%^ r~-^ g^ -^a LIBRARY OF THR UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. gik:x oi Received. . jSepieuiber.^ iS^5. A c cess ions No. J>-y^0 2^ Shelf No. 08» ^O c^MJ€l4.'t'UC^f^, (Gd-i^-' 1 ADDISON'S EVIDENCES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. WITH THE NOTES OF G. S. de CORREVON^ TRANSLATED BY DR. PURDY. # Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/evidencesofchrisOOaddirich THE EVIDENCES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, WITH THE NOTES OF THE LEARNED GABRIEL SEIGNEUX de CORREVON, COUNSELLOR OF LAUSANNE, &c. &c. NOW FIRST TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH BY THE REV. RICHARD PURDY, D.D. OF QUEEN'S COLLEGE, OXFORD, VICAR OF CRICKLADE. WILTS. O magna vis veritatis ! quag contra honnnum ingenia, calliditatem, solertiam, contraque fictas oraniura insidias, facilb se per se ipsam defendat. Cicero. LONDON: PRINTED FOR F. C. & J. RIVINGTON, St. PAUL'S CHURCH-YARD, T. CADELL & W. DAVIES, STRAND; AND LONGMAN, HURST, REES, & ORME, PATERNOSTER-i^OW, 1807, eyyoo A3r ^y? O-T^ R»(€rborough-Court, > TO THE REVERENI> ROBERT NARES, A.M, ARCHDEACON OF STAFFORD; BISTINGXn^ED FOR HIS ZEALOUS SUPPORT OF THE DOCTRINES OF CHRISTIANITY, AND HIS UNIFORM a^ERVANCH OF ITS SACREB PRECEPTS^ THIS VOLUME IS INSCRIBED^ AS A SMALL TOKEN OF ESTEEM aAi> GRATITUDE^ BY HIS SINCERE OBLIGED FRIENO R. PURD¥ PREFACE. Defences of Religion are numerous, it is true^ but so also are the attacks upon Religion: nor is the present a period of the woiid in which any thing that is valuable, of tlie former kind, should be suffered to fall into oblivion. The influence of a name may sometimes begin a conversion, which further enquiry, aided by the divine blessing, may bring to the happi- est effects. The name of Adpison deserves as much attention as can be allowed to human au- thority. Sagacity, knowledge, an active genius, and a pure heart give vis all the pledge we can desire of the skill of his researches, and the honesty of his report. His little tract on " the Evidences of Christianity'' has therefore had, deservedly, a most extensive circulation. But the best productions, by degrees, lose somewhat gf their hold upon the public attentioi;i; and it VlU PREFACE, seemed to be time to recall that which is due to so able a defender of Christianity, by associa- ting him in English with his Commentator^ long celebrated on the Continent of Europe. The extensive and very learned Notes of M. Seigneux de Correvon hav^ expanded the concise arguments of our amiable Countryman, to two volumes octavo ; which, though often cited by French writers on Religion, have hitherto been very little known in this Country. I am willing to persuade myself, that by offering them to the EngHsh Public I shall render no mean service to the best of causes ; not only by reviving that attention to the work of Addiso^ which it might, in some degree, have lost; but- by giving to his arguments that support of learning and authority, which may add to their dignity and effect; while, by being kept sepa- rate, the new matter is not suffered to detract in the least from their simplicity. Tlie unlearned or much occupied reader may still peruse the tract of Addison, in its original brevity and ele- gance: while they who wish to extend their re- PREFACE. ii searches, on the topics he has so ably touched, will find the means supplied in the Notes, which are subjoined to each Section. Addison himself stands like a general, pointing out the plan and principal arrangement of the war; the notes follow, like the great divisions of his troops, prepared at all points to carry his designs into full effect. It will not be thought a trivial circumstance, in the present day, as a pledge of the enlarged sentiments of both these able advocates for Christianity, that they were also warm friends to the cause of civil liberty. Addison wrote his "Evidences" at a period when this nation was divided by the formidable struggles of two contending parties, and was himself very zealous pn the popular side. M. Seigneux, born and resident in a land where liberty has justly been thought to have flourished in much perfection, supported the efforts of our Countryman in the cause of Religion, at the very time when Vol- taire and his associates were labouring to under- inine at once Religion and Civil Society: and X PREFACE. were thus preparing the way for those unpam!- leled ati-ocities, which have since cast an inde'- lible stain upon the history of modem Europe. With an earnest wish to contribute something to the support of the sacred cause of Religion, I have undertaken the present work, not as- piring to any credit beyond that of a faithful translator; and looking for my chief reward in the consciousness of having done that which Ad- dison would approve; and, unless the execution should very grossly fail, no good man can blame. For the omission of some few passages of M, Seigneuci's notes, reasons are given in the course of the work. The arrangement of the rest, un- der th€ir respective sections, will, it is presiimed, be found convenient to the reader; n^uch more so, at least, thaii the extension of very long marginal notes, as in the French original, under a scanty portion of the author s text. The au- thorities quoted by Mr. S. have been carefully examined, and the references in some instances corret'ted. Some marginal notes, which ap- peared to be necessary, \ia\e been occasionally subjoined. PREFACE. aa The orjoinal text of Addison has been care- fully collated throughout, with the edition first published from his manuscript by Tickell; and it is hoped, will be found extremely correct; A few errata have, in spite of care, found their way into the notes, which, as far as they have been discovered, will be specified in a separate page. As very little is known of the respectable commentator on Addison, in this Country, and no memoirs of him have yet appeared in Eng- lish, it seemed necessaiy that some information respecting him should be procured. The defi- ciency was supplied by the kindness of Mr, Planta, the learned Principal Librarian of the British Museum; who, from a German w^ork of authority, extracted the following account of him, which he had also the goodness to translate; with the list of his works subjoined. To my friend Mr. Archdeacon Nares I am indebted for the suggestion of the work, and for the loan of M. Seigneux's Volumes, which are rarely to be met with in England. SOME ACCOUNT OF M SEIGNEUX DE CORREVON. Gabriel de SEIGNEUX v^as descended from an ancient and noble family of the Pays de Vaud. He received the first part of his education in his native city of Lausanne, and having afterwards studied divi- nity at Geneva, he, in the year 1717, took the degree of Licentiate of Laws at Basle. — On his return to Lau- sanne he was immediately employed in various muni- cipal offices* In 1723 he was elected into the senate, and in 1740 became Treasurer. In 1726, with the as- sistance of a liberal subscription, he was the founder of a charity school, in which 200 orphans received their education. In 1735, he married JuUa de Loys, by whom he obtained the Lordship of Correvon, the name of which he ever after added to his family name. — He appears to have been indefatigable in his literary exer- tions. In 1725, with the assistance of Abr. Rochat, L. Bourquet, and others, he set on foot the publication of the Bibliotheque Italiqice, which has been extended to 17 volumes. In the year 1732, he was elected a member of the British Society for promoting Chris- tian Knowledge ; and in 1743, became a member of the Academy of Belles Lettres of Marseilles. — He was XVI SOME ACCOUNt OF, ScC- 26. Letire sur les bains d'Aix. 27. Vie de Mr. le Boyen Rochat de Rochefort. He also published some Odes, Idyls and Fables^ among which are, 28. La Poesie a Mr. de Fontenelle. 29. Le Steele du Tombeau de Nahl a liindelbank. 30. Les Voeux de V Europe pour la Paix, 1760. We may add to the above, the following Tracts in Prose. 31. Explication d^une Inscription Antique deterree et Vitiy pres de Lausanne y 11^9. and 32. Discours sur la Culture du Bled. Besides which there are probably some more of his Tracts dispersed in periodical works, which have not reached our knowledge. 33. A Dissertation on the Sibylline Oracles^ before a7id after the establishment of Christianity. 34. A Dissertation on the continuance of the miraculous pozvers, after the Time of the Apostles, These two are subjoined to the present work, in the original. PRELIMINARY REFLECTIONS, By M. Seigneux de Correval. 1 HE Christian religion is distinguished from all others by the excellence of its object, and by the admirable choice of the means which it employs: means equally worthy of the majesty, the goodness, and the infinite wisdom of God, and of the liberty and natural dignity of man. If religion presented itself under no other aspect, probably none would be able to withdraw them- selves from its influence; all would long for a happy immortality, and be irresistibly impelled by the amiable force of a moral system, which they cannot but admire and esteem. The in- clinations of the heart would find no pretext to evade submitting to precepts so full of wisdom, to a law so perfect, so abundant in mercy. It cannot, however, be denied, that the heart being once corrupted unwillingly submits, and cannot without pain make to this pure religion XVllI PRELIMINARY. EKFLECTIONS. the various sacrifices it demands! It is this in- ward, this interested repugnance which has been the source of all the excuses for disobe- dience, and probably of the most perverse objec- tions, to which religion has been exposed. Some of these have even seduced the well inclined; but in general it has been corruption which has first suggested these objections, and which still gives them power over weak and thought- less minds/ Some have said that the precepts of religion were too difficult for practice; others, that its doctrines could not possibly be believed; and it is very remarkable that both these ob- jections almost always proceed from the same quarter. .Even the greater part of those who have been ashamed to search for defects in such a perfect law, have evinced by their con- duct that immorality was inseparable from a want of faith. The majority of bad Christians, and still more the avowed enemies of religion, wage war against those profound and mysterious truths which it offers to our contemplation, be- * ** Libertinism and impiety spring from corruption : those who cannot resolve to keep within the bounds which God hath prescribed, attempt to break them down, and to shake off a yoke they are unwilhng t# bear." — Bcausobrs* Serm^ sur Rom, xii. 9. I Pd* % 12. PRELIMINARY REFLECTIONS. Xlx; cause they are not able to explain them as simple, and self-evident propositions. Not sa- tisfied merely to witb-hold their own acquies- cence, they strive to render the whole system suspected by others; and to take advantage, of what they consider as its weak side, in order to bring discredit upon the rest. This has long been a stumbling block to very zealous Chris^ tians, and to many an occasiqn of falling.'' Still however there are arguments sufficient to give relief to minds which are well-disposed, and attached to the cause of truth; and I here offer some of the principal reflections which tmay serve to dissipate our doubts and to estabhsh Gur faith. There is no risk in granting at once that, al- though man is made for truth, all truths are not made for man. As there is a very great disparity in the understandings of men, so there are various kinds of truths proportionably adjusted to their comprehension : what are fitted to some extraordinary capacities are not within the grasp of others. The same gradation which we observe in the human intellect; the same proportion which we perceive between different '' The difficulty of believing proceeds from that of ©beying. Disc, sur les P ensues dg M, Pascals b2 :5:X PRELIMINARY REFLECTIONS. understandings, and the truths to which thcj are competent, are to be found, according to all appearances, in the immense world of spirits. No doubt, in the multitude of classes that these pure beings compose, there are some which discern, at the first glance, what lies not within the view of more limited or material perceptions. With still greater certainty may it be concluded that there are some truths, not to be discovered by the most enlightened of all created spirits, which arq distinctly perceived by God alone. Such are his sublime decrees ; and those things which ^ytlic Angels desire to look into; which by the way, not only shows us that they delight in such contemplations, but also that their know- ledge is imperfect; that there are some things 50 profound as only to be meditated upon, even by them, in silent veneration.'' What I have said being founded on experi- ence and analogy, I may be allowed to draw thij conclusion; that the certainty of a truth does • " Were there nothing incomprehensible but in *^ religion there might be some room for objection j ** but that which is best known in nature, whatever ** we do know, is known only to a certain extent al- *' though we have it in full view,'* Disc, sur lis Pensess de M* Pascal* PRELIMINARY REFLECTIONS. XXI / not depend upon the facility with which any intelligent being apprehends it; and that the degree of obscurity which involves it in im- penetrable mystery to the eyes of one, throws only a thin veil over the eyes of another, and has not the least effect upon still superior facul- ties. This cloud overshadows a particular class of persons, and perhaps a class of persons placed at a particular point of view. Supposing that the same faculties, with which we are pro- vided here, go on to a degree of perfection in the life to come, in proportion as they already begin to increase and expand themselves in the present life; a thousand new objects, till then unperceived, will burst forth upon us in all their splendour. Possibly it is not so much ^^ that our faculties are limited, as that there are cer- tain obstacles thrown in their way, wliich now check the progress of their exertions: like a curtain drawn between the eye and the object?, or an horizon bounded by lofty mountains which deprive us of a magnificent prospect. The mysterious truths of religion are probably of this kind: they are obscure only to us, while they are perfectly clear in the sight of God, and, it may be, in the sight of numberless im- material beings. It was in the pbwer of the XXll PRELIMINARY REFLECTIONS. Almighty to have completely revealed them to ^/men: but his infinite wisdom, and, no doubt, our present estate would not permit it. These are sublime things, the knowledge of which he hath thought fit to withhold from iis in this world, possibly, that he may impart it to us in another. This depende'd on his own free will. The Creator well knew our real wants, and the measure of instruction best suited to ]usj,hej:e|* ^ The following is a reflection worthy oi a^irnn^ at once philosophical and religibas.—" The sacred volume of Scripture, although alniost'etfei^'^ where -ada^i^d ^o our capacitie^^ aX far as the nature of it allowed^, must sometimes touch upon points entirely out; of our sphere, from their close connection with thosfe. funda- mental points which it was intended to ej^pla^.: For instance, in speaking of the Supreme Being, of his conduct with respect to us, &c. it was impossible not to leave us in the dark ias to the nature and designs of the Deity. The full view of these things demanded a previous knowledge of all eternity, of firfit princi- ples, of those of our being, of the various relations we bear to all the objects in the universe, and to the Creator himself. I may be deceived, but these very difficulties are to me an intimation in favour of the divine origin of this book. It is beyond my compre- ^ hension that a work composed by the Disciples of an infinite B6ing could be exempt from obscurities which we are unable to remove." Essai sur les Oracles dc VEcriture par M, De Chesseaux ... PRELIMINARY REFLECTIONS. XXUl and it was a mark of his wisdom to proportion our intelligence to our necessities and not to our presumption.'' Here the boasting free thinker will say, grant- ing that the ignorance, in which we are kept with respect to these things, is nothing more than becomes our situation in this world ; why are we in the mean time, before this veil is torn off, called upon to believe what we cannot com- prehend? It would be not only a very difficult, but a very rash, imdertaking to enquire into the reasons for our being kept in this ignorance, since it would be searching into the Divine de- creed: but that, which it is of consequence for us to know, and which we are permitted to learn, is the foundation upon which we ought to believe. If God, after having endowed us with a plain understanding, had imposed upon us tlie necessity of believing certain truths, without affording us sufficient light to discern them, or motives powerful enough to induce us */' Not to rejoice in the benefit of what God has *\ gi'aciously allowed us to know, from a presumptuous ** disgust at our incapacity of knowing more, is ag ^' absurd as it would be to refuse to walk, because " we cannot fly." Lord Lyttlcton on the Conversioti c/St. Paul, ^ XXIV PRELIMINARY REFLECTIONS. to believe them, it must be confessed, ouf ad- versaries might have maintained, with some plausibihty, that the mind of man not being quahfied to apprehend these mysteries, it was impossible he should believe them ; and that the Supreme Being, if he insisted upon his belief, exacted from him a task he was unable to per- form. To remove this specious objection, we must necessarily be in a situation thoroughly to penetrate into the mysterious truths we are speaking of, and to demonstrate them a priori by immediate inspection, or to be assured a pos- teriori of their existence, by some proofs of a dif- ferent kind, but indisputable; such as well au- thenticated facts, or undoubted testimonies: and, that these proofs may supply the place of a direct view, it is necessary first, that they should be simple in their nature, and suited to all capa- cities ; for those who could not perceive their force, would be under no obligation to be- lieve; secondly, it is necessary that these proofs should have so direct an influence, upon the truths required to be believed, as evidently to determine their certainty. If God has in this way provided for our satisfaction surely we shall have no reason to complain ; and we shall bjp ready to acknowledge, that his per- PRELIMINARY REFLECTIONS. XXV feet equity is splendidly manifested, in the care he has condescended to take to supply the want of direct information on these subjects. Here we shall find that, in concealing from us the full view of certain truths in order to try our faith, he has in his goodness, infinitely allevi- ated the task, by encouraging our faith with the mo^t rational, and the most powerful mo- tives. It is mv desisrn to show in a few words the nature of those arguments and motives, which are capable of having such weight and effect. • When a friend of extraordinary merit, and of distinguished probity, finds us undetermined as to any extraordinary fact, the circumstances of which we have not been enabled to view and consider, and when he gives us assurance of this fact in an able and distinct manner, our doubts disappear; his testimony brings to our minds the clearest conviction. It would be nearly th^ same, with regard to any truth which might not be within the compass of our faculties, but the reality of which this friend of superior under- standing would assure us he had demonstrated after the minutest investigation. But these arc faint images, and every comparison must fall short, when we are speaking of those weighty ICXVl PRELIMINARY REFLECTIONS. truths, the reality of which is attested to us by an all perfect Being; and which, if we may so speak, proceed from the lips of Eternal Truth it- self. Under what pretence can that be doubted, which is certified by an infinite Being; and what safer warrant, can we wish for, to autho- rize our faith, than his infallibihty? And the same: ought to be our confidence when he gives us this assurance by ministers of his own ap- pointment, provided they appear to be such by the exercise of a power, so superior to all human power, that it must be as manifest as possible that they derive their authority from God alone. Such has been the. adorable conduct- of the Supreme Being with regard to his free. ajid in- :telligent creatures. ) lit the, ministty of , Jesus Christ and his Apostles- we behold these august characters of a mission altogether divine^ and that supernatural powder which God com- municates only to the ministers of truth. In this glorious ministry we must look, for those subsidiary proofs which can abundantly supply whatever is deficient in our penetration. lier« we find those plain arguments which are accom- modated to the weakest capacity, those speak- ing evidences which, as they consist of facts^ are accounted as under our eye; and the exact :PRELIMINARY RllFLl^CtlONS. xxvii conformity of these to all the truths 'we are called upon in the Gospel to believe. ^iJetus add those subsidiary proofs which must lend them so powerful an assistance, by offering a sketch and an abridgment of the history of the Christian Religion." Here we shall find the con- descension and the majesty of God equally dis- played.— Not satisfied with reducing the. my s-; terious truths to a very small number, aixd with laying them before men accompanied by iothers- the most manifest and the best demonstrated: Not satisfied with forming religion into a sys- tem the most excellent, and the best connected; the most> worthy of the perfectioijis of tl?/^ Cl^;^- tor, and the best calculated for the happiness of mankind: He desires that this systenv already so attractive in itself, may be announced to us by his own Son. The life of this august Son is a train of generous and marvellous deeds. His whole conduct is a model of purity, of goodness, of gentleness, of patience, and of submission to the Supreme will. All his discourses breathe a spirit of zeal, of wisdom, of charity. Pie dies, he rises again, he ascends to tHeaven. To his .Disciples he leaves his example, his doctrine, and his power. His Disciples, known by all the Jews to be unfit for the office of deceivers, atiXVlU PRELIMINARY REFLECTIONS, whose only art and whose only arms are truth and the power of God: these men, I say, de- clare the precepts of their master with a dignity that dispels all remembrances of their former condition; and with an unaffected meekness which proves them to have been taught by the Saviour of the world. Soon do they inspire a regard for laws the most adverse to the passions. Whatever they assert produces conviction by the weight of its evidence. If they even preach some doctrines which are astonishing to reason ; if they proclaim the miracles of the Son of God, they render them indisputable by miracles of their own. These wonders, to us as impenetra- ble as the sublimest truths, do in fact set the seal upon them, for they show the finger of God.^ ' *^ I will say then to the philosophers," says Father Guenard, '' disquiet not yourselves about the mys- ** teries which reason cannot penetrate, examine *' those truths which permit you to approach them, ** which permit you, in a manner, to touch and ** to handle them, and will be responsible to yoii for ** every other. Such are the evident arid glorious ** facts in which religion is, as it were, totally en- *' folded ; that she may appear splendid but not daz- ** zling, and equally impart her saving light to the *' dullest and the most susceptible minds. These ^' facts are committed to your curiosity, they arc the PRELIMINARY REFLECTIONS. XXIX The most hardened incredulity bends to such obvious proof. A multitude of all ranks, what do I say, a multitude of nations are guided by that divine light which God, in his goodness, affords to the most limited understanding: and the rapid progress of a persecuted religion soon becomes of all miracles the greatest. These truths, these doctrines, and these facts are what *' foundations of religion : dig round them, labour to ** undermine them. Go down with the torch of phi- *' losophy, even to that venerable stone so often re- *' jeeted by the unbelievers, so often the instrument of " their destruction. But when come to a certain *^ depth, you will there find the hand of the Almighty, *' which from the beginning of the world upholds this *' vast and majestic edifice, unshaken amidst all th« ** storms of revolving ages. Here stop, search not ** to the confines of hell. Philosophy can take you ** no farther without leading you to ruin. Ye are *' come to the Abyss of the Eternal, there with the *' unlearned she must veil her eyes, adore the Unseen^ " and throw man back with confidence into the arms *' of Faith. Non plus sapere quam oportet." Le P. Guenard^ dans un discours qui a remport4 le prix de 1' Academic Francoise en 1755. The expression Unseen c^xi hardly be allowed by those who have demonstrated or acknowledged th« truth of the miracles which are the firm basis of our faith. XXX ^RELIMliSTARY REFLECTIONS. we read of this day in the sacred writers. Their works have come down to us through more than seventeen [eighteen] ages, many of which have been ages of violence, of superstition, and barba- rism; dnd through all these, while so many excel- lent productions .of genius were overwhelmed, while all the sciences were sunk into oblivion, the hallowed plant of religion appears to have been the object of peculiar veneration. Contemplating all these things, we cannot but admire and regard a work which could not have been carried on against so many powerful opponents, and for so long a time, but by the hand of the Almighty. As soon as the history of which I am about to give the substance is well proved, as soon as the miracles which form part of it are well authenticated, all the difficulties, which are thrown in the way of the doctrines, must disappear. From that time eveiy unprejudiced, reflecting mind will be convinced, that those who have done these mar- vellous things have acted, have spoken, have written in the name of God. From that time doctrines, till then hard to be understood, but found explicitly and unequivocally laid down in the discourses or the writings of these men PRELIMINARY REFLECTIONS, XXXl Jaided by heavenly power, become as certain as if our reason had clearly seen them.^ * They who reject the Christian religion on account of. its mysteries, do not consider how much the ob- jection may be retorted against other systems of re- ligion and of philosophy, which however these very persons profess to admit. In deism, the most simple of all religious opinions, there are certain difficultiest which reason is not able to remove. For instance, the origin of evil, under the government of a God su- premely good and powerful: how to reconcile the foreknowledge of the Deity with the free-will of man. —-The creation of the world at a certain fixed period, or its production from all eternity, by the Supreme Being. These mysteries cannot bring a considerate man to deny the existence of God, or his wisdom, his goodness, his infinite power, which are demonstrated in the clearest manner, and to which we cannot refuse our assent, without involving ourselves in difliculties a thousand times more embarrassing, and even in thp most glaring absurdities and impossibilities. So that all we have to do is to reconcile these matters as satisfac- torily as our reason allows, and, when it has done its utmost, to acknowledge its weakness, and confess that our hmited understanding and imperfect judgment cannot be the measure of divine wisdom, or the gene- ral seal of truth. So also with regard to the Christian religion ; reason there finds mysteries which it labours to scan, or is not able satisfactorily to explain; but, *ince the truth of them is founded upoij facts so XXXll PRELIMINARY REFLECTIONS. To render these facts, which form the basis of Christianity, indisputable, is the object of the celebrated author whose work I have translated. The observations I am going to make will lead us to perceive the regularity of his method, and how exactly the means he has chosen are fitted to produce conviction. The marvellous things in the life of Jesus Christ and his Apostles are no longer to be seen, but through the eyes of those who were the witnesses of them ; and upon the faith of their testimony we are to receive them. If for the moment we set aside this evidence and suspend the impression it may make ; when we behold such a number of the learned, of philosophers and illustrious men converted to Christianity, our curiosity is awakened and we are anxious to learn the cause of this conversion. We ftrongly proved, that we cannot disbelieve them,without admitting difficulties still greater than those attendant on belief, it is clear that we ought not to call in question any mysteries, on account of the objections to which they give rise, however mortifying they may be to our vanity. No doubt, were self only consulted, it would determine that all things should be fully made manifest, but it hath pleased God to proportion our knowledge to our necessities, and not to our pre- sumption. eagerly ask, Who are those that have received this doctrine, and upon what grounds have they embraced it? If it be answered that they yielded to the pow^r of miracles, we Wish to know what those miracles were. How and by whom are they attested? What proofs are brought for- ward? What evidence has been given by per^ sons who were disinterested, well-informed, and even at first checked by their prejudices? We leaUnd' with surprize tliat the most inveterate ene* mie^of thissaered cause acknowledged the facts, which we hear of with astonishment; and we enquire, How those who admitted the evidence reasoned upon these facts? What pains they took to elucidate them? We desire to be ac- quainted with the character of these persons, the weight of their opinion, their number, the degree of their faith and perseverance in the religion they embi'aced. These questions are answered by our illus^ trious author. If he satisfies us as.to tliese points, it is impossible not to be convinced of the truth of the miracles, of the Gospel, and consequently of the truth of the Christian religion. We have only to place ourselves in the situation of these early converts to the truth, ta determine our •wn conduct. XXXIV J^RELIMINARY REFLECTIONS. -V. From the sketch I shall now give of the Atitliors design we may form some idea of the %xcellenGe Jof the execution. . Mr. ' Addison - divides his Essay into nine sections; and each section into several articles. In Sect. 1; He enquires if the miracles in (|uestion could be known to heathen writers contemporary with our Lord, and in what manner they must have been at first received, especially as coming from the Jewish nation. Herel the author very, iiaturally places the eyi^ dence. given to these facts in the account sent by Pontius Pilate to Tiberius, and .iBL| thei sup- posed letter from king Abgarus. • ^ t t -jjn Sjxt. IL; . He examines what circumstan- ce, in .ourjLordjs history the pagan historians w^re qualified to relcite, what in fact they do r.date;Jn what terms they speak of them; and what particulars there are, which ^we ought not to expect to find in their writings. ; In Sect. III;. He introduces a second class of learned heathens convert;ed to Christianity in the three ..fir§t ages of the Church, . Ile.ex' sunines tlie weight of their testimony^ the terms in which it is given by two celebrated Atheni- ans, and the eJ^aot conformity of their recital tp. that of the Evangelists. ./>^ PRELIMINARY REFLECTIONS. XXXV In Sect. IV ; He gives an account of the taste and prevailing disposition of the times in which the Gospel iirst made its progress; of the learning of those ages; the names and charac- ters of several philosophers who were converted, principally from being convinced of the truth of our Lord's history. In Sect. V; He points out the opportunities and, the means which the learned Pagans had p^ informing themselves of the truth, in the conduct of the Apostles, the Disciples, and eye- witnesses; in the support it derived from their character, their sufferings, and their miracles; in the care taken to establish and to .perpetuate the tradition of these things. The Author shows that five generations were enabled to transmit this tradition, and in fact have transmitted it, from the earliest period to the year of our Lord 343. The authenticity of this tradition is pro- ved J)y the exact conformity between the creed of;-^the primitive Fathers and tliat of tlic churches; by the continual conversa^tions upon this subject among the first Christians; by the- mode of initiating the new converts ; by the re- ciprocal correspondence between the churches; ^nd by. the long lif^ of some of the Disciples. c2 In Sect. VI; We are told of other means very wisely employed to reduce this* tradition to certainty, such as the writings of the Evan- gelists, and the care taken to circulate them. The exact agreement of these writings with the tradition is hefe shown, from the unifonnity in the creed of some churches which had the Gos- pels, with that of the churches planted only by preaching: the records and histories which were written and distributed in these earlier ages (of which some examples are given) are considered as additional helps to the learned heathens. In Sect. VII; We find a very powerful mo- tive to the conversion of the most obstinate Pagans: that is, the sight and the assurance of some miracles, in the class of which may be placed the constancy of the martyrs, with the effect of this upon the enlightened heathens who witnessed it. In Sect. VIII; Wc are told of another en- couragementj which kept the heathen converts firm to the last in the cause of Christianity. This was the accomplishment of our Lords prophecies, amongst others, of those which Jin- nounced the destruction of Jerusalem, and the' propagation of the Gospel throughout the world. PRE^LIMINARY REFLECTIONS. XXXVU In Sect. IX. And last, the Author describes, what must have filled up the measure of con- viction in the well-informed heathens, the life of the primitive Christians; the sudden change in their morals; but, above all, tlie literal ac- <5omplishment of prophecies relative to the per- son of Jesus Clirist, which were scattered among tlie Jewish Scriptures, and wliich the learned heathens could compare with the e\':ents. Such is the plan anxl outline of tliis Work, which probably was not itself more than an outline of one more considerable. The strength and the compactness of tlie composition are al* ready manifest. It is true that each article is treated with conciseness: but whatever* is es* sential to the satisfaction of any reasonable mind may here be found. They who desire informa- tion more at large are put in the way of obtaining it, by the judicious method here adopted. Larger works are read by ^o few people that we cannot too much commend the admirable brevity of this. All, who wish to enlighten their faith, will be delighted to find in «o small a volume whatever is necessary for conviction. v..^ io AhHyh I shall conclude with a reflection of -Which I intreat my readers to consider all the import- ance. If God appeared in all His Glory, ther« XXXVlll PRELIMINARY, R|: FLECTIONS. could be no Atheists. If Jesus Christ had shown himself to all the people, or condescended stillVto show himself^ there would be no merit in being a Christian. No man hath seen God at any time, yet almost ail men have acknowr ledged and adored him; because he hath, as ijt were, made himself visible in his works. In the lapse of many ages no man hath seen^ Jesas Christ; but thousands have testified that they 8aw him, were the witnesses of his miracles, and of the miracles performed by his Apostles. Upon the credit of so niany unexceptionable witnesses, millions of every nation have confessed him to be the Son of God; in the persons of these witnesses they may be said to have seen him. Upon the ground of this testimony they vVould have been thought to have sinned against thfeir better judgment, if they had refused to acknowledge him. The weight of these evi- dences and these considerations is not at all diminished; yet placed as we are at a distance from the aera of the great event, much is it t0 be feared lest the miracles of. the life, of the death, of the resurrection and ascension of our Lord should gradually become the objects of un- belief. Insensibly will they retire from our view if we do not in some way or^ other recall them. PRELIMINARY REFLECTIONS. XXXIX and recapitulate the details which brought light to millions of heathens, and carried with them such conviction in the first ages of the church. The preachers of the Gospel would probably be more successful in their labours, if their preaching was with simplicity: if the strength of their discourses lay less in elegance of diction, than in the faithful and dignified exposition of facts which produced so many conversions; if they more frequently employed that demon- stration, founded in the Spirit and Power of God, which results from miracles : an unequivo- cal proof of the power and will of the Almighty. They would then follow a noble example, that of the most eloquent Apostle St. Paul. " My '' speech and my preaching was not with en- *' ticing words of man's wisdom, but in demon- *' stration of the Spirit and of Power, that your " faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, " but in the power of God." 1 Cor. ii. 4. 5. ;UNIVEIlSITyl t a £ EVIDENCES Tifi: CHRISTIAN RELIGION. SECTION I. I. General division of the folloxving discourse, with regard to Pagan and Jervish authors, who mention particulars relating to our Saviour, IL Not probable that any such should be mentioned by Pagan writers who lived at the same time, from the nature of such transactions: III. Especially when related by the Jews; IV. And heard at a distance by those who pretended to as great miracles of their own. V. Besides that, no Pagan writers of that age lived in Judcea, or its confines ; VI. And because many books of that age are lost, VII. An instance of one record proved to be authentic, VIII. A second record of probable, though not un^^ doubted authority. I. 1 HAT I may lay before you a full state of th€ subject under our consideration, and metho- dize the several particulars that I touched upon iu discourse with you; I shall first take notice B 2 THE EVIDE\X*ES OF [Sec, 1. of such Pagan authors as have given their testimony to the history of. our Saviour; reduce these authors under their respective classes, and shew what authority their testimonies carry with them. Secondly, T shall take notice of Jewish* authors in the same light. II. There are many reasons why you should not ex}?tct that matters of such a wonderful nature should be taken notice of by those emi- nent Pagan writers, who were contemporaries with Jesus Christ, or by those who lived before his Disciples - had personally appeared, among them ; and ascertained the report which had gone abroad, concerning a life so full of miracles. Supposing such things had happened at this day in Switzerland, or among the Grisons, who make a greater figure in Europe than Judaea did in the Roman Empire, would they be imme- diately believed by those who live at^a great distance fiK)m them; or would any- certain accoun% of them be transmitted into foreign * The Author did not live to wi'ite this second part. Seel' l.l THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 5 countries, withm so short a space of time as that of our Saviour's public ministry ; such kinds of news, though never so true, seldom gain credit, till some time after they are transacted and exposed to the examination of the curious; whey/ by laying together circumstances, attes- tatioii^ atid characters of those who are con- cerned in them, either receive; or reject, what at first none but eye witnesses could absolutely believe or disbelieve. In a case of this sort, it was natural for men of sense and learning to tfeut the whole account as fabulous, or, at farthest, to suspend their belief of it, until all things stood together in their full light. III. Besides, the Jews were branded not only for superstitions different from all the religions of the Pagan world, but in a particular manner ridiculed for being a credulous people; so that whatever reports of such a nature came out of that country, were looked upon as false, frivolous^ and improbable (a). Cajy &c. refer to Notes at the end of each Section B2 4 THE EVIDENCES OF [Sec, K IV. We may further observe, that the ordi- nary practice of magic in those times, with the many pretended prodigies, divinations, appa- ritions, and local miracles, among the Heathens, made them less attentive to such news from Judea, till they had time to consider the nature, the occasion, and the end of our Saviour's mi- racles, and were awakened by many surprising events to allow them any consideration at all. V. We are indeed told by St. Matthew* that the fame of our Saviour, during his life, went throughout all Syria, and that there fol- lowed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, Judaea, Decapolis, Iduma3a, from beyond Jordan, and from Tyre and Sidon. Now had there been any historians of those times and places, we might have expected to have seen in them some account of those wonderful trans- actions in Judaea; but there is not ^any single author extant, in any kind, of that age, in any of those countries. •* Ckiv. 24, 25. Set\ 1.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. $ VI. How many books have perished, in which possibly there might have been mention of our Saviour ! Look among the Romans, how few of their writings are come down to our times ! In the space of two hundred years from our Saviour's birth, when there was such a multitude of writers in all kinds, how small is the number of authors, that have made their way to the present age ? VII.. One authentic record, and that the most authentic Heathen record, we are pretty sure is lost : I mean the account sent by the Governor of Judasa, under whom our Saviour was judged, condemned, and crucified. It was the custom in the Roman Empire, as it is to this day in all the governments of the world, for the praifects and viceroys of distant provinces to transmit to their sovereign a summary relation of every thing remarkable in their administration. That Pon- tius Pilate, in his account, would have touched on so extraordinary an event in Judsea, is not to be doubted ; and that he actually ^id, we 6 THE EVIDENCES OF [Sec. l. learn from Justin Martyr, who lived about a hundred years after our Saviour s death, resided, made converts, and suffered martyrdom at Rome, where he was engaged with Philosophers, and in a particular manner with Crescens the Cynick, who could easily have detected, and would not fail to have exposed him, had he quoted a record not in being, or made any false citation out of it. Would the great Apologist have challenged Crescens to dispute the cause of Christianity with him before the Roman Senate, had he forged such an evidence? or would Crescens have refused the challenge, could he have triumphed over him in the detection of such a forgery? To which we must add, that the Apology, which appeals to this record, was pre- sented to a learned Emperor, and to the whole body of the Roman Senate. This Father, in his Apology, speaking of the death and suffering of our Saviour, refers the Emperor for the truth of iv^hat he says to the acts of Pontius Pilate (b)y which I have here mentioned. TertuUian who wr6te his Apt)logy about fifty years after Justin, Sec, 1 THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. ^ doubtless referred to the same record, when lie tells the Governor of Rome, that the Emperor Tiberius, having received an account out of Palestine in Syria of tlie Divine Person, who had appeared in that country, paid him a parti- cular regard, and threatened to punish any, who should accuse the Christians ; nay, that the Em- peroi' would have adopted him among the Dei- ties whom they woi-shipped, had not tlie Senatfe * refused to come into his proposal. Tertullian Xc), who gives us this history, was not only one of the most learned men of his age, but, what adds a greater weight to his authority in this case, was eminently skilful and well read in the laws of the Roman Empire. Nor can it be said, that Tertullian grounded his quotation upon the authority of Justin Martyr, because we find he mixes it with matters of fact which are not related by that author. Eusebius (d) mentions the same ancient record ; but as it was not extant in his time, I shall not insist upon his authority in this point. If it be ob- jected, that this particular is not mentioned in S THE EVIDENCES OF [Sec. 1, any Roman historian, I shall use the same ar- gument in a parallel case, and see whether it will carry any force with it. Ulpian, the great Roman lawyer, gathered together all the Im- perial Edicts that had been made against the Christians. But did any one ever say, that there had been no such Edicts, because they were not mentioned in the histories of those Emperors? Besides, who knows but this cir- cumstance of Tiberius was mentioned in other historians that have been lost, though not to be found in any still extant ? Has not Suetonius many particulars of this Emperor omitted by Tacitus, and Ilerodian many that are not so much as hinted at by either? As for the spu- rious Acts of Pilate, now extant, we know the occasion and time of their writing ; and that had there not been a true and authentic record of this nature, they would never have beeii forged. VIII. The story of Abgarus (e), King of Edessa, relating to the letter which he sent to Sec, 1.] THE CHRISTIAN KELIGION. 9 our Saviour, and to that which he received from him, is a record of great authority ; and though I will not insist upon it, I may venture to say, that, had we such an evidence for any fact in Pagan history, an author would be thought very- unreasonable who should reject it. I believe you will be of my opinion if you will peruse, with other authors, wlio have appeared in vin- dication of these letters as genuine, the addi- tional arguments which have been made use of by the late famous and learned Dr. Grabe, in J:he second volume of his Spicilcgium. to THE EVIDENCES OF [mtes ip. NOTES TO SECTION I Aj^tick III. (a) HORACE proves this when he says-- ^'^ Credat Judaeus Apella non ego/'—" Apella *' the Jew may beUeve it, I can not. "* Article vii. (b) Justin Martyr's words arc : " Ek t«v hi •** Xlovr/a HiXuTQ 'yevoiiivuv Anluv p^ukTv ^vvxtrer^'' ^* You may learn these things from the Acts '* drawn up by Pontius Pilate.'^t Here it will be observed that this ancient Father of the Church makes no mention of Pilate's supposed letter to Tiberius, or of the sending to him the acts or registers containing any particulars of the life and miracles of our Lord : but merelv, and in a general way, refers to the Acts of this sixth Governor or Procurator of Judasa, from which (he says) " You may learn these things." (c) Tertullian tells us : " Tiberius ergo, cujus " tempore nomen Christianum in saeculum in- ** troivit, annunciata sibi ex Syria Palestine?, " quse veritatem illius (Jesu Christi) revelarat, * Lib. i. Sat. 5. f Apol. i. p. 56. Se€. 1.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIG10N>\<^ ^*^^J§ t ' ^' detulit ad Senatum, cum pnerogativa sym^f^^Qt^ -^ „ . " sui. Senatus quia non ipse probaverat, i^^ *^ spuit. Caesar in sententia mansit, comminatus ^* periculum accusatoribus Christiaiiorum." " Ti- ^' berius, in whose time the Christian name made ^' its entry into the world, communicated to the "Senate the account he had received from Pa- *' lestine respecting Jesus Christ, and proposed to " have Him enrolled amongst the Gods. The ** Senate rejected the proposition, but the Em- " peror persisted in his opinion, and threatened ** all, who should dare to accuse the Christians, " with severe punishment."* Tertullian does not assert that the letter, and the acts of Pilate were in the public archives, he desires the Ro- mans to look into their registers; " Consulite " commentarios vestros ; ijlic reperietis primum " Neronem in hanc Sectam, cum maxime Ro- " mas, orientem, CiEsariano gladio ferocisse,'* ** There (he says) you will fmd that Nero was " the first of all the Emperors who persecuted " this (the Christian) religion when it was yet '' in its infancy."! And in another part of his Apology, having spoken of our Lord's life and death, he thus continues: " Ex omnia super " Christo Pilatus, et ipse jam pro sua conscien- * Apol. c. V. t C. xxi. 12 THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes t9 " tia Christiamis, Cacsari tunc Tiberio men* *■ tiavit." " Pilate, in his conscience, rather *' inclined to Christianity, then wrote all these " things to Tiberius Caesar/' — With regard to Pilate's Christianity, it may be ranked with the religious zeal of Tiberius. Pilate found Jesus Christ entirely innocent; his language was^ '' What evil hath he done,"? "I find no fault " in this man."* He might have been struck with the miracles which occurred before, and after our Lord's death ; he might have respected Him as a very extraordinary man, and have sent to Tiberius an account which indicated such sentiments, and yet not have become a Christian. Tiberius was a foe to all foreign rites, an irreligious fatalist. Suetonius calls him *^ Circa Deos ac religiones negligentiorem f *' very negligent of the Gods and religions."! It is hardly probable then he should be in- clined to multiply the objects of a worship he held in contempt. The Apology of TertuUian is very highly and Very justly esteemed; but as the circumstances he has mentioned respecting Pilate and Tiberius are rather im.probable, aVc must receive them with caution. * Mark xv. 14. Luke xxiii. 4. t In Tiber. 69. Sec. 1.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. IS (d) Eusebius says : " As it was of old custo- *^ maiy that the Governors of Provinces should " communicate to tlie Emperor eveiy strange " and unusual accident that happened within '^ their charge, that so nothing that was done " might escape his knowledge, Pilate acquainted " the Emperor Tiberius with the resurrection of " our Saviour Jesus Christ, now much talked of " over all Palestine, giving him an account that " he had also heard of many other of his mira- *^ cles, and that rising again from the dead he *^ was now by many believed to be a God: and ** they say that Tiberius referred this matter to *' the Senate, but they rejected it because they '* had not been previously consulted : there being *' an old law among the Romans that no one " should be deified but by the suffrage and de- " cree of the Senate."* Paulus Orosius, an historian of the fifth cen- tury, attributes in some degree the failure of the proposition of Tiberius, to the hatred which his favourite, Scjanus, bore to the new religion : he says, " Consecrationem Christi recusavit " (Senatus) edictoque consituit exterminandos " esse urbe ehristianos ; prsecipue cum et Se- " janus, Prasfectus Tiberii, suscipienda3 Religioni * E. H. b. ii. c. 2, 14 THE EVIDENCES OF l]Stofesi& " obstinatissime contradiceret. Tiberius tamen " edicto accusatoribus christianorum mortem *' comiiiinatus est." " The Senate refused to con- " secrate Christ, and decreed that the Christians " should be driven out of the city, especially " when Sejanus, the prefect of Tiberius, vio- " lently opposed them. However the Emperor " by an edict threatened their accusers with ''death."* Tlie criticism of the learned has been much employed upon this point: some having adhered only to the testimony of Justin Martyr and Tertullian: others having maintained that the letter and acts of Pontius Pilate were still in being: the opinion of the latter has been adopted but by few. Mr. Du Pin does not go quite so far as to treat the supposed proposition of Tiberius to the Senate as a fable, but he speaks of it as at least v^r}' doubtful and hardly probable.f Mr. Basnage rejects these pieces of history as apocr}^phal. 'j: The celebrated Thomasius subscribes without hesitation to Mr. B's opinion. § Mr. Le Clerc is on the opposite side.|| * Lib. vii. cap. iv. f Bibl. Eccles. Tom. i. p. 24. X Annal Eccles. Tom. i. p. 433. § De Caut. H. E. §. i. 12. 1| H. E. Aim. 24, &c. S^c, I .] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 1 5 In a modem dissertation of the learned James Christopher Iselin of Basle we find the proposal of Tiberius to the^Senate taken as a fact.* Abbe Houteville, in his Treatise on the Chris- tian Religion proved by Faetsf considers the pi-oposition of 'Tiberius to the Senate as a cer- tainty;, and exactly such as Tertullian and Eu- sebius have related it. The anonymous writer, who has very learnedly taken him up in some letters addressed to him, says (in Letter V: and Remarks) that " Tertullian has in this instance '* employed as usual his oWn strong imagination " in daring to. telL the Senate that this letter " and this proposal of Tiberius were among "their archives." It is hardly reasonable to presume that the fojce of imagination could have made so positive and so rash an assertion, as this must have been, if it had not been founded in fact. This anonymous wri ter forgets to distinguish the spurious acts from those which are spoken of by Justin Martyr and Tertullian, and to separate the circumstance of Pilate's ac- count from that which is added by Tertullian, namely, the proposal which Tiberius made in consequence of it to the Senate. The former * Bibl. Germ. Tom.xxxii. p. 14l. xxxiii. p. 12.. t C. X. !S TOE EVIDENCES OF [mtes to circumstance is much better attested and is certainly more probable than the latter. The celebrated Grotius says—" Multo post " tempore exstiterunt Acta Pilati, quibus id " constaret, ad quse Christiani non nunquam " provocabant." " The Acts of Pilate were *' extant for a considerable time, and that the " Christians sometimes appealed to them ;" * and our learned Bishop Pearson f affirms, " that " the primitive Christians did appeal unto them " in their disputes with the Gentiles, as to a " most undoubted testimony.'* After all, these Acts could contain nothing but what the well informed Heathens and the Jews themselves perfectly agreed in, as we shall presently see : so that the advocates for Chris- tianity need not be suspected of producing them as if they had no other means of supporting their cause. It is true that such acts drawn up officially by a Governor of a Province were judicial records, and proofs of great discipline in the state : but have we not also evidence of the miracles in the course of our Lord's life given us by the most enlightened and the most im- placable enemies of our holy religion, such as Celsus, Porphyry, Julian the Apostate, and others? * De Verit. L. ii. 2. f On the Creed, Pon. Pil, S€C. 1.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. n Casaubon appears to have taken a judicious part in saying, that no doubt Pilate had followed the constant practice of Rome, and of all the provinces, in l^ecording all the remarkable events, and that this Governor had communi- cated them to his Prince.