££TC 
 
 m 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
 FREDERIC THOMAS BLANCHARD 
 ENDOWMENT FUND
 
 k
 
 SOME 
 
 THOUGHTS 
 
 CONCERNING 
 
 RELIGION. 
 
 NATURAL and REVEALED, 
 
 AND 
 
 The Manner of Underftandins; 
 REVELATION: 
 
 Tending to fliew that Chriflianity is, 
 
 Indeed very near, 
 As Old as the Creation. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed by H. Woodfall j 
 And fold by A. Dodd, at the Peacock, without 7emple-Bar. 
 
 M. Dec. XXXV. 
 (Price Two Shillings.)
 
 ( I 
 
 
 
 ji:'«£!V"iSi£ 
 
 r is impoflible to view the immenfity, the variety, the 
 harmony, and the beauty of the Univerfe, without con- 
 cluding it to be the workmanfhip of a Being infinitely 
 powerful, wi(e, and good. 
 
 It is impoflible to examine thertruflure of the moft 
 inconfiderable plant or animal, without being furpriz'd 
 with fuch admirable contrivance, as pronounces the author infinitely 
 intelligent, and excludes all fulpicion, that it ow'd its origin to blind 
 chance. 
 
 The vegetable world is adjulled with fuch amazing skill, that 
 each plant, perfed in its own kind, is fupported, and propagated, 
 mechanically, by the unerring action of the fun, the air, and the 
 earth where it grows i its feeds, by that mechanifm, produce new 
 plants of the fame kind ; and the herb, that perifhes with the feafon, 
 cloaths the fields with the fame livery againft the next : that brute 
 matter, inert, and infenfible, (hould be framed lb as to perform fuch 
 svonders, fhews wifdom, and power, far beyond the comprehenfion 
 of the moft perfed man. 
 
 The aclion of the material powers in this fyftem upon the orga- 
 nized body of a plant prefcrves, and propagates it ; its roots flioot 
 out into the foil where it grows, there it finds abundant aliment for 
 perfeding its trunk, and preparing its feeds, and thofe feeds are 
 dropped where they meet the like encouragement . but it is not fo 
 with animals j the moft perfect of the kind, left to the direction of 
 material and mechanical powers only, muft perifh without rearing 
 any fucceflion. 
 
 Vegetable's and animals are fo far fimilar, that both require 
 conftant fupplies of frefti juices j but in this they differ, that nature 
 mechanically reaches to the one the fupply it wants, whereas the 
 other muft, by fome ad of its own, find and fetch it 5 and therefore 
 
 B in 

 
 in animals, bcfldcs matter and mcchanifin there is an active principte;, 
 lomcwhat, of which \vc have no conception or knowledge but by 
 its cfiects, that finds, prepares, and takes in proper nourifhnicnt, and 
 determines to the propagation, and prelervation of its own ipecies. 
 
 By what fort of mcchanifm this principle acts on, or is affected by, 
 the meer matter to which it is join'd, we cannot at all conceive 5 but 
 this we iee, that it calls all the brute animal creation to thofe ads 
 that are necelTary for lelf-prelervation, and propagating the fpecies i 
 each clafs of animals is highly induftrious to compals thele ends ; and, 
 if we may judge by \Nliat we feel tranlading in the brute part of 
 ourfelvcs, there is in them a ftrong defire to do thofe adts that aie 
 neceflary for the fbpport of thcmfelvcs, and a very Icnfible pleafure 
 attending the gratification of that defire. 
 
 I T does not appear to us that plants are fenfible of pleafure or pain, 
 whereas animals we know are afllcfted by both. To a plant it is in- 
 different whether it is fupported or not, but to an animal it is not fo ; 
 Jt taftes felicity in receiving the neceffary fupplies, and languiflies under 
 want ; the pleallire it receives in feeding is the motive to look for food, 
 and it is bribed to fupport itfelf by the happinefs it meets with in tak- 
 ing in its nourlfnment ; what the plant does ncccliarily, the animal does 
 from choice, and is highly rewarded, by the pleaibre it receives, for^ 
 every a6l of its duty in preferving itfelf, and propagating. 
 
 Who can give attention to thisaxonomy, and at the Ihme time rc- 
 fleft on the profufe fupply that nature every where affords, for the 
 fupport of the infinite numbers of animals, of different kinds, that 
 fwarm upon this Globe, without concluding, that overflowing goodnefs 
 and benevolence is an attribute of the infinitely wife, and powerful,. 
 Author of Nature ? 
 
 I N looking over the whole animal creation one fees infinite variety 
 of inftinds, and talents, fome approaching nearer, fome more remote 
 from, thofe difpofitions that are to be met w ith in man, but all tend- 
 ing to the prefervation of the creature poffeft of them } but it does not 
 appear to us that the fagacity, or difcerning, of the Brute goes any 
 further than to its own immediate prefervation, and promoting what 
 its inffin<ft leads it toj in this confifls the brute's felicity, it feems to- 
 be the meafure of its underffanding, from which it never fwerves. 
 
 When Man turns his eyes inwards, upon himfelf, he fees in him- 
 felf the brute in great perfedion, fimilar calls to preferve life, and 
 to propagate the fpecies, and fimilar gratifications for obeying thofe' 
 calls i but then he feels fomewhat in himfelf more noble 3 fomewhat. 
 
 that
 
 (3 ) 
 
 "that diftinguiflies him from all the reft of the animal creation, that falls 
 within his knowledge j he is conlcious of refledion, he can compli- 
 cate Ideas, and compare them together ; he can dilcover the relations 
 of things j he can perceive the beauty, the order, the harmony of the 
 creation; he can, in the creatures, lee the power, the wildom, and 
 the goodnefs of the Creator ; he finds in himfelf an unfatiable thirffc 
 after fomewhat that has no connection with the body, after know- 
 ledge ; a ftrong defire to contemplate, a difpofition to admire, and to 
 imitate perfcclion ; a natural pfopenfity to gratitude, and thankfulnefs 
 for favours ; and, when he carries his thoughts to the fountain of all 
 wifdom, power, and goodnefs, the author of the creation, afulnels 
 of heart that breaks out in gladnels, and adoration. 
 
 Wh e n Man confiders that he alone, of all the animal creation, 
 has got eyes to fee the beauty, and excellency of the Univerfe; that 
 he alone has got an underftanding to dilcover the perfed;ion of the 
 Creator in his works ; that he alone has got a foul fitted to admire, to 
 adore, and to rejoice in the goodnefs, and perfedion of his Maker, 
 talcRts unnecefTary for preferving his life, or propagating the fpecies, 
 but talents that qualify him for enjoying a much more permanent, and 
 exalted kind of felicity than the other animals feem capable of rclifh- 
 ing : Can he doubt that thofe eyes, this underftanding, and that dif- 
 pofition of mind, was given him to fit him for feeing, admiring, and 
 ^adoring the fountain of all goodnefs and being? Can he queltion that 
 the doing fo is indifpenfably his duty, as it would be his felicity ? and 
 can he imagine he anfwers the end of his creation, if negltding this 
 care of thofe talents, he give himfelf wholly up to purfue thole plea- 
 fures that are common to him with the brutes. 
 
 The brutal appetites, and enjoyments, are nicely proportion'd to 
 their ends, the prefervation, and propagation of the animal; the ap- 
 petites call regularly for what is necelfary and are fierce, in pro- 
 portion as the want is great; when the want is fupplied, the defire 
 ceafes ; excefs fatiates, palls the appetite, and dilorders the Ma- 
 chine. 
 
 It is not fo with the mental purfuits, and pleafures ; the mind is 
 abfolutely infatiable ; the more it knows, the keener it thirfts after 
 knowledge ; its defires are endlefs, and the objed infinite. 
 
 Besides the power of thinking, Man has the faculty of communi- 
 cating by fpeech, and recording his thoughts. The obfervarion of 
 each individual, and within the compals of a fhort life, could not go 
 very far in fcience ; but we are fb made, that each may be helped by 
 
 B 2 the 
 
 •<
 
 f 4 ) 
 the difcoveries of each other -, the defire of communicating knowledge 
 is almoft as ftrong as the defire to know ; and, as the end of the ca- 
 pacity to know is manifeftly to difcover the excellency of the Creator 
 in his works, that the man may be filled with admiration, and ac- 
 knowledgment, it is impofiible to doubt that the end of the faculty 
 of fpeech is to exprefs, and communicate to each other, what we 
 feverally difcover, to enlarge our ideas of the divine perfections, and 
 to join in expreflions of acknowledgment, and praife. 
 
 I T is not lb with the Brute ; that is made to Ihew, and not to know. 
 the excellency of the Creator. 
 
 One difference there is, highly remarkable, between the meer 
 animal, and the rational creature ; Nature produces, Ipontancous, all 
 that is neceffary for the brute } whereas fome art, befides induftry, is 
 necelTary to make what Nature furnilhcs ufeful, and comfortable to 
 man. "The brute is clothed by Nature ; the earth uncultivated pro- 
 duces the herb ; the feed the berry that is fit for its nutriment ; rav/. 
 meat fuits the flomach of the carnivorous, nor is there any occafion 
 for cookery, or drefs : but it is otherwile v/ith Man ; tho' Nature 
 furnifh abundantly the materials, yetskill,'and induftry is nccelVary to 
 fit them for his ufe. By much the greateft part of the Globe would- 
 be uninhabited, if induftry did not furnifh clothing ; grains muft be 
 raifed ; the juice of grapes and fruits muft be fermented, and meat 
 muft be prepared for the ftomach, before Man can make ufe of it. 
 
 Because Nature furnifties abundantly for all the occafions of 
 the brute, they are each independent of the other, without connec- 
 tion , or fociety, except in a few inftanccs where inltincf calls 
 them to it ; becaufe it is in thole inftanccs neceffary for the prelerva- 
 tion, or propagation of the fpecies. 
 
 But becaufe men have occafion for the labour, the skill, the ta- 
 lents of each other, they are naturally focial, and dependant on each 
 other ; they are fitted to promote the interelts of each other. The 
 foul is fo madcj as to reap fatisfaclion from a£fs of beneficence, to feel 
 concern from the fufferings of its fellow-creatures, and to be knit in 
 bonds of friendfhip, and alliance with fuch as entertain the fame fen- 
 timents. 
 
 Thus nature has made men fit for fociety, as it has made fociety 
 necefiary for them i but the end of making fociety necelfary for men, 
 leads to a further confideration. No one can think that the infinitely 
 wife, and powerful, could not have fo framed men, that nature, 
 alone and unaided, fliould have fupplied all their wants j but, if he 
 
 had;
 
 ( ,5 ) 
 
 had done fb, fblitude muft have been the Inclination of the rational 
 creature, and no more of the perfedion of the Creator would have 
 been known, or celebrated, than what fell within the oblervation of 
 each individual. But as effential vvildom has difpofed man, neceffa- 
 rily, for fociety, has provided them with proper faculties to commu- 
 nicate to each other their obfervations, and their fentiments, and has 
 furnifhed them with inclinations to make fuch communications, and to 
 join in acts of acknowledgment, and praile j it cannot be doubted that 
 the chief, the high, and honourable end of fitting men for Ibciety, 
 was to advance, and propagate the knowledge of Nature, and of 
 „,.J:he Author of it, and to promote and perfed that exercife of the foul, 
 for which it was given to man. 
 
 When Man furveys his own fpecies, framed for the contempla-- 
 tionof the works of God, fitted for admiring, and adoring the author, 
 and fupporter ; lb contrived as to aid each other in that great defign, 
 and to contribute to one another's happinefs, not only in that, but in 
 the common enjoyments of the animal life ; he cannot help confide- 
 ring each individual as the immediate fervant of the Creator ; he can- 
 not difpenfe with oblerving the ciofe relation, and connection, between 
 the whole, and the necefliiry dependance each has on the other. 
 
 And, when he recolleds what pleafure refults to the Ibul from 
 eonfcioulnefs of beneficent and merciful acts, what horror ariles from 
 the thoughts of cruelty, and injultice; he muft needs fee his duty 
 towards his fellow-fervants, and with thankfulnefs acknowledge the 
 goodnefs of the Creator, w-ho has annexed immediate pleafure to each 
 act of dutv, and joined horror to tranfgrellion. 
 
 View then Man in his perfecl ftate, as from the ruins ftill re- 
 maining, we certainly know he muft have been Bleffed with all the 
 enjoyments that give relifn to the animal life } Diftinguilhed, from the 
 reft of the vifible creation, by that intelligent principle that enables 
 I'.im to fee the infinite wifdom, power, and goodnels of the author 
 of nature in his works ; Chofen to be a witnefsto the boundlefs per- 
 iections of the Eternal ; PofTeired of an infatiable defire of know- 
 ledge, and trefh difcovcries pouring in upon hini, without eeafing j. 
 Qualified to admire, to praife, and to adore, and perpetual occafions 
 offering themfelves for thofe rapturous exercifes; Placed in Ibciety, 
 with companions fitted for the like enjoyments, and lb made as to 
 promote his felicity, under tyes of duty to them, but duty the per- 
 formance whereof was neceiVarily to be rewarded with pleafure j 
 Joafcious of the lAV-our of his infinitely powerful, and beneficent 
 
 Creator,
 
 ( 6 ) 
 
 Creator, and therefore blefTed in the exercife of perpetual thankful- 
 nefs: View man, I lay, inthishght, and lay whether imagination can 
 luggeft to it lelf a ftate of higher felicity, or conceive how man came 
 by choice, and of his own free will, to relinquifh it ? 
 
 Such was man! bat view him in his prefcnt condition, and you 
 fee a creature ftill poffelVed of all thole qualities that fitted him for 
 feeing and enjoying the chief good, with fupreme deliglit; but you 
 fee thole talents monftroufly and miichievoully employed ; thofe eyes, 
 and that underftanding, that were given to perceive with tranfport 
 the perfcftions of the creator in his works, are now no more employed 
 in that glorious fervice; the heart, and the defire, that panted after, 
 and rejoiced in the favour and protection of the fountain of good- 
 nels, have ceafed to ad upon that objc£l ; all the mental powers, all 
 the fprings of the heart, are ftill at work in fearch of felicity i but 
 they feek for it where no real good is to be found, and contribute to 
 the real mifeiy of unfortunate man. The fovereign good negleded, 
 all thofe talents, that were given for difcovering and enjoying it, 
 are turned to the improvement of thofe pleafures that man has in 
 common with the brutes. The skill and induftry of that intelligent 
 creature, are occupied in purfuing the gratifications of the brutal ap- 
 petites; and, in fo doing, weaken and dilable even thofe appetites 
 from anfwering their real ufes; or are employed in finding, and lay- 
 ing up means for fuch beaftly gratifications. In the place of focial 
 affedion, and benevolence to mankind, malice, envy, fraud, rapine, 
 ..murder prevail; in the place of God, love chufes Self for its objeft. 
 Knowledge, if looked after, is fought to gratify a vain, an ufelefs 
 curiofity, but not to lead to the fource of knowledge, and life -, in 
 ihort, rebel to God, man lets up the vileft of his creatures in his 
 room, and employs thofe faculties that were given for the fervice and 
 enjoyment of the Eternal, in purfuits infinitely difhonourable, and 
 offenfive. 
 
 In this diltreffed, this frightful condition, human nature can 
 hardly bear looking in upon it felf : the crime, as well as the folly, 
 is fo monftrous, that ferious refledion on it muft lour all the filly 
 enjoyments that men amufe themfelves with, and create apprehen- 
 fions which, without fome foundation for hopes, would be abiblutely 
 intolerable; and therefore mankind, to avoid refledions fo very dil- 
 agreeable, fuffer the adive principle, intended to lead to God, to 
 carry them away from one brutifh purfuit to another : if any beam 
 of light, darting in upon their foul, fhould fhevv them their duty, 
 
 they
 
 (7) 
 
 they fhut ic out, becuife it points out the forfeit ; and, becaufe the 
 amazing long-fuffering, and patience of the Deity, delays deferved 
 punifhment, unhappy mortals are ready to harden themfelves into a 
 belief, that there is no God to be offended at their treafon, or to 
 Hatter themfelves with hopes, that, as they live like brutes, they 
 {hall die like brutes, and by ceafing to be, efcape vengeance. 
 
 S u c H is the depraved ftate of wretched mankind ! and fuch the per- 
 verfe turn of thofe whofe minds are fo 'debauched with brutal pleafures, 
 as to like the beaftly ftate in which they are. But they, in whom' 
 the Image of God is not altogether defaced, who entertain honour- 
 able notions of the fupreme Goodnefs, who fee with wonder the- 
 long-fuffering and forbearance of the infinitely Jufl:, and who cannot 
 conceive, that Effential Jnftice could difpenfe with vengeance for a 
 moment, if fome confideration of infinite value did not interpofe, 
 are willing to entertain hopes that fome ranfom may have been found' 
 for the offence of mankind, fome expedient provided, by the wif- 
 dom and goodnefs of God, for obliterating their crimes, and reftoring 
 them to the favour and proteftion of the Eternal ; and to have thofe 
 hopes confirmed, and improved into a well-grounded and certain be- 
 lief, is the chief objecl of their wifhes, as it would be the only folid 
 foundation of their happinefs. 
 
 _ Whoever has the fainteft glimpfe of fuch hopes, if he afts ra^ 
 tionally, will not ceafe enquiring, with the utmoft earneftnefs and' 
 accuracy, till he difcover whether there is any juft foundation for 
 them, or no; he will confuk nature, he will examine authorities, 
 and, will be equallv lollicitous not to admit infufficient, as he will 
 be not to rejedt fufficient evidence. 
 
 In fuch an enquiry,, beginning with the natural light ftill remain- 
 ing unextinguilhed, and carefully leparating what does, from what- 
 does not flow from it; examining the notions commonly received a- 
 bout the Deity, and comparing them with the dilates of reafon, 
 many propofitions will appear demonftratively true : for example 3 
 
 1. That the Deity is infinitely powerful, good, and intelli- 
 gent, is dcducible from nature. 
 
 2. That the Deity is merciful, fo as to pardon fin, and to be 
 reconcileable to finners, is not deducible from nature. 
 
 3. That the Deity is poifeffed of qualides like to thofe in the 
 foul of man, fuch. as. love, anger, compailion, is not deducible 
 from nature.
 
 ( 8 ) 
 
 4. That there Is a plurality of Perfons in the Deity, is not 
 ■dcduciblc from nature. 
 
 5. That man's fin, upon atonement, is to be pardoned, and 
 he reconciled to the Deity, is not deducible from nature. 
 
 6. That the fufferings of a man, to whom one of the Perfons 
 of the Deity was to be joined, was to be that atonement, is not 
 deducible from nature. 
 
 7. That the effed of this atonement and reconciliation, was 
 to give all mankind a right to approach, and rely on the protec- 
 tion and beneficence of a placated Deity, is not deducible from 
 nature. 
 
 8. That the Deity, thus appeafcd, is delighted in prayers and 
 praifes, is not deducible from nature. 
 
 9. That there is a coi'refpondence between the fouls of men and 
 the Deity, is not deducible from nature. 
 
 10. That the prayers of men are acceptable to the Deity, 
 heard, and anfwered, through the interceflionof that Perfon whole 
 fufferings atoned for fin, is not deducible from nature. 
 
 If then thefc things concerning the Deity, and man's flate, are 
 true, and of abfolute nccellity to be known to man, for his comfort, 
 and towards enabling him to perform any acceptable duty to his 
 Creator, his knowledge muft come by revelation, and that know- 
 ledge muft be kept up by inftitutions, or records. 
 
 r. That there is fuch a thing as right and wrong, may, and 
 muft be known, without revelation. 
 
 2. That right muft be attended with reward, and wrong 
 with puniftiment, is known without revelation. 
 
 3 . That therefore there muft be a future ftate, for rewards 
 and puniftiments, muft be known without revelation. 
 
 4. That man is in a depraved ftate, at enmity with the Deity, 
 is known without revelation ; and muft have been known lb foon 
 as that ftate of enmity began, 
 
 I N this depraved ftate, man, attentive to his own circumftances, 
 muft have been in a condition infinitely wretched, the object of the 
 juft indignation of the Almighty, here and hereafter i helplefs, and 
 hopelefs, bccaufe no defence againft offended juftice ; and muft have 
 continued incapable of hope, or comfort, or of attempting any 
 
 means
 
 (9) 
 
 ■means of placating, or of obtaining the protedion of the Deity, un- 
 lefs the mercy of God, and his acceptatice of the atonement pro- 
 vided, had been revealed to him, with evidence of the authority of 
 that revelation, fo convincing as to gain abfolute belief j this, and 
 nothing lels, could render life tolerable. 
 
 1 . W E know certainly that all men are, and from the earlieft 
 ages have been, in a ftate of enmity and corruption. 
 
 2. That men now have, and from the earlieff times have 
 had, comfort from a perfuafion of mercy and forgivenefs from 
 God, contrary to realbn, and the ftrongeft evidence which from 
 thence can refult. 
 
 3. That the whole world, from the earlieft times, ufed nearly 
 the fame rites, ceremonies, and inftitutions religious, for placating 
 the Deity, averting wrath, procuring favour, returning thanks, 
 by Sacrifices, Burnt-offerings, Blood ; means that, in nature, have 
 no fort of connexion with the end propofed, and therefore could 
 not poflibly have had their origin from reafon, or natural light. 
 
 And, as this belief, and thefe religious obfervances, prevailed 
 over all mankind, without any fupport from, but rather contrary to 
 reafon, it is a juft conclufion, that the authority for fuch a belief, 
 and fuch obfervances, muft have been exceeding high and ftrong; 
 and man cannot think of any fufficient authority to have produced 
 that univerfal faith, fhort of divine revelation. 
 
 The dodrine of remiflion of fins, and expiation by blood, is, 
 'till the fecret is explained by revelation, fo defiitute of any founda- 
 tion in reafon, and apparently fo contrary to it, that no Reafoner 
 could ever have thought of itj and, if he had, no one could have 
 given credit to it, without fome convincing proof for the authority 
 of that dodrine, which, as has been faid, could not poflibly have 
 been from reafon. The univerfal reception then of that doctrine, is 
 a demonftration, in its own kind, that it had a divine authority. 
 
 If the Deity had determined to pardon man, by and through an 
 InterceflTor, and upon fatisfadion, that would not have anfwered the 
 endj without man were acquainted with, and believed it, he would 
 remain in the fame gloomy ftate of defpair, without the leaft glimpfe 
 of hopes, or encouragement to pray, to praife, to love, or to rejoice 
 in the mercy and falvation of God ; which would have left him 
 a prey to his terrors and his lufts, and mult have determined him 
 
 C to
 
 ( lo ) 
 
 to have fhut out all thoughts of the Deity. For nothing could pof- 
 fibly determine man to hope, to pray, to praife, to ferve, to rejoice 
 in the protection of the Deity, but a firm conviftion and belief that 
 God was placated, would forgive, and proted, and was pleafed with 
 fcr vices. 
 
 I F then it was the intention of God to pardon man, to reftore him 
 to a capacity of ferving him, to reclaim him from his finful rtate, to 
 encourage him to love, fear, and ferve his Creator ; it was abfo- 
 lutely neceflary, towards that defign, to acquaint man with his in- 
 tentions, to give fuch proof of thole intentions, as fhould convince, 
 and thoroughly perfaade thole to whom the revelation was made, 
 and to preftrve luch evidence of that revelation to mankind, asiliould 
 be fufficient to fupport their faith and hope. 
 
 The lowed: degree of faith that can pofiibly be fufficient to quiet 
 the foul of man, and to reftore him to a capacity of ferving com- 
 fortably his God, and trulting to his favour and protedion, is a firm 
 convidion that God is placable, and will pardon upon repentance, 
 and protecl. 
 
 \Vh a t e V e r degree of evidence or revelation fixed this in man's 
 mind, reflored him quiet, and a poffibility of endeavouring to gain 
 the favour of God; and, I'uppofing the belief ablblute, muft deter- 
 mine the man fo believing, to feek and ferve God, to the beft of 
 his ability and underftanding. 
 
 They to whom the merciful intentions of God have been the 
 moft fully revealed, and to whom the evidence of that revelation 
 has the moft dillinftly appeared, are in a much happier condition, 
 and have many more incentives and helps to piety and devotion, 
 than thofe who have jult light enough to know that God is merci- 
 ful, and to believe that he will pardcn, upon repentance, and a hear- 
 fy converfion of the defire of the Ibul towards him. But, if the be- 
 lief of the latter is total and ablblute, it may change his heart, and 
 his courfe of life, and bring him within the favour and protetlion of 
 his God. Hence fixith, fo much prized in the old and new Tefta- 
 nicnt j not that faith, as fuch, is of value, but becaufe where it truly 
 is, it muft produce a change of Ibul, and obedience. No man, who 
 verily believes any fruit to be poifon, will tafte it ; and let any man 
 who knowingly fins, lay what he will, he has not faith, when he lb 
 ads. 
 
 As this belief is abfolutely neceflary to all mankind, and muft 
 have been intended to reach them all, the evidence for inducing it, 
 
 muft
 
 ( n ) 
 
 muft be of that nature as to accommodate itfelf to all fpecies of men. 
 There muft be that fort of evidence that leads the vulgar, the un- 
 thinking, the illiterate i and there muft be alfo fuch proof as (hall 
 determine the ingenious, the inquifitive, the learned. 
 
 By much the greateft part of mankind have no other evidence 
 for this belief, than general received opinion • what his been held 
 by their fathers, and all their acquaintance, palTes for truth, and 
 produces refolutions and actions. 
 
 It is impoflible to believe any thing more firmly, than the vulgar 
 do that the Earth ftands ftill, and that the Sun moves round ; a be- 
 lief as general, and as abfolute, of the fads revealed for the com- 
 fort and falvation of mankind, would produce a condutt very diffe- 
 rent from what we lee. 
 
 Where the common opinions about the devil, witches, witch- 
 craft, iyc. prevail, the belief is tranlmitted to pofterity, and the 
 children doubt as little as the fathers did. 
 
 If thelc things were true, and capable of demonftration, the vul- 
 gar would believe, not becaufe of the demonftration, which they 
 have not leifure, or learning, or capacity to enter into, but becaufe 
 of the fixed opinions of others, from whom they learn. 
 
 For as they are not true, nay fome of them demonftratively falfe, 
 the vulgar believe them, becaufe they are not qualified to examine 
 the demonftration. 
 
 But if there is not fuch evidence as is fit to fatisfy the learned 
 and the inquifitive, it cannot produce belief in them; and the vulgar 
 opinion cannot be of long continuance, where the learned and the 
 inquifitive declare againft it. 
 
 The evidence therefore attending revelation ought to be fuch as 
 was fit to create and continue a very firm and general belief, and 
 opinion, amongft the grofs of mankind ; and to conquer, and anfvver 
 the doubts and fcruples of the inquifitive and the learned. 
 
 That th? firft publication of the merciful intentions of God to 
 men, and the declaration of Co much as he thought fit to reveal 
 concerning himfelf, and what was to be done and believed, was at- 
 tended with fufficient evidence to fupport the authority of the re- 
 velation, cannot be doubted, becaufe the defign was to gain belief 
 
 And if, in every fucceeding age, the fame publication had been 
 made, with the like evidence, there is no doubt we Ihould have 
 no unbeliever. 
 
 C 2 But,
 
 (12 ) 
 
 But, in faft, we fee it has not pleafed God to repeat, in this 
 manner, the evidence of his revelation. 
 
 Nor is the not repeating the evidence, to fatisfy the curioflty of 
 impertinent and prefumptuous objectors, who meafure the conduft 
 of the Deity by their own vain imaginations, any juft caufe of doubt- 
 ing the original revelation, if the proofs of that revelation are fuf- 
 licicnt to induce belief. 
 
 God could have prevented man's finning originally ; he could have 
 reftored him abfolutely, to his priftine ftate ; and he could have con- 
 tinued ftanding and perpetual obvious miracles, for confirming re- 
 velation ; but he has done neither of thefe. And, though no other 
 anfwer could be given to the queftion, why has he not ? but that 
 it has not fuited his wife fcheme, for the government of his Grace to 
 man, it is beyond all doubt fufficient. 
 I F it was the fcheme of the Deity ; 
 
 To create man perfect, with a capacity of retaining that per- 
 feflion, or of falling from it, which we call liberty, without inter- 
 pofing further, to determine him either to the one, or to the otheH 
 
 To reftore him to a capacity of regaining happinefs, by publilh- 
 ing means of falvation, with divine or fupernatural evidence, and 
 appointing the moft feafible means for continuing the belief of that 
 revelation, without farther interpofing, 'till the ill uie of the free- 
 will, or liberty of man, made farther interpofition necelTary ; and 
 
 To dilplay omnipotent power, or remarkable events, when the 
 notable defection of mankind made it neceflary, in order to confirm or 
 reftore the revelation, at that time, and to produce ftill ftronger and 
 ihonger evidence for it, to fucceding generations j who dare pre- 
 fume to find fault with fuch oeconomy ? 
 
 Who can telf what wife ends the Deity may' have to anfwer by 
 fhewing, in the feveral ftages of the world, and under the different 
 degrees of light and information, what ufe the heart of man was to 
 make of t'ree-will, and of the mercy of God offered? 
 
 If it was the intention of the Deity to reveal to man the me- 
 thod of Salvation ; That a Saviour was to come in the ilefh, by his 
 death and fiifTcring to atone for fin; and that the Saviour, having a- 
 bolifhed fin by his fufferings, was to become interceffor for man, to 
 reconcile him to the Deity, and produce communication between 
 them ; no doubt this might be, by convincing evidence, intimated 
 and publifhed at firft: and the queftion is, what would be the moft 
 
 pro-
 
 ( 13 ) 
 proper method for continuing to pofterity the belief of the truth fo 
 revealed ? 
 
 I T does not appear that, in the earheft times, writing by letters, 
 or recording fa£ts any other way, than by emblematical or hierogly- 
 phical reprefentations, was known or in ufe. 
 
 And, if writing by letters had been in ule, fuch writing, to prove 
 it of divine authority to lucceeding generations, would require evi- 
 dence. 
 
 Tradition furely was one way } but that, without other 
 help, not very certain, and liable to infinite miftakesj as well as the 
 authority of it, for that reafon, liable to doubt. 
 
 But, if to Tradition was added certain conftant, ritual, and em- 
 blematical obfervances, at fixed times, for ever to be continued and 
 endure; then, in proportion as the emblems were expreflive, and univer- 
 fally received, the memory and belief of the matter reprefented would 
 remain diftinft and ftrong, and the end of recording be obtained. 
 
 Anniversary, monthly, weekly days obferved, preferve 
 ^^f^ frefh the memory of moft events. 
 
 t\) >* I F therefore it was the command of God, that to keep in mind 
 the revelation that a Saviour, the firft-born of a woman, fhould die 
 for the (ins of men, fliould by his blood atone, and become Inter- 
 ceiTor for mankind, Man fliould kill a kid, or a lamb, (bed its blood, 
 fprinkle the blood towards the fame place which the Deity directed 
 to be emblematical of the place of its refidence, choofing a perfe£l, 
 iinfpotted male, as the emblem of the liiffering Saviour, and a per- 
 fect firft born amongft men, as the emblem of the firft-born, the In- 
 terceffor ; and, if this emblematical act was to be repeated once, or 
 oftner, every year, on a itated day; once every moon, on the firft 
 day 5 once every week, on the leventh day ; and twice every day, 
 morning and evening ; and if, on thofe occafions, men were in the 
 emblems to fee, with forrow, the reprefentation of the blood they 
 forfeited, and, with joy, to entertain the hopes of mercy through 
 that blood, which the blood of the beaft facrificed reprefented ; 
 and to believe that God, on thofe occafions, was willing to hear 
 their prayers, and receive their praifes : the invention of man cannot 
 devife any other method, fo likely to preferve and perpetuate, the 
 knov/ledge and belief of a revelation, fo ncceffary to mankind. 
 
 xMen, indeed, might err, after a courfe of generations, in the ex- 
 pofitioa and application of thofe emblems, and emblematical ailions ; 
 
 and
 
 ( 14 ) 
 and, when tlx true fcnfe and intention of them was varied, or in 
 any degree lolt, imagination would rugged: other, and different, nay 
 even iaife nieaningsj but, lb long as tlic obfervance remained, a 
 belief of placating the Deity by blood muft remain : wliich belief i?, 
 of all others, the moltunrealbnabic, except as it is explained, by the 
 original, and only true fenfe and meaning, of the emblems and inlH- 
 
 tuticns. 
 
 Thus what was intended by the prieft's intercelTory office, was 
 loO, though officiating by a pricft remained ; what was intended by 
 the firft born's being to difcharge the prieftly office, was forgot, long 
 before men ceafed to look upon the right of priefthood to be in 
 the firft-born ; what was intended by facrificing a perfect Male, was 
 loft, whilft great accuracy was employed to take care that nothing 
 but what was perfeft ihould be lacriliced ; nay, Inch was the weak- 
 nefs of mankind, that they forgot the blood fhed was typical and 
 eynbleniutical only, and imagined a real vertue in it, than which no- 
 thing could be more abfurd : but ftill they continued with the great- 
 eft zeal to make ufe of facrifice, to believe it a mean of atoning for 
 fins, of averting punifhments, of procuring favours from the Deity ; 
 they thought Sacrifices made their prayers and praifes acceptable, 
 that there was fomething facred in ir, that it bound contracts and co- 
 venants of all kinds, and that the Deity expeded and required facri- 
 fice of them, and would be highly offended if that fervice was dif- 
 continued. 
 
 So that, notwithftanding all the errors, wandrings, and falfe ima- 
 ginations of mankind, they ftill retained, by this Emblematical 
 Institution, a ftrong belief that the Deity was placable, and that 
 fins were forgiveable ; which left it poffible for them to hope, and 
 to endeavour to gain the divine favour, and confequently to love 
 and ferve the Deity. And the perpetual and univerfal ufe of fa- 
 crifice, with particular rites, and under particular obfervances, after 
 the original meaning and intention of them was loft, is a proof, 
 not only of their divine origin, but alio of the reality of that Sacrifice 
 which thole emblems were intended to reprefent. 
 
 The original and primary ule of facrifice, and of all other re- 
 ligious inftitutions, was commemorative of the original revelation, a 
 Ibrt of daily Memorial, or Record of what God declared, and 
 man believed and hoped. But, as the declaration of God regarded 
 a future event, every one, almoft, of thofe inftitutions and emble- 
 matical 
 3
 
 ( 15 ) 
 
 matical ordinances muft be looked upon alfo as prophetick, which, 
 when the event predicled happened, proves a demonnrarion, much 
 above what Humanity could invent, of the Divinity of the Insti- 
 tution, and of the certainty of the hopes and belief founded on 
 that event. 
 
 Besides the original intention of being commemorative and pre- 
 didive, there was a very ufefiil dcfign in the annual^ monthly, iJijeek' 
 I)', and daily Services, to give men frequent occafions of Searching 
 into themfelves, as in the prefcnce of the Deity, of confefllng, wor- 
 Ihipping, and adoring ; and lb reforming, and preferving their minds 
 from folly. This, in time, they miftook for the chief end, forget- 
 ting the chief end almoft entirely j and at lafl, they greatly corrupted 
 even the fecondary defign, imagining that there was merit in the lacrificc 
 .as fuchj that the Deity loved facrifice, and expeded it, as a tribute 
 that was due : tho' God never required Sacrifice (it is in this fenfe the 
 Scripture fays fo) for his own fake, as one may fay, but inftituted it 
 for the fake of men, as a memorial to keep in mind what he had 
 revealed. To this end was the frequency, as well as to give frequent 
 opportunities of worftiip, the true lervieeof the heart, and reflexion, 
 which vain man almoft entirely forgot. 
 
 As the antiquity, and univerfalicy of lacrificc, notwithftanding 
 the various corruptions, with which, by the imaginations of men, \i 
 was infeded, is a proof of its divine original i fo is the ridiculous 
 Polytheism of antiquity, evidence, in fome degree, of a plurality 
 of Persons in the Deity i as the opinion, in all appearance, muft 
 have flowed from Ibme revelation, or inftitution, for preferving the 
 memory and knowledge of that revelation. 
 
 Nothing is more remote from any foundation in reafon than the 
 doclrine of the Trinity, and therefore it is a fair conclufion, that 
 it muft be owing to Revelation, real or luppoicd. 
 
 As inconfiftent as the Trinity feems to be with reafon, Toly-' 
 theifm is no lefs fo^ all nature fpeaks for One Deity, and even the 
 doctrine of the Trinity fuppofes it. 
 
 And yet in almoft all the antient nations we find Tolytheifm e- 
 fiablifhed ; they had a plural to the noun God : nay, the eldcft of 
 all langur..?;es, the Hebrews, ufes almoft always the plural noun 
 Elohim, when fpeaking of the Deity, frequently joined with plural 
 verbs; tho' the Scripture, the only book extant in that language, 
 takes care to let ns know. that this plural Elohim is but One Deity. 
 
 Now,
 
 ( i6 ) _. 
 
 Now, as the knowledge oF the TRiNi'-^ir, if true, muft be had 
 by Revelation, and not by Reason, if the Deity was pleafed to 
 difclofe lb much of its own nature to mankind, it muft do it by- 
 referring to ideas taken from natural things ; and, if the knowledge 
 of that difcovery was to be recorded, whilft hieroglyphical or emble- 
 matical was the only Writing, there muft be a conjunftion of 
 three Emblems in one, to reprelent what was intended : Such con- 
 jundions, by Egyptian and other monuments yet extant, appear to 
 have been very frequent in earlier times, and very probably owed 
 their origin to the lawful emblems firft propofed by the Deity ; and 
 the word in the Hebrew ufcd to iignify the Image or Reprefcntation 
 of the Deity, carried about as an Idol, is plural alfo, [Teraphim] 
 tho' .relating only to one image or idol. 
 
 The imagination of man, however, as in the cafe of facrifice, 
 dropping the only rational thing, the Unity, made ufe of the plu- 
 rality of Perfons in the one Deity, to coin a plurality of Deities j and, 
 by retaining that notion againft all realbn, gives ground to conclude 
 that it muft have flowed from fome very high, tho' miftaken original ; 
 and to enquire what the fountain of fo extraordinary an opinion may 
 have been. 
 
 K s the imagination of man, proceeding from one miftake to ano- 
 ther, mufl, at laft, have obliterated the knowledge of all Revela- 
 tion, notwithftanding the wifeft precaution to preferve it; it beho- 
 ved the Deity, perfifting ftedfaft in the purpofe of mercy to man- 
 kind, to renew that Revelation from time to time, and to re(flify 
 abufes with fuch authority, for the renewal and redification, as was 
 fuiTicient evidence of the truth of what was revealed ■■, and, if that 
 merciful and perfed Being was to ftiut up all Revelation, and 
 to ceafe from farther interpofition by extraordinary appearances a- 
 mongft men, it behoved him to make the Revelation ib com- 
 pleat, and to leave it fo fixed and unalterable, and attended with 
 fuch Evidence for the truth of it, as fhould leave no further room 
 for error or doubt, amongft thofe who, with refpedful hearts to 
 the Deity, fought after the truth. 
 
 Tho' it is extremely obvious, that fuch a Revelation and 
 Rectification muft have been, yet feek for it amongft all the 
 monuments, the wifdom, the records of the heathen world, and you 
 fhall feek in vain ; nothing but vanity and madnefs. The wifeft of 
 them, at leaft of thofe that have come to our hands, feem to have 
 
 known
 
 ( 17 ) 
 
 known little of Man V fallen, defperate flate, and appear to have 
 (when they turn'd their thoughts to Religion) known nothing fur- 
 ther than a parcel of the lyes and forgeries of their Priefts. 
 
