedigrees, by which they could trace their original with the fame care as the Ifraelites did theirs, becaufe they had the fame pretenfions that the Ifraelites had.

Laftly, We muft abfolutely take away the authority of the oracles recorded by Mofes in Genefis. Thefe oracles promise to Abraham the poffeffion of the land of Canaan for his pofterity, and threaten the Canaanites with several curfes: Jacob by his will bequeathed Sichem to the tribe of Jofeph. He exprefly marks out the country which one of the tribes was to poffefs; he gives a defcription of the character and rank of every tribe. The accomplishment of those oracles, tho' never fo exact and admirable, is of no manner of confequence, if we fuppofe that these particular predictions were abfolutely unknown in Abraham's family, whereas their accomplishment, which he carefully defcribes from time to time, is the moft folid demonftration which can be defired, to establish the divinity of those revelations, as well as of Moses his other books.

CHA P. XIX.

An Anfwer to an Objection which may be drawn from the Hiftories of the EGYPTIANS and CHALDEANS, concerning the Antiquity of the World.

W

**HAT I have already reprefented is fufficient to prove that Mofes writ nothing in the book of Genefis, but what was then generally known by all the world. And I know nothing that can be objected with any probability, but what we read in the most ancient authors concerning the Egyptian and Chaldean hiftory, and in the modern ones concerning that of China. We must then examin both the one and the other with attention, that we may leave no difficulties in fo important a fubject.

All that the Atheists can object against the hiftory of Mofes, concerning the Epocha of the creation of the world as he hath fixed it, is what Diodorus Siculus relates, that in the time of Alexander the Great, there were fome Egyptians that reckon'd up three and twenty thousand years from the reign of the fun to Alexander's time, and that those who reckon'd leaft, yet reckon'd fomewhat more than ten thousand years, which account exceeds the antiquity which Mofes afcribes to the world in the book of Genefis, by many ages, where he represents the creation as a fact which happened fome few years more than two thousand five hundred

before

« السابقةمتابعة »