* Pliny wrote to the emperor Trajan an account of the proceedings against the Christians ; and a daily journal of what passed in Alexandria was transmitted to Caligula, f Philo's words are— •* 0'57o/xv;i|x«7/x«c icpvifji^s^i^xg,'* " daily memoirs." Casaubon is also of opinion that the know- ledge of these records found its way to the Christians by means of some minister of state who was converted : but he does not prove they were ever published. Eusebius was too atten- tive to all historical records not to have inserted this in his Annals. Clearly the letter and the acts we have seen are spurious, and invented designedly. We know also that the Quartodeci- ] mans, J about the second century, invented si- milar ones, which are not now extant. * Exercit, xvi. ad Ann. Baroji, No. 221. t Philo. de legat ad Caium. X The Quartodecimans were so. called from Aeir maintaining that the' festival of Easter ought to be celebrated, conformably to the custom of the Jews, on the fourteenth day of the moon in the iponth of March. c 18 THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes to ]\f r. L'Enfant tells us that * the spurious Acts of Pilate in favour of Jesus Christ, gave the Heathens an opportunity of forging others full of blasphemy against the Divine Saviour. Eu- . sebius, who has clearly shewn the falsehood of these last, relates f that by the order of the em- peror Maximin they were posted up in the pro- yince^, and that the schoolmasters made their scholars learn them by .hearty in detestation of .Christianity. It is not my wish, to give more weight to the ancient existence of these Acts, or to the proof that may be drawn from them in favour of our religion,, than may justly be warranted. My business is only to prevent my author's being suspected of credulity by showing that he asserts nothing to justify such an idea. I am well aware that feeble evidence, or even a single bold allegation, is apt to bring discredit upon the writer; th^t this faulty which often proceeds from an excess of zeal, gives occasion to accuse him of injustice and insincerity : that the cause it is meant to favour becomes liable to suspicion ; and that the ill-designing are always ready to set up this defect as paramount over all the better testimonies, more especially with regard ♦ Pref. Geiv N. f K- H. b. i. 9. b. ix. 5, Srx. 1.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 19 to religion. Although this conduct towards evi- dence that is substantial and independent of such hasty zeal, cannot be justified; although the miracles which form the basis of Chris- tianity are otherwise established, still it highly becomes us to take care we do not furnish the unbeliever with any pretext, by assigning too much credit to some circumstances, or some subsidiaiy proofs, which at best may be founded only on strong presumptions. In my opinion Mr. Addison deserves no censure on this score : he places the Acts in question, not in the class of existing proofs, but of those that are lost, which would be of great weight could they be pro- duced. For his reasoning amounts to this: " there is no doubt that we have lost many au- " thentic and valuable records highly honourable " to Christianity. What, if we could see the " account written by a heathen Governor of " Judea, contemporary with the events, under "whose eye and authority these events took " place? We have not this account; and yet " it is more than probable, that there was such " a one, although we have never seen it : traces " of it are to be found in history, and the " world will determine what credit they de- " serve." It seems impossible to speak more reasonably; our author faithfully states the tes- c2 timorii'es'bf Justin Martyr, of Tertullian, andEtt &bius, with several corroborating circumstances* We caniio't but allow that the evidence of Justin Martyr alone is of great weight. He lived near the time of our Lord; his Apology is addressed to the Emperor and to all the Senate. He states plain facts, andappeals to a public record of thent, so ^i^c^ht as to bef'^'n undeniable ferbbf. He 'alcldresse^ liini's^lf '^itttolit reserve to a cyiiic philosdplier, k bitter enemy to Christianity; anif, ais it were, in the' presence of that very CreisCfehs who was so little inclined to favour hirn, so aiixi- bus t6 liiici hitn off his guard, and to take iad- vantage of thb least mistake he might iti'ad- veftently 'rail frito. Justiri^s allegatibn, litiiii^r siich circiirnslanc^^, iini^t 'bie (i6AsiieUd'& ' in- disputable evidence that there wis an account from the Governor of Judea certifying the Iffe, the death, arid the miracles of oiir Lord ; and iftis is the point in question. ' I am not igiiorant that this same father has Iki'd iiimself open, even to 'tlie^ most candid cri- tics.' His mistake' iipon ti)e ikscnptibn ' Semoni Safigo,*" to the God of the S.afein^s;'1iis almost fe- iigious vetieration ^fc)r the. ^ifeyls, and his cre- dulity with respect to ^ the cells of the lxx translators, interest all the Jews, both from the character which He assumed^ and from the animosity with which all ranks of that nation bore witness against Him; besides this, Pilate himself, from his own observation, must have been led to con- sider Him as an extraordinary person. As to the proposal of placing Jesus Christ among the pods of the Heathens, Eusebiiis ap- pears to have related it only upon the credit of TertuUian, who, like many of the primitive Christians, sometimes too readily admitted what- ever he thought honourable to religion. As we have frequent occasion to quote tliis Father of the Church, it concerns the reader to be well acquainted with him. TertuUian, Priest 22 THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes t& of Carthage, became celebrated at the begin- ning of the third century. He excelled his contemporaries in learning: he was subtle and ingenious, and of course too much inclined to the sallies of imagination : upright and zea- lous, but at the same time very rigid, and un- pardonably intolerant towards those he deemed heretics ; he calls Marcion a sailor* and a Scy- thian, not recollecting that St. Peter had been a fisherman, and that Anacharsis, an acknow- ledged great philosopher, was of Scythia; or rather not reflecting that personalities are of no weight, and can injure no one but their authors. Too ardent not to be precipitate, he has been accused of want of judgment. His credulity showed itself in one of his works.* To prove the materiality of the soul he quotes an enthusiastic woman, who asserts she had seen one ; and his taste for the marvellous appears no less in the account which he gives, upon the authority of some miserable pilgrims, of a city, more magni- ficent than that of Jerusalem, being seen in the air ;t imagining that this vision favoured his sys- tem respecting the Millennium. And this, by the way, cannot but weaken his testimony when-r ever he speaks of miracles and extraordinary ♦ DeAnima, p. 311. f Adv. Marcion iii. ?4. Seel.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 23 things. His inclination for enthusiasm, joined to his rigid and ardent character, led him easily to favour the sect of the Montanists, who as- pired to the gift of prophecy, and professed ex- treme rigour both in doctrine and in discipline. It was probably this kind of failing, if such it may be termed, which occasioned his being refused the title of Saint, in general so lavishly bestowed. It might be wished that the style of his writings had been more clear. Abbe Houteville,* whose judgment on this point cannot be suspected, blames him for his obscurity, and for his bold invention of new terms. This latter fault seems to be more tolerable than the former, in works designed for instruction, which cannot be con- cealed by Balzacs dazzling simile, when he says that " TertuUian's obscurity resembles the blackness of ebony, which reflects a fine lustre." We must acknowledge that the style of this father was bad, not from incapacity to make it* better, but from bad taste, and possibly fiom affectation and from singularity. Notwith- standing these imperfections, (I mean more particularly, the latter, which apply only to form) great praise is due to his holy labours. Although it has been said that his Apology did ♦ Disa. Hist, et Griti. p. 36. ^ THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes to not approach to the deUcacy and urbanity, which are to be found in that of Melito and of Athenagoras; yet the work will ever be esteemed one of the most excellent in Christian anti- quity. " In this admirable volume (says Abbe Houteville, ib. p. 35.) " every thing is to be " found. Doctrine, discipline, morals, history " sacred and profane, rare and singular records, ** useful and valuable quotations; and, through- *' out, such an unshaken integrity, that we must *' love the author and the author s religion.' * Upon the general subject of this note see Dr. Jortin s Remarks upon Ecclesiastical History, vol. i. p. 2.* Article viii. (e) The letter of Abgarus to our Lord, and his supposed answer, are subjects upon which much may be said. Eusebius is the first who has noticed them, in his Ecclesiastical History : after him Ephraim (the Syrian) who has beer^ « May we not conjecture that these Acts of Pilate were to be seen in Justin's time, before the Christian name became formidable to the heathen powers ; but that afterwards they were destroyed ; and that some oVer-zealous Christians forged others, which induced the heathens to do the same in opposition? Sec. l.\ THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 25 followed l?y C^ckenus, Procopius, John of Damascus, aixd Evagrius. The Count Darius, in a letter to Augustine, conjures him to send him some of his works ; in imitation of the Saviour, who did not disdain to write to king Abgai'us, Pope Adrian, in a letter to Charle- magne, alludes to the sai;ne cLi-cum stance. Ttie learned moderns are divided upon the authenticity of these letters. Many have main- tained it; while some have brought objections, so as to make us almo>st suspect that they were fabricated by Eusebius himself; or at least tliat h? was accessary to this, as one of the pious; frauds which began to be i^ vogue about the second, century, and of which the orthodox and the heretics without much scruple equ,ally availed themselves. There appear ro me very little grounds for such a suspicion. Among aU the ^pient ecclesiastical authors, Eusebiiis may be considered as the least inclined to the mar- A^ellcnus ; he frequently cautions us against things of this kind, whicli, although attended with probable circumstances, he did not un- dertake to warrant. I am convinced that at this day the^^ com- positions will find but few advocates, and that it will appear extraordinary they should ever have had so many, \yhen we seripusly reflect 26 THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes to upon the silence of the Evangelists as to a homage so illustrious as that of a king saying to Jesus : " I believe thou art God, or the Son of God ;" or as to a fact so singular as that of a letter from the Son of God to a weak mortal. Had this correspondence taken place, there would have been no occasion for our Lord to have asked his disciples * Whom do men say that I am?' All the world, the Christians more especial- ly, would have proclaimed it. Origen in his book against Celsus, and Augustine in his Harmony of the Gospels, could not have thought it in- cumbent upon them to assert that Jesus Christ left nothing behind him in writing, if a record so valuable, and in direct contradiction to their assertion, could have been produced from the archives of Edessa. Nay nlore ; if the letter of Jesus Christ to king Abgarus had been authentic, it must have had a place in the sacred Canon of the Scriptures ; instead of which, we find it classed among the apocryphal pieces by pope Gelasius, in a council of seventy Bishops held at Rome in the year 494. The father De Colonia, however, gives a reason for rejecting these letters which does not appear to me of much weight; he says * that the Council of Nice would have * Rel. Chret. aut par les Payers, p, 340; Sec, 1.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 27 availed themselves of king Abgarus's express declaration in order to establish the divinity of the Word against the Arians. We are to recol- lect that this Prince s words are stated to be " I " believe, thou art God, or the Son of God." An alternative form of expression, and of course not decisive; not to mention that this great point must be supported by much stronger evidence than the mere declaration of a single mortal. Casaubon was one of the lirst among the moderns to render this story doubtful ; he was answered by father Gretzer. Mr. Du Pin ^nd father Alexander returned to the charge, and Mr. De Tillemont replied to them in his History of the Church. The learned David Blondel, in his Treatise on the Sibyls, calls both letters spurious. Dr. William Cave sup- ports their authenticity, and so does Mr. Grabe in his Spicilegium. On the other hand Mr. Basnage,*" and Thomasius in his work already cited, treat them as fables. f Mr. Le Clerc agrees with father de Colonia ; he de- scribes Mr. Grabe as " too anxious for apocry- " phal matters," " apocryphorum nimis stu- " diosum," and makes it clear that, however numerous the advocates for these letters might * E. A. i. p. 253. t E. H, 25 THE EVIDENCES OF [No^es te be, there was indelibly stamped upon tliem the character of insignificance and improbability. Mr. Assemanni has embraced the contrary opinion'^ but has been refuted by one of the jpurnalists of the Italian library, who thinks it very probable that Eusebius (jealous of thq ^pnour Judaism obtained in the coi\version of tzatus. Ifing of the Adiabenians, and of his mother Helena) undertook iii opposition Xq produce an instance of Christianity's receiving the like honour in the conversion of king Abgams. The Abbe Houteville does not venture to cito or to rank these letters with facts produced in proof of the Christian religion: upon which the anonymous writer before mentioned, having said f that almost all the learned regarded them as au- thentic, concludes with observing that it was inconsistent in the defender of a passage ia Jo/sephus to discredit this story. This ironical expression seems to imply that the same credu" lity which induce;^ him to support the passage in Josephus might make him adopt the story which Eusebius relates; pr rather that the .letter of Abgarus and[ our Lord's answer had a llegree of probability not to be flighted, still * Bison T. i. Tom. xiii. p. 1 19. f P 4. in MS. Seel.] THE CHRISTiitN RELIGION. '^ less by those who were ready enough to admit the passage in the Jewish historian. Some read- "^rs will probably retort this irony upon the ahonylnous writer himself : it may be said that it is inconsistent in the defender of this story, 'inspecting Abgams's letter and our Lord's '^nsW^r, to i-efu'^e all credit to a fact maintained by two of the most famous apologists, namely tl^kt of the account sent by Pilate to Tiberius. With regard to Mr. Addison, it is clear that he is inclined to add to the number of those who hiave thought these letters authentic: at the same time the manner in which he expresses hilniSdf upon the subject, is a fresh proof of his diffidence and wisdom. He says, the re- 'irbrd is of great authority: meaning that it is 111 extraordinary piece of history, and would ht bfgi-eat Weight if the authenticity of the letters Were clearly ascertained,^ and lest he should be thought to mean more than this, he gives us the ■following explanatioti. "And though I will npt '** iiisist upon it, I may veiituie to say that had " we ^uch an evidence for any fact in Pagan " history an author would be thought very uii- ^^' reasonable who should reject it." He guards ^^igain^t the possibility of too strong a construc- tion being put upon his words by prefacing them with " I will not insist." — " I may venture to 30 ^ THE EVIDENCES OF [N'oies (o " say." In these expressions we perceive the most scrupulous dehcacy : it is manifest that he does not wish to determine incautiously, or to per- suade us to ahasty belief, choosing rather to leave the point undecided, than to subject it to the acquiescence of a blind credulity. At the same instant he tells us why we may believe and why we may doubt. By such conduct, by shewing things in their proper light, infidelity is de- prived of any hold it might otherwise have over the cause we undertake to defend. Our author's reflection also deserves to be con- sidered. Undoubtedly there are many instances in which fiction finds more credit than the truth. Profane histoiy is, , generally speaking, less controverted than sacred. The concerns of religion are too important not to be very strictly enquired into : or, what perhaps is too often the case, the corruption of the heart makes men dis- posed to doubt of whatever tends to confirm the Jaw, that puts so much restraint upon their pas- sions. Mistrust will also sometimes arise from the artifices occasionally practised by a too zea- lous advocate. As many of my readers may not have seen the letters in question, I will here insert them as they are found in Eusebius.* * E. H. b. i. c. 13. Sec. 1.3 THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 31 A Copy of a Letter written by King Ab- garus to Jesus, and sent to him to Jeru- salem by Ananias the Courier. " Abgarus, Prince of Edessa, to Jesus, the good Saviour, who hath manifested himself with- the confines of Jerusalem, sendeth greeting. I have heard of thee, and of the cures wrought by thee without herbs or medicines ; for, as it is reported, thou dost restore sight to the blind, thou makest the lame to walk, thou cleansest the leprous, and thou dost cast out devils and unclean spirits, and thou healest those that are tormented with diseases of a long continuance, and thou dost raise the dead. When I heard all this of thee, I was fully persuaded to believe one of these two things; eif her that thou art very God, and art come down from Heaven to do such things, or else the Son of God, and so pcr- formest them. Wherefore, I have now written to thee, beseeching thee to come to me, and cure my disease. For, I have heard that the Jews murmur against thee, and contrive to do thee mischief. I have a city, a little one indeed, but it is beautiful, and capable of receiving us both." 'h THE ^VttiENCES OF [Notes h The Answer of Jesus to Ahgarus the King, sent by Ananias the Courier, " Blessed iart thou Abgarus, who hast believed in me whom thou hast not seen. For it is ^vritten of me that they which have i^een me should not believe in me, that so they which have not seen me may believe and be saved. But as concerning what thou writest about m^ coming to thee, know, that all things for which I am sent must be here by me fulfilled ; which being finished, I shall be taiken up and returti to Him that sent me. But after I am ascended, I will send thee one of my disciples, who shall cure thy distemper, and give life to thee and to them that are with thee." These are the two letters, which many of the iearned considered as authentic, and of which Mr. G rabe in particular attempts to demonstrate the reality by shewing that all the circum- stances of this history perfectly agree with other records of the same period, and with the Holy Scripture. It is certain that in those days there was in Syria a petty king of Edessa named Ag- barus or Abgarus (this was the name of ^all the kings of Edessa, as that of Pharaoh was • CoiA- Sec. 1.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 33 Tiion to the kings oi Eg}^pt). It is also certain that the fame of the miracles performed hy Jesus Christ in Judea was dispersed throughout all Syria. St. Matthew tells us that* ** they *^ brought unto him (Jesus) all sick people that " were taken with divers diseases, and torments^ •^ and those which were possessed with devils, and '* those which were lunatic, and those that had <* the palsy, and he healed them." But did our Lord after his death send one of his disciples to Abgarus? Eusebius asserts that he didf ; and de- tails the circumstances of this king s conversion, in an extract from the archives of the church of Edessa. He relates " that St. Thomas sent Thad- " deus, one of the seventy disciples, to Edessa, *' where he resided with a man named Tobias, ** and performed many miracles. Upon his being " sent for by the king, and questioned whether ** he were the disciple whom Jesus Christ had *^ promised to send, Thaddeus answered ' that " * he was come to recompence his faith in the Saviour': ^ so great was my faith,' replied the ^; nor would I mention this par- ticular,, though it be unanimously reported by ay tlie aijicient Christian authors, did it not s^pe^r^ frosa t,he a\|ithorities above cited, that Sec. 2.1 THE CHRISTIAN RELIG10N.i|; #5 this was a fact confessed by Heathens them- selves. V. Wc now see wliat a mnltitude of Pagan testimonies maybe produced for all those re- markable passages, which might have been ex- pected from them; and, indeed, of several that I believe do more than answer your e;cpectation, as they were ndt subjects in their own nature so exposed to public notoriety. It cannot be expected they should mention particulars wliidi were transacted among the disciples only, or among some few even of tlie Disciples them- selves; such as the transfiguration, tlie agony in tlie garden, the appearance of Christ after his resurrection, and others of the like nature. It was impossible for a Heathen author to relate these things ; because, if he had belie\'€d thera^ he would no longer have been a Heathen, and by that means his testimony would not have been thought of so much validity. Besides, his very report of facts so favourable to Christianity would have prompted men to say that he was 40 tHE EVIDENCES OF [Sec. 2. probably tainted with their doctrine. We have a parallel case in Hecataeus (tc), a famous Greek historian, who had several passages in his book conformable to the history of the Jewish writers, which, when quoted by Josephus, as a confir- mation of the Jewish history, when his Heathen adversaries could give no other answer to it, they would need suppose that Hecataeus wa3 a Jew in his heart, though they had no other reason for it, but because his history gave greater authority to the Jewish than the Egyp* tian records. Siec. 2,] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 47 NOTES TO SECTION XL Article II. (a) Tacitus, Suetonius, and Dion do not speak positively of the edict of enrolment issued by Caesar Augustus. Tacitus mentions only a little book in the hand writing of Augustus, which contained a statement of the forces, the reve- nues, and the expenditure of the empire : his words are these : " Cum proferri libellum reci- ^* tarique jussit : opes publicjE continebantun " Quantum civium sociorumque in armis : quot " classes, regna, provincije, tributa aut vectigalia, *' et necessitates et largitiones, quag cuncta sua " nianu perscripserat Angustus." * Justus Lip- sius remarks that there was at Ancyra a, copy of this book, with this title, which Bus- bcquius has copied: " Rerum gestarum divi ;" Augusti, quibus orbem terrarum imperio po- " puli Romani subjccit, et impensarum quas in -" rempublicam populumque Romanum fecit, in- "• cis9;rum in duabas aheneis pilis, quie sunt " Romaj positae, exemplar subjectum." "A short " account of the exploits of Augustus, by wJiich "he subdued the world; and of the expences •-■ -ttA t * Annal, 1. i. c 2» 4S ^HE EVIDENCES OF [Xotes (<9 *^ which the republic and Roman people incurred* *^ as it is engraven on two pillars of brass at '' Rome." But this abridgment which Augustus had made for his own use, the same no doubt which Suetonius speaks of under the name of " Brevia- *' rium totius Imperii," can be no evidence of the numbering, or taxing, which St. Luke tells us was made in Judea, by virtue of a special decree of that emperor. It must have been the gene- ral account of the forces of the empire taken at different times, rather than any single account taken at once. Tlie words of Tacitus imply that this little work of Augustus comprehended divers kingdoms and states, dependants and allies of the Romans ; which states, never hav- ing been subject to any taxing, could not of course be comprised in that St. Luke speaks of. (b) Suetonius simply relates* that *' Augustus " had three times taken account of all the people; " the first and third time with his colleague, the " second without him." " Censum populi ter " egit, primum ac teitium cum collega, medium " solus :" and in another place he tells us, " Ma- ** nu sciiptum dcpositumque apud se (testamen- * Vit. Aug. c. 2T. Slx. 1 .] TH£ CtmiSttAN RfeLTClON. <* turn August!) Virgines vestales cum tribus sig»* ^' natis 3eque voluniinibus, protulerunt: qu^ ** omnia in senatu aperta atque necitata sunt ;' and again, " de tribus voluminibus, uno hian- " data de funere suo complexus est : altero, In- ** dicem reruin a se gestarum, quern vellet incidl '* in aeneis tabulis quas ante mausoleum statU- '" erenter : tertio, Breviarium totius imperii, *' quantum militum sub signis ubique es^et, " quantum pecuniae in iErario, et fiscis et vecti* " jjalium residuis :" that three books were read in the senate, in one of which '^ Augustus gives directions for his funeral, in anothetthe account of his exploits, and in the third the before-men* tioned breviary of the whole empire. It is this abstract of the empire which Lipsius, Basnage, and others have considered as the numbering mentioned by St. Luke. To these passages of Suetonius may be ap- plied what has been said of that in Tacitus ,* the three accounts of which he first speaks have no direct relation to any general one throughout the empire; on the contrary they appear to be limited to the Roman people; censum populi ter egit. The word Fopulus here signifying ^■xclusively the Roman citizens, as the word # C. Ult- E 50 THE EVIDENCES OF [mtes to w*bs is often used as a distinct appellation for the city of Rome. Nor do we find any more connection between the subsequent passages and the numbering of Judea; still less any trace of a date according with that of the birth of our Lord. On this therefore the critics have not much insisted. ^•^c) Dion, speaking of Augustus's book, gives U9 no better evidence than Suetonius*. ; *^The third," .he says, " contained an account of tlie .^* troopSj the revenues, the public cxpences, and ^^ the quantity of .money in tJie treasury," *' Tq "fTp^TfiV;(B/i3A;cv) TO re t«v c^pariuruip y,c£i th tuv ipoffoduvy '' Twv re t^yaX'uoiLacTKV rwv 3yiyi^O(Ti(i!VyT6re tA^Qo? tuv ev ToTg " dy^cupoK xpvjfjM'tmJ' There is another passage in. Dion sometimes quoted^ but evidently not to our purpose, llie Romans had a tax called 'the tw'entieth,'- which was extremely burthensome to a number of people. Augustus proposed to substitute another in its stead: but the Senate not fimling . any proper expedient for it, the Emperor declared . he ^vould raise the money upon the lands, or stock,, and upon the h6uses, without saying how much, or in what manner : and accordingly he employed commissioners to draw up an account of the several kinds of pro^ perty. The Senate, finding this, no longer op- * Hist. Rom.^L. Ixi p. 591. fee. l^^J THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. ,51 posed .the levying the original taj^ df the twen- tieth/ but confirmed itj lest another still more barthensome should .be iJaid.^QpL'j in riit^ place. This was all that Augustus intended, and he had nothing to do but to enforce the orders he had before given upon the subject..^ The tax was confirmed under the consulate -of iEpiVlius and Arunti^s, and took place in the year. of Rome 766, and in the thirteenth of the Christian aera, some time after the taxing spoken of by St. Luke..; . . ■ ' J r ; ; ;. .■ J] i ... ■ . , ' Mr. Pictett Goiijectures^, tU^it if .we had; the teA yeat3 which aie deficient 'in, Dioh.'s history* -we should fill d the very account mentioned , by thej Evangelist:. the history fails us jfrbniithe consulate .of Aiitistius; and Balbus ^tovthat of MessalaandCinna; that is, from the 748th to the 75 8th year of Rome. It was in this inter- val that ' the taxing St Luke ^speaks of must have .taken place ; and it is sufficient )th?i,% .the silence pf Dion upOm ^this ' ^s^bjf qt: cai^iot: be turned against us, thpugh we jcannot witl) ,.p;i;Q- j)riety 4gree with Mr. Addi^^iiij, bringing. l^p tes^uiipny as 'evidence ij-no^r favom\ / / r • Q^r . learned author h§s not jtl\opght prap^r to apply to his purp<>sev a,rpassage. in Si^ida^ *. Tom. 1: hv. ix. cr. n. f Thet3lc»gU Fian9oise, 52 THE EVIDENCES OF [Mies to whose work is not a continued history, but a col- lection of facts badly arranged *. Nevertheless, as some have referred to it, I will state what he says upon the point in ques Lion f. "Augustus " wished to know the number of the inhabitants " of the whole Roman empire, and it was found to " be 4,101,017." But Suidas is certainly mistaken. Usher's observation upon this deserves our no- tice. " Under their Consulate" (that of Caius Marcius Censorinus and Caius Asinius Gallus||) *' a second account was taken, and the number of *' citizens in Rome was found to be 4,233,000, as " we learn by the fragments of the marble of An- " cyra. In Suidas, at the word Augustus, the " number stated is considerable less, being only "4,101,017; and it is absurd in him to give as " such a statement as including not Rome only, " but the whole Roman world." " Qui tamen ** non pro urbis tantum sed pro orbis etiam Ro- ** mani Censu, ridicule nobis ibi obtruditur." Kuster, in his edition of Suidas, entirely ap- proves of this remark of Ushers, agreeable to that of Casaubon (contra, Baron. Exercit. 1. N. 93). Upon which Dr. Lardner observes, that as both Usher and Kuster use the word Urbis^ we must suppose they mean not only the ^. * It is, ill fact, a dictionary. T, t Voce August. II Annal. A. M. 3996 Sec, 1 .] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 53 city of Rome and its territory, but the Roman citizens dispersed over the empire, or at least over all Italy : for otherwise they will appear almost as unreasonable as Suidas. In fact it is not credible that in Rome and its environs there should have been, over and above the immense number it contained of foreigners and slaves, such a number of citizens as the marble of Ancyra describes. On this account, continues Dr. Lardner, I adopt the criticism made upon Suidas. The number of the inhabitants of the Roman empire must necessarily have exceeded the number which Suidas and the marble of Ancyra report, although we allow them to mean only those who were of age to carry arms. This is sufficient to shew, that the number stated on the marble could not be that of all the inhabitants of the empire, and consequently that the passage in Suidas is no evidence of the taxing in question. After this short examination of the authori- ties taken from Tacitus, Suetonius, Dion and Suidas, it will be evident that, if St. Luke speaks of a general taxing in all the provinces of the empire, the silence of antiquity upon a fact of such notoriety would be of very bad conse- quence, as it w^ould tend to no less than to ren- der doubtful the interesting history this Evan- 54 THE EVIDENCES OF ' / iSotestif gelist has giveti of our Saviour's brtth;H But if; on the one han^,.it.J)e found that all tlie ac- counts taken .by Augustus comprehended only the Roman citizens, whereas the taxing made in Judea by order of that prince. inckided only the inhabitants of the provinces dependent on. that particular, kingdom,^ we shall not be sur- prised that tbeiRomau historians have^taketf no notice of . any . universal taxing of the empire made in this reign. Oji the oth^r hand, if it should appear that . St. ; Luke speaks , only of a taxing in Judea, we shall no longer have any reason to \v9nder at -the silence of the . jloman biist(^pians upon this head, a silpnc^ Ojl:' po conse- quciace, and by no mean$ unusual with respect to hmajey). other historical particulars of the tributary states of the empire. , _ . Dr. I^rdner proves these two points with great strength of reasoning. As to the iirst he clearly demonstrates against Messrs. Huet and Prideaux in particular, that Augustus never made any general numbering, but a numbering of the Roman citizens only, as he expressly states on the marble of Ancyra. '^ Ji,t .in . coftsulatu . sexto . pensum . populi ., " cqilega . M . Agrippa . Egi . quo . lustro , cj- "viurp ^:Ron>anorum . censita . sunt .capita . •' Qif^^k^l^gi^is .• centum . millia. et •; s^j^aginta . Sec l.r THE CHRISTIAN RELKSION. ^5 " tria .— ckm — lustrum . solns-.^ feer v Ceiiso^ *^ riuo . et- . Asinicr ; cos . quo lustro . cens^^ *^ sunt . civiuin - Romanorutii . quadragiens "'i *^ centum ..miilia.et. ducenta . triginta . tria'^ *' — Consular! . cum . imperio . lustrum . eum . " conlega . Tiberio . Sext . Pompeio- ^. iBt ♦ " Sext : Apuleio . cos . quo . lustro . Roman . " capitum . quadragiens . centum; .'^iml^v --^i-S " triginta . et septem . mil . f • ^^-nd; .^^oh We perceive that this marble does ¥K)t^give the date, at which either of the three above-men- tioned accounts was ordered 'to be t'ak'enV*'liut' only the year, or consulate, in which they were respectively completed: by which it appears that the second, which the learned have thought to be that of which St. Luke speaks, was finish- ed three years before our Lord's nativity. With regard to the second point, the Doctor proceeds to comment Upon the wohls of the Evangelist f: ** EJvjAfie d6yiJ.sc %apa. Kahupo^ Avynq-iSy oi'jroypci(pe(T^c£t " Tci(7civ Tvjv 0}miJ.evv,v, Avtv] vi oLiroy^i^yi Trparvj ^' eysvsro vjye'fj.ov€VOVTog rvj? Sup/'iK? Kup^v/8." And ^' it came to pass in those days that there went '^ out a decree from Cassar AugTistus, that all the " world should be taxed, and this taxing was first " made wh^n Cyrenius was govern9r of Syria." Dr. L. with Messrs. Beausobre and Lenfaut, translates * This is corrected from the copj^ in Wolfius's Sue- tonius, 1802. 7' f C. ii. V. 12. $$ THE EVIDENCES OF [I^oiea to the words " Ua^yxv tv^v 0/H8/xgvHv," " all the land;" ^nd, in addition to his own just reasonings, avails himself of the unanswerable arguments furnished him by the learned Binaeus (de Natali J, C. lib. 1. c. 3.) and Keucbeuius (Annot, inN. T. 1.) The Old and New Testament supply us with a number of passages to justify this mode of describing Judea. " Is not the whole land before thee?''* — *' For ** they be come to search out all the country." f- ^ ** lliey were spread abroad upon all the eaith"^:— ^* to destroy the whole land"§ — " tliat is purposed "upon the whole earth." ||— And in St. Lukti " himself: Many widows were in Israel in the \[ days of Elias ,when the heavens was shut up " three years and six months, when great famine " was throughout all the land. '1[ It is clear that this visitation was inflicted as a punishment upon Ahab and the Jewish people, and w^as not extended to all the world. The words immediately following the passage in question inform us, '^ that all went to be taxed, '- every one into his own city. And Joseph also " went up from Gahlee, out ofthe city of Nazareth * Gen. xiii. 9. f Josh. ii. 3. X 1 Sam. XXX. 16. § Isa. cxiii. 5. !| Isa. xiv. 26. ^ c. iv, v. 25. Sec, 2.j THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 57 *' into Judca, unto the city of David, which is ^' called Bethlehem.'** Now this singular and dis- tinct mention of Judea applies much better to the taxing of this particular kingdom, than to any general taxing or numbering of the whole em- pire. — ^The word all, which appears too compre- hensive for an individual state, is very properly applied in St. Lukes account. At the time he wrote, and indeed not long after our Lords birth, upon the death of Herod, the kingdoms of Israel and Judah were dismembered. Arche- kus liad for his part Judea Proper with Samaria and Idumea : another part, almost as extensive, was under the jurisdiction of Roman governors; while Galilee, Iturea, and other province$ were placed in the hands of others of Herod s descendants. Li this state of matters, Judea being thus subdivided, St. Luke's expression all the world, (or, as the original is frequently ren- dered, all the land) was necessarily employed, to i signify that the decree of Augustus compre- hended the several subdivisions, and especially Galilee, where Joseph at that time resided; this is evident from the Evangelist s saying imme- diately afterwards : " Joseph went up from Naza- *^ reth to be taxed at Bethlehem,"' a city of Judea proper, that is, of a district entirely diiierent. * Luke, c, ii. v. 3, 4, 5S THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes io The first Christian writers lay much stress upon the sense we give to the passage in St. Luke: when they speak of the particular cir- cumstances of our Lord s birth, they take no notice of any general taxing throughout the world, or of any levy throughout the Roman empire, which had given occasion for the tax- ing mentioned by the Evangelist ; but, what is of great importancCj they certify the fact he re- lates, so as to remove every doubt, Justiii JMaityr, in his first iVpology, informs the emperor and the senate of the time and place of our lord's nativity. " Bethlehem," (he says*) " where Jesus was bom^ is a city of the " Jew's country distant from Jerusalem about 55 ^' furlongs: of this you may be assured from the '' account taken in the time of Cy renins. your^ " chief governor in Judea." ;,. / r' <-^^ ^k\ Clement of Alexandria says, ** Our Lord wa» " born in the 28th year of Augustus, when this " Emperor decreed that an account should be " taken."! Origen blends this account with another which was taken afterwards,;]: but what he says fully proves that it related to Judea only, and by no means to the whole empire. * P. bo. t Strom. ]. I. p. 339. X Cont. Cels. 1. 1 . p. 44. Sec, 1 .] ^ THX CHRISTIAN RELIGION, 59 Tertullian makes frequent mention lof '"'this first period of Christianity, in his Apology ad* dressed to the Roman Senate, and in, the books he addresses- to the Gentiles.*^ He particularly speaks of the taxing, in his:Treati:ie against the Jews, and in one against the heretics :f in all these passages, he takes no notice of aaiy taxing but that in Judea. o There vis a passage in Chrysostom cited by Grotius, in hisCommentary upon St. Luke, ch. ii. which it may be proper to transcribe. :^'' Unde '' apparet natum (Jesum) in prima descriptione^ •* et qui consirlere volet tabul^s RomjE/.-in, archi- " vis positas, exact e earn rem^oterit cognoscere." i' Hence it appears that Jestisi was^ bo-rn at ^'' the time of the first enrolment, ' and Who- *' ever will take the pains to examine the re- "cords among the archive^ at Rome, will " learn all the particulars." - If any one should object. that, even admitting a universal num- bering, we ought not to expect from. Chris- tian writers any thing more than wlv^t re- lated to their own, object, namely, that part which belonged to Jud^a; we may reply that a universal numbering, as being nmch more so- lemn, would have been more fit to illustrate the # Ch. V. vii. xxi. f L, i,,c. .7. \ J: Ch. 9. against Marcion, L'iv.'c, 19. 60 THE EVIDENCES OF [Kofes U birth of our Saviour, and as it must have been still more generally known, Justin, Orig-en and Tertullian, would not surely have omitted this circumstance, particularly if it were true that St. Luke had spoken of it. To the testimonies already produced, must be added the express declaration of Tertullian, omitted by Dr. Lardner. " The account taken by " Augustus is to be found in the Roman ar- " chives, an incontrovertible evidence of the " birth of Jesus Christ :" this then must be the account taken in Judea. It is worthy of observation, that Eusebius notices only one taxing or numbering, as hav- ing absolutely taken place in Judea.* Now, as we have already hinted, if the census taken in consequence of the edict of Augustus, at the time of our Lord's birth, was taken only in Judea, the silence of the heathen historians, on this head, is of no avail against what is asserted by St. Luke, since many other particular accounts were taken of the different states of the empire in the same reign, which are not llientioned by the Greek and Roman authors ve are acquainted with. Josephus is the only writo' of whom we could expect it; but as thi^ * E. H. b. J. ch. 5. Chroii. p. 200. Sec, 1 .] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 61 article would demand an extensive discussion, I shall only refer the reader to the learned ob- servations of Lardner : he will there find solid answers to the difficulties which have been raised respecting the time of Cyrenius's govern- ment. It is sufficient for our purpose that the fact of the taxing in Judea, in the reign of Augustus, is as well established as any other fact in the life of our Lord, and is an evidence of His birth and origin : no other more worthy of credit having been related by any writers; or Ipss disputed even by the bitterest enemies of our religion, at the head of whom I may confi- dently place the emperor Julian, who says, '• This Jesus whom ye preach was oneof Coesafs *^ subjects : if ye doubt this, I will immediately '^ prove it incontestably. Ye allow that he was " enrolled with his father and mother in the " time of Cyrcnius.''* I shall conclude upon tliis head with the two following observations. Dr. Lardner very justly remarks that^ if there had ever been a general account taken of all the subjects of the Roman empire in tiie reign of Augustus, the circums«t.ance would have been too curious and too interesting to hav^ been entirely passed over by the historians. * Apiul. Cyril. I. vi. 62 • iTHE.EVIDEKCESOF [Notes to Bingeus positively asserts that na such account ever was taken under the Roman govenimfiBU: and observes that, upon considering themattm- attaitively, we shall find it would have been very impolitic, very dang'erdus to the public peace, and for that reason impracticable, to have taken an account every where, and at the same time, in order to lay a general tax upojiall the people.* '^ (d) Chakidius, a Platonic philosopher, who flourished at the beginning of tlie fourth cen- tury,f si>eaks of a star which appeared in the East, and which guided the Magi to the feet of the infant Jesus; and 'he uses i almoin ; the very terms we read in the Gospels. He says " this star announced ta men, according to the ^' notion of tliat time, that a God was come down " from heaven for the salvation of mankinds' This-is a remarkable passage, and may. be seen in a Latin Commentary upon the' TimiEus of Plato ; a^^ork highly esteemed -' by .the leanied. The passage alluded to runs thus : '' Est quoque '.'■ #.See Dr. Lardncr's credibil. of tbe Gosp. Hist, yoJ^ lb'."4'59. j.'Mi!#t\igneux also roters tOiaDis&pr* tation by Mr. Le Chevalier de SoUg^nac, but he has not informed us wlicre to find it. f Com. ill Tira. p. 219. * Se^:. 1.3 THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. €3 *' alia sanctior et venarabilior historia; quce per- ^^ hibet ortu stellae cujusdain, non morlx)s inor- " tesque denunciatas, seddescensum Dei venera- " bills, ad humaiia? conservationis, rerumque " niortalium gratiam : quam stellam cum noc- " turno itinera inspexissent ChakUeorum pro- " fecto sapientes viri, et considemtione rerum ** coelestium satis exercitati, qua^sisse dicuntur *^ recentem ortum Dei, repertaque ilia niajestate " puerili, veneratos esse, et vota deo tauto cou- ** venientia nuncupasse." " There is another his- " toiy, more sacred and worthy of veneration, '* which relates the appearance of a star ap- " pointed to announce to men, not maladies nor " any grievous calamity, but the arrival of a " God, come down solely for the preservation " and welfare of the human race; it adds, that " this star having been observed by the.Chal- '^^ deans distinguished for theirwisdom, and well " versed in astronomy, ;conducted them, as they ''journeyed in the night, whereto find thenew- " born God; and that' having found this august '' infant they worsliippe.d him, and offered him " such vows as Were due to so great aPeity."' Jt is to be observed that Chalcidiu* doesnotspeajc.of this history as a fiction, but as sacred, and worthy of veneration. To judge of tiie weight of this evidence, given by one of the mOi^t enlightened hieathens, we have onlv to remark with what 64 THE EVIDENCES OF l^^otes (0 pains the impious Vanini labours to discredit it.* A man so notorious for atheism must be the enemy to eveiy one whose candour furnished arms to rehgion. " Julian not being able to deny the truth of " the stoiy, and the journey of the wise men " guided by this star, wished to think it was the " star Asaph observed by the Egyptians; which *' was seen four times in 400 years. But we read " of nothing like this in all former ages, and, in " the many hundred years which have since past, " it has not been again observed." It is thus that Du Plessis Mornay speaks of the subject, who is mistaken in bringing, as a proof of the miraculous star, that which was seen, according to Pliny's account, at the time Augustus pre- sided at the games of Venus Genetrix. We have only to look to the date of this event, " non multo post obitum patris Ca^saris," " not " long after the death of his father," to perceive it cannot fall in with that of our Lord's birth, which happened in the fortieth, or forty^first year of the reign of Augustus. This might perhaps be the proper place to fix tlie glorious era of our Lord's nativity ; or to say something gf the labours and painful calculations of vari- * Amp]i» iEtem. Proy. Lyon. 1615. Sec. 2.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 65 ous learned men who however have not yet been able to agree upon it; but, as Mr. Mosheim very wisely observes, of what consequence is it to learn precisely the hour, the day, or even the year? We know that the Sun of Righteousness hath shone upon the world, and though we can- not fix the period in which he arose, to the very instant, this will not hinder us from enjoying the direction and influence of His vital and salu- tary beams. Upon this point the reader may nevertheless consult Mr. de Beausobre fils. Disc. Histor. Critiq.* Theolog. &c. sur le N. T. torn. 1. (e) Macrobius lived at the beginning of the fifth century. He was Proconsul in Africa, and Grand Chamberlain to the Emperor Theodosius the younger: In an age when the Arts and Sci- ences appeared to be condemned to a species of exile, the Consuls, the Provincial Governors, and the Generals of the Army, encouraged and were proud to cultivate them. Such was the conduct of Symmachus, Sidgnius Apollinaris, Anunianus ^larcellinus, Rutilius, Gallicanus, Themistius, and Macrobius. Their genius alone reminds us of their rank, and has handed their names down to the present day. The two prin- * De la Veritecle la R. Cli. (Antw. 1583.) p. 1063. 6^ THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes to cipal works which remain of Macrobius are a commentary on Scipio's dream ; and seven books of the Saturnaha, a happy compound of criti- cism and extensive learning, full of instruction derived from various sources and adopted as his own. It was to him that Muretus wittily applied the noble sentiment in Terence. " Homo sum ; humani nihil a me alienum puto. *' Heautont. Act. 1. Seen. 1. — I am a man, and '^ think myself interested in every thing that " belongs to any man." Alluding' to Macrobius having borrowed so much without any kind of acknowledgement. But he wrote only for the instruction of his son, to whom it was of little consequence, to be told from what foun- tains his father drew his copious supply of infor- mation. His great knowledge of antiquity is sufficient to give Weight to what he reports of Augustus. The instance he gives us of that prince's pleasantry is serious in its effect. The murder of the Innocents by Herod is a fact of singular atrocity, so connected with the history of our Lord, whose birth, it proves, and with the truth of the Gospel which relates it, that no Pagan testimony could be more to our purpose. Tliese are the words of Macrobius. " Cum au- " disset inter pueros quos in Syria Herodes Rex " Judxorum infra bimatum jussit interfici, filium Sec: 2.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. €7 " quoque ejus occisum, ait melius est Herodis " porCum esse quam filium.*" " Augustus, hav- " ing learnt that Herod king of the Jews had " murdered in Syria a great number of male in- " fants of two years old and under, and that this '^ prince's own son was included in the horrid *' massacre, sarcastically observed that he had " rather be Herod's pig than his child." Herod was a Jew, and it is well known that Swine's flesh was not allowed to the Jews. We may re- mark here that Syria is jxit for Judsea, (a proof^ by tlie way, that Macrobius has not copied from the Evangelist.) TertuUian also calls Pilate, Pro- curator of Syria; " Pontio Pilato Syriam tunc, "^ ex parte, Romano procurantef" It is evident however that Judsea is meant by both, that be- ing the Province where Tacitus himself says Christianity was first planted. " Superstitio ■ ^' (Christianorum) rursus erumpebat, non modo " per Judeeam, originem ejus mali, sed, per urbem " etiam +" We have here, as Mornay also observes, a proof of the appearance of the miraculous star; for it was in consequence of this appearance, and of the enquiry which Herod made of the wise men, that this barbarous and ambitious *^ Saturn. 1. xi. c. 4. f Apol. X Annal. 1. xv. F 2 6$ THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes to Prince had murdered all the infants round Be- thelem who were under two years old, in the hope of destroying Him whom the star pointed out. Thus the two facts are attached to, and dependent on, each other; the massacre being known to Augustus, and held in abhorrence by him. Mr. Collins, who thought to shake all the foundations of religion, laboured above all to render the integrity of the Evangelists suspected; and particularly that of St. Matthew, upon the article in question. Dr. Lardner has well de- fended the sacred text; but he has not shewn himself so able upon the passage in Macrobius. Mr. John Masson, therefore, has thought it neces- sary to support the historic truth of the murder of the innocents against Mr. Collins. The si- lence of the historians upon this head furnished that deist with an argument neither forcible nor correct. Only Josephus and Nicolas of Damas- cus have detailed the actions of Herod: the latter was his intimate friend, so that he proba- bly suppressed thijs disgraceful story, and Jose- phus, who copied this writer, not finding it re- corded in his history, dared not make the ad- dition. Mr. CoUins's first objection to the narrative of Macrobius is, that Augustus himsiilf pro* Sec. 2.1 THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. €0 nounced sentence of death upon Antipater, Herod's son; he could not therefore with any justice have made the sarcastic reflection upon Herod, for an act performed by his own orders; this objection is overthrown by Josephus, who expressly says that Augustus gave up Antipater to the judgment of his father, who determined for the severer sentence, probably contrary to the intention of the Emperor. In this case nothing is more natural than the expression of Augustus, if he had expected an act of clemen- cy: "It is better to be Herod's hog than his " son.*" Mr. C's second objection is, that Antipater was of age when he was put to death, and there- fore could not be reckoned one of the children included in the massacre. The utmost this will prove is, that Macrobius has by mistake made only one action of two, that are very distinct. It is possible that Augustus heard at the same time of the murder of the Innocents and of the death of Antipater. However, it is quite suffi- cient for our purpose that Macrobius bears test- imony to a massacre perpetrated by the order •of Herod, exactly as St. Matthew does. The third objection, that the raillery of Augustus * Ant, l.ixvii. c. 7. 70 THE EVIDENCES OF [JSTotes to does not apply to the massacre of the innocents, is too weak to deserve an answer. Mr, C's fourth objection is, that Macrobius 3S a bad evidence of what passed four hundred years before his time. But we do not cite Ma- crobius as an eye witness, only as writing what he had read in other Authors. In his preface to the Saturnalia he confesses that his work is only a collection from Greek and Latin writers: and his accuracy in his known extracts gives every reason to conclude that he was equally correct in the others. Lastly, as his fifth objection, Mr. C. says that Macrobius might probably be a Christian. But though he lived in the reign of Theodosius, many of the chief magistrates were at that time heathens. His book displays a constant profes- sion of Paganism. " We pray" says he, " to Janus, " we worship Apollo." Every thing conspires to prove, that Collins is not worthy of credit. (f) Celsus, an Epicurean Philosopher, the intimate friend of the celebrated Lucian, flou- rished about the middle of the second century, in the reign of Adrian ; and, like Porphyry and the Emperor Julian, was a very subtle and for- midable enemy to Christianity, more especially as his objections are always accompanied with Sec. 2.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, 7 1 . a contemptuous sneer. This artful antagonist represents a Jew addressing himself to Jesus, and reproaching Him with being born ignomi- niously, and that his Mother was put away by 'her husband for Adultery, to which he adds; that our Lord had been driven by distress into Eg}^pt, where he learnt the Magic Art, and, be- ing enabled to perfonn some wonderful things, He returned into Judea, and there proclaimed Himself a God. * " A viro expulsam (mulierem) et ignominios^ '^ vagabundam, edidisse Jesum partu clanculario, '' quodque is prse inopia mercede servire coactus " in iEgypto, et ibi efficaces quasdam artes " doctus, quibus sibi placent iEgyptii, reversus " sit tanta potentia tumidus, propter quam pro " Deo haberi postularit." This passage equally proves that Celsus ad- mitted oar Lord's journey into Egypt and His miraculous power; whatever he says in addition must go for nothing; for he had no other proof of the journey into Egypt but what the Gospels supplied, and in them we find that Jesus was a young child when he returned out of Egypt. Arnobius exposes the absurdity of the charge of Magic, by asking, in what manner the mira- cles of our Lord showed he had any connection T2 THE EVIDENCES OF [JSTotes to with Demons or Magicians? " Produce," he says, " one of the celebrated Magicians, such as ye " affirm to have been the instructors of Jesus, *' who in the course of ages has performed by a " thousandth part any thing to be compared " with the wonderful works of the Lord.*" " Magus fuit, clandestinis artibus omnia ilia " perfecit ^g\^ptiorum ;— remotas furatus est " disciplinas. Quid dicitis, O parvuli, incomperta '' vobis et nescia tcmeraria^ vocis loquacitate " garrientes? Ergone ilia quae gesta sunt, Dae- *^ monum fuere pra^stigia et Magicarum artium " ludi? Potestis nobis aliquem design are, mon- " strare, ex omnibus illis Magis, qui unquam " fecere per sccula, consimile aliquid Christo " millesima ex parte qui fecerit." (g) Tacitus most unequivocally bears witness to the punishment of our Saviour under Pon- tius Pilate, in speaking of Nero's violent perse- cution of the Christians, when he accused them of setting fire to Rome, the thing he had him- self done.f ^' Ergo abolendo rumori Nero subdidit reos, " et quaesitissimis poenis aifecit, quos perflagitia *^ invitos vulgus Christianos appellabat. Autor '' nominis ejus Christus, qui Tiberio imperitantc * Adv. Gent. 1. l. f Annal. xv. c. 44. Sec, 2.