 So that, if any of the ancient Heathens wrote before their Reve- 
 lation was totally corrupted, it is loft, having been neglefted by 
 their fucceifors, who did not underftand what it meant. 
 
 But in looking over Mankind, as they are at this day, we find 
 a Nation in very particular circumftances, Diftinguifhed from all 
 the People that are, or perhaps ever were upon the face of the earth i 
 the Children, as they believe, of one Man; Profeflling a Religion 
 different from that of all the Nations that now are fcattered up and 
 down the whole earth ; Without dominion, power, or property any 
 where; Tenacious, to death, of their own Religion, and Opinions; 
 for that reafon defpifed, hated, oppreflTed, and perfecuted ; and yet, 
 fubfirting in fo prodigious numbers, that, were they to be brought 
 together, they would prove a mighty People, 
 
 Examining the hiftory of this People (I mean the Jews) we 
 find they were very Powerful about 2000 years ago; PofTefl'ed of a 
 country, their own, and called by their own Name ; in the full Exer- 
 cife of a Religion with Ceremonies, and Services peculiar to them- 
 felves ; in a firm Belief derived from their holy Books, which they held 
 to be Revelation, that feme very extraordinary Perfon, of their 
 blood and kindred, fhould then arife, who fhould deliver them from 
 all their Enemies, and fet up a Kingdom above all the Kingdoms of 
 the eaith. 
 
 W E find fome time after, that, encouraged by this opinion, they 
 quarrelled with the Romans ; and, after the nioft obftinate defence 
 that ever People made, were utterly overthrown, their City and 
 Temple deftroyed, and thofe that efcaped the fword fcattered up 
 and down over the face of the earth, 
 
 W E find that the particularity of their Faith and Service, the di- 
 ftindion that fubfifted between them and other Nations, and the fe- 
 ditioufnefs and mutiny of their Deportment, founded on the perfua- 
 fion of a great Deliverer to come, brought total diflipation upon 
 them, fo that they became every where the objed of fevere laws 
 and ill ufage. 
 
 And we find, neverthelef,, that for near 1700 years they have 
 remained, under all thefe diftrefies and difficulties, a Teople diftindt 
 from thofe they live amongft, tenacious of their own Religion 
 
 D and
 
 , ( i8 ) 
 
 and Obfervances, not to be bribed or frightned from them, and 
 fully convinced their Religion is immediately from God, and that 
 the great Deliverer, for them, is ftill to come. 
 
 A Circumftance fb very fingular calls for extraordinary attention. 
 Of the many Nations and Kindreds famous for Provvrefs, for Laws, 
 for religious Opinions, is there any that remained, that preferved 
 their Name after a Gonqueft? Did not all mix and blend themfelves 
 with the Conqueror ? Of all the Religions, that ever have been, did 
 any ftick lb clofe to the profeflion of it, that, for a feries of Ages, 
 they did not forfake it for the Religion of the Country they became 
 fubjctls of; that infamy and oppreflion could not drive them from it, 
 , but rather ri vetted them the ftronger in it ? 
 
 And this is flill the more amazing, That the Religion they hold 
 is of all others the moft abfurd, as they underftand it; and that the 
 hopes they entertain are, undoubtedly, chimerical and falfe. 
 
 E N q}} I R E of this People, and you fhall find their Faith is founded 
 
 -rf'i^on a Book^ which contains their Law, faid to have come immediately 
 
 Cflicw. from God, the History of this Nation, and certain Hymns, and 
 
 '*''^'V,, Prophecy ES, all which they firmly believe to have been written by 
 
 Divine Infpiration, and to contain the Will, and Word of God. 
 
 This Book they entertain with the higheft efteem, and preferve 
 with fuch fcrupulous exadnefs, that there are in the Copies of it fewer 
 various readings than in any other book extant, that they have never 
 fuffcred a various reading, how true foever, to enter into the text ; 
 and that, as fond as they are of their method of 'Pointing, for varying 
 the found, and thereby the fenfe in fome degree, of the Hebrew words, 
 they have never dared to add thofe Points to the Copies of their Law 
 read in their Synagogues, believing that fuch an addition would be 
 aprophanation. 
 
 That this Book is not fiditious, nor in any part forged to gratify 
 the vanity of the Jews, but, when firft given to thcni, came with 
 authority fufficient to enforce the reception of it, will appear to thole 
 who look into it, from this obfervation ; That, throughout, xhtjews 
 are defcribed as the vileft, the wickedeft of all men ; They are fe- 
 verely reproved for their faults, Dkstruction is threatncd, nay it 
 is formally, and over and over again, predicted that they fhall be 
 confounded^ that they (hall be T)ark, and Blind, that the Book 
 which they keep Ihall be fealed up from them, that they fhall not 
 
 mdcrjtand.
 
 '^tauty^. 
 
 ( 19 ) 
 
 •riinderjtan^, and therefore fhall be rcjeCied; and the Nations^ at 
 ■-large, taken to be the Tecple of God, in their room. 
 
 Recejving the Book originally, with Inch a fling in it, fhews 
 the Authority was high ; and preferving it entire, without ftriking 
 „jOut or aUering fiich paffages, proves the Book was held facred. 
 Not to mention, here, the argument arifing for the authority of the 
 Book, from the exad completion of the Prediclions. 
 
 The firft curfory view of this Book muft fill any man, who has 
 looked into all the Remains of the antient Learning, Philolbphy, 
 and Religion of the Nations with aftrong prepolTellion in its favour; 
 Amongft all thele nothing but folly, and impertinence, is to be niet 
 with ; no tolerable Idea of the Deity ; none of the Duty of Man, 
 from the true motive ; none at all of the chief and peculiar Felicity 
 of the human race, in the enjoyment of the favour of God. 
 
 Burin this Book^ from one end to the other, the Praifes of God, 
 defcribed as One Spiritual^ Infinite^ Eternal^ Merciful^ Gracious, 
 Long-fujfering, Jufl, To'-jverful^ in fhort infinitely TerfeB^ are 
 every where to be met with. The Duty of Man is placed where it 
 ought to be ; and the Felicity of Man is defcribed to confift in the en- 
 joyment of the favour of the Deity, to be obtained by conforming to 
 the Will of God, and yielding him the heart ; this is the language, 
 the fpirit of the whole j nothing contradictory to this, whatever vain 
 men may fancy, to the contrary, from Ibme ill underflood paflages. 
 >> This Reflection will not be fo prevailing with the unlearned, who, 
 in the moft common books fince the Chrifiian <:_/£ra^ meet with the 
 moft juft, and at the fame time the moft noble, and iublime Ideas, 
 ■which are all, tho' they do not know fo much, taken from the Jews 
 facred Book : But it will be very cogent with thofe that have read all 
 (he Remains of the Heathen World, prior to Chriftianity, and who 
 alone can make the comparifon, and fee the peculiarity of the charac- 
 ter of this Book J as it differs from all others, the productions of Men. 
 
 This Book, taken all together, feems intended to promote Reli- 
 gious refpea and fervice to the Deity ; and to raife flrong hopes, and 
 confidence of mercy and felicity. 
 
 It contains a compleat fyftem of Sacrificature, with all the 
 rites and religious obfervances thereto belonging, faid to be delivered 
 to the Children of Ifrael by the Deity, in the moft folemn manner, by 
 the hands of Mofes. 
 
 T H IS Syftem which is called the Law, or the Directory, is faid 
 
 Da to 
 
 '•iJtBj,
 
 ( 20 ) 
 to have been publifhed by the Deity, in a manner attended with great 
 figns and wonders, in the pvelence of all the people, as to fome part 
 of it; and, as to the reft, by Mofes, to whole authority God, by 
 very furprizing miracles, gave credit. 
 
 This Law is laid to have been reduced into Writing by Mofes^ 
 at the command of God, to be for ever preferved, and oblervcd, with 
 promifes of perpetual felicity, in cafe of obferving, and threats of 
 Blindness, and Destruction, to the whole Nation, in cafe of not 
 obferving it. 
 
 This Law was given to the Children of Ifrael, the IfTue of 
 Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob, to each of whom it was promifcd that 
 out of their Seed Ihould arile That which fhould blefs the whole 
 earth. This people is faid to have been, by the immediate providence 
 of Gcd, kept diftind from all other Nations, till the Law was di- 
 reftly given to them ; and, then, by the very tenor and tendency of 
 that Laws was to remain diftind from all other people, fo long as 
 their Nation fubfifted. 
 
 By the fcheme of this Institution it appears, That the people 
 •were to be under the immediate government of the Deity j to polTefs 
 a fruitful land, in the middle of the then bell peopled part of the 
 earth \ that God was to be in a particular manner prefent with them, 
 to be conlulted with, in a facred place (firft in the Tabernacle, and then 
 in the Temple) by facred Rites, and to give decifions, and diredions; 
 And that, from time to time, he was to raiie up Prophets to admonifli, 
 jebuke, and dired. 
 
 Besides the Writings afcribed to Mofes, called the Law, ths 
 Book contains the History of the Nation from Mofes s time to their 
 firft Captivity, for their defection from God, predided firft in the 
 Law, and afterwards by fucceeding Prophets. 
 
 It contains the writings and predidions of feveral Prophets, and 
 ihe Psalms, or religious Hymns of the Nation, employed in the di- 
 vine Service, and compofed by infpired men for the ufe of the 
 people. 
 
 In theft Hymns, and other writings, a fyftem of the faith and 
 hope of the enlightned ^^ oyj is to be met with -, the true meaning 
 and ufe of Emblems, Symbols, and Types is explained j errors 
 in pradice, and opinion are reproved -, the expedation of mercy and 
 falvation by a Divine Perfon is railed ■-, That Perfon is, under various 
 leprefentations, deiiribedj The Change of the, then, prefent Insti- 
 tution
 
 ( 21 ) 
 
 TUTiON for a better is intimated; The Blindness, and total defec- 
 tion, and deftru£tion of the Jt-ws, with their State and Temple, is 
 predifted; The C lling into their room the Gentiles is foretold ; 
 And the time, for that great event, limited and defcribed with cha- 
 rafters, and marks, that cannot be miftaken, 
 
 I F the Book^ then, that contains all thefe things be Divine, it is 
 plain that God did not leave Man without farther affiftance to aid and 
 induce his faith, after promulgation of Peace, but that he renewed the 
 ^/^<^ Tydings ; as, from the nature of the thing, ought to have been 
 done. 
 
 And, if it fhall appear to be true, that the manner In which he 
 renewed that Revelation has furnifhed a demonftrative, permanent 
 evidence, which never needs to be renewed, of his grace and favour 
 to loft Man, it calls for belief, and the higheft acknowledgment of 
 his mercy, and wifdom. 
 
 If the hiftory of Mofesh.\s miracles, his communication \vith the 
 Deity, is true, there is no poffibility to call in queftion the truth of 
 what he delivers. 
 
 As the Law, and Institution founded by Mofes was to ella- 
 blifh Religion, and to make Mercy and Peace known to the whole 
 Earth, the Writings afcribed to him begin with the Creation, and 
 carry down a general account of the concerns of mankind, till the 
 Election of Abraham and his Seed. 
 
 The thing Mofes begins with is the Creation of the Heavens ^ ^ 
 
 and the Earth by the Deity, which, tho' true to the Conviction of * L-- 
 all mankind, no antient JVtfe-man ever found out. Here is no ridi- "'*'^^ 
 culous Theogmia, no eternal Chaos, no fortuitous concourfe of Atoms, I 
 
 but a fair and a true declaration, In the beginnhig God created the 
 Heavens and the Earth. 
 
 He further takes notice of the Inftitution of the Sabbath, which, 
 tho' the Antients obferved, they knew not the reafon, or occafion 
 of. 
 
 The declaration of this undifcovered truth gives ftrong prepof- 
 feflion in favour of the reft. 
 
 The next important thing is that Man fell from a ftate of Inno- 
 cence. This, as has been faid, every living man muft find to be 
 true, upon examination; and yet none of the JVife., whofe works 
 have come to us, ever thought of it -, nothing more, certain, nothing 
 more important to be attended to 5 nothing lefs known j but this 
 
 Mojes. 
 
 \
 
 ( 22 ) 
 
 Mofes diftinc\ly relates as the caufe, or at leafl: the occafion, of every 
 
 thing that followed. 
 
 The tliiid thing he marks is the confufion, and defperate ftate, 
 in v.hich mankind was, upon the Fall ; afhamed of his fault, \vith-_ 
 out hope in the mercy of God, and therefore ftudious to hide him- 
 Telf fioiii him. This, the Fall being true, muft neceflarily be true 
 too; and therefore we readily believe Mofes. 
 
 The fourth thing he relates is, that God revealed his purpofe of 
 mercy to Mankind, and thereby deliver'd them from dread, defpair, 
 and confufion. The words, in which Mofes relates the promife of .^ 
 mercy are, that the Seed of the Woman fhonld briiifethe head of the Jy^ 
 Serpent, and the Seed of the Serpent fbould brut fe his heel. 
 
 These words, which are all that is faid, do not, it is true, fay 
 that this Seed of the Woman fliould be facriiiced ; tho" bruifing the 
 heel looks mighty like the fuffcring of the lower, and lealt noble, 
 part of that Seed--, nor do they lay that facrifice, and the other ob- 
 lervances of the Law were then inftituted ; but it appears plainly 
 that, foon after, Cain and Abel offered, and that at a flated or ap- 
 pointed time i it appears Noah facriiiced, and that, in his days, Man 
 was commanded to abftain from eating Blood, as a thing lacredi it 
 appears the '^Patriarchs did fo, without any precedent, inftitution, 
 or commandment, recorded, and that their Sacrifices were relpeded 
 by the Deity \ and it appears that all the nations of the Earth, who 
 fprung from the fir ft. Parents, praclifed Sacrifice, with nearly the 
 fame rites : Wherefore, it may fairly be concluded that facrifice, and 
 the rites thereto belonging, were inftituted upon the firft promulgation 
 of the EvANGELiUM, the tydings of mercy, and from that Inftitution 
 were tranfmitted to all mankind : and it would imply an abfurdity to 
 fuppofe, that this emblematical, commemorative, obfervance 
 was inftituted without man's knowing the reafon, and meaning 
 of it. 
 
 W E know by Hiftory, without the help of Mofes., that all Man- 
 kind facriiiced in hopes of mercy i from reafon wc difcover that thofe 
 hopes muft have been founded on Rlvelation, and that Sacrifice 
 (which of itfelf could fignify nothing) muft have been no more than 
 a memorial, by Inftitution. And now from Mofes we learn that 
 thofe hopes were actually founded on explicite revelation by the God 
 of Nature ; and that Sacrifice, which the fame God fays in itfelf fig- 
 oilies nothing, was pradiced, juft after, by the favourites of the 
 
 3 ^"ty,
 
 ( 23 ) 
 Deity and acceptable to him, and that he gave a new model of that 
 Inftitution, correding abufes in the wildernefs. ,.,,.„ ^ 
 
 We learn, next, from Mofes that God was pleafed at different 
 times to appear to. and converfe. with Men, Adam Enoch, Noah ; 
 and that, neverthelefs, men corrupted themfelves fo monftroufly an 
 early inftance whereof is Cam's killing his brother^^./, that the 
 Deity brought on a Flood, which deftroyed the whole earth, and 
 with it all men, except Noah and his family. 
 
 This Flood all ancient Nations have confufed tradition about, and 
 tho' Exuvi^ ftiU remaining near the furface of the Earth give very 
 ftrrong evidence of it, yet there is nofenfible account of it from the 
 Anafnts, which ftrongly raifes the credit and authority of iV/./..s. 
 
 ^B?fhe diredion to take into the Ark a greater number of clean- 
 than of unc/ean beafts, and by Noah's pradice immediately after the: 
 Flood, of facrificing of every clean beaft and bird it is evident he 
 diftindion, of clean ^nd unclean, does not depend originally on the 
 Lav, of Ahfes, but has its origin before the Flood, probably at the 
 firft publication of Gm^^ to ^^rfW. - 7,7 l a w. 
 
 As the Flood deftroyed all the corrupted, and to Noah and his 
 family was demonftration of the power of, and obedience due tothe 
 Deity, this great event was a total extirpation of all falle Religion ; 
 and, humanly fpeaking, it was to be hoped the faith, and religious 
 fervice, of men would have continued long pure. 
 
 But that was not the cafe; for, zs Adam's fonC^/« finned early 
 fo did Noah'sSon Ham ; he merited to be pronounced accurled ot 
 his father, foon after the deliverance from the Flood ; and betore 
 the memory of that dreadful judgment was loft, men meditated the fet- 
 tine; up a falfe Religion, and Service, to the //^^v^w.^ at 5^K which 
 the Deity difappointed, h^ confounding anddividmg their Imagina. 
 TIONS, fo that ihey feparated and difperfed at that time. 
 
 As Mofes relates the deftrudion of the Antediluvian ^ox\d, by 
 theFLOOD, fo he gives an account of rcpeopling the earth by the 
 three fons of iVW., giving a brief abftrad of tlie Defcent of the fa- 
 milies from thefe three fons ; and it is extremely remarkable, and 
 ftronr^lv confirms the truth of Mofes's hiftory, that, from the moft 
 accur'ate and judicious inquiry into the ;r^^/:^tf»^ records and monu- 
 ments extant, it does appear the world has been repeopled in
 
 ( 24 ) 
 •the manner which Mofes dcfcribes, and nearly about the fame time, 
 counting backwards from known periods, by the jufteft rules. 
 
 After the account given of the irreligious attempt "^t Babel ^ 
 of the defccnt of mankind from Noah's Sons, and of the peopling of 
 the earth, Mofes begins the hiftory of the '"Je^zit^ Nation, defcended 
 from Abraham^ who was fprung of Sent. This hiftory, as to cer- 
 tain events^ is very particular: It defcribes Abraham as called, im- 
 mediately by God, away from a family and land that had begun to 
 corrupt itfelf, to enter into a formal covenant with God : It defcribes 
 the promii'e of the land of Canaan to Abraham^ and to his feed, 
 which is exprelTed in very extraordinary terms : It defcribes the fame 
 promifes repeated to Ifaac, and to "Jacob : It relates the inftitution of 
 Circumcision, which, if inftitutcd before, feems to have been left 
 off, to be obferved by the whole race oi Abraham: It relates the 
 manner of the Children of 7/r^^/'s going into Egypt, their bitter fervi- 
 tude there, and their feparation from the Egyptians : It records their 
 miraculous deliverance by the hand of Mofes : It relates their long 
 fojourning in the wildernefs, and their progrefs toward the land pro- 
 mii'ed : It relates the miraculous and furprifing manner of the promul- 
 gation of the Law by the Deity, with extraordinary figns and won- 
 ders : It records all the -Rites and Ceremonies of the Sacrificature^ and 
 of the whole religious fervice oilhc Jewifo Church: It records the 
 Conftitution of the 7^w//fe civil government, which, as well as the 
 religious, had God for its head : It defcribes the Tabernacle, the refi- 
 dence of the fupreme Governor, till the Temple fhould be built : It 
 records the promife of the Advent of another Trophet^ like unto 
 Mofes, who was to be heard : It relates a formal cutting off the Type 
 of the predicled Purifyer, or the renewal thereof and the Terms 
 upon which the People Ihould partake of the benefit of that Purifi- 
 cation, commonly tranflated a Covenakt befj^een God and the 
 Teople ; wherein ftrid obedience is promifed on the j art of the 
 people, and, on that condition, great and perpetu?;! lleffings pro- 
 mifed on the part of God ; but a manifeft prediction is, at the fame 
 time, made of the people's defeflion, and of their future Ueftruftion, 
 
 And the end of all this furprizing difpofition, and oeconomy, 
 manifeftly is to record, with great accuracy, the La .7 with its feve- 
 ral Rites and Ceremonies, and to recommend the exaft obfervance 
 of it, to the end it never fhould be loft, or fall out of the view and 
 jknowledge of Mankind i but the particulars of it, and the authority
 
 ( 25 ) 
 
 "by which it was promulgated, fhould remain attefted, to future o-e- 
 nerations, by better and ftronger evidence than any other matter of 
 fad ever was amongft men. 
 
 And, if the giving this Law, and the fele6ling and conflituting 
 ih\s people to be the depofitaries of it, in this manner, was the imme- 
 diate ad of God, it muft certainly be of infinite confequence to have 
 had that Law fo recorded, and prefer.ved ; and yet if you look only 
 at the obvious and outfide appearance of that Law, it was of little or 
 no ufc, and the obfervance of it has ceaied many hundred years ago, 
 and is now, without a miracle, become impradicable ,• whereas, view- 
 ing it in the light already hinted, it becomes the evidence of all hope 
 and faith. 
 
 The evidence the 7^'^J' had to believe the feveral matters related 
 hy Mofes, preceding the deliverance from c^^v/^r, was, fo far as we 
 know, no more than Mofes's word, whole credit was fufficiently efta- 
 blifhed by the teftimonies given to him by the Deity -, but, at the 
 fame time, it is not certain that they had not fome diftind tradition 
 concerning thefe things. 
 
 But, as to his authority, and the authority of the Laws and In- 
 flitutions given by him, they had; and their children and we, who 
 take it from their children, have the ftrongeft evidence the nature of 
 the thing is capable of; For, 
 
 17?, The \vhole People, an infinite multitude, were witneffes of 
 all the miracles wrought preceeding the deliverance from Egypt-, 
 and of the final miracle that atchieved their deliverance, in me- 
 mory whereof, the Passover, an annual folemnity, waaSnftituted, 
 with the ftrongeft injundions to acquaint theii children with the 
 caufe of that obfervance, and to mark that night throughout all 
 their generations for ever. 
 
 zdly. The whole People were witneffes to the miracle in paf- 
 fing the Red-Sea, and fung that hymn which Mofes compofed on 
 that occafion, which was prcferved for the ufe of their children. 
 
 3^/>', The whole People were witneffes to the dreadful pro- 
 mulgation of the Law from Sinai^ with which they were alfo to 
 acquaint their children, and the feaft of Pentecost was annually 
 to be obferved on the day on which that Law was given j befides 
 that, the very Tables in which the tin Commands were written, 
 
 E were
 
 were depofited in the Ark, and remained, at Icaft, till the h\x\\<^- 
 ing of ^iz/i^wo/'/'s Temple, and probably till the deltruclion ofic. 
 
 ^.tkdy, Th re whole People were witnefles to the many miracles 
 
 wrought, during the Ipace of forty years, in the wildernefsi to 
 
 the 'pillar ofYiR^ and Cloud, to the Manna, Quails, &c. a 
 
 »i»->-Jample of the Manna remained to future generations; and they 
 
 were direfted to relate what they faw to their children. 
 
 ^thly. The whole People were witnefles to the framing and 
 building of the Ark, and Tabernacle, they were all contributors 
 to it, they faw the Cloud fill, and reft upon, it, and they alTifted 
 at the Services performed there j and, to commemorate this, as 
 well as their fojcurning in tents in the Wildernels, the annual 
 Feaji of Tabernacles was appointed, which, in fucceeding 
 years, they were to explain to their Children. 
 
 As thefe things were abfolutely fufficient to fatisfy the children of 
 Ifraelj then in being, touching the authority and obligation of this 
 Law, leveral things were added to enforce the obfervance, and to 
 preferve the memory and evidence of what was to be obferved. 
 
 ry?, The Law was by Mofes, at the command of God, put 
 into Writings for the greater certainty, as well as all the diredions 
 for making the Ark, the CHERUBl^r, the Tabernacle, the Triejls 
 Garments, ^f. and all the Rules of Government, Judica- 
 ture,- &c. with every other circumftance revealed, for directing 
 the fafth and the condudl of the Nation. 
 
 2^1^ This Law was to be preferved, perufed, and attended 
 to, iri the moft careful manner; The Triefis,' who were to judge 
 in queftions relating to it, muft be well verfed in it ; The King^ 
 who was to rule over the Nation, was to write out a Copy of it for 
 himlelf, and to perufe it continually ; And the Teop/e were to 
 write out paflages of it, and to wear them, by way of ^y/^wj, upon- 
 
 their Hands, and of frontlets between their Eyes, and to vjrite 
 
 — - ihem upon the pofts of their doors ^ £fc. And they were to teach 
 
 -« their cliildren the moft notable parts of it, and particularly to in- 
 
 -^ ftru<El them in the miracles attending the deliverance from Egypt ^ 
 
 --w_<2J they fat in their houfe, as they --^alked by the '■ji}ajy as thty 
 lay do'-jvn, and as they rofe up, &c, 
 
 idlyy
 
 ( 27 ) 
 
 ? dhy Besides the authority that promulgated the Law, there 
 was a iblemn Covenant and Agreement between God and the 
 people, whereby the people became bound to keep, preferve, and 
 oblerve this Law, and all that was contained in it; and God be- 
 came bound to be the God of the Ifraelitijh People, to proteft, 
 and profper them : and this Covenant, towards the end of their 
 ibjourning in the wilderncfs, was Iblemnly renewed. 
 
 ^thly. The particulars of this Covenant, upon God's part, 
 were to give the People the good land of Canaan, a land flowing 
 'iz'ith milk and honey, to preferve and protect them in it, to give 
 them perpetual indurance, and victory over their and his enemies, 
 to profper them in all their labours, to give them the increafe of 
 their fields, and flocks, and to make them a great, a happy, and 
 a flourifhing people, on condition that they kept and obeyed his 
 Law. 
 
 $thly. The particulars on the part of the People, were to ferve 
 Jehovah, and no other God, in the way direded by the L.iW, to 
 preferve, obferve, arid obey, the Law carefully and exad:ly, and 
 if they failed or tranfgrefled, to fubmit and confent to the levere 
 fandion of the Law and Covenant, which, in many inllances was', 
 to individuals tranfgreffing, death {to be cut off from the people) 
 and to the bulk of the People Destruction, Captivitv, DiS- 
 peksion. Blindness, Madness, &c. befides the forfeiture of all 
 the good promifes. 
 
 6thlY, Besides the other bleffings, and preeminences, God 
 was, by fome fpecial vifible Symbol of his prefence, to refide con- 
 tinually with the people, firft, in the Tabernacle which was made 
 in the wildernefs for that end, and, afterwards, in die Temple, 
 whence he was to give judgment and directions, and to anfwer 
 prayers, and accept of vows. 
 
 jthly^ This Covenant was alfo reduced into writing, and 
 was the tenure by which the Ifraelites held the land of Canaan^ 
 and on which all their hopes were founded j Wherefore, it muft 
 in all generations be confidered by them as a thing of no fmall 
 moment. 
 
 As God was the head of this State, and as the people held im- 
 mediately their land of him, fo he made feveral Regulations for holding 
 that property, that are very remarkable. 
 
 E 2 i/j
 
 ( 28 ) 
 
 I/?, The Land was by his command divided into t\vcTve" 
 one lor each 'Tribe, and they were put in poflTcfijon accordingly, 
 to the cx'clufion of the tribe of Lcci^ who for their portion had no 
 more than what attended the lervice of God's houfe, and feme 
 Cities, with Suburbs, difperfed amongfl: other Tribes. 
 
 zd'y. Not only were the defcendants olcach Tribe to enjoy, in 
 exchiiion of other Tribes, their own lot, but the particular fields 
 and parcels, within each Tribe, were to remain for ever with the 
 jefpeclive families that firft poffeffcd them, and, on failure of the 
 Iffuc of the Poflcfibr, to the neareft of that family : Hence, all 
 lands fold returned at the Jubilee to the Poprietor, or his nearell 
 a-kin J he who had right to avenge blood, might Redeem. 
 
 idly. This right of Blood, depending upon knowledge of 
 defcent and genealogy, made it abfolutely neccffary for the chil-. / 
 dren oi Ifraello keep very exact records and proofs of their defcent, y\^ 
 not to mention the expectation they had of fonjethingi.. furprizingly 
 fingular, from the many promiies made to Abraham, Ifaac^ and 
 Jacobf that the Blessing to mankind fhould Ipring from their 
 feed ; and, in tracing their genealogy, we fee they were very cri- 
 tical, upon their return from Babylon ; fo that, before their Re- 
 cords were diflurbed by the Captivity, it could not well be other- 
 ways, but that every body of any note amongft the Jeizs 
 could tell you the name of his Anceftor, who firft had the Family- 
 PofFeflion, in the days of Jofhua, and how many degrees, and by 
 what delcent, he was removed from him. And as thefe firft PofTef- 
 ibrs, purfuant to the cuftom of the Nation, muft have been de- 
 foibed by their fathers name, 'tis highly probably, they could 
 have quoted by name that Anceftor who faw the miracles in Egypt ^ 
 who faw the Law given, who entered into the Covenant, and 
 who contributed to the fetting up the Ark and Tabernacle. 
 
 ^tkly. The very furprizing care taken by the Deity to keep the 
 breed of the Jews pure, and genuine, by the proofs of Virginity, 
 and by the miraculous Waters ^'Jealousy, is a circumftance that 
 merits attention, and will eafily induce a belief that Defcent and 
 Birth was a matter much minded amongft them : And 
 
 5//:?/y, Th e appointment and obfervance of the Sabbatical year, 
 and, after the feventh Sabbat icalycz.x, a year of Jubilee, for the ge- 
 neral releafe of debts, lands, &c. is a circumftance of great mo- 
 
 — ment.
 
 f 29) 
 
 nient, net only as thcfc norable Periods were ufeful towards the 
 ealy computation ot time, but ?.s ft made enquiry into Titles 
 and confcquently genealogy, neceflary every fiftieth year 5 and as 
 the ceiunion from culture, every feventh year, gave continual oc- 
 cafions for the Deitv's difplaying his power in increafing the Crop 
 of the fiKth, purfuant to his promife. 
 
 N o \v, taking thefe circumftances together under confideration, 
 could any human precaution have provided more means to keepupthe^- 
 memory and evidence of any fad? Could this have been dene bv hu- 
 man forefjght or force ? Has any thing like to it ever been in the world 
 befides ? 
 
 What could tend more to perpetuate the memory of any event, 
 than to deliver a whole People, by publick glorious miracles, from 
 jntolerable flavery ? To publiih a very extraordinary fyfteni of Laws 
 immediately from heaven ? To put this Law in writing ,• together with 
 the Covenant for the obeying it ? To make the tenure of the pofTeffions 
 of the felicity of that people depend on the obfervance of this Law ? 
 To appoint annual Iblemnities for keeping the Law, and the givirrg 
 of it, in mind? To appoint j%«j for the hands, znci frontlets for the-. 
 face by way of Memorandums ? To enjoin perpetual private inftruc- 
 tion by the parent to the children ? To make the tenure of the Eftates 
 depend on the original uiviHon of the Land, to men who faw the mi- 
 racles, and firft took poflefiion, and on the proximity of relation by 
 defcent to them ? To appoint a return of Lands every fiftieth year, 
 which. fhould give perpetual occafion to canvafs thofe defcents? To 
 order a Sabbath every feventh year for the Land, the lofs of which 
 fliould be fupplied by the preceeding year's increafe? And to feleft a 
 whole tribe, confifting of many thoofands, to be the Guardians, in 
 fome degree the Judges and the Executors, of this Lavv' ; who were 
 barred from any portion of the land, in common with their brethren, 
 and were contented with the contributions that came from the other 
 t.'ibes, without any fixed portion amongft them ? This muft keep up. 
 the belief and authority of that Law amongft the defcendants of that 
 'People, or nothing could ; and if fuchabelief, under all thelecircum- 
 itances, prevailed amongft a people fo conftituted, that belief could 
 not poffibly proceed from impofture ; becaufe the very means pro- 
 vided, for proof of the truth, areib many checks- againft any pofiibiiicy 
 ofimpofition..
 
 ( 30 ) 
 
 If any man will fuggcfl: that the Law of the Jf-jDs'h no more'than 
 human invention, and that the Book of the Law is a forgery, let him 
 iay when it was inipofed upon that Teople, or at what Pkriod it pof- 
 fibly could have been fo impofed upon them, lb as to gain belief, la- 
 ter than the Period they mention, and under other circumftances than 
 thole they relate. 
 
 Could the whole People ha/e been perfuaded, at any one Pe- 
 riod, by any Impoftor, that they were told leverally by their fathers, 
 and they by theirs, that the Law was given with fuch circumUances, 
 and under fuch promifes, and threats, if they were not really told 
 fo i or that they, throughout all their generations, had worn certain 
 paflfages of the Law by way of FKONTi.ETi and Signs, if it had 
 
 not really been fo? ""^ 
 
 " Could the whole People have been perfuaded to fubmit to the 
 pain of death, upon all the Offences the Law makes capital, unlefs their 
 fathers had done fo, upon evidence of the authority of that Law? 
 
 Could the whole People have been perfuaded that they had 
 kept exacl Genealogies, in order to entitle them to the blcffing, and 
 to their inheritances leverally, unlefs they adually had done lb? 
 
 Gould the whole People believe that they had kept Passovers, 
 Feafts ^y Tabernacles, &C. down from the date of the Law, com- 
 memorative of the great events they relate to, unlefs they had really 
 done fo? 
 
 Could the Children of i/r^f/ have been impofed on to receive 
 an Ark, and a Tabernacle, then forged, and a compleat fet of 
 Service and Liturgy, as defcending from Mofes by the diredion 
 of God, unlels that Ark and that Service had come to them from 
 their Anceftors, as authorifcd by God ? 
 
 Gould the whole People have fubmitted to pay Tithe, First- 
 Fruits, (^c. upon any feigned revelation ? Or 
 
 Could the Tribe of Levi, without divine authority, have fub- 
 mitted not only to the being originally without a portion in Ifrael, 
 but to the being incapable of any, in hopes of the contributions of 
 the people; which, however large, when the whole twelve Tribes 
 ferved at the fame Temple, became very fcanty, when ten of them 
 withdrew their allegiance from heaven ? 
 
 Could ever the '^Book of the Law, if configned to the LeviteSy 
 and promulgated, have been loft, fo as to give room for new ficlions : 
 
 Or 
 
 * N. B. The Book ef the Law found in the days oi Jofias was the Copy ot the Covenant 
 in the hand of Mofes.
 
 ( 30 
 
 Or cculd a Beck of the Law have been forged, if there was none 
 .precedent, and put upon the People, as a book that had been deli- 
 vered to the Levites by Mofes -, if no book nt all ever was delivered 
 by him to them, what authority could be pretended for fuch a 
 book ? 
 
 Had a book been to be forged, in order to be received by the 
 People, could it have contained fo many fcandalous reflections and 
 acculations againft the Teople^ and fo many fatal threats and predic- 
 ations concerning them ; and, if it had been fo framed, would it have 
 been received as authentick ? 
 
 If the Law, <irc. was forged, it muft have been before the days of 
 'David^ becaufe by the facred hymns, in his time, the publication of 
 the Law is celebrated, and the Law was obferved : And yet the time 
 between the entry of Jfrael into the Land, and the reign of T>avid^ 
 being but about four hundred- years, is too fhort a fpace for forget- 
 ting the real manner of that Entry, and forging another to be re- 
 ceived by a People, whole genealogy was fo fixed, and whofe time 
 was reckoned by fuch Periods. 
 
 If the Book of the Law was not forged before the reign o^ 'David, 
 it could not polllbly be forged after, unlcfs the whole hiilory of the 
 kingdom, the tabernacle, the temple, and all the facred hymns and 
 prophecies, are looked upon as one com pleat ficlion. Becaufe the 
 tabernacle, the temple, the ceconomy of the kingdom, the facred 
 hymns and all the other Writings, faid to be facred, bear formal 
 relation to the Law. -..^^■' 
 
 But that all thefe things were not fuppofititious, is evident from the 
 anxious zeal that poffefled the Jews who returned from the Captivity ; 
 from their follicitude to reflore the city, the temple, and the facred 
 fervice ; from their ftrid examination of their genealogies, and Icru- 
 pulons care to comply with the Law. 
 
 The fpace between the captivity and the return was fo fhort, 
 that ibrae who faw the hrft temple faw alfo the fecond, and many who 
 were themfelves, or at leaft whofe fathers had been, Officers in the 
 fnft temple, returned to the fervice of the fecond : So that it is utterly 
 impofTible that the hiftory, the liturgy, the fervice of the j^^'ic'i", pre- 
 ceeding the return, Ihould be a ficlion, at leaft that it fliould be a 
 lidion, earlier than the return. 
 
 And the ftory of this nation, from that Period, falls in fo much 
 v/iih the hiftory of the reft of the world -, their iacred books have 
 
 been
 
 ( 32 ) 
 been fo foon after that tranilated, and they have been fo famous 
 for the tenacioufnefs of their Laws, that there is no poflibility of 
 lufpecling that thei?- Law and Hidory was forged later than the 
 return. 
 
 A N D, if it is granted that the devotions, tlie precepts, the inftitu- 
 tions, and rites and ceremonies, of this Law, and the great lines of 
 their Hiftory are net forged, one needs, as to the prcfcnt confidera- 
 tion, be but little Ibllicitous concerning the accuracy of the Copy of the 
 Books of the Law, and of the other I'acred books ; and whether there 
 may not have been fome miftakes or interpolations. It is not with 
 one or one hundred words or I'entcnces we have to do ; it is with 
 the fyftem of the Sacrificature, and the other religious laws and 
 lervices of the Je^^'s, and with the political eftablifhment of their 
 Theocratical government, and the authority for the eftablifhment of 
 both, that we have, at prelent, concern. 
 
 For if luch a lyftcm of religious lervices and ceremonies was re- 
 vealed and commanded by (jod; if, for the greater certainty it was 
 reduced into writing by Mofts^ by divine direction ; if fuch a model 
 of government was framed, as is manifeftly calculated for keeping up 
 the obfervance of thofe fervices, and preferving the memory of the in- 
 llitution and keeping up the authority of the book wherein it is re- 
 corded i and if the nation, to whom this inftitution was delivered, 
 have preferved it accordingly; compleat evidence thence arilcs to us 
 ^- - of the Divinity of the inftitution, which confirms what has already 
 been deduced from nature, and the hiftory of the world, concerning 
 
 . Revealed Religion, and leads to a demonftrative proof of the 
 
 truth of the Christian Reli&ion, to which all the emblematical 
 
 inftitutions tend, and in which they center. 
 
 And, if one can but be once fatisfied that this people was cho- 
 
 fen and conftituted, in a way furprizingly particular, principally for 
 
 preferving the Oracles of God, the religion revealed by him to men, 
 
 and the evidence thereof; one fhall liave little difficulty to believe that 
 
 they were reafonably exacl in this particular. 
 
 . Especially, if he recolledVs the abfolute fcrupulofity with 
 
 \ which they preferve ihe facred Books, not having dared fince the days 
 
 ■'■ of Je[us Chrift, tho' their difputes with the Chrijiians gave them the 
 
 ftrongeft temptation, to alter a letter, or to infert in the text ufed in 
 
 ■* their Synagogues thofe very Points, which they have contrived to 
 
 vary the fignification of the words to Icrve their purpolesj tho' all 
 
 of
 
 ( 33 5 
 
 cffhem lay, and moil: of them believe, thefe Points to be of divinb 
 original. 
 