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 73 " per Procuvatorem Pontium Pilatum supplicio " aifectus erat." The Jews themselves acknowledge the cruci- fixion, for the epithet they apply to Jesus Christ is n"?n, that is, hung upon the cross. We have a strong evidence of the truth of the history recorded in the Gospels, in the sen- tence pronounced by Pilate being exactly con- formable to the Roman law. The Evangelists w^re of the lower order among the Jews, and could not have known this conformity but from eye witnesses. This is an observation of M. Huber, reported by Le Clerc, Bibl. Anc. & Mod. xiii. p. 100. It may be necessary here to take notice of a passage in Suetonius s life of Claudius. " Ju- " d«os impulsore Chresto assidu^ tumultuantes ^* Roma expulit." — " The Emperor banished from ^* Rome all the Jews who, at the instigation of " one Chrestus, were very riotous*." It is ob- vious that this passage could not apply to Christ, nor to the Christians, as some writers have re- lated. Chrestus was an impostor in the reign of Claudius, after our Lord's death; and Sueto- nius expressly says ^' Judaeos," " the Jews," * In Lactantius we find the Saviour called * Chrestus* by mistake, Ijist, iv. 7, 15 THE EVIDENCES OF [Noies to which corresponds exactly with what St. Luke tells us " that St. Paul found at Corinth a cer- " tain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately *' come from Italy with his wife Priscilla (be- *' cause that Claudius had commanded all Jews " to depart from Rome) and came unto them*.'' (h) Julian the Apostate directly confesses that our Lord performed miracles, when he says f " He did nothing worth notice, unless " we reckon as ^reat actions the cure of the " lame, and the blind, and those who were pos- *' sessed with devils, in the villages of Bethsaida " and Bethany." Cyrill expressly quotes this Emperor's own words as, they are found in his works. But waving the force of this confession, which acknowledges a kind of new creation, and a miraculous change that could be effected only by a Divine power; could Julian, with all his at- tachment to magic, and earnest endeavours to restore it to its primitive lustre, could he even with lamblicus and Maximus imitate the least of those mighty works? This is the very re- proach which Arnobius makes against the Gen- tiles in general. " Vos in philosophis virtutes * Acts xviii, 1. 2. t Cyrill, 1. vi. p. 191. Sec. 2.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 76 secuti quas estis, ut magis vos illis, quam nos Christo oportuerit credere? Quisnanme illo- f rum aliquando verbo uno potuit aut unius im- ' peril jussione, non dicam maris insanias, aut ' tempestatum furores prohibere, compesceie: ' non csecis restituere lumina, non ad vitam re- ' voca^'e defunctos, non annosas dissolvere pas- ' siones, sed quod levissimum est, furunculum, ' scabiem, aut inherentem spinulam callo inter- ' dictione una sanare? — " What virtues, what ' signs of power are tliere to justify your at- ^ tachment to the philosophers more than ' ours to Jesus Christ? Who among them has * ever by a single word, I will not say checked ^ the fury of the waves or the violence of a ■ storm; I will not say who among them ever ' gave sight to the blind, recalled the dead to ' life, or cured any inveterate disease ? I will 'only ask, who among them, by their mere ^ word, healed the wound made by a thorn, or ' removed the sHghtest indisposition?" (i) Porphyry, whom St. Augustine calls a very able Philosopher,* gives us very undesign- edly a remarkable proof of our Lord's superna^ tural power: he grants that, after Jesus was * Apud Euseb. Praep. Even. 1. v. c. I, IfS THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes to worshiped, Men received no public marks of the protection of the Gods. This is related by Eii- sebias. *' \v^(Tb Ti\LQ\Lh^y ile\LX'j.q rig ^mv ^y,iJi,oerik^ ^ a^psKetxg vf^^ero,''^ He says this upon the occasion of a dreadful pestilence in the reigu of Gallus and Volusianus; and his aim was to throw a severe reflection, not to bestow commendation, upon our Lord's character. What he says how- ever is exactly what is related by the Christians, and is highly interesting to the cause of Chris- tianity. It sliows the power of Jesus Christ in his infant church, in causing the Oracles to cease, which the heathens looked up to for suc- cour, notwithstanding they were founded in delusion. Celsus, Porpliyry, and Julian, proverbially called raging dogs against the name of Christ, suffered many expressions to escape them which do homage to the truth. St. Augustine has pointed out some of this kind.* He introduces Porphyry as saying " Prseter " opinionem profecto cjuibusdam vidcatur quod *' dicturi sumus. Christum enim piissimum " Dei pronuntiarunt, et immortalem factum et ** cum bona pra^dicatione meminerunt. Hecate ^* interrogata si Chris tus esset Deus, respondit, * Au^. De Civril. Di'i. ]. xix. c. 22. Sec. 2,] THE CimiSTIAN RELIGION. 77 *' piissimum fuisse virum, et animam ejus im- *' mortalitate donatam anima aiitein piorum -" coelesti sedi insidet." — '' It may appear sur* *' prizing that the Gods themselves have pix)- -'^ nounced by their Oracles that Christ had *' been a very reUgious Man: they declare that *' He was become immortal, and speak of Him " in the highest terms : Tlie goddess Hecate *' being pressed to declare if Christ was God, " gave for answer that He was a Man of gre'at *' piety, and that his soul had been rewarded '^ with a happy immortality." But, if there should be any hesitation in be- lieving that an Oracle would bear such testi- mony, or that a Demon should be the Author of it, those who do not absolutely reject Reve- lation, those Avho only consider the Gospels as mere common histories, will find the fact at- tested in the following words.* " Jesus of Na- " zareth art Thou come to destroy us? I know " Thee who thou art: the Holy One of God. " t Devils also came out of many, crying out, " and saying,. Thou art Christ the Son of God." Eusebius tells us that Porphyry acknowledged Ijie devils were obliged to reverence Christ. ;]: See also Holstenius in his life of Porphyry. § * St. Luke iv. 3i. f v. 41. X Demons Evan. p. 134. § c. ii. ^8 THE EVIDENCES OF [JSFotes t6 Dr. Jortin well observes that the homage, . which the demoniacs uniformly paid to Christ and His Apostles, is a good evidence that they were not in a state of insanity, or disease: for then there would have been a variation in their conduct in this respect: some probably would have adored Jesus Christ, whilst others would have insulted Him, according to the caprice of their disordered minds. To the testimonies from Porphyiy we will add a few words re- specting his Character and his Works. Porphyry was bom at Tyre, in the year of our Lord 232 or 233, and died about the year 303. He received his education under the elo- quent Longinus at Athens, and under Plotinus, a philosopher celebrated for his extraordinary genius, and re-establishing the Platonic Philoso- phy, rendered still more absurd and more impi- ous by the practice of !Magic. The fifteen books he wrote with great vimlence against the Christi- ans have perislied. Constantine the Great, Theodosius the Younger, and Valentinian neg- lected no means to lind out the copies, and caused them to be burnt. This is not the only fault arising from a bhnd and mistaken zeal; nothing could more effectually induce a persua- sion that these books contained some invin- cible arguments against our holy religion: it Sec, 2.1 THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 79 was bringing upon thenLselves suspicion unne- cessarily. Notwithstanding the wit and spright- liness with which he seasoned his writings, it wcHild have been a great satisfaction to the en^ lightened Christians to have found th^t all the eiforts of the most refined ingenuity were not able, in the course of fifty years labour,, to make any progress in rendering the facts or the doc^ trines of Christianity doubtful : above all it was of importance that posterity should perceive the insincerity which then prevailed, as well as the candour of the Apologists and the solidity of their Answers. This would have been more serviceable to the cause, than the preserving those fragments of Porphyry's works, which are quotedhere and there by ApoUinarius, by Cyrill, Theodoret, Augustine, Jerome, and Eusebius. For in short, might it not be said you are en- gaged in a controversy of which the whole world is to judge, and you suppress the arguments brought by your adversaries.? You make them say such and such a thing, and wish us to give you credit upon your own word. We must acknow- ledge that the first disciples of our Lord would not have been allowed such proceedings. Be- sides there is less danger than may be imagined in preserving writings of this kind. The Father but the imposture was too obvious ; and he got nothing to support it from the history which Philostratus gives of Apollonius. That history was a work of imagination, being writ- ten without the aid of one authentic memoir, and one hundred years after the death of his ri- diculous hero. Hierocles, and isome other ene- mies of the Christians, thought to prevail against them, by raising up a sort of rival to Jesus Christ, but this rival had lived too re- cently not to expose them to immediate confu^ tation. He was a mere Greek Sophist, known as late as the time of Nerva; and the most esr teemed historians contemporary, or nearly soi with the actions imputed to him, (such as Taci- tus, Suetonius, Pliny, Plutarch, Dion Cassius, Celsus, and many others equally enemies to Christianity with Hierocles) have not ventured to bring forward any mention of him, Euse- bius published a particular discourse against Hierocles; and neither he nor Lactantius had tnuch difficulty in overthrowing this vain at- tempt. All that the abettors of Apollonius S^^ THE feVIDENCES OF [Notes h (who ^Vitli Pythagoras became the idol of Por- phyry and the new Platonists) eiFected, was i6 add fresh weight to the truth, by their avowal of the most celebrated miracles of Jesus Christ and his Disciples : for they never denied them : they only compared them as true with others no- toriously false. And let it not be forgotten, that Philostratus invented his history in order to pay his court to Caracalla and the Empress Julia, who were violently attached to the cause of Magic and Sorcery. Lucian very freely ridiculed this in his Pseudo- mantis, having too much taste to give way to such contemptible fancies, and too great a pas- sion for raillery not to make a jest of them. To the testimonies thus given to our Lord s miracles by his most declared enemies, it is our duty to add that of Celsus.* " Ye believe," said he, *' that He is the Son of God, because He ** cured the halt and the blind." After this what uneasiness can we feel from the attacks of the most declared Deist, whose language is: " a whole people, you tell me, are '* witnesses of the existence and miracles of •' Jesus Christ, dare you deny this? I answer, '' I will dare; till it is confirmed to itie by the * Apud Origen 1. li. c. ill. Sec. 2,1 THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 83 " authority of one Who is not of your party, ** and till I shall cease to know that that one " may be a fanatic or a deceiver."* The reply to this is very obvious. The Deist, upon his own terms, must yield to the testimony of our inveterate enemies. Hierocles, Julian, Celsus, and Porphyry acknowledged the miracles of Jesus Christ, and multitudes of others only became Christians because they were not able to resist the proofs which estab- lished those miracles, nor to maintain the doubts, which kept them in Paganism. The Jews, with all their obstinacy, never said the miracles were not performed : They only blamed our Lord for performing them on the Sabbath day. And this is an argument which Tertullian employed against them; " Ye do ijot," he says " disallow " the mighty works done by Christ, for your- " selves said it was not for His works that ye " stoned Him, but because He did these things " on the Sabbath day." — " Haec vero opera- " tum Christum nee vos diffitebamini, utpote " qui dicebatis quod propter opera eum non " lapidaretis, sed quoniam ista Sabbatis faciebat." The observation which Dr. Jortin makes, that all our Lord's miracles were in their nature '^ Pens. Philos. Art. xlvi. 174€. g2 54 THE EVIDENCES OF [Ifotes t9 good works, all useful to mankind, either to cure their bodily distempers, or to remove their still more fatal prejudices; this observation, I say, is equally sensible and satisfactory, conform- able moreover to the goodness and the excel- lent character of that Divine Personage, whose object it was to restore Man to the image of his Maker; but I do not know that we are equally to admit the idea suggested by Jortin, that these miracles were at the same time prophetic, and emblems significant of His designs. All the Types being brought to a conclusion in Jesus Christ, and as it were, unfolded by his coming, by his doctrine, and by the full accomplishment of the prophecies made to mankind, every thing ought to be clear both in his discourses and his actions. His miracles were an authentic proof of his divine mission. Men had no longer oc- casion for allegories. (I) Phlegon, of Trallium in Asia, flourished at Rome towards the middle of the second century, and lived till the eighteenth year of Antoninus Pius : he was one of those celebrated Freedmen to whom the Emperor Adrian had given a liberal education. Endowed with ex- traordinary talents, encouraged and patronized by a prince ambitious of true glory; he found Sec, 2.J THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. JJ5 an additional stimulus in a number of illustrious rivals. Epictetus the famous stoic, Florus the historian, Arrian surnamed the new Xenojjhon, and many other celebrated Philosophers and Orators rendered this court one of the most learned and accomplished. With so fine an un- derstanding, so cultivated and cherished, Phle- gon was capable of leaving behind him many valuable works ; but unfortunately all that re- main are the titles reported by Suidas, the history of the 177th Olympiad which Photius has preserved, and some fragments which Meur- sius and Gronovius have collected. Among the works lost, that most to be regretted is an Uni- versal History in 12 books, known by the name of the history of the Olympiads. It commenced at the first, and concluded at the two hundred and twenty-ninth, comprehending the year of our Lord 138. This work is often cited under the title of Annals or Chronicles. And it is here that Phlegon, though a heathen, bears wit- ness to the two facts, so important to the cause 'of our religion, spoken of by our Author. Tlie first is the accomplishment of Prophecies; the second is the miraculous Darkness, of which we $hall speak in a subsequent note. The first, that our Lord foretold several things which came to pass according to His predictions, So THE EVIDENCES OF [JSTofes Ut requires some explanation. Origen, who speaks veiy distinctly upon this head, does not say- that tlie testimony of Flilegon applies to Jesus Christ: he teil us* that " Phlegon, in the 13th " or 14th book of his Chronicles, attributes to " Jesus Christ the knowledge of future events, " and though by mistake he puts Petei* instead " of Jesus, he however bears witness to the person " who had made the prediction, and that things " had happened exactly as they were foretold." Notwithstanding Origen's doubt, and tiiis sup- posed mistake of the name, the heathen writer's acknowledgment, to whomsoever it applies, is equally favourable to the Christian cause; the power of foretelling with certainty could proceed only from God, who thus confirmed the mission of the disciple, and consequently the mission of the Divine Master. It is in this sense Momay and some other learned men have taken the passages. But was it not Hterally the predic- tions of St. Peter which Phlegon had in view ? His country was not very distant from Pales- tine, and he might have heard of the prophecies of the Apostle, as well as of our Lord's. This was the opinion of Abbe Houteville, and the Father de Colonia: f this learned Jesuit thought * Opi. con. Cels. I. 11. c. U. f 1. 11. c. 5. Sec. 2.1 THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 3:? it related to St. Peter's predictions of the ap- proaching ruin of the Jevys and the destruction of Jerusalem; and it is worth our while to re- mark with them, that Origen w.rote when Phle- go.n's Chronicle was entire and in every one's hands, and so able a defender of Christianity would guard against any mistake in a contest with such an antagonist as Celsus, and in ^ cause of such importance. Grotius takes no nQtice of Phlegon s history, except to say that, in the 13th book of it, ^mention is made of 5t. Peter's miracles. * " Imo Petri mhacula Phlegon, Adriani Impera- " tpi'is libertus, in annalibus suis commemo- (m) The passage in which Phlegon speaks of Jthe supposed Eclipse, and of the Earthquake, ^t the time of our Saviour's death, is very re- markable. " In the fourth ye^r of the 202d " .Olympiad there was the greatest Eclipse of the *' S^m evei' known : at the sixth hour of the day *' it brought on such a Darkness that the stars ap- '* peared in the heavens ; there was also a great ^* Earthquake, which overthrew a nuniber of *^ houses in the town of Nicaea in Bithynia."')' * De Yer. 1. iii, c. 14, f Olym. 202. 8S THE EVIDENCES OF [KoUs U If this applies to the notable miracle at our Lord s death, nothing can be more interesting than this relation from the mouth of a Pagan ; but as, in a matter so sacred, it is impossible to be too scrupulous in the choice of means we em- ploy, and as we ought never to allow them any weight at the expence of Truth, it is our boun- den duty not to leave the objections unknown. Objections which do not at all aifect the fact it^ self, or the sacred text which confirms it; but bear only upon the meaning, the strength, and extent, of the evidence which the heathen Au-» thor gives upon the point in question. * In the passage cited, Phlegon tells us of an Eclipse, so remarkable, that many have called it central or total : and, to render it still more ex- traordinary, it has been said that it happened at the time of the full moon; Syncellus in his Chronology, makes Africanus assert this, as from Phlegon, but clearly without authority: " Nar- " rat Phlegon Tiberio Imperante Solis Eclipsin " plenilunio contigisse." A circumstance refu- ted by Origen (in Math. Tract. 35.) " Et Phle- " gon quidam in Chronicis suis scripsit in prin- " cipata Tiberii Caesaris factum." And in truth we read no such thing in Phlegon, an historian * SeeHuet. onPhlegon.—GospclDemonstr. Propps^ iii. 8. ^€€. 2.3 THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 89 rather disposed for the marvellous, who, as we may suspect from his two works upon Wonders and Longevity, would not have slighted this circum- stance. The celebrated Grotius suifered him-r self to be deceived, apparently by this assertion, when he states,* as a certainty, that this Eclipse happened at the Full Moon, and exactly at th€ period of our Lord's death. Hence theie is no ground for any objection to a circumstance thus brought forward: but that which arises from the Eclipse only, still remains. All the Astronomers who have spoken on the subject, have agreed that no natural Eclipse did, or could, happen in the eighteenth year of Tibe- rius, which wai? that of our Saviours Passion. But, if there was no Eclipse that year, what will become of the authority of the passage un- der consideration? Has our excellent Grotius, and after him the learned Father de Colonia, have they sufficiently reflected upon the physi- cal impossibility of an Eclipse (of the Sun) at the time of the Full Moon, or merely upon that which results from astronomical calcu- lation? And will it be enough for the confir- mation of the Faith, to say with Grotius, that the case happened contrary to Nature, '^ contra ^* Naturam," or, with Mr. Bossuet, Father dc * De Vex'. 1. iii. c. 14. 90 THE EVIDENCES OF [mtes tfl Colonia, and sonie others, that this Darkness or this EcUpse was necessarily super;U9tural, be- cause it came on at the Full Moon, and that it absohitely deranged the System of the Uni- yerse ? This evidence of the tii'iith of Rehgion (he adds) has a;iways appeared so powerful that neither Pojphyry nor Julian, nor our other ene- mies have been able to advance a single syllable in reply. But if the fact of the Eclipse is pos- itively denied, and we are not able to prove it, or to get the better of the negative proof of the contrary,drawnfrom the calculations and unalter- able laws of Astronomy, there will be no possi* bility of establishing it by reasoning: besides, I am not aware that the true philosophical reader would be of opinion, that this absolute derange- ment of the Universal System could ever tak€ place in a miracle, however great ^nd supeina^- tural it might be. Be it observed also th^t the sacred writers speak of nothing of this kind. " ^ow from the sixth hour there was dark- ^' ness ov:€r all tlie land unto tlie ninth 'Miouj-/'* — ''And when the sixth houi* was *' coTiie tjiere was darkness oyer tiie^hole land ^' until the ninth hour."f — " And i^t w^s about '^ the*sixtb hour, and there wa^ adarkne^? oyer " all the earth, until the ninth, hour. And the * Matt, xxvii. 45. f Mark. xv. 33, Sec. 2.3 THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. ©i " Sun was darkened, and the yaii of the Temple *^ was rent m the midst." ^ Upon the foiegoing passages we have to ob- serve, . FirsJ; that iJie term " darkness' does not apply to that caused by an Echps sus Christ. Cq) It was the opinipn of Celsus that the Christians performed Miracles through the aid * Be Mort. Percgr. f L. vi & x. t L. vi. § Fragm. Epist. 49 & 62. f P. 76. Sect. 2.] TH£ christian RELIGION. io^ of Sorcery, and by the use of particular names. Origen, exclaiming against this calumny, says ; ** it is manifestly not their own power they '"^ employ, but that of Jesus, when they pro- " nounce His name, and recount His marvel- " lous works : by these words Devils are often "r.cast out from the persons possessed; and this " comes from the use of the means with a " right intention and with a lively Faith. This " holy name has such virtue that it even some- " times operates though pronounced by the " unworthy." " Post hiEC, nescio quarc Cclsus ait, Dasmo- *_' niorum quorundam nominibus et incantati- ''^ onibus videri pollere Christianos : opinio sub- *^ indicans excantatorcs et expulsores Da3mo- \\' num; quod quidcm manifestum piic se fert •' calumniam. Non enim pollere videntur; sed '' nomine Jesu cum commemoratione ejus fac- vSjtorum. Kam his verbis ssepenumero prof- " ligati sunt Diemones ex hominibus, preecipue *' quoties qui enuntiant ea, sano affectu et " Integra fide proferunt. Tanta certe vis no- *' mini Jesu inest, ut nonnumquam etiam a ma- " lis nominatum sit efficax" *. — Sec also Ju$tin Apol. i. Dialog, cum Trypho. * Contr. Cels. L..i. 1 io THE Evidences Oi lUoid w Article III. (r) It is particularly remarkable that Cel- sus, a bitter enemy to the Christians, and a man of great subtilty, could not resist the evidence arising from our Lord s Miracles, or the tes- timony in support of their reality: the Jews, the most determined, and the most anxious to find any weakness in this evidence, had ahejidy failed in the attempt, and had never been ahje to stand against the splendour of so many mar- vellous works. Tlie Pharisees and the Saddu- cees, the two haughtiest sects among this peo- ple, and the most violent in opposition to the doctrine, the divinity of which was proved by these Miracles, dared not dissent from the rest : and when they desired that Jesus Christ " would " show them a sign from heaven,"*' this seemed to imply that they acknowledged as real those which he had shown on eartli ; but that they mistrusted his power of performing miracles in the higher regions or in the air, which no doubt they considered as more difficult and more glo- *tious : as if the raising the dead, or the know- ledge of the most secret thoughts had been * Matt.xvi. I. Sect. 2.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. ' 1 1 1 more easy than to cause a tempest or an eclipse^ This reality of our Lord's Miracles was so strik- ing, that the outcry raised by a number of hard- ened Jews could not prevail against it: and their Author was regarded, not as an impostor, but as a prophet commissioned from heaven. — " He asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men *' say that I the Son of man am ? And they ** said, some say that thou art John the Bap- " tist, some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or *' one of the prophets/'* Hence it appears tliat the imputation of cast- jno; out devils throuo-h Beelzebub was thrown upon our Lord by no great number, and was considered as odious and improbable. (ij St. jMatthew removes all doubt by the pre- cision of his narrative ; " And they did all eat " and were filled J; and they took up of the *' fragments that remained twelve baskets full. " And they that had eaten were about five " thousand men, beside women and children."^ The fact, is then, that five loaves and two fishes were distributed among five thousand men besides women and children, of whom there must have been a. considerable number; * Matt. xvi. 13. X Matt. xiv. 20, 21. 1 1 2 THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes h that all did eat ; that all were satisfied ; and, finally, that twelve baskets of the fragments were taken up; that is to say, a greater quantity than there was before the multitude began to eat. This latter circumstance deserves part"-cular notice. It is said this was done " that nothing " might be lost." Our Lord's design, in giving the order, was clearly to render the miracle of the multiplication more perceptible, and more indisputable ; that those who had been so mi- raculously fed, might, at their leisure, look on the remnant and eat again, that every objection should be removed by the repeated testimony of their own senses, so that it should be impos- sible to doubt a moment of the reality of the miracle. The reality of the prodigy was thus esta- blished beyond the power of Celsus to shake it by the feeble solution he suggests. To satisfy five thousand, without any food at all, would have been as much a miracle, as the feeding them, till they were filled, with five loaves and two fishes. This illusion, if it was one, could be the effect only of a Divine Power; which is always most naturally exercised in the pro- duction of such things as are good. Sec, 12.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 1 1 3 (t) Judas betrayed Jesus; but he was unable to disclose any thing to the Jews, which could in the least tarnish the glory of his Master's Ministry, or charge it with imposture. He disclosed nothing. On the contrary, confusion and despair followed close upon his treachery. He immediately returns the baneful price of his guilt, and exclaims in an agony, " I have " sinned, in that I have betrayed the innocent " blood."* Unable to endure the torture of his remorse he hangs himself. The repentance of this covetous disciple dissipates every idea of a conspiracy. " The field purchased with the " money for thp burial of strangers became a " monument for the instruction of all the <' world."t Had the miracles been fictitious, so many disaffected Christians as from the time of the Apostles troubled the church with their here- sies, the Judaizers, the Nicolaitans, the Cerin- thians, the Gnostics, the Valentinians, the Ba- silidians and others, against whom the Apostles and their successors Stood up with all their might; all these secret or avowed enemies, some of them at least, must have detected and exposed the fraud. Nevertheless not one of *^ Matt, xxvii. 4. f Abbe Piuclje. I lU THE EVIDENCES OF [Mtes to • them ever did.' To these also we may join many vigilant spies among the heathens, and many exasperated emissaries among the Jews : yet never did any one in this crowd of adver- saries surprise the Christians in a fault, or con- vict them of wrong doing. Again, the rnksL- • . cles performed by the Apostles and the Disci- pleis of Jesus Christ necessarily were marked with the same characters as his own : especially those of not being possibly confounded with the wor4^ the devil. Besides the arguments which the fathers drew from the nature of the Pagan religion, and from that of the oracles, so calculated to give ere* dit to the grossest errors, they founded their be- lief upon the authority of the inspired writings. In these we find frequent mention of familiar spirits, of wizards and of oracles, all being respected among the people of Palestine, and resembling those among the people of Greece. God hath in an especial manner forbidden any communication with those that use divinations, &c. :* the prophets have made them the subject of reproach to the Jews.f We read of the witch of Endor, who announced to Saul his own fate and that of his kingdom. J A lying spirit is re- piesented by Micaiah as standing before the Lord, and going forth by his permission to dictate to the prophets of Ahab, and to persuade him to go up to the battle. § Ahaziah king of Israel If, desirous of knowing if he should recover from his disease, consulted Baal-zebub, the god of * Deut. xviii. 10. + Isaiah viii. 19. X 1 Sam. xxviii, § i Kings, xxii. (I 2 Kings, i. %2 Kings i. Jfec. 2.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 145 Ekrbn, the same whom St. Matthew calls '* Prince of the devils." Are we not autho* rized to infer from these examples, that the demons not only drew men into particular acts, but that they also exalted themselves into deities, and suggested to their priests such ora- cles as were best suited to impose upon the multitude? And might it not happen also, that in the multitude of these oracles, in which the demons are supposed to have borne some part, there were some genuine, which, though but few in number, were sufficient to attract veneration to the rest. To the examples already noticed may be added that of the Spirit of Divination which St. Paul,* drove out of the soothsay- ing damsel. It appears then that the fa- thers believed, upon the credit of the Old and New Testament, that the demons were the au* thors of the Pagan oracles. We are the less surprised to find the fathers in this opinion, when in an age so enlightened as the last, we have seen the celebrated Grotius deciding that the demons had the power of doing somethings approaching to miraculous ; and he adds, that it was but just that God should * Acts xvU 18. t De Ver. We THE EVIDENCES OF [mtes m abandon to these delusions those who had for a long time refused to adore him. And we shall be still less surprised at th© lystem of the ancient Christians, when we have from Mr. de Fontenelle this confession,'^ " that " the devils never had so much influence, never " did such wonderful things, as in the time of '^ our Lord and his Apostles :" and still more expressly " that they had the power of tempt* *' ing men and entangling them in their snares, " and favoured, as much as in them lay, the '^ gross errors of the Pagans." Could spirits which had this power find any difficulty in dictating oracles sometimes true, at other times evasive? And are we to be more surprised at folding them in possession of, and imposing^ upon, the human mind, than at seeing them taking up their abode in the human body, or throwing themselves into a herd of swine? If then the devil had a power so destructive of truth and morality, it was worthy of the majesty of God at length to dispossess him of this power in a sig-nal manner; and this revo-. lution could not take place at a more suitable season than at the coming of our blessed Lord, whose office it was to bring back truth and vir* *Hist. des Orac.c.y# ^^.2.3 THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 147 tue to the earth. To overthrow the dominion of the devil, it was necessary to put a stop to the influence and delusion of oraeles. God him- self hath declared that men should be tried by- signs and by wonders. *' If there arise among *' you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and *' giveth tiiee a sign or a wonder, and the sign *' or the wonder come to pass, whereof he " spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other *' gods, which thou hast not known, and let " us servje them ; thou shalt not hearken un- " unto the words of that prophet, or that " dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God " proveth you, to know whether you love the " Lord your God with all your soul."'* But this same God, who announces as a trial these prodigies, whether real, or so specious as to be mistaken for such, graciously condescends to guard his people against the delusion, by show- ing them the marks by which it may be dis- tinguished ; and finally he promises that there shall be a signal downfal of such impostures* This great event appeals to have been expressly foretold by the prophet Zechariah. " In that. *' day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David^ and to the inhabitants of * Deut. xiii. 1, 2, 3. LSI f< 14t TtlE EViDfiKCES OF [N-oies /# ** Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. And " it shall come to pass in that day, saith the ** Lord of hosts, that I will cut off the names ** of the idols out of the land, and they shall ** no more be remembered; and also I will ^* cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to -^ pass out of the land."* Many explicit testi- monies, given by our Lord and his Apostles, correspond with this prophecy, and fix its^ ac- complishment to the time of his coming, that is, to the time of his kingdom being establish- ed by the preaching of the gospel. When the seventy returned with joy, and gave an account of their mission to their Divine Master, saying, ** Lord, even the devils are subject unto us ** through thy name;''t his answer was: "I " beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven ;" (marking the rapidity of his approaching decHne) " notwithstanding in this rejoice not," saith our Lord, " that the spirits are subject unta ^* j^ou.'* The following passages accord with the above from St, Luke. " Now shall the prince " of this world be cast out." :|: — ^Tlie prince of *^ this world is judged.'*^ " The god of peace ^ Zech. xiii. 1,2. f Luke x. 17- i8. 20. i John xii. 3U § ioim ^vi. llf Sec, 2.1 THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. l\9 '* shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. *'|| — " Forasmuch then as the children are partakers *^ of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took " part of the same: that through death he " might destroy him that had the power of *' death, that is, the devil." ^ Hitherto we find that the idea of the power of demons, and of their illusions by the oracles, is well grounded upon the language of scrip- ture. On this point the Old and New Testa- ment are in perfect harmony : the former also foretelling the fall of these demons, the latter, from the authority of Jesus Christ himself, pointing out the time of his coming, &s the period for that event. Jt is true that this evidence loses great part of Hs force, with those who do not admit the Holy Scriptures to be divine revelations; al- though in this case, and in many others, it might be sufficient for our purpose to liave the same degree of credit given to the sacred wri- ters which is daily given to profane historians. I confess that history supplies us with but lit- tle upon this subject. It is deficient in that kind of records, and in those circumstantial de> tails, by the help of which we might, by foresee- l Rom. xvi. ao» ^ Hcb* ii. 14. 1 59 THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes f« ing objections, place the fact beyond the reach of controversy. But this care might appear su- pei-fluous to the Pagan writers at the time when their rehgion was predominant, and the oracles which favoured it possessed universal credit. The object of the historians and philosophers was not so much to enquire into the rights Up- on which the oracles founded their claim to re- ligious veneration, as to expose the imposture of some of them, which had once possessed public esteem, and w^re afterwards ignomi-r niously degraded. We find that princes, and ma* gistrates, and the learned, directed thfeir at- tention, and their enquiry, fo deceptions of this kind; and we may prei^uhie that those, w^hich underwent this trial, were such as were contrived by the artifice of evil spirits, till our Lord had deprived them of their power. The oracles that were aftenvards heatd of -weri merely human imitations of those, on which the Son of God had imposed perpetual silence. Notwithstanding the scarcity of those rccords which our curiosity wishes for, and especially of facts of that kind which could not with any probability be attributed to any huma;n agent, there are some cases related by the' heathen his* torians, wherein they insinuate that more than human agents were concerned;' ahd that Sec. 2.} THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 151 the incredulity of the most suspicious persons wa3 overcome by evidences, to which neither they nor their adherents could make the least opposition. Trajan was pressed by his friends to ponsult the oracle of Heliopolis upon his intended ex- pedition against the Parthians; he complied; not from any motive of piety, but with a de- sign to puzzle the oracle in a way he thought infallible. He sent a letter, very cautiously sealed (of which Jie only had possession of thp secret) which was to be shown, but not to be opened. The oracle returned for answer, that ' a blank paper well folded, and well sealed, must be sent back. Tlie priests were alarmed at this order, because they knew not (says Macrobius) the contents of the Emperor's letter; but Trajan was astonished to find the answer cor^ respond so exactly with what he. had sent, and, it is $aid, he was so convinced there was no trick in this oracle, that he consulted it upon his expedition with full confidence.* Plutarch t quotes another example, which brought great credit to the Oracle of Mopsus in ■Cilicia : the governor of that province, being addicted to cEpicurism, attempted to put to * Saturn, 1. i. c. 23, + De defect, orac. lit THE Evidences or [Kotesu shame the deity which presided there. For this purpose hie sent a confidential servant charged with a sealed letter, to which he re- quested an answer to be delivered in a dreaip* The servant, on his return, told what he had seen and heard in his sleep ; " that a well look- *' ing man appeared to him, and pronounce^ " only the word, black!' The contents of the letter were, " Shall I sacrifice a white bull, or a '* black one?" Upon this, says Plutarch, th€ governor, and all the Epicureans were con- founded. » Herodotus* tells us a story of the same kind in which Croesus tried an experiment upon the oracle of Apollo at Delphos. This genius, ac- cording to him, guessed very exactly, when it told the Prince's messengers what their master was doing at Sardis, at the very time they were consulting it : and in fact it appeared that at the very same hour Croesus, as the oracle had declared, was cooking a turtle with a lamb. And Tacitus,! speaking of the oracle of Cla^^ Tos, relates that the priest selected frotn cer- tain families in Miletus, though generally very ignorant, could answer in verse to vi^hat the en- iquirer only had in his thoughts. ^'Ignarui * L. i. t Anwal. 1. ii. Germanicui, Sect 2.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 153 ?* plerumque edit responsa versibus conipositis, ** super rebusque quas mente concepit." In the instances just produced, we have what Mr. de Fontenelle requires : they appear to be attended with circumstances in which something more than human artifice was con- cerned ;* I do not undertake to assert that they establish indisputably the fact of the influence of demons over the Pagan oracles : but it cer- tainly is incomprehensible, that the mere self- ish cunning of priests, or the fickle policy of princes, should have been able to have sup- ported the credit of these contrivances for moi e than two thousand years ; so often thwarted as they were by jarring interests, and so scruti- nized by many who were not much inclined to respect them. But such instances as I have produced are by no means indifferent to those who admit the sacred text, for if (as Mr. Bayle acknowledges) it is impossible to reconcile with Scripture the rejection of the power of the de- vil, where can it be supposed this power was more naturally exerted, than in those delusions, which were so well suited to uphold a religion, monstrous in its worship apd its morality? * See Fontenelle's Histoire des Oracles, and Fiithet Ballus's Answer* 154 THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes f^ If, moreover, according to Mr. de Fontenelle's own confessions, " the demons had the power to ", tempt men, and to ensnare them" if, as he adds, " they favoured as much as in them '* lay the gross error of the Pagans," if they never did such surprising things as in the time of Jesus Christ and his Apostles, shall "we wonder at finding in history some singu- lar marks of this power, not indeed in deli- vering true oracles, but in prompting the most evasive, or in accompanying those which the priests delivered with certain marvellous deeds calculated to support their credit? And if again as INIr. de Fontenelle admits in his pre- face, the demons were concerned in magid, might not the historical facts which I have re- lated have been of this nature, and must it not necessarily have been that such of them as were marvellous attracted the veneration af mankind ? -'Dr. Clarke observes,* that " it is not aright ^* distinction to suppose the wonders which ■^ the Scripture attributes to evil spirits, to bq J* mere tricks or delusions : for if the devil has " a natural power of doing any thing at all, '■ ^ven but so much as the meanest of men, *Evici, of nat and rev* Relig. StcL 2.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 1 55 " and be not restrained by God from exer-» " cising that natural power ; it is evident he " will be able by means of his invisibility to ^^ work true and real miracles. Neither is " it a right distinction, to suppose the ^' mimcles of evil spirits, not to be real ef- " fects in the things where they appear, but *' impositions upon the senses of the spectators : '^ for to impose in this manner upon the senses *'of men (not by tricks and delusions; but by " really so affecting the organs of sense, ias to " make things appear what they are Hot) is to " all intents and purposes as true a miracle, " and as great an one, as making r^al changes " in the things themselves." It is then more than probable from all the arguments, and according to the principles of those who dispute the influence of demons ovtJt the Pagan oracles, that tlieir power displayed itself in uCh acts as are related by the heathen historians, by artifices calculated to give a sancr tion to the deceitful oracular declarations of the priests of this false religion. If so, it was worthy the character of our Lord to put a stop to these impostures, and thus to bring the oj-a* cles to the ground. It remains for us to see whether this was actually done upon his coming into the world. 1 56 TH E EVIDENCES OF [Notes t^ The Christians had the clearest evidence that the heathen oracles began to decline, from the time our Lord exercised his ministry, in driv- ing out the spirits that presided over them; not indeed all at once, but by degrees. From the fathers we learn that this miraculous event must be ascribed to Jesus Christ, to his own power over the demons, and to that which he had given to the faithful, when he was about to ascend into heaven, as we find in St. Mark.* "And these signs shall follow them that be- " lieve; in my name shall they cast out de* "vils." TertuUian, Minutius Felix, Lactantius, Athar nasius, and others, consider this power as one of the most striking proofs of the divinity of tlie Christian religion. Clement of Alexandria, Theodoret, Eusebius, Cyprian, and all Christian antiquity, concur in making the rniraculous §1% lence of the oracles a powerful argument against idolatry. Could they have dared so to do, if they had not been prepared to answer any objections that could be brought by those who were anxious to defend and preserve the expiring lustre of these very oracles ? # xvi. n. Stct. 2.] THE CimiSTIAN RELIGION. 15T That this was the period of their downfal, seems already to be determined. The learned Pagans, who wrote after the establishment of Christianity, acknowledge the fact. Lucan complains that **the oracle at Del- '^ phi is silent, and that thus the age is de- " prived of the greatest benefit the gods e\ er ** bestowed upon men."* Statins says: "the silence of Delphi will " long be lamented with tears."| Juvenal tells us i " mankind are condemned *^ to be ignorant of futurity, since the oracles •* of Delphi have ceased.^J And Strabo's evidence goes still further : his words are : " the oracle of Dodona has failed, " like the rest."§ Many other testimonies of equal weight might be produced, but I shall content myself Non uUo saecula dono Nostra carent majore de(im, quam Delphica sedes Quod siluit. Lucan Pharsal. 1. v. fMutisque plorabere Delphis. Statius Theb. L riii. I ., „ Delphis oracula cessarit, £t genus humanum damnat caligo futuri. Juven. Sat. vi. § Oracuium Dodonaeum defecit, sicut et reliquae, Strabo 1. yiii. de Epire, U% THE EVIDENCES OF [mtes to with adding only that of Pkitarch;^ which is the more valuabk, because he was a man of gTeat leariiing, was himself a priest of Apollo at Delphi, and materially intaested in keep- ing up the credit of his oracles.')' Yet he not only admits their decline, but thinks it is his duty to enquire into the cause of so extraoj:di- nary a revolution : and this he has done in a work replete with all the wit and learning of that time, which could assist him in so important a business. Now if, as has been imagined by Mr. de Foii- tenelle, they had fallen by natural means, such as the wars and revolutions which took place in Greece, would Plutarch have thought it ne- cessary to have entered into such profound dis- cussions upon the subject? Instead of an expla- * De Defect. Orac. f Plutarch lived in the regn of Domitian, of Tra- jan, and of Adrian. It has been observed that in his numerous writings no mention is made of the Chris- tian Religion : " probably (says Mr. de Tillemont> *' because he daved not think well of it, and it would *' have been difficult to have spoken of it unfavour- *' ably:" or rather according to Dr. Jortin, bec?iuse Jbe .had never examined this religion, and had taken no interest in it: philosophy and history haying oc- .cupied all his time, and engrossed all his attention. &c^2.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. i^r nation so obvious, he expected to find the cause of the decUne of oracles in one or other of these principles : either that the genii who pre- sided over them were subject to death, or that the earth, being exhausted, could no longer furnish those exhalations which inspired the priests with the Divine furor, and which the gods made use of, as the means of imparting to men the sublime gift of prophecy.* Cicero had some time before touched upon the same solution, but, with that wit and plea- santry peculiarly his own, he turns it to ridi- cule. He was more acute than Plutarch, and saw all the absurdity of such a doctrine f as that of an exhalation giving a supernatural virtue to the soul, or that such a divine power in the earth,, so extraordinaiy a privilege, should like the flavour of wine, be exhausted by age. Plu- tarch himself placed no great reliance in this solution, for he makes use of an alternative in the supposition, that the genii, who inspired * Colonia de la Rel. Chret. torn. i. p. 157. f Cum urgetitur, evanuisse dicent vetustate vim lo- ci ejus, unde anhelitus ille terrse fieret, quo Pythia Diente incitata, oracula ederet. Cicero de Dirinat. De vino aut salsamento putes loqui, quae evanes- cuut vetustate. Ibid. 160 . TPIE EVIDENCES OF [Notes t^ the oracles, were subject to mortality: an4^ under this idea, he gives credit to the $tory related of Thammuz. Which, as it may be foimd transcribed at length in Eusebius, (Prsepar,^ P. van. 1. V. c. 17) I have not thought it ne» cessary to insert. We have already seen Porphyry confessing that " from the time Jesus Christ began to be ** worshipped, no one had received help from *' the gods : tliey had broken off all commu- " nication with men/'* And in a book, writ- ten solely with the design to support Paganism upon the authority of oracles, | he says " No *' wonder diseases prevail so long amongst us, " since Esculapius and the rest of the gods " have taken leave of mankind, for from the " time Jesus began to be worshipped the god« *' have conferred no visible benefits upon men." Surely Porphyry had no intention of fur- nishing arms against himself, and the cause of Paganism, when he made this declaration: it was with a design to draw popular hatred upon the Christians, by representing Jesus as the au- thor of so fatal a misfortune to the whole em^ pire: but the effect of this declaration is our concern, and we may justly boast of it as giv- * See p. 75. t Orac. Philosop. jkc. 2j3 the christian religion. 161 ing the most satisfactory evidence of the mi- raculous cessation of oracles: for it was by them, revealed in dreams, that Esculapius (as the Heathens thought) prescribed to the sick who slept in his temple : and the stop put to ^ such revelations is expressly imputed to Jesus.* After all, why need we look for better evi- dence than the confession of the devils them- selves, a confession wrested from them by the" Christians, who forced them at the name of Je- sus to own they were nothing but s,educing spirits, and compelled them to give up the priests, the priestesses, and the temples they possessed? TertulUan tells us f the Christian* * Here Seigneux introduces a legend foiinded up- on the authority of Suidas (in the word Augustus) and Cedrenus, but as he places no great reliance upon it, it is omitted. f Edatur hie aliquis sub tribunalibus vestris, queni daemone agi constet, jussus a quohbet Chrifetiano lo- qui spiritus ille, tamse daenionem confitebitiir de vero, quam alibi deum de falso. -^que producatur ailiquis ex iis qui de Deo pati existimantur; — Ista ipsa virgo Cflelestis pluviarum pdllicitatrix ; iste ipse ^Esculapius medicinarum demonstrator — nisi se daemones confess! fuerint, Christiano mentiri non audentes, ibidem il- lius ChTistiani procacissimi sanguinem fundite. Gluid 162 THE EVIDENCES OF [^tcs tif were so convinced of the power of this holy name, that they ofi^fM to make trial of it at the risk of their lives before the Heathen tribu^- nals, and the guardian spirits of the oraclefe not only brought disgrace upon themselves by their humiliating confessions; they renounced £fls6 for ever all the advantages they had en- joyed from their imposture. * Lactantius says : '* Set before us a man pos- '* Sensed of a devil, and with him a priest of ** Delphos: both will tremble at only the name •* of God". Apollo ^ill as quickly leave his *' false prophet, as the devil will depart fronfi ** the possessed ; and his priest will be silenced ** for ever." He tells us : " that a single Chris- *' tian, unknown to be such by the people as- " sembled, being present at the ceremony of a '^ sacrifice, the Augurs found themselves at a " loss to proceed in their office, and exclaimed isto opere manifestius ? Quid h^c probatione fideli- us ? Apolog'et, * Si constituatur in medio, et is quem constat in- cursum daemonis perpeti, et Delphici Apollinis va- tes : eodem modo Dei nomen horrebunt, et tam cele- riter excedet de vate suo Apollo, quam ex homiii© spiritusille daemoniacus, et adjurato fugatoque Deo tuo, vates in perpetuum conticescet. Div. Iiistit. Liv. c. 27a Sec. 2.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 163 " that some profane intruder was in the crowd, " upon which a tumult ensued." Cyprian calls upon the heathens to " ac- *' knowledge the truth, to believe what the very " gods, whom they thought worthy of adoration, " had confessed ;" and he relates that " the " evil spirits, adjured by the true God, obeyed *' without hesitation."* St. Athanasius affirms ; that, " at the name " of Christ, the devils were put to flight, the '^ oracles ceased, and magic lay abashed and " confounded."! Minutius Felix thus addresses the Pagans: " The greater part of you cannot but know ** what the devils have confessed ; would they " tell lies in your presence to their o^vn dis- " honour.? Believe then their testimony.''^ * Veniet cognosce ea esse vera quae dicimus, et quia sic deos colere te dicis vel ipsis quos colis credo. Cyprian contr. Demetr. — Hi tamen adjurati per De- um verum, nobis statim cedunt, et fatentur ; et de obsessis corporibus exire coguntur. Idem. -Kibrocpyiiroti, Athanas. Incarn. Verbi Dei. § Hsec omnia sciunt plerique vestr^m ipsos dse- M 2 164 'iTHE EVIDENCES OF [N'otes U Amobius says ; " when the name of Jesus ^' was heard, the evil spirits fled, and the oracles^ " became dumb."* Such things are indeed extraordinary; but will the demons discomfited, the oracles si- knced, the confessions extorted, surprise those who are thoroughly persuaded of the truth of the Gospel history? After hearing these same demons cry out to our Lord himself; " I know •* thee who thou art, the holy one of God,— - "thou art Christ the Son of God;"f must we not foresee that the hour was coming when the power, which Jesus Christ had before given only to his Disciples, should, upon his leaving the world, be imparted to others of the faithful? ** And these signs shall follow them that be- " lieve: in my name shall they cast out devils; " they shall speak with new tongues.":|: moncsde semetipsis confiteri, quoties a nobis tormen- tis verborum et orationis incendiis de corporibus exi- guntur. — Nee utique in turpitudinem sui, non nuUis prsEsertim vestrum assistentibus, mentiuntur. Ipsii testibus eos esse dajmones de se verum confitentibus credite. (In Octav.) * Cujiis(Jesa) nomen auditum fugat noxios spiri-* tus, imponit silentium vatibus, &c. (adv. Gent.) + lAike iv. 34. 4K % MaA xvi. 17. Sec, 2.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. u$ In short, if it was necessary to the glory of God that the power of devils should cease in Judea, was it less necessary that their impos- tures should be put a stop to in other parts of the world ? How else could the design of the Almighty in the call of the gentiles have been completely accomplished ? Of all the miracles that were wrought for the establishment of Christianity, none could be more efficacious. Many of the fathers and ecclesiastical writers assert, that this caused the greatest astonishment to the Pagans and made the most converts: the most ob- stinate were obliged to give way not only to those urgent defiances we have mentioned, but also to the astonishing success which attended them. There is a passage in Cicero* so much to our purpose, that I cannot do better than transcribe it. — " If there be gods, there must be oracles, " and the art of learning their will, which is ** called Divination; there are gods, therefore *' there are oracles ; with greater probability * Ita enim, cum magis properant, conclud'ere sa* lent. Si dii sunt, est Divinatio : Sunt antem cili, est ergo divinatio. Multo est probabilius ; non est divi- jjatio,non sunt erg6 dii. Cicero de D^vinat. 1. ii. 17. 166 THE EVIDENCES GF \Notesto *' may it be said, there are no oracles, therefore -" there are no gods.''*' The conclusion was a just one, for it was founded upon this indispu- table truth: that a real Deity must have a real inode of revealing his wilL The gods, which had no mode of revealing their will, >but what had been detected and demonstrated to be fal- lacious, were only imaginaiy gods. In uniting tlie evidence of Holy Scripture with the facts attested by the ancient writers on Christianity, I hope I have placed in its true light the proof of the power which the devils exercised before the coming of Jesus Christ, and of the miracle which deprived them of that power. I will now proceed to detail the several ar- guments upon which the opposite system is founded. — We shall find many of the modarnSj even those who do not reject revelation, abso- lutely denying the existence of demons, and others denvino^ at least the exercise of their power : but these people ought first of all to Reconcile their notions with tjie express lan- guage of Scripture. I wish not to say more, ,for, although I think I can discover a sort of kindred spiritju it would, a$ Mr. Bayle .observes!, * De'DTvinat. 1. ii. c. 17. %..?4 THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. ifi7 be unjust to: consider those as atheists who say there are no dejils. We shall meet with others acknowled2:ino: with Mr. de Fontenelle, that " the demons, ". which without contradiction have the power ^ pf tempting and ensnaring men, favoured *p' as much as in them lay, the gross error of ^ the Heathens :" but at the same time they deny that the demons had any thing to do with the oracles, which they consider as the mere work of priestcraft. From hence the^ infer tliat there was nothing miraculous in depriving them of that veneration which they were al- ready prepared to give pp at the coming of Christ. Lastly ; many deny with them the fact assert- ^ed by the fathers that the heathen oracles , had ceased at the coming of our Lord; and as to the miracles which were said to have been per- formed by the Christians, when it is affirme^ that at the name of Jesus they made the priests'of the oracles dumb, they have always this answer ready, " that the Pagans easily imposed upon " the people as long as they had no one to in- ^^ struct them : but that they dared not attempt " any thing of the kind in the presence of the *' Christians." This solution by no means gives a reason for the humiliating concessions the 16S THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes f Christians extorted from them: but it is a great deal to acknowledge both the power of demons to drive men into error, and the fact of the silence of the oracles when the Chris- tians were |:resent. It seems then that they have only to acknowledge the fact asserted by the fathers, especially when it is confessed, a3 it is by Mr. de Fontenelle : "that never had the " demons done such surprising things as in the " time of Jesus Christ and his Apostles, and *^ that when God permitted the devils to work " wonders, he at the same time put them to " confusion by wonders still more astonish- " ing." What would be the most natural con- clusion from these premises, but that the ora- cles were one of the prodigies which deserved to be put to confusion by the power of Jesus Chiist, or one of those dangerous snares from which it was not possible to extricate man- kind but by condemning to eternal silence the seducing spirits that prepared them ? Supposing however the objections I have spoken of might be thought to have some weight, it may be proper to state them in re- gular order, and to subjoin the answers which appear to me to be the most satisfactory. First, It is said that the oracles were the effect of the imposture of the priests ; and this See, 2.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. I6S imposture is proved by the ambiguity, the pb- scurity, and the falsehood of their answers, by the artifices being detected, and the oracles be- ing silenced. The answer to the objection is this ; It is al- lowed that there was imposture merely human in many of the oracles, but it does not follow from thence that some oracles, and even a great number, were not inspired by the devil : it is already proved that those forged by the priests were nothing more than an imitation of thp others. Their model was the work of impos- ture suggested by the devil himself, who most powerfully supported it by his artifices : with- out this support, as has been before observed, its credit could not have lasted more than two thousand years, and in very enlightened ages. What we observe in some sects which are probably as nun>erous a body as that of Pagan- ism, such as those of the Mahometans and the Tartars, confirms this idea ; for although thpi;- priests have not displayed less zeal and inge- tiuity in the supjx)rt of their religioii by all the artifices of which the invention of man is ca- pable, they never made the least use of the mode in question : hence we have good reason ta believe that they thought it incapable of main- tfO THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes i(, taining; itself by the resources only of impos- ture, and an industry merely human. Finally, it is not. pretended that the oracles dictated by the demons were properly true ora- cles. Falsehood, imposture, and deceit were the characteiistics of the evil spirits: and it WQuld be to attribute, to them a perfect intelligence, to suppose they had a correct knowledge of fu- turity : it is quite sufficient that in some in- stances they hit upon the truth, either by the extent and force of their genius, or by the bold' ness of their conjectures. "^ i^ ^A second objection is, that the oracles must have declined, in proportion as the world be- came enlightened either by philosophy or by (Christianity ; that it was not the oracles wjiich supported Paganism, but tjie ignorance of the Pagans that supported the oracles; ajid they both necessarily fell together: vmder this idea it is asserted also that, before the coming of our Lord, the most celebrated sects of philo- sophers held them in contempt, and made theni the subject of ridicule; and that Cbnstianity, * But if itbe possible that true oracles may proceed from the mouth of false prophets, how are we to dis- tinguish the true inspiration which proceeds only from God t Moses himself tells us in express terms. — Dcut. xiii. 1. 2. 3- Sec, 2.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. ni being more and more diffused, completely en- lightened the human race. — We answer: It is cer- tain that the fanaticism of oracles was still at a very high pitch in Greece, though from the time of Pyrrhus it seems as if they were less univer- . sally respected J Nearly three centuries before the rei«:n of AuQ-ustus, Demosthenes had ventured to say, th^t Pythia, Apollo's priestess, Phillipized; meaning that she v/as bribed and prompted by the emissaries of king Philip. Aristophanes was not afraid to play off his wit upon the oracles. Gsesar, Cato, Cicero appeared to respect them but little: Cato, with all his gravity, could not refrain from saying, ** he was at a loss to " comprehend how two Augurs could meet " each other without laughing." Publius Clau- dius paid still less regaiid to this branch of re- ligion when he threw the consecrated chickens into the sea. " They don't eat" (says this Ro- man admiral) " very well, then let them drink !'* He was banished for his impious audacity: his impunity ivould have destroyed the political credit of religion in the minds of the people. "^ Instances of this sort prove, that at all times tl:^re have been free-thinkers, who have made * See a Dissertation upon the different Religions among the Greeks and Romans, by Abbe Coyer. 172 THE EVIDENCES OF [2^otesio no scruple of over-leaping the bounds of the common faith. But the mass of the people, the cities, the provinces, the kings also, greatly re- spected the oracles. In the brightest days of Greece and Rome, those who took the lead, such as Virgil, Livy, Ovid, Seneca, Pliny the elder,, Tacitus, and Suetonius, and almost ail the men of note, those, who held dreams and spells and omens in contempt, greatly extolled the oracles, and testified that they believed them to be di- vine, the words of the eternal. Socrates and Zeno, with their respective disciples, the ai^cient Academics and Peripatetics, all (says Cicero) ex- cept the Epicureans, who could only babble upon the nature of the gods, were the friends of divination.* Out of this crowd of literati we may, if we are so disposed, except the Cynics, who re- jected all the sciences, and the new Academics (of whom Cicero boasted he was one) whose system \yas, that nothing was certain. "^ I will " speak, (says this great orator and philosopher) ** but without affirming any thing; I will ii^ * Reliqui omnes (philosophi) prspter Epicurum baU butientem de naturS, deorum, Divinationem probave-' runt. De Divinat, 1. i. 3. Sec. 2,] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. HJ " every way seek for information, still however " reserving to myself the privilege of doubt- " ing, and always with self diffidence."* Yet Cicero with all his doubts, and playful sallies upon some usages consecrated by Pa- ganism, paid attention to the oracles, and, on his own account, consulted that of Delphos.t In respect to the general disposition of the learned, the oracles appear to have been far dis- tant from their fall when Jesus Christ came into the world. It cannot tlien be truly said that they fell of themselves. * Dicendum .... sed ita nihil ut affirmem, quae* ram omnia, dubitans plerumque, tt mihi» ipsi difii- dens. i Cicero, buoyed up by his hopes and the wings of ambition, very rashly interfered in politics, but he was somewhat checked by the answer he received from the oracle at Delphi : for having demanded of tbe god by what method he could acquire the most glnr} , the priestess replied ; *' by taking for his guide through *' life his own natural genius, and not popular opi- ** nion.'* For this reason when he came to Rome, he forthwith conducted himself with great reserve, &e.-— Piut. Life of Cicero. No doubt It \A^s with a political view that he consulted the oracle in tlie eyes of the people who respected it. 174 THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes to But there is a third objection: we are toM the oi-acles did not all cease at the coming of Jesus Christ; it was not till a long time after- wards: and, if only one oracle remained after this period, it is sufficient to prove that our Lord did not put them to silence by a miracle. ~. This objection must vanish when it is recol- lected that the oracles did not begin to decline before the coming of Christ, and that, within one hundred years after his death, the greater number gave no answers. This is confessed by Plutarch, one of their most celebrated priests. Eusebius affirms* that never, before the birth of our Saviour, did it happen that the oracles remained dumb, and were consulted in vain : but after that period they, as well as the bar- barous custom of offering human victims, were at an end. It is as unreasonable to deny the miraculous silence imposed upon the oracles, on the ground that they were not all rendered mute, as it would be to say, that the lame and the sick were not made whole, because all the lame and the sick in the world were not cured. If several oracles, jiay more, if even, one, hitherto renowned, had beien indisputably silenced, that was enough to * Dem.Evii n. 1. v. c. i. 17. Sec. 2.] THE CHRISTIAN RFXIGIONf . il$ demonstrate the divine power attached to the liame of Jesus. That there were several in- stances of this kind was confidently affirmed, and attested, by the ancient Christians in all parts of the world : and as our Lord certainly did not cure all the demoniacs, so neither did his Disciples put a stop to all the oracles. The silencihg many of them was sufficient to unde- ceive the rational Heathens who were within reach of instruction. Possibly also (and it ap- pears evident from the sacred writings) the Oracles, which continued in reputation after this period, supported themselves, not, as before, by the power of demons, whose empire was de- stroyed, but by priestcraft, which still enjoyed the fruits of a blind superstition wherever it found the people disposed to give way to it. Having stated the principal objections, and given the substance of the answers, I shall en- large upon them no further: if the reader should be inclined to see the question discussed more at length, he tnay find it in the History of Oracles by Mr. de FOntenelle, and in the learned reply to it by Father Balthus. In the account of these two svstems it has hot been my intention to deceive, or to suffi^i* myself to be deceived : but in case the compa- rison which majy be drawn, should not amount^ 17^ tHE EVIDENCES 6f [Nates t9 to a conviction of the reality of the miracle which destroyed the empire of the demons, and rendered the Heathen oracles dumb, there will still remain, for the sake of those who are most unwilling to yield, an e^lanation so simple and so clear as easily to obtain universal consent. It is that which may be derived from Lusebiug himself, though strongly persuaded that the de- mons were the authors of the Pagan oracles. " Ihe oracles (he says) have ceased since thesa- " lutary doctrine of the Gospel began to spread " abroad through the world, and to enlighten " men with its beams/'* Let us also add what is said by Athanasius. Since Jesus Christ has been ever}^ where preach- ed, this furor (of the Pythonesses) has subsided, and we see n,o more of these diviners. After the Son of God appeared on earth, idolatry did not increase, on the contrary it every where de- clined. The darkness of idolatry no longer prevailed, and every quarter of the world was visited with the light of his doctrine. Cicero says (not aware of the extent of his observation) " Quando ista vis evanuit? An " postquam homines minus creduli esse ca^pe- " runt?" — " When has this power (of divina- « Prxp. Evang. e. h S€c, 2.] T«E CHlFttSTIAN RELIGION. Vln " tion) ceased ; was' it hot after men began to " be less c^eduious^"— The oracles are fallen' in proportion as men arq undeceived in the wor- ship of false deities, and have comprehended the beauty and purity of the worship declared in the GOS^I. ::i^^.1i:tJiU ^lii 14.!. Upon the whole, S'JS ^dre bound to conclude that there • are sdch' beings as demons or evil spirits; who have power over the minds, as well as over the bodies, of men: that they ex- ercised that power in dictating many of the heathen oracles till the coming of our Lord ; that it was worthy of his divine character to dis- possess them of a power so destructive to truth and morality ; and that he actually did dispos- sess them of it in' a miraculous manner. For the miracle ihust be allnost equally great whe- ther the name, or the gospel, of Jesus, produced it. To disengage a whole people from their de- lusions; to oppose true miracles to false; to reduce those, who were so interested in speak- ing, to eternal silence; 'or to the most abject confessions, was in effect to give the strongest evidence of a power, and at the same time of a religion, altogether divine. Well then may we say with the Apostle, " Now is come salvation, *' and strength,' and the kingdom of our God, " and the power of liis Christ: for the accuser lli THE EVIDENCES OF [N. to Sec, J. ^' of our brethren is cast down, which accused *' them before God day and night."* Article v. (bb) Hecat^eus of Abdera was brought up- with Alexander the Great, and attached him- self to Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, who retained him near his person. Eusebius and Suida» speak of hipi as an able philosopher and gram? m.arian. His most celebrated work was an hisr. tory of the Jews ; of whom he expresses him* self so favourably, that Philo suspected the history to be a forgery. The suspicion seems very ill founded, though, to our surprise, it has been adopted by Scaliger. Hecata^us consulted the Jew!^ on the subject of their own history, in preference to the Egyptians, who knew very little of it; and surely he might have done this without giving up his religion. In this manner I have thought it right to restore the concluding period of Morery (at the word Hecat£eus) which has appeajred to me to bnve been totally reversed. * Rev. xii. 10. *c.3.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 119 SECTION III. I. Introduction to a second list of Pagan azUhors^ who give tesiimoyiy of our Saviour. II. A passage concerning our Saviour y from a learned Athenian, HI. His conversion from Paganism to Christianity/ makes his evidence stronger than if he had con- tinued a Pagan. IV. Of another Athenian Philosopher converted to Christianity. V. Whi/ their conversion , instead of "weakening ^ strengthens their evidence in defence of Chris- tianity, VL Their belief in our Saviour's history founded at first upon the principles of historical faith. VII. Their testimoiiies extended to all the particulars of our Saviour's history ; VIII. As related by tJu four Evangelists* I- To this list of Heathen writers, who make mention of our Saviour, or touch upon any particulars of his life, I shall add those authors who were at first Heathens, and afterwards con- verted to Qiristianity ; upon which account, as I shall here shew, their testimonies are to be looked upon as the more authentic. And in 180 THE EVIDENCES OF [Sec. S-. this list of evidences, I shall confine myself to such learned Pagans as came over to Christia- nity in the three first centuries, because those were the times in which men had the best means of informing themselves of the truth of oiii' Saviour's history, and because among the great number of philosophers, who came in af- terwards under the reigns of Christian empe- rors, there might be several who did it partly out of worldly motives. II. Let us now suppose, that a learned Hea- then writer, who lived within sixty years of our Saviour's crucifixion, after having shewn that false miracles were generally wrought in obscurity, and before few or no witnesses, speaking of those which were wrought by ouf Saviour, has the following passage : *' But his " works were always seen, because they were " true; they were seeii by thqse who were *^ healed, and by those who were raised from " the dead! Nay, these persons who were ^* thus, healed, and raised, were seen, not only Sec: 3.] THfe CHRISTIAN RELIGION. IS i '^ at the time of their being healed, and raised, " but long afterwards. Nay, they were seen '^ not only all the while our Saviour was upon '' earth, but survived after his departure out of ^^ this world; nay, sonie of them were living' *' in our days." (a) ' III. I dare say you would look upon this as a glorious attestation for the cause of Chris- tianity, ' had it come from the hand of a famous Athenian philosopher. These forementioned words, however, are actually the words of one who lived about sixty years after our Sa- viour's cmcifixion, and was a famous philoso- pher in Athens : but it will be said, he was a convert to Christianity. Now consider this matter impartially, and see if his testimony is not much more valid for that reason. Had he continued a Pagan philosopher, would not the world have said, that he was not sincere in what he writ, or did not believe it; for if so, would not they have told us he would have embraced Christianity? This was, indeed, the 182 THE EVIDENCES OF [Sec, z. case of this excellent man : he had so thoroughly examined the truth of our Saviours history, and the excellency of that religion Avhich he taught, and was so entirely convinced of both, that he became a proselyte, and died a martyr. IV. Aristides (b) was an Athenian philo$o» plier, at the same time, famed for his learning and wisdom, but converted to Christianity. As it cannot be questioned that he perused an lars which render it indisputable. His words are. Hie (Adrianus) per Quadratum discipulum Apostolorum, et per Aristidem Atheniensem virum fide sapientiaque plenum, et per Sere- * num Granium Legatum, llbris de Christiana * religione compositis instructus atque emditus,^ prsecepit per epistolam ad Minutium Funda- num, proconsulem Asiae, datam, ut nemini liceret Christianos sine objectu criminis, et probatione damnare/'* " Adrian, instruct- ed by the books vv^hich Quadratus a dis- ciple of the Apostles, Aristides the Athe- nian, and Serenus Granius had composed in defence of Christianity, decreed (by a letter which he sent to Minutius Fundanus, proconsul of Asia) that for the future no Christian should be condemned but upon the clearest proof of actual guilt." This remark- able letter is to be found in Eusebius.f" Such a positive prohibition in favour of the Christians gives the stamp of authority to the facts al- leged by the Apologists for their religion. No- thing short of full conviction could dictate to the Heathens such an act of clemency. The work which Orosius attributes to Sere- nus Granius, or Granianus, is undoubtedly no * Hist.l. viii. c. 18. f E. H. b. iv. c, 9. Sect.] THE CHRISTIAN RELiGiON. J9l other than the letter which this proconsul of Asia wrote to the emperor Adrian towards the end of his proconsulate, which immediately preceded that of Minutius Fundanus. His integ- rity, and probably his inward conviction, in- duced him to complain in this letter *" that the Christians were sacrificed to popular malice, and very often condemned without a hearing. It is more than probable that, in support of this re- monstrance, he represented in proper colours the purity of the conduct and of the worship of the Christians, as Pliny had done in his letter to the emperor Trajan. Adrian, laying aside his prejudices, wrote the before mentioned letter to Minutius Fundanus, successor to Serenus ; and declared his resolution not only to protect the Christians from undeserved punishment, but to chastise with the utmost severity all who should accuse them unjustly. This letter, or rescript, of Adrian, was of such authenticity that Justin Martyr and Melito inserted it in their Apologies, which a very short time after they presented to the emperors Antoninus, M^ Aurelius, and Lucius Verus. It is to be observed, that the style of Adrian to Fundanus was nearly the same as that of *^ Colonia, vol. ii. p* 27. 192 THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes to Trajan to Pliny. " Conquirendi non sunt *' (Christiani) ; si deferantur et arguantur, pu- " niendi sunt." Adrian also left a greater la- titude for protection in restricting the penal- ties to those cases in which the Christians • should be found guilty: this seems to imply cases of riot or disturbance. The motive for this extraordinary moderation to the Christians is concealed, probably from an apprehension that tlie leaders of Paganism, at that time predominant, might take the alarm. Mr. Addison says that Aristides joined with Quadratus in addressing to the emperor one conmion Apology in favour of Christianity.* If. Quadratus was bishop of Athens, and Aristides a conten>porary philosopher in the same city, both zealous in the cause of that religion, it was natural they should unite their forces to insure its success: but Eusebius speaks of no . * Here Mr. Addison appears to have been misun- derstood : He says '' As it cannot be questioned that he *' (Aristides) perused and approved the Apology of *' Quadratus, he joined with him in an Apology of his ** own, to the. same emperor, on the same subject." May we not understand from this, that Aristides joined with Quadratus in sentiments, and drew up his own Apology conformably to what he found had been ex- pressed in that of Quadratus ? Sec. S.] TPIE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 193 such thing, on the contrary he says that Aris- tides presented his own work * " Tw KoJparw *' T«p«TAv]c-/ia?/' " in like manner as Quadratus." " That he followed him near at hand/'f " Tarw *' avLohahei [Ko^pf^rw]." Jerome says also;]:, " Aris- " tides eodem tempore quo Quadratus." — " Aris- " tides about the same time with Quadratus.** From all this it is evident the Apologies were distinct from each other. It remains for us to show whether Quadratus was bishop of Athens. A passage in Jerome § seems to leave no doubt upon this head. "Qua- " dratus Apostolorum discipulus, Publio Athena- " mm Episcopo, ob Christi fidem martyrio coro- " nato, in locum ejus substituitur .... cumque " Adrianus Athenis exegisset hyemem, porrexit *^ ei librum pro Religione nostra." " Publius " bishop of Athens, being crowned with mar- " tr}'dom' for the Christian faith, Quadratus, " a disciple of the Apostles, was appointed his '*' successor — and when Adrian passed a winter " in Athens he presented to him a book in fa- " vour of our religion:" but the learned Yale- sius in his notes upon Eusebius thinks it may be proved that Quadratus the bishop, and Qua- dratus the apologist, were two different per- * E. H. b. iv. c. 3. t Chron. p. 81. J Vir. Illust. c. 30 § Vir. Iliust. c. 30. 194 THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes to sons. This learned critic has been followed by Du Pin, Tillemont, and Basnage. Cave and Grabe dilFered from them, and their opinion has been supported very judiciously by Dr. Lardner, who proposes to the contending parties a mode of reconciliation that may be very ad- missible.* Article viir. (d) It was a point of the utmost importance to the Christian Religion, that the books of the Gospels and the several parts of the Sacred Vo- lume in general, should have indisputably for their authors the very persons whose names they bear ; this being established, eveiy suspicion of imposture falls to the ground: and it was is of infinite consequence, that it should be evident also, that a history so full of won- ders was originally compiled and published by those who were the surest witnesses of the facts recorded. Now although, as Grotius well observes,! it was for our adversaries to prove any charge that may be brought against us upon this head, we * Grabe's Spicilegium, vol. ii. p. 120, and Dr. Gardner's Credibility, vol. iv. p. 654. t De Verit. 1. iii, c. 1. Sec. 3.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 195 have a cloud of witnesses to establish the fact in our favour. Tertullian assures us* that the apostolical churches still preserved in his time the epistles which had been addressed to them by the Apostles: and the emperor Julian acknow- ledged unequivocallyt that the writings at- tributed to St. Peter, St. Paul, St. Matthew, St. Mark, and St. Luke, were really the works of the persons to whom the Christians ascribed them. The evidence of one such adversary (like that pf Celsus and of Porphyry :{:) will ex- cuse us from detailing the testimonies of the fathers of the church which are quoted in proof by our author. For it is worthy of remark that these inveterate enemies of Christianity never contested the authenticity of the Gos- pels, nor even that of the other books of the * Age jam qui voles curiositatem melius exercere in negotio salutis tuae, percurre ecclesias apostolicas, apud quas ipsae adhuc Cathedrae Apostolorum suis lo- cis praesident, apud quas ipsae authenticae literae nunc recitantur. Tertul. de prses. c. 36. f Julianus aperte fatetur Petri, Pauli, Matthsei, Marci, Lucse, esse ea quae Christiani legunt iisdem no- minibus inscripta. Cyrill. 1. X. adv. Jul. X Origen. L ii. contra Celsum. 02 156 THE EVIDENCES OF [jSfoles to sacred code. However they may combat the doctrine they contain, they at least acknow- ledge them as authentic, as true, and (as it has been expressed) as retaining their natural in- tegrity.* "% We will however give the substance of the evidence which some of the most ancient fa- thers of th« church have borne to this very im- portant article. Papiasf (who is said to have conversed with the Apostles) about the beginning of the se- cond century, speaks of St. Matthew's and St. Mark's gospels as extant at that time, and writ- ten by those very persons. Justin Martyr in the year 150, mentions the gospels J as generally received and read in the holy congregations of his time. He was told by the Christians most advanced in years that the same practice prevailed in their youth. Clement, Hermes, Barnabas and Ignatius, \vho are called Apostolical authors, and who flourished between the seventieth year of our Lord, and the time of Justin Martyr, cite the gospels and the epistles, and frequently allude to them: their writings are a full proof that * Abb6 Houteville, c. xi. t Euseb. E. H. b. i^i. c. 39. % Apol. 1. Sec, 5.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 197 * they had neither inclination nor ability to forge any thing of the kind. Irenaeus, who, according to most of the learned, lived till the year of our Lord 202, gives us the most instnictive evidence upon this subject. He says,* " Matthew, who was a " Hebrew and lived amongst the Jews, pub- " lished in the language of that people the gos- " pel which bears his name. Mark, the dis- " ciple and interpreter of Peter, has given us " in writing the facts which had been related ** to him by his master; and Luke, the fol- " lower of St. Paul, reduced to a history the " discourses of that Apostle: Finally; John, " the disciple of the Lord, the same who re- " clined on his bosom, published his gospel at " the time he resided at Ephesus." Here we find the four evangelists, placed in the same order in which we read them, declared * Matthaeus in Hebraeis, ipsorum lingua scripturam edidit Evangelii .... Marcus discipulus et interpres Petri, et ipse quae a Petro annunciata eraiit, perscripta nobis tradidit. Lucas autem sectator Pauli quod ab illo praedicabatur Evangelium, in libro condidit. Postea et Joannes discipulus Domini, qui et supra pectus ejus recumbebat, et ipse edidit Evangelium, Ephesi Asige commoratus. Iren. contr. Haeres. 1. iii. c. 1. l$S THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes io to be the authors of the writings that appear under their names, and contain the history of our Lord. This passage is distinctly quoted in the Greek by Eusebius : What follows is to be found only in the Latin version. The same father, proving moreover that there were only four gospels, adds that there could not have been more, and proceeds to justify this precise number by some mystic arguments which at this day would not appear very con- vincing. However, notwithstanding this fan- ciful excursion, the fact before stated was of public notoriety, and absolutely incontrover- tible. Origen is not less explicit, in the first book of his Commentaries* on the Gospel according to St. Matthew ; wherein he says "he knew by unin- " terrupted tradition, that the four gospels of " St, Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke and St. John, " were the only ones received without dispute " by the universal church, dispersed over all " parts of the earth." T8 0f8. * Euseb. E. H. 1. vi. c. 25. Sec, 2.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 199 Mr. Addison subjoins, as a certain inference, that since Irenseus, Tertullian, Clemens of Alex- andria, Origen and Cyprian expressly assign to each of the Evangelists the history attributed to him, they most assuredly did believe the history of our Lord to be exactly such as is re- lated in the Gospels. We may add, that from thence there can be no doubt of the truth of this history. But how indeed can we doubt, when it shall be known that this history was delivered and received precisely in the same manner at Jerusalem, the principal theatre on which the events took place, and in parts of the world the most distant from each other ? Insomuch that, according to the testimony of Irenaeus, the same facts and the same doctrines were believed in Spain, in Gaul, in the East, in Egypt, in Lybia, and amongst all people con- verted to Christianity.* What an astonishing uniformity in the creed. of such a multitude of different nations ; how can we possibly dispute * Neque hae quee in Germania sunt fundatse Ec- clesise, aliter credunt, aut aliter tradunt ; neque hce quse in Iberis sunt, neque hae quae in Celtis, neque hae quse in Oriente, neque hae quae in Egypto, neque hae quae in Lybia, neque h« quae in medio Mundi sunt constitutge. Irenaeus, 1. i. c. 3. ;200 THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes to a doctrine so faithfully delivered, or have the least suspicion of facts every where announced by so many preachers without the least varia- tion? How in short is it possible for us not to perceive the protecting hand of Providence in a promulgation so accurate and so uniform as that of the Gospel! Besides the correct and numerous positive testimonies which prove beyond all doubt that the Gospels were the work of those to whom they were attributed, it can never be supposed that an impostor, whatever might have been his abilities, could have been capable of forging any thing of the kind after the death of the Apostles. The numberless in- cidental circumstances recorded in these his- tories, their connexion with times, and places, and persons, and names, and things ; the dis- courses occasioned by these circumstances; the diversities of style; some things omitted which an impostor would have introduced, or some things related which he would have omitted. The divine character of the Saviour equally sustained in his sermons and in his actions ; the niost sublime truths told with artless simplicity, in few words ; eaclx author writing according to his own disposition, according to his degree of information, and to hiis particular situation at the time; . not a single word which does not SecL 3.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGIOT^ ^01 evidently show that the writer was conterilp^:,; rary with the events; innumerahle marks of candour evincing an ardent love of truth ; a mind pure and virtuous ; an anxious desire for the salvation of mankind ; an universal charity ; the tenderest sensibility expressed only upon those occasions when it was necessarily called for, and such as never is manifested by any man who sits down with cool deliberation to contrive and to forge an imposture. In the his- torical part every thing falls in with whatever has been written by others upon the same sub-^ ject, with the laws, the customs, the maxims, the characte5S of the persons who speak or act. The silence of three of the writers with respect to certain particulars in which some persons then living were interested, and which were recorded by the fourth after the death of those persons; various instances of seasonable pru- dence, and a number of indirect -and occasional allusions to events foretold and not accom- plished. To these accumulated characteristics let me add one proof which appears to me not to have been sufficiently regarded : it is that which results from the weak and wavering- conduct of the Apostles, which in the course of their history they impute to themselves. At the time of our Lord's ascension their 202 THE EVIDENCES OF [N. to Sect, 3. doubts, their questions, their ideas are in general so contracted and so puerile, that we perceive in them no vestiges of men capable of great things. But how astonishing the difference after the great day of Pentecost! From that moment all that they utter is replete with strength and sublimity; their writings are lu- minous and profound; they seem to have be- come new men. All this being duly considered, explained and attested, as it perfectly is, demonstrates the authenticity of the historical books we are .speaking of, and consequently proves that the prophecies of our Lorrl which are therein inserted, were really delivered by himself at the period stated, long before the events foretold came to pass, by virtue of his divine power ; and, now that these predictions are accomplished, it is impossible to say with the slightest appearance of truth, that they, were fabricated after the time, merely for the sake of giving a fictitious support to the cause of Christianity. SecL4.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 203 < SECTION IV. I. Character of the times in which the Christian religion was propagated ; II. And of many who embraced it, III. Three emineiit and early instances, IV. Multitudes of learned men who came over to it, V. Belief in our Saviours history y the first motive to their conversion, VI. The names of several Pagan philosophers, xvho were Christian Converts, I. It happened very providentially to the ho- nour of the Christian religion, that it did not take its rise in the dark and illiterate ages of the world, (a) but at a time when arts and sciences were at their height, and when there were men who made it the business of their lives to search after truth, and sift the several opinions of philosophers and wise men con- cerning the duty, the end, and chief happiness of reasonable creatures, II. Several of these, therefore, when they had informed themselves of our Saviour's his- 204 THE EVIDENCES OF [Sect 4. toiy, and examined with unprejudiced minds the doctrines and manners of his disciples and followers, were so struck and convinced, they they professed themselves of that sect; notwithstanding, by this profession in that juncture of time, they bid farewel to all the pleasures of this life, renounced all the views of ambition, engaged in an uninterrupted course of severities, and exposed themselves to pub- lic hatred and contempt, to suiferings of all kinds, and to death itself. III. Of this sort we may reckoil those three! early converts to Christianity, who each of them was a member of a senate famous for its wis- dom and teaming. Joseph, the Arimathean (b) was of the Jewish Sanhedrim ; Dionysius (e), of the Athenian Areopagus; and Flavins Cle- mens (d), of the Roman Senate; nay, at the time of his death, consul of Rome. These three were so thoroughly satisfied of the truth of the Christian religion, that the first of them, ac- cording to all the reports of antiquity, died a- Sect. 4.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 205 martyr for it: as did the second, unless we disbelieve Aristides, his fellow citizen and con- temporary; and the third, as we are informed both by Roman and Christian authors. IV. Among those innumerable multitudes, who in most of the known nations of the world came over to Christiaijiity at its first appear- ance, we may be sure there were great num- bers of wise and learned men, beside those whose names are in the Christian records, who without doubt took care to examine the truth of our Saviour's history, before they would leave the religion of their country and of their forefathers, for the sake of one that would not only cut them off from the allurements of this world, but subject them to every thing terri- ble ■ or disagreeable in it (e), TertuUian (f) tells the Roman governors, that their corpora- tions, councils, armies, tribes, companies, the palace, the senate, and courts of judicature, were filled with Christians: as Arnobius (g) asserts, that men of the finest parts and learn- 206 THE EVIDENCES OF [Sec. 4. ing, orators, grammarians, rhetoricians, law- yers, physicians, philosophers, despising the sentiments they had been once fond of, took up their rest in the Christian religion. V. Who can imagine that men of this cha- racter did not thoroughly infoim themselves of the history of that Person, whose doctrines they embraced; for, however consonant to reason his precepts appeared, how good soever were the effects which they produced in the world, no-^ thing could have tempted men to acknowledge him as their God and Saviour, but their being fiiTuly persuaded of the miracles he wrought, and the many attestations of his divine mis- sion, which were to be met with in the history of his life. This was the ground-work of the Christian religion ; and, if this failed, the whole superstructure sunk with it. This point, there- fore, of the truth of our Saviour's history, as recorded by the Evangelists, is every where taken for granted in the writings of those, who from Pagan philosophers became Christian au- Sect. 4.] THE CHRISTUN RELIGION. 207 thors, and who, by reason of their conversion, are to be looked upon as of the strongest col- lateral testimony for the truth of what is delivered concernins: our Saviour. '& VI. Besides innumerable authors that are lost, we have the undoubted names, works, or fragments of several Pagan philosophers, which shew them to have been as learned as any unconverted Heathen authors of the age in which they lived. If we look into the greatest nurseries of learning in those ages of the world, We find in Athens, Dionysius (h), Quadratus (i), Aristides (k), Athenagoras (I) ; and in Alexan- dria, Dionysius (m), Clemens (n)j Ammonius (o), Arnobius (p) and Anatolius (q), to whom we may add Origen f /-J, for though his father was a Chris- tian martyr, he became, without all controversy, the most learned and able philosopher of his age, by his education at Alexandria, in that fa- mous seminary of arts and sciences. 20S THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes to NOTES TO SECTION IV. Article i. (a) It is a common observation, that there never was an age more enlightened or more re- fined (humanly speaking) than that in which Jesus Christ came into the world ; as if Provi- dence had been anxious to prepare the most splendid triumphs for the Gospel. The Augus- tan asra, contemporary with the birth of Chris* tianity, is proverbially distinguished for ^ its taste and learning. It must be allowed that a period of such acknowledged splendour was peculiarly unfavourable to the circulation of er- ror: and it wall be worth our while to show that this light continued to shine during the succeeding age ; that we may be convinced that the superiority which Christianity at that time obtained, was not the offspring of delusion or ignorant stupidity; that even the Heathens were then in full possession of the means of crushing this religion, far beyond what the dis- ciples of Jesus could employ to secure its esta- blishment; unless we admit that they were Sec. 4.] THE CHRISTIAN RELlClON. 209 aimed with a divine power, and acted undet the visible protection of Heaven. Among the many illustrious characters that adorned the second century, we may enumerate some, but the minority must necessarily be omitted. Cbrneiius Tacitus, who was Consul, whose history and annals are for the most part still extant. Pliny the younger, whose epistles and pane- gyrics, but, above all, whose heart and senti- ments, afford undiminished delight by their amiable and refined effusions. Plutarch the historian, the philosopher, and if we may so speak, the universal. Frontinus, who wrote upon the stratagems of war, and upon other learned subjects. Quintus Curtius, who was most probably of the second century, though it is not exactly ascertained. In the reign of Adrian we find Phlegon, the mathematician; Favorinus, the sophist; Epic- tetus, the stoic philosopher, whose system of morals is so pure, and yet so imperfect when compared with that of Jesus Christ. Arrian his admirer, and himself an historian of estiraa- 2 i THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes /* tioii, as we perceive by his seven books upon Alexander's expedition, and by his Periplus. Philo of Biblos, the translator of Sanchonia- thon ; Floras, who abridged the Roman history ; Suetonius, who has so judiciously written that of the twelve Ccesars. Under Antoninus Pius, flourished Galen tho celebrated physician ; Justin, who abridged ' Trogus Pompcius ; Appfan, an esteemed histo- rian, whose works are most of them lost ; Dio- genes Laertius, of whose lives of the philoso>- phers there are ten books still extant. Under -Marcus Antoninus and Lucius Verus, there appeared Ptolemy the famous astronomer and geographer ; Sextus Empiricus, of the sect of the Pyrrhonians ; Numenius, the platonic phi- losopher; Apuleius, who for his penetration was accused of magic; Pausanias, who wrpte ten books of the Antiquities of Greece ; and Aulus Gellius, the well known author of the Attic Nights. Lastly, under Commodus, Julius Pollux, who has given us the Onomasticon ; and Athcnajus, who wrote fifteen books pf the Deipnosophists. In addition to the above list may be reckoned a number of very eminent lawyers and oratois amongst the Romans. Sec. 4.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 211 In the authors I have mentioned, we have in- deed but very few passages that take notice of Christianity : their prejudices, their ill-will to- wards the Christians, will account for this mark of inattention: but from this very circum- stance, as they were contemporaries with the most extraordinary progress of the Christian rehgion, their silence even as to those things which might have thrown some discredit on it, makes it evident that the truth of the facts, which supported it, was perfectly incon- trovertible, and so supremely powerful, that this multitude of learned, judicious, and respectable men dared not undertake the contest. There is one thing to be observed, of less im- portance indeed, but still of considerable weight. If the age in which Jesus Christ ap- peared on earth was too enlightened to be drawn into a palpable error, so also was the re- fined taste which then prevailed, very unac* commodating to the mode of instruction adopt- ed by the Apostles; so different from that usually practised by the philosophers and ora- tors. The Greeks and Romans were too much accustomed to the graces, to politeness and re- fmement, not to be offended at the almost rude simplicity of the evangelical and apostolical 212--. THE EVIDENCES OF [^Tofcs i$ writings. Here was no trick, no artifice, and yet an obstacle to be surmounted. The means of sdiGcess could be no other than the force of truil> : it was only by placing this in the clear- est light, through the help of God's Spirit, that the Apostles and Disciples of Jesus Christ were enabled to subvert the authority of a Plato, an Aristotle, an Epicurus, a Zeno, an Arcesilaus, a Carneades, and all the other great men who occupied the highest seats in the school of hu- man literature,* and the majority of whom en- joyed this pre-eminence over the preachers of the Gospel ; the having their vanity soothed and their independence acknowledged. Article III. (h) The martyrdom of Joseph of Arima- thea is not absolutely admitted. Some have said that he died at Jer^usalem, but have not specified in what manner, and that his body was carried to France in the reign of Charle- magne; others think that the Jews turned Jo- seph adrift in a vessel with Lazarus, Maximinius, ^lary Magdalen and JVIartha ; and that he landed in Provjence, from whence he passed into Eng- land. The story is not ascertained: but the * Lord Lyttletoiij Conv. St. Paul. Sec, 4.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. -213 English certainly consiclerhim as their Apostle. Mr. Addison says, " that according to the re- '^ port of all antiquity, this holy man suffered *' martyrdom for the Gospel." The Greek church commemorates his anniversary on the 31st of July, but no mention is made of it in the martyrology of the Latin church. Baro- nius, * in the time of Sixtus V. fixed it to the 17th of March, but, as he has made innumer- able blunders, little dependence is placed on his account, and the fact still remains very much in the dark. Our author says also, " that Joseph of Ari- " mathea was of the great Sanhedrim." St. Matthew calls him " a rich man of Arimathea."] St. Mark gives him the title of " Eu(r%vi;OLwv " fiuhivTvi;'" — " an honourable counsellor."! St. Luke furni3hes us with the most correct proof of the rank our author attributes to him, by telling us that ".Joseph, who was a counsellor, *' had not consented to the counsel and deed of " them."§ Nicodemus justly claims the right of being placed here by the 3ide of Joseph of Arimathea. ^ Annal. 34, 35. f Matt, xxvii. 57. X Mark xv. 43. . § Luke xxiii. 50.51. tl4 THE EVIDENCES OF [^otes ff His conversion was so much the more remark- able as he was the only Pharisee who made the haughtiness of his sect boW to the doctripes of Jesus Christ. He was also " a chief of the *' Jews." Those who blame his timidity, be- cause he came to Jesus by night, do not recol- lect that possibly this caution was necessary the more effectually to protect our Lord's doc- trine, and his Disciples. He made, however^ this most unqualified profession of his being- one of their number; " Master, we know that " thou art g, teacher come from God, for no '^ man can do these miracles that thou do est ^* except God be with him."* And when it seemed as if all his hopes had been disappointed by the death of the Saviour; like Joseph of Arimathea, he exposes himself to the contempt and the mahce of the Jews, by giving his body an honourable burial.t ^^^ cannot then but allow him the glory of having been one of the most distinguished adherents to Jesus Christ, from the complete testimony he bore to his doctrine and to his miracles. Now although the majority had consented tq the condemnation of our Lord, and the great council was in general in violent opposition to * John iii. 2. f John xix. 39. Sec. 4.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 215 the establishment of the Gospel ; it neverthe- less appears, that some of the members the least prejudiced, and, no doubt, the best informed and of superior integrity, had been struck with the evidence of a variety of miracles. When the cripple who had been cured by St. Peter, in the presence of all the people, stood upright with the Apostles before the council, this was the result of their deliberation. "What shall we *' do to these men, for that indeed a notable ** miracle has been done by them, is manifest to " all them that dwell in Jerusalem, and we " cannot deny it. But that it spread no fur- " thef among the people, let us straitly threaten ** them that they speak henceforth to no man '' in this name."* Here we have the weak sub- terfuge of policy blended with a direct confes- sion of the truth. It was also in this very council that the sage Gamaliel spoke after this manner of the Apos- tles: "Refrain from these men and let them " alone, for if this counsel, or this work, be of " men, it will come to nought; but if it be of " God, ye cannot overthrow it, lest haply ye be " found even to fight against God.''! Here **AGts iv. I€^. 17. t Acts v. 3S. 39. 2 1 6 THE EVIDENCES OF [^foies to appears to be a degree of doubt very little sho?-t of conviction. (c) We find mention made of Dionysius the Areopagite, in the Acts of the Apostles;* he was one of the judges of the Areopagus, the supreme tribunal of Athens ; after having beer^ converted by St. Paul in the fiftieth year of the Christian sera, or somewhat Jater, he was con- stituted the first bishop of Athens: this we learn from Dionysius bishop of Corinth, in a letter to the Atheniaiis, of which Eusebius has preserved a fragment, f Aristides, the Atheni- an philosopher, of whom we have already spoken, calls Jiim bishop and martyr, and informs u« that he suffered on the third of October. The martyrology of Constantinople confirms this ac- count : the most ancient opinion is, that it hap- pened in the reign of Domitian. Some works are ascribed to him,J but, as is generally thought, upon very slight foundation. This Dionysius was long confounded with the bishop of Paris of that name, a mistake not often made by the well infornjed. There is the >strongest evidence that the bishop of Athens * Acts xvii. 34. t E. H. b.iv.c-. 23. i TiUemont. ^^c. 4.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. . ^1 died in the first age of the church, and, ae- wording to Sulpitius Severus, it was not till the reign of Marcus Aurelius (i. e. in the third cen- tury) that any martyrdom took place in Gaul,* Gregory of Tours tells us, that Dionysius, afterwards bishop of Paris, first came into France in the year of our Lord 250. The contest that took place in 1410, between the chapter* of Notre Dame in Paris, atid the religious of St. Denys, i§ g^^nerally known. Both prietended to have, among their relics, the head of the Areopagite. It being impossible to bring this matter to issue by a critical exami- nation of tjie respective heads, or by the help of ai>y record ecclesiastical or profane; the? parlia- ment speedily put an ei}d to the dispute by a decree passed April 1 9th in the same year, where- by it was sapiently determined, that the head in the possession of the chapter of Notre Dame, was that of Dionysius bishop pf Corinth, and the other that of Dionysius the Areopagite. A celebratecj reporter gives us this story f-* apd * Sub Aurelio deinde, Antonini filio, persecutio quinta agitata, ac turn primum intra Gallias martyria visa, serius trans alpes Dei religione suscepta. Sulpit. Sev. 1. ii. § 46. t Jean du Luc, iu the Mcnagiana, Tom. iv. p. 101. 21$ THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes tp insinuates, no doubt with good reason, that the contest originated rather in covetousness than in piety. With regard to the works ascribed to the Areopagite,* it has been demonstrated that they were not his, but most probably the production of some author in the sixth century. (d) Flavins Clemens, consul with Domitiaa jn the year of Rome 847. He was cousin german, or at least a very near relation, to this empe- ror, who put him to death for embracing Chris- tianity. Some have imagined him to be the l^ame with Clemens, bishop of Rome, who cer- tainly was not a martyr. If he had been, Ire- nasus, Tertullian, Eusebius, and others who have spoken of this bishop, would have mentioned the circumstance. To the list of distinguished personages who were converts to the Christian faith, may be added Sergius Paulus, the proconsul at Paphos; Erasto, treasurer of the city of Corinth, and many others. Article iv. (e) A religion that humbles the pride of inan's heart, that exposes him to contempt and * By Basnage and DuPin. Sec, 4.]' THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. ^f death, could have made but few converts if it had not been built upon the most solid founda- tions. (f) The following apostrophe of Tertullian is particularly striking : " Hesterni sumus, et *' vestra omnia implevimus; urbes, insulas, cas« *' tella, municipia, conciliabula, castra ipsa, tri- ** bus, decurias, palatium, senatum, fonim. So- " la vobis relinquimus templa."^-^ " We are " but of yesterday, nevertheless we fill your ** empire, your cities, your islands, your castles, " your corporations, your councils, your very " camps, your tribes, the palace, the senate, the " forum. We have left you nothing b ut your " temples." Could it be possible to paint in stron- ger colours the im.potency of the Pagan deities, and the supremacy of the God of the Christians? —Respecting the palace, we have St. PauFs owh >vords,t *^ All the saints salute you, (chiefly they ^^ that are of Caesar's household" J * Apol. c. 37. t Philip, iv. 22. X May 17th. In the list of ilkistrious Christians^ the martyrology places Torpes, one of the principal officers in Nero's palace, and Ppppasa Sabina, one of f 20 THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes U We are still in possession of the testimony of a celebrated Heathen, as to the rapid and a&^ tonishing progress of Christianity, in Pliny $ famous letter to Trajan. In hopes of inducing that prince to be equitable in his conduct to- wards the Christians, he holds out as a motive the great number of people involved in the persecutions. H,e says,* " A multitude of all " ages, of both sexes, are at present, and will " be implicated in this danger, for the conta- " gion of this superstition has not only infected *' the cities, but it has already spread through. " the villages and over all the country." * L. X. cp. 97, tl)at prince's wives, ' of whom Tacitus says, ^Tiiat she was a princess not deficient in accomplishments, but in chastity and virtue.' We know, however, that she wZiS attached to a much purer religion than Paganism *, Josephus calls hpr a ' pious woman,' and speaks of the kindness she showed to the Jews. Tacitus mentions also a lady of rank, named Pomponia Graecina, who was accused of being addicted to the '* foreign su- *' perstition." This was a title frequently given to Ciiristianity, ' Annal. I. 13. c. 45. » Antiq, 1. 