 But the matter does not reft fingly upon the prcfumption ofac- 
 caracy and fidelity in the J-czus. We have a tranflation made, near two -\~-.- 
 hundred years before Chrift, into Creek; and, by comparing that 
 Verfion with the Hei^re'X' kept by the Jews^ the diverfities are not lo 
 many or fo material as to make any difference in the fcnfe and tendency 
 of the whole. They may all have flowed from the ignorance or care- 
 leffnefs of interpreters, and from miftakes and accidents incident to 
 Gopyers; and, where there is any diverfity, it is cafy to judge on 
 which fide the miltake lies, and the error muft naturaJly be imputed tc 
 the Tranflation, which cannot be prefumed to have been handled with 
 fo great care and reverence as the Original. 
 
 And we have, bcfides, an Hebrew Copy of the Tentateiich i, 
 kept by the Samaritans^ mortal enemies to the Jczi'S, and who v 
 would not probably cooperaTTwith them towards any fraud. This 
 Copy, a very few immaterial things excepted, is literally the fame 
 with that of the Jews ; and as the 'Petit ateiich contains the very 
 kernel, and the ftanding proof of that revelation which fupports the 
 Chriftian Religion, it feems to be the dired a£l of providence for con—— — 
 firming the truth of that important piece of Revelation. That the 
 Cuthians fi.icceeded the ten tribes, and that they took up fo much 
 of their Religion as had been retained by thefe tribes, after their de- 
 fedion from the houfe of 'David, and preferved as facred the 'Fen- 
 tateucby which would have been a check upon the Jews^ had they 
 falfifyed theirs -, And is a confirmation of the truth, as they have not, 
 out of the mouth of enemies, at leaft of fuch as were in no confede- 
 racy with them. 
 
 And the cxiftence of a Copy of the Tcntatencb in the hands of 
 the Samaritans, who muil: have had it from the ten tribes, and they 
 again muft have retained it from the days oi Jeroboam's revolt, is a 
 proof not only that that book, as it now ftands, was extant, and the 
 ftandard of the Ifraelttijh facred fervice and faith in the days of 
 David and Solomon, but alfo that all the Copies of the 'Tentateiich 
 were not lofl, as is fooliflily fuppofed, in the days of Jofiah •■, this oiie 
 being then, clearly, amongft the revolted tribes as the rule of the 
 faith and pradice of fuch of them as had not bowed their knee to 
 Baal. Befides many thoufands that, probably, were in the hands of 
 the Levites, and fcattered oyer Judah and Benjamin , fo that the 
 
 "F Copy
 
 ( 34 ) . 
 Copy of the Law found in the temple, in the time of Jofiah^ was 
 the Copy of the Covenant in the hand of Mofes, as the text aflerts, 
 and not the Copy of the Tentateuch. 
 
 These reflections put the divine authority of the Jeivijh Inftitu- 
 tion beyond all doubt, they Ihew it was the indiipenfible duty of the 
 Je-jas to obey and obferveit ; and prove demonftrably, that it would 
 be our duty, as well as theirs, to comply with the fame inftitution 
 and obfervances, unlefs thefe fhall appear to have been fuperfeded 
 and changed by the fame divine authority. 
 
 And it is an Event that calls loudly for our attention, that this in- 
 ftitution, eftabliflied folemnly by God, has ceafed -, the temple, 
 chofen for his refidence, has been dcftroyed ; and his own pecujiar 
 People, whole head and protedor he was to have been, and was 
 bound by Covenant to be, have been utterly unpeopled and I'cattcred 
 near lyco years ago. 
 
 To obtain latisfadion on this head, it is fit to recoiled that almofl: 
 all the Je-di'ifh religious fervice confifted in external emblematical adc-, 
 rites, and obfervances, which, in themfelves, and but for the inftitu- 
 tion, and what was intended to be reprefented by them, ferved for no 
 good purpofe. 
 
 The Hebrew word tranflated the Law, carries not in it, properly, 
 the idea of authority enjoining or commanding, but is taken from a 
 word that fignifies, originally, to demonjirate^ to dire&, to point oiit^ 
 the -way ; and all i\\t precepts, commands, Jfatntcs, ordinances^ and 
 appointments, come promifcuoufly under that word which we tranl- 
 late La\V. 
 
 It muft be remembrcd, that throughout all the facred H(bre-^ 
 writings, as well in the Law, as in the Historv, Hymns, and Pro- 
 PHF.cns, many matters concerning the Law are declared by the Deity, 
 and Icntimenrs exprelTed which regulate the underftanding, end, and 
 
 meaning of it. 
 
 Nothing is more diftind than the feveral Inftitutions, the pofi- 
 tivc, and negative P-recepts of the Law, if no more than the out- 
 ward operation or obfcrvance is in queftion ; but we find that, through- 
 out the Scriptures, and particularly the book of Psalms, it was not, 
 iingly, the pradice of the Precepts, but the meditation on them day • 
 and nighty that was the duty and delight of thofe that feared God;j, 
 it was their prayer to be made to underftand, to be taught them ; 
 it was the duty of the Triejf, and the Trince in a particular manner, 
 
 and
 
 ( 35 ) 
 
 and It was the exprefs command of God to yofjua, to meditate in 
 the Laiv day and nighty then fhvuld he do '■iZ'ifely. 
 
 It is no wonder that the Law required meditation to unravel the 
 true erid and meaning of it ; fince, to inftance in one particular, the 
 principal Inftitution of it, to wit Sack iriCE, initfclf had no vertueat 
 all, and it was contrary to common fenfe and reafon it (hould have 
 any. 
 
 I T is not only contrary to common fenfe, ihatTacrifice (hould have 
 any effecl towards removing fin, and placating the Deity : But the 
 iameGod, who inftituted facrifice, tells over and over again the people, 
 to whom he gave that Inftitution, that he has no plealiire in facrifice,. 
 that the blood of goats cannot atone for fin, that their facrifices were 
 ufclefs towards the ends for which they imagined them profitable. 
 
 What then muft the religious Jezis, who believed that facrifice 
 was of divine inftitution, who believed at the fame time that it was of 
 no effecl towards pardoning fin and procuring favour, and who were 
 bound to meditate on the depths, the hidden things of the Law, con- 
 clude ? And what muft wc conclude who believe as they did ? Can we 
 conclude otherways than that this uncouth, unnatural, obfcrvance, 
 unprofitable and ineffedual in itfelf, was appointed to commemorate 
 or point out fomething, eniblematically, that the Deity was defirous to 
 have pointed out and kept in mind ? 
 
 A s one great end of the religious inftitution, and of the frame of the 
 common-wealth of the yet:,'S, was to keep up perpetually the ordi- 
 nance of Sacrificature ; another great end was to prefetve, with 
 proper evidence and authority, all the revelations and providences of 
 God, recorded by Mofes and the other infpired Writers. 
 
 We know, then, certainly from the revelation made "by God and 
 preferved by the Jews ; 
 
 That God was to be merciful to man ; that he proniifed The feed 
 of the ''jvoman jhould bruife the head of the ftrpenty and that the 
 feed of the ferpent jbould brnife his heel: 
 
 That Sacrifice was coeval with this revelation, or near it j 
 ____V/^^/ facrificed acceptably : 
 
 T HAT blood-fhed was deemed holy; znd /prinkl/?!g that blood 
 the mean, and outward fymbol, of making every thing on which it was 
 iprinkled, the Prieft, the Altar, theArk, d^r. holy: 
 
 That, when God firft declared his purpofe of felecting Abraham 
 and his family, and made a Covenant with him to multiply his feed 
 
 F 2 as
 
 IS 
 
 ( 36 :)' 
 
 as the (iars of heaven^ and t a give them the /4;.v/<?/ Canaan, he,, at 
 the fame time, and with the lame breath, declared that, in his feed' 
 all the f ami lies of the earth jlould be bltfftd. ' '~~ 
 
 That the fame declaration was often repeated to Abraham, and 
 to his facceflTors Ifaac and Jacoh, which became the foundation 
 of the hopes and expccT:ations of their defcendants ; made them care- 
 fully prelerve their genealogies j and greatly value themfelves on 
 being of the feed of thole men, of whole feed fhould come that 
 wherein all the families of the earth fliould be blelTed . ^-^ — "' 
 
 That the firft part of the Covenant or Promife was literaliy, 
 and in a very marvellous manner, fulfilled ; The Ifraelites were mi- 
 racnloudy put, and kept in poQelfion of the land oi Canaan\ But, 
 Avhilft they ftaid there, the fccond part was not performed, nor will 
 they admit that it is to this hour performed : 
 
 That tho' this fccond part was not performed, whilft the Nation 
 remained in poffeffion of the firft part of the promife, yet it was per- 
 petually kept in view, and frefa hopes, by repeated promifes, given 
 of the fame bleffing under very extraordinary defcriptions. 
 
 The Sceptre was not to depart from Jtidah until Shilo came, and 
 to him was to be the gathering of people. 
 
 The Throne was to be eftabliihed with the feed of T)avtd for 
 ever J the Covenant was eftabiillied with him; and of this Seed 
 of his, fucli marvellous things fpoken, as do not agree to any of his 
 c.irnal fucceffors. or to any meer man. 
 
 This Son of T) avid goes" under the name of the Anointed of the 
 Lord^ and this anointed one is fa id to be alio the Son of Gody the 
 King Anointed on the holy hill of Sion. I iJi'ill declare the decree ^ 
 the Lord hath faid unto tne-, Thou art my fon.^ this day have I be- 
 gotten thee. 
 
 K Virgin was to conceive and to bring forth a fan, 'uijhofe name 
 was to be Emanuel. A new thing was to happen in the earthy a 
 woman was to cotnpafs a man, Jer. xxxi. 22. 
 v.,.,,^. To the houfe of Ifrael a Child was to be born, to them a fort 
 '^'^was givin, the government was to be on his fcoulder : and his name 
 was to be called IVondcrfnly Counfellor., The Mighty God., The 
 everlafting Father, The 'Prince of Peace. Of the increafe of his 
 government and peace there was to be no end, upon the throne of' 
 'David, £Cc. If i.K.. 7. 
 
 A
 
 _ { 3/ ) 
 
 A rod was to come forth of the fl em of Jcfje, which jl^ouldfland 
 for an enfign to the people, and to '■ji-hich all the Gentiles jloiildfetk, 
 ""juhofe reft ivas to be glorious. 
 
 Numerous are the promifes and predidions of peace and fal- 
 vaticn, to come not only to the Jevas, but to all nations, by a 
 ^-vmighty GoNquEROR, a great Prince, who is to fit on the throne of 
 'David; who is called 'David \\. e. the beloved] in prophecies de- 
 livered hundreds of years after king David's death j who was to 
 rule in peace, to lead, and to defend, his people ; who is called The 
 righteoufnefSy The holinefs. The falvation of Jehovah, The righteous 
 fervant of the Lord, 'who is to deliver Ifrael from their fins •■, who is 
 to be a Light, is to be Salvation to the Gentiles -, who is given for 
 a Covenant to the people, who is to reftore peace and joy to Mankind ; 
 a fountain is to be opened to the hoiife of David, and to the inhabi- 
 tants ofjeriifalem, for fin, and for uncleannefs. 
 
 The Righteous Servant of the Lord is to ftiffer fur Mankind, for 
 the fins of the people ; he is to bear their iniquities, to be bPnifed, 
 for them; to be nnjuftly condemned in judgincrit, andtofuffer death, to 
 make his body an offering for fin : but he ivas to divide a port ion with the 
 great, SCc. becaufe he hadexpofedhis body unto death, and he was num" 
 bred with the tranfgrejfors, and made intcrcefjionforthetranfgrejfors. 
 
 This extraordinary perfon, who was to do thofe wondrous things, 
 is defcribed as fitting on the right hand of God; as the fellow of 
 God, againjl whom the fword was to be employed to finite him ; and 
 the people were, at laft, to look upon him whom they had pierced ; 
 and to mourn for him as one mourneth for his eldejt fon: But this 
 was not to be till the fpint of prayer and fuppUcation flwtdd be poured 
 out on the hoiife of David, and on the inhabitants of 'ferufalem. 
 v.. — Mejfiah the anointed one, the Trince was to be cut of, at a deter- 
 mined period, but not for himfelf 
 
 And many, and various, predictions are fcattered every where 
 throughout the facred Writings, that the Jews fhall be rejeded, and 
 the Gentiles called to the fervice of God, ancTto enjoy the bleflings 
 prom i led to Ifrael. 
 
 These feveral, wonderful, predictions and promife?, with many 
 more of the fame kind, could not pofTibly be overlooked by the Jews; 
 or thought to relate to any thing but the great, the important, branch 
 of the original Covenant w'x'Cfs. Abraham, not performed when the 
 IS^acion was in poflTelnon of the land, to wit, that in his feed all the 
 
 nations
 
 ( 38 ) 
 
 nations of the earth 'vjcre to be bleffed. This was too confideiable 
 a part of the Covenant to be overlooked, or to remain unperformed ; 
 And it is no wonder that the Je'JiS, from it, and from thele Icveral 
 predictions, promifes, and declarations, that related to it, expedcd 
 with conlidence that biejjirtg to -all nations in the Messiah, who 
 was to be of the feed of 'David. 
 
 Taking, then, all thefe predidions and promifes together, and 
 joining them with the original Covenant made with Abraham^ it is 
 as clear as the fun's h'ght, that the extraordinary perfonpromifed,and 
 delcribed to be thefon of 'David^ and the fori of God^ the anointed 
 one, the beloved, was /^(?y^^<!/promifed to Abrahajn, in whom all 
 ■the nations of the earth izere to be blejfed. 
 
 And, therefore, the Je-s:s, who believed the Scripture to be 
 -infallible truth, were infuperably determined to believe this extraordi- 
 nary perlbn, whom they call the Messiah, was to come ; and we, 
 who believe the fame Scripture to be the '-jjord of God, mufl: ne- 
 ceflTaitly conclude that he either is come, or is to come j or elle we 
 muft admit that God has given his authority to the belief of a falfe- 
 hood, which is monftroully ablurd. 
 
 The Jews may value therafelves as much as they pleafe on their 
 being the favourite people, and may flatter themfelvcs in the opinioa 
 that the Mfssi as was intended peculiarly for them, and that the Cove- 
 nant ijuith Abraham, and the whole ftrufture of, and divine provi- 
 dence about, their law and nation, was meant only, and primarily, 
 for them : But we, of the Nations, beg leave to differ with them, and 
 to infift that, in the feed of Abraham all the Nations of the earthy 
 and amongft them we, '■ji-ere to be blejfed. That their Messias was 
 to be the Light of the Nations 5 that he was given _/i/r a Covenant 
 to all people \ and that he was to bri?ig falvation to^U^men. 
 
 And we mufl: obferve, that all that part of the Covenant that 
 regarded the land of Canaan., and the Jeiji'ipj people in particular, 
 was conditional, forfeitable upon breach of Covenant by the Jeivs 5 
 and aftually forfeited, as they themfelves mutt own, and as their 
 own Scriptures teftify : Whereas the promife of blefling to the Na- 
 tions, in the feed of Abraham, Ifaac., and Jacob., is abfolute, and 
 unconditional, and believed neceflfarily to be performed, whatever 
 came of the Jevuif\i law and common-wealth. 
 
 The City and Government of i\itjews is now deftroyed, and 
 diflblved 5 they are unpeopled, as we may fay, and remain fcattered 
 
 up 
 
 3
 
 ( 39 ) 
 
 up and down the face of the earth ; their fyfteni of reh'gious fervfee 
 is now no more pradifed, nor pradicablej no man can trace his de- 
 fcent from Aaron^ fo no man amongft them can lawfully Ihed blood; 
 nor can any prove his defcent homTDavid, To none can know the 
 Messiah by his pedcgree, were he yet to come. It is near 1700 
 Years fince the temple, to which the Meljenger of the Covenant was 
 to come, is deftroyed utterly ; And yet the Je^jos will neither admit 
 that the Messias is come, nor that their Scripture is falfe, which is 
 very extraordinary. 
 
 It was equally the Intereft of the Nations^ as of the Je'-uss, to 
 have looked out for the advent of the Mlssi as; but they did not 
 know vii-hat concern they had in that event, and therefore could not 
 be follicitous about it. The 'J e-jvs werejuftly follicitous about it, 
 and had all the marks, and tokens, given by infallible Revelation, 
 by which to know it; but, in purfuance to the blindnefs predicted 
 to themfelves, they did not fee it. "" "'^ 
 
 It is an amazing providence that the Jews, who looked for the 
 Messiah, did not fee or receive him when he came ; and that the 
 Gentiles^ who knew little, and had no expectation of him, faw and 
 received him, and in him the blejjing : This is furprizing, but it did not 
 happen by chance, it was predicted by Mofes and the T^ropkets. 
 
 'IJaniel had fixed a determined Time for the Advent of the Mes- 
 siah; the whole Nation knew it, and expected him, about the time 
 he came ; their expectations ran fo high, that the Confidence found- 
 ded npon them pulled on their ruin, and final deflrattion. The 
 Messias came when they expected him, and yet they knew him fb 
 little, that they became his Executioners, and put him to death as a 
 blalphemer. _ . . -^_-. 
 
 In Jacob's bleffing to Judah^ or rather prophecy concerning 
 him^ the Scepter '■iZ^as not to depart from Judah^ nor the Lwjugiver 
 from befisjeen his feet, until Shiloh came i and all the Je'-^'s, by 
 Shiloh^ underftood the Messias, 
 
 In ^Daniel's Prophecy the advent of the Messiah, who is to be 
 cut ojf^ is to be followed by the utter deltrudion of the City, the 
 temple, the law, the commonwealth, o{ x.\\t J eiJJ s . 
 
 T H o' the feijijs were fo blind as not to fee the Messias when he 
 came, but, inftead of receiving iiim, to cut him off ; It is aftoni filing 
 that, when they had cut him off, when they faw their city, theii 
 
 temple,.
 
 i 40 ; 
 
 umple, thcivconimon'.vcalth, and their holy rervicc,at an end, they did 
 not Ice ihcir miilakc, and look to him whom they had pierced. 
 
 I F the Scepter was not to depart from 'Judah till Shilob came., it 
 
 4s a netelTary confequence that, if the Scepter is adually departed, 
 Shiloh nuifl ccitainly be coni'e. 
 
 At the time preditted, and when \\-\t'j£'Ws expctted the Mes- 
 siah, a Man of the tribe o^Judah^ and family o^'David, appeared 
 in Judea, preaching repentance and remijjlon of fins : He declared 
 he was the Messias, the [on of God, fent to fa ve Mankind j and, as 
 an evidence of his Miflion, wrought in the fight of the people great 
 numbers of amazing miracles; He opened the eyes of the blind, and 
 the ears of the deaf, he reftorcd fpccch to the dumb, and health to 
 multitudes of fick perlbnsby his ixn^lc fiat ; He laid he came to ful- 
 fill, and put an end to, the Lavo, to die for the fins of mankind ; 
 He taught as never man taught : But, being in a form too humble 
 and lowly for the Expectations of the Je-jys, he was arraigned of 
 high treafon againft the Roman power, and of high treafon againft 
 the head of the fe'-Ji'ifh commonwealth, that is Blafphemy ; was tryed, 
 convicted upon his own acknowledgment that he was thefon of God, 
 and ignominioufly crucified, and buried: And tho' he did not ufe 
 his Divine power to avoid that death, which he faid he was to under- 
 go, yet he ever had that power to confirm his own promife that he 
 was to rife again the third day ; he rofe, inftrufted the Difciples he 
 had eleded, and alcended into heaven, having firft promifed to fend 
 the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, who was accordingly fent, and 
 filled the Apojlles^ and T>ifciples. 
 
 As the Jews, that is the High Triejl and the Nation^ not 
 knowing ttiis Perfon, put him to death for pretending to be the Mes- 
 siah, it is but natural to think they would for feme time perfiftin 
 their opinion, and therefore they made ufe of all means tojuflify their 
 own opinion and condud, to weaken his Credit, to make him pafs 
 upon the world for animpoftor, and to oppofe the propagation of 
 his doftrine. 
 
 As the heathen world was at that time deep funk in ignorance 
 and fuperftition, and, where Superftition did not prevail, ftrongly 
 byaffed \o Atheifm-, the philofophy of ^yO/Vwrwj j it was againft all 
 probability that the furprizing, the felf-denying, dodrine oi Jefns 
 ihould prevail.
 
 T4r) 
 
 Nevertheless in lefs than 300 years, in fpltc of the fierra 
 ■ oppofition of the Jews, in Ipite of the many Perfecutions from the 
 Roman Emperors^ who were then Lords of the whole known earth, in 
 fpite of the ignorance and weaknefs of, the firft followers oiCkrift^ 
 the Apoftlcs, who were chofen of the loweft rank of the people, V'' ^, 
 
 the dodrine of that crucified Jeftis fo far prevailed, as to_ become the '■ 
 
 religion of the whole known world, (the 7^ie;j excepted:) fuch in- ^ 
 
 fluence had the teaching of the Holy Spirit, and the Miracles ^ ""'" 
 
 ■wrought. 
 
 If any man fliall wantonly think fit to call in qjieftion (notwith- 
 ftanding the evidence) that miracles were wrought, and Ihall averrthai: 
 none were performed ; let himconfider whether, on that Suppofition, 
 it is not a miracle, and evidence of Divine power beyond all cavilling, 
 that. this doftrine, in the hands offuchmen, againftfuch oppofition, 
 prevailed over mankind in ^o fhort a fpace, without the affiftance of 
 any power bnt. the power of God, and the proofs brought from the 
 Scriptures. ;^— *— ■'-^~-' 
 
 The dodrine taught by the followers of Jefiis was that he"^ 
 was the Son of God, the promifed Messias j that he came, purfuant 
 to the Covenant of Grace, to fhed his blood for the remiflion of 
 Sinsi that pardon and grace was thereby to be had ; that the Law 
 ■ferved only to point him out, and defcribe him 5 and that the blood 
 ofSacrifices were but emblems, and types, of his blood; who, having 
 therein wafhed mankind from their fins, was for ever to make inter- 
 ceflion for fuch as believed, and expeded mercy. 
 
 This doctrine prevailed early over fuch of the y<''u.'i as waited 
 humbly for the Salvation of God, and whole notions were not totally 
 • debauched ; It prevailed over fuch of the Gentiles as retained notions 
 of atonement by blood; but it made no piogrefs among the hard- 
 •nedy^ccj who crucified their Messiah, who by all arts whatever 
 exceptfalfifying the text of their vfacred Books, endeavoured to ftifie 
 the new doftrine, and keep their own in countenance; tho' it is 
 highly aftonifhing it fhould not have prevailed over them, when their 
 city and temple were rafed, and when it became the light of the 
 Gentile world. 
 
 I T is eafy, by running over the many typical and prophetical 
 .predidionsin the Law and the Prophets, and Ihesving the harmony 
 and accomplifhment in the Perfon of Jeftis^ to heighten the demon- 
 ilration of the truth of the ChriftianiReligion., and thi^ amazement at 
 
 G the
 
 ( 42 ) 
 
 the llirpri2ing hardnefs of the Jewsi but, poftponing that for a 
 little, can any man, from what has been already ftated, doubt that 
 the Chriftian Religion is that pointed out by the Judaick difpenfation, 
 and that it is Divine, unlefs he admit that the y«</^/fife difpenfation is 
 a pure forgery, or that the Deity can fail in fulfilling his Promifes? 
 
 Or, can any man retleft on the blindnefs and obftinacy of the 
 j^f'X'J in fhutting out the light which fhone amongft themfelves, and 
 which from them only fhonc out to the reft of the world, without 
 oblerving the immediate linger of God in this aftoni(hing event 
 which hapned, being predidcd ? 
 
 Considering with due attention thefe circumftances, it is im- 
 pofiible not to perceive skill, much greater than human contrivance, 
 as well as power Divine, in preparing and furnilhin^ evidence for 
 the truth of the Chriftian Religion ; or, which is the lame thing, the 
 Dodrine of pardon and mercy through the blood o^Chrifl. 
 
 This do61rine, not relulting from nature or reafon, is not.capable 
 of proof ^i 'Priori^ or from realon, and therefore muft depend on evi- 
 dence external, as other matters of fad do. 
 
 Miracles, or the immediate interpofition of Almighty Power 
 controuling the common courle of nature, may be proof of revela- 
 tion ; biu the proof of thofe miracles may decay, by length of time, 
 and by degrees, unlefs fome very extraordinary mean is ufed by the 
 Deity to preferve the proof of luch Miracles. 
 
 Prediction of natural events that do not depend upon a cer- 
 tain, unchanging, courfe of nature is, when the event happens, 
 proof that the ^Prophet had his Prediction from heaven. 
 
 Prediction of miraculous or fupernatural events, when thefg 
 events happen, is the higheft evidence of the Intervention of the- 
 Deity ; and, if one can be certain that the event was predided and 
 accordingly hapned, no doubt at all can remain the Predidion 
 — and the Event were both from God; and, fuppofing fuch a thing to 
 have hapned for the confirmation of any doftrine, the only requifite 
 to perpetuate that pi oof to pofterity would be to provide lueh a 
 hiftory of the prediction and accompliihment, as could not, juftly, 
 be fufpecled, or called in queftion. 
 
 The chief caufes for denying aflentto the truth of facts record- 
 ed in hiftory are. 
 
 That the Hiftorian may have been ill informed, and may have 
 taken what he wrote without iafficient evidence ^ 
 
 Tha t
 
 ( 43 ) 
 
 That the Hiftorlan may be fingle, unfupported by any other 
 collateral evidence, in which cafe his veracity may be queilioned ; 
 and, 
 
 That the Hiftory, in length of time, may be vitiated, interpo- 
 lated, or altered, to be accommodated to prevailing notions or opi- 
 nions. 
 
 Now, if the facred Inftitution, and civil Oeconomy, of the feed 
 of Abraham is confidered as calculated to receive, to preferve, and 
 to communicate, the revelation of the good will of God to Man, it fur- 
 nifhes a teftimony to that truth fuperior to all doubt, and to any other 
 evidence that ever fupported a matter of facl. 
 
 The Hillorian could not be deceived ; the miracles related were 
 wrought in his and in the fight of the whole people, and many of 
 there not fingle ads, but reiterated, ibme repeated for forty years 
 together. . -—- ^ 
 
 The Hiftorian cannot be looked upon to be fingle 5 (I confider 
 the whole People as joint hiftorians attcfting the truth of Mofts'% re- 
 lations) what he relates was done in the fight of many hundreds of«— - 
 thoufands; they all agree the relation to be fad; they receive his ac- 
 count of it, hold it certain and lacred -, obferve the precepts ; expcd 
 the promifes; fubmit to the landion ; and hold their whole land, the 
 poflTellion of each individual, and the offices in the Church and State, 
 by that tenure. 
 
 The iufpicion of any alteration, or interpolation, to promote any- 
 favourite point or opinion, is abfolutely excluded by the religious re- 
 verence had, at all times, for the facred Book ; by the many re- 
 proaches every where to be met with therein againft the Jews, 
 which their fcrupulofity prevented their meddling with ; and by the 
 many predidions noc only of thole mifchicfs to the Nation, which 
 hapned to them before the lacred Book went out of their own hands, 
 and language, into other hands, and languages, but of thole mifchiefs 
 alfo which hapned, fome hundreds of years after the fcriptures were 
 publilhed in foreign languages, and continue to happen at this day } 
 I nvean, their rejeding the Messiah, and putting him to death, the 
 fubverfion of the ftate and temple, and their dilperfion, blindnels, 
 and obftinacy : for 1 take it to be an event of all others the molt fur- 
 prizing, and the haft to be accounted for from the nature of things, 
 That the Jews Ihould continue under fuch circumftances, and in 
 Ibch numbers as they are, firm even to death in the belief of their 
 
 G 2 Scriptures,
 
 ( 44- ) 
 Scriptures, and the hopes of a Messiah, and yetbhnd and' obftinater 
 to madnefs in rejeding that Messiah, whom every one that confiderSi. 
 but they, evidently fee and with joy fubmit to. 
 
 H A Dthe nation of the '^jews Icen in Jefus the Messiah; and fub-« 
 mitted to him, the Scriptures would not have been fulfilled. 
 
 Had they, after his death, univerfally acknowledged him, as- 
 many individuals of the nation did, they, as thefe individuals did, 
 laying afide all national diltindions, \vould have been funk and loft in 
 the general mafs of Chriftians ; and we fhould have had no more 
 than an liiltoiical account of their having once exifted, as we have of 
 the Athenians, Spartans, Samnites^ &.c. 
 
 Had this been the cafe,, the authority of the facrcd Book would 
 have refted Iblely on itfelf ; there would not have been one living 
 witnefs to prove its authenticknefs, or to prevent the fufpicion that it 
 \va s forged, as the Fragments &f the hook of Enoch, the TeftamentS' 
 of the twelve "Patriarchs, the Syhilline Oracles^ and multitudes of' 
 other pious cheats, moft certainly v/ere. 
 
 Or had the Jewifh Nation maintained its land,' pref^rved its go- 
 vernment, and turned Chriflian with the reft of the World, the books 
 they fhould then exhibit as facred would not be altogether free from 
 fufpicion: Thofe, who combat their truth, as they (land, would not 
 fail to fnggeft that paflages had been accommodated to the, then, pre- 
 fent belief of the.Nation, and that the whole might be a forgery to- 
 introduce a belief, which fomeJmpoftors of that Nation had a mind to 
 fct up. 
 
 But, as the ^'^tf^yb Nation have ever rejefted, and do ftill con-- 
 trnue to rejed, with the utmoft horror and deteftation, the belief of 
 thofe truths which their own books are the chief evidence of, they are 
 the moftunexceptionablewitnelTcs that the heart or head of the moft 
 fcrupulous man could wifli for ^ ifbeing abiblutely impoffible that 
 they can concur in any fraud or fidion for the fupport of that dodrine 
 which they utterly abominate. 
 
 To relied a little, then, on the evidence of this R eve/at /on : 
 Here is a People chofen in the loins, zs one may fay, of their parents, 
 to be, as the Deity is pleafed to declare, witnefles for him i formed 
 into a very great and a very peculiar people 5 diftinguifhed by parti- 
 cular inllitutions, and by tlie immediate hand of God kept diftind from 
 all the nations of; the Earth; receiving diredly from God revelations, 
 infticutions, predidive and emblematlcalr, and^iany. oracular declara- 
 tions } .
 
 ("4? ) 
 
 ttonsj prefeived by the peculiar providence of God in poffcffion of 
 their land, and in the praftice of thofe prophetical inftitutions for above 
 1 500 years; believing that thofe predidions defcribed an event, which 
 was at hand, big with the greateft bleffings to them, and to the whole 
 univerfe, and looking out hourly for the accomplifhmcnt. 
 
 But when that great event happens, this fingular people, obftii 
 nately blind, refufing to fee it, and rejeding the benefit of it, not by 
 a-ccident, but in purJiiance of many predidions in their own faered 
 book, and thereby remaining the irreproachable witnefTes of the truth 
 of the {^Acred Reve/atwr/, which from the beginning they were cholen 
 to bear evidence of 
 
 N o R is their continuing, with that qualification of witnefTes, at" 
 this day lels marvellous, orlefsthe immediate a£t of God, than their 
 prefervation in their land, before the advent of the MeJJiah^ former- 
 ly was. 
 
 Who can with attention, and without prejudice, view the contri-- 
 vance, the skill, the interpofition of the finger of God, for lb many 
 ages, to provide, prepare, and preferve, ^0 furpriz^ing, and fo unex- 
 ceptionable, a proof for his revelation of grace to mankind, and at 
 the fame time fuffer himlelf to doubt whether all this is not impofture, 
 purely, bccaufe God has been pleafed to reveal Ibme things that do ■ 
 not conform lb well to his apprehenfions ; tho" he knows full well- 
 that his un'derftanding is, almoft in every thing, fcanty and weak ? 
 
 Who Can doubt that, if God intended to reveal peace and mercy to- 
 mankind, he would make the evidence of that revelation ftrong and" 
 permanent? 
 
 And who can fee the evidence and 'believe without adoring, and 
 determining to ferve, that beneficent Being, who has provided fuch 
 evidence of his grace for the comfort, direction, and encouragement, 
 of mankind; to purfue their duty, and to arrive at felicity ? 
 
 Early, we faw man undone, unlefs there was Ibme hidden me- 
 thod in relerve with the Deity for abolilhing his fin ; and in a delpe- 
 rate ftate, if hope was not created, by revealing that method, which 
 to man mult naturally be unknown. 
 
 We law, alfo, that mankind had hopes from the earliefl: times,- 
 that thefe hopes had in them fame connedion with the fhedding of 1 
 blood; and, from the imiverfality of the hope of pardon^ on that 
 principle, we concluded it highly probable thatthcfe hopes were 
 given, and that mean pointed out by the Deity ; both the one and 
 
 the
 
 (46 ) 
 
 the other being not only without any countenance from, bat even as 
 fome men have fcemed to underftand them, contrary toreafon. 
 
 We favv thatif thefe hopes, and the mean ufed, were from God, 
 there muft be Ibme ftauding evidence, provided by the Deity, for 
 producing in man belief in his mercy, and thejuft confequences of that 
 belief 
 
 An d, now, we fee, in fad, that fuch evidence is provided, which 
 juftifies the hopes and the practice of the ancient world, at the fame 
 time that it receives confirmation from them ; and fhevvs clearly th at 
 this Revelation was given irom the beginning, and that the Law 
 of Mo fas is a Rfpuslication of it. 
 
 This then being, undeniably, the cafe j how abfurd and perni- 
 cious muft the fentiments and conduct be of thefe unlearned, but 
 conceited, men who, without examining nature or revelation care- 
 fully, prcfume to decide magifterially againll Revealed Religion; 
 and employ all the talents, the bountilul God of Nature has beftowed 
 upon them, not to examine and enquire into, but to dilcredit and 
 ..defeat, the evidence that he has, with fuch infinite care, provided ; 
 and thereby harden themlelves, and all fuch whole hearts and heads 
 are turned like theirs, in ialfe and impious notions? 
 
 Tindal (and all who have thought, before or after him, as he does) 
 will have the law of Nature, that is the light of 'i>i ktvke, a per- 
 fect rule for men's aftions ; and who doubts this? He lays this light 
 is abiblutely fuflicient to guide men in their condud towards God, 
 and towards pne another; and this is no doubt alio true; but, then, 
 he concludes that this l/^ht <?/ Nature is, by itfelf, fufficient in our 
 prefent ftate to lead us comfortably through this life to happinefs in 
 the next : But here he errs, manifeftly, either from want of attention 
 to truths which he admits, or from building on falle principles, which, 
 without due examination, he has adopted. 
 
 That the light of Nature, with the inftrudions the firft man 
 had, was fufficient to guide him before he Hnned, is certain i and 
 that the lame light, after committing that fin, was a fufficient monitor 
 againft committing more, may alfo be true: But how was this firft 
 Wan to find out, that the firft fin he committed was to be pardoned, 
 if that God, againft whom he finned, had not told him lb much ? Is 
 there any thing in Nature to let a man know, certainly, that the 
 infinite, the per fed, the immutable, juftice of God will pardon, con- 
 nive or wink at, fin, the tranlgreflion of the eternal law of order, in 
 
 fetting
 
 (+7) 
 fetting up another fovereign, without fome caiife, motive or confidc- 
 ration, of infinite moment to determine the Deity fo to do ? Or can 
 Nature find out that there was truly the interpofition of fuch a 
 caufe ? 
 
 Mr. Tindal would avoid this difficulty by fuppofing that the 
 light of^KTVKE teaches man that God is merciful, and that he will 
 pardon, upon repentance, and a purpofe of amendment i and, if this 
 was true, his argument would go pretty far: but this is moft certainly 
 not true; the 'Deiji borrows, in this, an article from Revealed 
 Religion, which, by afcribing to the light <?/ Nature, he would 
 make ufe of to overthrow that very Religion that difcovered it. 
 
 . The light of Nature Ihews the God of nature to be bountiful, 
 good, benign, clement, beneficent and merciful, if the Idea is carried 
 no further than a difpofition not to hurt, and to relieve, proper ob- 
 jeds of relief j but the light of Nature does in no way (hew that 
 this perfed: being is merciful to finners, or that his clemency or benefi- 
 cence can have for its objc£t the offender againll immutable juftice. The 
 ideas of indignation againft fin, and puniftiment of trefpafs, are lb ne- 
 cefiTarily joined with, and infeparable from, the idea of infinite, per- 
 fed, juftice, that the light tf/ Nature, without deltroying the idea 
 of the eflential juftice of God, or without difcovering what, without 
 Revelation, it could not difcover, that juftice was, by the inter- 
 pofition of an atonement of infinite confideration, to be fatisfied, could 
 not poffibly frame to itfelf any notion that mercy was to take place, 
 or that repentance, and purpole of amendment, were to be of any 
 moment. 
 
 Revelation, indeed, has altered the cafe; it has defcribed God 
 as merciful, long-luffering, patient, and pardoning tranfgreflion, upon 
 ^rep^entance : But, then, it has reconciled that difcovery to the dic- 
 tates of nature, which fpoke juft the reverie, by intimating that an 
 atonement has, by infinite mercy, been found out to fatisfy immutable, 
 eficntial, juftice. 
 
 Thus do weak, prefumptuous, men miflead tbemfelves, to lull 
 their confcience, that glimple of the light of nature, aflecp -, and, to 
 prevent the trouble it muft give them, they lay hold of a principle 
 difcovered, and proved, only, by Revelation ; but, becaufe they 
 would not be beholden ro RhVEr.ATioN for it, they boldly, and 
 falleiy, averr it is deducible from Reason 5 and then make ufe of it 
 to fupport an H^polhejts, of their own framing, that fhall overturn. 
 
 3 that 
 
 V-
 
 (48) 
 
 that Revelation, from which the fapport -to their Hy pot hefts \& 
 fought. 
 
 ■Deism is not tenible without fuppofing lemifTion of fin to be 
 .neceffaiily conlequent upon repentance, and this to be difcoveraible 
 by the light of Nature. Remiffion does not appear from Nature 
 -to be the confequence of repentance, but rather the contrary ; the 
 dilcovery and proof of this propofition is owing folely to Revelation; 
 and yet there arc. men, who would be thought wife and honeft, who 
 would be thought to believe the propofition, and yet make it the ftud.y 
 of their lives to overthrow the evidence on which it is built. 
 "— I T would be very happy if thefe Gentlemen^ who pique themfelves 
 fo much on the ftudy, the knowledge, the light ^/Nature, entered 
 a little more into the confidcration of themlelves, and of thofe things 
 :they fo much pretend to know, and to admire; and beftowed but 
 half the time, they take to dired others, in finding out their own con- 
 dition, and what they have to hope or fear : Did they but look at /:: 
 their own cafe, they Ihould be lefs wanton, lefs prefumptuous. ^ 
 
 What man is there who, entring intohimfelf, and comparing ho- 
 neftly what he now is with what man originally was, and ought to 
 have continued, does not fee the corruption, the mifery, the help- 
 leflhefs, of his own condition? If the depravity or violence of his ap- 
 petites, his lulls, or his palhons, have drawn him to commit any of the 
 more notorious crimes that difturb fociety, or deftroy his neighbour, 
 confcience generally interpofes, and the fting is felt, till the depraved 
 wretch harden himfelfby fomefalle excufe, or by fome other criminal 
 purfuit, draw away his attention from the fore. 
 
 But, fuppofing a man, from the happy conftitution with which 
 'he was born, from the advantage of a good education, to form his 
 sentiments \ or, from the kind conducl of God's providence, free from 
 • thofe grolVer offences that fall under the cenfure and diftafte of al<! 
 honefl men: Can he recolleft that he is the creature of the infinitely 
 rperfed: Being, that the great, the chief, end of giving him all thofe 
 intelledual faculties, that diftinguifh him from the reft of the creatioi^, 
 cwas to contemplate the power, the wifdom, the goodnefs, of God in 
 his works, and in his providence, and to admire, adore, and ferve, 
 this fource of -goodnefs, power, wifdom, and perfeftion ; that his 
 diftingui(hing felicity lay in purfuing his duty, in anfwering the 
 .ends for which thofe intelleduai faculties were given j that a tribute 
 of praife^ of acknowledgment, and of thankfiUnefs, is .due to the 
 
 3 God
 
 ( 49 ) 
 God of nature, who lias mercifully and beneficently framed the heart 
 of man, ib that the very ad of paying this tribute is neccfiTarily at- 
 tended with the mofl pcrfed, pure joy, ferenity and fatisfadion, that 
 the human mind is capable of feeling ; I fay, can he recoiled thefe 
 thmgs, aridatthefametimebeconfciousthat'he feldom, if ever, em- 
 ploys the talents given him to the end for which they were given- 
 that it is not the occupation of his mind, or the joy of his heart, to 
 contemplate or acknowledge the divine wifdom, and goodne fs i that 
 the lupreme good is not only not the objed of the meditation of his 
 mind, or of thepurlliit of hish-eart, but that thefe faculties, and dif- 
 pofitions, bountifully given for thofe honourable and bleffed ends, 
 are monftroufly mifapplied to the purfuit of fleeting, periPning, if not 
 wicked, pleafures ; that the foul is fo knit to, and bewitched with, 
 thofe mean, unmanly, unreafonable enjoyments, which end in fmoke', 
 It not in lorrow • that there is no tafte left ibr thofe fublime, perma- 
 nent, plealures, for which it was created ; and that, in place of ufing 
 the very refufe of one's time, what is over and above the purfuit and 
 enjoyment of thofe vain comforts, to the chief end for which time was 
 indulged, the thought of the leaft communication with the Creator 
 IS lo painful, that all amufements, how fooiifh or infignificant foever 
 are anxioufly fought after to murder time, and to divert, as 'tis called' 
 from that exercife of the foul, and heart, wherein confifts his indifpen' 
 fable duty, and his higheft felicity ; without perceiving that he is 
 guilty of high-trealon againft the God <?/ Nature, that he is revolted 
 from him, and has fubltituted in his place, and made choice of, his 
 creatures for the objeft of his defires, and of his purfuits ; that they 
 are become his mafters, who hold him in captivity ; and he their 
 flave, fo chained to their drudgery, that he has no more capacity left to 
 return to the enjoyment of his Maker, and to relifh the pleafures that 
 are with him for evermore; without dreading the juft vengeance 
 of the Omnipotent which may reach him here, and mnft reach him, 
 unlefs reconciliation intervene, in the life to come; whither, he knows 
 the pleafures and the amufements of this life cannot follow him. ' 
 Whoever makes thefe reflections, and every hving foul muft, who 
 ^vlll enter into himfelf and think ferioufly, can have no other queftion 
 toexercife his mind with, but. What fliall he do to be faved ? And if 
 any accident fliould bring to his ears that blefled piece of intelligence 
 that there is a way ftill open to the favour of God, and mean? pro- 
 vided for the pardon of fin, it is impoflible the tidings fhould not 
 
 H roufe
 
 ( 50 ) 
 
 loufe the whole of his Attention, and employ the utmoft of his dili- 
 gence to difcovev the truth of fo acceptable news; which, if found 
 to be the very will and revelation of God, muft meet with the moft 
 joyful and thankful acceptance. 
 
 B u T if men will not look fo far into themfelves, as to fee and 
 feel their miferable condition; if they are fo well contented with the 
 pleafure they enjoy, or have in view, that they look for none other; 
 or if their inimerfion in fcnfual latisfac\ions prevents their entertaining 
 thofe honourable notions of the Deity, and of his fervice, that are 
 contradidory to their prefent purfuits and fchemeof life ; it is no won- 
 der they fhould not liften with attention to a piece of information, 
 which, if true, breaks in upon their prefent happinefs, fours all their 
 pleafures, and promifes in exchange, an enjoyment for which they 
 have no tafte. 
 
 Men, fo minded, cannot polTibly receive the Gospel, or failto- 
 forge reafons againft it 5 whilft thofe who fenfibly feel the want, 
 muft with the greateft earneftnefs wilh they may, upon due exanii'- 
 nation, find it true. 
 
 The Gospel is an infallible Cure, a glorious Medicine, tho' 
 of a bitter relifh to many palates, for the moft obftinate, the moft 
 dangerous difeafe. A Medicine coveted, however, notwithftand- 
 ing its harlhnefs, and greedily fvvallowed by thofe who feel the an- 
 guifh of the difeafe, or dread the danger ; but naufeated and rejed- 
 ed by thofe who arc fenfible of no ailment, and believe themfelves 
 to be in health. It is one of the hardeft things in the world, to per- 
 fuade Madmen to come under the regimen neccflary for their cure, 
 becaufe it is impollible to convince them they are mad -, a madman, 
 however, can by violence be compelled to the taking of medicine, 
 but the Gospel muft be fought after, and taken voluntarily, and wilh- 
 fuUy, before it can do any good. 
 
 The whole want no Physician, and thofe who think themfelves 
 fo, believe they want none. It is otherwife with the fick, who in 
 proportion as they feel agony, are impatient, and earneft for re- 
 lief 
 
 They begin at the wrong end, who, to perfuade a Deist to 
 receive the Gospel, attempt firft to prove the excellence and infal- 
 libility of it: If he is fatisfied, he has no occafion for it, he cannot 
 be brought to examine fufficiently, and to weigh the proof Ccn- 
 vince a man, who diilikes the only medicine that can cure him, tl at 
 
 he 
 
 XT
 
 ( SI ) 
 
 he IS dangeroufly ill, he will hear you patiently on the fubjecl of 
 the remedy, and fubmic to make ule of it, be it ever fo unpalatable j 
 if you cannot convince him that he Hands in need of it, he is incu- 
 rable. 
 
 As fome men are fo thoroughly corrupted, as to like the wretched 
 flate in which they are, better than that, in the poflTellion whereof 
 the higheft felicity their nature is capable of confifts ; they are ib 
 weak, and at the lame time fo conceited, as to think they can per- 
 fuade others, who do feel this mifery, and pant after relief, that they 
 are in perfect health, and want no remedy j and, by doing ih^ ex- 
 pofc themfelves to the pity, if not to the indignation, of thofe who 
 are conlcious of their own mifery -, and with joy hope for relief from 
 means that thefe men endeavour to traduce, and abule. 
 
 The whole of the Deist's fcheme is, as he imagines, built upon 
 Reason, and fo far as right reafon goes, the Christian agrees 
 with him ; but the difference between them is this, The Deist main- 
 tains, that nothing is to be admitted but what he can aflign a proper 
 reafon for, or, in other words, w hat falls in with the ideas which he 
 has, or has made for himfelf ; whereas the humble Christian, be- 
 lieves that there are things of which he neither has, nor can have, ade- 
 quate ideas; that things may be true, tho' he does not juftly know 
 how, or why, they are fo \ and that, for the reality and truth of 
 fuch things as do not depend upon reafon, or fall within his know- 
 ledge, he mull depend upon fuch evidence as is fufficient to induce 
 the belief of any matter of faft. 
 
 When one confiders how little we know of matter which we > 
 fee, feel, and tafte, and on which we have tried fo many thoufand 
 Experiments; how undeniably every fyrtem, forged by the wit and 
 induftry of the greateft Geniuses, and believed for fome time, has 
 been overthrown by fucceeding Experiments; what amazing, nay 
 feemingly contradictory efieds, the Chymist every day ^cts pro- 
 duced in his Laboratory, by very (imple mixtures ; and how certain 
 we are, that hitherto we, from our reafon, have difcovered nothing 
 of the firjl principles of Motion, and that Mechanism which fup- 
 ports our felves and this fyftem ; when one recoUecls that we know 
 nothing at all of the nature of our own foul, and are incapable of 
 framing any idea of it, or of any other fpirit ; and when one reflects 
 how infinitely above our comprehenfion the Deity muft be ; it is im- 
 poflible not to be aftonilhed at the prefumptuous folly of thofe men 
 
 Hz who
 
 ( 52 ) 
 
 who would fet up their knowledge for the ftandard, and teft, of e- 
 very thing, divine and human ^ who by it would define the nature, 
 and manner of exiftence, of the incomprehenfible Deity ; who by 
 it,would determine and regulate His views, His defigns, Hisaftions; 
 and who, by it, take upon them to judge of the wildom and jnftice 
 of His defigns and adions, contrary to what He has declared about 
 them ; tho' it is demonftratively certain, that they cannot be fare they 
 know the caufes of, or motives to thofe defigns or adions. 
 
 Ridiculous as this fond conceit of the fufficiency of Reason 
 and human Knowledge is. Infidelity finds in it one of its chief 
 fupports. Many fads arc related, many things are revealed, that do 
 not quadrate with the notions men have framed to themlelves, which 
 they call knowledge. Each of thefe creates an objedion, which the 
 Objeclor, taking to be unanfwerable, does not give himfelf the 
 trouble to look for an anfwer to •, and the lame weight is laid upon 
 the Point's being inconfiftent with his notions, or not accountable for 
 by his knowledge, as if it was a manifeft contradidion to right rca- 
 fon : though every one muft fee the difference between a contradic- 
 tion in terms^ an abfolute inconfiftency in the thing itfelf, and an in- 
 confiftency between a thing, and the notions a man has framed on 
 that fubjcd, or even the incapacity of framing a diftind notion of 
 the thing irlelf 
 
 , Vanity, felfiflinefs, an afiedation of gaining more knowledge 
 
 than the Creator thought fit to allow, was the caufe of the ruin of 
 our firft parents ; and a falfe, prefumptaous opinion, of the fuffici- 
 ency and extent of the knowledge their defcendants are poUefffd of, 
 is the caufe of their continuing in mifery to this day : Preferring know- 
 ledge, in expcdation, to the favour of God, undid the firft rational 
 creatures ; letting up the Opinion of knowledge againft the revealed 
 Will of God, fattens the calamity upon their unhappy children. 
 
 It is however furprizing, that men, who are lb fond oF, and lay 
 fo much ftrels on knowledge, are not more careful to lay up a fuffi- 
 cient ftock of it. A late noted writer againft Chriftianity, gave him- 
 felf the trouble to pick up fo much Hebrew learning, as was, in his 
 opinion, fufficient to call in queftion the application of a few parti^ 
 cular palfages of the OldTeltament to the Messiah, and feemed to 
 think that Kv. labours had overthrown the whole evidence that arifes 
 from the Cld Teflament to fupport the Nevj; without knowing what 
 a little more learning, and unbyafTed attention, would have ihew'd 
 
 him j
 
 i 53 ) 
 him ; that the evidence docs not depend on a few texts, that the 
 whole fyftem of the Je^jy/fo inftitution, every rite, ceremony, and fa- 
 crifice, was prediQive ; and that the chief fcope of all the hymns ^ 
 and prophecies., was to explain and apply thofe predictions. 
 
 To frame a true notion of any thing, one muft confider it alto- 
 gether, and examine all the parts of it ; a jiift idea can never be got 
 of any objed by viewing only Icraps of it, and confidering it by 
 halves. 
 
 So fares it with revelation, and the evidence of it. No man who 
 has confidered the whole with due care, and has thereby framed a 
 true idea of it, ever did, or ever will rejed it ; whereas he who will 
 frame an opinion from a partial confideration only, can hardly fail to 
 make a miltake. """ 
 
 I T has been taken notice, as an objettion of vaft confeqnence, a- 
 gainft the evidence drawn from the Old Tejlament to ilipport the 
 New, that all the proraiies and threats, to enforce obedience to the 
 Law, are every one temporal, relating to the goods and evils of this 
 life, to the enjoyment, or forfeiture of the land o^ Canaan; to pro- 
 fperity or adverfity in this world, without the leaft mixture of any 
 confideration that relates to the life to come j and thence it has been- 
 concfided, that the Jfji'S had no expedaticn given them of future 
 happincfs ; that the Sadduces, who denied the refurreclion, found 
 nothing to contradict them in their facred Booics; and that a reli- 
 gion fo framed, could not be intended to introduce or lead to the 
 Christian. 
 
 The obfervation which gives rile to the objcftion, is undoubtedly 
 true : the end of the whole of the Jewifli inftitution, facred and ci- 
 vil, was, fufficisntly to reveal, and preferve to future generations, 
 fufftcient evidence of that Revelation. The way chofen by the 
 Deity to preferve the evidence, was to feleft a particular people; 
 to make them all witneffes of the miracles that demonftrate the cer- 
 tainty of the revelation; to eftablini among them fuch obfervances,. 
 throughout all their generations, as Ihould commemorate andpredid; 
 to reduce his Will into writing, for the greater certainty ; to give 
 them the keeping of that writing; to lay before them the ftrongeft 
 motives, that, as a people or nation, they were capable of; to keep 
 up unviolated thelc obfervances,- and to preferve untouched hrs 
 written will ; to promife to give, and to keep them in pofleflion of 
 the land of Canaan^ a land flowing with milk and honey 5 to engage 
 
 to
 
 ( 54 ) 
 to refide amongfl them, and to dired and protect them from all 
 harm, and to favour them with all national blefilngs; and to threat- 
 en them with all national ills if they failed in keeping his Law, that 
 is, preferving the evidence of his Revelation. 
 
 And, to make thofe mocives the flronger, we fee that the Deity 
 was pleafcd to enter into a formal covenant with the whole people, 
 as a People, which bound him to the performance of all thefe ar- 
 ticles i upon condition, however, that the people performed, on 
 their part ; and bound the people, abfolutely, to the keeping and 
 obfervance of his Law, with a formal fubmiffion to the threatnings 
 and denunciations of ruin and deftrudion, if they failed in the per- 
 formance of their part, to which they explicitly confented, by pro- 
 nouncing the curies againft themfelves if they difobeyed. 
 #»*"} And, in fad, we obferve that God performed, literally, his part 
 of this agreement 5 with mighty power he introduced, and main- 
 tained, this people in pofTefllon of the promifed land ; he refided in 
 the midft of them; he chcrilhed them when they kept his Law; 
 and chaftifed them when they were remifs in his fervice : when their 
 rulers, their princes, and nobles, fought after other gods, and flighted 
 his fervice, the Nation, as fuch, was delivered to flavery , when 
 they returned in their hearts to their duty, they were reftored to their 
 land, and became again a Nation; but when they nationally cor- 
 rupted themJelves, forgot the end of the Law, framed to themfelves 
 unworthy notions about their God, his Revelation, and Salva- 
 tion, which by the whole law^ was predicted, and carried their 
 perverfe imaginations fo high, as to put to death, as a malefactor, 
 the Deliverer of mankind ; then God executed the threats, to 
 which the people by covenant had agreed ; he difperfcdy and blinded 
 them; and, by preferving them flill under that Dispersion and 
 Blindness, preserves the evidence of the Revelation as ftrongly 
 and clearly, as it was prefer ved by them whilfl a Nation, in pof- 
 leffion of the promifed land. 
 
 The Covenant, then, with the people, was literal; all the pro- 
 niifes annexed to the performance, on their part, were literal, and 
 literally performed ; the end the Deity had in making that Cove- 
 nant is obvious, and has manifeftly been attained : but will it from 
 thence follow, that the Law itfelf, with all the emblematical rites, 
 ceremonies, and inititutions, had no higher meaning, did not fpeak a 
 language very intelligible to every individual Jev:^ who had a foul to 
 
 be
 
 { 5S) _ 
 
 hf^ faved, and who, from thofe div^ine innituti'ons, was to difcover 
 the will of God, and conceive hopes of mercy and forgivenefs ^ or 
 that the obferving and meditating on this Law, fo often recommended 
 to every individual, was not necefTdrily to lead them to the know- 
 ledge of God, and to the expectation of his favour, in a future 
 flate ? 
 
 To fatisfy one's felf about this, no more is neceflary than to look 
 into the hiltory, and the other facred writings of the Jcji's, where 
 the religious fentiments of infpired men, the declarations of the De- 
 ity, the profeffions, prayers, and confejUons of the church, fufficicnt- 
 ly fhew what each individual was to fee and believe, and what the 
 wife and the devout did believe: Comparing the law with thele 
 things, one has a Key to decypher the typical inftitutions, and a cer- 
 tain explication of all that it behoves us to know of the Mofaick infti- 
 tution ; and it will evidently appear, that the Mofaick inftitution, 
 which Is no more than a Republication of the Revelation and 
 inftitutions, originally given to Adam, together with the accounts he 
 gives of things, contain a full difcovery of all that Man was to 
 know, and to believe, concerning God, and himfelf, that was not 
 difcoverable by the light of nature, lb much prized, and idolized, 
 of Late. 
 
 If one, from the refleclions already made, is fatisfied that the 
 Law oi Alofes is from God, and that the Jeiz'ifh Scriptures con- 
 tain the Revelation of the Will of the Deity, recorded and pre- 
 ferved with fuch induftry and evidence, not for the fake of the Jews, 
 but for the fake of all mankind, he muft look upon them as an inefti- 
 mable treafure, ftored with important truth ; and cannot think any 
 pains, beftowed in perufing and underftanding them, loftj or any; 
 thing from them difcovered, to be trivial or doubtful. 
 
 A Cypher is, in itfelf, cblcure; make ufe of the Key, it becomes 
 intelligible ; and, if by fo doing it becomes clear and intelligible, 
 you are certain you have the right Key. 
 
 The fcripttiral rites, inftitutions, and ceremonies, are emblema- 
 tica!^ and therefore, in fome degree, obfcure j find out but a Key L«^,^1 
 to explain the meaning of thofe Emblems^ that fhall make all 
 fenfe, and truth, and you are lure your Key is a true one. 
 
 The ancients recorded their fentiments, their adions, hieroglyphic 
 cally, that is, emblematically., by figures of things animate or inani- 
 mate, exprelfive of their meaning; the Key to, or Dictionary, if 
 
 one 
 >
 
 ( 56 ) 
 
 one may To term it, of thoic Emblems is now loft; and, if it could 
 be recovered, would certainly explain thole Egyptian antiquities Hill 
 prelerved. To us thnt Ibrt of writing is oblcure, but it was not fo 
 to ihe Egyptians who made ufe of it : and it can with as little rtalbn 
 be imagined, that the emblematical religious I'ervice, inftituted by 
 'God, was oblcure, or not perfeilly underftood by thofe who were 
 commanded to obfervc it, and for whole comfort and initruftion it 
 was eftablifhcd; on the contrary, it could not anfvver the end, if it 
 was not plain and intelligible. 
 
 I T has been already obferved, that all men are not alike faga- 
 cious, and confequcntly not alike qualified for difcovcring, and know- 
 ing, their misfortune, their duty, their felicity j and that the Reve- 
 lation of the will of God, to be perfed, muft be fuch as fhould 
 accommodate itfelf to all, and tend to lead all to their duty; acon- 
 Icquence whereof it is, that Memorials fhould be eftablifhed, 
 even of things difcoverable by the light of Nature, by the pene- 
 trating, for the uie of the lefs clear-fighted, if refledion on thofe 
 things was to be of univerfal ule. 
 
 The Scripturfs are the moft ancient of all writings extanti 
 the language in which they are wrote, is now no more, and has not 
 for 2000 years been in common ufe j and there is not aline of that 
 language, now in being, but what is contained in the facred Books. 
 
 Without the affiftancc of the Greek tranllation, and fome other 
 paraphrafes, and helps from later languages, the Hehreiv Scriptures, 
 though in our hands, would be altogether ufelefs to us. 
 
 And therefore we muft reverence the divine providence, that 
 made the Baipyionijh Captivity, and the Difperfion that followed 
 upon it, which drove multitudes of the Jews into foreign countries, 
 where they forgot their own, and learned the prevailing, the Greek 
 language, the inftrument or occafion of procuring that tranllation, 
 by which we can certainly decypher the Hebre"SJ, and come at the 
 perfed knowledge of almoil all the Scripture, at leaft of fo much 
 of it as is neceflary for the great End God had in view, the evi- 
 dence of the truth of the Revelation of his will to mankind. 
 
 A s no other book comes near to the Scr i pture, in point of an- 
 tiquity, it is a difadvantagc to us that we do not precifely know, 
 further than we can colled from the facred Books, the cuftoms, 
 ■the manners, the fentimcnts, and common notions, that prevailed a- 
 mongft men, at the date of the feveral tranfactions related ; and are 
 
 there-
 
 ( 57 ) _ 
 therefore at a lofs to conceive, and diftindly to account for, the 
 reafon and meaning of feveral phrafes, diredions, and obfervances, 
 whilft the ancients, to whom thofe things were faid or delivered, 
 well knew what they meant, and for what end they were recorded. 
 But, though we do not know exadly why the thing was fo phrafed, 
 or cannot teli, precifely, the immediate origin of the particular in- 
 ftitution, yet by comparing of texts, we can fee evidently the gene- 
 ral fenfe of the phrafe, and colled the end of the Institution, fo 
 far as the knowledge of the one or the other is neceflary to the great 
 defign of God ; and therefore ought rather, with thankfulnels, to 
 acknowledge the goodnefs of God, who through the midft of lb ma- 
 ny difficulties, has preferved to us all neceflary knowledge, than re- 
 pine at the lofs of that which would tend chiefly to gratify curio- 
 fity. 
 
 The higheft ad of religious fervice in the Jewijlj church, and 
 amongft all mankind, was Sacrifice, which, tho' in obfervance as 
 early as Adam^ was nevcrthelefs re-eftablilhed by MofeSy with ma- 
 ny particular pofitive injnndions, and many negative precepts ; cor- 
 reding abufes that had crept into that Institution, from the falls 
 notions of men. 
 
 It was common to all forts of Sacrifice, that the Blood of the 
 animal was fpilt, and deemed of very high efficacy ^ and the whole 
 body, or fome part of it, that which was the moft inilameable, the 
 fat, and the inwards, was burnt with fire on the altar. 
 
 This Blood is direded, carefully and very early, to be ab- 
 ftained from ; it is faid tobe the life of the animal -, it is reprefented as 
 what by the touch polluteth, and at the fame time it is reprefented 
 the moft fovereign 'Purifier: by it the altar, the ark, the SanBum 
 fanEiorn-.n^ the tabernacle, the prieft, were fandilied, were cleanfed, 
 were hallowed. 
 
 Thb Burnt-Offering is properly term'd Afcenfion, from the 
 parts of it alcending in fmoke by fire i the Blood is laid to atone, 
 and the SxMoke to be of a fvveet favour, or a lavour of reft to the 
 Lord. 
 
 The party who offered was to lay his hands upon the head of the 
 ViSiini facrificed for fin, when it was to be killed. 
 
 And the very intent of the Sin-Offeuing was to atone for the 
 fin a man came to the knowledge of, and confefTed. 
 
 I The
 
 (58 ) 
 
 The Deity, confidered as the punifher of fin, and as in a ftate of 
 anger and wrath againft the guilty, is always vcprefcnted under the 
 image of Fjre, a conluming, devouring j^jre. 
 
 If God, then, to comn^emorate his declaration of mercy and par- 
 don to mankind, and to preferve and encourage their hopes, through 
 the interceflion of a Saviour, who was to be flain an.d bruiled for 
 their fins, was plcafed to dired that an innocent animal, toieprcfent 
 the great IntercejJ'or, Ihould he flain, and that for the fins of him who 
 brought him to the altar i That his Blood fliould be ^ied^ and 
 y^ri»>^/f<^ upon the altar, and pQiired out at the foot thereof; that 
 the carcafs, or at Icaft the fat the covering of the inwards, the moft 
 inflameable "part of it, Ihould be committed to the Tacrcd fire, the 
 emblem of the wrath of the Deity againit it •■, and, being con fumed, 
 thereby fhould afcend towards the heavens in fmoke, which (moke 
 is reprefcnted as of a f -veet favour, or favour of reft to Jehovah -, and 
 if man was told that this commemoration of the promifed falvatioa 
 was to atone for fin, and procure favour, how could there be any 
 doubt in his mind that the Vici'im was only typical \ that the vertue- 
 was really in the thing typified; that the Blood that fanclified every^ 
 thing, and atoned for fin, was not the blood of the VtBim -, and 
 that the Smoke, afcending from the facrifice confumed by fire, was 
 emblematical only of Ibmething elfe that was to afcend, from the 
 typified Fi^im, to propitiate, and reconcile God to the finner. 
 
 It cannot, with reafon, be doubted that the merciful God, wha 
 inftituted Sacrifice for the comfort and inftrudion of mankind, 
 communicated to him the end and meaning of the feveral appoint- 
 ments 5 and, being once diicovered, the Emblems are in themlclves- 
 fo expreflive, and the taking them in the literal fenfe lb abfurd, that 
 it is no fmall proof of the corruption of human nature, and the 
 ftrength of giddy Imagination, that they ever came to be mifhiken, 
 or mifapplied. 
 
 In Sacrifice, which was daily to be repeated as the higheft act 
 of devotion, man had the itrongefl: Memorandiun of his Fall; of 
 the forfeiture thereby ; of that life for which the Blood, the Life, of 
 the Victim was to be fhcd -, of the anger of God which mull have 
 confumed him, if what was reprefented by the Burnt-Offering had 
 not interpofedj and of the excellency of the Sacrifice typified, by 
 whofe oblation the Deity was placated and reconciled. Reflections 
 on this Symbolical acl, and what clearly was intended by it, muft 
 
 ' put
 
 f 59 ) _ 
 
 put the mind in the mofl: proper difpofition for acknowledging, pray- 
 -ing, and praifing. 
 
 And, therefore, befides the daily, the weekly, the monthly, the 
 yearly, facrifices, at ftated times, it pleafed the Deity to dired the 
 iteration of the fame Symbolical aft, whenever man, moved by re- 
 verence to the Deity, was defirous to approach the place he chofe 
 for his fervice, in order to pray, to praife, or to rejoice, in his mercy, 
 ■or favour. His peace offerings were to be offered with gladnefs 5 and, 
 after the Blood was ilied, and the Fat burnt upon the altar, the 
 party who made the offering was to fealt on the remainder with joy, 
 in confidence of the favour of the Deity. 
 
 Nay, the perpetual obligation to abftain from Blood, and the 
 Fat of animals jQain, even for private ufe, was a conftant Alemo- 
 randiim, to fuch as could not attend the publick fervice, of their for- 
 feiture, and of their reftoration. 
 
 A N D the necelTary oblation of the First-Fruits, and of famples 
 of w^hat the. earth yields for our fupport, in the regular meat and 
 drink offerings, w^ere fo many memorials of what was to be with or 
 in, the great Sacrifice, that it is furprizing the meaning fhould have 
 been fo much mifl:aken as, in time, it came to be. 
 
 That the fame Institution, not dependant on the publication 
 of the Law by Mofes, reached all nations, is evident from the antient, 
 and univerfal, praftice of all nations, with whom Sacrificature 
 was the highelt ad of devotion, thought fuiEcicnt to expiate fin, and to 
 procure favour, and even fellowfhip with God. 
 
 The antients of all nations filed Blood, and believed the veitue 
 ofit to be wonderful, witnefs their Taurobolia, and their Criobolia, 
 burned the I^'at, and fomctimcsthe whole Victim on altars with fire ; 
 and believed the fmell grateful to the Deity j they offered First- 
 Fruits ; they poured out Libations; they burned famples of the 
 grain the earth afforded them ; the Salt of the Covenant was not 
 wanting^ they vowed Sacrifice, and returned thanksby Sacrifice 5 
 and in their Peace-Offerings they feaf^ed before their God on part 
 of the vidim, and rejoiced in his favour, and protcdion. 
 
 'T 1 s true, the greateft part of them, fuffering their Lmaginations 
 to mrflead them, forgot the exprefs prohibition not to eat Blood, but 
 ffill they retained the higheft opinion of its efBcJcy. If they ate the 
 Blood of facrilice, it was to render them more perfed^ and more ac- 
 ceptable jand rf, in Head of fprinkling the altar, they befineared their 
 
 I i own
 
 ( 6o ) 
 
 own bodies with BlooDj they gave thereby the ftronger evidence of 
 the merit and v^ertue, they imagined was, in the blood they made 
 that life of. 
 
 Besides the Victim, another main ingredient in Sacrificature 
 was the Priest, the Perfon directed by God to approach his altar, 
 and to make the oblation, and atonement in the name of Jehovah^ 
 for the party offering. 
 
 The Priesthood, originally, refided with ^z fir Jl -born, with 
 whom alfo, amongft the antient heathens, refided the Royalty. 
 
 I N Ifrael God exchanged, formally, ih^ fir ft- born for the Levites^ 
 and took the Levites^ in their room, for the fervice of the taber- 
 nacle. 
 
 OFthehoiifeof Levi Aaron, ihc firft-bom, was to be High^ 
 Trieft^ his fons were to fcrve under him in Sacrificature, and 
 the bulk of the Levites were for inferior fervice only. 
 
 This High-T'riefi was to be perfedj he was to be confecrated 
 with Blood, and anointed with Oil- he was to be pure from all 
 fpoti he was, whilfl; officiating, to be clothed with holy garments, 
 all of linnen ; he had precious, and very particular, robes and orna- 
 ments appointed for him. In the Breajt-plate of Judgment he was 
 to carry Urim and Thummim, Light and Perfection, by which 
 God gave refponfes ; on his heart, and on his fhoulders, were the 
 names of all the tribes of the people, engraved on a plate of pure 
 gold, to be conftantly, whilft officiating, worn ; on his forehead was 
 the infcription Holy, or Holiness, to Jehovah. The Plate, with 
 this inicription, was faid to be upon his forehead, that he might 
 bear the iniquities of the holy things, which the Children of Ifrael. 
 ftiould hallow, in all their gifts, and that they might be accepted. 
 This Trie ft was to fprinkle the Blood -, was to offer the Burnt- 
 Offering; was to make atonement for fin, and reconcile; was to 
 enter, with Blood, once a year within the Vail, into the Sanctum 
 Sanctorum, the Emblem of the refidence of the invifible Godi 
 was to fprinkle Blood upon the Mercy-Seat; and was, when he 
 came out, folemnly to blels the people. 
 
 Nothing can be more abfurd than to fuppofe that Aaron was 
 lAoi.x^Y.'&s to Jehovah \ that he was clean, and innocent j that he 
 had in him light, and perfedion ; tliat he fupported the whole people 
 of Ifrael \ that he could effediially atone for, and intercede with God, 
 for the people 5 or that he could enter into the real pretence of Je- 
 hovah^
 
 ( 6i ) 
 
 hovah^ and from thence bring a bleffing to the people; and, confc- 
 qucntly, nothing is plainer than that, in all theie particulars, Aaron 
 was no more than a Repreftntative. 
 
 If Aaron was to reprelent a Terfon pure, and innocent, full of 
 light, and perfcdion, the holy one o{Jehovah, who was to fupport, 
 and have for ever on his heart, the people of God ; who was to offer 
 blood, effedual, for cleanfing them from their fins ; was thereby to 
 atone, and make continual interceilion for them ; was to enter into 
 the immediate prefence of God, to propitiate for the people, and 
 from thence to blefs them ; how could he do this otherways than by 
 walhing his body with Watbr, as the Emblem of purity ; by put- 
 ting on li'^/V^ //««^« Garments, as the Emblem of Innocence i 
 by carrying Urim and Thummim, i. e. Light and Terfe^iovs 
 fomething by which the Deity manifefted itfelf, about with him; by 
 having the infcription of the holy one of Jehovah faftned to his fore- 
 head 5 by having the names of the tribes of Ifrael on. his heart, and 
 on his ihouldeisj by fprinkling the Blood for atonement; and of- 
 fering the Burnt-Sacrifice, that yielded a favour of reft ; and by 
 entring in iblemnity into the Holy of Holies, the Emblem of the 
 refidence of the invifiblc God, there again to Iprinkle Blood, and 
 from thence, formally, to blefs the people. 
 
 I N the merciful ad of the Son of God for the falvation of mankind 
 there are two parts, the Passive, if one may fo fpeak, and the Ac- 
 tive ; the Victim bleeding and burnt reprefents the Passive parts 
 but then the great Sacrifice was not compelled to fuffer by the 
 ad of any one; the finner did not offer it; the Sacrifice volunta* 
 rily offered itfelf, by doing fo atoned, and continues Active in mak- 
 ing interceilion perpetually *. 
 
 The Victim bleeding, tlien, points out this Passive part of the 
 fatisfaclion ; but the Active part, that which claims, fo necefTarily, 
 the acknowledgment, and adoration, of mankind to that beneficent, 
 ble(fed. Beings that offered the atonement, and makes interceilion, 
 would not have been pointed out in this emblematical ad, unlets fbme 
 thing, ox per fori, to reprelent him, ading in that capacity, had been 
 fixed upon ; fomething adorned with the higheft Symbols of purity, 
 fandity, and perfedion, offering and interceding for mankind ; and 
 who can fail to fee thefe charaders in the High-Triefi ? 
 
 And 
 
 * N. B, Araongft the heathen, v/hen a Victim fcemed relu^aot, that was deemed a bad 
 Omen.
 
 { 62 ) 
 
 And therefore, ashasbeenobfervcd in the cafeofthe Victim, no 
 one, who believes the Institution divine, can doubt that the end 
 and meaning of each particular was explained, when the cblervancc 
 was firft appointed. 
 
 And whoever admits this, mnft alfo fee that the original Reve- 
 lation was very clear, circumftantiate, and diftind ; and that the 
 Memorials inftitutetl for preferving the knowledge, then revcahd, 
 and maintaining the impredion of it on the ipirits of men, were very 
 expreflive and fignificative, and with great accuracy adjuited to the 
 ways of thinking of thofe who recorded every thing, intended to be 
 known, by Emblems, and Symbolical rcpreientations, however 
 feme of the particulars may not be now clear to us who know not 
 the proper meaning of feme of their Symbols. 
 
 The alTumption of the Levites in place o^\.\'\g fir Jr -born is, vifibly, 
 no older than Mofes ; but it feems very clear the firfi-borri were, 
 before that inftitution, in fome fenfe, what Aaron wore on the plate 
 of the mitre, Holy, or Holiness to Jehovah \ and were all, as 
 representatives of the great Intercessor, entitled to fhed Blood, 
 and exercife the 'Vrieftly office, till the change was made, for very 
 •wile, andjuft, reafons. 
 
 No more is recorded of the firft promife than that The feed of the 
 'ojoman poould brttife the head of the ferpcnt : So that it does not 
 appear, from this text, to have been originally declared that the 
 Saviour was to proceed from a V^irgin. 
 
 And, if that had been declared, it would have been difficult to 
 have found out any Reprefentation fit to exprefs, and keep up the 
 memory of, it. 
 
 Besides, that the expeclation of being the mother of that Sa- 
 'viour might have, with believing women, prevented marriage, as 
 the fame hopes promoted it among the IfraeliteSy who looked for 
 that feed^ in the ordinary way -, nay prompted fome women to un- 
 lawful aclions with men of the Line, who they fuppofed had the pro- 
 mile of the Seed, as Lot's Daughters j Tamar, the Midianitijh wo- 
 man j Bathfheba, fiCc. 
 
 But we find the expectation of the promifed Seed was confined 
 to the fir ft-born, that which opened the voomb. 
 
 Primogeniture was reckoned after the mother ; the firfl-born of 
 a fecond wife was entitled to the rights attending it, in prejudice of 
 
 the
 
 f 63 ) 
 
 the fecond fon of a firft wife tho' born, in point of time, ever io 
 long before him, v. iCbron. 5. r, 2. 
 
 And the right oi ^Primogeniture vns confined to the nrale openlvs: 
 the 'X'omb; io that, if a daughter came firtl, the right ceafed in the 
 fublequent Ions. 
 
 I T muft have been for fome very important end that God marked 
 out thisciicumltanceof the/r//-^tfr;7,the firj} that opened the '■^■omb, 
 with To extraordinary charaders, that as the firft-bom amongft men 
 was to be holy to the Lord, and to officiate as Trieft^ or InterceJJor 
 t\\tfirft-bQr7i among beafts were alfo to be holy to the Lord, to be of 
 fercd to him, if clean ; if unclean, to be ranfomed. 
 
 Who, then, can doubt that the prerogative of Priesthood was 
 annexed to the pji-b&rv., to keep in mind, and to point forth, that 
 the great Intercessor was to be afafl-born ; and that l\\^ firft-born, 
 in every family, were cholen for the Pri esthood, as lb many Types, 
 ox JymboJical reprefentaticns of him. 
 
 At the firft peopling, and, afterwards, at the repeopling of the 
 earth, when men began to fpread, and ieparate into new fettlements, 
 it was nccefTary to keep up the fervice of God, and the knowledge of 
 his Revelation, by the edablifhed Symbols 3 to have a Triefl 
 whocould Ihed Blood, and make atonement, in every family. And 
 it feems certain every family had ks Triefl {the fir ft-born)' lis holy 
 things, and all the appurtenances of religious fervice. 
 
 When ambition joined many families into common-wealths, or 
 kingdoms, and human prudence would make laws, this right of 
 Priesthood could not fail to come under fome regulations, different 
 from the original Institution j tho', for the firft ages of the world, 
 it remained ftill in the higheft eftecm, 
 
 W H E N men, from their vain imaginations^ began to miftake, or 
 mifinterpret, the original Revelation, and to devife new notions, 
 and new fervices, for themlelves, it became neceffary to republilh Rr- 
 VELATioN, with all the marks of omnipotent power; and, to pre- 
 vent miftakes for the future, it was fit to erecl ih^jcuip) ftate, as 
 above hinted, and to give them the keeping of the Law, and the ob- 
 fervation of all the rites, and ceremonies. 
 
 But as this Law could not poilibly have been fo accurately ob- 
 ferved whilft the Priesthood was executed, at large, by the fiy/l- 
 born in every family, it pleafed God to alter the original inftitution, 
 and to make choice of one particular tribe for his fervice ; and, out 
 
 of
 
 ( 64 ) 
 
 uf that tribe, of the fiift-born and his defccndants for ever to ferve at 
 the altar, and to reprelcnt the High Firjt-born^ the great Inter- 
 cejfor^ in all \.\\Q fymbo!ical^cx\\ce that fupported the knowledge, the 
 faith, the hope, of thole that feared God. 
 
 And, in the very order for changing the Institution, the 
 knowledge of the original injiittition is preferved ; the Levites are 
 faid to be taken in place of the firjl-born ; and the regard for the 
 firjl-born is ftiil preferved, as holy to the Lord, by making it neccf- 
 fary to redeem them by an oblation ; not to Ipeak of the preroga- 
 tives flill accruing to them by the Jessi^ civil conftitution. 
 
 Though the Jeijuifl) law has a particular, additional, reafon for 
 the fanftity of the firfl-born^ to commemorate the delivery of their 
 firft-born from the common calamity of the firft-born in Egypt \ yet, 
 by the proceeding of God towards the Egyptian firft born, it is evi- 
 dent the notion of their importance was ftrong, before that event. 
 