2Q. c,7. Sec. 4;j THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 221 (gj The following is the passage in Arnobius to which Mr. Addison alludes. Addressing himself to the Pagan infidels, he exdlaims,'* " Nonne vel ha:c saltern fidem vobis faciunt " argumenta crcdendi, quod jam per omnes ter- " ras in tarn brevi temporis spatio, immensi no- '' minis hujus sacramenta diffusa sunt? Quod " nulla jam natio est tam barbari moris, et man- " suetudinem nesciens, quae non ejus amore " versa moUiverit asperitatem suam, et in pla- " cidos sensus assumpta tranquillitate migrave- ^' rit? Quod tam magnis ingeniis pra^diti orato- " res, grammatici, rhetores, consulti juris ac '* medici, philosophi-te etiam secreta rimantes, " magisteria hiec expetunt, spretis quibus paulo " ante fidebant? Quod ab dominis se servi cru- " ciatibus affiici, quibus statuerint, malunt, *' solvi conjuges matrimoniis, exhasredari a pa- " rentibus liberi, quam fidem rumpcre Christia- " nam, et salutaris militiae sacramenta deponere?" " Is it not enough to prevail on you to believe, " when I tell you this great name has been " sanctified throughout the w^orld in so short a " space of time ? that there is no nation, how- " ever destitute of sentiment, however barba- * Adv. Gentes. 1. ii. p. 44. 222 THE EVIDENCES OF [Azotes fa " roiis, which has not laid down its ferocity, *' and assumed a spirit of gentleness and sensi- ** bility for the love of Jesus Christ; that the " most eminent orators, grammarians, lawyers, " and physicians, nay the deep searching phi- " losophers, all giving up their former boast- " ings, came with great humility to the school " of Jesus: whilst slaves endured all the tor- " ments their masters could inflict? Those '*. united in the bonds of marriage, were cruelly *^ forced asunder, children were disinherited by " their parents, because they would not re- " nounce their Christian faith, or break the " vows they had made under the banners of " the cross." And elsewhere he says*, *'Enume- *' rari enim possunt, atque in usum computa- " tionis venire ea quse in India gesta sunt, apud " Seras, Persas et Medos ; in Arabia, iEgypto, " in Asia, Syria, apud Galatas, Parthos, Phry- " gas ; in Achaia, Macedonia, Epiro, in insulis ; " etprovinciis omnibus quas Sol oriens atquc " occidens lustrat; ipsam denique apud domi- " nam Romam, in qua cum homines sint Nu- " mse Regis artibus, atque anliquis superstiti- " onibus occupati, non distulerunt tamen res **patrias linquere, et veritati coalescere Chris- * p. $0, S€€,4^.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 225 " tianae/* " We can reckon up and detail " miracles undoubtedly performed in India, " among the Asiatic Scythians, the Persians *' and the Medes ; in Arabia, in Egypt, in ** Asia, in Syria, amongst the Galatians, the " Parthians and the Phrygians ; in Achaia, *^ in Macedonia, in Epims, and in the Isles ; *' in short, in every country on which the ** Sun sheds its enlivening beams, in Home ** herself, that mistress of the world, even there, *' men absorbed in the mysteries of Numa and " the ancient superstitions gave up the religion " of their forefathers, and attached themselves " for ever to the Christian cause." Article vi. (k) This is Dionysius the bishop of Corinth. Eusebius tells us* this holy man was in great esteem in the eleventh year of Marcus Antoni- nus, which was the year of our Lord 171. He wrote seven epistles which are called Catholic, (or general) because they were addressed to the churches. They all contribute to confirm be- Jievers in the faith by the venerable influence of the Gospel, and the other books of the * Chron. ^24^ ^HE EVIDENCES OF [Notrs it, New Testament which he ahrays cites as be- ing complete authority. lie defends them par- ticularly against Marcion, who rejected some and mutilated the rest. Jerome says* he was endowed wiXh extraordinary J^owers of elo- quence, and with a very superior understand- ing. Eusebius speaks of him in still higher terms, styling him an excellent man, whose divine labours were of service to all Christians, and who with great dignity conducted the affairs of the church committed to his charge. (i) (k) Of Quadratus and Aristides we have before spoken, f (I) Athenagoras is one of the ecclesiastical authors of whom very little mention is made in antiquity : we are surprised to find not the least notice taken of him by Eusebius or Jerome: and that he had been no where quoted, except in one solitary passage of Methodius, preserved by Epiphanius; w^hen DodwellJ introduced to notice Philippus Sidetes (an author who flourished at the beginning of the fifth century) when he pub- lished some fragments of his Histoiy of Chris^ * Vir. illus. c. 38. t Sec iii. p. 1. 2* X App. ad Diss. Iren. p. 488. Sec, 4.] tHE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 225 tianity.) Sidetes, there quoted, gives us some interesting particulars, and, amongst others, the following, much to the honour of our reli- gion. Athenagoras, he tells us, was a Pagan, and so zealous in the cause of Paganism, that he intended writing against the Christians, but the force of truth and the integrity of hisKeait, brought him over to their side, and led him to exercise his talents in their defence. The Holy Scriptures, which he at first read with no other view but to furnish himself with arms for the attack, enlightened and converted him. Sidetes adds, that Athenagoras lived in the reign of Adrian, and of Antoninus Pius, to whom he pre- sented his Apology, and that he was the first who presided in the Christian school of Alex andria,* where he had the honour of instructing Clfemens of Alexandria, the celebrated author of the Stromata. Mn Basnage has made se- veral critical remarks upon these facts, but upon perusing the sentiments of Socrates the histo- rian, and of Photius on Sidetes' history, we are tiot inclined to place entire confidence in all he has written. There art two distinct composi- tions by Athenagoras; an Apology for the Christians, and an excellent discourse upon the • styled, Catechist. 226 THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes U truth of our Lord s resurrection : by these he is known to us as an Athenian philosopher. Tliere is some difference of opinion among the learned*, as to the exact time when, and the persons to whom, the Apolog;y' was presented, but it is with good reason supposed to have been drawn up about the year of our Lord 1 80, and to have been addressed to M. Antoninus and his son Cqmmodus, whose names appear in the superscription of all the MS. jcopies. His work upon the Resurrection was written after the Apology, at the end of which he seems to an- nounce it : the Greek of it is much admired for its pure and polished style, f It is particularly worthy of our observation, that in his Apology he frequently makes use of the books of the New Testament. His quotations from the four Evan- gelists, from the Acts of the Apostles, and from many of the Epistles, and even from the Apoca^ lypse; prove, in a manner more or less direct, that be acknowledged the authenticity of the sacred volumes, and that wx now have the same books handed down to us with the utmost fidelity. * Pagi, Dodwell, Cave, Du Pin, Tillemont, Bas- iMi^e, Lardner, Fabric ius. t Tillemout, Du Pii>. S'ec'^.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 22T (m) Dionysius,' bishop or patriarch Of Alex- andria,? was d native of that city, and descended from an honourahlie' family: born a Heathen, but afterwards a convert to Christianity, he became one of Origeri's most emirieht disciples. ' His acquirements placed him in the office of catechist in the* school of Alexaiid/ia in the room of Heracles, who was made bisjfiop'of that , see ill the year of our Lord ^5^ ; upon whose ' death in 2147, Dionysius succeeded!, and. was, ac- * cording to Eusebius, the thhteenth bishop of that famous city. He died about tjie year. 2^5: During "his .^episcopacy, te was. sur- rounded, b^ various troubles: the criiel per- secutioh^ "of the emperors Decius and Valerian, a dreadful plague throughout the empire, popu- lar t4mult3 in his own country, and aggravated controversies (another species, of sedition) ex- cited by the Novatians, the Millenarians, and . the Sabelhans; and, besides all these, a vari- ; ety of distracted opinions on the doctrine of, the Trinity. In all these trying circumstances, Dionysius was distinguished for his zeal, his^ learning, and what is more rarely found, his prudence and moderation., He was thq author of many WQi-ks : but all- that now remain, arc ♦ ' * Chron. Pagi, Fabricius. Q S 2^S THE E^n[DENCES. Of [^tef h one entire epistle, preserved by Zonafas, and the fragments of some others. These epistles had for their objects some important points of religion, upon which he was consulted by all parties. Amongst others there is one addressed to Basilides/ in which he compares the diiferent text^ of the four evangelists upon the time of our Lord's death : of St. Matthew, St. John, St. Luke, and St. Mark, for so he places them ; probably according to the order in which they were at that time disposed. This epistle is of great consequence in establishing the authenti- city of the very Gospels we now hold sacred, and of course the certainty of the life,^ miracles, and doctrine of Jesus Christ Tins, with, the use he elsewhere makes of the Acts and of the Epistles, at once proves that our sacred code was then received by all Christians. Tlie los5 of his works lias been exceedingly regretted, being considered as one. of the greatest of the kind that could h^ve befallen the Christian church.f Eusebius, Basil, Gregory, and some other fa-^ thers give Dionysius the title of Great. Jerome in his letter to Magnus says " he was as much "admired for his general erudition, as for his * Labfe. Couc. torn, i. p. 832, •f Du Pia, Sec. 4.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 229 *' prOfotind knowledge of the Scriptures. Hiim- ** ble, modest, and unaifected, beyond what " could be expected of a man of such very ex- *^ traordinary talents, and of such elevated rank. ^* He was naturally of a happy disposition, to *^ which religion lent its friendly aid : so Ihk't '** he excelled iti that moderation and that cha- ^' rity, which are its peculiar characteristic!?. *' Thiis is so much the more praiseworthy, as, '^from a temper constitutionally warm, he * might have been hurried beyond due bounds, ^^ if he had not been constantly on his guard. " He possessed the happiest conception with *' the most lively imagination, the source of ex- *^ celleilcies and of dangers. His style was ge- '* nerally florid, and he w^rote with animation *^ to the last, giving full proof of the vigour *' of his mind after so many years of services '^ and sufferings. Indeed, in all his trials his " feelings were alive only to the delight his in- ^* tegrity afforded him, and to the consolations ** he derived from religion. In a word, Diony- '* sius was one of the brightest ornaments of " his time, and may be considered as the most ^* illustrjipus bishop of Alexandria* that had fil- ^ Tillemont, 230 THE EVIDENCES OF \ Notes tp *' led the chair in the course of nearly three ^' centuries." . (n) Clemens of Alexandria, priest of thi« church, according to many of the ancients, was called Titus Ilavius Clemens : he flourished towards the end of the second century and |he bq^nning of the third, in the reign of Seye^ rus and in .that of Caracalla. Some have ima- gined him to have been a native of Athens, others of Alexandria, where he resided a con*- siderabie time.* Eusebius says he was origin nally a Heathen : be that as it may, he was a scholar of the celebrated Pantaenus, whom he succeeded as president of tlie Christian Schools in Alexandria. 1^ is npt. esxagtly known what illustrious men rose under his tuition except Origen, and Alexander afterwards bishop of Je- rusalem. He is supposed to have lived to the time of Heliogabalus, and to have died aboul^ the year 220/|- * He was reckoned the finest genius of that age. Jerome saysj "he wsis equally famous ^' for his learning, and his ^Ipquence, deriyedl * PrcEp. Evan. 1. ii. c. 2. + Du Pin. J De Vir. illust. c. 49, Sec. 4.1 THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 231 " both from the treasures of the Holy Scriptures, •* and from profane literature. His extensive " knowledge was acquired not only by the ex " cellent course of study he pursued at Alex- " andria, but also by his travels, undertaken foi^ " the love of truth, in Greece, in Italy, in the " East, in Palestine, in Egypt." Eusebius and Jero^me have given us the catalogue of his works, of which there are only three extant. The most' considerable are the Protrepticon, or an Exhortation to the Gentiles,, and the Strc- mata, or various discourses. The first is ac- counted the best written, and the most valu- able, being replete with vast learning-; but some critics think it more philosophical than theological : others have wished that he h^d been a better philosopher, and that his judg- ment had been equal to his knowledge.. What is especially deserving our notice in his works, as applicable to our purpose, is the direct tes- timony he bears to the books of the New, Testament. He expressly acknowledges the four gospels of St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. John; the Acts of the Apostles, which he ascribes to St. Luke ; and the fourteen epistles of St. Paul, except that to Philemon, which he no where quotes, but probably passed over only on account of its brevity. He also cites and 233 THE EVIDENCES pF [Notes ^ admits all the other epistles, except that of St. James, the second of St. Peter, and the thirvl of St. John ; of these he jnakes no ii^e, but, .a^ he does not explain his reasons, we liavp no right' to infer positively tjiat he rejected thei;: authority : the Revelations of St. John he une- quivocally admitted. Every where he speaks of the sacred books with the most profound yq-^ spect. He mentions the Gospels as the "Evan- *^ gelical voice of the Lord :^ he calls the Epis^ ties, or the truths they contain, "the Divine ^^ Writings," " the Scriptures divinely inspired ;" what is written in the sacred volmnes is termed " the language of the Holy Spirit proceeding " from the mouth of the Apostles." He esta- blishes the harmony which subsists between thb Law and the Prophets, the Gospel and thQ Apostles : and particul^ly styles the books of the New Testament, "^e true Evangelical Ca- ^* non '. With such veneration, and with such faith, did these illustrious converts speak of the books, which testify to us the ipiracles and the doctrine of Jesus Christ. (o) Ammonius, born of Christian parents at; Alexandria, taught philosophy in that city about the year of our ^.ord 1 32, and, with such reputation, that Plotinus and some pther illus-. Sec. 4.3 THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. .S3^ trious Pagans came with eager emulation to re- ceive his instructions. Notwithstanding their difference of opinions on rehgious subjects, he received the highest commendations from PIo- tinuS;, Longinus, Porphyry, and Hierocles, who gave him the title of " Theodidactus" — "Taught '^ of God." Ammonius had deeply studied Plato and Aristotle : so that the homage he paid to Chris- tianity by standing up in its defence, could not but be of very considerable importance. Por- phyry* insinuates a suspicion that he had de- .serted the cause of the new religion; but Eusebius and Jerome maintain the contrary, and that to the day of his death he remained faith- ful to the Gospel. Some have confounded this Ammonius with another eminent man of the jsame name; on this point the reader is referred to Eusebius; Jerome, ]\Iosheim, Tillemont, and JLardner. With regard to his writings, we cannot speak decisively. There are two very ancient works extant under the title of The Harmony of the Gospels. One of them is attributed to Ta-^ tian in the second century, the other to AnmiQ- njus in the third : but whether they are really, * Euseb. E. H. b. vi- c. 19. 254 THE EVIDENCES OF [Noles ia each of them, the production of the person they are respectively assigned to, is not cor rectly ascertained. *' Let us content ourselves," says the judicious Dr. Lardner* " with being *^ assured that there was one such work en- ^' titled The Harmony of the Four Gospels com- " posed before the time of Eusebius, by a •' learned man of Alexandria named Ammo- " nius. This very clearly pi-oves, that about '^ the year of our Lord 220, the date Dr. Cave *' fixes to this work, there were four authentic *' Gospels and no more ; the same as those we ^* now have, and which (for more than fifteen " centuries) have been received and acknow- *' ledged by ajl Christians," (p) Arnobius lived about the end of the third century. He was an African, and had taught rhetoric at Sicca, a city of Nuniidia. 'He embraced Christianity in the reign of Diocle- sian, and in the first warmth of his conversion, wrote seven books against the Heathens. He ■was an orator, and better qualified to unveil the folly of Paganism, than to prove and defend the truth of the Christian rehgion, with which he was not as yet so perfectly acquainted. It is * Credib. vol. ii. p. 417. 8vo. ^e^. 4.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 23S true, that undeceiving the Heathens, and coi^ yincing tUem of their errors, was a very like^ ly mode of bringing them to a right wajr of thinking. To this object . he (Urected his ieai*ned researches, his unanswerable argu- ments, a strength and vehemence of expre.^ sion that were natu^'ally his own, and very of- ten a syle of hupiour almost irresistible. This famiUar and ingenious turn pecuharly bccanie him, and he was not the less useful to the? cause of Christianity, for blending entcrtam- pient and delight with substantial truths. (q) Anatolius, bisliop of Laodicea in Syria in the third century, was one of the ablest men of his time, and excelled in many sciences: he established a school of philosopliy at Alexr andria, the place of liis nativity, where he held rank and offices of distinction. Jerome speaks of him in very high terms. The Creek clunch honour him as a martyr on the fourth of Octo- J)er, and the Roman martyrology fixes his fes- tival to the third of July: he flouri.slicd in tin? reigns of Probus and Carus, from the year of our Lord 578 to 283. ' (r) Origen was born at Alexandria in the ^ear of x)ur Lord 185, in tlie sixth year of th« 2$S THE EVIDENCES OF (A^o/« ^ jeign of Commodus* Jerome tells us, he was a great man from his infancy : his father Leo- nidas gave him every assistance which such superio?" talents deserved. This fond parent, struck with the very extraordinary genius w^hich he displayed in his childhood, used to watch over him in his sleep, and imprint kisses on his bosom, believing there was lodged in it a celestial fire. Leonidas suffered martyrdom in the year $02, leaving a widow and seven children, of whom Origen was the eldest though scarcely arrived at the age of seventeen. At this early period he had already made great pmgress in philosophy, under the tuition of the celebrated Ammonius Saccas, and in the grand science of religion, having for his leader Clemens of Alex- andria. Porphyry asserts he was born a Hca-r then, but Eusebius positively denies it. The zeal of this young man was equal to his know- ledge, and he had an opportunity of signaliz- ing it at the time of the persecution against the Christians^ in the tenth year of the reign of Severus. He would have rushed voluntarily to martyrdom, had not his anxious mother stop"? ped him on the way, and confined him to the tousQ. His father was at that time a prisoner, * Dg Yir. illust. c, 65. ep. €5. Sic, 4.i THE CHRISTIAN HELIGlON* 23l and, when lie was in that situation, Origen him- self wrote to him a short letter exhorting him to suffer every thing for the truth *. Eusebius has prjeserved to us one line, which has by sonief been , esteemed • of more value than many vo- lumes. " E7rf%f , ju.-^ ^i vil^cc; ctKhori Cf)povJiel, declares that . he ac- 'Itnow^'l edges as authentic, four Gospels only, conformably to regular tradition and to the opi- nion i-eceived without' contradiction by the uni- A^ersal Church. The -fii*st written by St.iiVfot- ,'thew, fomiei^ a publican, but afterwards fin Apostle of Jesu6 Christ: hepubli^ed it, be- ing written in Hebrew, for the saike of those Jews w^io believed. The second is St. Mark's Gospel, dictated by St. Peter, who calls him his son in his general epistle. The third is the Gos- pel according to St. Luke, which was written at the instigation of St. Paul, for the use of the Heathen converts: and lastlv, St. John's Gos- * E. H. b. yi. c. 25. i242 THE EVIDENCES OF [A^. to Sec, 4. pel. Origen expresses himself just as distinctly upon the authority of the Acts of the Apos- tles,* the Epistles, and the Revelations of St. John in many of his writings ; and throughout declares these holy books to be not the mere work of men, but the fruit of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, according to the express will of God. Alexandria in Egypt was a famous seminary for all the sciences. Jerome tells usf, " that " St. Mark, who was generally supposed to have " planted the church, was also the founder of " that celebrated school called Catechetical, " where the pupils were initiated into the sub- *' lime truths of religion J." Here was to be found a succession of illustrious teachers, and especially of learned Catechists, who were se- lected by the church, on account of their ex- tensive erudition and their distinguished merit, for the important task of laying the foundation of Christianity. * Philoc. c. i. p. 7. t l)e Vir. illus. c. 47. X Scbmid de SchoL Catcchet. Alexand. Sec. 5.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 243 SECTION V. I. The learned Pagans had means and opportunities ^ of informing themselves of the truth of our Sa^ liour^s historij; II. From the proceedings ^ III. The characters, sufferings, I V. And miracles of the persons who published it. V. Hoiv these first Apostles perpetuated their tradi* tion, hy ordaining persons to succeed them, VI. How their successors in the three first centuries preserved their tradition. VII. That five generations might derive this tradition from Christ, to the end of the third century, VIII. Four eminent Christians that delivered it down successively to the year of our Lord 254. IX. The faith of the four above-mentioned persons the same with that of the churches of the East, of the West, and of Egypt, X. Another person added to theni, xvho brings us ta the year 343, a7id that many other lists might be added in as direct and short a succession, XI. Why the tradition of the three first centuries^ was more authentic than that of any other age, proved from the conversation of the primitive Christians ; XII. From the jnanner of initiating men into their re» ligion i XIII. From the correspondence between the churches ; XIV. From the long lives of several of Chris fs dis^ ciplcs, of which two instances. I- It now therefore only remains to consider whether these learned men had means and op- b2 2U THE EVIDENCES OF \Sec. 5, portunities of informing themselves of the truth of our Saviour's history; for unless this point can be made out, their testimonies will appear invalid, and their enquiries ineffectual. 11. As to this point, wc! must consider, that many thousands had seen the transactions of oiu' Sayipur in Judaea, and that many hundred thousands ;ha^ received an atcount of them from the mouths of those who were actually . ^ye-Vitnesses. I shall only mention among these eye-witnesses the twelve Apostles, to .wjbpm w;e must add St. Paul, who had a parti- cul^^'&ll to this high office, though many other Disciples and followers of Christ had also their ^are in the pubHshing this wonderful "history. We learn from the ancient records of Christianity, that many of the Apostles and Disciples made it the express business of their 'lives, travelled into the remotest parts of tho world (a), and in all places gathered multi- tudes about them, to acquaint them with the -cp bar I;;.. >*.;;; \]^ii s rr^ ]- • history and 4 as hc^^vas ihe mi- racle of that age, for industry, learning, and philosophy, he was looked upon as the cham- ^ion pf Chri^tiani^ty, till the ^jj^ar |54, . wjien, if he did not suffer martyrdom,, as some think he ^id^ ^F.F^^ ^^^'^.^Ml^y acrtuated by the. spirit b^f it, 33 appears in the Wrhole course of his life .?Pi^>w4W^^^iW/>-|}f'^^^ ^often been .^ujt^to the,tp!j:tur.e, ,and ha,d undergone trials worse than death. As^ h,e cpnyersed with the most emipent Christians of his time in JElgypt' and in the East, fbroiight .qyer, multi^tuc^s both from lier^sy and he^tli^iysp, and- left ^b^ebind^ him ^s^veral .disciples , of .gr^^t .^a^ne ^nd Ifjarpingi jl^e^'ejs ^o qi|estic»n but ^lj^i;e were considerable ^Buml^j^rs of thqse^^^^lp^][Lnew. hij^^ been his h^^^ers, schplars, or proselytes, that lived IX. It is evident to those who j^^^ :J^ %j?s aikliwritings of; Poly carp,. IrenJms,; .^d ^^'iS'^i^ Se^:f] " ThI fcHtllSttAN RELIGION. Wi pi^ts, ancl'^aduil&uttedAi^thMfe tJiktiiol mxvs disapie^, '^bllffied tlie ' saiiie ac^iJfei Bf jiim." i^6wiiidi #e -niilst <^ub)(5ih fife foVtHet rfeiliSit;%fiat %i^l ^2ts^imeved by t3l^J6 Ff-. tliei's o^ tJife subject, w'^ HkeWi^^ tlve Mkf of tli6 ft^iin bbdy 'of Ghristiiils in tlioie'fettcces.^itfe 'ag*s WW^n i^ef flourished.; since I*6Hx'^r|> yami6^T3fit liieTodked i!^, if we ^dii^ider the \'&pUi ttik iM paid hliii, Ss tfe ieiDi-e^eiitac- 'tiVe of tHkfiiisMii'cliurthes in this 'particular, Wn^ of 'ih'e WQ^etn, ilip^h ,te"s^e ac- 'coont, ^kii Oilf 6ri bf tfioie esti^ishbd'in E^pt JC.^ 'fd'^ffiese I might add Paul f^; the fa- Ss'ferfeit, Vhb^^?efirSa ^xrin the^b^kti persecution %^{% ^r'felk ^ekrs before 'OH^eti's death, and lived tflV the year 343. I have only discovered one of those channels by which ffie histdVy of dtir 'Saviour might *be conveyed, piire aiid 'illia'dulterated, through those scvejral 25i THE EVIDENCES OF [SecL 5, ages that produced those Pagan philosophers, whose testimonies I make use of for the tmth of our Saviour s history. Some or other of these philosophers came into the Christian faith dur- ing its infancy, in the several periods of these three first centuries, when they had such means of informing themselves in all the particulars of our Saviour's history. I must further add, that though I have here only chosen this sin- gle link of martyrs, I might find out others among those names which are still extant, that delivered down this account of our Saviour in a successive tradition, till the whole Roman em- pire became Christian; as there is no questio« but numberless series of witnesses might follow one another in the same order, and in as short a chain, and that perhaps in every single church, had tlie names and ages of the most eminent primitive Christians been transmitted to us with the like certainty. XL But to give this consideration more force, we must take notice, tliat the tradition Sec. 5.J THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 255 of the first ages of Christianity bad several circumstances peculiar to it, which made it more authentic than any other tradition in. any other age of the world. The Christians, who carried tlieir reHgion througli so many general and particular persecutions, were incessantly comforting and supporting one another w^ith, the example and history of our Saviour and his Apost les. It was the subject not only of their solemn assemblies (f), ^"^ ^f their private visits and conversations. " Our virgins," says Tatian (g), who lived in the second century, ^' discourse over their distaffs on divine sub- '^ jects." Indeed, when religion was w^oven into the civil government, and flourished under tlie protection, of the Emperors, men's thoughts and discourses were, as they are now, full of secular affairs; but in the three first centuries of Christianity, men, who embraced this religion, had given up all their interests in this world, and lived in a perpetual preparation for the next, as not knowing how soon they might be called to it : so that they had little else to talk Qf but the life and doctrines of that Divine 256 THE EVIDENCES OF [Sec.$: Person, which was their hope, their encourage- ment, and their glory. We cannot therefore imagine, that there was a single person, ar- rived at any degree of age Or consideration* who had not he^iixi and repeated above a thousand times in his life, all the particulars of our Saviour's birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascendon. XII. Especially if we consider, that they could not then be received as Christians, till they had undergone several examinations. Persons of riper years, who 'flocked daily into the church during the three first centuries, wete obligeci to "pass throug-li many repeated instructions, and gtVe a strict account of their proficiency, before they were admitted to baptism. And as ftr those Who were born of Christian parents, anfd had been baptized in their infaiK'y, they Xvei-e with the 'like care prepared and disciplined for confirmation, which they could not arrive at till they -were found, upon examination, to have made a sufficient progress in the knowledge of Christianity, Sec. 5.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 2Si XIII. We miist ^further observe, that there was not only in those times this religious con- versation among private Christians, but a con- stant coirespondence between the churches that "were established by the Apostles, or their suc- cessors, in the several parts of the world. If any new doctrine was started, or any fact reported of our Saviour, a strict enquiry was made among the churches, especially those planted by the Apostles themselves, whether they had received any such doctrine or account of our Saviour from the mouths of the Apostles, or the tradition of those Christians who had preceded the present members of the churches, which were thus consulted. By this means when any novelty was published, it w^s imme- diately dectected and censured (k). XIV. St. John, who lived so many years aftef Gur Saviour, was appealed to in these emergen- cies as the^iving oracle of the Church; and as his oral testimony lasted the first century, many have observed^ that, by a particular pro- 23S THE EVIDENCES OF [Sec. 5. videncc of God, several of our Saviour's Dis- ciples, and of the early converts of his religion, lived to a very great age, that they might per- sonally convey the truth of the Gospel to those times, which were very remote from the first publication of it. Of these, besides St. John, we have a remarkable instance in Simeon, who was one of the' Seventy sent -forth by our Saviour, to publish the Gospel before his cruci- fixion, and a near kinsman of the Lord. This venerable person, who had probably heard with his own ears our Saviour's prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem, presided over the church established in that city, during the time of its memorable siege, and drew his congrega- tion out of those dreadful and unparalleled calamities which befel his countrymen, by fol- lowing the advice our Saviour had given, when they should see Jerusalem encompassed with armies, and the Roman standards, or abomina- tion of desolation, set up. He lived till the year of our Lord 107, when he was martyred under the emperOr Trajan. Sect, 5.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 259 NOTES TO SECTION Article II (a) The Conversion of the Jews was un- doubtedly the first purpose of the Almightyj and such was our Lord's condescension towards this people that he strictly charged his Apos- tles, not to preach his word to any other, lest it should offend them. " Go not into the way '^ of the Gentiles, and into any city of the " Samaritans enter ye not."* But this dispensa- tion of wisdom found its way by degrees to all the nations of the earth; for when there arose a violent persecution against the church at Jeru- salem, all the faithful, except the Apostles, wer^ scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria.| — And they who were dis- persed went every where and made known the word of God. — Afterwards St. Peter J learned, that it was the will of God to call the Gentiles, by the command he received in a vision from * Matth. X. 5» t Acts viii. 1, 4. X c, X. 20* ^eo THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes i^ the Holy Spirit, to go to Cornelius the Centurion at Ceesarea. — Uastly, the hardened obstinacy of the Jews drew upon them this tremendous de- claration from Paul and Barnabas. — " Seeing *^ ye judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting " life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles."* From that time the x\postles and the Disciples resolv- ed, sooner or later, to carry the light of the G ospel into all parts of the world. The follow- ing are said to be some of the principal events which occurred in consequence of their travels. According to Nicephorus, St. Andrew w^s crucified at Patrae, in Achaia, by command of tli« proconsul yEgeas.f This historian says, his crime was that of having converted the proconsul's wife Maximilla and his brother Stratocles. We are told by Metaphrastus,;]: that St. Bartholomew preached, the Gospel as far as India : lie^ preached also in Phrygia and in Armenia. — Jerome says, || he was crucified (in the original, dormivit) at Albanapolis. St. Matthew is generally thought to have l)een the Apostle of Ethiopia." § Metaphrastug says he first preached to the Parthians aild * Acts xiii. 46. f H. E. 1. ii. c. 39. X Apud Surium. Cave Antiq. Apost. B De vir. illus. c. 8. \ Dorothaeus cle 12 Apost. Sec. 5,] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 261 pXQceeded to instruct the Asiatic Ethiopians on the borders of India. According to the poet Fortimatus * he suffered martyrdom at Naddabar a city of Ethiopia ; ** Inde triumphantem fert India Bartholomaeum ; " Mattbaeum eximium Naddabar alta virum." From the Acts of the Manichea^s w^ learn that St. Thomas preached to the Partbians, the ]Vl[edes, the Persians, the Hyrcanians, the Bac- trians, &c. He sailed to the Isle of Taprobane (now Ceylon), and, according to Dorotheas bishop of Tyre, he spent some time also among ^he Brachmans. He was put to death at Cala- pljinia, a town in India. When the Portuguese arrived in India in the fifteenth century, they found a tradition among the Iparned of that country, that St. Tlionic^s li^aying commenced his ministry at Socotra, (an Island in the Arabian Sea) proceeded along th^ poatst of Coromandel, and established the phristian worship at ]VIaIipour, near the moutlr of the Ganges, in tlie Gulph of Bengal; at length he perished by the persecuting hands of the Brachmans, who were driven to despair at beholding the ancient religion, the source of their wealth, brought into disrepute. From ** De spe. vit. EXexw, %6^ THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes f this origin have successively sprung the Chris* tians of St. Thomas, who remain to this day, and of whom the Portuguese on their arrival found fifteen or sixteen thousand families. As a proof of their antiquity, the principal articles of their creed were exactly confoiniable to those of the primitive Christians. Nicephorus says, t that St. Thomas did not at first care to trust himself with a people whose manners appeared to be as barbarous as their countenance was hideous (the Ethiopians) till he was assured in a vision of receiving Divine assistance. M. De La Croze, does not hesitate to consider the greater part of these suppbsed histories as fabulous, as well as the account of the arrival of St. Thomas in India : there is room however, he adds, to suspect that there is some truth at the bottom. In fact, the knowledge of rehgiori must have been very early communicated in those parts, for amongst the subscriptions of the Nicene Council ^ we find that of a bishop of Persia and India the Great. " Iwawiif Ilepcrvi? rvi? cv Ilf pis^ ifi tWs^^'eiise tHat^fetiiiiian* givfe'^ihe tMe^of <2wfAc*wfzetb the Greek' text of the New Testament, to distinguish it from thfe LaiiiJ 'Pei^sions which werfe the ohly- copies lised in th^ African- ehufche^;'}' Oth^i*s have applied thitf limited se'fise to thi^^word authentic : but, aaf has been- generally admitted, a more cxtensivif meaning belongs to this word, J as* intplying^ any thing^certaiiiand well attested. Andhy^heti^ epistles^ weare to understand not merely the Writings of the Apostles, but the New Testa* nient in general; || both because the Apostles had the' greater share in composing this sacred volume, and because it was common in the pri* iHitive times to attribute to them the Works of tliteir disciples. Thus Tertullian ^ attributes St Mark's gospel to St. Peter, and St. Luke's to St. Paul — "Marcus quod edidit, Petri affirmatur, ** cujus interpres Marcus. Et Lucae digestum " Paulo adscribere solent." It is to be observed that in the primitive times, though the' greater authority in certain points was attributed to the Apostles, ^s to the first mi- nisters of Jesus Christ, and' the heads which he * De Monog. c. xi. f Simon; Hist. Crit. c. iv. X See Lardner. § Tertull. Apol. c. xxx. H 2 Tim. iii. 15. f Adv.' Marcion. h iv. c 5, f f THE EVIDENCES OF [mte^s t$ had himself appointed over the church; as he had also called and distinguished with mira- culous powers, the disciples, or the first Christians who were selected by the Apostles for the preaching of the gospel; the Apostles and the apostolical men, especially those among the latter, who were acknowledged to be divinely inspired, bad an equal authority, or at least, an equal right, over the faith of every Christian. " Porro Lucas (says Tertullian*) non Apostolus, *' sed apostolicus."— ••' Moreover, Luke, not au " Apostle, but apostolic." And upon this ground the same Father says: " Constituimus imprimis *' evangelicum instrumentum Apostolos authores^^ " habere, quibus hoc munus Evangelii promul- ** gandi ab ipso Domino sit impositum. Si et ^* Apostolicos, non tamen solos, sed cum Apos- " tolls, ct post Apostolos." — " We resolve that " the evangelical code had for its authors " the Apostles, to whom the charge of preach^ " ing the gospel was committed , by the Lord '' himself, including apostolical men, such as "joined themselves to the Apostles, and, as i^^ ^ were, followed in their train." The result of this discussion appears to me to be this, that^ 4he apostoUcal Churches, and probably many * Adv. Marcion. Sec. 5.] the! CHRISTIAN RELlGiON. 291 others, kept the evangelical code pure and um corrupted, and that all were allowed access to it, whd%ished to satisfy themselves of its au-' thenticity. There is no question that in the first ages, the Churches paid a more than ordi- nary attention to this object; insomuch that as these holy Avritings, in consequence of these precautions, could not be altered, and were by degrees dispersed throughout the world, it wa$ iio' longer possible for the ill-designing to mak^ any attempt upon so many copies so distant from each other, or to prevent a great numbet from being preserved for the instruction of re- motest posterity. Yet supposing, that in the passage ofTertullian we are to understand, that by " Authentic£e literae Apostolorum," is meant only the epistles addressed to the Churches he speaks of, the originals or authentic copies of which were so carefully preserved, will it be presumed that the history of the holy gospels, confessedly the firmest foundation of the Christian Religion, was watched over with less anxious solicitude ? Thus Tertullian,* Epiphanius,! and Eusebius, J af- firm that it was by the very words of these wri- ters faithfully preserved in the churches, that the heretics were brought to confusion, and a stop * Contra Marcion. 1. v. t Haeres, 42. JE. H.l.v. c. 2g. P2 THE EVIDENCES OF iNotesh put to the progress of tbo§e forgeries, which ^hey attempted to introduce in orcjer to support their new doctrines. Teitullian, in bi^ book agaiQst M^rcion, expressly says^^ ** If it b(? ma" '.f nifest that those things are most true which <^come p^arest to their origin, then for the *^ truth ought we to go back to the Apostles, ai^d *v to the churches which they planted. Now wha,V **' spiritual food have the Corinthians receive4 ^^ from St. Paul ; Wl^at l^ws have been given to th "In summ^, si constat id verius quOd prius> " id prius quod et ab initio, id ab initio quod et " ab Apostolis : * pariter utique constabit id esse ** ab Apostolis traditum quod apudecclesias Apos- *^ tolorum fuerit sacro sanctum. Videamus quod *' hoc a Paulo Corinthi hauserint; ad quam re- " gulam Galatse sint recorrecti; quidlegant Phi- " lippenses, Thessalonicenses, Ephesii? Quid " etiam Romani de proximo sonent, quibus ** evangelium et Petrus et Paulus sanguine quo- ^* que suo signatum reliquemnt? Habemus et ■ * Johannis alumnas ecclesias ; nam etsi Apocar * Contra Marcion. I. iv. c» 5, %94 THE EVIDENCES OF [Woies U f lypsim ejus Marcion respuit, ordo tameit " episcoporum ad originem recensus, in Johan- " nem stabit auctorem. Sic et oB.terarum gene- *' rositas recognoscitur. Dico itaque apud illas, " nee solas jam Apostolicas, sed , apud universas " quae illis de societate sacramenti confoederantur " id evangelium (Lucae) ab initio editioni§ suae "stare quod eum maxime tuemur: Marcionis " A'ero plerisque nee notunV: Nullis autem notum, ^Vut non eo damnatum." .... And again, "His «* fere compendiis utimui', cum de evan,gelii iide " adversus ha^reticos experimur, defendentibus ** et temporum ordinem posteritati falsariorum f^praJscribentem et auctoritatem ecclesiarum '' traditioni Apostolorum patrocinantem; quia " Veritas falsum praecedat necesse est." Article xiv. (i) Simeon, called the brother of the Lord, the son of Alpheus, was elected bishop of Je- rusalem after St. James, in the year 62. There is reason to believe that he retired with other Christians to Pella, when Jerusalem was be- sieged by the Romans, and that, after the war was over he returned thither to govern the church. He was several times put to the torture by Atticus, governor of Palestine, and, after Sees,] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, 2$5 having presided over the church at Jerusalem more than forty years, was at last crucified at the advanced age of 120,* in the tenth year of the reign of Trajan, and in the year of our Lord 107. t * Euseb. Chron, and £• H. h^ iii. c. 32, t Du Pin^ Mm K.nxJi ij. .1 i £ 297 ] SECTION VI. |[;i/f ' Yhe iradiHon of the Apvstles secured by other \ r€^eeUent institUitwns^;t^^ ^a^^ ^,, II. But chiefly by the writings ef the Evangelists, m. The diligence of the Disciples and first Christian converiSy to send abroad these writings, IV. That the written account of our Saviour 'was the same xvith that delivered by tradition; V, Proved by tJie reception of the Gospel by those Churches which were established before it was written ; yi. From the uniformity of what was kelieved in the several Churches; VII. From a remarkable passage in Irenaus* yillw Records which are now lost, of use to the three first centuries^ for confirming the history of ^ur Saviour, ,r\ •[ IX. Jnstance§ of such records^ I. 1 HUS far we see how the learned Pagann might apprise themselves from oral information of the particulars of our Saviour's history. They could ;hea,r, in every church planted in every distant part of the earth, the account which was tihere received and preserved among them, of the history of our Saviour, (a) They could learn the 29S THE EVIDENCES OF [See, 6, names and characters of those first missionaries that brought to them these accounts, and the miracles by which God Almighty attested their reports. But the Apostles and Disciples of Christ, to preserve the history of his life, and to secure their accounts of him from eiTor and ob- livion, did not only set. aside certain persons for that purpose, as hast been already shewn, but appropriated certain days to the commemoration of those facts, which they had related concern- ing him. The iirist day of the week was, in all its returns, a perpetual membrial of his resurrection, as the devotional exercises adapted to Friday and Saturday were to denote to all ages that he was crucified on the one of those days, and that he rested in the grave on the other. You may ap- ply the sahie remark to' several of the' annual festivals instituted by the Apostles llibhismes!,' <5r, at furthest, by their immediate successors, iii ifeetifiory of the rnost important pamculars in our Sai^iour s history ; to which we must add the 9a:ciiini(?nts instituted liyouf I/ird nimself, and iJiahy'bf thb^se rites an^ ceremonies, wtiicli oiir S^c, 6.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 29^ tained in the jnost early times of the church. Tliese are to be regarded as standing marks of such facts as were deUvered by those, who were eye witnesses to them (b), and which were con* trived with great wisdom to last till time should be no more. These, without any other means, might have, in some measure, conveyed to posterity the memory of several transactions in the history of our Saviour, as they were re- lated by his Disciples. At least, the reasons of these ii^stitutiaris, though they might be for- gotten, and obscured by a long course of years, could not but be very well known by those who lived in the three first centuries, and a means of informing the inquisitive Pagans in tlic truth of our Saviour's history, that being the view in which I am to consider them, IL But lest such a tradition, though guarded |)y so many expedients, should wear out by the length of time, the four Evangelists, within about fifty, or as Theodoret affirms, thirty years after our Saviour's death, while the memory ^of 300, THE EVIDENCES OF (Sec. e. his actions was fresh among them, consigned to writing that history, which for some yeai-^ had been puhhshed only by the mouths of Apostle* and Disciples (c). The further consideration of these holy penmen will fall under another part of this discourse^ HI. It will be sufficient to observe her^, that in the age which succeeded the Apostles, many of their immediate disciples sent or car- ried in person the books of the four Evangelists> which had been written by Apostles, or at least approved by them (d), to most of the churches which they had planted in the dif- ferent parts of the world. This was done with »o much diligence, that when Pantcenus (e), a maH of learning and piety, had travelled into India for the propagation of Christianity, about the year ©f our Lord 200, he found, among that remote people, the Gospel of St. Matthew, which, upon his return from that country, he brought with him to Alexandria. Tliis gospel is generally sup- posed to have been left in those parts by St, Sec. a.l THE CHRISTUN RELIGIONS 301 Bartholomew, the Apostle of the Indies, who prqbably carried it with him before the writings i)f the three other Evangelists were publisiied : IV. That the history of our Saviour^ as^ re- corded by the Evangelists, was the same with tbat w:hich had been before delivered by the Apostles and Disciples (/}, will furthei' appear ia tb^ prosecution of this discourse, and may be gathered from the. following considerations. y. Had these writings differed from the* sermona of the first planters of Christianity, cither in history or doctrine, there is no question but they would have bee« rejected by those churches, which they had already formed. But so consistent and uniform was the relation of the Apostles, that these histories appeared to be nothing else but tb^ir tr^-dition and oral attes- tations made fixed and permanent (g). Thus, w^s the fame of ouir Saviour, which in sofew^ ye^s had gone through the whole earth, con- firmed and perpetuated by such record;5, a^ :i02 THE EVIDENCES OE [Sec. e. would preserve the traditionary account of hinx to after ages; and rectify it, if at any time, by passing through several generations, it might drop any part that was material, or contract any thing that was false or fictitious (h)^ VL Accordingly we find the same Jesus Christ, who was born of a Virgin, who had wrought many miracles in Palestine, who was crucified, rose again, and ascended into heaven; I say, the same Jesus Christ had been preached^ and was worshipped, in Germany, France, Spain, and Great Britain; in Parthia, Media, Mesopo- tamia, Armenia, Phrygia, Asia, and Pamphylia, in Ifaly^ Egypt, Afric, and beyond Cyrene, In- dia and Persia, and in short in all the islands and provinces that are visited by the rising or setting sun (i). The same account of our Saviour's life and doctrine was delivered by thousands of preachers, and believed in thousands of places, who all, as fast as it could be conveyed to them, received the same acccount in writing from the foui' Evangelists. S^c, ^l) THE CHRISTIAN KELIGION. J03 s ¥IL .Jren«us (k) to this purpose very- aptly xeiriarkSy that those barbarous nations^ who iii histime were not possessed of the written; Qos- pej^, ,aiid ha;d only: learned 4hc history. of , our Saviour frqm those who had; QQftyertcd them to Christianity before the Gospels were written, hft^d, aqiong < them the ^stiiie accounts of our Sa- viour ■ which are to be met with in the four Evangelists. An uncontestable proof of the harmony and concurrence between the holy Scripture and the tradition of the churches, in. those tarly times of Christianity. VIII. Thus we see what opportunities the learned and inquisitive Heathens had of inform- ing themselves of the truth of our Saviour s history, during the three first centuries, especi- ally as they lay nearer^ one than another to the fountain head : besides which, there were many uncontro verted traditions, records of Christi- anity, and particular histories, that then threw light into these matters^ but are now entirely Jo$t, by which, at that time, any appearance of ^04 THE EVIBENCES OF [Sec. 9. contradiction, or seeming difficulties, in the his- tory of the Evangelists, were fully cleared up and explained: though we meet with fewer appearances of this nature in the history of ouit Sa\Hourj as related by tlie four Evangehsts, than in the accounts of any other person published by such a nui*iber of different historians, who lived at^ so great a distance from the present age (I). IX. Among those records which are lost, and were of great use to the primitive Christians, is the letter to Tiberius, which I have already mentioned; that of Marcus Aurelius, which I shall take notice of hereafter; the writings of Hegesippus (m), who had drawn down the his- tory of Christianity to his own time, which wasi not beyond the middle of the second century; the genuine Sibylline oracles, which in the first ages of the church were easily distinguished from the spurious; the records preserved in particular churches, with many others of the same nature* i if. to S'k 6.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 505 NOTES TO SECTION VL Article i. > *' et ad terras barbarorum, etiam Indorum ipsos ** denique fines oceani pervenissent, nisi auctores *'illi fide digni fuissent."— " How is it that the * Dr. Baxter's Reason of the Christ. Relig. 506 THE. EVIDENCES OF [Notes t0 " writings of the Apostles should be dispersed *' through the most barbarous countries,* in India, " and even to the uttermost coasts of the sea, if ** these authors had never been worthy of credit?* This reflection proves two very important points : the truth of the historical facts, and of the doc- trines contained in the writings of the Apostles, and the authenticity of the writings themselves, in which these facts and doctrines are recorded. For although some fables might get abroad, and the name of doctrines might be given to some extravagant fancies deserv^ing only tlie title of reveries; there is no instance of fables invented by imposture having been adopted as truths by the most respectable part of mankind : there is no instance of a system of religion forged by some over heated brain, a system of austerity and opposition to the interests of the passions, having been received by a great number of various na- tions, and especially by the most judicious per- sons of these nations, so as to become the object of public and universal veneration. Nor is it less contrary to experience, that forgeries, in themselves contemptible, should have passed for truths, should jhave been generally acknowled- ged to belong to those who were not the au-^s '* Ho». I ad Coriatk »cc, 6.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 307 thors of them, nay, should have even been held sacred and divinely inspired amongst millions of men, and for a series of ages, without this multi- tude being ever undeceived, by time, by exami- nation, by instruction, by the criticism and re- searches of so many of the learned, inquisitive, and interested in overturning these inventions and consigning them to eternal oblivion. Article ir. (c) The date of each gospel is to be seen in a manuscript (2871,) preserved in the library (formerly) belonging to the kings of France * That according to St. Matthew was written eight years after our Lord's ascension. St. Mark's gospel was written ten years after that event, St. Luke's fifteen years, and St. John's thirty years after the same period. There is however a diversity of opinions upon thi* point, particularly with regard to the date of St. John's gospel t which is by some thought to be nearly sixty years after that of St. Matthew. But, what is of the greatest importance, SL Matthew, § an eye witness, wrote his gospel just as he was on the point of leaving the He * Simon's Crit. Hist. c. x. 102. t Houteville. § Euseb, E. H. b. iii. c. 24. 2, S SD8 THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes ta brew converts, in order to preach in other countries. St. Mark* wrote his at Rome at the pressing solicitation of the faithful in that ca- pital, agreeably to the discourses of St. Peter whose disciple he w^as: Jerome adds that this Apostle saw and approved his disciple's gospel.| St. Luke the disciple of St. Paul, drew up his history from the lectures of that Apostle. This is the opinion of Irenaeus,;}; and of many of the ancient fathers. It may even be said that he composed it upon the testimony of every one of the Apostles, with whom he was in habits of intimacy for several years. Lastly St. John, who had been the most constant witness of our Lord's wonderful works, had for his great ob- ject the supplying the deficiencies of the others, and the maintaining the Divine attributes of Jesus Christ against the rising heretics. There is one fact which gives very great weight to all the other evidences, that all the apostolical authors wrote in tlie course of thirty- eight years which passed between the nineteenth year of Tiberius, and the destruction of Jerusa- lem by Vespasian. This is proved by their all speaking of the Temple of Jemsalem as still in being. ♦ Euseb. b. ii. c. 15. + De Viii. illust. c. Ilh I Euselir b. V. c, S. ^'ec. 6.] THE CHRISTIAN REUGIOIsT. 