 I N the original meffage which Mofes was to deliver from Jbhovah 
 to Tharaoh^ Ifrael is called his firft-born : and, if Tharaob did not 
 difmifs him, Jehovah was to flay Tharaoh's iirft-bornj and the 
 fame Ifrael is, afterwards, called a nation of Prirsts. 
 
 When Tharaoh^ hardned by his vain heart, and doubtlefs prompted 
 by the ^riefis of thofe gods whom he iervcd, refufed to let the fir fl- 
 boryi, the Triefis of Jehovah go, the threat was literally executed; 
 all \\\s firft-born were ilain, and X.hc firft-born of Ifirael were deli- 
 vered- 
 
 If Egypt had any hopes from ihc'ix firft-born^ the tlireat was fe- 
 vere, and the execution terrible ; and we fee it prevailed, above all 
 the other judgments, for the deliverance oi Ifrael. 
 
 And that Egypt had hopes from their firft-born is very likely, 
 from what appears to have been the practice, and opinion, of their 
 neighbours, who burned to Moloch., and facrihced, on great exigencies, 
 their firft-born., in hopes of placating the offended Deity : Whence 
 could a practice fo, feemingly, monftrous come, but from the lirfi: 
 promife mifunderftood ? 
 
 Efan's felling his birthright, the infamous character that brought 
 him, the, feemingly, extraordinary fteps his mother took (when 
 'tis not obferved that fhe was directed by the Oracle) and the lofs of 
 the blellingconfequent upon it, fufficiently fhew the high eftcem of 
 'Pritnogeniture, before the days of Tharaoh. And, indeed, the 
 parting fo cheap with a privilege lb high, as reprefenting the Inttr- 
 
 ccftor
 
 ( 65 ) 
 
 cejfor between God and Man, gives a very vile idea o^ Efau, if one 
 can help calling him a Freethinker^ which he could hardly be, confi- 
 dering his concern for the blefling. 
 
 That Triejihood and Trtmogenitiire went, antiently, together, 
 we gather from prophane hiftory, 
 
 Rex^ An'ms idem., Thoebique facerdos. 
 
 The Lacedemonian Kings were both Triefls and Kings, becaufe it 
 could not be decided which was firft-born j and almolt all the an- 
 tient kings facrificed. 
 
 Whatever corruptions imagination introduced in religion, the 
 'Priejihood was ever held in great honour; the original inftitution 
 was ftrangely depraved in the Romm ftate, but ftill the Triefthood 
 continued to enjoy, at leaft, it's antient titles; the term of Rex fa- 
 crorum, Rex facnjiculus^ went down through the Reman common- 
 wealth, where the title oi Rex was abominated. And the Roman 
 Emperors, notwithftanding their ignorance, and vanity of alpiring 
 after Deification for themfelves. yet affedled the title of Tontifex 
 Maximus, as an honour, and a fecurity to their government. 
 
 The religious regard for Sacrificatore, and the reverence for 
 the Pb iesthood muft have been Itamped deep upon the minds of men, 
 by a very extraordinary authority; elfe they could not have endured 
 for fo many generations, and amongft nations fo little converfant with 
 each other. 
 
 T HO Rome, and the Gr^^^ commonwealths, eftablilhed on le- 
 velling principles, feem to have forgot that any prerogative at all 
 was due to 'Primogeniture, yet it was not fo with more northern 
 nations, whofe notions were lefs corrupted with imaginations. The 
 Goths, the Franks, and the other People called Barbarians, who 
 overthrew the Roman Empire, preferved continually a regard for it, 
 and have left large prerogatives attending upon it over all Europe. 
 
 As the original Revelation, for the prefervation whereof thole 
 rites, ceremonies, and obfervances, were inftituted, difcovered .to 
 man, in the ordinance of Sacr ificature, the chief foundation of 
 his faith, and hope; fo, it is evident from other rites, oblervances, 
 and fymbols or emblems, conftantly obferved, and preferved, that 
 from the beginning man was taught his duty, what he was to do with 
 refped to, and what he was to believe concerning, the Deity. 
 
 K Of
 
 ( 66 ) 
 
 Of this the univerfal praftice of Ablution, or wafhing with 
 water, is an inftance which, from the earlieft times, has taken place 
 over the whole known world. 
 
 Thv. J fraJ/res, before they received the Law, were to wafh 
 themlelves, when they were to approach the prefence of God : all 
 Nations had their Lustrations, by fprinkling of water. The High- 
 Trieji, and his fons, were to wafti their flelh, as often as they went 
 about any part of the Tiered work ; and the children of Ifrael^ upon 
 any uncleannefs, were to wafti with water, in many cafes, with par- 
 ticular ceremonies. 
 
 Touching any filth, or naftinefs, a dead carcafs of any kind, 
 the ibre or iflue of man, or woman, were faid to pollute, were fiiffi- 
 cient to debar the party from appearing before the Lord, who is 
 defcribed as abominating every thing that is unclean ; and Ablution, 
 with certain other ohfervances, were fufficient to put an end to that 
 uncleannefs, and to admit to the fervice of God. 
 
 .No man, in his fenfes, can think that the external uncleannefs of 
 any perfon, in the literal fenfe, or the imputed uncleannefs, as one 
 may fay, by the touch of an unclean thing, could be offenfive to God; 
 much lefs that wafhing with water, confidered as an external aft only, 
 could remove any real, internal uncleannefs ; and that, therefore, it 
 is impoflible to doubt that both the one, and the other fignified Ibme- 
 thingThore than is in the letter exprefled. 
 
 T H o', by the Light of Nature , we can dilcover that this creation 
 had an author eternal, infinitely perfedl, and particularly infinitely 
 juft, good, wife, and intelligent; yet we, who can frame to ourfelves 
 no adequate idea of our own fouls, and who know nothing about them, 
 but the little we collect from what we feel tranfafting in ourfelves, 
 ought not to be furprized, that, without Revelation, we can frame 
 to ourfelves no juft notion of the invifible God j but ought rather to 
 be amazed at the impudence of thofe, who pretend to decide what 
 God is, or is not, and what he can, or cannot do, from the notions 
 they have framed to themfelves of his attributes, nature, and per- 
 fect ion. 
 
 The firft hint we have in \\\t f acred Book that can help us to any 
 notion of the Deity is, that man was framed in his Likfnkss, and ac- 
 cording to his image ; from whence we may not only colled the intelli- 
 gence of the Deity, which iV^^wr^fufiiciently difcovers, but alio in- 
 
 clinationso,
 
 _ ( 67 ) ^ 
 
 dlnstions, or difpofitions, in the divine mind, to which thofe in the 
 mind of man, in the ftateof perfedion, were Ibmethingfimilar. 
 
 D isLiK iNG, hatred, anger; liking, pleallire in the aclings of 
 creatures, love, jealoufy, incknation reftrained, conipaflion and con- 
 cern, are affcdions which the ll^ife men of this world hold the Deity 
 incapable of, they look fo like pallions that cannot touch a Being 
 infinitely perfed, and eflentially happy; and in this realoning they 
 agree with Epicurus^ who rejected all providence, touching the 
 things of this world, becaufe he looked upon the care it prefup- 
 pofed o be troublclbme to the Deity. 
 
 But Revklation differs from thefe /A7/2' men\ it dcfcribes the 
 Deity as poflTelfcd of affedions, and inclinations, finiilar to thofe that 
 a perfed man may feel in himlelf, and fomething ftill higher and 
 peculiar to God : Deteftation, hatred and abhorrence, of fin ; anger, 
 and wrath againft the finner, as fuch -, Compaflion towards the mile- 
 rable, and concern j Defire, tho' fometimes without fuccefs, to fave, 
 and to reform ; Love to thofe that do well, fatisfadion in their well- 
 doing ; plcafure in the acknowledgments, and praiies, of thofe bene- 
 fitted, and attention to their requefts ; as well as jealoufy, and indig- 
 nation, at the fetting up any Rival for acknowledgment and praile. 
 
 Now if any man will give himfelf leave to confider to what pur- 
 pofe God difplayed fo much wildom, power, and goodnefs, in the 
 formation, and prefervation, of this whole material fyftem, of man, 
 and of all other living creatures j to what purpofe man had difcern- 
 ning and reafbn given him ; to what purpofe he had the ideas, and 
 the law of right, and wrong, imprinted on his mind ; and to what 
 purpole he had in his heait planted a difpofition to admire, to adore, 
 to reverence, to acknowledge, to thank, and to praife ; he cannot 
 long be in fufpence between Revelation and Imagination, but 
 muft affent to the truth of what the Deity has revealed ? 
 
 D 1 D God exert infinite power, wifdom, and goodnefs, in the crea- 
 tion of this world; did he give man eyes, and underftanding, to fee 
 that wifdom, power, and goodnefs, and a heart difpofcd to admire, 
 adore, and praife ; and will it neverthelefs be faid that this admiration, 
 adoration, and praife is indifferent to him ? Muft it not, necelfarily, be 
 concluded that thefe things are well pleating to the Deity, and that 
 the man who yields them is acceptable to him, ftands in his favour, 
 and good-will, and may be confidered as beloved of him ? And muft 
 it not, with equal certainty, be concluded that the man who refufes 
 
 K a to
 
 ( 68 ) 
 
 to anfwer the end of his creation, who neglects to pay God that adora- 
 tion, praife, and lervice, that is due ; who fixes his heart on the 
 creature, in place of the Creator j and who gratifies thole lufts, and 
 purfuits, he has fet up in the room of God, at the expence of breaking 
 the laws of right and wrong, implanted in his hreafi:, is difagreeable to 
 God, the Objed: of his anger, and indignation ; and that his finful, 
 trealbnable adions are oflTenfive to that Being that delights in right, in 
 harmony, and in order? 
 
 Thdofophers may puzzle themfelves, and others, with reafoning, 
 from abftratl notions which they have framed to themfelves, as they 
 think fit \ they poffibly may not fee how a Being infinitely, and eflen- 
 tially, peifed and happy, can admit of acceffion to, or diminution 
 from, that happinefs; but their not being able perfedly to com- 
 prehend how this is lb, will be no good realbn to disbelieve what 
 tlie Deity declares concerning himfelf; or to perfuade that God is 
 not pleafed with the doing of his will, and dilpleafed at doing the 
 contrary. 
 
 And, if we can bring our felves up to believe that the infinitely 
 perfed Spiiut is pleafed, and affcded, with the rectitude of the Ipi- 
 rits of men, with the fentiments therein framed, and with the joy 
 and gratitude that flows thence, in expreffions of praife, acknow- 
 ledgment, and adoration, we fhall have Imall ground to doubt (what 
 the Deity fo'-mally reveals) that his Spiiut ads reciprocally on men, 
 that it enlightens, enlivens, and encourages them towards their duty, 
 and felicity. 
 
 Nor is the cefllition of miracles, for feme centuries; or the ob- 
 fcrvation that nature follows, in all things falling under our cognifance, 
 a fettled, fixed, mechanical, courfe, purfuant to certain eftablifhed 
 rules, any ground to doubt of the communication between the infi- 
 nite Spirit, and the fpirits of men, which, the fciipture fays, is 
 and ever has been open. The godly difpofition, the religious ac- 
 tings, of the foul operate, as one may fay, mechanically upon the 
 Deity, producing liitisficlion and complacency; and that, again, ads 
 reciprocally upon the foul, by that fort of mechanifm, or manner of 
 operation, by which fpirit operates on fpirit. Were the cafe not io^ 
 God would not have been delighted with prayers, and praifes, he 
 would not have commanded and encouraged them \ and the duty of 
 man, in the religious ads of the heart, inftead of being a blelfing and 
 enjoyment, would be a burthen to him. 
 
 We
 
 ( 69 ) 
 
 We are fo well acquainted with the perturbations, the tranfports, 
 the ruffles, that plealures and paffions produce in ourfelvcs, that we 
 are unwilling to allow any fuch affedions in the Deity : But why 
 muft afilclions and inclinations produce fuch difturbances in the Deicy 
 as they do in us? May not God deteft fin, diflike the finner, and even 
 deftroy him, without being ruffled, or fuffering his elTential happi- 
 nefs to be impaired ? May he not have affections and inclinations like 
 to ours, without thofe inconveniences that, in our weak frame, at- 
 tend them? 
 
 God cannot be defirous, fays a Reafoncr, that any thing ftiould 
 happen, and yet that thing not happen ; becaufe, if he were truly 
 defirous, his Omnipotence would infallibly effed it. But, then, 
 the Rieifoner does not confider that this defire is only fpoken of the 
 difpofirion, the inclination, of the Deity, and not of any formal act 
 of the will. The inclination, the diipofition, may lie ftrongly one 
 way, and yet there may be infuperable obftacles that hinder to will 
 what the mind inclines to. 
 
 A Prince may have the flrongeft inclination to pardon an offender 
 convicled, fuppnfe his favourite fon, guilty of a crime of the higheft 
 nature, and moft dangerous example, and yet reafons of juftice and 
 polity may determine his will not to follow that inclination. In the 
 fame way, why may not the Deity be defiious, and even Ibllicitous, 
 that a thing may happen, which, becaufe of higher confiderations, he 
 cannot interpofe in, that is, cannot formally and ablolutely will fhould 
 happen ? 
 
 These reflections, and many more of the fame kind, that muft 
 
 & 
 
 e 
 
 occur on reading the Scrip:nres^ leave it very plain that the langua^ 
 of that book, which delcribes the Deity's actings, affcdtions, and in- 
 clinations, in terms borrowed from the ufage, the fentiments and refo- 
 lutions of men, is not lb figurative as it is generally fuppofed to be i 
 and that we ought to underftand it fomething more literally than Rea- 
 foners are willing to allow. 
 
 I N every page of the facred Book God inculcates his averfion to, 
 and abhorrence of fin, andhis deteftationof finners. 
 
 T o give men fome notion of this averfion, and diflike, he borrows 
 that idea of loathing and abhorrence, that men feel on the fight, or 
 touch, of any nafty, unclean, loathfom, ob,ect. 
 
 God reprefents himfelf /jr;/)-, fure, uridijiltd, fcfarated frcm Jiri' 
 nsrsy of pun r eyes than that he can behold huquitj/. 
 
 He
 
 ( 7<^ ) 
 
 H E rcprelents iin as utKleanneli, pollution, loaihlbmnefs, in the 
 'bighell degree i and Cmilitudes are taken from many vile, impure, 
 abominable things to deieribe it. 
 
 And he reprefents the finner, as polluted by fin, unclean, and 
 therefore abhorred, andincapable to approach his Pur irv, iathat un- 
 clean ftate. 
 
 But, then, as this pidure, by itfelf, would be fit only to diftract, 
 and drive the finner to defpair; he, at the fame time, reprefents a 
 pofiibility of wiping away this pollution, and vvafliing the finner clean, 
 by means very natural, and very eafy to be come at. 
 
 To the end, therefore, that this image Ihould be the more ftrongly 
 imprefied on men's minds, and the pidure come the more frequently 
 before their eyes, it pleafed God, at the firft Revelation of his will, 
 and Institution of reUgious ceremonies and fervice, "to direft a total 
 abftinence from the touch of every thing that was, either in itfelf, or in 
 the apprehenfion of mankind, unclean, foul,, orloathfome. 
 
 It pleafed God, alfo, to command the abftaining from feveral things 
 that do not feem, in their own nature, to be unclean or loathfbme ; 
 and to declare that, by the very contad of fuch things, men became im- 
 pure, were unclean, andabominablein the eyes of God, and therefore 
 could not be admitted into his holy Trefence, or to any religious ad. 
 
 But this impurity was to be purged away by Ablution ^ox afperfion, 
 according to the prefcription in the feveral caibs, when the party was 
 wafhed in water, and purifyed, he might prefent himfelf before 
 God ; but if, knowing his uncleannefs, he mixed in the fervice of God 
 without being purifyed, the offence was capital, he was to be cut off 
 from his people. 
 
 This conftitution mull, neceflarily, produce the greateft nicety, 
 and care to preferve cleanlir^fs, in thofe who put any value on the 
 favour and fervice of God. 
 
 And, if they were not fb ftupid as to look only to the Letter^ 
 the external ad, it muft for ever keep in their view the purity and 
 holinefs of God j the uglinefs and deformity of fin, the abhorrence 
 God had of it, and of the finner, the neceflity of avoiding it, if one 
 would have any communication with the Deity ,• and the mercy and 
 goodncfs of God in providing a purification to cleanfe from it, fuch 
 as could as eafily be come at as common water, and was as effedual 
 to remove the filth of fin, as water was for common naftinefs. 
 
 The
 
 (7'} 
 
 The whole of this Institution, which was as antlent and uni- 
 verfal as facrifice, is ohvionily fymipo/ical znd inftruftive; and, if the 
 real meaning of it was loft, if men began to think there was any real 
 impurity in the touch of a dead carcafe, or any real vertne to purge fin 
 in water, it muft be evidence of their utter degeneracy, blindnefs and 
 corruption. 
 
 Perhaps, things not really impure were to be avoided as fuch, 
 to create thegreater circumfpeftion, and to bring the inftruftion oftner 
 in view. 
 
 It is not reafonable to think that God fhould enjoin, or prohibit, 
 in matters of religon, any thing in itfelf abfblutely indifferent, under 
 fevere penalties, purely to be a teft of obedience. 
 
 But it is reafonable to think that a thing in itfelf indifferent may 
 be commanded, to keep up the memory of any fad, or precept, to 
 impart knowledge, and prel'erve inftruftion. 
 
 Abstaining from the altar after any external pollution could 
 not pofTibly have been enjoined, under the pain of death, but for 
 the important leflbn it was intended to teach of the holinefs of God, 
 and the purity of heart, neceflary to thofe that would approach 
 him. 
 
 Eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, 
 would not have been prohibited, but to warn our firlt parents againft 
 the ambitious defire of knowing more than came to their Ihare, and 
 the prefumptuoas conceit of relying on their own knowledge, and 
 following their own imaginations which deilroyed them, and con- 
 tinues to miflead, and undo, multitudes of their weak, vain, de- 
 fcendants. 
 
 That fpecies of Infidels that glories in the title of Free-think- 
 ers, who fet up their own knowledge and underftanding againft 
 the Revelation of God, fplit upon the fame rock on which our firft 
 parents fhipwrecked, notwithftanding the beacon that has been fixed 
 on it from the creation of the world. 
 
 Circumcision may have ferved for a mark of diftlndion to 
 the Ifraelites^ becaufe it was not pradifed by their neighbours in 
 Canaan^ though it was by the other defcendants oi Abraham and 
 Ifaac, Ijhmaei and Efau : But it had undoubtedly a higher meaning, 
 and probably an origin earlier than the days o^ Abraham. 
 That it had a higher meaning is certain from the frequent de- 
 clarations
 
 ( 72 ) 
 
 darations that xcirctmdfe<i heart, a heart cutoff:and feparatcd 
 from all unruly Uifts, and afFedions, is what God delights in. 
 
 And that it had an earlier origin, Teems to be very evident, from 
 the early ;obfervance of that inftitution, amongft many nations who 
 cannot be believed to have received it from Abraham, or his defcen- 
 dants. 
 
 Men may dream, but. it is impofilble to perfuade one that has 
 his eyes open, and who refleds on the bitter animofities that mult 
 have been between the Egyptians and the Ifraelites^ the high con- 
 tempt the former muft have entertained of the latter, the vanity and 
 tenacioufnefs of the Triefh oi Egypt ^ with refpeft to the myfteries 
 of their religion, and the impiety and abomination which the religi- 
 ous fervice of the Ifraelites appeared to them to be fluffed with, that 
 the Egyptian -Prielis^ (and they, principally, were in the earliefl: 
 times circmnafed) would have lubmitted to follow the defpifcd, de- 
 tefted, Ifraelites in a bloody pradice of this kind, and would have 
 tranfmitted it, as facrcd, to their defcendants. 
 
 And, indeed, if it had been meant only for a fiLin of diflindion 
 for Ifrael^ it ought not to have dcfcended to lOnnael, and Efau^ 
 but ought to have been confined to the twelve tribes. 
 
 It may, rcafonably, therefore be looked on as one of the origi- 
 nal Injhtiitions appointed juft after the Fal l, which, though re- 
 tained here and there, particularly in Egypt ^ had neverthelefs been 
 left off in Abrahams country, where idolatry began to prevail; and 
 was therefore renewed to Abraham, when he was feleded, from his 
 depraved country, to be the father of a people tn whom the tfr/^/«^/ 
 Revelation fhould be republi^wdy and who were to become the keep- 
 ers of the Oracles of God. 
 
 Taking this, then, to be the cafe, and recolleding that E've 
 proved the tempter to Adam ; that love to her, who had forfeited 
 by eating, prevailed with him to follow her fate; that inclination to 
 women is the moft fierce, the moft ungovernable of the defires and 
 lufts of men ; and that it was fit to ertablifh Ibme very feniible me- 
 morial of the offence at the i^«//, that fhould carry inlirudion along 
 with it, to curb and bridle noxious defires \ who can help conclu- 
 ding, that Ctrcumcijion was appointed to fix a permanent Mark on 
 that part of the body, the gratification of the lull whereof, had fo 
 great a fhare in the fedudion of mankind j and thereby to admonifh 
 againft all lufts and carnal gratifications, and to adyife and inftrud 
 
 men
 
 (73) 
 
 men to cat off all fenfiial defires, and to wean themfclves from 
 them ? 
 
 Lying carnally with woman, even with a man's own wife, 
 than which nothing is more natural, or more innocent, is, in the 
 eye of the Law, a pollution, and reqimsd Ablution, before the p.ir- 
 ty could be admitted to the Treftnce o? God. Why? to, prevent 
 the fetting too high a value on k, to check the too fond dcfire, and 
 purfuit, of it ; and to fhew that fuch defires, encouraged, are incon- 
 fiftent with that purity of heart that is required in the fervice of God, 
 who claims pofreffion of the v.hole heart, and will not admit of ri- 
 vals. And, if this is the undeniable meaning of that prohibition, ic 
 is eafy to fee the fenfe of the fymkolkal a6t of cctting off, and 
 Hinging away, the Foreskin of the flefh, than which nothing can 
 be a more proper Emblem of forward, fierce, flefhly, apnetites, 
 and fcnliial delights. 
 
 Though Ctrcumcifion might have been given to Ifrael, as a Mark 
 to diftinguilh them from the other adjacent nations furrounding Ca- 
 •naan^ and was, by them, to be confidered as a Mark of the Cove- 
 nant between them and God; yet that does not fay that the origi- 
 nal intention, and etnbleniatical Vii^ of it, was to be dropt, or loft ^ 
 on the contrary, it is evident, from the frequent allufions plainly made 
 to the fymbolical fenfe of it by the infpired writers, that it was ftill 
 kept in view, and principally to be obfcrved, by Ijrael. 
 
 And, in like manner, many of the Inftittitions^ which were in 
 pradice antienfly, feem to be applied to particular aftions or events 
 which were near the time of the renewal of thofe hiftittitions in the 
 j^fxv/l) Law. But it docs not follow from thefe applications that the 
 original Inftitutions, or the fenfe and meaning of them, were to be 
 dropt or loft. In an earthly affair, each Ifraelite^ when he enter'd 
 upon lands in Canaan, was to bring a basket of fruit, and make a 
 Confession why he performed that aclion ; which proves that thofe 
 fymbolical acls had a formal meaning -, and fuggefts that there may 
 have been original, formal, ConfeJJions^ acknowledgments, and 
 prayers, attending the ads of P.eligion or Devotion; though, not be- 
 ing recorded, otherwife than in general, that once all the Earth had 
 one Confefjion^ the particular Forms have not defcendcd to us, with 
 Efficient Evidence. 
 
 Nothing is more nnjuft than the fuggeftion that the obferva- 
 
 L tion
 
 (74 ) 
 
 tion of the Sabbath^ or feventh Day, was to take place only a- 
 niongft the Ifraelites. 
 
 If the Scriptures are to he the rule, the Sabbath had its origin 
 immediately upon the Creation, and before the Fall. God is faid 
 to have iiEiXCD on the levcnth day from his work, and to have hal- 
 to'SJed the fabbatb day^ on which it was criminal, nay capital, to do 
 any work. 
 
 I F the antient, profane, writers are to be fearched, the Sabbath 
 will be found lb antient, that it could not poflibly have been derived 
 from the Je-ji^'ifj Laiv. For not to take notice of the frequent men- 
 tion to be met with o'i Sabbaths, and days of reft, which might have 
 been borrowed from Jewijh cuftoms, it is certain that the moft an- 
 tient Greeks, and the more antient Egyptians, divided the time by 
 Hebdomades, a circle or revolution of levcn days, to each of which 
 they gave the name of fome planet, except the feventh, which they 
 dedicated to the fovercign of all the heavenly luminaries, the Sun ,- 
 and this Cicle being no proper, ccnftituent, part of moon, month, 
 or year, muft neceffarily have Howed i\om Inflitutioii: Nor could 
 any thing be a more proper, permanent. Memorial of the Creation 
 than the appointing the obfervation of the leventh day -, at the fame 
 time that, debarring man from work, it fequeftered him to the con- 
 templation of the Creation, and its Creator, fo Formation and its For- 
 mer, and allowed his foul time to entertain itfelf with objects, pecu- 
 liarly fitted for it. 
 
 If every feventh day man was to be flopped in his career, in pur- 
 luit of low, earthly, comforts, by a holy reft, which it was capital 
 to profane by labour i if he was to obferve this reft, week after 
 week, in memory of God's having retted the feventh day, after ha- 
 ving finilhed the creation in fix 5 no mean could be devifed more likely 
 to keep up the memory of the creation, and to banifti the extravagant 
 Imagination that the world was eternal ; and no Injiitution could 
 lead more neceffarily, and diredly, to employ man, at leaft one le- 
 venth part of his time, in thoie fpeculations that tend to keep up 
 communication between the foul and the Deity, and to prcferve the 
 memory and knowledge of the Revelation of God to man ; nor could 
 man have been guilty of a more fatal piece of perverfenefs than to 
 difcontinue, and leave off, the obfervance which, in all appearance, 
 drew along with it the lofs of the true fenle and meaning of all the 
 other Injittutions. It is one of the reproaches the moft infifted on 
 
 againft 
 
 !«'
 
 C 75 ) 
 agalnft the hiickRiding Ifrae/ites, that theynegleCied the fubbaths of 
 the Lord. 
 
 In the whole of the primitive, religious, fervice, there is not any 
 circumftance calbal, every particular, every gefture, is inftruclive. 
 
 I N the Presence of God man fell upon his face to the ground j 
 and, by that adl, humbly confefled his Original : hence bowing 
 to the ground is the formal word for worfhipping, which it was high 
 trealbn to practice toward any idol. And when, from that pofture, 
 man railed himfelf to praile, and to blefs God, he raifed himfelf no 
 farther than the knee, ftill fo far retaining the pofture of humility ; 
 and from this pofture the word to fignify BleJJing is taken; as bo'-jj- 
 ing to the ground is ufed to fignify "^or^ipptng., kneeling is ufed to 
 fignify blejjing. 
 
 I F the original Revelation w^as compleat, man rauft have been 
 told that the Deity was to defcend to this earth, to dwell there a- 
 mongft men, and to inftruft by precept and example, 
 
 I F this was originally revealed, it muft have been recorded, by 
 appointing fome fymbolical obfervance, Ibme emblematical reprefen- 
 tation. 
 
 If, in the Republication of the Lwjj to the Ifraelites, the appoint- 
 ment the moft remarkable was to ered, firft, a tabernacle, and then 
 a temple, for the reception of the Tre fence of the Deity, who made 
 repeated declarations that he was to dwell in the midft of the chil- 
 dren oi Ifrael, that he was to refide in the tabernacle, firft, and then 
 in the houle that was to be built for him, and was more particularly 
 to refide between the Cherubims. 
 
 Accordingly, the tabernacle firft, and then the temple, ha- 
 ving been built, a Cloud, the Glory of the Lord^ or the fymbol of 
 his pre fence filled thefe manfions, and the Deity from thence gave 
 refponfes, and directions, and pronounced Judgments. 
 
 In the facred writings there are many formal intimations that this 
 Jnjfitution, and dilpenfation, amongft the Jti^-s, was typical.^ and 
 prediftive that the real Glory of the Lord was to come to the tem- 
 ple ■■, that the temple, the fymbol of his manfion, was to be deftroyed ; 
 and that the figurative, the emblematical, feivice, and Inflitntion^ 
 was to ccafe, and to give way to the real ^refence^ and fpiritual in- 
 ftrudicn of the Deity. 
 
 And, indeed, by the ceffation of all that fervice, and by the de- 
 ftrudion of the temple, immediately after the Lord who was expected 
 
 L 2 came
 
 ( 76 ) 
 
 came to it, \vc evidently fee the Injlitntion could have been to no o- 
 ther end but to create, and keep up, that expe£lation. 
 
 B u T if we look a little farther back, we fhall fee the belief of 
 God's refidence among men, and the pradice of building tabernacles, 
 and houfes or temples, for that refidence, much earlier than the rc- 
 fitblication of the Law from Sinau 
 
 Most of the antient nations had temples, dedicated, forthefup- 
 poled refidence of their gods. The Thilifttnes had a houfe for "Z)^- 
 gofi^ before the Ifraelites had any for Jehovah -, and many cities in 
 Canaan are named from the temples of the Deities worlhipped by the 
 inhabitants. 
 
 Jacob promifed to make the flone, which he anointed at Luz, 
 Bethel, the houle of God, and he was as good as his word 5 for, fome 
 years after, he there built an altar, and facrificed. 
 
 The Ifraelites, upon their going out of Egypt, before the Mc- 
 faick tabernacle was built, had a tabernacle in which they believed 
 the Tre fence of God to be, and in which the pot of Manna, &c. 
 was laid up. 
 
 The idolaters, who came up amongfl: the Ifraelites^ are re- 
 proached with having carried in the wildernefs the tabernacles of 
 their gods, whilft the living God was lo miraculoufly feeding, and 
 protecting them. 
 
 This Pradice, which could not poffibly have come from the 
 Law of Mops, but which the Law of Mofes, as well as the ufage 
 of Jacob, and of the Ifraelites, fhews to have been approved of by 
 God, muft neceflarily have flowed from divine Injlitntion, as early 
 as the original Re"celation ; and waspcrfcdiy well calculated to keep 
 in mind the original intimation, that God was to humble hin-felf fo 
 lar as to dcfcend to dwell aniongft men, and to create aconftant ex- 
 pedation of that event. 
 
 And, as we have already obferved on other occafions, if this prac- 
 tice had not had fome very authentick inftitution for its original, it 
 is fcarce poffible it ever Ihould have univerfally obtained j nothing 
 being more contradictory to the common notions, which the light of 
 nature could afford, than the belief that the immaterial, incompre- 
 henfible Being, fhould dwell in houfes made by hands, and fojourn 
 with fuch groveling creatures as man. The univerfal practice, then, 
 in this inflance, is ftrong evidence that it does not depend upon hu- 
 man invention. Imagination^ indeed, would millead from the in- 
 3 tentioa
 
 ( 77 ) 
 
 tentlon of the Injlitution^ and would graft many impcrtinencies on 
 it, whenever the real defign was niiftaken ; but there is hardly any 
 example of an obfervance, lb feemingly unnatural as this, if univer- 
 fal, that cannot be traced up to a divine original, at leaft to Ibme di- 
 vine intimation, ox injiitution, that gaveoccafion toit. 
 
 As the InJtTtution, we are now upon, was of a very high nature, 
 and important to be obferved, and relied on, it is extremely probable 
 that the Deity, to devout men (for to fuch, we know from Scrip- 
 ture, God was plealed to reveal himfclf) thought fit to give parti- 
 cular proofs of his Trefence in the houfe, tabernacle, or place ap- 
 pointed for his refidence. He fpoke to Mofes from the tabernacle 
 of the congregation, before the Mofaick tabernacle wascrcded : And 
 if thofe temples, or tabernacles, were fo honoured on particular oc- 
 cafions, we may ceafe to wonder why the Gentiles took up the h^- 
 \kf oi Oracular refponfes from their deities (which, again, is a con- 
 ceit they hardly could have taken up without precedent.) Know- 
 ing that the true God revealed his will to his true fervants, in thofe 
 places which heauthorifed to befet afide as for his Trefence, and be- 
 lieving their falie Gods true, and themfelves acceptable fervants, they 
 naturally would accept fuch communications j and their Imaginations 
 might impofe on them, or make their belief an eafy prey to any im- 
 poftor, any Trieft of a falfe God, who fhould have courage and 
 cunning enough to frame a lye. 
 
 When we fee an obfervance has, univerfally, prevailed amongfl 
 the heathens, which is afterwards approved of by the Lwjj of Mofes , 
 we juflly conclude it fprung from divine authority. \ 
 
 When we feecuftoms, obtaining amon^ the early heathens, which 
 are prohibited by the LiU^ we niay lafcly conclude th.u thofe 
 cuftoms were not of divine Injtitittion^ but were derived either from 
 fome laudable, pious, praflice of the believing Patriarchs, which 
 had been abufed, or from Imagination. 
 
 Thus we fee the refpe£t among the earliefl Syrian^ and Greek,, 
 heathens for Baitulia, ftones which were let up on end, anointed, 
 and believed to be facred, and in procefs of time transferred to their 
 temples, and revered as ftatues of their Gods. 
 
 And we cannot avoid feeing the practice of confecrating, as we 
 fay, a itone by Jacobs when, upon the manifeftation of the Deity, 
 he fet it up, poured oil upon it, vowed a vow, and faid it Ihould 
 be Beth-el, the houfe cf God. 
 
 BuXj
 
 ( 78 ) 
 
 But, however that devout aft, that folemn memorial o^ Jacobs 
 vow, and of the merciful appearance to him, might have been accept- 
 able to God 5 and, however fach things might have been religioully, 
 and acceptably, done by other pious men, before and' after him, yet 
 we fee the pradice is in the Law prohibited, perhaps, becaufe of its 
 being liable to abufe, and becaufe of the corruptions it had already in- 
 troduced. 
 
 W E fee, alfo, that the Patriarchs fhewed particular, facred, re- 
 fped to feme fort of trees. The Oaks of Mamre were, in fome de- 
 gree, facred to Abraham. It is not impoiTible they might have made 
 . fome fpecies of trees Memorials^ to the end they might think on the 
 thing fuch tree reprefented, fo often as the tree came in their view. 
 Abraham planted a Grove., or Tree, at Beerpoeba^ and called there 
 onihtndivncoi Jehovah, the ever lajiing God. Many of thefe fw^/^- 
 matical trees^ put together, might form groves ; and we do know 
 that groves were amongft the moft antient places of Worftiip, amongfl 
 the Nations; and that particular forts of trees were held facred to 
 certain Deities, amongft thole that had forgot, or rather mifapplied, 
 the fervice of the true God. 
 
 These obfervances continued to be reverenced as late as Homer; 
 He5ior wifhes for a Stone, or an Oak-Tree, from whence he might 
 with fafety fpeak to Achilles ; and loqui a qtiercu is, in the language 
 of the old Italians^ to fpeak vo it h fafety. 
 
 Amongst the things which were abufed, and, by the renevaal 
 ot Jewifh inflitution, were prohibited, ordered to be difcontinued, 
 cut down, and deftroyed, the Jews have taken in facred Trees, or 
 Groves : But, it appears, the word which they conftrue Groves fig- 
 nilies images of Venus, or &c. and it appears that they ufed facred 
 Trees, and Groves, to the laft. 
 
 There is another inftance, of the fame kind, in the cafe of what 
 wctranllate Ornaments. The original notion of the word carries 
 in it the idea of vjitneffing, tejiifying, K.c. and fome palfages of the 
 fcriptures feem to point at a very furprizing regard lliewed by the 
 Deity to tihofe ornaments. After the defection, in making the golden 
 calf, God commands the people, by Mofes, Exod, 33. 4, 5, 6. to 
 put off their ornaments from them, that he might know what to do 
 unto them. And the people put off their ornaments, and mourned. 
 We cannot doubt, then, that the people looked upon \ho'ie ornaments 
 as defences againft any fuddcn mifchiefs, or unlucky cafualties ; and 
 
 that
 
 ( 79 ) 
 
 that this opinion had fome authority from the conduct of the Deity, 
 in providence, and from the practice of godly men, if not even from 
 divine injbtution ; and to this early obfervance are owing all the 
 Amulets^ all the Talifmans, the annuli, amonglt the antients, which 
 they looked upon as avirruncating of evil, and as fo many defences 
 and prelervatives from harm. 
 
 Th o' we know nothing of the Ornaments of the Ifraelites^ yet, 
 looking upon the antient Talifmans, the Abraxas^ the Annuli, and 
 other gems, that are ftill preferved, which are full of infcriptions, 
 and hieroglyphical figures, of which we can make no certain lenfe, at 
 this day j we may naturally conclude that the earliefi: oryiaments which 
 had the vertue, the later were only fuppofed to have, were formed 
 fomcwhat in the fame way ; and that the hieroglyphical figures, with 
 which they were charged, reprefented fome facrecl difcoverics, or pro- 
 mifes, worn on certain parts of the body, to be perpetual memoran- 
 dums of the propofitions exprefTed in thole emblems. 
 
 And, accordingly, when the Z/^7tc; was given, by Mofes, in tC/'r/- 
 ting, in the room of that preferved, formerly, by Hieroglyphicks^ 
 we fee injundtions that the people fhould w^ar the La'-jv.^ or parts of 
 it, as Signs upon their hands, and for Frontlets between their eyes, 
 'Deut. 6. 8. which the later Je'jus, underftanding literally^ wrote 
 paffages, as they conceived the moft remarkable, of the Law on 
 vellum, which they rolled up in 'Phyla£leries^ and wore on their 
 arms, and foreheads, with a fuperftitious regard, in the days of 
 Chrift ; and it is for the oftentatious, hypocritical, ufe of them, mak- 
 ing broad their Thyla&eries, the Pharifees are reproved, Matth. 
 2 3. 5. and not for their being at all ufed, as fome fuppofe ; which 
 fhews tliat the wearing thofe Signs ^ and Frontlets was literally^ and 
 not in 2. figurative fenfe only, enjoined. 
 
 If we obferve the Paffages of the Law of Mofes., in which the 
 wearing thofe Signs^ and Frontlets, are recommended, we ihall find 
 them exceeding important 5 and that the intent of the recommendation 
 is to keep, for ever, and attentively, in memory the particular tranl- 
 aftion, or declaration, to which they relate, by way of evidence 
 that fuch a tranladion hapned, or fuch a declaration was made 5 and, 
 in this light they agree with the fenfe of the word we tranflate Or- 
 naments^ which implies bearing, evidence, tefiifying : and, if the 
 meaning of this later Institution was to inculcate, by written Me- 
 morandums, the important paffages of the Law, or the 'Jeiv/fh ccco- 
 nomy, it is yery natural to think that the end of thole Hierojihphical 
 
 Ornaments,
 
 ( So ) 
 
 f)rnamenls^ in ufc before the ivrittcn Lav.\ u-as of the fame nature, 
 to prelent I'requently to men's view the moft fignal articles of the ori- 
 ginal Revelation. 
 
 Men, who have not fufficiently enquired, may make it an ob- 
 tection to the goodnefs of God, with an intent to impeach the truth 
 of the Chrljluiu Rehgion j that the world, on the fnppofition cf the 
 Cbriili^n icheme, %vas luffered to lie lb long in darknels ; that the 
 '^judaick rehgion was confined, and hidden, in myfteries ; and that the 
 Chrijlian religion came too late, and attended with too llender evi- 
 dence i but, after giving due attention to thele hints, they muft con- 
 fefs the original publication of the revealed will of God full, and per- 
 fect ; that inftrudive leflbns were conveyed in every Rite, C(rcf?iony, 
 Obfervance, and Inflttutio:i ; that tlie ihongeft Memorials were cRa- 
 bliilied of w hat was declared, was to be believed, and hoped for ; 
 that perpetual Memorayidums were appointed for bringing into men's 
 minds their duty, and ftrengthning their belief, and their hopes; and 
 that this knowledge, thole inftitutions, and thefe hopes, reached 
 over the bulk of mankind, before the rencvi-al of the Laiiv to Ifrael. 
 Tho' mankind lb corrupted themfelves, ^o cooled and flackened in 
 their duty, and purfued lb wantonly, and preiumptuoufly, their own 
 imaginations, as to have loft almolt all the knowledge of the things 
 revealed, and of the end and defign of the Infiitutions ; and to have 
 preferved no more than ibme great hnes of external obfervances, which 
 fervc at this day for evidence, only, that there was a very early 
 Revelation of the will of God to mankind, joined with hopes of 
 mercy^batdonot (hew what the particulars wereof that Revelation, 
 v/hich can be gathered, only, from confidering the facred Inflitution^ 
 as it is delivered, compleatly, in the Law, explained by the Prophets, 
 and peifecled by the Gospel. 
 
 But, after all, tho* in the Injlitutions, already referred to, one 
 may fee very diftindly, almoft, all the articlesof the C/ir//?/,3« faith, 
 and hope j yet, if the original Revelation went no farther, it muft 
 be owned there are Ibme great points wanting, Ibmething difclofed 
 in the Gospel, relating to the Deity, that the declarations and injii- 
 ttittons, hitherto mentioned, do not extend to, and that the light of 
 Nature, by itfelf, could not difcover. 
 
 The Gofpel informs, precifely, and formally, that tho' the God- 
 head is effentially one, yet there are in the divine eftence three ''Ter- 
 fons, equal in perfection, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 
 That the Son^ to fatisfy eflential juftice, took on him flefti, was 
 
 united
 
 ( 8i ) 
 
 united to the humanity, fiifFered for finners, made atonement for 
 them, raifed the Man^ to whom he was joined, from the dead, glo- 
 rified him with himfelf, and is to make continual interceffion for fin- 
 ners ; and that the Holy Spirit, upon the afcenfion of the Son of 
 God, was lent to inftrud, to comfort, and, as one mav fay, to infpire 
 all who, believing in Jeftis Chrifi, lliould endeavour to do their 
 duty, to ferve, and to glorify God. 
 
 That this is true every Chrijiian believes, and whoever does ^o 
 feels the expediency of being acquainted with it, as it exalts his len- 
 timentsofthe wifdom, the juftice, the mercy, the goodnefs, the love, 
 of God j and lets him know how to place his acknowledgment, his 
 fervice, his adoration, at the lame time that it cautions him againft 
 thofe fins, and abufes, that can be wafiied away no other ways than 
 by the blood of the Son of God. 
 
 And, as this is true, and highly necefTary to be known, it would 
 not be of a piece with the refl: of the tenor of the goodnefs, and con- 
 defcenfion, of the Deity, if, in the original Revelation of Grace, this 
 was not alfo intimated to mankind, however the perverfity, and pre- 
 fumption of human imagination^ and invention, may have con- 
 founded, and, thereby, in a great meafure, have loft the Memorials 
 inftituted for preferving this Revelation. 
 
 It will be granted by every Freethinker, becaufe it is the foun- 
 dation of his own belief, or rather unbelief, that, confulting nature. 
 Unity is eflential to the Deity ; and that nothing is lefs deducible 
 from the Light of Nature than a ^Plurality of Deities, nay that a 
 Tlurality, in the common fenfe, is inconfiftent with it, and therefore 
 impoflSble. 
 
 I T is, at the fame time, true in fad that all the antient nations en- 
 tered readily into the belief of a ^Plurality of Deities, how contrary 
 foever the opinion might be to the light 'of Nature ; and continued 
 in that faith till Chriftianity beat them out of it. 
 
 One would not infer from this that Tolytheifm was an article oUhe 
 original Revelation, becaufe we fee the heathens grafted many mis- 
 taken imaginations upon what was originally revealed ; but it feems to 
 be a fair conclufion that fomething, concerning the Deity, not difco- 
 verable by the light of Nature, and feemingly diffonant to it, was 
 originally revealed, from whence this falfe but univerfal opinion 
 took it's birth : and if the doclrine of the Trinity was originally pro- 
 mulgated, and believed, it is eafy to fee how it might degenerate 
 
 M into
 
 ( 82 ) 
 into Polytheism, as the Chriftian T R i n i T y ran the hazard of 
 doing. 
 
 I F this refledion is candidly weighed j if one confiders that the 
 firft teacher of Tolythetjm could not pofllbly deduce his dodrine 
 from reafon, but muft neceflarily fupport it from authority -, and if 
 one then enquires what degree of authority would be fufficient to 
 draw all mankind into the fettled belief of this monftrous propofition, 
 or indeed of any thing a-kin to it, from which this, by magination 
 or dednftion, can be derived, he muft needs conclude the authority 
 muft be, at Icaft believed, divine, before reafonable creatures could 
 give credit to it, and could be brought to fpeak of, and make their 
 addrefles to, Gods in the plural number. 
 
 It is impoffible to make this reflexion without joining to it, what 
 has been already obferved, that the word Elohim, ufed in the 
 Hebrew Scriptures to fignify God, is plural ; owned by all to be 
 fuch, and particularly by \\\t'jcws, who have the idea of plurality 
 in the higheft contempt, and who make in their tranflations a very 
 ridiculous diftindion, rendring the fame fpecifick word when, as they 
 apprehend, it relates to the true Gody?^/^«/^r, hui plural, T>ii GodSy 
 when it relates to the objefts of the pagan worftiip. 
 
 This refledtion is the more important that the word Elohim has 
 confeflTcdly a lingular Elah ufed fometimes, but not often, in Icrip- 
 ture. Now when the i'acrcd writers make ufe almoft always of the 
 plural word, not from neceffity, but from choice, it is hardly poflible 
 to believe that this choice is altogether without meaning, and that a 
 word, lit not to inform but to miflead, was employed by the Deity, in 
 the written inftructions given to mankind. 
 
 The Jews^ and with them thole pretended C/i'r//?/tfBJ who rejeft 
 the 'Trinity, as well as fome v/ho admit it, but are loth to lay 
 much ttrefs on the idiom of a language, they do not give themfelves 
 the trouble to underftand, ftrive to invalidate this obfervation, by 
 fuggefting that the plural may be ufed honoris causa \ sis Princes, in 
 our days, exprefs themfelves, We and Our, and perfons of condition, 
 fpoken to, arc addreflTed by pronouns in the plural number. 
 
 But not to infift on what is molt certain truth, that the fcripture 
 language is, in every other inftance, oppofite to this fuggeftion, con- 
 ftantly ufing the lingular when Jehovah fpeaks of himfelf, and moft fre- 
 q'jently joining verbs and pronouns in the fingnlar number to the plural 
 ilL.oHiM; there are many cafes in which the exprellion cannot pollibly 
 
 he
 
 ( 83) 
 
 be reconciled to this >X7> pretence, of which this may be an ex- 
 ample. GeN. i.zi ylnd Jehovah Elohim faid behold the man 'is 
 become like one of us to know good and evil. Here the expreffion 
 IS diftincT-, and unambiguous, and not to be twiftcd to the Jewin) 
 conflrudion, by any force of figure, or example; One of us w-q^K^- 
 rily iniplys more than one, and the Je-ji^s and their i'ollov/ers are lb 
 lenfible of it, that they pretend Jehovah is here fpeaking w.'th and 
 to the Angels, bringing them on the level with himfelf; which he 
 no where elie m the fcripture does, and which there is no reafon to 
 luppole he does m this place, tho' it did not imply an abfurdity j be- 
 caule the plural word Elohim preceeding fufficiently Ihews who the 
 Us were, and forbids the application of that pronoun to any other fet 
 or beinais. ^ 
 
 As this text affords a demonftration, in its own kind, that the 
 plural Elohim is not ufed by chance, but is the fruit of choice, and 
 iignihcative, care is taken in fcripture to prevent the grafting the no- 
 tion of Polytheism on an expreffion that might kad lb naturally 
 to It. -^ 
 
 And therefore T>ent. 6. 4. the great command which Chrift 
 being interrogated, declared to be the firft and higheft of the L^a-' 
 and which was directed to be laid up in the hearts of the Ifraelites 
 to be taught to their children, to be worn ^%Jlgns upon their hands' 
 and z% frontlets between their eyes, and to be written on the polls of 
 their houfes, and on their gates, is ufliered in with this remarkable 
 admonition; Hear, O Ifrael, the Lord our God is one Lord-, in 
 the original, Hear, O Ifiael, Jehovah our Elohim is one le^ 
 bovah. -^ 
 
 The word J,'hovah is agreed by all to be the proper name or term 
 lor expreffing the effence of the Deity, it is derived from the verb that 
 fignifies to be, and therefore imports being, exigence, m he who is, 
 who exi/fs, nevejfarily. 
 
 This noun is fingular and knows no plural ^ wherefore there 
 would be very little occafion for the declaration that Jehovah is one, 
 IS not plural, if it were not for the plural word Elohim, which 
 might lead into a miilake ; to prevent which the declaration was ne- 
 celTary that tho' in JMw^/^, there were more Elahs than one, yet 
 thefe different Elohim were but one Jehovah,one neceiTariiy exiftent 
 ^P^ce ; which is allowing a plurality, not of diftina Deities, but of 
 diftind Elohim in the i^mc Effence, Godhead, in Jehovah who is one. 
 
 M z " On
 
 (8+) 
 
 O N occafion of mentioning the word Jehovahy the proper name 
 ortermufed to fignify the Eternal, the neceflarily exifting Being, the 
 caufe and author of all other Being, it may not be improper to ob- 
 ferve that this name is of the higheft antiquity, coeval in all appea- 
 rance with the original Revelation^ and given by the Deity, to ex- 
 prefs that grand charafter of his own nature, which modern wife men 
 value themfelves on having, as they imagine, difcovered from na- 
 tiire, and reafon. 
 
 For not to mention the authority oi Mofes, who makes ufe of 
 that name, juft after defcribing the creation, it appears not to have 
 been unknown to the antients, tho' they loft the fenfe of it, and con- 
 founded themfelves with new names for their fiditious Divinities, 
 The oracle in Macrobius dtcl^ixcsjauoio be the chief God; whence 
 it's plain at leaft that the found was known by thole who confulted. 
 The Zeus of the Greeks was in all appearance from the fame fource, 
 and the Jupiter of the Romans confefles more clearly that original ; 
 antiently Jupiter was written and founded Jovis pater -, Jovis was 
 the nominative, or, more properly, Jehovah with the Latin -is for a 
 termination in all cafes, and yi?x'ij/'^?fr became by corruption, in 
 length of time, Jupiter ^ tho' it retained more of the original found 
 in the genitive, and the other cafes. 
 
 Now, tho' the Roman people and religion were but modern, 
 compared with that of fome other nations, yet is \h€\x Jovis pater^ 
 which took much time to be corrupted into j'/Zj^/Vfr, very antientj 
 and, if they had their Theology from the Hetrufcans, or from the 
 'Phoenicians y the term '^fehovah muft have been very pure and diftind, 
 when it came firft into Italy ^ to have remained fo long fo uncorrupted, 
 as we fee it did. No man, in his fenfes, will think the ^nUcniGreeksy 
 and Italians^ borrowed from the detefted Jews the name of their 
 God, and therefore it may be fafely concluded that the name which 
 travelled thus into Greece, and Italy, in the earlieft times, was the 
 name of the God of the whole earth ufed, and honoured by all 
 flefh. 
 
 B u T to return to the idea of the Deity given by revelation ; tho' 
 the unity of Jehovah is expreflly fettled, yet it is manifcftfrom great 
 numbers of texts that there are dl^crcnt perfons, different agejits in 
 this efience, that have different charad:ers, and are to be confidered 
 differently by men. 
 
 Besides
 
 ( 85 ) 
 
 Besides Jehovah, who, by way of dlftindion, may be called 
 the fir/i Terfon, or the Father, in the language well known to all 
 Chriftians, there is the Name of Jehcuah, ox the Name Jehovah, 
 the Word of Jehovah, or the Word Jehovah, and the Angel of 
 Jehovah, or the Angel Jehovah, with feveral other terms all appli- 
 cable to ihcfecond Terfon, or the Son, by the circumftances of the 
 feveral palTages ; and there is the Spirit of Jehovah, or the Spirit 
 Jehovah to denote the third Terfon who retains the fame name in the 
 Chriftian language. 
 
 Tho' the term the Name of Jehovah is become fo familiar to our 
 ears in the fenfe that means only the title or appellation, or, metapho- 
 rically, the fame and reputation of any one, yet there are ilat texts 
 to fhew there is more in the matter ; and thzXperfonality as it is called, 
 is afcribed to this thing called the Name Jehovah, or the Name of 
 Jehovah. 
 
 Exod, 23. 20, 21. Jehovah promifes to fend his y^w^^Z before the 
 people, of whom they are to beware that they do not offend him, for, 
 fays Jehovah, my Name is in him. This Name faid to be in the 
 y^»^f/isfomething more than will tally with any reafonable accepta- 
 tion of the word Name, unlefs you will fuppofe that word the Name 
 of Jehovah to mean a Terfon. 
 
 I N like manner Tfal. zo. r. The Name of the God of Jacob de- 
 fend thee, Ifai. 30. 27. Behold, the Name of Jehovah comet h from 
 far, Zech. 14. 9. In that day Jehovah fhall be one, and his Name one. 
 With infinite numbers of paffages where the Name of Jehovah is 
 faid to be placed, to dvsell, to a[^, fhew to a demonflration that by 
 the Name Jehovah -aperfon, and not a title, is meant ; and, indeed, 
 xh^iiperfon by whom the Deity was to be revealed, difcovered, and 
 made known, to mankind. 
 
 That there is fomething very extraordinary in this term the 
 Name of Jehovah, and which correfponds ill with the notion of 
 unity of the prefent fet of rebellious Jeips, is evident from the filly 
 fiftions they let up by which to account for the furprizing ufe made of 
 it. They fuppofe fomething divine to be in the four h tiers of which 
 the word is compofed ; that it is the highefl crime and prophanation 
 to pronounce them, except in the High-Triefi, once a year on the 
 day of expiation, and therefore never wrote, or attempted to pro- 
 nounce, that word, fubftituting in all their writings another word for 
 it, and pronouncing, fo often as Jehovah occurs in the reading of the 
 
 5 Iciiptures,.
 
 { 86 ) 
 
 •fcriptnres, the \\ox6 Adonai in place of it. They imagine fomething 
 lb lacred in thcfc letters, that whoever could pronounce them truly 
 might work miracles, and controul the power of nature at pleafure ; 
 and they carry their frenzy on this fubjetl lb far, as to account for our 
 faviour's miracles, by faying, that, gaining admiflion into the temple 
 he ^o\c the n?imQ Jehovah out of it, rightly wrote, znd pointed as 
 it ought to be pronounced 5 and, by being lb poffefled of that lecret, 
 by the force thereof wrought his wonders, and might have wrought 
 as many more as he would. Thefe circomftances will not prove 
 that the term has the force I have afcribed to it, but furcly they will 
 convince any reafoiiable man, that there is fomething very remarkable 
 in the expreffion, which has puzled the Je'-j::s fo much, and put them 
 to fuch ridiculous fhifts to get rid of the force of it. 
 
 Besides the Name there is another term ufed to fignify a Terfon, 
 
 01 Agent ^ in or of the Deity, unAtx the iiilco^t he IFord of Jehovah, 
 
 or the Word Jehovah. This word has many charaders of adion and 
 
 perfonality that cannot poffibly agree to what is fimple or proper 
 
 fpeech. The JVord Jehovah., or of Jehovah came, the Word fpoke, 
 
 the Word afted. In Jehovah will 1 praife the Word, in God the 
 
 Elohim vsill 1 praife the Word. Jehovah ftnt his ITord, &c. and 
 
 therefore, without, fcruple or hefitation, the apoftle Si. John applies 
 
 it to the divine Terfon that was joined to Jefus, agreeable to the 
 
 plain fcope of the Old Tejlament., and to even the notions of the 
 
 Jevi'S, of thofe times j whatever their fuccefTors, in oppofition to the 
 
 Chriflians, may have, fince thofe da^s, devifed to obfcure the light 
 
 of the antient fcriptures. 
 
 That the antient Jev^s, before their difputes with the Chriflians 
 turned their brains, by the JVord of Jehovah iinderftood an adive 
 principle, difticdl from \.hc firji Terfon in Jehovah, and alfo called 
 properly Jehovah^ is beyond contradidion evident from their antient 
 Targums, of age, if not equal to the advent of Chrift, yet framed 
 before their difputes with the Chriflians had forced them to coin new 
 and perverfe notions. All the adionsof a difiindl perlon are attiibuted 
 to their Mimrajehovah, the Word of God., in many hundred pallages; 
 and often, where Jehovah only is mentioned in the original, yet 
 where according to their conceptions, which originally were true 
 ones, the fee ond Terfon \s mc^ni, they have, without hefitation, in 
 their Taraphrafes tranllated it Mimra Jehovah^ or the IVord of 
 
 Jehovah,
 
 ( 87 ) 
 
 Jehovah, which leaves no doubt that the antlents underftood' the 
 Scriptures, in this important article, as the Apoftles did, and as we 
 do. 
 
 I F the Targiim of Onkelos^ which is agreed to be of great anti- 
 quity, was publilhed before the Gofpel came to be the objed of the 
 Jrjjs oppofition, this argument has all the force already given to it ; 
 and, if in an age later, it has no left weight ■ becaufe no one can 
 fuppofe that complaifance to the Chrifttans produced the expreffions 
 relied on • and indeed all that fufpicion is excluded, and additional 
 force is gained to the reflection, by confidering that 'Philo the Je'vj^ 
 who was contemporary with our Saviour, the Ambaflador for the E- 
 gyptian 'Js'-jus to Caius Cafar, unfufpected of Ghriftianity, probably 
 a flran^er to it, fufpected of a fpirit of accommodation with Tlatonick, 
 or pagan, notions in his writings, intending to make his notions as 
 plaufible and palatable to the learned heathens as poffible, cannot 
 diveft himfelf of the notion of making the Word, his Logos^ a Ter- 
 fon^ nay a divine 'Perfon^ of infinite power, nearly allied to the De- 
 ity, tho' with a fubordination that he can find no where in the facred 
 Book. 
 
 There is ftill another term, behind, which the Jews have 
 much obfcured, by confining the meaning to one of the lenfes which 
 the word bears, it is Angel: The Hebre'-jj word from which Ma- 
 Ink is derived, fignifics to fend., to employ., to fend on an errand, 
 to do, ox fay, any thing; hence Ma/ak, in Greek rendered ciyyi?:o{, 
 in Latin, promifcuoufly, Angelas, or Nuntius, in Engli^, an An- 
 gel, or Mejfenger. 
 
 To this word, thus fignifying, the Tranfators, who originally 
 weicJe'ujSy and all their lucceffors, have given the meaning of what 
 we, in common fpeech, underftand by an Angel, a Created Spi- 
 rit, of which, we are taught to believe, there are immenle num- 
 bers ; and, what is worfe, they have confined the I'enfe to that mean- 
 ing, inforauch that, when we hear o^ the Angel Jehovah, we are 
 to underftand by it fuch a created Spirit. 
 
 But it happens unlucky for this conftruclion that, almoft, always 
 where the Angel Jehovah is mentioned, there are charafters which 
 fhew that this Angel is Jehovah ; for either the Angel calls him- 
 felf fo, and fpeaks in the firft perfon, as Jehovah, or the perfon, 
 to whom he is fent, acknowledges him to be fuch, and addrefles- 
 
 him under that defignation. 
 
 Gen..
 
 ( 88 ) 
 
 Gen. 1 8. The Three that appeared ta Ahaham, in the plains 
 o^ Mamre, who are called Ibmetimes Men^ fometimes Ajigels, are 
 iaid to be Jehovah ; Jehovah is laid to have appeared in that form ; 
 He of the Three., that talks to Abraham fpeaks in the firft perfon, 
 as Jehovah, and Abraham addrefles his anfwer to Him, as to Je- 
 hovah. 
 
 Exod. 8. The Angel Jehovah appeared to Mofes in the burning 
 bufh, fpeaks from the bufh under the title God, gives himfelf the 
 fignificant name, which we tranflate, I am that I am, and is plain- 
 ly underftood to be Jehovah. 'Deut. 33. 16. The good-will of him 
 that dvjclt in the bufh. 
 
 Jud. 9. The Angel that appeared to Manoah's wife, firft, and then 
 to himfelf, is acknowledged to be Jehovah. And every Angel., 
 called, of Jehovah, that appeared, or feemed in vifion to appear, 
 to the Prophets, either fpeak as Jehovah., or are fpoken to as fuch. 
 
 Exod. 23. 20. The Angel whom Jehovah was to fend before the 
 Ifraelite;:., and whom he calls \\\?. Angel., had his Name in him, and 
 was therefore to be obferved. And, 
 
 Malachy 3.1. The Angel (which we tranflate the Mejfenger) of 
 the Covenant., is declared to be the Lord 5 and the Lord whom ye 
 feek, fhall fiiddenly come to his temple : even the Angel of the Co- 
 venant., whom ye delight in. 
 
 The Malak, the Mejfenger , therefore, the fent, the Angel Je- 
 hovah, or of Jehovah., we fee is not always ufed to fignify a crea- 
 ted Being, but on the contrary to denote a Terfon of Jehovah., of the 
 Deity, fent as a meflenger to execute the will of Jehovah., of the 
 Deity ; and accordingly Chrift, upon many occafions, declares that 
 he is fent of the Father, and came to do the will of him that fent 
 him : which tallies exadly with the language of, and with the Ideas 
 given in, the Old Teflament. 
 
 All thefe terms, the Name, the Word, the Angel of Jeho- 
 vah, with feveral others of the fame kind, which evidently Ihew a 
 diftinftion of Terfons in Jehovah, are by the charafters that attend 
 them, clearly applicable to one and the fame perlbn, in the Gofpel 
 called the Son, from the fecond Tfalm 5 the exprefs image of the 
 Father's perfon, who thought it no robbery to be equal with the Fa- 
 ther ; and by whom., and for whom., the world was made. 
 
 The Old Teflament, in multitudes of texts, mentions a third cha- 
 iafter, with attributes of aftion as a diftind 'Perfon, the Spirit of 
 
 Jehovah, 
 
 \
 
 («9) 
 
 yehovab, which is fald to do^ and direct many things, almoft al- 
 ways under hat fpecifick name, and in diftin^ion to the other Per- 
 fons or charaders in the Deity ; and the Ne-j^ Tefiament formally 
 makes this Spirit a diftinft Terfon, afting a proper part in the Oeco- 
 nomy of grace to mankind. 
 
 When thele things are duly weighed, men mufl: be convinced 
 that the godly, ferious Jews^ who ftudied their Scriptures with at- 
 tention, and without prepoflellion, mud have been fatisfied that there 
 was a diftinction oVPerfons in the Deity; and that the Word J Jjovah, 
 or ofjthovah, for example, was diftin£l from the Spirit, and both 
 from the F^^^^r, who fent the Word i and then their furprize will 
 ceafe at the freedom, and cafmcfs, with wliich Chrift and his Apoftles 
 fpeak of the Father^ Son, and Holy Spirit, as dir{in<^ Terfons of 
 the Deity, as a thing well known and underftood, without any pre- 
 amble or apology ; whereas, if this had not been a notion conmionly 
 received by the intelligent, it is impofliblc that the Treacher of Sal- 
 vation could have made ufe of, or applied it, without having firft 
 explained it, and fo prepared the hearers for it. 
 
 And, accordingly, we find that, when Chrift was examined by 
 the Rulers, they did not at all boggle at the doctrine which men- 
 tioned the Son of God, but asked him whether he pretended to be 
 fuch ; and, upon his faying that he was, concluded him guilty of 
 blafphemy, without further ceremony ; which fliews that the Son of 
 God was a phrafe known and familiar to them, as indeed it muft 
 be from the fecond Tfalm. And furely they could not have enter- 
 tained an idea of the Son, without alio admitting an idea of the Fa- 
 ther, which muft have made/^^^ term alio familiar to them. 
 
 So that in this inftance it is, as in almoft every other it will, on a 
 careful examination, appear to be, the Ncijv Tefiament fpeaks the 
 language of the Old -, the principles and the fentiments are the fame 5 
 and the Ne'Jt; does little more than explain, and apply, what, by 
 corrupt Imagination, through length of time, was obfcured or per- 
 verted, and in fome degree loft in the Old. 
 
 The fame confideration that makes the knowledge of the Trinitv 
 neceftary for us, made it fo to the believing Jews, to whom that 
 myftery was difclofed in the Old Tefiament in writing, and made it- 
 fo, alio, to the firft believers, to whom the mercy of God was difco-- 
 vered, whilft hieroglyphical records only were ufed ; and therefore 
 ic is very reafonable to expedt to meet with Ibme foot-ftcps of this dif- 
 
 N cover Y,
 
 ( 90 ) _ ^ 
 covery, fome hicro^lypbical reprefcntation, In wlucli it was to be re- 
 corded. 
 
 We fte the making of molten and graven Images, reprcfentations 
 of things in the heavens or in tlie earth, to beworlliippcd and fervcd 
 as Gods, was a practice as extenfivc, as it was offenfive, in the moft 
 early times, to the Deity ; and, as nothing could in itfelf, and confi- 
 dered literally, be more abfnrd, and lefs dediicible from, and confift- 
 ent with, nature and reafon, than to make any bodily reprefcntation- 
 of the Deity, and to ferve and worfhip that figure as divine, it may 
 be pretty fecurely concluded that, great as the abufe was, it was not 
 altogether human invention, but, probably, a notorious abufc from 
 the wantonnefs of Imagination of Ibme laudable, facred, Institu- 
 tion. 
 
 The praftife is bitterly cenfured, and, under the moft fevere pe- 
 nalties, prohibited, in the Laiso of Mofes. Ko reprefcntation at all 
 was to be made cA Jehovah, nor was there any Image of Him to be 
 met with in the tabernacle, or temple, to whom the people fhould 
 bow down, contrary to the practice oi all the heathen nations. 
 
 Yet, neverthelcfs, both in the tabernacle and temple there were 
 hieroglyphical^ or emblematical Figures fet up over the Mtrcy-Seat^ 
 called Cherubim, and between, or in them the Deity was to dwell, 
 or refidc, and to his Trefince, in that place, the blood was to be 
 brought in within the Vail, on the day of Expiation. 
 
 Tho' the form of thefe Cherubim was fo well known in the days 
 of Mofes that, without any other defcription of them but the name, 
 the workmen being commanded made them -, yet the knowledge of 
 the'figure they were of, was fo little enquired after by iho. J eivs, when 
 they revolted from God, and receded from the purity of their reli- 
 gion, that they fccmcd totally to have loft it, before they built the 
 fecond temple. For it appears evidently that they had no Cherubim 
 there, from thefe circumftances : That T'hilo knew nothing of their 
 form ; ihTHjofephus the learned and inquifitive prieft, who lived un- 
 der the fecond temple, and had proper occafion to have known fome- 
 thing about them, had any appearance of them been there, owns the 
 ignorance of himfelf and of his nation,, acknowledging they knew 
 nothing about them, but that they were Images of fome fort o\ -JDing- 
 ed Aiiimals i and the conclufion from this laft obfervation, and from 
 the utter filence of the Jeivs, fince the days of Ghrift, on that fub- 
 jed, is certain ■■, unlefs one will choofe to llippofe that "jofephtis, and 
 
 the
 
 (91) 
 the other later Jcjus diflfembled, and concealed, their knowledge, 
 left lome advantage might from thence have arifen to the Chriftians \ 
 which is not probable, bccaul'e the Chriftians, had not become, fo ear- 
 ly, fo much the objed of the Jcjjs jealoufy and averfion, as after- 
 wards they were. 
 
 These Cherubim were to be beaten out of the fame piece of gold 
 that covered the Ark of the Tefl'miony^ called the Mercy-Scat ; they 
 were to look inwards towards the Mercy-Seat , the blood, on the day 
 o^ Expiation, was to be fprinkled on the Mercy-Seat^ between them ; 
 Jehovah was to dwell, to rcfide, between, or in them ; from thence 
 he was to give directions, and refponfes ; and thcfe figures, with the 
 Mercy-Seat and the Ark^ was all the furniture of the San£inm San- 
 ifortim, the mojl holy place, the emblem of the divine refidence. 
 
 A s this was the mo/i holy place, and thefe figures made out of 
 the Tropitiatorium, i\\Q Mercy -Seat ^ were xhzmo^facred Eifiblems,. 
 it cannot be doubted they were of very high fignificancy, by any per- 
 fon who knows that the whole knowledge of early times was delivered 
 and recorded in fymbols and hieroglyphtcal reprefcntations, and who 
 recollefts that every other branch of the Jewipi inftitution was em- 
 blematical. 
 
 And, if thefe emblems rightly underftood, conveyed knowledge, 
 and direded the fentiments, and the fervice of the antient Ifraelites, 
 whofe chief joy was meditation on the La'iiJ of God, under the firft 
 temple ,• we cannot help lamenting the misfortune of the JewSy un- 
 der the fecond, who furely had loft all the benefits, the informatioa 
 by thole fymbols could give ; and who, certainly, could not bring in 
 the blood on the day of Expiation within the Vail.) and Iprinkle it 
 according to the firft directions of the Laii-. 
 
 If the lofs of the knowledge of thofe Emblems had been fortui- 
 tous,occafioned only by the length of time, between the deftructionof 
 the firft, and the building of the fecond temple, in which all thole 
 that knew the form oi ihc^Q Emblems, in the firft, had perifhed, the 
 Je'^'s cafe would be much to be pitied ; but it is by fo much the lels 
 a proper object of compalfion, that abundance of circumftances (hew 
 the lofs was owing to their own grols fault, and perverfenefs, which 
 juftifies the judgment of Blindnefs the Deity has been pleafed, in pur- 
 fuance of many denunciations, and even of the Covenant folemnly 
 entered into by their fathers, to execute againft them. 
 
 N 2 The
 
 ( 92 ) . 
 
 Thr firfl Temple was dcdroyed, and the people carried away, 
 becaute of their rebellion againft Jehovah^ and their running after 
 the falle Gods of the nations; and it feenis pretty certain that thole 
 who {ox\cc]Ljthovah, entirely, would very little mind, or meditate 
 on, the fcnie of \.\\c fimbols, or iervice inftitutcd by him ; and if any 
 of them returned to their land, it is not very likely they would b-: 
 follicitous about what they knew nothing of 
 
 I T is lurprizingly remarkable that, from the promulgation of the 
 La-j: on Sinai^ 'till the deftrudion oi Jtriifalefn with the tiril tem- 
 ple, the depraved turn oi thcjcius^ who followed their own imagi- 
 nations, was to "Polytheifniy quitting Jehovah for the fooliili gods of 
 the nations ; and that, contrary to the cleareft evidence, though they 
 had amongft them the Ark oi "jehovah, the whole ornaments and 
 liturgy of the Temple, the fire of God burning on their altar, the 
 Ephod with Urim to dirccl them, the Prophets infpired to inllrud 
 them, and the interpofition of frequent miracles, to piove Jehovah 
 the only, the true God. 
 
 • And it is equally remarkable that, after their return from the 
 captivity, when all thefe extraordinary pieces of evidences failed, 
 notwiihllanding their many faults and follies, they never once nati- 
 onally fvverved from Jehovah to the fervice of the gods of the na- 
 tions j but, by guarding againft that error, and the faulty efieds of 
 encouraging Imagination^ they ran into the contrary extreme ; be- 
 caufe of the Unity o^ Jehovah they were unwilling to think of the 
 Plurality of Eloh'tms and, left Imag'watwn fhould carry them 
 too far, they would go no farther than the Letter of the Lavjy and 
 the Exterior of Jnftitutions and fcrvices, w hich, confidered purely 
 in that light, fignified nothing, or was apt to millcad; neglcfting the 
 precept fo often inculcated, and lb carefully practiced by the godly, 
 to obferve^ to meditate on the L<«o^', and thereby to dilcovcr, and 
 comfoit themfelves with, the merciful and beneficent meaning of it. 
 This turn of mind loft the knowledge of the Cherubim^ it prevented 
 their feeing the Mefjias in Jefiis. 
 
 As the Cherubim are not fully defcribed in the hiftory of the 
 framing and building of the tabernacle, or temple, and as the Priefts, 
 who might have feen them in the Sanclum San[iorum, and the other 
 pcrfons, who muft have feen them on the walls and doors of the 
 temple, might have failed, before the fecond temple was compleatly 
 finifhed, which would have furnifhed an excufe to the fucceeding Jeivs 
 
 for
 
 ( 93 ) 
 for being without thofe emblems in the fecond temple, and for neg- 
 lecting the knowledge thereby conveyed, it pleafed God to exhibit 
 to one of his prophets, Ezcklel, in vifion at different times, the fi- 
 gnre of thefe Emblims, which he has in two feveral places, Chap. 
 I ft and icth, carefully recorded. And it is not a little furprizing, 
 that tho* the Jews unanimoully hold Ez:'kiei to be a prophet, and 
 thefc paflages to be infpired, yet they never thought fit to give the 
 Figures he defcribes a place in their temple, or to guefs at the mean- 
 ing of them, though they hold that thofe vifions contain the moft im- 
 portant myftery. 
 
 The defcription of the Creatures, feen in this vifion by Exe- 
 kiel, is lb full, and fo anxioully, and laborioufly given, that there is 
 no miftaking fome of thegreat linesof it. Each Cherub hzd four 
 heads, at leaft/^r^i", and but one body ; each had bands of a man 
 and '■jjings \ and the four faces were, firft, the face of a Bull, which 
 it properly called a Cherub ; fecondly, to the right of the Bull, the 
 faceofaA/««; thirdly, to the right of the man, the face of a L;i?K ; 
 and the faces of the Ma-n and Eton are faid Chap. i. v. lo. to have 
 been on the right fide, whereas the face of the Bull is faid to have 
 been on the left fide -, and fourthly, the face of an Eagle, without 
 taking notice of any particular conjunftion between the face of the 
 t ull and that of the Eagle. 
 
 And the prophet takes fo much care to inculcate that the Crea- 
 tures, or //iwr^j thus reprefented, were the Cherubim, and that the 
 defcriptiot^ in the firfl and the tenth Chapter., relate to the fame 
 Cherubim, that there can be no doubt he defcribes the very Cherubhn 
 placed in the tabernacle and temple 5 unlefs it can be fiippofed that 
 this defcription was given, on fet purpofe, to deceive and miflead us. 
 
 Knowing thus, from Ezikiel., the form of the Cherubim, and 
 knowing the ufage of the moft anticnt nations, particularly the Egyp- 
 tians., of framing compounded figures of this kind, fox hieroglyph'/cal 
 or fymboiical purpofcs -, from the remains of their antiquities ftill ex- 
 tant, we can entertain no doubt that this reprefentation was fignifica- 
 tive. He who cannot believe that the Cherubim was fet in the Holy of 
 Holies to reprefent 077e. animal, compounded of Bull., Man, Lion, 
 and Eagle, muft neceffarily admit that the faces of thefe animals, fo 
 joined, were intended to fignify feveral characters, powers, or pcrfons, 
 united together in one. 
 
 The
 
 *iiwiiiui»ii^; 
 
 ( 94 ) 
 
 The Italian J aims was bifrons^ fomctimes quadr'ifrotis ; 'T)'iana 
 was triforniis ; many Egyptian monuments (hew fJDO, Ibmetimes 
 three heads of different creatures to one body 5 in vaft numbers of 
 gems, particularly thofe called Abraxas, human bodies have the 
 heads fometimes of dogs^ fometimes of lions^ Ibmetimes of eagles or 
 ha'-jjks^ Kc. and no one can doubt that each of thole reprefcntations 
 was fymbolical. 
 
 I N con fide ring this fi.ibje(fl we mufl: recollcfl that, though the build- 
 ing of the tabernacle was not lb early as to give birth to thofe ftrange 
 compofitions over the heathen world, yet this Figure was exhibited, 
 --immediately, upon the expulfionof man from T'aradife ; and was lb 
 well known, when Ifrael left Egypt ^ that the workman made the 
 Cherubim, without any other diredion than that of making them out 
 of the gold that compoled the Mercy-Seat ^ and placing them on ei- 
 ther end of it looking towards the Mercy-Seat^ and ftretching their 
 wings over it. So that the compound Figures of the antients, to re- 
 prefent their Deities, had no other original but that, at the eaft end 
 of the garden of ^^f-w. 
 
 HowEA'^ER the £?«Z'/^WJ, or reprefcntations, of the heathen di- 
 vinities may have been complicated of the forms of different animals, 
 originally ; yet we fee, with length of time, they feparated thole 
 Symbols, fuppofed the different Figures to be different IDeities, and 
 at laft worfhipped them apart. 
 
 The Egyptian Apis^ the Bull, in imitation whereof the Ifraelites 
 made their golden Calf^ and Jeroboam made his Calves, was but 
 one of thofe figures ; and the deity called Baal amongft the Syrians, 
 which is alfo called the Heifer Baal, was the fame, and yet was the 
 rcprefentation of the great God, the Lord of all. 
 
 The Terfian Mithras was in all the 'Devices of the fervants of 
 that god pidured 2. Lion, or with a Lion's head; and the Egyptian 
 Sphinx, which flood at the entry of their temples, had but two of the 
 cherubical figures, joined in a ftrange manner, the head of \\vt Man 
 put on the body of the Lion. 
 
 The Eagle v/as to the Greeks, and Romans, an emblem facred to 
 Jupitir or Jovis, their great God, whom they pidured like a man ; 
 in the talons of this bird they put a thunderbolt, and this exprefllon 
 of thunder, proceeding from clouds, born by the ^'^^/if, whofe way 
 in the air is among the clouds, was the enfign of Nf(f« H^gpjTJj^ Xevs : 
 and we know, from Sanchoniathon, that the Tynans had a pillar fa- 
 cred
 
 ( 9S ) 
 
 cred to fFind, ox Air in motion, as well as they had to Fire, built as 
 they faid b) Ufons the fon of Hjpfouranias, which Fire and IFmd 
 they worlhipped as gods. 
 
 We know frofn antient authors, and we lee in antient gems and 
 ether monuments, that the Egyptians were very much accuftomed to 
 make the body of their Image, or reprefentation, humariy Ibmetimes 
 with the head of a Lion, fometlmes with that of a Ha'-ji-k., or Eagle, 
 and fometimes with that of a Bull, a Ranty or fome other horned 
 creature. 
 
 And as, from the original exhibition of the Cherubim renewed, 
 and recalled to its proper ufe, in the tabernacle, and temple, we fee 
 the antients had a pattern from whence they might have taken thofe 
 reprefentations, which they monRroufly abuled, we may reafonabiy 
 conclude that thele reprefentations which, naturally, and without 
 Ibme inftitution, would never have come into the heads of any men, 
 flowed from an early pradice, that had a different intent from that, 
 to which it was at lafl: turned. 
 