30» Although this part of ecclesiastical history may be liable to some criticism, and of course to some slight variation, yet it remains a fixed certainty, that of the four, who are uniformly called Evangelists, two were Apostles, and con- sequently eyewitnesses; and the other two were apostolical. men, fully instructed by the Apostles ; a tradition as perfect as it was recent : and St. John hath told us how important it was to the interests of mankind that these records should be correct and faithfully preserved: — -"Tlicsc " are written that ye might believe that Jesus " is the Christ, the Son of God, and that *^ believing ye might have life through hi» *^ name." * Article iii. (d) Hence it is that we have the New Tes- tament not only in Hebrew and Greek, but translations of it also in the Arabic, Syriac, Ethiopian, and Persian languages, particularly the Armenian version, the most literal of all, and one of the most ancient : in all these there is such an agreement with the original text, as to whatever relates to facts and doctrines, that apostates, heretics, even the most inveterate 510 THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes to enemies of Christianity Julian, Celsus, Porphyry have never disputed them. — It is also another J^roof of the authenticity of these books, that all the fathers of the church, Clement, Ignatius, Justin, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Cyprian, Arnobius, Athenagoras, Lactantius, Eusebius, Gregory Nazianzen, Gregory of Nyssa, Basil, Chrysostom, Epiphanius, Jerome, Augustine, have quoted the several passages of the sacred text exactly ts we now read them. The Christian emperor* have cited them also in their laws and edicts. So that we are warranted in saying that we have no work of any ancient profane writer, of Ovid, Virgil, Cicero, or Plutarch, that carries in it such unequivocal marks of authenticity,' and we cannot but admire with gratitude, the indulgent care of Providence in the preservation of this sacred history, and in the abundant Sitore of various versions which^ have so efieetually supplied the place of the gift of tongues with which the Apostles were endowed. (e) Panta^nus, a stoic philosopher, bom in Sicily, taught towards the end of the second cen- tury in the celebrated school of Alexandria, of which he was also the Regent; selected no doubt, and elevated to this high station, on account of bis great learning, and purity of conduct* Sect. €.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 2 1 i The circumstance of Pantcenus going to In- dia, &c. as related by Mr. Addison, is found iu Eusebius.* Jerome tells usf in what estimation this vene- rable man was held by the ancient Christians. " Pantsenus .... tantse prudentise et eruditiotiis, ** tam in Scripturis divinis quam' in sa^culari lite- *' ratura fuit, ut &c." — *' PantfEuus, a man " of great wisdom, and learned in the holy ** scriptures as well as in profane literature.'* The sentiments of Alexander bishop of Jerusa- lem were equally to his honour. And Clement of Alexandria, speaking of several illustrious men J whom he had had the good fortune to hear, mentions one in particular, who was indisputa- bly Pantsenus. Having pronounced him a, man of the greatest merit, he proceeds in these terms. ^* After a long search I found him as it were " concealed in Egypt. He was a Sicilian bee " which had sucked the flowers in the Apostoli- " cal meadows, after having already feasted in " the extensive plains of the Prophets. Taught in ** their school, he filled the minds of his auditors '^ with the most authentic information. Those " excellent m,en, from whom he imbibed th^ * E. H. b. V. c. 10. I>e Vir. illus. c. 47. J Stromat. 1. 1. 313 THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes Ui " food of life, had preserved the tradition of the . ^/ Christian doctrine in all its purity. They de- " livered it to him, as they had received it iji im* ^' mediate succession from the holy Apostles St, ^* Peter, St. James, St. John, and from St. Paul, " as children receive it from their parents- " And, by the J)eculiar favour of Providence, ." some of these men, thus receiving it, have " lived even down to our own days, to ingraft *' upon our minds the primitive and apostolical .'* doctrine." Article IV. (f) St Luke begins his gospel with saying; " Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to *' set forth in order a declaration of those things " which are most surely believed among us.** From this it seems that there not only had al- ready appeared some spurious or imperfect gos- pels, as Mr. L'Enfant conjectures, but also some faithful and correct accounts which made it clear that the truth of the facts recorded in our gospels was admitted. We have then a history contemporary with the events, very different from the generality of acknowledged histories, which are written a considerable time after. - Christianity (says Abbe Pluche) enjoys the sin- Sect, 6.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGIONi sir gular privilege of having the history of its rise and progress very circunistantially detailed. We may add that it has another privilege still more rare, that of having four writers of the same history, two of whom had been eye wituesses of every thing which they recorded, and th^ tyro Qthers had a long whilp conversed with tlie Apostles, had been the^r disciple^, a^id usi^cvhy spectators of their ijiiracles. Article v. (g) If in every question of fact, says Eusebius,^ if in every legal process, if in every common dispute, the agreement of evidences is sufficient peremptorily to decide the point in question; who can doubt that the testimony of twelve Apostles, of seventy. Disciples, ^nd of an infinite number of belie vers^ who come forward as witr nesses of the works of Jesus Christ, and whq perfectly agree in their depositions, ought to be regarded as an incontestable proof of th^ truth they maintained; more especially when it is found that their testimony ;viras sealed with tor- ments arid even with d^a^th? (k) Justin Martyr asserts, as we have al- ready noticed, that, about the year of our Lord J 40, the reading of the gospels was generally * Evan. Dera. 1. iii. c. 2. il4 THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes U introduced in the churches as an essential part of divine service. This not only proves the his- tory to have been admitted as true, and the four gospels as authentic, but also that these holy writings were universally respected. By the con- fidence with which Justin refers to, or quotes, these books in his works, we perceive they must have been in every one's hands, and that the Jews and Pagans had alike the means of con- sulting them, and also of attacking them if they had contained any thing contrary to the truth. Article vi. (i) This article is obviously taken from a passage in Tertullian,* which is itself also partly copied from the Acts of the Apostles, f " In " quem enim alium universse gentes crediderunt, ^* nisi in Christum, qui jam venit? Cui enim et " alia? gentes crediderunt, Parthi, Medi, Ela- " mitae, et qui inhabitant Mesopotamiam, Arme- ^' niam, Phrygiam, Cappadociam, et incolentes " Pontum, et Asiam, et Pamphyliam, immo- *^ rantes Egyptum, et regionem Africae qua^ est " trans Cyreneminhabitantes; Romanietincolaj, *** Tunc et in Hi^rusalem Judaei, et cseter® • Adv. Jud. 1. t c. ii. &CC. 6.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 3 1 5, gentes : ut jam Getulorum varietates et Mau* " rorum multi fines, Hispanorum omnes termini, " et Galliamm diverse stationes; et* Britano- " RUM inaccesaRomanis loca, Christo vero " suBDiTA. Et Sarniatorum et Dacorum, et " Germanorum, et Scytharum, et abditamm " multarum gentium, &€.'■ After having thus enumerated many civilized and many barbarous nations, TertuUian calls to our observation, that the kingdom of Jesus Christ was in his time (that is to say, had be- come in the course of two centuries) much more extensive than that of Nebuchodonosor had ever been, or the monarchy of Alexander, or that of the Romans. — And he thus concludes: " Christi autem regnum ubique porrigitur, ubi- " que creditur, ab omnibus gentibus supra enu- " meratis colitur, ubique regnat, ubique adoratur, *' omnibus ubique tribuitur aequaliter." — " The " kingdom of Christ is extended to all lands; " every where he is believed in; every nation *' adores him; he reigns in all places, and is " present alike to all people in the several parts ;•* of the earth." In the multitude said by St. Luke to be wit- nesses of the descent of the Holy Spirit, we find * How applicable, and how encouraging, to the Britons of the present day IT* iU THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes hf some from all the then kno\VTi quarters of the world. From Europe those of Crete, or Candy, and those who can^e from Rome. From Asia (namely the upper) the Parthians, Medes, Ela- mites, or Persiaiis. Those who. dwelt in Meso- potamia, India properly so called, and Arabia. Those of Pontus, Asia called proper, Cappadocia Phrygia and Pamphylia, five provinces of Asia Minor. Lastly from Africa the iahabitants of Egypt, and of the parts of Lybia about Cyrene. Doubtless this number of witnesses, when they returned to theiy respective countries, related the wonders they had seen, and, as was designed by the Almighty, every where prepared the minds of men to receive the preaching of the holy Apostles. Arnobius, after giving a numerous list of kingdoms and provinces through which the Christian Faith was dispersed, sums up the whole in the following sentence.* " Finally, ** from the rising to the setting Sun the doctrine *^ of Jesus Christ makes its progress, and reigns " over Rome, herself the mistress of the world.'* ^ Tlius the mighty works performed by JesuS "in the eyes.of all* thfe people, proclaimed by {* bis heralds throughout the universe, united i^ S<:ct, 6.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. si't " one sentiment nations the most distant, and " of manners the most opposite." — " In insulin •' et provinciis omnibus quas Sol priens et occi- " dens lustrat: ipsam denique apud dominam /' Romam .... Virtutes sub,pcuh§ positse, et in- " audita ilia yis rerum, vel quag ab ipso fiebant " palam vel ab ejus pr^econibus, celebrabatur in *' orbe toto ad unius credulitatis assensum " mente una cpncurrere gentes, etpopulos fecit, *5 et moribus dissimiUimas n-ationes." And else- where he says, " Quinara isti sunt (qui credide- " runt) fortasse qu^eritis! Centes, populi, natio- " jiea, efincredulum illud genus humanum."— 'f. Do you ask, who have believed? The nations,. *j the people, and, notwithstanding their natural " incredulity, all mankind." And who has brought about this astonishing event? a small number of plain and illiterate men, who would have attempted it in vain, if they had not been inspired and supported by a Divine power. " Is it not" says Eusebius,*' '' worthy of our ut- " most attention, that a few people, untaught, " understanding no other language but their * • mother-tongue, should form the extraordinary " design of travelling into all countries — that ** they should carry the name of Jesus Christ * Demonst, Evan(j. 1. lii. c. 2 & 7. 318 THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes (tf *^ over all the world; some to Rome, others to " Persia, others to Armenia, others to the Scy- " thians, to India, to the uttermost parts of the " earth, and beyond the seas? This far surpasses " the utmost stretch of human powers, much *^ more the powers of men so simple and so un- " learned. Not one of these men, by the " threats of torture or of death could be forced " to forsake his associates: not one of them ever " advanced a docttine, contrary to what the " others uniformly preached : in a word, not ** one of them ever recanted and acknowledged " himself and his colleagues to be only a band " of impostors : — nay more, the only one who " abandoned and betrayed his master, brought ** no accusation against him, and, unable to en- " dure the agonies of remorse, became immedi*' " ately his own executioner." Article vii. (k) Ircnasus says:* " Nam etsi in mundo lo- " quelae dissimiles sint, virtus tradition is una ct " eadem est. Et neque hae qua^ in Germanic ** sunt fundatse ecclesiae aliter credunt aut aliter " tradunt: neque h^e quae in Iberissunt, nequc * Adr. Haer. 1. i. c. la Sect. &.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. sit *' hse quse in Celtis, neque hag quse in Oriente^ ** neque h^e quas in Egypto, nequc hae quse in " Lybi^, neque hae quce in medio mundi sunt ** constitutae: sed sicut Sol, creatura Dei, iti uni-* ** verso mundo unus et idem est: sic et lumen, " prsedicatio veritatis, ubique lucet, et illuminat " omnes homines qui volunt ad cognitionem ve- " ritatis venire."-—" Notwithstanding the va- "riety of languages made use of in the world, '* the authority of this sacred history is every " where the same, Tlie churches of Germany " have the same creed wuth that which is found " in those of Spain or France : The churches " planted at the extremities of the East, of " Egypt, of Lybia, receive and announce these " doctrines in the same manner in which they are " received and announced in the centre of , the " world. And as one Sun only, the work of the " great Creator's hand, enlightens this habitable <* globe; so does one splendid and uniform sys- " tern of truth illumine the minds of all, who " are disposed to admit its glorious beams." It may be proper here to notice with Irena^us, a very remarkable circumstance in proof of the authenticity of the gospels,* — the testimony of the heretics themselves, who labour hard to e$* * 1. in* c 2. tdbiish tipon them the Authority of their owxi ddctime. *^Tanta est autcm circa evanoelia *^ ha3c finiiitas, ut et ipsi hceletici testitnonium " rt3f]daH«t» ei^j et e^ ipsis egffedibtis uriusquisque *V^t>furii eoftetWr stfathf c'onifitaalt dbctrinam.'^ ThelJbioiiites aclcnmvledged only St. Matthew's gospd.' The Marcionites a part only of St. Lake's. Those who make a distiiiction between Jfesud and the Christ prefer the gospel of St Mark; and the Valentlnians receive the whole gospel of St. Jolm. Sb thkt wfe fliid advocates^ for tht^ truth of the facts rtcoi'ded, even ariioing titiose who are enemies to the' doctrines* Article ^hi. (I) " There never wa^ ill the world/' say3 Dh Clarke,* " any matter of fact, any history, ** in which such a wonderful confluence of cir- ^' cumstances and sources of credibility unite ; *^ which was supported by so many collateral " proofs, and corroborated by s,b m^ny charac- *^ teristie signs of truth, as are to be found in "the history which the Apostles have left " us ef the life and miracles of Jesus Christ.'* * Exist, and Attrib. of God. Sec, 6.1 THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 321 Article IX. (m) Hegesippus, born a Jew, and converted to Christianity, is the first writer, after the Apostles, who has undertaken a complete his- tory of the church from the period of our Lord's death to his own time, about the close of the second century. This history was divided into five books under the title of 'Troixvivyil^^T^ "^wv E'MXvi(nuc:im^j Upa^sca'jj Memoirs of Ecclesiastical Matters. The simple style of this work de- scribes the character of the persons whose bio- grapher he was, and some things he relates strongly mark his credulity. Fragnients of his work are preserved by Eusebius,* and have been collected and published, with notes by way of illustration, by Father Holloix. Hege- jsippus died at a very advanced age, about the end of M. Aurelius's reign, or the beginning of that of Commodus. His history, though in some instances liable to censure, may be consi- dered on various accounts as exceedingly useful. It was almost contem|)orary with the facts which it relates. Eusebius and Jerome speak of Hege- sippus as an apostolical man, that is, to be reck- 0ned in the first class of the successors of the * E. H. 1. ii. iii. iv. T 322 THE EVIDENCES OF [1^. £o Si:c. e. Apostles. . Witk regard to his account of the martyrdom of St» James, first bishop of Jerusa- lem, recited by Eusebius,* it can only be ranked amongst the legendary tales. When Mr. Addison speaks of the genuine Sibylline oracles, and assigns them an honoura- ble place among tlie records, which were of gr^at use to the primitive Christians, and arc now lost: he appears to stamp a degree of au- thority on these writings to which perhaps they were not en titled, f * E. H. 1. ii. c. 23. t My Audi or here promises a distinct dissertation upon this subject, which was afterwards published. — ' The original books, which were said to have contained these oracles (or prophecias) perished in the flames in the year of Home 671, and eighty-three yfeai's before the birth of pur Lord.-:-For political reasons the Ro- man government collected some imperfect copies, or rather some fragments only of these books, to which in- terpolations wore added by heathens, and afterwards by some over zealous Christians in the first ages of the church. The copy we now'have was unquestionably in a great measure the work of the early part of the second century, and is one proof, amongst many others, of the existence of the gospels at that time. On this subject, see Prideaux's Connect. Part ii. Bookix. T, [ 323 3 SECTION VII. i. The sight of miracles in those ages a further confirmation of Pagan philosophers in the Christian fa ith, II. The credibility of such miracles. III. A particular instance, IV. Mdrtyrdom, why considered as a standing mi" racle. V. Primitive Christians thought many of ths Martyrs xvere supported by a miraculous pozver, VI. Proved from the naturae of their sufferings, VII. How Martyrs further induced the Pagans is embrace Christianity, I. THEIIE were other means, which I find liad a great influence on the learned of the three fest centuries, to create and confirm in them the beUef of our bkssed Saviour's history, which ou^t not to be passed over in silence. Hie first was, the opportunity they enjoyed of ex- amining those miracles, which were on several occasions performed by Christians and appeared in the Church, more or less, during these first 324 THE EVIDENCES OF [Sec. 7. ages of Christianity. These had great weight with the men I am now speaking of, who from learned Pagans, became Fathers of the church; for they frequently boast of them in their wri- tings, as attestations given by God himself to the truth of their religion. II. At the same time that these learned men declare how disingenuous, base, and wicked it would be, how much beneath the dignity of philosophy, and contrary to the precepts of Christianity, to utter falsehoods or forgeries in the support of a cause, though never so just in itself, they confidently assert this miraculous power, which then subsisted in the church, nay, tell us, that they themselves had been eye-wit- nesses of it at several times, and in several in- stances ; nay, appeal to the Heathens themselves for the truth of several facts they relate; nay, challenge them to be present at their assemblies, and satisfy themselves if they doubt of it; nay, we fihd that Pagan authors have in some in- stances confessed this miraculous power. See. 7.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 325 III. The letter of Marcus Aurelius (a), whose army was preserved by a refreshing shower, at the same time that his enemies were discomfited by a storm of hghtning, and which the Heathen historians themselves allow to have been supernatural and the effect of magic (b): I say, this letter, which ascribed this unexpected assistance to the prayers of the Christians, who then served in the army, would have been thought an unquestionable testimony of the miraculous power I am speaking of, had it been still preserved. It is sufficient for me in this place to take notice that this was one of those miracles which had its influence on the learned converts, because it is related by Ter- tulHan (c), and the very letter appealed to. When these learned men saw sickness and frenzy cured, the dead raised, the oracles put to silence, the demons and evil spirits forced tci confess themselves no gods, by persons who only made use of prayer and adjurations in the name of their crucified Saviour; how could they doubt of their Saviour's power on the like occasions, S26 THE EVIDENCES OF [Sec. t as represented to them by the traditions of the <:hurch, and the writings of the Evangelists (d). IV, Under this head, I cannot omit that which appears to me a standing miracle in the three first centuries; I mean that amazing and supernatural courage or patience, which was shewn by innumerable multitudes of martyrs, in those slow and painful torments that were inflicted on them. I cannot conceive a man placed in the burning iron chair at Lyons (e), amid the insults and mockeries of a crowded amphitheatre, and still keeping his seat; or stretched upon a grate of iron, over coals of fire, and breathing out his soul among the ex- quisite sufferings of such a tedious execution, rather than renounce his religion, or blaspheme his Saviour. Such trials seem to me above the strength of human nature, and able to overbear duty, reason, faith, conviction, nay, and the most absolute certainty of a future state. Hu- manity, unassisted in an extraordinary manner, must have shaken off the present pressure, and have delivered itself out of such a dreadful See, T.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 327 distress, by any means that could have been suggested to it. We can easily imagine^ that many persons, in so good a cause, might have laid down their lives at the gibbet, the stak«, or the block : but to expire leisurely among the most exquisite tortures, when they might come out of them, even by a mental reservation, or an hypocrisy which was not without a possibi- lity of being followed by repentance and for- giveness, has something in it, so far beyond the force and natural strength of mortals, that one cannot but think there was some miraculous power to support the sufferer (/}. V. We find the church of Smyrna, in that admirable letter (g)^ which gives an account of the death of Polycarp, their beloved bishop, mentioning the cruel torments of other early martyrs for Christianity, are of opinion, that our Saviour stood by them in a vision, and per- sonally conversed with them, to give them strength and comfort during the bitterness of their long continued agonies; and we have the story of a young man, who having suffered 528 THE EVIDENCES OF [ Sect. 7. many tortures, escaped with life, and told his fellow Christians, that the pam of them had been rendered tolerable, by the presence of an angel that stood by him, and wiped off the tears and sweat, which ran down his face whilst he lay under his sufferings. We are assured at least that the first martyr for Christianity was encouraged in his last moments by a vision of that Divine Person, for whom he suffered, and into whose presence he was then hastening (h), VL Let any man calmly lay his hand upon his heart, and after reading these terrible con- flicts, in which the ancient njartyrs and confes- sors were engaged, when they passed through such new inventions and varieties of pain, as tired their tormentors ; and ask himself, how- ever zealous and sincere he is in his religion, whether, under such acute and lingering tor- tures, he could still have held fast hivs integrity, and have professed his faith to the last, with- out a supernatural assistance of some kind or other. For my part, when I consider that it was not an unaccountable obstinacy in a single Sec. 7.J THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 329 man, or in any particular set of men, in some extraordinary juncture; but that there were multitudes of each sex, of every age, of different countries and conditions, who, for near 300 years together, made this glorious confession of their faith, in the midst of tortures, and in the hour of death (i)', I must conclude, that they were either of another make, than men are at present, or that they had such miraculous supports as were peculiar to those times of Christianity, when without them perhaps the very name of it might have been extinguished, VII. It is certain, that the deaths and suf- ferings of the primitive Christians had a great share in thq conversion of those learned Pagans, who lived in the ages of persecution, which, with some intervals and abatements, lasted near 30Q years after our Saviour. Justin Martyr (k), Tertullian (I), Lactantius (m), Arnobius (n), and others, tell us, that this first of all alarmed their curiosity, roused their attention, and made them seriously inquisitive into the nature of that religion, which could endue the mind with SSO THE EVIDENCES OF [Sec. 7. so much strength, and overcome the fear of death, nay raise an earnest desire of it (oX though it appeared in all its terrors. This they found had not heen effected by all the doctrines of those philosophers, whom they had thorbughly studied, and wlio had been labouring at this great point. The sight of these dying and tor- mented martyrs engaged them to search into the history and doctrines of him for whom they suffered. The more they searched, the more they were convinced; till their conviction grew so strong, that they themselves embraced the same truths, and either actually laid down their lives, or were always in a readiness to do it, ra- ther than depart from them (p). Sect. 7.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 33 1 NOTES TO SECTION VII, Article iir. (a) Marcus Aurelius in the war he had with the Sarmatians, a people of . Germany, * found his army miserably perishing in conse- quence of the scorching heat of the season, and a general drought through the countrj^ Never were the troops of the empire in a more perilous state. On a sudden however through the prayers of a legion consisting entirely of Christians, (the greater part of whom came fjom Melitina in Armenia) a providential change took place, the clouds opened, torrents of rain descended, and the soldiers, half dead with thirst, revived. In the m^ean time the lightning made great havoc among the enemy, whilst it left the camp of the Romans uninjured, and secured to them a complete victory. This circumstance, is related by Dion Cassius, Julius Capitolinus, Themistius, Claudian, and by many other Heathen historians. Eusebius, Orosius, Paulus Diaconus, * Bohemians. 532 THE EVIDENCES OF [mtes /* Nicephorus, and all the Christian historians have inserted it in their records, and a multitude of eminent authors and fathers of the church have veiy confidently quoted the accounts given of this extraordinary event. But of ail the testi- monies that of the emperor Marcus Aurelius would be without dispute the clearest, if it was well estabHshed. We are told that this illustri- ous and accjomplished prince, was an eye-witness of the miracle; that he expressly certified it to the senate in an official letter, and acknowledged that his miraculous victory was owing to the prayers of the Christian soldiers. Surely this is a glorious evidence in behalf of Christianity, and would, if established, take place of every other proof of the fact in question. We must perceive at the first glance, that it is more than probable the emperor wrote to the senate an account of a victory, as complete as it was memorable: but we are not left to con- jecture only. The letter itself is cited by Christian writers: Jerome, in his translation of the Chronicon of Eusebius, says he had read it : and, what is even stronger than this, the holy and learned bishop Apollinaris alludes to it in 341 apology addressed tQ Marcus Aurelius, who iSec. 7.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 338 had written it. Apollinaris is cited by Eusebius liimself in his Ecclesiastical History. * To these may be added the evidence of Ter- tullian, which we shall presently examine, and no doubt will remain of the letter having been written, and admitted in his time as an authentic composition. (b) As Mr. Addison says, the Heathen his- torians allow this event to have been superna- tural, hut call it the effect of magic: let us enquire into the substance of their testimonies. Dion, the Greek Livy of the Romans, relate* this event in his historyf with all the circum- stances, and considers it as altogether miracu- lous. He says To Qsiov elsau^re, " a Deity saved them" (the Romans) — and elsewhere, " that it " was marvellously and divinely done." He could not but tliink it so when he asserts, that, in the same place and at the same time, water and fire were seen to descend from heaven : that one army was refreshed and preserved, whilst the other was burnt and destroyed. He does, not indeed mention the Christians: but he declares this happened of God, " irxpa ess -J' though he after- wards robs this testimony of all its excellence, ;ind, either from aversion to the Christians, or the * B. V. c. 5. + Rom. Hibt. 1. 7. 334 THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes te natural bent of his prepossessions, attributes this prodigy to some magicians, particularly to one Arnuphis, a celebrated magician of Egypt, who by his spells obtained this succour from the powers of the air, and thus saved the Roman army. Such was the opinion of Lampridius, who ascribes this miracle to some enchanters whom he styles Chaldeans; and Suidas gives the honour of it to Julian, a notorious impostor of Chaldea. It is well known to have been the practice of the Idolaters to impute magic to the Christians, on account of the. miraculous power they occasionally displayed: and that the Pa- gans almost always confounded the Chaldeans with the Jews, and made no distinction between the latter and the Christians : so that ascribing the glory of this miracle to the Chaldeans, was indirectly ascribing it to the Christians. There is however no necessity for taking advantage of this idea: the only use we wish to make of Dion s account is as a proof of the reality of the prodigy in question. ' Julius Capitolinus is one of those historians, of whom there is hardly any difference of opinion among the most celebrated critics. The greater part speak -with disgust of their style, but all Sec, 7,1 THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. ^^^ ^^S>X agree in praising their candour and sincerityfc^5;g|iri_ Erasmus tells us,* " In his vix est quod probes, " praster historias fidem." — ** There is scarcely any " thing to be commended in their writings but ** the fideUty of the narrative." It is in this re- spect only that we are at all concerned with the character of the historian we are speaking o£ He wrote, in the reign of Dioclesiau, the lives of thirteen emperors of the second and third century : In the life of Marcus Aurelius he re* lates the miraculous event which saved his army in concise and correct terms. ^' Fulmen ** de caslo preqibus suis contra hostium machi- ** namentum extorsit, suis pluvia impetrata, ** cum siti laborarent." — " The Roman army (he " tells us) being oppressed with thirst, thi$ •^ prince, by the earnestness of his prayers, ex* *' torted rain from heaven for liis own soldiers, *' and fire against his enemies; so that all their " projects and contrivances were frustrated. ' From this account it is manifest that tlie writer was one of the admirers of Marcus Aurelius, and meant to pay a high compliment to his piety and virtue. The following is the prayer said to have been offered by the emperor with uplifted hands* " Lord, who gives! lite, I im- * In Ciceron. f Vie de M. A. par Dacicr. 3^6 THE EVIDENCES OF [JVotes t9 " plore thy succour, and I lift up unto thee these ^' unstained hands which never have shed one " drop of human hlood ! " Some have asserted that on this occasion the emperor employed Arnuphis who was with him: hut those who said this, forgot the contempt in which this prince professed to hold all enchanters.* " I have " learned," says he, ^' from Diognetus, not to seek " amusement in such vain and silly things, not to " give credit to quacks and jugglers, not to place *' the least confidence in any thing that is said " r.bout the conjurations of demons, and all other " tricks of the same kind." We cannot possibly then attribute the origin of this report to Marcus Aurelius, or the circulation of it to any weak credulity on his part. Neither can we suspect him of being more inclined to give the honour of so marvellous a work to the magicians, than to favour a religion which estabHshcd itself upon miracles. — In this case too, let us rest satisfied for the present with the important evidence of Capitolinus as to the fact. His account exactly coincides with that given by the Christians, though his religion did not allow him to ascribe the miracle to their supplications. Claudian, a Latin poet of the fourth century, a Pagan, has left us a very lively dei^cription o\_ * Mor. Reflex. M. A. Sec, 7.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 337 this famous battle,* in which the Heavens were the conquerors, seeing (as himself tells us) that human valour and courage had no share in the business. It was the poet's intention to oiFer a delicate panegyric to the emperor Honorius, by- comparing him with Marcus Aurelius, and taking from the latter the honour of a victory which was not his own. He speaks of " a torrent of ** fire from Heaven which destroyed the enemy, " melted their helmets, their swords, and their *' spears : of an army utterly annihilated without " being attacked." — All this was evidently the work of Heaven, and Claudian not being able, consistently with his principles, to give the honour of it to Christianity, was obliged to im- pute it to magic, or the interposition of the gods at the request of the virtuous emperor. . • . . *' Chaldaa Mago seu carmina ritu ** Armavere deos; seu (quod reor) omne tonautis ** Ohsequium Marci mores potuere mereri." The poet thus concludes his narrative and hi§ conjectures. Such is the testimony of a Heathen who has been called the last of the ancient poets, but who for the sweetness and beauty of his compositions, deserves to be ranked as the first of the moderns* * VI. Consulat. Honor. 7. »S8 THE EVIDENCES OF [Noies h Themlstius a Greek philosopher, preceptor to Arcadius son of Theodosius the great, was emi- nent for his extensive erudition, and still more 90 for his spirit of toleration. This philosopher gives ns an additional authority upon this sub- ject well deserving our notice In one of his speeclies in the emperor's presence,* he main- tains " that the virtue and piety of princes are the surest safeguards of a state : "' and, in proof of his assertion, he instances the miraculous deli- verance obtained from Heaven by the prayers of Marcus Aurelius. To render the fact indispu- table, he affirms that he had seen a picture, in one part of which was the emperor with his hands lifted up towards heavTu, and, in another, his soldiers greedily catching in their helmets the miraculous shower which came so season- ably to their succour, when they were almost expiring with thirst. As it appears that this picture was no other than the bas-relief of the pillar of Antoninus, which Themistius had seen at Rome, we are conducted at once to the evi- dence to be derived from this Pagan monument. Tliis famous column was erected by the senate, in honour of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, soon after his wonderful victory over the Sarmatians. Orat. XV. Sec. 7.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 339 It is a splendid nionument of the grandeur of ancient Rome. The materials, the workman- ship, and the prodigious height, being 175 feet^ (185 English) have excited the attention and admiration of travellers. It has a beautiful spiral stair-case within, consisting of 206 steps, which is enriched on both sides with some in- comparably ingenious bas-reliefs, representing the various exploits of the emperor we are speaking of And here is found an admirable representation of the prodigy under our con- sideration, of which the Cardinal Baronius caused an engraving to be made, and placed in the first volume of his annals. On the one hand are to be seen the Roman troops fighting sword in hand with the Barbarians, and at the same time catching the rain in their hel- mets; on the other, the enemy appear laid pros- trate by a violent storm of thunder and lightning. Above the two armies is the figure of a man with a long beard, and his arms extended, flying in the air : the learned are of opinion that the figure was intended to represent Jupiter Pluvius, this was one of the titles given to him by the Greeks and Romans. And of this Jupiter Tibul- |Us speaks,* " Arida. nee Pluvio supplicat herba Jovi." * Elegia vii. 340 THE EVIDENCES OF - \Notes ^ This record of Stone, like those beforemen- tioned, proves the fact to be miraculous, though ft does not give the honour to Cliristianity. It is even a direct contradiction to the supposed letter of M. Aurelius. To this we may answer, that the objection is of no weight against those who give up the letter; and, for the rest, is it indeed reasonable to expect that heathen histo- rians, philosophers, poets, and sculptors should pay more regard to, what they called, a mis- chievous superstition, than to one of their own gods, or to a favourite emperor? How could they acknowledge the truth which led directly to the ruin of their own ancient worship? Tertullian* however makes it a subject of re- proach to the heathens, that Jupiter should have the honour of effecting a deliverance, which the Christians had obtained. " Cum misericor- " diam extorserimus, Jupiter honoratlir." This reproach is to us an evidence of great weight; for it was addressed to the Roman Senate twenty- jdve years only after the event. Mr. Addison, in the account of his travels^ considers the column of Antoninus as affording the strongest possible proof upon the subject of the Christian legion,-)- and speaks of having seea * Ad Scapuh c, 4. t ^to, vol. iy.^ of his works. Sec. 7.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 841 a medal which is thought to relate to the same history. The emperor is represented under the title of Germanicus: on the reverse is a hand holding lightning: according to the expression used by Capitolinus; " fulmen de coclo precibus suis extorsit." (c) Tertullian, adclressing himself to Scapula the Proconsul of Africa, sini])ly states that in the German war, Marcus Aurelius obtained an abundance of rain to allav the thirst of his people, in consequence of the prayers of the Christian soldiers; "Marcus quoque Au- ** relius in Germanica expeditione Christianorum " militum orationibus ad Deifrn factis, imbres in " siti ilia impetravit.'* And he introduces the re- proach already noticed, in his intreaty to the Proconsul to put a stop to the persecution against the Christians, in consideration of the miracle I leaven had performed for their sakes. The same lather in his apology* holds this language. " We account it an honour to have had for our '* enemies a Nero and a Domitian, to have been '* condemned by those whom ye condemn. Of " so many other princes acquainted with divine " and human laws, name one who declared him- " self against the Christians : on the contrary I '** w^ill point out to you one who became our * c. 5. 342 THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes th "protector; and, for your conviction, ye have *' only to read the letter from Marcus Aurelius, " in which he bears witness to the efficacy of *' the prayers of the Christian soldiers who were " in his army in Germany.'' — "Cgeterum de tot " exinde piincipibus ad hodiernum, Divinum hu- " manumque sapientibus, edite aliquem debella- ^' torumChristianorum. Atnosecontrarioedimus " protectorem, si LiTERiEM. AuRELiigravissimi " imperatoris requirantur, quibus illam Germani- " cam sitim, Christianorum forte militum Pre- •"CATIONIBUS IMPETRATO IMBRE disCUSSam, " contestatur." Tertullian also instances a no- ble act ofjustice and moderation in the emperor, by which he evinl:ed his own complete convic- tion, and signified his acknowledginent to the Christians. I mean that solemn edict which con- demned their false accusers to death.'^ Father Colonia, in his quotation of the above passage, * It is very remarkable, and Tertullian himself makes the observation in another part of his apology, that there was no Roman law or express edict against ^the Christians. " Quaies truces leges istse ? ** Quas Trajanus ex parte frustratus est vetando in- quiri Christianos: Quas nulius Adrianus, quanquam curiositatum omnium explorator. NuUus Vespasi- anus, quanquam Jud'a^orum debellator. NuUus Pius, Dullus Verus impressit, &c. &c." Stc, 1,] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 34^ from Tertullian, omits the wovd forte (perhaps), why he should do this I know not, unless it be from an apprehension that the shght corrective miglit weaken the force of the testimony, and reduce it to an uncertainty: but besides the merit of candour, the confidence which it en- gages, and the obhgation which it imposes, more especially in subjects of such great importance. Father Colonia should take into his considera- tion, that it is not the apologist for Christianity who is speaking, and who hesitates in liis nar rative: it is Marcus Aurelius, in a letter of which Tertullian borrows the terms, and of which it is evident the word forte made a part. " Quibus (Uteris M. Aurelii) illam Gcrmanicam '^ sitim Christianorum forte, militum precati- ** onibus impetrato imbre discussam contestatur." " In which letters Marcus Aurelius asserts, that " the thirst of his army in Germany was quench- *^ ed by a seasonable rain obtained perhaps ]>y *' the prayers of the Christian soldiers." We must confess that this was the utmost to be ex- pected from a heathen prince: and that this perhaps was from him a very strong word ; * be- cause it very evidently shows that he considered the miraculous effect of the prayers of the Christian soldiers as very probable. The hesi- tation (says Abbe Houtevilie'^) seemed to be no * Tom. i. p. 16P. 344 THE EVIDENCES OF iNotes t9 moreHhan a sort of respect for the prevailing idolatry. He did not presume, by giving his own decided opinion, indirectly to attack that of the prejudiced. But in his letter his senti- ments are sufficiently evident, for he there in a manner takes the part of the Christians, and he there condemns their accusers to capital punish- ment : and this decree was in force in the reign of Commodus, as we are told by Eusebiusr, and (according to Ulpian)* in the time of Veruii and Antoninus. "Eis qui Judaicam (id est *' Christianam) superstitionem sequuntur, divi " Verus et Antoninus honores adipisci peimise- " runt ; sed et necessitates eis imposuerunt quae " superstitiones eorum non la3derent.'* That is to say, *' Permission was granted to the *' Christians to hold public offices, but undei* " certain restrictions that they should not dis- ** turb the established religion." Such at least was the construction put upon this decree by Alciat, and Houteville has adopted it. This learned man thought that by " Judaica super- " stitio" was meant the Christian religion, and, that the privilege granted by the decree was the natural consequence of the miraculous rain ob- tained by the Christians, and a kind of acknow- * L. 3. in fine D. , Sec, 7.3 THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 345 ledgment from Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, and Lucius Verus, known by tlie title of " Divi " Fratres," to whom he ascribed it. But there are some very strong grounds, or, to speak more positively, there are indispensable reasons for be- lieving that the decree was not issued by these two princes: for all their edicts preceded this miraculous event four or five years ; besides that in some excellent MSS we read Se verus and Antoninus, which must mean Antoninus Cara- calla, the son of Severus. On this point we may refer to Witsius in his treatise upon the thun- dering legion, and to Balduin in his commentary upon the edicts of the Roman emperors relating to the Christians. This learned law3Tr reads also " Divi Severus et Antoninus," and com- pletely proves that by " Judaica Superstitio" we are in this place to understand only the Jewish religion, since Modestinus, in his lifteenth chapter of exemptions, expressly reports this rescript to the Jews; and in the third book of Pandects w6 find a passage in which the decree of Severus and Antoninus, permitting the Jews to hold offices in the state, is highly commended. It is conjectured that Ulpian recited it in order to mortify the Cliristians, to whom he was a sworn enemy; imitating in this respect the emperor $4C THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes U Julian, who exhibited no marks of favour to the Jews except from hatred to Christianity; at the same time not daring openly to avow his ani- mosity because of the countenance Severus had shown them. Accordingly the passage in Ui- pian should be inteipretcd in this manner. *• Severus and Antoninus granted to those, who ** were tainted with tlie Jewish superstition, the *' privilege of holding some public offices, but " under certain restrictions." Let us go back for a moment to the passage in Tertullian to make one observation upon this point; I mean the air of uncertainty which has given the alarm to the zeal of the learned Jesuit (Colonia). (The wordfor^e which h.e has left out, in quoting the passage, as dangerous to the cause he defended, is possibly one of the strongest indication^ of the reality of Marcus Aureliu^'s letter. This symptom of doubt transcribed by Tertullian, jjhows not only the impartiality of his own re- cital, but the most probable style imaginable of a heathen piince. This word would not have escaped from a man who had the least wish to (deceive : nor would it have been introduced by Tertullian if it had not been in the original Jetter. Jjcsides, nothing proves and establishes the iiict more positively that in Tertullian 's time Sec. 7.j THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 341 this prince's original letter was extant, than the words he himself gives us in the passage. " Si " litene M. Aurelii gravissinii iniperatoris requi- " rantur," that " if the letter from Marcus Au- " relius is enquired for and read^ it will be *' found to contain an acknowledgment of the " fact I am asserting." This is as explicit as the words of P. Orosius.* ^' Extant etiam nunc " apud plerosque litera3 iniperatoris Antonini, " ubi invocatione nominis Clnisti per milites " Christianos, et sitim illam depulsam, et col- " latam fatetur fuisse victoriam." Surely it cannot be imagined that TertuUian at a time so near to the event, and speaking, as we may say, to tlie whole empire, in his address to the august senate of Rome, would have dared to have appealed .to a counterfeit letter as one that had been written to that very senate: considering that, as only twenty-five years had elapsed, there might still have been many in the senate who were present when it was received, and who would all have been able to detect any forgery or even any alte- ration of expressions, which the apologist might have attempted in order to carry his point. But supposing that TertuUian had in his hands the letter of ]\I. Aurelius, or that it was then among * Hist. 1. 7. c. 15. i4i THE EVIDENCES OF [I^^otesnf the Roman archites, and possibly even in tli^ cabinets of many individuals, can we boast of still having it, and of that, which is found at the end of Justin Martyr's apology, being a faithful copy of the original? The learned lawyer fialduin appears not to doubt it, and to have found the manuscript accidentally affixed to Justin's works, and, although in some parts im- perfect, very entire as to the fact under conside- ration. " Equidem lias ego literas diu requisivi *^ quas Christian! nominis hostes olim supprimere ** voluisse videntur : tandemque eas Graece scrip- ** tas reperi, casu quodam assutas operibus Jus- ^* tini : nonnullis c€rte locis mutilas atque men- * dosas, sed in eo, quod nunc prjccipue quaerimus, ** integras." I^t us not however be much hurt to confess that the real letter no longer exists. That which we have is the work of false zeal, and has been forged like those medals, which were coined expressly for the purpose of filling up in the se- ries the chasm occasioned by the loss of on^ medal only. If Banmius, Godeau, and some Others of the learned admitted it, Scaligcr, Sau- maise, Casaubon, De Valois, Colonia, Huet, with a number of other learned men of the first rank, form a very powerful counterpoise to theif Stc, 7.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 34» opinion, not only by the authority which is ck- ri\'ed from extensive erudition, but still much more by the weight of the reasons they produce for rejecting it : so that we are surprised to find in such an age of criticism, and in a work iu other respects so excellent as that of Houtevilk, the spurious letter inserted at length* as an un- exceptionable record. The mere reading it with attention will convince us, both from the matter and manner of it, that it belongs neither to the prince nor to the age to which it is attributed^ Though it is more than probable, or even as it were demonstrated that M. Aurelius wrote to the senate, according to custom, and gave an ac- count of this remarkable fact: there is no less j^eason to suppose that the Heathens suppressed the letter as far as they had it in their power^ and that the Barbarians in the fifth century com- pletely involved in their dreadful ravages the few correct copies of it that were remaining. Tradition and the works of the apologists have transmitted the remembrance of it: Imitation and an inconsiderate zeal did the rest. The case is the same as that of Pontius Pilate's letter an4 of his account to Tiberius. • After having disposed of this spurious letter, mx may also dismiss the famous, but very unpro- * Tom. 1. p. 167. S5b THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes fa fitable altercation, about the tliunclcrin«: leo-ion. Witsius has written a treatise entirely and ex- pressly for the purpose of confirming the truth of this story. Other learned men have wasted a great deal of time in attacking or defending it: but nothing is at the bottom of less concern to the cause of Christianity than that there wa* then in tlie afmy of M. Aurelius, one entire le- gion of Christians. The grand point is that the succour it received was miraculous, and that this miracle took place in consequence, and as a very probable effect of the prayers of the Chris- tian soldiers, for so it indisputably appeared to be. We cannot entertain a doubt when we find Tertullian declaring, * " Hestemi sumus, et ves- " tra omnia implevinms, urbes, insulas, castella, " municipia, conciHabula, Castra ipsa." — "We " are but of yesterday, and have taken posses- *' sion of all your departments, your cities, your ** islands, your castles, your corporate towns, *^ your places of assembly, your very Camps." * But, says Mr. IMillar, f we ought not to expect the Heathens to speak very candidly in commen- dation of a fact so favourable to Christianity; and, he adds '^ I a,ih not able to discover how * Apol.c. 38. t Hist, of the Propag. of Clirut. c, iri. Sec. 7.] T>IE CHTIISTIAN RELIGION. S51 '"' any Clirlstiaii, who believes that Elias obtained ** rain from Heaven b\' his prayers, and that Ged '' hears the supphcations of his people, cau ** doubt that this same God hath heard in a very " signal manner a multitude of Christians when " it could advance his own glory, and the good ** of his Church." Basnage then seems to go too far, when he treats as fabulous, the supposed miracle attri- buted to the Thundering Legion, unless his sus- picions apply to the legion itself; just as when he takes for granted that the letter of M, Aure- lius was a forgery, unless he means by that, the letter we have at this day at the end of Justin's works. He grants however in the first place, that this prince s army was relieved and refreshed by a very seasonable shower; and, in the second place, that this happened probably through the prayers of the Christians, who were at that time in the army of the emperor: but he denies that there was in that army any entire Christian le- gion, as is pretended. Thomasius,* although a very correct and dis- criminating critic, confines himself to conside- ring this circumstance as fabulous; and sup- pressing this, it must be allowed that enough * Cautelae. circa, H. E. Ssec. 11. T52 THE EVID!5:NCES OF {KoUs U will still remain to prove the visible and mira- c»lous protection which God vouchsafed to the Christians: in the same manner as the superna- tural power of the name of Jesus appeared when it was invoked in the primitive times. Upon this head I shall conclude \vith the sen- timents of Mosheim, who has displayed the ut- most erudition and wisdom in treating of eccle- fiastical subjects. * ^* This remarkable event (which gave to the " Christians, to whom it was attributed, the " name of the Thundering Legion, on account of " the thunder and lightning that destroyed the " enemy, while the shower revived the fainting " Romans) has been mentioned by many writers. " But whether it was really miraculous or not, " has been much disputed among learned men. " Let us distinguish what is doubtful in this " stoiy, from that which is certain. It is cer- " tain that the Roman army, enclosed by the •^ enemy, and reduced to the most deplorable *^ and even desperate condition by the thirst ** under which they languished in a parched de- ^' sert, was revived by a sudden and unexpected " rain. It is also certain that both the Heathens '^ and the Christians looked upon this event a» * E. H, Cent. IL Part L Sect. 7.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 353 "extraordinary and miraculous: the former at- ** tributing it to Jupiter, the latter to Christ, " interposing, thus unexpectedly, in conse- " quence of their prayers. It is still further *' beyond all doubt, that a considerable *' number of Christians served, at this time, in " the Roman army; and it is extremely proba- ** hie that in such trying circumstances of cala* " mity and distress, they implored the merciful *' interposition of their God and Saviour. And " as the Christians of these times looked upon all " extraordinary events as miracles, and ascribed ^' to their prayers all the uncommon and singu- *' lar occurrences of an advantageous nature that ** happened to the Roman empire, it will not *' appear surprising, that, upon the present oc- " casion, they attributed the deliverance ** of Antoninus and his anny to a miracu- •' lous interposition which they had obtained ** from above. But, on the other hand, it ^ must be carefully observed, that it is an in- ** variable maxim, universally adopted by the ** wise and judicious, that no events are to be " esteemed miraculous, which may be rationally *' attributed to natural causes, and accounted for '* by a recourse to the ordinary dispensations of ** Providence; and aa the unexpected shower, ^* which restored the expiring force of the Ro A A 354 ' THE EVIDENCES OF [mtes fo *■ mans, may be easily explained without rising "beyond the usual and ordinary course of na^ " ture, the conclusion is manifest; nor can it be " cloubtfvd in what light we are to consider that " remarkable event." (d) When ]\Ir. Addison speaks of miracles performed by invoking the name of Jesus Christ,' such as the cure of sickness and frenzy, the dead raised, the silence imposed upon evil spi- rits and 05'icles, and all this under the eyes of the learned Pagans; he does not inform us of the period to which the enjoyment of such great helps was limited, nor do I apprehend it will be an easy task to ascertain what was the last ef- fect Qf this extraordinary power : but we may' rest assured that these extraordinary ^means' were authorized by God as long as they wer6' necessary for the building up and establishing;' the Church, and for rendering those, who laid* the foundation of it, capable of demonstrating that they did so under the direction of the Al- mighty. These mighty works must have been seen in many places by an inlinite number of people, of all ages, of both sexes, and in all situ- ations; by nations of tempers far difi'erent, and' even by several generations, that every doubt' might be entirely removed, which the apparent' Sect. 7.