 And, from the application made by the antient Tagans of each of 
 the figures in the Cherubim, to fignify a different Deity, we may with 
 reafon conclude, that they undcrftood that particular figure, in the 
 Cherubim, which they chofe for their protector or god, reprefented^ 
 in the hieroglyphic al ufage of the early times, the power, the thing, 
 or perlbn, that they intended to ferve. 
 
 Thus, for example, if the curled hairs, and horns, in the Bttll's 
 head were, in hieroglyphical writing, made the emblem o^ Fire in ge- 
 neral, or Fire at the orb of the Sun, thofe, who took material fire 
 for their deity would fet up that Emblem^ and worfhip it. 
 
 I F the Lion's piercing eyes, or any other confideration, brought 
 that animal to be the emblem oL Light in general, or oi Light ifliiing 
 from the body of the Sun, fuch as took Light for their god, if any 
 fuch were, would fet up the Lion for the Emblem. 
 
 A N D if the Eagle's foaring flight, and commerce thereby with the- 
 air, brought that bird to be the emblem of ^-//r, fuch as imagined a 
 divinity in the Air, in Clouds, in JVinds, would take that bird to re- 
 prefent their deity. 
 
 And the Human Figure in the Cherubim muft, one fhonld 
 think, be the mofi: natural occafion of that unlverilil miftake which, 
 all the heathens, at length, dropped into of picturing their gods with 
 human bodies., and the very earlieft gave fome countenance to, in join- 
 ing
 
 ( 96 ) 
 
 Jiig parts of the human body to, . almoft, all their reprefcntations of their 
 L.ods. 
 
 " IN o \v, To it is, that we do know from innumerable texts of Scripture, 
 and fiom many palTages in heathen hiftorians, and Mytho'ogifts, that 
 the objcftsofthc carliefl: pagan adoration, after lofing the idea of the 
 true God, were the poisners in the Heavens, that were fuppofed to 
 maintain this fyftem ; the Sun, Moon, and Stars, the Ho;t of Hea- 
 'ven, the ^Uieen of Heaven; Fire, which was ruppofed to be one ot 
 the chief agents, in fupporting the motion of the univerfe-, Light il- 
 luing from /*"/r^, and the yf^, Clouds, IVinds, ikz. which had infi- 
 nite force, and were ibppofed to ad a very confiderable part in the go- 
 vernment, and prefervationof the material world. 
 
 1 N particular, we know that Fire at the orb of the Sun was wor- 
 fhipped by the antient Egyptians^ who made ufe oi Jlpis, the bulL 
 {o\<ht\xFjnibicm\ and that the worfnippers of i?^^/, x.\\t Heifer, be- 
 lieved their gcd had the command of Fire. For, in the remarkable 
 contention between Jehovah and Baa\ managed on the one fide by 
 Elijah, on the part oVfehovah, and on the other by four hundred 
 and fifty Triefs, on the part oi Baal, the tefl of all was, which of 
 their Deities could command Fire to come down from heaven to con- 
 fume thefacrifice, and the iflfue difgraced Baal, and deftroyed all his 
 Triefts. And therefore, it is no rafh conclufion, that the Ox's or 
 Bull's head, was the hieroglyphical Emblem of Fire^ perhaps Fire at 
 the orb of the Sun. 
 
 We know alfo that many of the .E^>';>//^«.f, and of the neighbour- 
 ing nations worfhipped Light -, it was difficult to leparate the idea of 
 light from that of fire. Thofe that ferved the moon and planets had 
 not fire for their objeft. The Terfians, who worfhipped fire, and e- 
 niinently the body of the Sun, had L'ght, necefi'arily, in efteem, 
 their beneficent principle. Oromafdes was Light. Joj talked of 
 worfhipping Light as idolatry. There were leveral temples in E- 
 gypt, and in Canaan, to the Light of the Sun ; and in Egypt, as well 
 as in 'Ferfia, the Lion was a lacred EmbU'tn. Wherefore, it feenis 
 highly probable the Lion was ufed as the Symbol or Emblem o{ Light, 
 as the Bull was made ufe of as the F.mblem o^ Fire. 
 
 W E know, alfo, that the earlieft lieathens took the Air, IVmd, 
 that thing which in the antient languages is exprelled by a word fig- 
 nifying, "promifcuoufly, //-^/Wand Spirit, that invifible agent which 
 we feel, and which performs fo many confiderable effeds in nature 
 
 without
 
 ( 97 ) 
 without being feen, for a Derfy ; that to it they afcribed infpiratioh ; 
 ihcit Sji^i/s, their deliverers of Oracles were /'«//^/'^^; futurities, the 
 will of their God was difcovered, by the countenance of Clouds, and 
 the flight of Birds, which were religioufly obferved by Augurs, in 
 the Hebre'-JJ, Cloud-rnongers -, Thunder was the voice of their God, 
 which was portentous, and much obferved. Thunder was afcribed 
 to the great Jove, the Thunderer, and the Eagle with the thunder- 
 bolt was his enfign j whence we may, pretty fafely, conclude that 
 ihc Eagle, to the worfhippers of the y://r, reprefented, hteroglyphi- 
 cally. Air, Wind, Spirit. 
 
 If the Deity, to give fome idea of himfelf from a fenfible object, 
 had made choice of the Heavens as the ienfible objecl:, from which to 
 take the imperfeft idea of his immenfity, pcrfonality, and manner 
 of exiftence and operation ; if, by the vaftnefs and extent of them,"*-- 
 his immenfity was to be reprefented 5 if by fire, the firjl Terfon, ne-— 
 ceflarily and continually generating and fending forth light, x.he fecond'--' 
 Terfon, and conftantly and neceffarily lupplied by Air, or Spirit,— - 
 the third Terjon, the Trinity coexifting, and cooperating, for the-..^ 
 llipport of the whole, and in aid of each other, was to be repre- 
 sented 5 then, upon difcovering this to mankind, the //^^X'^WJ would ~' 
 become the type of Jehovah, the divine Efence -, Fire would be- 
 come the type of the >// Terfon, Light oi the fecond, and Jir, or 
 Spirit of the third ; and whatever Emblems, in hicroglyphiral writing, 
 were ufed to exprefs theie, as the names of the one, would, or might 
 be ufed, for the appellations, or names of the other. 
 
 So that, if this refemblance, or reprefentation, were to be ex- 
 preffed in ftone, wood, or metal, the emblems oi' Fire, Light, and 
 Air or Spirit, that is, from what has been faid, the Bull, the Lion, 
 and 'the Eagle, ought to be conjoined together into the form of one 
 Animal-, and every body, who underftocd the. hieroghghicA em- 
 blems would immediately think on the Heavens which they repre- 
 fented, and, from thence, raife to himfelf the intended image of the 
 Trinity in the divine Effence. 
 
 Now we do know that the word Shemim, ufed always tor the 
 Heavens, in the facred langurge which God has cholen to exprefs 
 his Revelation in, is plural, as the other word Elohim is i that its 
 natural figniiication is Names, and that it has been often made ule oi 
 to fignify the Deity. And if the CharaBers, oxTo^^ers in the 
 Heavens have been chofen to point out, and exprefs the ^ erjons m 
 
 O ^^^
 
 ( 93 ) 
 the Deity, we can perceive the reafon why the Heavens have got 
 the appellation of the Names^ by way of eminence, as they denote, 
 or are defcriptive of, thofc facred Terfons. 
 
 And we do, further, know that the firft turn the antient heathens 
 took from the worlhip of the true, the invifible, God, was to the wor- 
 ftiip of the Heavens^ thofe Names 5 which can, pretty naturally, be 
 accounted for, if they were accuftomed to think on the To-jners^ or 
 Chambers in the Heavens with any facred regard, and to believe 
 that they fupported thcmfelves, and all the reft of this fyftem, by 
 one unerring, perpetual, action and readion upon themfelves, and 
 on every thing elfe, in the material world. 
 
 This defedion from the knowledge and fervice of the true God 
 began as early as the projed at Babel. The fcheme, then, was to 
 build a tower or temple to the Heavens \ and, tho' the defign was 
 theij broken, by making the projedors fall out amongft themlelves a- 
 bout the Liturgy, and form of Worlhip, which was confounding 
 their lar^uage, yet it loon to&k place, in different families, and coun- 
 tries, tho' with different emblems, ceremonies, and ferviees. Abra- 
 ham., by the diredion of God, left Ur of the Chaldees, where the 
 rebellious fervice, probably to the Light, had begun ; and was, as 
 vrere his fbn, and grandchild, after him, for many years, kept under 
 the immediate diredion of God, itinerant in regions that were then 
 but thinly pedpled, and with the inhabitants whereof they had but 
 fmall intercourfe, to prevent the infedion that might have come from 
 communication with idolatersj and, by the immediate ad of providence, 
 his race was brought down to Egypt, and exceedingly multiplied 
 there, under particular manners, and inftitutions, that kept them di- 
 ftind from the people of that great Empire ; which, as it was one of 
 the firft mighty monarchies, fo was confeiTedly the moft noted for 
 the learning, and fuperfticious profeflion, of the pagan religion; and 
 chofen therefore by the Deity as the fcene in which his wonders 
 were to be wrought, for the confufion of idolatrous /«?<2^/»^/;(?«, and 
 for eftablifhing the authority of himfelf, his Law-giver, and confe- 
 <5uently his La-^s, with the IfraeHtijlj People. 
 
 As lubftituting the vifible fimilitude in the room of the invifible 
 God was the firft, it was the moft criminal, the moft dangerous, 
 abufe that ever crept into religion ; and, therefore, the ftrongeft, the 
 moft laborious, efforts, if one may be allowed to fay fo, were made 
 by the Deity to coned, and prevent it ; and to fet men right in that 
 
 particular,
 
 ( 99 ) 
 particular, Reajbnmgs, of any kind, could not have had the fame 
 weight to convince the idolatrous Egyptians^ or the Ifraelites, who 
 might have imbibed fbme of their notions, that the Heavens, and 
 iii them the Fire, the Light, X.\\QAtr, ox Spirit, were no real Gods, 
 and were but fervants of Jehovah^ their maker ; as the repeated 
 miracles wrought by Mofes, the fervant o'i Jehovah^ in the fight of 
 both nations -, giving animal life to inanimate matter ; turning rods 
 into ferpents; producing multitudes of frogs ; turning water into bloody 
 turning light into darknefs ; making the air produce fwarms of noxious 
 infeds ; inflifting dilcafes, and death, on certain clafles, whilft others 
 were fafe ; dividing the lea , commanding fire, and cloud, to exe- 
 cute his command, a-c. miracles which were, to all intents, fuffi- 
 cient to convince the Egyptians of their error, and to guard Ifrael 
 againft falling into it. 
 
 And, accordingly, we fee the point, principally, laboured in the 
 writings left by Mofes^ is aflferting to Jehovah the power, preemi- 
 nence, and dominion, attributed by the pagans to the Heavens. 
 Hence his books begin with the creation, and formation of thofe 
 Heavens by the word of God 5 the hiftory of the deftrudion of the 
 earth, by the flood, is minutely recorded ; the conftant claim of the 
 Deity is to be confefled as the Creator of the Heavens and the Earthy 
 and the giver of all the good things that were fuppofed to come, imme- 
 diately, from them. The chief view of the Law of the fxo Tables, 
 is to deny fervice to all beings but Jehovah ; the profeflions of the 
 faithful were that Jehovah made the Heavens } was the fovereigrj 
 Lord and Maflrer; and in thofe profeffions, the miracles in Egypt., 
 \3c. are referred to, as the foundation of their belief and acknow- 
 ledgment. 
 
 - It calls for very particular attention that the firft, and the grand \ 
 miftakes in religion proceeded from taking literally ^ what was meant 'Vy^ 
 
 figuratively, or emblematically only ; and fo denying, in effed, the " ^^ 
 
 ,^,Jymbolical m&znm^, from which fevcral impious abfurdities followed, ' 
 
 terminating in abfolute infidelity, where Ibme fort of impertinent be- 
 lief was not maintained by extravagant imaginations. 
 
 The ridicule of this miftake appears very Itrong, in taking' j^w- 
 bolical reprefentations for the Realities intended to be reprelented -, 
 
 • Vhatever pretence a Revelation, recorded in words by^ writing, 
 might l^ve to be fo, literally, underftood, fare it was extremely per- 
 
 O 2 verfe
 
 ( lOO ) 
 
 verfe to take piBures only, for the original things, or pcrfons de- 
 figned to be exhibited by \.hc pi^ures. 
 
 And yet this folly we fee mankind fell intoalmofl: in every particular. 
 Tlie Elohim were reprefented by the Heavens, and thele, again, in 
 Sculpture^ ox Ticiiire, by the Bull, the Lion, and the ^^^/^ joined. 
 The tirft who wandered from the truth miftook the Heavens^ Fire^ 
 Lights and Air^ or Spirit, for what they were intended to repre- 
 fenc, the invifible Trinity ; and as fuch worfhipped them, ufing the 
 figures of the Bull, the Lion, and the Eagie, only as hieroglyphical 
 reprefentations of thofe Towers^ which they truly were intended to 
 be. But their fucceflbrs, in procefs of time, forgetting the fuppoled 
 influence of thofe Towers in the Air^ or Heavens, and, obferving 
 religious fervice paid to the forms of thofe animals, made a fecond 
 miftake, looked no more to the Heavens^ as their Gods, but ftu- 
 pidly imagined a Deity to be inherent in thofe graven, or molten, 
 Images which they worfhipped, and ferved, and from whom they 
 looked for favour, and protection ; and, when thofe things became 
 too abfurd to be credited, and formally defended, Imagination was 
 fet to work, and produced fuch ridiculous fyftems in refped to the 
 Deity, as endangered the lofing the knowledge, even , of the 
 original Symbols, and helped to introduce, total Unbelief and A- 
 theifm. 
 
 It was taking Symbols for Realities, that made men imagine a 
 purifying quality in the blood of bealtsj that made them fancy that 
 Hecatombs llaughtered placated the Deity ; and that God was de- 
 lighted with the fmoke that arofe from the fat of burnt-offerings. 
 
 I T was laying hold of the /ff/fr, and letting the meaning flip, that 
 induced men to facrifice their firjl-born^ to fhed in facrifice human 
 blood \ the blood of the firft-born was to atone ; the feed of the 
 •woman was to relieve mankind from mifery; the firil-born were fa- 
 cred to God. Zealots to the letter, imagined the fruity at leaft, the 
 firfifrmt of the womb had this vertue, and therefore offered it, 
 literally, to their Gods, which, at lalt, made human facrifice fafliion- 
 able. 
 
 I N fhort, looking at the external fymbols, and letter, and not at 
 the apparent, certain, meaning of both, drove the heathens to all 
 their follies j and firft mifled, and afterwards hardened, and con- 
 firmed,
 
 ( lOI ) 
 
 firmed, the Jeis^s in thofe abfurdicies, under which they are ridicu- 
 lous, and milerable, to this day. 
 
 A s the practice of the earlieft heathens, who firft apoftatifed to the 
 lervice of the Heavens, in fetting up the figures of the leveral animals, 
 whereof the Cherubim was conipofed, for the fymbols, or emblems, 
 of the different Towers in the Heavens, which they vvbrfhipped, is 
 . ftrong evidence what thofe figures were, originally, intended to re- 
 prefent: it becomes neceflary for any one, who would have further 
 latisfadion in this particular, to fearch the fcriptures to fee whether, 
 in the feveral appearances of the Deity therein related, there may not 
 be fomecharaiiilers fit to confirm, ordeftroy, the opinion that the /f- 
 gtires in the Cherubim were the emblems di fire^ light, and air, or 
 fpirit. 
 
 And, upon due enquiry, it will be found that, almoft, always 
 when the manner of Jehovah's appearance is defcribed, the vifible 
 Jymbol oihxs prefince \\d.s fire^ or light, ox air, or all three together: 
 not to mention that the appearance of ^fr^ is generally, and, almoft, 
 neceffarily attended with that of light. 
 
 The firft appearance defcribed is Gen. i$. where, to confirm the 
 covenant to Abraham, the parts of the divided beafts, and the fowls, 
 being fet over againft each other, the appearance of a fmoalcfng fur- 
 nace, and a lamp o^fire pafTed between them. That this appearance 
 contained _;fr^, light, o.v\d air, or fpir it, is evident.' 
 
 The fecond appearance, of which the form is mentioned, was 
 under the oaks of Mamre, Gen. i8. where the figure is not partly*' 
 cularly defcribed, tho' probably it was human, or like to it; and 
 all we can gather from this, is, that the appearance was under the 
 form oi three Terfons. 
 
 The next appearance defcribed is that to Mofes, in the bufh, 
 Exod. 3. what was exhibited to view was a burning bufh which was 
 not confumed, and this exhibition could not poffibly be without 
 light ; whether it was attended with cloud, or fmoak, the text does 
 not fiy. 
 
 The next emblem of ihc pre fence of God, defcribed, is the pillar 
 of fire, and cloud, that guided and guarded, the Ifraelites in the 
 vvildernefs 5 \{ light bs allowed to \.\\c fire, in this exhibition, all the 
 three are joined. 
 
 Immediately after this we fee Jehovah giving the La"^ fo- 
 lemnly, from Sinai; he is laid, Exod. 19. 18. to have defcend'ed' 
 
 tipOT} 
 
 X
 
 # i 102 ) 
 
 u/)on it in fire : Mount Sinai was altogether on a fnioak: ; it was co- 
 vered with a thick cloud, and there were on it thunders and light- 
 nings ; and Alofes takes notice, T>eiit. 4, 1 5. in cautioning the If- 
 raelites againft graven images, and the making the fimilitudes of any 
 creatures, to be worlhipped as God i that an the day that 'Jehovah 
 fpoke to them in Horeh, out of the midft of \.hc fire^ they faw no 
 manner oi fimilitude ; by which, the text ibews, muft be meant the 
 limilitude of any animal : Befides^ that it is certain there muft have 
 been the appearance oifire, and lights from ic as well as from the 
 lightning, and the cloud which, naturally, deiK>tes <«;>, orfpirit, whole 
 peculioir language thunder is. 
 
 When the tabernacle of the congregation was removed, and 
 pitched without the camp, upon the people's rebellion whilft Mofes 
 tarried yet in Horeb, the pillar of cloud defcendcd, and flood at the 
 door of the tabernacle, lb often as the Lord talked with Mofes i and 
 ail the people, upon feeing this cloud, worlhipped. Exod. 35. 9, lo. 
 
 When Mofs defired to fee the way of the Lord^ and Jehovah 
 was to proclaim his natne, he cauled \vis glory to pafs by him, Exod. 
 33. 22. Now if this glory of the Lord was of the fame kind with 
 that which filled the tabernacle, and temple, on many occafions, and 
 which Ezekiel, in his account of the Cherubim, defcribes, ic muft 
 have confifted o^ fire, lig^f^ ^"^ air, or fpirit. 
 
 When the tabernacle was fet up, Exod. a^o\ 34., 35. the cloud 
 of the Lord covered the tent, and the glorj of Jehovah filled the 
 tabernacle. When Aaron blefled the people, foe the firft time, upon 
 cntring upon his office, Levit. 9. 23. the glory of Jehovah ap- 
 peared to all the people. When the temple was compleated, and 
 the lacred mufick had played, i Kings 8. 10, ir. and 2 Chron. 5. 
 1 3 , 1.4. the cloud filled the houfe of Jehovah, fo that the 'Priefis 
 could not ft and to minifter, by reafon of the cloud : for the glory of 
 Jehovah had filled the houfe of Jehovah. And 2 Chron. 7. 2. 
 When Solomon had done praying, at the dedication of the temple, 
 the glory of the Lord filled the houfe. And the 'Priefts could not 
 enter into the houfe of Jehovah, becaufe the glory of Jehovah had 
 filled Jehovah's houfe. 
 
 Now, if we examine what appearance this glory of Jehovah had, 
 when he was, as one may fay, in perfon taking pofleffion of his 
 houfe, and can with certainty difcover it, we may with confidence 
 •onclude that the fenfible image it bore,, was what God intended 
 
 Ihould
 
 ( 103 ) 
 
 fiiould give the idea of the material thing, to which he^ whole pre- 
 fence that appearance denoted, was to be afllmilated. 
 
 The common notion oi glory has fplendor, a glare of light at- 
 tending it; and, when brought into fculpturc, or painting, is fi- 
 gured like rays iffuing from the fun \ and, in the paflages above- 
 mentioned, a cloud, another emblem^ was attendant. 
 
 In Ezekiel chap. i. where the Cherub is defcribed, ^ht glory of. 
 Jehovah is alio ftrongly painted. The vifion begins with a whirl- 
 wind, a great cloud, v. 4. and a fire infolding itfef. ^'. 13. As for 
 the likenefs of the living creatures^ their appearance was like burn- 
 ing coals of fire, and like the ^ippearnnce of lamps : it went up and- 
 down among the living creatures, and the fire was bright ^ and out • 
 of the fire went forth lightning, v. 26, 27, 28. The appearance of 
 a Alany on the appearance of a throne ; and the prophet faw, as the 
 colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it :-~ 
 from the appearance of his loyns even upward, and from the ap- 
 pearance of his loyns even downward, he faw as it were the appearance 
 of fire } and it had brightnefs round about. As the appearance of...^ 
 the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, fo was the appea- 
 ranee of the brightnefs round about. This, fays the prophet^, waf 
 the appearance of th£ likenefs of the glory of the Lord: and, when 
 he faw it, he fell down upon his face. And chap. 10. v. 4. where 
 the fame Cherubim are defcribed, the court is faid to have been full 
 of the brightnefs of Jehovah' s glory , whilft the houfe was filled with ~^. 
 the cloud. 
 
 This defcription fhews that ^fr^, light, and cloudy were the'"^ 
 principal, if not the only, ingredients in the appearance of the glory 
 of Jehovah h and //?£> preternatural appearance of //^^^, ftiiningfrom 
 the skin of Mofes's face, after the glory of Jehovah had paffed by 
 -him, fhews, pretty well, what {)ci2.\c light had in the compofition of 
 that glory, which the Apoftle Taul feems to have underftood, when 
 writing to the Hebrtws^ chap. i. he fpeaks oi the brightnefs of the 
 Father's glory ^ the exprefs image of his Terfon. 
 
 Besides thcfe appearances of the glory of the Lord, Jehovah 
 afts in charafter, when Levit. 9. 23. plcafcd with the prielthood of 
 Aaron he fends fire., the emblem of himfelf, out from his face, to 
 burn the facrifice on the' altar. When 2 Chron. j. i. Fire, upon 
 the ending of Solomon?, prayer, came down from heaven, and con- y 
 lumed the burnt-offering. And when i. Kings 13.38, the decifion- 
 
 was
 
 ( 104 ) 
 was made, as above-mentioned, between '"Jehovah^ and Baal, by 
 fire from tent en. 
 
 Th ese being, perpetually, the fignals oi Jehovah's prcfe?ice^ the 
 fymbols made ufe of to denote his appearance; thefe having been, 
 jointly, or feverally, the objeds of the earlieft pagans religious Icrvice?, 
 the Pagans acknowledging the bull, the lion, and the eagle^ as the 
 emblems of thefe their divinities, which, in length of time, they mif- 
 took for what they were intended only to reprclenti and the bull^ 
 the lioyi^ and the eagle, joined in the appearance of one living crea- 
 ture., having been confecrated, as one may fay, in the Cherubim, for 
 the refidence of the prefence of God in the Holy of Holies^ one can 
 hardly doubt that the figures, joined in the Cherubim, which were 
 the emblems o^ fire., I'ght., and air., or fpirit., the ordinary fimilitude 
 under which the Deity ufually appeared, were intended to reprefent 
 thofe chambers, or perfons, in the divine Effence, that fire^ ^ight^ 
 and d/>, oxfpirit, refembled. 
 
 Whatever occafion man might have had for the knowledge 
 of the diftinftion o^ perfons in the Deity, before the Fali,, yet it 
 feems certain the manner of his falvation, after his defeftion, could 
 not have been imparted to him without revealing that truth, undilco- 
 verable by the light of nature. He could not poffibly know how, 
 or upon what account, his fins were to be pardoned, and himfelf re- 
 inftated in the favour of God, without being told that the Deity con- 
 {ii\s of three "Terfons ; that of thofe //^rt'^, purfuant to a covenant 
 made before the Creation, the fecond was to take on him llefh, 
 and in the form of man to fuffer, and thereby atone for the fins of 
 mankind ; and that the third was to keep a communication with the 
 Ibuls of men, for their guidance and comfort. And man could not 
 poffibly keep up, with any certainty, the memory of this Revelation 
 without fome memorial, fomc fymbolical ad, or thing, to prefervc 
 it ; or look upon fuch fymbol, knowing the ienfe of it, without grate- 
 fully confeffing his obligations to thofe divine 'Perfons.^ to whom he 
 owed his being, his comfort, his falvation. 
 - A Chrijlian, the moft important article of whofe Creed it is that 
 the Deity was joined to the humanity, that the fFord w^s made flefh, 
 that a -Perfon in Jehovah became the Son of Alan, and a Man, born 
 of a Virgin, became the Son of Jehovah, will not fcruple, when he 
 is told that in the reprefentation of the Deity exhibited xxw^zx fymbols 
 ip the Cherubim., for the inftrudion and comfort of mankind, the 
 
 figure
 
 f J^5 ) 
 
 figure of a Man is added to thcfe that reprefent the Trinity • tliat 
 this figure of a Man is placed at the light hand of that cmblela that 
 reprelents the Father, the fir fi Terfon^ the Firc^ and that it is, in a 
 particular manner, conjoyned with' the Lion, the fccoyid Terfin, the 
 Light. He firmly believes what thefe j^^'^r^j-, thus explained, re- 
 prefent ; and muft think it agreeable to the great condefcenfion, and 
 goodnefs of the merciful God, to acquaint nian, from the beginninf, 
 with what fo nearly concerned him, and what, without Revelatim^ 
 he could poflibly have no idea of. 
 
 The hierog/yphical repTicfcnUiion in the Cherubim muft not be 
 confidered, fingly, from the form of it ; but to that muft be added 
 the rank it had in the tabernacle, and the ceremony, or emblematic 
 cal aftion in which it was concerned. 
 
 Jt has been already obferved that the Cherubim were to be made 
 ont of the lame pure gold that compofed the mercy-feat, which they 
 were to cover with their wings; and all that is defcribed to us, fur- 
 ther, of theirpofturcis that, {landing one at each end of the mercy feat ^ 
 their faces were to look towards each other, and towards the ^/^^Tf/- 
 feat. 
 
 This mercy-feat^ the fpace between the two Cherubim, is de- 
 fcribed, particularly, as the place of the refidence of the D^ity, 
 and of his appearance; he was to inhabit the Cherubim, or between 
 them i and he was to appear, there, in the cloud, and to declare his 
 will from thence. 
 
 Besides this, there was a ftated folemn ceremony to be per- 
 formed, once a year, on the day of Expiatioyi, before the mercy- 
 feat : the Triefl was to bring within the vail the blood of i\\Q fin- 
 offering, and with it to make atonement for all the people, by 
 Iprinkling of the blood upon the mercy-feat, and feven times before 
 it ; and this blood, fo fprinkled, is faid to expiate. 
 
 The atoning blood, in this higheft aft of the Mofaical inftitu- 
 tion, was fpiinkled on that place, the mercy-feat, towards which 
 the feveral faces of the Cherubim were turned : and, if they were to 
 fee, they had no obje£l to look at, on this folemn day of expiation, 
 but the Triefi in the holy garment, the emblem of the fecond Ter- 
 fon, the Light, fprinkling this blood on, and towards, the mercy- 
 feat ■■, which could hardly fail to raife the idea, that the blood, lb 
 fprinkled, was the objeft the divine Terfons, whom i[\t{t figures 
 
 P reprelented,
 
 -f^ 
 
 { 106 ) 
 
 reprefented, looked upon, as the propitiation, the ranfom, the atone- 
 ment. 
 
 And if it was neceflary, towards making this emblem compleat, 
 to reprefent ail the Terfons as looking upon, and accepting this blood, 
 then it bec.ime ncceflary to make twofeveral Cherubs, and to place 
 them at different ends of the mercy-feat, that the face o^ ta.ch figure 
 might be turned towards the fpot, the blood was to be fprinkled on; 
 becaufe had there been no more than one Cherub, two only of the 
 four faces could have been direded to the place on which the blood 
 was to be Iprinkled ; befides that, the fignificancy of the circumflance 
 of their faces looking towards each other, which deferves a ieparate 
 confideration, would have been Joft. 
 
 Nothing is more certain than that, under the Mofaick oeconcmy, 
 the Deity was to refide, to dwell, to appear, in the midft of the 
 people, in the place where he was to put his Name -, the place 
 where, and where only, in exclufion of all others, facrifice was to 
 be offered, the altar was to be let up, and every other ceremonial, or 
 emblematical ad of their religion was to be performed, and more par- 
 ticularly the higheft in, or between, the Cherubim. 
 
 Whatever religious adl was done, in this place, is faid to be 
 done before Jehovah., in the Hebreiv, always, before the faces oj 
 Jehovah. , '-'-'' 
 
 Now, if the feveral faces of the Cherubim are taken to""feprefent the 
 Terfons in the Deity,, and therefore to be called the faces of Jehovah, 
 the reafon of this phrafeology will be obvious, as the phrafe it felf 
 will be fignificant. 
 
 I T is not to be diffembled that the Hebrew words, tranflated be- 
 fore the faces, are often made ufe of to fignify before.^ or in pre fence of 
 without regard to plurality of faces ; but it delerves enquiry how ^o 
 ftrange a phrafeology came to take place. 
 
 And it feems to call for very particular attention that, before 
 the Mofaick inftitution, and, indeed, from the firft Revelation, the 
 prefence of the Deity is reprefented as confined, with refpect to reli- 
 gious ads, to a place, and what is do^e, in that place, is laid to be 
 done before the faces of Jehovah. ,]?^-^ 
 
 Cain is laid to have gene out from the faces of Jehovah, and to 
 have dwelt in the land of iNTtf^, to the eaftward of ZiV^-r/. Now, if by 
 the faces of Jehovah is not meant Ibme particular place of his im- 
 mediate prefence, and if, on the contrary, his prefence, as we tranf- 
 
 late 
 
 /•
 
 ( 107 ) 
 late It, in general, is nnderftood, the thing will not be true; Cat'i 
 could not convey himfelf cut of the prefence of God, which is every 
 where, but he might remove from that place which he chole in a 
 particular manner, lor his refidence, in the celebration of religious 
 
 In like manner, the pot of manna, Exod. \6. is ordered ^o be 
 laid up, nnd was accordingly kid up, before the faces of 'lehovah 
 before the Tefimony, long before the Mofaick tabernacle, and ark 
 was made, or creeled. Laying it up any where would, in one ienib 
 have been laymg it up before the Lord-, but Aaron underftood the 
 meaning of the expreilion to be, to lay it up before ih^Tcliimony 
 \wicre the faces of the Cherubim were. ' ' 
 
 Nor need any one fcruple admitting the force of this laft obferva- 
 tion 5 for it is evident from this, as well as other texts, that the If 
 raelites had an ark, and a tabernacle, confecrated to the refidence of 
 Jehovah, and deftined to religious lervice, before the Mofaick ta- 
 bernacle was reared up. 
 
 U p o N the provocation of the Ifraelites, in making the golden calf 
 y^/^/W:/ being highly difpleafed, i\\Q tabernacle w^shy Mofes taken 
 out of the center, and removed far from the camp, and was called the 
 tabernacle oj the congregation, where Jehovah defcended in a cloudy 
 to give directions to Mofes. Now this happened, in the interval, 
 between Mofes's receiving inftrudions for building the tabernacle that 
 was made in the wildernefs, and his giving orders for the contribution 
 tor that work ; which evinces that the Ifraelites had, upon their goin^- 
 out of Egypt, a tabernacle for Jehovah, diftinguilhed by his pre- 
 sence and the fjmbols of it, before that reared by Mofes was pre- 
 pared. • ^ 
 
 Tho' the having a tabernacle for Jehovah fufficiently imply the 
 having an ark, with the mercy- feat ^nd cherubim, the furniture of it 
 yet there is other evidence to fhew that the Ifraelites adually had an 
 ark, different from that made by Mofes. For when the ark, which had 
 been taken by the Thiltjlmes, was locally at Kirjath-jeanm, Saul 
 being at Gibeah of Benjamin, i Sam. 14. 1 8. orders Ahijah to bring 
 him thither the ark ofliod ; and the penman of that book adds a re- 
 mark, for at that time there was an ark of God, befides that with the 
 children of Ifrael. And when the ark, made by Mofs, after having 
 been carried from Kirjath-jearim, was lodged in Zion, Uriah, who 
 had left Joab at the fiege of Kabbah, being preffed to go to his 
 
 P ^ houfc
 
 ( io8 ) 
 
 houfe and to his wife, excufes himfelf, alledging it was not proper 
 for him to take lb much eafe, when the /irk, and Ifrael, and Judah 
 abode in tents, and Joab^ and the King's lervants, were encamped in 
 the open fields. 2 Sam. 11. i r . 
 
 A N D it liems highly probable that the Ark, thus brought to Said, 
 when in camp, and the Ark that was with Joab^ at the fiege of 
 Rabbah, was the fame that belonged to the tabernacle, which the 
 7/?^?//V^i- carried from j5"^>y5/ with them ; becaufe, after the building 
 of Alofes's tabernacle, it was unlawful to have made any new one, in 
 imitation of it. " 
 
 If it is asked, whence the Ifraelites had an arky a tabernacle^ 
 Cherubim, and the prefence, or the fuppofed prefence, of Jehovah 
 in, or between, thofe Cherubim ? toward the refolution of that que- 
 ftion it muft be confidered, whence the antient nations had their Cifta, 
 their Arks, their Images, their Teraphim, their Tabernacles, their 
 Temples ; becaufe the origin of both will, very probably, be found 
 the lame. 
 
 The account, given us by Mofes, of the publication of the Gofpel, 
 after the Fall, is very ftiort, and concife, tho' the Revelation may, in 
 itfelf, have been very full, and explicite. Hopes of mercy given are 
 recorded in that fingle fentence, the feed of the VL'oman ^mllbruife the 
 hi ad of the ferpent : and we hear of no other^/??^<?//cW thing, in- 
 flitution, or exhibition, except only the placing, or inhabiting, the 
 Chernbinis, to the eaftward of Eden, upon man's being removed 
 out of it. 
 
 The Jews, who have mifconftrued ihQ Angel Jehovah into a 
 created zn'-s,e\, have thought fit, here, to anderftand, hj xhe Cheru- 
 buns, two of the iame fort of Angels, who had got a flaming fvvord, 
 amongfi: them, to frighten Adam from re entring Eden, and meddling 
 with the fruit of the tree of life ; and this monfirous itory they have 
 made out of a text that, neceffarily, means no fuch thing, and may 
 fairly be conftrued to a fenfe big with the moft important, information 
 to mankind. 
 
 For, in the firft place, what the Jews and w.e tranflate to keep 
 the way of the tree of life, with intent to prevent th 2 coming at it, 
 may as properly be rendered /i?. ^i^/t'ri;^', ox for obfervmg, and fo dif- 
 covering, or finding out, the way to the tree ofife> and every body 
 knows that the word way of heaven, way to life, ia the Greek, as- 
 well as Hebrew learning, means to arrive at happinefs. 
 
 In 
 3
 
 ( 109 ) 
 
 In the next place, what we commonly tranflate flamhig-fujord 
 flands in two feveral Nouns, not joined by conftriidion, flame and 
 puiord, which laft means nothing more particular than a killing 
 weapon. 
 
 And in the laft place, the word we tranflate placed Cherubims 
 is, almoft always, in every other text tranflated inhabited--, and 
 whether you tranflate it placed, or inhabited^ the next word ought 
 to be tranflated the Cherubims, as things or emblems well known to 
 thofe for whom Mofes wrote. So that Jehovah'^ placing or inha- 
 biting thefe Cherubims^ where there was alfb the appearance o^ fire, 
 and fovordf was the method, chofen by him, to make the "way to 
 the tree of life kept, or obferved. 
 
 Now, as the eftablifhed method for atonement and propitiation, 
 the known vjay to the tree of life, was by employing jfr^ in burnt- 
 facrificc, and ^^ fjaord'xw fhedding blood, both which muft be done 
 before the faces of Jehovah, rcfiding in or between the Cherubim, 
 what hinders us to conclude that the exhibition mentioned by Mofs 
 was, to the j^;»i^(?//(r^/ inftitution and lervice, afterwards eftablifhed 
 amongft men, the fame that the patterns ftiewed to Mofes, and to 
 'David were of the tabernacle, and temple, that afterwards were 
 ereded ; and that Adam, and, in him, mankind was thereby in- 
 ftructed to ftied blood, and offer burnt-facrifice, before the faces of 
 fuch fymboUcal figures as were then reprefented ? Surely, if the 
 fliedding of blood, and offering by fire, were then inftituted, as we 
 are pretty fure they were, the manner would alfo be directed. And, 
 as we know, from the hiftory of Cain, that Jehovah chofe a place 
 for his more immediate prefence, called his faces ^ we cannot pofTibly 
 doubt that direclions muft be given with what fymbols that place was 
 to be adorned, and how it was to be didingnifhed ; nor can we rea- 
 fonably hefitate to pronounce that \.hz fymbol o^ his prefence was the 
 Cherubim, the place where, in the Jeijvijh ceconomy, he moft cer- 
 tainly dwelt, and where in the very text in queftion, he is faid to 
 inhabit. 
 
 If then this emblematical reprcfentation was exhibited, immedi- 
 ately after the Fall, to exprefs and keep in perpetual memory the 
 "-Revelation of mercy to man, by the blood and fuffcring of that per- 
 fed human facritice, who was to be joined to the fecond Terfon in 
 the Deity, and to redeem and govern thofe that ferved, and truftcd 
 in him, we can clearly fee the extent of God's gboJflefs from the be-" 
 
 ginning,
 
 ^Ini.ing, univci Hilly, to all mankind ; and we can perceive how the 
 fcn's came to have a tabernacle, and an ark, with proper emblems^ 
 before tliat made by Mofes ; and how the Nations came by their 
 fvmbols, of the like nature 5 which in procefs of time they miftock, 
 "mifapplied, and altered, when their corruption and imagination had 
 once led them aflray. 
 
 FoK if, in that emblematical ^cr\\cc, the fymbol of the prefcr.ce 
 of the Deity was neceflary, towards performing facrifice, as well as 
 the emblem of the great facrifice, tlie great inttrcejjor, Skc. then it 
 became necefTary for men, when, by multiplying, they were forced 
 to extend their quarters, and to people diftant regions, to carry ibmc 
 fymbol of the AW\wQ prefence along with them, in order to the facri- 
 ficing acceptably, every nation, agreeing in the fame fervice, muft 
 have one; and every family, fo long as the right of cxercifing the 
 priefthood remained with the fiift-born, muft alio have one, elfethat 
 right would be of no benefit j and if they lived in the itinerant, No- 
 tnade way, they muft have a tent, or tabernacle, for placing thofe 
 fymbois in, as well as means of tranfpcrting them : as, on the other 
 hand, if their feats were fixed, fo as to fuffer them to ercd houfes for 
 themfclves, they naturally would find houfes, temples, for thofe 
 fymbois. 
 
 Nothing was more common than HouP^old-Gods -^Lmon^^ the 
 antients. Laban had his Teraphim, which he calls his Gods, and 
 about which he was extremely follicitous ; Rachel h^d no lefs refped 
 for them than he. The Heathens carried their Gods along with them, 
 whitherloever they went. The idolatrous Ifraelites had, probably, in 
 the wilderncfs tabernacles for their Gods Chiun, and Remphan. The 
 caufe of making the golden Calf was, probably, compliance with this 
 cuftom. <:^y^neas is commended for the pious care of carrying his 
 Gods, his T>ii 'Penates., from Troy to Italy, tho' what the form of 
 them was is not known. Every family had their Tenates, their 
 'Dii Lares, tho' in latter time they forgot what form thefe antiently 
 were of. Teraphim, 'Penates, Lares., are all plural names for the 
 reprefentations of thofe Family-Gods ; and, laying thofe circum- 
 Itances together, it is impollible to doubt that the making thefe re- 
 prefentations, amongft the different nations and kindreds, owed its 
 origin to one and the fame caufe. 
 
 It was becaufe of the many corruptions introduced into the facred 
 fervice, in practice as well as in opinion, that the Jewifh oeconomy 
 was inftituted ; and it was becaufe the permiffion of every head of a 
 
 family
 
 ( III ) 
 
 family to be Trieji, for his own houfe, and to facrifice according ta 
 his own will, had introduced the greatcft uncertaint}', as well as error, 
 that the firft act towards eftablifhing the Je'-jui]h liturgy was the 
 abrogating that right, the depriving the jirft-born of all pretence to 
 filed blood, and transferring that right to the family o^ Aaron. 
 
 I T was for the fame reafon, and to the fame intent, that facrifice 
 of all Ibrts was prohibited, except before the faces of Jehovah in the 
 tabernacle firft, and, then, in the temple. In the wildernefj no If- 
 raelite could lawfully kill a clean animal, for private ufe, in any 
 other place except before the tabernacle ; and tho", when the people 
 had fixed feats in the land o^ Canaan, diftant from the faces of fe- 
 ho'jah, they were permitted to kill of the flocks, or of the herds, for 
 domeftick ufe, provided they did not eat the blood or the fat, yQt 
 ftill, under the ftricleft menaces, they were prohibited to faciifice, 
 for fear of the abufes that might enfue. 
 
 The very prohibition, together with fubftituting the Levites in 
 place oi the firfl-born^ and the change that was thereby introduced 
 in the precedent practice, which all mankind but the Je-jas continued 
 in, fhews fufEciently what was lawful and regular before that prohi- 
 bition ; and the circumftances, above taken notice of, fufiiciently fhew 
 the occafion and meaning of it. 
 
 Much of the fame kind, and nearly for the fame reafon, is the 
 prohibition to v^z.\iQ gra'ven or molten images to reprefcnt Jehovah^ 
 to fall down before them, or worfhip them -, to erect altars, fiatues, 
 or pillars, for religious fervice. Abraham, &c. built altars ; Jacob 
 anointed a ftone, which he had fet up, and called it Bethel; ancT 
 doubtlefs the practice of both was laudable, and, but for the prohi- 
 bition in the inflitution given by Mofes, each might have been law- 
 fully practiced by the Ifraelites in Canaan, as well as their facrificing 
 before the faces of Jehovah might have been imitated. But, after 
 all religious fervice, the \\ho\c fymbolical reprefentaticn of the grace 
 of God to mankind was confined to the tabernacle and temple, then 
 what was lawful to be done, elfewhere, became unlawful 5 and, as 
 it was impoffible, after that period, to facrifice any where but before 
 the faces of Jehovah, the fymbols cf his prefnce, in the holy-place, 
 it became unfit to make, or to have in reverence, thofe fymbols 
 (which were only expreffive, as they were joined with facrifice) an y 
 where elfe, except when a Prophet had immediate dircdicn, cr in 
 ca fes of necefiSty. 
 
 1 The
 
 ( 112 ) 
 
 The prcjhibidon, then, is to Jfrael, that they iliould not make 
 unto \.hcvA{(t\\cs graven mages, \.\\c fimiUtndis of any thing in the 
 heavens above, or in the earth beneath, &c. that they fhould not 
 bow down to them, nor ferve them ; that they fhonld not take upon 
 themielves, wantonly, to afTmnlate God to what their imagivations 
 might lliggeft to thcni he was hke ; by t!ie praclice whereof man- 
 kind had already run into fo many ridiculous, and n-.iferable errors. 
 But this prohibition does not, in any degree, imply that the Deity 
 might not continue the ufe of tlic lacrcd fymhol c^ hh perfo7Jali!y and 
 grace, in the merciful aft of redeeming mankind, in the Holy of 
 Holies ; no more than the inhibition to facrificc, at large, prevented 
 lacrificing in the temple. And, if it be faid that the acfual inftitu- 
 tion of "lacrifice, at the altar, fiiews the prohibition to facrifice was 
 not abiblute, it mav alio be faid that the command to frame the 
 Cherubim is as ex'prels, as that to burn Holocaufis at the altar. 
 
 I T is, indeed, true that the prohibition extends to prohibit all re- 
 ligious zi:orfl}ijO, even to the facred emblems in the holy place -, an ex- 
 travaMnce into which the idoLters had fallen, and that mav be a 
 main motive for forbidding the very making, or having, iuch emblems 
 in private hands ; but then there was no danger of that abufe in the 
 temple : the fyrnbols were placed there not as the objefts of 'ivorjhip^ 
 but as defcriptive, in fome degree, of the manner o'iihe a[i of grace, 
 as it was to be brought about by the perfo7is in the Deity, for man- 
 kind. The prefence, that was to be worfhippcd, was to be looked 
 for between thoie fyrnbols^ or emblems, upon the mercy- feat ; and the 
 cloud, and the ^/or>' iflTuing from it, called away the attention from 
 thofe rcprefentations. Befides that, to prevent abufes from imagina- 
 tion, and all attempts oi iziorfliipping^ thele facred ^wr^J were kept 
 in the innermoft part of the tabernacle, and temple, to be approached 
 only once a year, and that by the High-TrieJJ, on the day of Ex- 
 piation. 
 
 That this was the apprehenfion of the Ifraelites, of thofe times, 
 is evident from the conduft of their lucceflbrs, who could not well 
 fail to be acquainted with their notions; and who might think that 
 ordinances of this kind, intended to take place in a ftate of quiet and 
 tranquihty, when all the people had free accefs to the tabernacle, or 
 temple, might be fuperfcded, in cafe of abiblute necelTity, when the 
 pious could not have accefs to preient themfelves at thofe places. 
 
 Micah
 
 ( 113 ) 
 
 Micahy who lived in the time of the Judges, certainly feared Je- 
 hoi^ah^ the filver, belonging to his mother, was dedicated to Je- 
 ho'vah^ to make zxiEphod^ ^n^Teraphim, %3c. when he fucceeded 
 in getting a Vriefi, to his mind, he concluded that he was certain 
 Jehovah would do him good ; and this Ephod, and Teraphim, evi- 
 dently were prophetick. 
 
 His fcheme, then, manifeftly was not to revolt from Jehovah^ 
 nor to feive idols, or other Gods; but, whilft the confufion and op- 
 preffion of Ifrael made it impoffible to attend at Shilo^ to have a 
 houfe of God in his own family, with facred fymbols, and a Trieft, 
 who, before the faces of Jehovah, in that place could make atone- 
 ment by facrifice, whilft communication with Shilo was obIlru6ted. 
 
 H E, therefore, made an Ephod, and Teraphim, in imitation of 
 the approved j^7»^<?/j ; and, having them fet up, had j'a^?'. 17. 5- 
 Beth Elohim^ a houfe of God: the Tranflators, imagining that the 
 Teraphim reprefented falfe Gods, have rendered the words Beth Elo- 
 him a houfe oi Gods -, tho', chap. 18. 31. they render the very fame 
 words, when applied to the tabernacle in Shilo, the heufe of God. 
 
 As the fervice, for which this Ephod, and Teraphim, this houfe 
 of God was intended, could not be performed without a 'Briejl, 
 Micah, who it feems was not himfelf aT^/T^-^^^i^w, confecrated one of 
 his fons, probably the eldelt, for that office, for want of one more 
 lit J but meeting, at lalt, with a Levite, he engaged him to ferve in 
 that ftation, and conJccrated him, in full belief that thisadion would 
 be acceptable to Jehovah. 
 
 And, accordingly, we fee Jehovah was propitious to this pious, 
 tho' irregular, defign. The Ephod, and Teraphim, confulted by the 
 Tiayiites about the fuccefs of their undertaking, returned a true an- 
 fwer \ which fo far raifed the efteem of the 'Danites for thofe facred 
 Symbols, that they robbed Micah of them, and fet them up in their 
 own country, where they continued in reputation till the Captivity. 
 
 Micah .^ complaining of the injury done him in taking from him 
 the Teraphim, fays they had taken away his Elokim, his God. It 
 isdiffkult, if at all pofiible, to imagine that T^f/r^^/j, who let up thole 
 figures to do fervice to Jehovah.^ could have meant any more than 
 that the Teraphimwcxc the Symbol., or reprefentation, of the Elohtm, 
 neceffary to be u fed in the chief act of religious fervice; and, it that 
 fiiall be the conllruclion, the refemblance h^iwecn Traphim in pri- 
 
 Q_ vate
 
 ( 114 ) 
 vate fervicc, before the Mofaick Lavj, and Cheruhiyn^ in the publick 
 Icrvice, after it, is pretty obfervable. 
 
 I T was, in all appearance, for the fame reafon, and to the fame 
 end, that Gideon^ a iervant of the true God, who had feen the 
 ^-in^el Jehovah^ to whom "Jehovah had I'poken, to whom, and by 
 whom, 'Jehovah hnd wrought wonders, made an Ephod o{ iho. gol- 
 den Ipoils of the Midianites, and fet it up in Ophrah, his city, whi- 
 ther the Ifraelitcs^ in proccfs of time, ran a whoring after it, and 
 where it became a fnare to Gideon, and to his houfe. 
 
 That this Ephod had Terapbim^ and all the proper appurte- 
 nances, as Micah's had, attending upon it, is not to be doubted ; 
 and it is remarkable, that Gidton's aft is not cenfured for any inhe- 
 rent malignity in it, but only for the confequences of it ; as the 
 Ephod he let up, in procefs of time, debauched the people, and be- 
 came a fnare to him, and to his houfe. 
 
 These inftances, pretty plainly, fhew that Terapbim were no 
 more than a copy of the original Cherubim^ applied to the lame 
 ufes that the Cherubim were on the mercy- feat : and as all mankind 
 agree, from many clear proofs, that the Teraphim were images, or 
 reprefentations of what the antients took to be expreffive of their 
 Deity, it can hardly be queftioned that the Cherubims were intended 
 for the lame purpofe. 
 
 Supposing this to have been the cafe ^ as the very exhibition 
 muft have been intended to reprefent Trinity in the Deity, and the fhare 
 each Terfon had in the falvation of man, it is impoflible the Jews 
 could have rejeded the belief of the Trinity^ and with it the MrJJiah 
 upon his advent, fo long as they retained the memory, and the un- 
 derftanding, of that hieroglyphical reprefentation. But as it was 
 fixed in Providence that they fhould disbelieve the one, and rejc6l 
 the other, their wild imaginations, whilft the figures remained in 
 the temple, led them to negled all refledion upon them, and to run 
 after falfe Gods; and this neceffary piece of knowledge, towards un- 
 derftanding the fyftem of grace, dropt fo totally out of their heads, 
 or rather they had framed notions fo contrary to it, thatj upon their 
 leturn from the captivity, the Ark and Chertibtm had no room in 
 their temple; tho' thefe were the very kernel of all their religious 
 ceremonies, and tho' the knowledge of the figures of the Cherubim 
 was preferved by Ezekiel, a Prophet allowed by themlelves to be 
 infpired, as the dimenlions and fabrick of the mercy-feat was by 
 Mofes. That
 
 { "5 ) 
 
 That the fhuttlng up thore figures in the San&um fan^orum 
 might have contributed to the lofs of the knowledge of their form, 
 aniongft the Jezis, may be true 5 but then, if they had not been 
 defcribed by Ezek/e/, that lots would have been total, and irrepa- 
 rable ; and we, as well as they, ftiould be deprived of the benefit of 
 that reprefentation, to evidence the original and permanent defign of the 
 merciful Deity j but as the lofs of the ideas, which ought to have re- 
 fulted from that reprefentation, anfvvered the end of God in the hard- 
 nels of the Jeivs, fo the prelervation of thofe facred figttres^ by 
 Ezekiel^ ferves to convid the Jews of that hardnefs, to render them 
 inexcufable for their infidelity ,• and, at the fame time, to confirm, 
 and illuftrate the faith of Chriftians. 
 
 The form, and the meaning of the reprefentation in the Cheru- 
 bim is not the only piece of ufeful knowledge iheJe'CDs, to whofe 
 cuftody the facred oracles were committed, have loft as to them- 
 felves; tho', in pi;eierying the facred booksyihty have providentially 
 faved them for the benefit and inftrudion of thofe who were called, 
 to be the people of God, in their ftead. 
 
 I T has been already obferved, that there is a particular emphaGs, 
 which the Je'-jus will not fee in the plural Elohim, ufed always in 
 fcripture to fignify God i and it is uncontertable, that the word itfcif 
 carries fome idea in it delcriptive of fome character fome relation, the 
 Being defcribed bears to Man. 
 
 The word Jehovah the Septuagmt tranflates KJpiof, and we, 
 after it, Lord \ becaufe of the delicacy of the original interpreters, who 
 might think it Ibme Ibrt of prophanation to tranflate that facred word, 
 and make it common in its'known meaning. Neither Jeiso nor Chri' 
 Jlian doubts that Jehovah exprefles the Ejfence that necejfarily ex- 
 ijis } and every body knows that it docs not mean what Kupioi pro- 
 perly fignifies ; the Greek word is a faithful and juft tranflation of 
 ^doni^ which the fuperftitious Je-jus have placed in the room o^ Je- 
 hovah ; it fignifies 'Dominus^ Lord, Mafter, but carries nothing \u 
 it of the idea of the Original. 
 
 The idea reful ting from the word Kupjoj, Lord-, is relative, and 
 bears a particular regard to fubjeBs, fervants, without which the 
 idea of Lord cannot fubfift ; but the idea arifing from the word Je- 
 hovah is abfolute, bearing no relation to any thing but itfelf, an> 
 Handing fixed, and determined, by itfelf, fubfifting tho' nothing be 
 iides did exift. ^ — .- 
 
 -" — -"^ Q^ 2 A N I
 
 ( "6 ) 
 
 And, therefore, we can rcafonably fay fny Lord, thy Lord, his 
 Lord, our Lord, their Lord, the Lord of the land, &c. and thofe 
 cxpreffions are often ufed in fcripturej but we cannot fay my Je- 
 hovah^ thy Jehovah, &c. and in fad there is no fuch expreffion in 
 the whole facred book : and, when we tranflatc my Lord^thy Lord, 
 &c. the word tranflated is never Jehovah, but always Adonic or fome 
 other word of the fame fignification. 
 
 A s we difcover the idea conveyed by Jehovah to be abfolute, ^o 
 we perceive the idea implyed in Elohim to be relative by the ufe of 
 it i nothing is more common than my, thy, our, their, his, Elohim, 
 which never is faid o{ Jehovah ; and, as the word has Ibme fignifi- 
 cation of relation, the Tranjlators ought to have exprefled it by a word 
 that bore fome fuch fenfe. 
 
 But as they have erred' in rendring the abfolute word Jehovah 
 by the word Lord, which carries an idea fignificant of relation ; fo 
 they have erred on the other hand by rendring the word Elohim 
 ©go?, ©goi, God, Gods; which, fo far as we know by the derivation 
 adigned for it, has nothing fignificant in it, at leaft carries no idea of 
 relation to us, or to any other thing. 
 
 If the word 0gof, or the word God, have no fignificant meaning 
 in themfelves, and are made ufe of, as founds, only to raife the idea 
 of the eternal Being -, then the applying that word by the relatives 
 rny, thy, &c. is improper ; the eternal Being, abfolutely confidered, 
 has no more relation to one, than to another -, and, if the term ©joe 
 had originally any fignification ©f relation, by all we can difcover 
 from the Greek antiquities, it was loft long before the Septnagint 
 tranflation ; nor do we know what the precife meaning of the Saxon 
 word God was, other than to denote the fupreme beneficent Being. 
 
 Tn^ Je'-jvs, therefore, ought to have tranflated the word Je- 
 hovah by a word of the fame fignification, or at leaft to have ren- 
 dered it totidem Uteris, if they could not find a word of the fame 
 import ; and they ought not to have tranflated it by a word that has 
 another and a different meaning -, and they ought not to have tranflated 
 Elohim, which moft certainly had a fignification of relation, by a word 
 which had no fignification at all of relation affixed to it. On the con- 
 trary, they ought to have kept up, in thetranflation, to the true mean- 
 ing of the word, or to have retained the Hebreisj term, totidem Uteris^ 
 in the tranflation, as they did in proper names ; for then, tho' they 
 njuft have left men in the dark, they would not have milled them, nor 
 done the mifchief they have done to their fiiccelTors. 
 
 Without
 
 ( "7 ) 
 
 Without enquiring whether the lofs, or the concealing, of the 
 meaning of this word proceeded from folly, or faultincfs, or from a 
 mixture of both, in the Jews, it is highly neceflary to fearch, in 
 order to the recovery of it 5 knowing the genius of the Hebrew 
 language to be fuch, that fignificant words are framed from roots that 
 yield fome certain^ fixed, idea, and thereby convey a determined 
 meaning. 
 
 In looking over the radical words of the Hebreiv language one 
 finds the root Elah to mean an Oath^ or Adjuration, the Execration 
 made to affe£t the breaker of a covenant ; and the genius of the 
 language certainly admits the word Elalo to be ufed, from that, to 
 fignify a perfon that hath taken tipon hiin this oath, and Elohim to- 
 denote more perfons become fubjed' to it, or entring into covenant, 
 or agreement, togethef. 
 
 That Elohim Ihould be formed, from this root, to fi^nify perfons 
 tindeY the obligation or execration of an oath, may feem, at firft fight, 
 fomewhat hard 5 but that notion will become more familiar when one 
 confidefs that Jehovah, throughout the facred fcriptures, is faid on 
 many occafions, in confirmation of any promife, or covenant, rela- 
 ting to a future event, to fis:ear, to fwear by himfelf, to fwear a^ 
 Jehovah liveth^ in order to create abfolute certainty, and reliance on 
 the performance. 
 
 Why Jehovah \% thus reprefent'ed as taking an oath, and what 
 the nature and manner of that oath niay Be, merits a diftind confide- 
 ration ; but fince, in fact, he reprefents himfelf f:> us in that light, as 
 binding his prorriifes by oath, we rilay e'afily conceive why he may 
 choofe to be called, and confidered, as the God bound by oath, 
 the Being folemnly engaged under an immutable obligation, by thofe 
 who are to believe in, and' rely on his promifes. 
 
 Tho' We have no footftep, lb far as I know, left of this fignification, 
 in the terms which the Greeks, or Romans, or other later heathens, 
 made ufe of to fignify the Deity, yet the G>^f^.f had their Jupiter 
 "Opxios, and the Romans their Jiijnttr Foederator ; and nothing was 
 more common, amongft thofe heathens, than' the notion that the fu- 
 preme God could bind himfelf by oath ; nay they defcribe, with fic- 
 titious circumftances, the particular oath that was immutable. Here, 
 again, is an inftance of a very extraordinary notion, very far from 
 being deducible from the light ofnaHlre, pickt up, and maintained 
 univerfally, amongft the moll: anticnt nations we knowi which tallies 
 I wonderfully
 
 ( "8 ) 
 
 wonderfully with what the facred book, of which they knew no- 
 thing, exhibits; and muft, therefore, have flowed from the fame 
 original. 
 
 If we admit that Elohim carries the notion of Foederatores, Beings 
 or 'Per fans in Alliance, bound by oath to make their engngcment 
 efifcdual, then we evidently fee why they may, are, and ought to 
 be, called w/, our, their^ &c. Elohim ; why Jehovah defcribes 
 himfelf by thie title of the Elohim of Abraham, of Ifaac, of Jacob, 
 of Ifraeli why they call upon him as their Elohim-, why, in their 
 praiies, they afcribe to their Elohim power, goodnefs, faithfulnels, 
 beyond the Elohim of other nations ; and why the leading encourage- 
 ment to the Ifraelites, to do well, is, that Jehovah is, or will be, 
 their Elohim, and they are, or Ihall be, to him z peculiar people ; as, 
 on the other hand, if they broke their covenant, the Elah^ the oath 
 or execration would reach them. 
 
 And, furely, li Jehovah was pleafed to make, or to reprefent 
 himfelf as making, a covenant for the benefit of mankind, or of any 
 particular people, by which he was unalterably bound to redeem 
 and prcferve them, on their performing certain conditions, the moft 
 kind, and, at the fame time, the moft ufeful appellation he could 
 choofe to be addreflfed to by, is that of Elohim, in the notion of 
 Fmderator; becaufe it could not be pronounced, with attention, 
 without raifing the moft thankful fentiments of the mercy and good- 
 ncls of God, joined to the ftrongeft confidence in his favour; and, at 
 the fame time, warning the party of the danger of tranfgrefling, by 
 non-compliance witli' the conditions to which he, on his part, was 
 bound. 
 
 J F Elohim was a term peculiar to Jehovah^ as God of Ifrael, ^vith 
 whom he plainly appears to have been in covenant, the realbn of 
 that appellation would be pretty obvious ; but ^o it happens, that 
 he is called the Elohim of the ivLole Earth -^ and, in the dcfcription 
 of the Creation, the works performed by the Eternal are faid to be 
 done by the Elohim, and all the antient nations admitted the term 
 Elohim as defcriptive of their God. So that it will be a ftrong ob- 
 jedion againft this fenfe of the word Elohim, if no reafonable account 
 can be given of an earlier covenant than that with Abraham, and if 
 that covenant did not extend to all mankind. 
 
 Whoever believes that there are three per fans in the Deity, 
 
 whereof one became bound to join himfelf to humanity, and perform 
 
 « compleat
 
 •#■ 
 
 ( "9 ) 
 
 eompleat righteoufnefs, and give compleat fatisfaclion for the fins of 
 mankind ; one became bound to aflift man, thus redeemed, to do 
 his duty, and to reform his heart ; and cwf" became bound to accept 
 of this fatisfaclion, and, upon receiving it, to admit man to fellowihip 
 and favour; will not fcruple to allow that, before even the creation, 
 a covenant^ or agreement was made to this purpofc between the facred 
 three, in the event of mm s falling : and he will be the lefs fcrupu- 
 lous to admit this, when he confiders feveral texts that fuppofe ir, 
 particularly the iioth T falm, v. 4. which fays, Jehovah hath 
 f-ji-orn^ and o^ill not repent y thou art a Tr left for ever, after the order 
 of Melchizedek. 
 
 But, whatever may be thought of this ; as none, who confiders 
 and believes the icriptures, can doubt that this covenant was made 
 known to thefirft man, on xhe fall, if that term Eloh'tm was confe- 
 crated for his information and comfort, it would pais current amongft 
 all mankind, his defcendants 5 and that would fulBciently authorize 
 Mofes, in defcribing the creation, to make ufe of the term Elobim, 
 afcribing to Jehovah the Elohim, upon whole fidelity all man- 
 kind were to depend for lalvation, the creation of this fyftem, and of 
 man. 
 
 And tho' Mofes does not, formally, . relate that Jehovah ac- 
 quainted man, immediately upon xhs, fall-, of a covenant made fcr 
 hiii falvation -, yet feveral paflages, as recorded by him, fhew that 
 mankind had early knowledge of this covenant. For, in fpeaking 
 to Noah, both before and after the flood, Jehovah l^iys he will efta- 
 blifh his covenant with Noah, and with his feed ; not ufing the word 
 that is, commonly, tranflated to make a covenant, which would have 
 been done if no covenant had been made before -, but making choice 
 of an expreffion that prefuppofed a covenant, formerly made, and 
 known to be made to Noah., who was made fure he was to reap, after 
 that declaration, the benefit of it. 
 
 A N D if one enters into the belief that this covenant (which gave 
 birth to the appellation Elohim) was made by the Elohim, from 
 the beginning, and was intimated to mankind, upon the fall, when 
 the purpofe of mercy was firft revealed ; and when, for explaining 
 and recording that purpofe of grace, the whole emblematical inft it u- 
 tion was appointed, and the Chtrubim were exhibited, he will readily 
 admit that the pofition of the two Cherubs, with their faces looking 
 towards each other, and at the mercy-feat, where the blood for 
 
 atonement
 
 ( I20 ) 
 
 atonement was to be fprinkled, might reprefent the Elohim, as par- 
 ties in the a£l: lor making a CQ'venant^ looking and relying on each 
 other for the performance, and regarding the blood, which was the 
 emblem of the confideration for which man was to be redeemed : and 
 this opinion he will the more readily give into, when he recolleds 
 that the ark, which fupported the Mercy-Seat and the Cherubim^ 
 the principal emblems of the Jewip^ religion, is moft commonly called 
 t^e /Irk of the Covenant. 
 
 A s the yeiJi's cannot be pardoned the lofing the fenfe of the word 
 Elohim, they can hardly be forgiven their plain endeavour to hide 
 the original meaning of the word, tranilated, co-venant. 
 
 That Berith, the word fo tranflated, does not, in its original 
 
 fenfe, lignify covenant^ is evident from this •■, that the formal phrafe 
 
 made u!'e of to fignify the making a covenant is, precifely, to cut off., 
 
 or flay, Berith ; much in the lanie way as kere, percutere^ feme, 
 
 fwdns., is, amongft the Romans, to fignify the making a covenant. 
 
 Berith.) therefore, in its original fignitication denotes fomething that 
 was to be cut cff',io he fain ; and Mofcs Exod. 24. 8. after having, as 
 X\\Q fymbol o{ (\\Q covenant., concluded between Jehovah and the 
 People, divided the blood of the facrifice into two equal parts j and, 
 after having fprinkled the one half on the altar, fprinkled the other 
 half on the people, faying, behold the blood of Berith, •which Je- 
 hovah hath cut off" with you, concerning all thefe words . and Zech. 
 9. 1 1 . Prilbncrs are fet free by the blood of the covenant., Berith. 
 
 Th E latin Literati \txy truly affign the rife of the ^hxz^c ferixe 
 foedus., when they fay, that in all leagues, covenants, and agree- 
 ments, it was the antient and original cuftom to Hay fome viflim, to 
 facrifice 5 whence, mentioning the Iblemn acl, the flaying the vidim, 
 in common ufage came to fignify the whole act of making a league 
 to \vhich it was applied : But they fail in affigning an adequate reali;n 
 for the ceremony of flaying any animal, at treaties, which again muft 
 have given rife to the form of fpeech in queftion.. 
 
 I T has been already obferved, that the blopci of the Redeemer., 
 who, in due time, was to be cut off., was the confideration of; tti? 
 original covenant between the Elohsm^ and between them and man ; 
 and the cutting off, and fprinkling the blood of a type., a creature fubr 
 ftituted in the room of the Redeemer, till his real adrvent, wa^ the 
 Symbol of that Covenant ufed, even by Jihovah., in making. O'V^" 
 nantsw'wh. men, as in the inftance at (5'/>/i2/ 5 and, therefore, ufed by. 
 
 all
 
 ( 121 ) 
 
 all men when they entred into folemn agreements with each other. 
 Cutting off a creature, then, in a particular manner, or under a par- 
 ticular character, being ihc fymbol o^ ihdii important covenant, k is 
 no great wonder that men, in their folemn engagements with each 
 other, Ihould make ulc of that lacred a£t ; and that iaying, fnortly, 
 that fuch creature^ by fuch name or character, was cut off, fiiould, in 
 common ufige, fignify that a covenant was made. 
 
 Tho' thefi; reflexions may give Ibme rcafonable fatisfa6tion why 
 cutting off, ox (laying, a vititm was ufed in making covenants, yet 
 it is ftiil neceflkry to enquire what particular character the thing, 
 called Berith, bore to diftinguifn it from common victims in ordinary 
 fiicrifices, and to appropriate it to the ufe of binding covenants } fince 
 there is no appearance, after the moft accurate fearch, that Berith 
 was the name of any fort of animal ufed in facrifice. 
 
 In examining carefully the Old Tejlanient two paflages, and no 
 more, are to be met with where the Jevjs have not ventured to tranf- 
 late the word Berith covenant ^h'M have been necelTarily obliged by 
 the context to give it its true, original, fignification ; tho' to divert 
 the Reader's attention, and to prevent his making any inferences 
 from the fenfe of the word, in thefe texts, they have, in an arbi- 
 trary manner, pointed the letters fo as to make the fame letters, which 
 in every other paflage found Berith^ to be in thele texts pronounced 
 Borith. 
 
 Mai. 3. 2. The Angel of the covenant, of Berith^ h faid to be 
 like the refiner's fire, and like fuller's, Berith, fope, and comes to purge 
 and to purify. And, 
 
 Jer. 2. 22. Reproaching i/r^^/ for their wickedncfs and unclean- 
 nefs, Jehovah faith, For though thou ivafh thee with nitre y and 
 take thee much Berith fope, yet thine iniquity is marked before me. 
 
 These paflTages, evidently, fhew that the word Bertth has in it 
 the notion of cleanfing, purifying, and the root from which, in that 
 fenfe, it mufl rife is Bar, Barar, which fignifies />«r^, to purify -, and 
 the word Berith, formed from that root, may fignify properly purifi- 
 cation, a purify er, a perfon or thing fit to purify. 
 
 Keeping in view this notion of the word, and recollecting that 
 every thing was, under the Law, even the moft holy things, to be 
 cleanfed, to be expiated, to be fandifyed, by blood 5 that the pollu- 
 tions of mankind were to be wafhed away by it ; and that the blood, 
 which thus cleanfed, was but typical only of the blood of the real 
 
 R pu~
 
 ( 122 ) 
 
 purifyer, who, in the New Ttjlament language, is to 'ujafh ns trf 
 liis bhcd from all our iniquities : Who can help concluding, that the 
 great facrlBcc to be cut cjf^ in due time, was called Beriib the pu- 
 rify er^ to fignify the end of fhedding his blood j that the reprelenta- 
 tive beatts, the types, were called by the lane name; that to (lay, 
 or cHt off, Berith^ or the beaft rcprelenting Berifh, the purifyery 
 being the very fign, ox fymbol, of the great the original, covenant 
 for the falvation of mankind, which was to be repeated for confirma- 
 tion of folenin covenants amongft men \ the term or expreffion of 
 cutting off Beriih, or the pur if yer, came in proccfs of time to fig- 
 rify the a£l to which, amongft men, it was applied, the making a 
 covenant} the word i?fr//^ retaining, neverthelefs, its original figni- 
 firation, and being to be taken in that fenfe, when the fcope of the 
 text req-rres it fhoald? 
 ji^- Understanding the matter thus, many paffages, that other- 
 y wife are extremely oblcure, if at all fenfe, become clear and fignili- 
 cant. Jfi. 4-z. 6. 1 Jehovah will give thee for a Berith, covenant^ 
 of the pcople^and for a light of the Gentiles. 49. 8. 1 Jehovah will 
 give thee for a Berith, covenant, of the people to eflabhpo the earth. 
 Jf what is translated covenant, were rendered, as it ought to be, pu- 
 rify cr, nothing could be more clear and comfortable than thofe texts. 
 
 Upon the fame principle the blood of Bcrith, the covenant, 
 will fignify the blood of the pitrifyer, without excluding the notion 
 of that blood being they^^z/, zn(^ fymbol, of the covenant. 
 
 And, in like manner, in many paffages where Jehovah, inftead 
 of ufing the word, tranflated to make a covenant, ufcs other words 
 which fignify, eflablifhing, giving, placing, his Berith, covenant, 
 to, or with, any one, the word Berith may more properly mean the 
 purifyer, than the covenant. 
 
 Gtn. 6. 1 8. When Jehovah acquaints Noah that he is to deflroy 
 the earth, with all its inhabitants, he alTares him, at the fame time, 
 that he is to eftablifh his Berith with him, and his family. Now, 
 \f Berith be taken, in that place, for the purifyer, the promife a- 
 mounts to this, that the great purifyer was to come of his Line, which 
 happened accordingly. 
 
 In the l;ime way. Gen. 17. 2. J ehovah^xys to Abraham, I will 
 give tny Berith between thee and me. And v. 4. As for me, behold 
 my Berith, covenant, is with thee. And, if by Berith, in thofe 
 cxpreffionSj is meant the purifyer, then thefe are formal declarations 
 
 that 
 
 /-,
 
 ( 123 ) 
 
 that the MeJJiah was to come of Abraham^ which explains the other -1^. 
 declarations, that in his feed all the families of the earth (hould be *! '" 
 bleffed. 
 
 And that declaration in which T>avid fo much exults, in whar 
 is called his lad words^ z Sam. 23. 5. yet he hath placed withmc 
 rf», or M^, everlafting 5^r/V^ ; will ^\^n\iy xh^^t Jehovah had decreed 
 the purifyer^ the Meffiah, fliould fpring out of his houfe, tho' his 
 houfe was not fo right with God as he could have wifhed it. 
 :=^Many more paflages will appear in a very different light, from 
 what they did formerly, upon taking the word in this lenfe, which 
 may be the reafon why the Jeijus, who miftook the true Berith^ 
 when he came in accomplifhment of the Lais.\ and the Trcphits, 
 have ufed much skill to hide the true meaning, which molt un- 
 doubtedly was underltood by their forefathers, after the death of 
 Gideon^ when Jad. 8.33. they went a whoring after Baal/m, and 
 made Baal Berith their God, to whom there was a houfe, or temple, 
 ztShechem, chap. 9. under the title o^ El Berith, ox the God Berith. 
 
 Whether the Ifraelites or the Canaanites built this temple is 
 not material, the God was, furely, of the manufadlure of Canaan, • 
 who fpoke the fame language with the Jews, and expeded purifi- 
 cation as well as they, tho' perhaps after a ftrange manner. Baal, 
 or El, Berith, tranflated the Lord, or God, the covenant will hardly 
 make fenfe ; but the Lord, or God, the purifyer might be a proper 
 objed of worlhip for thofe who were fo fond of purification, as to i\ | 
 caufe their children to pafs through the fire to purify them, and even * f ' 
 to Sacrifice their children, by fire, to atone for crimes, and avert 
 wrath. 
 
 Having faid fo much for explaining the Hebrew phrafc for 
 making a covenant, it may not be improper to enquire a little into 
 the origin of the Z,.-«//» phrafe/^r/>^, icere, percutere, faedus, which' 
 evidently is of the fame kindred. 
 
 Waving the conjedure of the Grammarians x\\2X fcedus might, 
 in the old Tufcan language, have been ufed for hoedus a kid, which 
 again might be the animal accuftomed to be flain, or cut off at con- 
 cluding treaties ; becaufe it neither appears that hoedus was antiently 
 viniienfoedus, nor that a Jcid was the regular facrifice : I thifik it moft 
 probable thit fcedus, in the phrafe in queftion, meant originally what 
 the adjeftive/ie^wx, a, urn, means, at this day, vile yabominatle, pol- 
 luted. % 
 
 R 2 Now,
 
 " ( 124 ) 
 
 Now, it is certain that in the Hebre-^ language the facrince gained 
 it's^ame, from the end for which it was offered ; a Jin- offt ring is 
 called, briefly, Sin\ a trefpafs-offcring, a Trcfpafs ; wherefore the 
 viHim^ brought for a Jin-offering, is called, without any addition, 
 a Sin. Hence a man is directed to bring his Jin^ if 'a creature, the 
 type 6f that 'Perfon who was to ftand in the place of the finner, to 
 the door of the tabernacle, to lay his hand upon the head of /://> Sins 
 the Pried is to kill the Sin, to pour out the blood of the Sin, isc. 
 without adding at all the word ojftring, to explain the meaning. 
 
 As, then, all religious rites flowed from the fame fource, and 
 were inftitnted in the fame language, it is very natural to conclude 
 that, upon the formation of a new language, the exprefllons concern- 
 ing thofe facred rites would be framed in fome conformity to the ori- 
 ginal language. Now if, in the firft language, that which was of- 
 fered {or Jin, which was to atone for it, and to purge it away, was, 
 by thole who expedcd that cffcd from it, called Jin^ why may not 
 we believe that what was offered to purge, what was termed /fis'///, 
 pollution^ abomination, might be called fa'dus^ \{ fcedus^ in the lan- 
 guage of the country, fignified/i^'<^/7/, pollution, nnclcannejs? 
 
 And, if it is allowed that Jkdus might fignify the creature offered 
 to atone for lin, or uncleannefs, \.\\tx\ ferire, percutere, foedus, would 
 be the very a^ of offering {ox fin, and muft come to fignify making 
 a covenant J in the fame very way that cutting off, ox faying, Berith 
 does. 
 
 To thefe obfervations, which tend to fliew the antiquity, and au- 
 thority, oi Revelation^ and the true end and meaning of the imble- 
 matical, and predtflive infituflions, as well as of the terms in which 
 the '■jjrittenwill of God'\%cox\y^'jt^^ many more might be added ; and 
 thefe, already offered, might be ilipported by producing thepaffagcs 
 from Authors facred, and prophane, by which they are to be vouched : 
 But, as on the one hand, this would exceed the dcfign of thefe fheets ; 
 fo, on the other, it would be but doing, over again, what is already 
 infinitely better done by the ingenious Mr. Hutchinson, author of 
 Mofes's Trincipia, in that, and his other furprizing works, from 
 whence all the thoughts concerning the antiquity of, and manner of 
 interpreting Re vela' ion are borrowed, and which are fraughted 
 with difcoveries, as uleful as they are new. 
 
 This Author has been complained of for writing in a manner that 
 has been called abftrufe and dark, and, perhaps, with fome reafon ; 
 
 but,
 
 ( 125 ) 
 but, if he is not altogether to be acquitted from that charge, furc 
 there is no excufe for thole, who, pretending to admit i^^T;^/^/^/^;^ as 
 '■Divine^ will not give themfelves tfie trouble to examine, with due 
 attention, his IVorks^ which make the Old Teftament fpeak a lan- 
 guage underftood by our Sa'viour and his Apojiles^ and which hardly 
 any body appears to have underftood, fince their days. It is fcarce 
 poffible to pay too dear, in labour, and ftudy, for loch difcoveries ; 
 and, ifixgiltl for Revelation were out of the queftion, it is amazing 
 that cjnofity does not prevail with men oC leifurey and /earning, to 
 look into books that are ftored with fo much entertainment in that 
 way. 
 
 If any unprejudiced perlbn, acquainted with the Scriptures, who 
 has looked into the antient heathen learning, fliall examine with to- 
 lerable care, thoie thoughts; it is to be hoped, he will find a ready 
 anfwer to all the produftions of modern, as well as antient^ Infidels • 
 and remain, to his great comfort, fatisfied, 'That Chrijlianitj is^ in- 
 deed^ ■ very near as old as the Creation. 
 
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