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, hs uniformity of characters and tempers, the dispo- sition of a single age or a single nation, might be able to excite. It seems evident that the Divine wisdom provided succours of this kind, even beyond the term which the mostmisffivins: mind could possibly require; and there is eveiy reason to believe that the Christians, who were ordained to diffuse the knowledge of the Gos- pel, had the power of working miracles; and ac- cording to the opinions of Irena^us, Tertullian, Origen and others, this power was continued till the end of the second, or the beginning of the third, century. Irenicus, who lived to the year of our Lord 202, makes the following assertion* ** The " Christians, the true Disciples of Jesus, were *' by his grace, capable of conferring great '* benefits upon mankind, according to the " gifts they had severally received: somei ** cast out unclean spirits, and those, who " were delivered from them, immediately joined *^ themselves to the Church: Others had reve- " lations and the gift of prophecy : others by *^ the laying on of hands restored the sick to per- " feet heal til : othiers i'aised the dead who re-f " mained with us many years afterwards. But *' I know not how to recount all the gifts and * Adv. HiKres. 1. i;. c. 32. A A 2 35« THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes H " benefits which God vouchsafes to the Church, ** and through that to all the world; and this " by calling only upon the name of the crucified *^ Jesus. For it is not by the invocation of " angels, it is not by charms and sorcery, or by " any curious ai*t, but by the purest and simplest *' mode that all these things are done. It is by " the prayers alone of the Christians oifered up *' to God, in the name and through the might '^ of Jesus Christ, that every thing is done for " the advantage, not for the prejudice of man." Eusebius relates these miracles as facts of which no one was ignorant, or had the least doubt. It is true that the credulity of this writer is often made an objection to his testimony. It is likewise added, that when Irenasus speaks of devils being cast out, or of the sick being healed, he speaks in the present tense, ixuvvscriv, Iuvtxi ; but when he mentions the dead being raised, he makes use of the aorist, viysiiQy^ffttVi iraps^eimv. It is said moreover that the words in which he ex- presses the abode of those, who had been raised from the dead, among the Christians, seem to be copied from Quadratus, who wrote fifty years be- fore. We may compare what Quadratus says, as cited by Eusebius, with what is said by Irenseus.*' * E. H. 1. ir. c. 3. Sec. 'I,] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 357 Another objection is the answer which Theophilus made in the year 168 to Autolicus a neathen, who had said to him " Show me only ^' one man who was raised from the dead, that " I may see him and beheve." Lastly, it W al-" Icgcd that many of the fathers of the church/ such as Clemens Romanus, Athenagoras, Tertuli^* lian, Tatian, Minutius Felix, and others, are en- tirely silent upon this species of miracles. It is to be remarked in reply, that Irenseus does not say the^ Christians of his time had the power of raising the dead, only that some who had been raised were alive in his days. The power of working this sort of miracle might have beei^ confined to the Apostles and Disciples. That the Christians were for a time enabled to per- form miracles of another kind, is not disputed. That many wonderful works should be done by the Christians was thus expressly foretold by our Lord himself* " Many shall say to me in " that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied *' in thy name; and in thy name have cast out " devils ; and in thy name done many wonder- " ful works?" It is indisputable that this pre- diction was completely fulfilled: but how long, * Matt, c, rii. v. 22. S5S ' THE EVIDENCES OF [NvUs iff, tljie miraculous .power v/as enjoyed in the prinii-; niitive church . remahis undecided. Let it be rcmen-ibered however that,; whether this power were more or less limited a3 to .time ji it. by, no. means affects the foundation of Christianity. v. Tliat Jesus Christ and his Disciples performed miracles, is sufficient to giv^ authoauty to, their heavenly missions. Ho\y can we doubt, or, rather, how shall we not be struck with the testimony of so many witnesses, to whose evidence . the, greatest talents in the most enlightened ages have bowed with submission? and indeed what influence short of full conviction, cjould have, procured an universal reception of the miracles^ of a man to all appearance so meanly born, while those that were ascribed to three of the greatest emperors could never gain credit, even with the people who were under their dominion? It may not be improper here to nojLicj ^(:jfne of these pretended miracles. . . ; . The first is that of a cripple said to be cured, by Augustus; this was equally ridiculous \vith. that ascribe^ to, him in his. infancy by Sueto- nius, who says that Augustus* as soon as he. * could speak commanded the frogs in his neigh- bourhood to be silent, and from that time thcv * Aiigst. 9,4. Sec. 7.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGldN. 35^ ceased to croak. " Cum primum fan csepisset *^ in avito suburbano forte ran^s silere jussit, at- *- que ex eo negantur ibi ranag coaxare." The same historian relates that Vespasian* was persuaded to apply his spittle to the eyes of a blind man, and to touch the leg of a cripple: both said they were advised by Serapis in a dream to have recourse to the emperor. Tliey were cured contrary to his expectations, and in the pre- sence of all the people. " Utrumque pro concionc *^ tentavit, nee eventus defuit." It is necessary here to add upon the evidence of Xiphilin,t that this was a contrivance of the inhabitants of Alexandria, who hoped to induce Vespasian by such base flattery to take off their taxes. Adrian is said to have had equal success : but Spartian, J who relates the circumst;*nce, con- fesses it was only a joke to divert thir prince from a gloomy melancholy. The pretended miracles of Apoltonius Tya- neus hardly deserve to be classed with the least probable illusions; Philostratus, his panegyrist thought them well accommodated to the taste of Caracal la. . To these instances may be added the wonderful cures by Esculapius, celebrated, amongst others ^ Vespasian 7* t p. 218. % Vit. Adr. c. 5^» 360 THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes Uk in a Greek inscription which dates them in the reign of the Antonines. Lucian, in one of his dialogues, makes them a subject of ridicule. — In short all these pretended marvels soon fell into thorough contempt; so true is it that good sense and liberality revolt against every thing which would enslave them by such unworthy means. Valerius Maximus,* Quintus Curtius,t and Livy:}: relate prodigies, but do not appear to speak of them with confidence. There is one story which the sceptics are dis- posed to dwell upon, affirming that, as it is re- Corded by a public monument, it is as worthy of credit as any other miracle; or rather as the one in question was a gross deception and yet was honoured with a monument, the same kind of testimony is no proof of the reality of any other. The substance of the story is this.§ Attius Navius the augur, objected to the augmentation of the Roman cavalry being made by Tarquiniua Priscus without consulting the ominous birds. || Tarquin, not nauch disposed to attend to the mi-^ nutiae of his religion, % was angry at this oppo-. sition, and resolved to expose the augur and his * 1. i. c. S. f 1. ix. c. 1. X !• xxiv. c. 10. % Livy L i. c. 36< |1 D. Hal. 1. iii. p. 203. ^ Floras , Stc. 7.j THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 161 art. He (Commanded him to appear in the midst of the forum, and in the presence of all the. people the king said to him, " Diviner, canst " thou discover by thy art, whether what I am. " thinking of can be done, or not? Go and con- " suit thy birds." The augur did as he was or- dered,, and returning quickly, answered, " Yes, *' Tarquin, my art tells me, that what you aro " thinking of may be done." Upon which Tar- quia pulling out a razor from under hi* robe, ^d taking a flint in his hand, replied with a contemptuous smile, '^ I was thinking whether *^ it were possible to cut this flint with this razor, *-' I have taken thee in thy own craft : the in* *^ troducing the gods into thy decisions ig all *^ cheat and imposture. If thou canst perform- *' what is impossible, do." At these words the people laughed, Navius alone discovered no emo- tion. He addressed the king with an air of assurc^nce, and said, " Put the razor to the flint, ** and try; I readily submit to any punishment, ** if what you thought of be not done." The razor passed through the flint with great ease. Hereupon the people gave a great shout, the kings, contempt for the augur turned into admi- ration, and from this time the augural science h^d a higher degree of credit than ever at Rome. 363 THE EVIDENCES OF [Xofesf^ Tarquin afterwards erected a statue of brass to the raemory of Naviiis, in the place called Comkium, where the public assemblies were held; and there it continued till the time of Augustus. The razor and the flint, kept as monuments of the miracle, were deposited near the statue, under an altar, at whicli they swore witnesses, in civil causes. — Such is the story, which some hav^ tlvHight to have had its origin from a concerted juggle between Tarquin and the augur. The reader wiil no d^ib,t think it- strange that an eve-nt related with so many cir- cumstances, repOa'ted by all the writers, of the Roman history, should be a n^ere fabulous in- \5enti0n: and yet this is the judgment which Tully himself formed of it, though he was an awgur. He says to his brother Quintus, " Look " with contempt on the razor and flint of the "famous Attius; when we reason as philoso- " pliers, we ought to lay no stress upon fables."*- Article iv. (■e) Sanctus of Vienna, a deacoia, was ex- posed with Maturus, in the amphitheatre at * The above is not an exact translation from Scig-- .nenx,*b\]t copied in preference from- Hooke's Ron\aR, story, b. i. c. G. T. Sec, f J THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 36^ Lyons,* after many days of torment, sitting in a chair of iron made red hot. This was during- the persecution in the 17th year of Marcus An- toninus, apd in the year of our Lord 177. In-, deed throughout this whole reign the Christians were persecuted in some part or other of the Roman Emperor's dominions. The churches of Vienna and Lyons sent an account of the suifcrings of Sanctus to those in Asia and Phry- gia. One hundred years afterwards it was tran- scribed by Eusebius, and all antiquity received it as, authentic.^ (f) Tiiat the fortitude of the martyrs wa& the work of God's spirit, and the result of con- viction, is proved from this circumstance, that the first proceedings, of the Apostles exhibited no symptoms of such heroism. | At Gethse- niane all the Disciples forsook, and fled from, their Divine Master; St. Peter denied him seve- ral times with an oath. At the prospect of, comparatively, a trifling danger, they basely abandoned and ignominiously renounced the ' Lord of Life. How then could they afterwards venture to preach Hie Gospel among barbarous nations, to meet persecutions, and to defy the. universe in arms against them? They were not, * ^useb. E. H. 1. V. c. 1. f Matth. x^^vi. 56.^ 364 THE EVIDENCES OF [Noics ts hor are inankind in general, of themselves capa* ble of such heroic courage. It was the power of the Ahnighty alone which subdued that strong passion inseparable from our nature, the love' of life, and overcame that ahnos.t invincible ab^ horrence of torments and of death. Wc find ia history that some of tlie primitive Christians were ambitious of martyrdom : surely this could not be from any motive, of vain-glory, for they fell overwhelmed with ignominy and reproach. It was solely the love of truth that excited such strange ambition in their minds, the full con- viction of the miraculous life of Jesus Christ, with the sure and certain hope of an eternal re- wiard. So that when the heathens insulted them, upon the cross or in the flames, as fools ov mad^ men who would only have a painful death for their recompense, one of them answered with a countenance full of joy,* " this is our robe rf ** victory, this is our triumphal chariot that ** carries us up to Heaven!" — " Hcec estpalmata " vestis, tali curru triumphamus." Compare this instance of fortitude with that related of the heathen woman who presented the reeking poniard, which she had plunged into her own breast, to her husband, with these cn^ ^ TertuD. ad Scap. c. 5. ^fc. 7.1 THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. %i3i couraging words : "Paete, non dolet." — " Psetus, ** it does not hurt me." This exploit was soon 4>crformed, and must be allowed, even by a heathen, to be much less praise-worthy than a lingering martyrdom. And, if we look to the motives, what comparison can be formed be- tween a cowardly retreat from the world from dissrust and a want of resolution to bear its sor- rows, and a deliberate submission to the most painful death from unshaken attachment to the truth? It has been judiciously observed,* that if the persecution of the Christians was the ac- complishment of our Lord's prophecy, the cou- rage with which they met their sufferings, was the accomplishment of his promises, and the supernatural effect of his grace. Article v. (g) The account of Polycarp's martyrdom,, written by the church of Smyrna, of which he was bishop, is considered as a very excellent eomposition. t Great part of it is inserted in Eusebius, J and the whole is to be found in the: collection of the apostolical fathers^ and has been published by Usher, Cottelier^andliuinart.: * Jortin. f Lard.iVer. . t E. H. b. It, c. 15. 3156 THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes f^ The British JournaP has giveii us a letter which undertakes to prove that this authentic document has however suffered various inter- polations. (h) It is well known that the first Christian martyr was St. Stephen, f who, when he was on the point of suffering, " saw the glory of Godj "and Jesus standing on the right hand of God." Article VI. (i) That innumerable army of martyrs whose history cannot be disputed, rendered it very unnecessary to the glory of Christianity for the legends to supply us with an additional multitude. Nevertheless, those, who had rather multiply thaii select, thought to do great service to oul* cause by adopting tnc story of the mar- tyrdom of the Theban legion, and thus, at one ati'oke, raising a supply of six tliousand saints. This tlible has found its advocates among the moderns. '\, There is another story of the same marvellous kind of two buffoons, who, pretend- ing on the stage to have turned Christians, actually became so on the spot, and suffered martyrdom, but this fiction has been justly ri- diculed by Dr. Jortin. § * Vol. iii. Art. 2. f Acts vii. 55^ X Tillemoiit and Hicheis. § vol. ii. p. 331. JVr, 7.] THE CillllSTiAN KELlGION. 36*? Article vir. (k) Justin Martyr declares that the patience of the Christians in their torments fie termineU him to adopt the Gospel, He says, *' 1 thought ^* it was Impossible that thesfc people (the Cinis- " tians) should revel in guilt, and abantloil ^* theiYi&elves lo every kind of excess: for it i-s. *^ tlie intel'est of wicked and dissohite men i<^ " avoid death that they may gratify their ])assi- " ons; to dissemble with the ruling {X)wers, and " to do every thing imaginable to present, life.'' And eke where he confesses that while he was a Platonic philosopher, he laughed at the sup- posed folly of the Christians : but that when he saw them embrace death, rather than deny their master, he imamned them to be endued with a spirit more sublime than that of philosophy J since the weakest of the Disciples of Jesus did more for him, than any disciple of the academy had done for Plato. Justin was born at Flavia Neapolis, the anci-- cntSichem, a city of the Samaritans in Palestine. Mis fathers name was Priscus. He felt an early attachment to the truth, and applied him-^ self to philosophy under various masters; tirst ynder a Stoic, then under u Peripatetic, after- wards under a Pythagorean, and lastly under a sen THE EVIDENCES OF [JSTotes ie Abst. 1. 4. t Apud Cyril. 1. 4.5. 400 THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes io^ predictions. Porphyry^* confesses that he had nothing to say in answer to the prophecies of Daniel; and, to elude their irresistible force, he is driven to the poor subterfuge of asserting tliat they were fabricated after the events. Article ii* (h) t St. Peter, St. John, and after them St. Paul, were obliged to appear before the great council of the Jews. St. James and St. Peter were dragged before king Herod. Finally, St. Paul was carried before the governors Gallio, Felix, and Festus, and the eippcror Nero. — Tliis harsh conducts towards the Christians was the more unjust and unexpected, as they themselves upon all occasions professed moderation towards those who differed from them in matters of opinion. Celsus had reproached the Clnistians with being avowed enemies to every other form of religion. In answer to this reproach Origen says J " all those among us who follow the doc- " trine of Jesus, and who endeavour to conform " their thoughts, words, and actions to his pre-* ^* cepts act very differently by their opponents ; * Euseb. Praep. Evang, 1. 10. t Acts. c. iv. xxii. xii. xxvii. xviii, xxiv. xxv# J' Adv. Cels. 1. V, Sect. 8.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 401 ... ...^ being reviled we bless; being persecuted, we " suffer it; being defamed we intreat; never " speaking evil of tbose who differ from us; in- " deed we labour with all our might to bring men *' over to the worship of the one true God, the " creator of the world, and to persuade them to ** conduct themselves in all respects as in his " presence. And when we reflect on these *' words of our Lord : 'l^ " ' Blessed are the meek, ** ' and blessed are the peace makers,' " we do *' not hate even those that corrupt his doctrine, " nor do we load them that are iti error with *' reproaches." (c) The prediction of Jesus Christ that hia Disciples should be persecuted does not at first sight appear to be of su'di a tiature as to evince his omniscience, and his perfect knowledge of futurity; it is theii of no small importance to the «:;ause of Christianify, and to the Divine charac- ter of its author, to show what little prospect there was, at the time, of this prediction being accomplished; how much it was beyond all human penetration to foresee at what moment the heathen powers would take umbrage at the Christian religion; for at the same time must * 1 Cor. iv. t Matth. r. D D 402 THE EVIDENCES OF [mtes U have beeii foreseen the rapidity of its progress, and that the professors of it would every where be of consequence enough, at least as to their numbers, to occasion great uneasiness to those who were anxious to protect the religion al- ready established, and of course to draw down upon that new doctrine, which seemed to sup- plant it, universal persecution. Nothing less than omniscience could foresee all this. How- ever as moderation, equity, and indulgence towards persons of different persuasions, have not hitherto appeared such common virtues, have not been so generally practised as might reasonably be hoped for ; it will doubtless be taken for granted that nothing could be more easily foreseen than the persecution of the Christians, unless we can prove that to the time jof the prophecy being delivered, it had been the uniform system of Jews and Pagans not to per- secute those who professed- strange doctrines. With regard to the Jews this is proved in their conduct towards the Sadducees. This sect rose up about two hundred years before the birth of the IMessiah, and must have been a very dange- rous one, for it utterly subverted the foundation of ali religion. * Josephus tells us that the Sad- "^ Antiq. I. xriii. c. 1. De Bello Jud. c. •. Sec. S.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION; ducees did not believe the immortality of soul, or that God regarded the actions of men. — ^* The holy Scripture represents them as deny- ing the existence of angels or spirits, the resur- rection of the dead, &c. Notwithstanding these abominable notions, we are told by Jose- phus, that so far from being excluded from offices of the greatest importance, they were usually in possession of the highest dignities. — " It is justly a matter of astonishment," says Mi'. Bayle,f "that the Sadducees were Hot " excommunicated, that they should have " been considered as members of the same re- " ligious body with the rest of the Jews, in the " same manner as the Jansenists and Molinista *' are at this day with the rest of the Christians ** of the Romish Communion." Who should have supposed that an almost direct Atheism, which required only an external show of decorum which acknowledged no salutary check of an account hereafter, and consequently delivered over the state, and society in general, to all the fury of the passions; who, I say, could have thought that such a profession would not have * Matth. xxii. 23. Mark xii. IS. Luke xx. 27. Acts xxiii. S. t Diet, au mot. Sadduc. 404 THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes (0 deprived its adherents of every indulgence; and that all the spirit of persecution should, on the other hand, direct its savage ferocity against a rehgion, which had no other tendency but the improvement of mankind, which took for its foundation the ancient Jewish worship, relieved it from an infinite number of burthensome cere- monies, and finally made it perfect? And this re- form was preached in simplicity, and maintained, without violence, by the most splendid miracles, the best calculated to mark the finger of God, and to demonstrate that Jesus, the Author of this religion, was the foretold Messiah, expected at this period, and universally desired. — On the part of the Jews however an odious, unjust, and unnatural persecution rose up. In the year I40, when neither Jews, ipr Christians had any au- thority in the state, it was carried to such ex- tremity that Justin Martyr in his Dialogue with Trypho, upbraids him with joining the rest of his Jewish brethren, as they had no power over the livTs of the Christians, in every malicious contrivance that could do them an injury. H^ particularly specifies that they had sent choseii. men from Jerusalem with instructions to pro- claim to all the world that the Christians were ^ sect of Atheists, guilty of every imaginable Sec, 8.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 405 • crime. The same representation of the in- veterate malice of the Jews is made by Ter- tullian.* Even during the life of Jesus Christ and from the time of his death, caused by their cruel animosity, the disciples were continually the objects of their fury. And while these holy men were persecuted by the Jews they were protected by the heathen rulers. St. Paul preached one year and six months at Corinth, f where the Jews raised a violent persecution against him : Gallio, at that time Proconsul of Achaia, and elder brother of Seneca the philo- sopher, protected him from their rage. At Ephesus,:}: where the Craftsmen interested ia the worship of Diana made an uproar against this Apostle, the Asiatics prevented him from going amongst the people, and the town-clerk re- primanded the tumultuous multitude. When the Jews had laid hold on him at Jerusalem, design- ing to put hmi to death, neither Felix to whom Lysias had sent him, and who had mitigated the severity of his imprisonment, nor Pestus tl e, succeeding governor, would condemn him, not- withstanding the earnest solicitations of the Jews. Festus§ acknowledged to Agrippathat St, * Ad Nat. 1. 1. c. 14. t Acts xviii. % xix. § XXV. 40.5 THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes Paul had done nothing worthy of death, and confessed the unreasonableness of sendii}g a prisoner to the emperor without being able to signify any particular crime laid to his charge. This Apostle was very humanely treated, dupng his voyage^ by Julius the Roman centurion: at Rome he was the only p^iisoner who was allowed to remain under the care of but one soldier; and in that city f " he dwelt two whole years in his *' own hired house, and received all that came " in unto him, preaching the kingdom of God, " and teaching those things which concern the *' Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man " forbidding him." In the moderation observed by the Roman officers towards St. Paul, as well as in the endeavours of Pontius Pilate to save Jesus Christ himself from the fury of the Jews, we perceive how very little the heathens were inclined to persecution. It was more especially the just and judicious maxim of the Roman government, to consider the religion of every nation as inviolably sacred. — ^Livy gives an in- stance of this in the conduct of the Romans towards the city of Anagnia 305 years before the Christian aera. The people had taken arms against Rome: when they were subdued, the * Acts xxvii. f xxviii. % L. ix. c. 43. Stc, 8.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 407 senate took away their privileges, but respected their sacred rites, and granted a special pro- tection to their priests.^ Cicero f among the crimes which he lays to the charge of Verres, particularly reprobates that of not having left the Sicilians a God, upon finding the workmanship (of the image) a little better than ordinary. " Deum denique nullum Siculis " qui ei paulo magis aifabre factus videretur, re- "liquit." And he thus addresses the Romans J t* Medemini religion! sociorum, Judices, conser- " vate vestram. Neque enim hiec externa vobis re- *' ligio, neque aliena; quod si esset, si suscipere " earn noUetis, tamen in eo qui violasset, sancire " vos velle oportet." — " Preserve your own re- *^ ligion but support that of your allies : This of " the Sicilians is not a strange one, and even sup- * A distinction should here be made between the worship or the rites established among- other people (which the maxim of the Romans, or rather the law of nations every where respected) and a new religion which there was a strono' desire to introduce amonof themselves, to the prejudice of that already established and politically considered as part of the constitution of the state : It was under this idea and upon these grounds that the Roman lawyers were always the great- est enemies to Christianity. t In Verrem. % Ibid. 40S THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes tt, " posing that it were, if ye would not wish to " adopt it, ye ought by ail means to bring the " man who violates it to condign punishment.'' Or, as it is strongly expressed in the original, "ye " ought to consecrate it with the blood of the " violater." * Servius remarks that the word " sancire' has this signification. — Among the va- rious kinds of heathen worship, none ditlered more from that of the Romans than the religious ce- remonies of the Egyptians : they were so gross ajjid puerile as to be constantly the object of contempt and ridicule with other people. Juvenal says |' ** Oppida tota canem venerantur, nemo Dianam.'* ** They worship not Diana, but her dog." And Philo tells us that foreigners who tra- velled into Egypt could not bring themselves to comply with their silly extravagancies. Nevertheless this same mode of worship was practised at Rome unmolested, and a long while after the coming of our Saviour and his Dis- ciples. Indeed the Egyptian rites were now and then prohibited in the capital. Augustus did not permit them to be celebrated within 500 paces of the suburbs. J Tiberius ordered * In yEneid xii. 200. f Sat- xv. 8. \ Dion. 1. liv. Sec. 8.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 409 the temple of Isis at Rome to be demolished, and her statue to be thrown into the Tiber; but this was because the priests of that goddess en- couraged debauchery under the pretext of reli- gion, and that even in their temple, in a most in- famous and shocking manner. I^'or the same reason tlie Bacchanalia had been prohibited by the senate 185 years before the Christian eera.* Excepting in some such instances the Egyptian worship with all its absurdities was not only tolerated, but protected, in this enhghtened city, on pain of death to all who interrupted the due celebration of its rites. — The Jews were a people generally held in contempt by others, yet they were indulged with great privileges by Alex- ander and his successors, although with some interruption, both in Syria and in Egypt. And, in imitation of these princes, the Romans con- tinued and enlarged their privileges. — When Flaccus, Praetor of Asia, was summoned to Rome to answer to certain charges of misconduct, Cicero, who pleaded his cause, could not, either by law or precedent, justify his encroachments upon the civil and religious liberty of the Jews. Julius C^sar and the senate published edicts in behalf of the Jews dispersed in Alexandria, * Livy xxxix. 1$. ilO THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes to in Syria, and in Asia; and ordered the magis- trates of the several districts to have them en- graven upon two tablets of brass, one in Greek and the other in Latin, and posted up for public inspection. Josephus* has preserved the de- crees of Delos, of Laodicca, of Pergamos, of Sardis, which were thus drawn up and recorded ; and here we find entire the decree of the senate of Halicarnassus, which sets forth that besides " the sentiments of piety towards God, by " which they have always been actuated, as well " as zeal for the interests of religion ; after the " example of the Roman people, who extend ** their kindness to all the world, and according " to their intentions signified by letter, by " which permission was granted to the Jews to *' enjoy the free exercise of all their sacred rites^ *' of their solemn feasts, and of their religious *^ assemblies; the said senate ordains that the ** Jews, male and female, have authority to " keep their Sabbaths, and to celebrate their *^ sacred rites according to the tenor of their '' own laws; and commands that all per- " sons, whether magistrates or others, found ** guilty of interrupting or obstructing them in *' any manner, do pay a fine into the treasury of * Antiq. xiv, 10. $ec. 8.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 4 1 1 ." the Republrc." — But the Jewish religion was so different from that of all other nations, and the people so inferior in number to the inhabi- tants of the cities in which they sojourned, that they were often exposed to insult; upon all such occasions they applied to the Roman officers to protect them in the enjoyment of those franchi- ses granted them by the statutes. Thus Agrip- pa, the favourite of Augustus, passing through Ionia with Herod the Great, invested with extra- ordinary powers, listened with great kindness to the complaints of the Jews, and confirmed to them their customary rights. — The tribute which they used to send annually from. all parts of the world to the temple of Jerusalem was, for their accommodation, and to obviate diffi- culties which had sometimes occurred, remitted in a manner expressly directed by an edict of Augustus. Josephus '^ infonns us, that no Jew could be cited before any tribunal on the Sabbath day, or on the day before after the ninth hour (three in the afternoon), and that if any one was detected robbing the temple he was punished as having committed sacrilege, and his property confiscated. Augustus continued to them the^same protection * Antiq. 1. xyi. 412 THE EVIDENCES OP [Mtes U throughout his reign: a very extensive quarter was assigned them in the city of Rome beyond the Tiber. There they had their oratories or houses of prayer to which they were at hberty to resort, especially on the Sabbath days; and there they made their collection of First-Fruits which they sent without hindrance to Jerusalem by the officers of their nation. Tiberius treated them in the same manner; and although they were banished from Italy for some time, on account of the bad conduct of some Jews in the capital, this prince showed them favour after the death of Sejanus. Towards the end of his reign, Vitellius, governor of Syria, gave a proof of obliging condescension to this people. Having received orders from the emperor to march with an army against Aretas king of Pctra, and preparing to pass through Judea, he was prevailed upon to take another route upon its being represented to him that the figures on the standards of the legions were repugnant to the Jewish laws. Caligula gave orders to Petronius to have hi» statue erected and worshipped in the temple of Jerusalem: by the prudent management of the governor, and the intercession of Agrippa the Great, this order was not put in execution. Secf.^.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 4iS The Jews asked permission to send an embassy to Rome upon the business.'^' *' Possibly," they said, " we may at least obtain the indulgence ^' of not being treated more cruelly than even " the vilest people whose religion is protected " from insult." And this same Petronius issued, expressly in their favour, a strict order to the city of Doris prohibiting disturbances under any pretence, and^ granting permission to all men to woiship God according to their custom. The emperor Claudius renewed all their privile- ges; and, in an edict much in their favour, he ex- horts them only to avail themselves of it with modesty, without insult or reproach to other nations, contenting themselves with the obser- vance of theii: own law (this alludes principally to the Egyptians, who were more frequently in their way), " It is our pleasure," says the em- peror, " that both in and out of Italy, all kings, " princes, and magistrates, cause this edict to *^ be posted in some public place, where it may *^ easily be read by all people; and this within *' the space of forty days after the present pro- *' clamation.'^ — Claudius gave another proof of moderation by ordering the restitution of the sacerdotal vestments, and of the high priest';^ * Philo de legat. ad Cai. 4t4 THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes iS tiara, of which Herod the Great and his soil "Archelaus had had the care, and in a manner Haken possession. The Roman procurators who succeeded them found these sacred ornaments in the fortress Antonia, and continued to have them in charge, permitting them to be used only at the four great feasts; after which they were all again consigned to the care of the Roman officer. This humiliating circumstance gave great uneasiness to the Jews: at length they prevailed on the emperor Claudius to suffer these things to be under their own care in the temple, and the grant was accompanied with a gracious letter to the senate, and to all the Jewish people, at the conclusion of which he expressed his de- sire " that all men should serve God according /* to the laws of their country." — Nero, witKall Ills cruelty, showed a mark of kindness to the Jews in pardoning their having raised their walls, in order to shut out, from the palace of Agrippa the younger, the view it commanded ot the inner court of the temple where they offered their sacrifices. — History furnishes us with many other examples of the moderation of the pagans in their conduct towahls this people, and even with instances of their receiving singular privi- leges and honours from the Asiatic kings. Sec. 8.3 THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 415 Thus Seleucus Nicanor gave tliem tlie freedom of Antioch, the capital of his kingxlom. They had the same rights of a citizen at Alexandria, and when these cities petitioned Vespasian and his son Titus to deprive them of their privileges, these princes would not consent. But, what is still more surprising, we find the Jews forming a regular assembly with the Archons of the toAvn of Berenice in Africa, and framing public orders, as we learn from a very singular Greek inscription, which the celebrated Marquis Sci- pio Maifei originally published with learned ex- planations, in a work entitled " Scipionis MafFci ** Epistola, in qua tres eximix et nunquam antea " vulgatae inscriptiones exhibentur atque illus- " trantur." — We are also told by Josephus, that the Jews who were settled in Egypt, had gover- nors previous to, and during, the reign of Au- gustus: this great prince was desirous that they fihould be his subjects, but at the same time at liberty to observe their own laws : these magis- trates managed their concerns, decided their dif- rences, and issued their orders, as if they had been the chiefs of a republic* At Alexandria the principal Jewish magistrate was known under the title of " Alabarches," and at An- tioch under that of Archon or "Archonte/' * Antiq. Jud. xiy. et xix. 416 THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes t0 Philo adds that the Jews had a senate at Alex-^ andria consisting of 48 persons, but subject to the jurisdiction of the Roman president, who exercised the power of Hfe and death in the name of the senate and of the emperor. The rest of the history of this people presents nothing but a series of seditions and tumults which finally brought on their ruin. Yet notwith- standing all this, we find no instance in which the noble liberality of the Roman government at all relaxed in its endeavours to preserve in- violate the religion of its subjects of every de- nomination. — Hence it evidently appears that toleration was enjoyed by those branches of pa- ganism which were the farthest removed from the established religion, and also by Judaism though so adverse to every description of the re- ligion of the heathens, and as much in opposition to its interests as the doctrines of Christianity. I might add that the Jews ought to have ex- cited greater aversion than the Christians, be- cause of the rigid observances which the law of Moses imposed upon the former, and the pre- cSVr.8.] THE GHRISTIAN RELIGION. 419 Mr. ShiiJekforcl,^ '^ took particular cognizance of '^ Whatever related to the common weal, and of ^' Gourse^ of ev^ry sort of ^novation in religious " concemls. Before this court St. Paul was " brought, f and here it seems he was interro- " gated respecting his doctrine, as a setter forth " of strange gods." — Indeed, according to Mr. Addison's idea, St. PauFs appearing before Areo- pagus Was only the miraculous result of the pedictioiii h^ might however have alleged a more bbviOus and natural reason; for it was the kw t)f Athens that all who were convicted of introducing the worship of any new deity should be capitally punished. This we learn from Jbsephtis:J heilce arose the attention which this assembly paid to innovations in religious matters, and the power it had of enquiring into them. The Sanhedrim of the Jews exer- cised the same power as the Athenian tribunaij and conferred among themselves what conduct they should observe towards th^ Apostles, in order to check, if possible, the progress of th^ir |)reaching arid of their mighty works. It H worth bur while to remark, as a proof of how liiuch the s^pirit of toleration prevailed in both * Hist, du Monde sacr^ et profane. 1. riii. t Acts xvii. t Contra App. 1. ii. c. S7. E K S 420 THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes t9 these assemblies, that the majority of voices was not in favour of violent measures. In Are- opagus, "* some ridiculed part of St. Paufs dis- course, dtliers said they would hear him again of this matter, so he departed from among them. It is true that this 'sVas having recourse to an expedient' equally innocent and ingenious with that which raised an altar with this inscription, " To THE tjN KNOWN GoD." Thc God whom they ignorantly worshipped was that God whom Paul preached; and the judges, struck with the ingenuity of this apology, or with the excellence of the doctrine, decided nothing against this Apostle. In the Sanhedrim the advice of Ga- maliel,* which was that of prudence and mode- ration, was readily agreed to. " Let these men ^* alone," said this sage counsellor, " for if this "* counsel or this work be of man, it will come to " nought: but if it be of God, ye cannot over- " throw it; lest haply ye be found even to fight " against God." The force of this argument was striking, and " to him ■ they agreed." Nevertheless in some measure 'they gratified their animosity by causing the Apostles to be bieuten, as a punishment either for their depart- ing out of prison, where they had been at first * Acts xvii. t Acts T. Sec. S.l THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION 421 confined, or for having disobeyed the order which the same council had before given them. " Did not we straitly command yon that ye *^ should not teach in this name?" So that if we do not find in these two councils an exact agreement in their conduct, it appears at least that they were guided by the principles of tole- ration. Indeed, if the conduct of these two as- semblies had been otherwise, it could not have weakened the force of our argument; for here the parties persecuted were Christians. — It is proved that many daring sects maintaining opinions destructive to morals and society, spread themselves at pleasure through the world, and that for so doing not one person was per- secuted or even apprehended. Among the Jews we have the instance of the Sadducees, among the Heathens Ave have those of the Epicureans, the Peripatetics, and others. — .Possibly it will be alleged in opposition to Mr. Addison, that in the days of Antiochus Epiphanes the Jews were vio- lently persecuted; but this was in consequence of their natural restlessness; it should be remem- bered too that they had themselves brought to Jerusalem the public exercise of idolatry. Antio- chus attempted to compel all his sulyects tQ adopt his own religion*, and absolutely to * \ MacQftb. «t i. H2 THE EVIDENCES OF [iVW.j7(» abolish the Jewish worship; and in the prose-? cution of his design he was certainly guilty of Gut^ vges, which, notwithstanding the resistance and the provocations he had met with, were not warranted by the practice of the princes of those states in which the Jews resided, and especially that of the Romans. Now it was when thefii^ people (the Romans) had united under their dominion the several states of the world, under a government the most equitable and indulgent ever known among the heathens, that our Lord foretold the persecution of the Christians. This prophecy therefore, could be attributed only to a Divine and miraculous foreknowledge, and thjs it was my design to prove. — Finally, while we adr mit that human reason could not foresee that the religion would be generally persecuted, it must nevertheless be granted that as soon as the pa- g-an rulers found ChristiaHity exalting itaelt against the established religion, which they pro- tected, as forming pait of the constitution of the state, it was very natural for them to be severe against this new doctrine. And when the priests, more especially, who had always had considerable influence, and who. were so inter rested in keeping up the superstitious worship, perceived that their own ruin would be involved in its fall, they were exceedingly alaimed upon S^c. 8.] THE CHIIISTIAN RELIGION. 42S finding such progress made by the Christian faith, and set themselves to oppose the preach- ers of it with more violence than they had ever §hown even against the atheistical sects, who^ in attacking their creed, did not interfere with their customs or their religious delusions. Article i\\ (e) St. Peter* addresses his epistle to th$ i>trangers scattered throughout Pontiis, G^latia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. St Paul says to tlie Colossians, f '' which (tl^e pospel) is *^ come unto you as it is in all the world." Here we havp the e^act accomplishment of the pro- phecy of Isaiah, j: " The Lord hath made bar^ " his holy arm in the eyes of all the natipns, an4 *^ all the ends of the parth shall see the salvation "of our God." - (f) ** The religion of heaven,*' says the au- thor of the defence of the Spirit of Laws, " the '' religion of heaven does not establish itself by ** the same means as the religions of the earth : " read the history of the church, and you wilj *' behold the wonders of Christianity. Has it *' resolved to make its way into any part of th^ ** 1 Ep, i. !♦ t i* €• t lii« 10. 424 THE EVIDENCES 05- [Notes io ■ ' "World; it well knows how to remove every " obstacle, all its instruments are fitted to that *' purpose: at one time the Almighty selects *' fisheimen for his servants; at another, he " takes the " throned monarch," and makes him " bow down his head under the yoke of ^^ the gospel. Does the Christian religion seek *' refuge in the bosom of the earth? wait but a " moment, and you will find imperial majesty •' standing up in its defence. It traverses, at " will, rivers, seas, and mountains : there are no *' obstacles here below to impede its progress: *' oppose to it the resistance of the spirits, it " will overcome this resistance. Establish cus- *' toms, grant privileges, publish ordinances, " frame laws, it will triumph over chmate, the *' laws which result from it, and the legislators " who have made them. God, according to de- ^* crees to us unknown, enlarges or contracts " the boundaries of his religion." Montesquieu could not make a more brilliant profession of Christianity than in this language, nor could he with greater dignity describe the miraculous progress of " the religion of heaven." In truth, how can we refuse to acknowledge as divine that religion which takes possession of the inmost soul, more readily and more powerfully than humari jrejigions become masters of the outward form Sec. 8.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 42^ and semblance of actions! — The world of spirits is illumined as quickly and as divinely as that of bodies. God hath said, " let there be light," and it hath shone forth upon the church, as readily as it did upon the hemisphere. St Peter preached, and three thousand souls were con- verted. Can we suppose that the piety, the strength and clearness of argument which cha- racterized the preaching of the Apostles, joined with the gift of tongues, and the power of working miracles, would not have produced universal Christianity, had it not been for rea- sons which infinite wisdom hath thought fit to conceal from our short-sighted comprehension? — It may be said that the progress of some he- resies has kept pace with that of the Christian doctrine : strictly speaking, this is not the fact; no heresy has been ?o universally diffused, or is of such antiquity : and all of them among Christians had our holy religion for their foun- dation. They were Christianity modified by- ignorance or bigotry; and not, therefore, a new religion. Even Mahometanism accom- modates itself to us, a^ well as to the Jews, by acknowledging the divine mission both of our Lord and of Moses. Our holy Faith never entered into any compromise of this sort with paganism; it condemned without reserve the 426 THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes h system of idolatory; it struggled with cverv prejudice and triumphed over all/^ Chrysostom f proves that the cessation of mi- racles was not in any way favoural^le to the cause of unbelievers: the conversion of the world by the Apostles is itself a sufficient assu- rance of the reality of their miracles : for, says he, if the world had been converted without them, that very circum.stance woul4 )iave been more astonishing* than all the mighty works of the Apostles. / JMornay expresses this with much warmth and pnergy: ^'Therp Ji^ye been " thousands who have expired upon the rack *' rather than renounce this religion, yea rather " than not preach it I ask then, if our adver- " saries can in their conscience deny that the " Lord worked miracles ? If they deny it, I re- " ply; could there be a greater miracle than this, " that so many people should follow a rjian " poor and abject, w^ho did no miracles; and " that, after he was dead, they should lay down *' their own lives for his sake? J " Is it then" (says Dr. Thirlby, § with a strength of expression worthy all the attention of the * Jortin. Rem. vol. ii. p. 218. t Homily xi. on 1 Cor. c. ii. J This passage has been cited in part already. See p. 122. § Dedic. Justin Martyr. Sec. 8.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 427 indifferent and the deists) " Is it then that the '/ Christian religion is in itself so trifling, and " its progress so like the common course of hu- ''man affairs, that a man (I will not say a ** Christian, but an enemy to Christianity, and, *' if you will, without any religion at all) should " think it a sort of disgrace to enquire who '' those men were that laid the foundation of it? ^^ What talents, what learning, what ingenuity *^ of argument, what eloquence these men must " have had, to have .been capable of persuading " the grave and steady Romans to renounce " their gods, the gods whom then* ancestors " and all their public monuments had conse- " crated, whom all antiquity testified never to *' have been neglected with impunity, nor to " have been implored in vain; and this, to " transfer their homage to the God of a bar- " barous people whom they had subdued, to fall " prostrate before a man, a Jew by nation, and " put to an ignominious death by the hands of ^' his own countrymen? Should they not be *^ curious to enquire who those men were " that converted so many nations of such op- " posite dispositions, the' cruel ^nd the savage " as well as the proud boasters of their dis- " cipline and their laws; some become as it 42S THE EVIDENCES OF lA^afes ta , ^* were barbarous by the severity of their virtue, "others given up to luxury and licentiousness ; *' some insolent with victory and power, others '* with their spirit broken by continual slavery; *'. some stupified with ignorance, others ac- *^ counted above the reach of instruction? Plow ** astonishing must it have been to behold all •* nations giving up the religion of their fore- " fathers, for a religion new and strange; pre- ** ferring to the licentious manners, that were ** tolerated and even encouraged by all former *' systems, a life of rigid austerity; renouncing *' delights for virtues of which they had never ** before heard the name; substituting poverty " for riches, hatred for affection, contempt for ** distinguished honour, banishment for the " sweets of their native land, and even death ''for life!" (g) Porphyry relates a circumstance deserv- ing our notice. Tlie philosopher Plotinus solicited Gallienus the emperor to rebuild one of the towns which had been destroyed in Campania, and to give it to himself and his followers, that they might there found a republic upon the jnodel of Plato's. Although Plotinus was highly in favour, his project was opppsed at court, and completely frustrated. "Thus we perceive/' :Sec, 8.] THE CHUISTIAN RELIGION. 429 says Tillemont,* ''that philosophy though pro- '^ tected by the ruhng powers, could not at any *' time gain a footing for its own laws in a *' single town, while, in opposition to princes " and philosophers, the laws of Jesus Christ " were estabUshed in every quarter of the known " world." So that those who do not believe the doctrine in consideration of the weight it derives fi'om miracles, are bound to believe the miracles upon seeing the wonderful success of the doctrine. And if either of these alterna- tives, separately taken, is of itself so convincing, what should be tlieir effect when imited, but to bind us still more firmly to the faith, to the Gos- pel of Christ, " which is the power of God unto '' salvation to every one that believeth!"f So, when St. John the Baptist sent two of his Disciples to enquire of our Lord, Whether he were the long expected Messiah, promised by the prophets? the object of this enquiry was nx>t to satisfy any doubts of the Baptist, for he was already convinced, but merely to bring con- viction home to the minds of his Disciples, And the answer of our Saviour was pecuharly fitted to that purpose. Instead of directly say- ing (as upon another occasion) "I am he," he appealed to the most striking and indisputable ♦ H. E. torn. iii. f Rom. i. 16. 430 THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes h cvidehce of miracles. "Go," says Jesus Christ t6 the ihessengers, " and show John again those " t-hings which ye do hear and see : the blind " receive their sight and the lame walk ; the ^nepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear; th6 " dead are raised up, and the poor have th^ .« Gospel preached to them;'* These were the distinguishing marks by which, according to the prophet Isaiah, the Messiah was to be known, f" Say to them that are of a fearful heart; be " strong, fear not; behold your God will come " with vengeance, even God with a recompence. " He will come and save you. Then the eyes of *' the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the *f deaf shall be unstopped ; then shall the lame ** man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the " dumb shall sing." Such miracles were never performed but by Jesus Christ and his Disciples. % There never was and there never could have been, any doubt of the accomplishment of this *Matt. xi.4, 5. t c. XXXV. X It is remarked by bishop Atterbury that our Lord^s aUusionto th? foregoing passage was peculiarly appli- cable: for the office and character of the Baptist had been more explicitly described by Isaiah than by any other prophet, and most probably John's Disciples were on that account the better acquainted with hi^ writings. Serm. Vol. iii. T. Sec.S,\ THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. iZl prophecy being applicable to om* Lordr let it be observed also that in recounting the wonders of his ministry, he sums up the whole with that of the general diffusion of his gospel as being ©f all others the most splendid and important. Article V. (h) Our Sa\"iour's prophecy, respecting the destruction of Jerusalem, was delivered about forty years before the event took place, and was record e bishop of Jerusalem, was witness to the audacious insults then offered to the Christians, and consoled them with the assurance that the prophecies must be fulfilled. Of this solemn fulfilment, and of the miraculous interposition of Providence, we have the most * 1. iii. c. 27. 4W THE EVIDENCES OF [Mtfs i(f aiithentic accoimts'fi-'om Ammianus Marcellinus and Sl6veral oth^r writers. * [Here Seigneux enters into a detail respecting the luminous crosses which were seen on the bodies and on the garments of the people then assembled in the holy city. As it is chiefly ex- tracted from a work of bishop Warburton, who has written at large upon the subject of Julian s attempt, the reader is referred to that work for the several particulars.] The learned prelate" has very philosophically accounted for these ex- traordinary appearances, affirming them to be the natural effects produced by lightning and subterraneous fire, both which at that time con- spired to frustrate the impious undertaking. These were indeed the natural and immediate' causes of the phaenomena, but they are also un- deniable proofs of the Divine interposition. It was the hand of the Almighty, as the bishop justly observes, that put in motion these inflam- matory combinations precisely at the moment when it was necessary to interrupt Julian's pro- ceedings, and to exhibit the triumph of Jesus Christ under the emblem of his cross. The jTiaterials contained in the clouds, or in the bosom -of the estrt^, would not have burst into * Socrat, H. E. 1. iii. c. fiO. Ruffiii H. E. x. 37. .Vc'c. 8.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 449 flames, if the breath of the Lord had not kindled them: they acted according to the ordinary laws, but the concomitant circumstances form the miracle. The fire goes fortli at the very in- stant on the very spot where the impious enter- prise was to be put in execution, consumes the tools, destroys the workmen^ and ceases to act the moment the labourers desist. And when we consider that this attempt, thus suddenly put a stop to, has never since been resumed, notwithstanding the numberless changes which in the course of fourteen centuries, religion and government have undergone; how can we ima- gine that all these concurrent circumstances are merely the effect of chance, or even of natu- ral causes acting independently of the peculiar intervention of the Most High 1 But admitting that astonishment at some real miracles might have heated the imaginations of the Christians, and given credit to some il- lusions of their fancy; this ought not to bring discredit upon the fact itself, or induce us to reject the historical evidence we have from persons truly rational, and in every respect un- exceptionable, of such a memorable instance of the Divine judgment. Those who believe the his- tory of the fate of Korah, Dathan and Abiram, GG 400 rmi EVIDENCES OF \Nolgs /» and the two hmidied and fifty men that offered incense,'^^' of the downfall of Jericho, f and of the fire from Heaven, upon the tvv^o companies^ of fifty men, at the re(|uest of Elias, in order to humble king Ahaziah. :[: Those who recollect the blasphemous provocations of Sennacherib king "df Assyria, and the glorious check which brought him to shame and destruction as related by Isaiali§ ** Rabshakeh stood and cried, Let *' not Hezekiah deceive you. — Neither let him " make you trust in the Lord, saying, surely " the Lord will deliver us. Thus shall yc " speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, ''Let not thy Gcxl in whom thou trustest '^deceive thee; saying, Jerusalem shall not ** be given into the hand of the king of As- '*' Syria. Behold thou hast heard what the king-s '* of Assyria have done to all lands by destroy- *' ing them utterly, and shaltthou be delivei'ed?'' The pious monarch, shocked to find his God thus insulted, falls prostrate before his altar, and in treats him to avenoe his own honour. The God of heaven and earth hears his suppli- cation, and pixmounces sentence on the impious king by the mouth of his prophet. *' A¥hom * Numbers c. xvi. t Joshua c. vi. X 2 Kings c i, § c. xxxvi and xxxvii. Sec. S.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 45 1 '^ hast thou reproached and blasphemed; and " against whom hast thoa exalted thy Vdit^ *' and lifted up thine eyes oil high? Evert against " the Holy One of Israel. Thou hast reproached " the Lord Because thy rage against itie, *^ and thy tumult is come up into mine eaH, ^^ therefore I will put my hook ill thy nose . . . : " and the arigel of the Lord went forth, and " smotte in the camp of the Assyiialis an huh- " dred and fourscorc and five thousand"-^Those who allow any meaning to the very apposite passage in Jeremiah,^' *' They have belied the '' Lord, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil " come upon us; neither shall wie see sword *' nor famine : and tire prophets shall becoihe *' wind, and the word is not in them — Where- " fore thus saith the Lord God of host^, Be- " cause ye speak this word, behold I will make *' my words in thy mouth fire, and this people " wood, and It sllall devour them.'' Those, I say, who bear in mind these and many other awful instances and threats of divine vengeance, will not hesitate to believe that God will at his pleasure employ his infinite power to illustrate his own glory, and hot suffer the presumptuous mortal who defies him to triumph in the face of * C. Vw a G S 452 THE EVIDENCES OF - [Notes t^_ all the world.. — The ])ropliecy is received as^ divine, who then will venture to say that judg- ment was not executed upon those who at- tempted to prevent its accomplishment? Setting aside however for. a moment all the evidences' produced to render this indisputahle, may we not be permitted to reason in the following manner? The Almighty expressly declared, " Jerusalem and its temple shall be destroyed, " and shall never rise up from their ruins." In opposition, to this solemn denunciation, an im- pious prince, pi'ofessing to undeceive mankind in what he calls a delusion, protests he will bring to naught the tremenduous sentence. In 'such a case, what should we naturally expect from the wisdom and justice of the Supreme Being? Surely not that he would permit such horrible impiety to triumph, and the majesty of bis decrees to bow to the insolence that defies them. Is it not more probable, nay, is it not most certain, that he who ruleth over kings, and governeth all things, would avenge his honour and assert his authority, by some judg- ment that might leave an everlasting impression of the reverence due to himself, and of the uu- changeable veracity of his holy word? But if, without deciding upon the method, we think Sect. 8.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 45^ such must have been the consequence of so blas- phemous a challenge, can we be surprised to learn that such in truth was the event? Are we to wonder that the sentence of the Omnipotent should be executed in the sight of the whole world, in a case where his acquiescence would have been assistance, and would have brought eternal ruin upon the holy religion his Son came down to establish? And, even admitting that the age was not the age of miracles, may we not presume to suppose that something like a miracle was necessary in opposition to incre- dulity so marvellously stubborn? The Almighty (says bishop Warburton) may limit the power he delegates to his servants, but nothing can set bounds to his own. On the general subject of Divine judgments it becomes all men to. speak with caution and humility; but in so glaring an instance of provocation, the ideas we have of God's justice, confirmed by the histoiy of his proceedings upon like former occasions, warrant us in concluding that Julian's attempt was frustrated by a very signal display of the Divine power. But to proceed at once to our evidence; (I) Ammianus Marcellinus gives us a testi- mony, on many accounts highly valuable. Tliii^ 4^4 THE EVIDENCES OF [Koies t^i historian was born at Antioch towards the en4 of the reign of Constantine the great: his re^ hgion was paganism, to which he steadily ad- hered through hfp; hi3 occupation that of \yar, in which he distinguished himself by llh valour ^pd loyalty. The emperor Constantius epi- ployed him in the East and in the Gauls. Iii the year of our Lord 363 he accompanied Ju- lian in his unfortunate expedition against the Persians, and he served under some succeeding emperors. Wearied at length with the trouhksf and revolutions in the empire, he retired to Rome, to finish his career in tranquillity. It was in the calm of this retreat that he employed him^ self in writing his history, Av^hich commences with the reign of Nerva, and concludes with the death of Valens. It originally consisted of thirty-one books, but only eighteen, and these not in regular succession from the first, are ex^ taut; they have passed through several editions, which is a proof of the estimation in which they have been held. iVnd their merit must be ad- mitted, wlien it is understood th^t this writcf seldom mentions any of the events of bis own time, of which he was not an eye-witness, or in which he did not bear a part; so that he has be^n compared to Xenophon and Caesar for cor^ Sec. g.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 45B rectncss, thougli not for style. A GFCek by birth, and li\ing in an age when taste was on the decline, he may be readily forgiven for not being master of th^ purity and the graces of langu'ag-e; with this exception he has beeri accounted a most accomplished historian. The critics themselves have held him up as a model of accuracy and candour. With all his attach- ment to paganism, he does justice to the Chris- tians: and, although an admirer of Julian, h6 does not affect to conceal his vices. His cha- racter of Constantius appears as if it had been drawn by one of tlie fathers of the church; this lias led some* to suspect that Ammiamvs was a Christian, and more especially from tlte rever- ence with which he always speaks of the Peity : but this 'suspicion has been entirely removed by the industry of several learned writers,! amongst whom we are particularly indebted to Warburton. Througlu)ut, thi^ historian preserves the character of imparti- ality: his office is to write as belonging to no sect; but he ought not to be suspecteen of ilie best understanding, when their minds are heated with any consideration that bears a more than ordinary weight with it; the learned heathens may be looked upon as neuters Ml the matter, when all these prophecies were ]new to them, and their education had left the interpretation of them free and indifferent. Besides, these learned men among the primitive Christians knew how the Jews, who had pre- ceded onr Saviour, interpreted these predictions, and the several marks by which they acknow- ledged the Messiah woidd be discovered, and how those of the Jewish Doctors who suc- ceeded him had deviated from the interpret Sect. 9.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 49 1 tations and doctrines of their forefathers^ on piupose to stifle their own conviction. VII., This set of arguments had therefore an invincible force with those Pagan philoso- phers who became Christians, as we find in most of their writings. They could not dis- believe our Saviour's history, which so exactly agreed with every thing that had been written of him many ages before his birth, nor doubt of those circumstances being ftilfilled in him, which could not be true of any person that lived in the world besides himself. This wrought the greatest confusion in th^ unbelieving Jews, ajid the greatest conviction in the Gentiles, who every w^here speak with astonishpient of these truths they met with in this new maga- zine of learning which was opened to them, (i) and carry the point so far as to think whatever excellent doctrine they had met with among Pagan writers, had been stolen from their conversation with the Jews, or from the pe- rusal of these writings which they had in their custody, (k) 492 THE EVIDENCES OF iNotes to NOTES TO SECTION IX, A7^tide I. (a) IT is generally true, that all beginnings ai'e excellent, and partake of the fervency which first suggested them. In this case they must have been super-eminent, quickened as they were by the Holy Spirit. And, to the honour of Christianity be it said, that if at that time it produced so great a change among men, it still continues its benign in-, fluence in no small degree ; that we are at this ^ moment indebted to its exertions for whatever is praise-worthy in the conduct of human life.* With truth may it be asserted that those who^ are good subjects, zealous citizens, faithful friends; who love God with all their heart, who abound in charity to their fellow creatures, to their very enemies, who disentangle themselves from the snares of the world, and make a mode- rate use of its pleasures; those who are modest^ ,* See a late valuable publication, op *' the Benefit *• cial Effects of Christianity^" by the present justly revered Bishop of London. T» ^ Sec. 9.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 493 in their conversation, prudent in their practice, masters of their thoughts and desires, who endure all things in the hope of pleasing their Maker, in full confidence in his mercy, and in the prospect of eternal happiness; in a word, all who possess real virtue derive it from the sacred source of pure and genuine Christianity. Under this impression Montesquieu, having re- marked the confidence which the Christian re- ligion estahlished between the sovereign and his people, piously exclaims * " How admirable '' the religion, which, while it only seems to *' have in view the felicity of the other life, ^* constitutes also the happiness of this 1" Article ii. (b) " The Pagan religion," says Montes- quieu,* " which prohibited only some of the " grosser crimes, and which stopped the hand " but meddled not with the heart, might have " crimes that were enexpiable: but a religion " which bridles all the passions, which is not " more jealous of actions than of thoughts and " desires, which holds us not by a few chains, " but by^ an infinite number of threads; which * Spirit of Laws, b. xxiv. c, 3« - t b, xxiv. c. 13. 494. THE EVIDENCES OF [Kotes t^ " leaving human justice asiele, establishes ano- " ther kind of justice; which is so ordered as to *' lead us continually from repentance to love, *' and from love to repentance; which places *' between the judge and the criminal a great *^ mediator, between the just and the mediator " a great judge; a religion like this ought not *' to have inexpiable crimes: but^ while it " gives fear and hope to all, it makes us suffici- " ently sensible, that there is no crime in its " own nature inexpiable, yet a whole criminal " life may be so, may reach even that point " where paternal goodness is limited." — It is this well ordered justice, and this purity in the law; this balance between severity and mercy; in short this all-divine harmony of beauty and perfection that gained to Christianity its power- ful ascendancy over the human mind. (c) Lactantius paints in very lively colours the efficacy of the Gospel. " Dei autem prse- " cepta, quia et simplicia et vera sunt, quantum " valeant in animis hominum, quotidiana expe- ^' rientia demonstrat. Da mihi virum qui sit " iracundus, maledicus, effi'senatus, paucissimis " Dei verbis tam^ placidum quam ovem reddam. " Dacupidum, avarum, tenacem; jam tibi eun\ Sec. 9.3 THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 49$ "^^ liberalem dabo et pecuniam suam plenis mani- *' bus largientem. Tanta divina? sapientige vis ** est, ut in hominis pectus infusa, matrem delic- " torum stultitiam uno semel impetu expellat." '^ — Daily experience evinces the effect of the '^ divine word upon the minds of men. Show " me a man passionate, abusive, headstrong; by *' the help of God's word I will make him *' placid and meek as a lamb. Show me a " sordid miser, and I will change him to a man " of unbounded generosity. Such is the power *' of the Divine wisdom that at one stroke, if we *^ may so speak, it always expels that folly '* which is the parent of vice." No Christian is Avicked, says Athenagoras* unless he abjures or gives the lie to his pro- fession. " Nemo Christianus malus nisi qui *' professionem mentitus fuerit." Or, as it is *' expressed ])y Minutius Felix, f " Denique e " vestro numero career exa?stuat: Christianus '' ibi nuUus, nisi aut reus suas religionis, aut " profugus." — " Your prisons overflow with *' criminals, but there are no Christians to be *' found in them except those whose only ^' crhne is their religion, or who have aban* '' doned the faith." * Leo at pro Cliriiti. f Octav, 496 THE EVIDENCES OF l^^of€sto Christianity produced among the heathen converts not only a dereliction of every vice, but, what is possibly still more, it led them to give up usages fully authorized by the laws of the land, by the universal practice of their coun- trymen, and, in some measure, by the climate. "The Parthian converts," says Bardesanes,f " resigned the plurality of wives : incestuous " marriages Were no longer permitted among " those of Persia. The Bactrians and the ** Gauls trespassed no more upon the rights " and the chastity of the conjugal union. " Wherever Christians were found, no laws, no " customs, however authorized, if inconsistent " with Christianity, were able to corrupt the " purity of their morals." — " Nee in Parthii " Christiani, Parthi licet, pluribus utuntur uxori- " bus; nee in Perside, Persee licet, filias uxores " ducunt; ncc ftpud Bactrios aut Gallos nupti- " arum honestatem et jura contaminant . . : ita " ubicunque degunt, nee legum morumque scele- " ratorum improbitate vincuntur." — ^The obser- vations that have been made by learned writers upon the influence of climate, greatly tend to display the excellency of our holy j religion, and to demonstrate its astonishing efficacy in sub- • Apud Euseb. Prsep. Evang. Sec. 9.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 497 duins: inclinations almost irresistible. Accord- ing to Montesquieu^ the law which allows only one wife is conformable to the climate of Europe, but by no means to that of Asia: and this is the reason why Mahometanism so easily found admittance in the one part of the world and was so unsuccessful in the other: on this account Christianity has kept its ground in Europe, and has lost it in Asia : from this cause also has it made so little progress in China, and Mahometanism has there reigned triumphant. — But if, as this able writer imagined, the Christian religion cannot (humanly speaking) gain ground in the Eastern parts of the world; if the nature of the climate, the constitution and temper of the inhabitants, their disposition, their manners and their laws all unite in opposing the precepts of the Gospel : how was it, that in the first and second ages of the church, Christianity, though it had the same difficulties to encounter, made such a wonderful and rapid progress in the Eastern countries? This can be no otherwise accounted for, than by ascribing it to the mira- cles performed in its support, or to the extraor- dinary influence of God's Spirit upon the minds of those who believed, f It may be conceived * B. xvi. xix. t Jvrtlu's Hem. E. H. K K f 9$ THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes to however with great probabiUty, that if liberty prevailed more in Asia, and there could be as- sociated -with it the advantages of a good edu* cation, the people, in spite of their climate, would be much more disposed to embrace Christianity. Article III. fd) ** There is no order of persons (says '^ Origen*) to which the preaching of the Gos- " pel has not made known its virtuous efficacy. ** There is no situation in the world which can " exempt men from submitting to the doctrines "of JeeusChrist." (e) We may indeed take separate views of the miraculous powers of the Christians, and of their exemplary uprightness of conduct, but these qualities united must excite our highest admiration. Tertullian tells usf "that the " wisest heathens, seeing the purity of the " Christian morality, and of the lives of its fol- " lowers, dignified them with the title of Philo- /" sophers, and looked upon the Christian doc- ^^ trine not as a divine work, but as a new kind '^ Adv. Cels. 1. ii, J Apd. c. 4ff^ Sec, 9.1 THE CHUISTIAN RELIGION. 499 • *^ of pliilosopliy/'— " Nou utique Divinum ne- '^ gotium cxistimant, sed magis pliilosophiae *' genus," But, replies this Father, have philoso- phers ev^erbeen known to cast out devils? What philosopher's garment ever had virtue enough, when touched by the sick, to cure their disease? (f) Supposing that a change so great, so sudden, so universal had been brought about without a miracle ; that itself was of all things the most miraculous. This is an observation of Chrysostom,* when he is forcibly delineating the considerations^ that result from miracles in favour of the truth and the divinity of the Gos- pel. Augustine, f also places this argument amongst the most powerful of those that do honour to Christianity. Here let us reflect upon the conduct of St. Paul, who, from an inveterate persecutor, became a zealous defender of the name of Jesus Christ; let us contemplate the behaviour of Zaccheus, a chief of the publicansj and doubtless very self-interested, who gave the half of his goods to the poor, and, if he had wronged any man, offered to restore him four- fold. Let us recollect the rich who sold their inheritances and laid tjhe price of them at the * Horn. 1 Cor. ii. t De Civit. Dei. 1. xxii. K K 2 SOO THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes Iq feet of the Apostles; and that multitude of Christians who, from the moment of their con- version^ " were but of one heart and of one *^ soul.'" Many other instances might be men- tioned all tending to demonstrate the power of the Gospel oVer the hearts of men, and conse- quently that, it is truly Divine. This reflection may be extended and applied to nations at large. "Christianity" says Abbe Pluche,* "not " only did not yield to the powers armed and " united against it, but it has even changed and " gained bver almost all of them by its amiable ** mildness. A deluge of barbarians, issuing " from various parts of the North, for many "ages overwhelmed the Roman empire, dis- " membered it, subverted the sciences, and " brought desolation upon taste and the fine ^* arts. How could Cliristianity stand against " such irreligion and ferocity ? They overturned " every thing, that only excepted; they them- " selves gradually became Christians, and were " indebted to their new faith for whatever civi- " lization and polish' the}^ afterwards acquired." — ^This might be called declamatton had we not strong facts to support the assertion. In the year of our Lord 26Q, (in the reign of Gallienus) * Tom. viii. Sec. 9.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 501 the Roman empire was sorely harassed by civil wars, plagues, famines, and earthquakes, and more especially, by the irruptions of the bar- barians. Nothing could be more excellent and more exemplary than the conduct of the Christi- ans under these calamitous circumstances. With the tenderest compassion for all the un- fortunate without distinction, they never ceased to expose their health, their property, their lives for the good of their country and mankind. The behaviour of the heathens was altogether the reverse. The Goths and other uncivilized nations from the banks of the Danube took captive the priests, as well as many ordinary Christians; who by the persuasive power of an irreproachable conduct, joined to the miracles they wrought, converted a great number of these barbarous invaders, and, at the same time, humanized and softened their manners. This is the language of Sozomenus. * It is true that Eusebius says nothing of this kind, but^ as Dr. Jortin remarks, f it is very common for him to abridge, and even to omit entirely, the recital of many particulars belong- ing to the history of the Western empire. But if a supernatural power was absolutely necessary to humanize so quickly these savage . * L. ii. : . + Vol. ii. 5b^ THE EVIDENCES OF [Nates to liatibns, and to impart to their gross minds a relish for pure morahty; was this splendid characteristick of Divinity the less necessary in the midst of the most learned, the most po- lite, and the most voluptuous cities ? How with- out such assistance would the Gospel have been received in Athens, in Antioch, in Alexandria, in Ephesus, at Corinth, and at Rome? In all these places were to be found, in large portions, luxury and effeminacy, the grossest errors and crimes; indifference to religion, the sublimest genius, and the most conceited self-sufficiency ; and in all these places Christianity prevailed. Upon these magnificent theatres, the Gospel, , arrayed in its simplicity, triumphed over the policy of princes and potentates, the authority of the priests, the prejudices of the people, the pride and the subtilty of the philosophers. A multitude of Disciples flocked under the ban- ners of the cross, and, after having sacrificed their all for the sake of their new faith, ac- counted themselves happy to seal it with their blood. Could such astonishing effects have been produced by ordinary preaching, unsup- ported by miracles ? Article IV. (g) Imposture and holiness are incompatible. Sec. 9.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 50S " These supposed impostors (the Christians) " have dispersed throughout the world the ** knowledge of God, and the love of virtue. *^ Who ever heard of impostors of this kind!"* Article v. (h) The passage in Tacitus before cited, f and here again purposely referred to, testifies that a report was circulated through all the East, that a king should come, whose prosperous and extended reign should unite all nations under his peaceful dominion; and that he should be born in Judea. " Pluribus persuasio inerat, an- *' tiquis sacerdotum Uteris contineri, eo ipso ** tempore fore, ut valesceret Oriens, profectique '^ JudiEa, rerum potirentur, &c." By the word *' pluribus" we are warranted in concluding that the report prevailed not only with the Jews but among people of different nations. The expression " antiquis sacerdotum Uteris" imports, no doubt, the prophecies contained in the sacred volume, intrusted to the care and illustration of the Jewish priests and doctors- The words " eo ipso tempore" v^ry evidently * Francois, De la Rel. Chret. Tom. iii. t See page 396. 504 THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes to show that the interpretation of these prophecies, which so precisely fixed the acra of the Mes- siah's coming, was current among the heathens; that it had engaged their attention, and kept them as well as the Jews in expectation of this great event, either from the natural impulse of curiosity, and a jealousy as to the accomplish- ment of Jewish prophecies; or from a con- templation of the consequences of a revolution which, if we may so speak, would entirely change the face of the world. " Percrebuerat Oriente toto vetus et con- ** stans opinio esse in fatis, &c." — " It was an " ancient and uniform opmion throughout the " East that there would come, &c."* This is said by Suetonius, and conveys the same ideas. And indeed it cannot be supposed that the learned heathens of Greece and Rome and Egypt, who with so much assiduity had searched into every thing that could be found curious and valuable in literature, had hastily passed over the sacred books of the Jewish people. Upon this ground it was that Athenagoras, in his excellent apology addressed to the emperors M. Aurelius and Commodus, quoted sacred his- tory and the prophecies as well known to them, * See paae 397. S€C.9.^ THE CHFilSTIAN RELIGION. ^05 and invited all those heathens to whom these Scriptures were still better known seriously to consider their import. "Nee dubito quin " vos etiam doctissimi et sapientissimi principes, " historias et scripta Mosis, Esaia?, Hieremiae, *^ et reliquorum prophetarum ahc^ua ex parte " cognoveritis. — " Sed vobis rehnquo, qui libros " novistis, studiosius in illorum prophetias in- " quirere ac perpendere, &c." So that it was by no means a difficult task for them to compare the prophecies, which so clearly announced whatever concerned the true Messiah, with the marvellous accomplishment which they saw so literally come to pass in their own days. There is still the less reason to suppose that the heathens were ignorant of these pro^ phecies, as the Jews made them the chief sub- ject of their conversation, both in the age which preceded, and which followed in part, this import- ant event. Hence it was that at the time our Lord appeared, when they beheld the miraculous pro- gress of his doctrine, when they heard of the wonderful works performed by himself and his Disciples, that the learned Pagans were very na- turally led on to an examination of all these things, and to the conviction which must be produced by prophecies so exactly fulfilled. 505 THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes to Even those, who from their obstinate prejudices would not become converts, offered a kind of homage to the dignity of this argument, by the embarrassment they always betrayed when called upon to refute it. Porphyry in particidar, as %ve have already seen, * was so struck with the prophecy, of Daniel, that he had no other alter- native but to affirm that it was fabricated after the accomplishment. In addition to the posi- tive evidence already produced, it is manifest that the enlightened heathens were no strang<*rs to the beauties disp'ersed throughout the writ- ings of the Old Testament.. Of this we hav« undeniable proof in Longinus's Treatise on the Subhme. This learned pagan observes " that " the Jewish legislator, no ordinary person, *' having con-ceived a just idea of the Deity, has ** nobly cxp^-essedit in the beginning of his law" **«and God said,"*^ what? " *^ Let there be *' ^ light, and there was light : Let the earth be, *^ " and it w^as." " Bpileau, who has made txi excellent (French) translation of that work, remarks t that this sentence is quoted with praise 'by Longinus, wl^ in the midst of the darkness of Paganism did not fail to discover The Divinity in these woi'ds of Scripture; and he * See page 400. f Pref. Sec. 9.] THE CHRISTIAN KELIGIQN. 507 adds that although one of the most learned men of his time (Huet bishop of Avranches) had pre- sumed to assert, in his book upon the evidence of Christianity^ that Longinus was mistaken in thinking this sentence a specimen of the sub- lime, yet he had the satisfaction to find that some persons, not less respectable for their piety than for their profound erudition, Le INIaitre, Sacy, and others, have cited this passage in Lono-inus, to show how much the Christians outj-ht to be convinced of a truth so apparent that even a Pagan discerned it by the lamp of reason only. Longinus lived, it is true, in the third century, but he was a heathen, and it is more than pro« bable that the heathens of eminence transcribed some extracts from the Jewish Scriptures long before the Christian lera. The instance of Lon- ginus is a proof that Pagans of the finest abilities must have been struck with the gran- deur and majesty which pervade so many parts of these holy writings, and gained for their au- thors a degree of veneration. Nothing more strongly indicates this than the character given of Moses " that he was no ordinary person." This knowledge and this admiration must naturally hare led them to compare what had A08 THE EVIDENCES OF [Notes to been foretold with what had come to pass, and have induced them, no doubt, to draw this con- elusion: that the predictions and their exact fulfilment proceeded from the Supreme Bein< ig- Article vii. (i) To ascertain how much weight the heathen converts imparted to Christianity by their admiration of our sacred writings, let us recollect that, even to the time of our Saviour's coming. Homer was in possession not only of liniversal admiration, but even of veneration approaching to idolatiy; that this poet, the most accomplished and the most engaging ever known, was styled by the voice of all nations, the father of science, of wisdom, and of virtue. I^t us call to mind that the whole Pagan Theo- logy was as it were included in his works; and that the Iliad and the Odyssey regulated, if we may be allowed the expression, the worship and the system of religior\; while the blemishes in these compositions were concealed by so many beauties, and surrounded by so many graces, that, in the language of Mr. Pope,^ " Mankind were not satisfied to have seated * Essay on Homer* Sec. 9.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 50^ '<^ the character of the author at the top of "human wisdom, but being overborne with " an imagination that he transcended their spe- •" cies, they admitted him to a share in those " honours they gave the deities." Let us now draw a comparison between the perusal of the Pentateuch,^ of the books of the Prophets or Evangelists, with that of the Ilia'^^; and let us ask ourselves which of them was likely to make the greater impression upon a people of sensibility, addicted to voluptuousness, fond of harmonious periods and affecting ima- ges : we shall perceive that nothing could have put a stop to the idolatry offered to Homer, dispelled the charm of his writings, and substi- tuted in their stead such an admiration as the enlightened heathens entertained for our Scrip- tures, had it not been for the wonderful fulfil- ment of the prophecies they contained, and the irresistible evidence of the miracles that upheld their inspiration. Yet, notwithstanding these powerful motives, we may form some idea of the vast difficulty there still was in drawing men off from this charming delusion by the ex- ample of St, Augustine, who seems to have given up Homer with no small degree of regret. ■ T}>c *' dulcissime vanus," which he applies to the ^10 THE EVIDENCES OF (mtes to poet upon taking leave of him, '' looks," says Mr. Pope,* " but like a fondling manner of "parting with a fc^vourite author;"' marking much less his compunction for having read him, than the violence he does to his feelings in re- nouncing the pleasure of reading him again. (k) If all the arguments to be found in this volume prove to u demonstration the divinity of the Gospel, we may add also that there is no stronger evidence of the invincible power of these arguments, and of the reality of the mira- culous facts which formed their basis, than the effects they produced, and the nature of the prepossessions they overcame. When we re- present to ourselves the light in which, in times so well informed, a new religion would be re- garded, which demanded the suppression of every other mode of worship; which made an attack upon every prejudice, and declared open war against every evil passion; which was not more indulgent to kings and their policy, than to the artifices of the priests, and the most ape- cious systems of the philosophers; which anni- liilated all the gods, with those who ofiiciated at their altars, and abolished even in the chosen ■^ Essay on Homer. Sec. 9.] THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 5 1 1 nation, in the holy city, a magnificent form of worship that God himself liad prescribed^^ the most splendid part of a divine institution so re- vered by the Jewish people. — When we repre- sent to ourselves this new doctrine introducing, as the object of the most religious veneration, apparently an ordinary Jew, meanly born, treated as a rebel by the magistrates of his own country, and as such ignominiously put to death: When we hear this novel institution an- nounced by twelve fishermen or publicans, who demand in its favour the confidence and thq homage of the whole world. Wlien we take into the account also the preaching of those un- searchable mysteries peculiar to Christianity, ^nd of those precepts which enjoined the trying duties of absolute self-denial, forgiveness of enemies, and others of that description ; under this view, it is impossible. not to be struck with astonishment that such a system should have surmounted so many prejudices, so many in- terests, in arms against it, and opposing its es- tablishment; that all the genius, the credit, the authority, all the efforts and persecutions that were employed at its fir^t appearance and for several subsequent ages, could not prevent this slighted, this despised religion from rising su- 512 THE EVIDENCES, &c. perior to every other. Surely an imposture so unflattering, destitute of all succour, of all re- commendation, from man, opposed to every world Iv intei^st and desire, never could have triumphed over a system of delusion so long es- tablished, and so universally authorised, as that of Pao-anism. Behold then not only the most splendid de- monstration of the truth of Christianity, but also an incontrovertible evidence that this re- ligion was supported by a Power which nothing on earth was able to resist. Had it been de- visied by man, it would have accommodated it- self to the various passions and propensities that belong to our corrupt nature ; but it erected its victorious standard avowing open and un- ceasing hostility to all these low-born but for=- midable powers, and triumphantly proved its divine origin. In a word, It is the Religion OF God; and to Him be ascribed everlasting praise and adoration ! F I N I s. Printed by T. Ciirjon Hansard, Peterborough- Court. Fleet-Street. IMDEX, AbAUZIT, Mr. on the total des- truction of the Temple of Jerusa- leiu 4.58 Abgarus, kin?: of Rdessa, his supposed letter to Jesus Christ, and our Savi- our's Answer * . . . . 'i i ' this point discussed . . 2.3 . the letters rejected b^'^ I^as- nago, Ic Clerc, Thoinasius, Father Colouia, and others 27 — ■ ■ Conversion of this prince contrasted with that of Izatiis, king of the Adiabenians .... 23 — the letters in question G.l Acts of Pontius Pilate, or sujjposed account from him to Tiberius, re- specting the pei-son, the life and death of Jesus Christ 10 -.— ^ rejected as doubtful. . 1-i » distinction between the ori- ginal and the spurious .... 15 supposed by Grotius to be genuine w.. 16 some forged in the second century 17 others also by the Hea- thens 13 Addison, Mr. places the Acts of Pi- late in the class of lost proofs 19 his modest opinion respecting the letter of Abgarus 30 ■■ his sentiments uj)on the apo- logy of Quadratus and Aristides appear contradictory to the accoimt given by Eusebius 192 misunderstood by Seigneux ibid. ■■ observation, from his travels, respecting the victory of M. Aure- Uus 340 Ado, of Vienna, on the Apology of A r istides and Q uad ra t u s .... 182 Adrian, the emperor, addicted to ma- gic, and unfavourable to the Chris- tians ^ his character; did not issue any edict against the Christians 131 whether this prince had a design to place J. C. among the gods 132 temples said to be dedicated by him to the worship of J. C. ibid. instructed in tiie grounds of Christianity by several Apologists; his rescript to Miniitius Fundanus in favour of the Chriijtians. ... 1 90 -■ ' '• this attested by Justin Mar- tyr and Melito 191 false miracles attributed to iiim 359 decree against the Jews 480 gives permission to the Chris- tians to dwell in Jerusalem . . 483 Africanus, Julius, makes Phlegon as sert that tliere was an eclipse of the sun at the time of the full moon 88 refuted by Origen . . ibid, — testifies the miraculous darkness when our Lord was cruci- fied 9S Agabus, his prophecy of the famine, which happened in the reign of Claudius , 268 Alabarches, the title of the chief Jew- ish magistrate in Alexandria . 415 Alexander the Great, granted great privi leges to the J ews 409 Alexandria in Egypt a celebrated se- minary for the sciences and religi- on ; a christian school established in thiscity ....,...^.,.....242 L L INDEX. Ambrose, St. bears witness to-the Em- peror Theodosius, of the miracu- lous check to Julian's attempt to re- build the temple of Jerusalem 459 Ammianus Marcellinus, life and cha- racter of. ^SS .1. imwarrantably suspected of being a Christian 455 on the miracle which pnt a stop to Julian's attempt 456 Ammonius, a christian Philosopher of the second centurj^ 232 -I his person and works. 233 Anatolms, bishop of Laodioea, in the third century, account of . . . . 235 Ancyra, a M S. found in, containing a statement of the forces of the em- pire under A ugustus 47 • ' fragment of a marble at . 54 Andrew, St. crucified at Patrea , 260 Antoninus, Marcus, his famour. edict in favour of the Christians rejected by many of the learned 117 A'polUnaris upon the letter of M. Aurelius to the senate 332 Apollonius Tyaneus, an impostor in the time of Nero 80 ■ his works compared by Ilie- rocles with those of J. C. . . . ibH. • the idol of Porphyry . 82 held in contempt by Ln- cian; his pretended miracles un- worthy of notice 359 Apollonius, a man much esteemed, and a martyr, in the reign of Com- modus..... 117 Apostate, only one upon record before the third century 382 Apostles, their different character before and after the ascension of our Lord.... 201 ■■■ their several journios . 260 ApostoJicaJ authors wrote within the perifjd of thirty eight years , . . 308 Aquila, one of Trajan's ministers, a Christian proselyte, afldicted to magic, put out of the church, turns Jew , 129 ■ his version of the Bible 130 Archon, the title of the Jewish magis- trate at Antioch,.,. ,,. 415 Areopagus, the, took cognizance of innovations in religion*, matters. Spirit of toleration in this assem- bly...* 419 Aristides, an Athenian philosopher, converted to Christianity 187 ■ — his Apology, addressed to the emperor Adrian, the model of Justin Martyr's, total !y lost. . . 188 Aristotle, his system of divinity 134 Arnobius refutes the imputation of magic charged on the miracles of J. C 71 compares J. C. with the phi- losopher 75 on the power of the name of J. C. over the evil spirits.... 164 on the astonishing progress of Christianity 221 substance of his life. . . . 234 account of Christian convert;;. and the reciprocal support of mar- tyis and miracles 372 ■^'- on the constancy of the mar- tyrs I....... 374 Arrian, isumamed the modem Xeno- phon. 85 I... speaks with admiration of the courage of the Christians.... 378 Arrius Antoninus, proconsul of Asia ; kis sfieech to a number of Chris- tians, wlio came voluntyily be- fore him to receiv6 sentence of death 375 Assemanni upon the letter of Abgarus toJ.C 28 Athanasius, St. upon the silence of the oracles at the name of Jesus. , 163 and the effect of the light of theCiospel 176 Athonagoras, a heathen philosopher, afterwards the apologist for Chris- tianity 225 quotes the four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles 226 on the pure morality of the Christians 495 lefers the Emperors to th< sacred text as well known to them 504 Athens, the laws of, against those who taught the worship ©f any new INDEX. Aeity, or attacked the established religion .;■ 419 Attius Navius, a Roman augiir, a pretended miracle ascribed to him 360 Augustine, St. affirms that J. C. left nothing in wiiting 26 — ■ relates an interestmg con- fession from Porphyry 76 places the purity of the mo- rals of the Christians in the class of the strongest evidences 499 " — his great regret in giving up Homer 509 Augustus, copy of his account' of the forces of the Empire preserved at Ancyra... 47 — — — — a saying of, upon Herod's massacre of the Innocents . j . . 67 • ■ • - character of the age of 208 • — miracle ascribed to. . . 358 Authentic, explanation of the term 289 B. BalthuR, Father, his answer to Fon- tenelle's History of Oracles . . 175 Balzac's simile describing TertuUian's style 23 Barchochebas, his seditious entei-- prize — calls himself the Christ — de- feated and punished by Adrian 482 • — the christians refused to join him 483 Baronius, his mistakes 213 l&artholemew, St. crucified at Albano- polis 260 carried St. Matthew's Gos- peltolndia 300 Basnage, Mr. de Flottcmanville, . upon the enumeration related by StLuke 49 Basnage, Samuel, rejects the miracle of the thunderifig legion.... €51 —i . .1. considers as doubtful the mi- racle which put a stop to Julian's attempt 467 Baudoin, Francis, a learned lawyer, upon the meaning of the law "JJis qui Judaicam superstitionem" 345 Baudoin, upontlie letter of M. Aure- lius 348 Baxter, Di*. upon the effect of evi- dence — upon the probability of cer- tain miracles 305 •■ ■ upon tlie consequences of the re- bellion of Barchochebas 433 Bayle, Mr. his objection to the sense given by Origen to a passage in Phlegon 99 upon Adrian's persecution. 131 tliinks the rejection of the power of the devil irrecoucileable with Holy Scripture 137 those who deny the existence of devils not to be considei*ed as Atheists.., 166 surprised that the Sadducees we're not excommunicated from th« Jewish church 403 admits the miracle which con- founded Julian 468 Beausobre, Mr. de, upon the miracu- lous star 1 65 Binaeus proves that there could not have been a general numbering tinoughout the whole Roman Em- pire 62 Bletterie, Father de la, upon the de- sign of Julian to rebuild the Tem- ple 444 judicious remark on an implied confession of that Prince.... 463 Blondel, David, calls the letters as- cribed to Abgarus and J. C. spu- rious 27 Boileau's remark upon a passage in Longiuus 506 Bossuet's, Mr. mistake respecting the eclipse mentioned by Phlegdn Sf C. Caligula, a daily journal of what pas- sed in Alexandria in Egypt, regu- larly transmitted to ll Calrnet, upon the destruction of the Temple 44l Capitolinus, Julius, the lustorian, hi» character ; and the account he gives of the victory of M. Aurelius . 334 INDEX. Eclipses, which have lasted more th.an three hours 91 Edessa, antiquity of Christianity in the city of 54 Edict of enumeration set forth by Au- gustus, asserted by Suidas to be general 52 * ■ ■ proved to have been pecidiar to Judea 54 of M. Aurelius in favom- of the »■ Christians, disputed ^ . 117 Ely mas struck blind for opposing St- Paul ,. 072 Enumeration, the nature of that made by Augustus at the time of our Sa- viour's birth ..i.... 52 Epicui;eans not persecuted by the Pa- gans 4)7 Epiphanius, his credulity ..... 1 32 Erasmus tliought highly of Origen's writings , 240 on the lives of Paul the her- mit and St. Anthony by Jerome 283 • on the Roman historians 335 Evremont, St. upon the martyrs G73 Eusebius, on the account sent by p. Pilate to Tiberii^ 13 on the spurious Acts of P. Pilate posted up by order of the Emperor Maxim in 18 • tJie (ii-st who published the letter of Abgarus 2+ ■ accused of having forged the letter and answer, and defend- ed ..:. 25 ' ■' ' mentions only one taxing in Judea ; 60 ■ ' ' affirms that the oracles were never silenced till the time of our Saviour 174 » recites the rescript of Adri- an in favour of the Christians 1 90 •' on the agreement and great number of the witnesses in favour of Christianity 313 ' ' ■ on the obstacles surmounted by the disciples of J. C 317 ■ attests the miracles which were performed by the Christi- ans ,, .,,.■.,,,.,, ,. 2>h^ Eusebius, asserts that he had scenth* Ronsans working with oxen upon Mount Sion .„. 440 ; apt to pass over matters which relate to the history of the Westeni Empire ^ 50] F. Fabricius, John Albert, upon the pro- gress of the gospel ....'.... 267 Famines, foretold by our Lord, and attested by the Heathen histori- ans 435 Fleming, Mr. his account of a deist being converted 102 Fontcnelle, .Air. de, mistaken as to tha opinion of the Fathers respectinqj demons 143 — I acknowledges their power in the time of J. C 146 asserts that the oracles fell by natural means: refuted 15$ denies that they were mi- raculously silenced 167 G. Gamaliel, the sag e advice of, in tb« Sanhedrim 420 Gwlaljah, a Rabbin of the fifteenth century, relates the Jewish tradition upon the miracle which frustrated Julian's design 467 Gelasius, Pope, in a council held at Rome, classes the letter of Abgar rus and the answer as apocry- phal 26 Gifts, miraculous, letters of credit t» thedisciples 267 why discontinued. 271 Gospels, the, had really for their authors those whose names they bear ., 194 '■ their authenticity acknow- ledged by Julian, Celsus and Por- phyry -. 195 ■ " distinctly mentioned by Ire- najus 197 cited by Origen ........ 1 9S — acknowledged as authenti« more than fifteen centuries .. 241 ■ ' practice of the churches td r«ad them publicly ...,...« 2ii INDEX. €ospels, vigilance of the primitive Christians to preserve tlie sacred text entire 286 — examples of their strictness in this point ^^87 .. Iieretics put to confusion hy these means 291 date of each Gospel from a INTS. in the royal library of France 307 Grabe, Dr. accused by I^ Clerc of too readily admitting apocryphal books S'T Gregovyof Naaianzen, his mystic elo- quence upon th^ miraculous dark- ness .....-:«... 98 compares the martyi-s to grass 377 attests the miracle which put a stop to Julian's design 446 of Tours, respecting Dionysius bisliop of Paris 2 i 7 Clrotins admits the existence of an original account from P. Pilate to Tiberius, supported by bishop Pear- son 16 mistake upon the credit of Africanus respectingthe miraculous darkness 89 thought the demons could work some kinds of miracles 145 H. Halicarnassus, the decree of the se- nate of, in favour of the Jews 4 1 Halloix, Fatlier, his collection of the fragments of Hegesippus 321 Hecatoeus (of AMcra) his history of the Jews, whether forged 178 Hegesippus, a Jewish convert, the first ecclesiastical historian after the Apostles 3^ I Helena, queen of the Adiabenians, very bountiful to tlie Jews in the time of famine 435 Heretics, bear witness to the authon • ticity of the Apostolical writings 309 Hermits, reflections upon their Insti- tution. - 283 Herodotus, upon the oi-acle of Del- phi 152 ... ■ agreement of this historian with the prophets 39 S Hierocles, a pagan philosopher, com- pares the miracles of J. C. with the works of Apollonius Tyaneus SO — : refuted by Eusebius and Lactantius ...^.......... .. 81 Holstenius, author of the life of Por- phyrv «..«-. 77 Homer, extolled; his Iliad and Odys- sey regulated the worship and system of religion 50S the impression made by his works ..." .-• -509 St. Augustine's regret at giv- ing them up ibid. Houteville, Abbe, admits the fact of the proposition of Tiberius to the Senate - 1-5 . . rejects the letter of Abga- rus 28 . mistaken respecting UI- pian's law — 344 too readily admits the let- ter at this day ascribed to M. An- toninus 349 Huber, Mr. his remark upon the ' exactness of the proceedings agamst J. C. according to the account of the Evangelists 715 Iluet, bishop of Avranches, whether mistaken as to the . enumeration made in the reign of Augustus 54 I. J. Jerome, St. his mystic eloquence 98 .. - upon Quadratus bishop of Athens 1»^ . — places Origen above Var* ro.... 239 '. wrote the life of Paul the hermit, and of St. Anthony ; dis- posed to multiply the number of - miracles 283 .- - had read the letter of M. Aurelius to the Senate 332 - on the permission granted to the .Jews to go to Jerusalem to weep ^^^ Jerusalem, prediction of J. C that this city shotild be destroyed 431 .. another of all the forerun- ners of this event ...->.... 43» INDEX. Jerusalem, this city rebuilt by Ad- ^'a»i 479 Jews, the, considered by the Pai^ans as very credulous " ] q admitted the miracles of J- C 83 addicted to magic in our Savi- our's time 121 accused of reporting tiiat the Christians were Athcists"^ .... 404. hated of all people, yet tolera- ted and protected 409 • edict of Augustus for the con- veyance of their annual tribute- privilege on the Sabbath day and the day before 4 j ( ■ incorporated with the citizens of Antioch and Alexandria, &c 415 persecuted by Antiochus Epi- phanes, and why 42 1 ——their rejection solemnly pre- dicted _ 47^ their 3 Judea, designated in the words " all the land" ^g • sometimes called Syria .. 67 Julian, tlie Emperor, attests the enu- meiation related by St. Luke. 61 admits the miraculous star 64 and the miracles of J. C. 74 and of St. Peter .... 108 commends the charity of tide Christians /^/(/. inclined to magic .... 131 acknowledges the writings of the Evangelists and Apostles 195 strongly expresses the fre- quency of martyrdom 37fi INDEX. Julian, thought it not good policj'- to put the Christians publicly to death 377 admitted the prophecies 399 designs to falsify the predic- tion of J. C 443 ■I ■ his artifice 44fi the natural conseqiience of his attempt 452 — — . miraculously foiled .... 453 testimony of Ammianus Mar- cellinus, &c. &c i.'.. 456 Justin Martyr, a Platonic philosopher converted to Christianity, testifies the account sent by P. Pilate 10 — — credulous in some points. . 20 ■ on the enumeration by Augus- tus as eviflence of the time and place of our Lord's birth .... 53 his Apolog'v produced the edict of M. Antoninus 116 — — attests Adrian's i-escript in fa- vour of the Christians .... 191 ■ certifies the custom of reading the Gospels publicly 284, 3 1 3 affirms that the patience of the martyrs effected his conversion 367 on toleration 370 Juvenal on the silence of the Oracle of Delphi 157 I. Lactantius on the artifices of the de- mons 143 — solicits a trial of the power of the Christians over them. . 16'2 on the effect of the courage of the Christians .... on their morality. . . . 494 Lampridius admits what happened to the army of M. Aurelius to be wonderful, but attributes it to magic 334 Lardner, Dr. proves that the enume- ration related by St. Luke was pe- culiar to Judea 54 respecting two of the name of Quadratus 194 - on the meaning of the term "authentic" 289 Le-Clerc on the Acts of Pilate and the letter to Tibori us 14 Le Clerc on the demon of Socrates 134 on the conduct of unbe- lievers 138 Legion, the Thundering, useless dis- pute about 349 I/Kufant, Mr. upon the effect of the spurious Acts of Pilate .... 18 Lightfoot, upon the destruction of the Temple ...*.... 442 London, bishop of, his pastoral let- ters 124 Longinus an instance of the acquaint- ance the enlightened Pagans had with the Jewish Scriptures . . 98 Lucan, the poet, upon the silence of the Oracles 157 Lucian, bishop and martyr, upon the miraculous darkness 97 Lucian, of Samosata, a heathen phi- losopher, ridicules Apolloujus Tya- neus 82 ■ not sparing even Jupiter 107 his testimony in favour of the Christians 108 — ■ on the courage of the mar- tyrs 378 Luke, St. speaks only of one enum/*- ration in Judea , 54 Lyttelton, Lord, his argument in fa- vour of miracles 1 23 on the superiority of the disciples over the heathen philoso- phers 212 Lyttelton, Mr. a deist; effect of a passage in Ammianus Marcellinus upon ,. 471 M. Macrgbius, his life and works .. 65 — — — — on the massacre of the In- nocents 66 attacked by Collins. , 68 a professed heathen. 70 relates that Trajan consult- ed the Oracle of Heliopolis .. 151 Maffei, the marquis Scipio, doubts the authenticity of the fragments of Irenajus 277 ' ■ ■ has published a very singular inscription relating to the Jews 415 INDEX. JSagiC imputed to the Christians by Celsus 108 ' the imputation a proof of the truth of the miracles 112 - ■ ■ no mention of magic in the course of our Lord's trial .... 119 —— vanity of this art confessed in the time of Nero 120 — ■ much encouraged by the Jewish doctors' 1<21 — — abjured by the Christian con- verts 128 Maimonides, a particular circum- stance recorded by 442 Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, effect of Justin Martyr^s Apology upon 116 ■ his character tarnished by the martyrdom of Polycarp 281 ■■' his armj' saved by a miracu- lous shwer 351 his contempt for magicians 336 ■■ his letter ettant inTcrtuIIian^s time 3^2 Martyrs, the first, in Gaul in tlie reign of M. Aurelius ;. , 217 their courage in two instances at Lj'ons *....,.... 362 opinion of the Church of SmjTua upon excess of zeal . 377 ' ' ■ distinction between those of doctrine and those of history . 382 ■■'■ on those of false religions ibid. Masson, Mr. John, on the murder of the Innocents 63 Massuet, the works of IrenaRus pib- lished by 278 Matthew, St. called the Apostle of Ethiopia 260 — — — his Gospel found in India by Pantaenus 300 Maturus, a martyr at Lyons .... 362 Maximin, the Emperor, circulated through the empire the spurious Acts of P. Pilate 18 Medal, a, certifying the miracle which saved the army of M. Au- relius 341 Medes, the fall of the empire of the, foretold by Nahum and recorded by Herodotus 398 Melito, bishop of Snrdis, his style 2* attests Adrian's edict 191 Millar, Mr* on the travels of the Apostles '265 • on the miracle which saved the army of M. Aureliu§ .... 3.50 Minntius Felix on the power of the Christians by exorcism .... 163 on the morals of the primi- tive Christians 495 Miracles performed by the name of Jesus .... 109 ■ ' ■■ ■ distinct chaiactere of .. 114 (;ould not be the effect of magic... 120 necessary to ^he making of converts 1 22 tiie convei-sion of the world by the Apostles one of the greatest, and a proof of the rest .... ibifl. Avhether the demons could work any 145 true and false pointed out by God himself 147 a letter of credit to the Apos- tles 267 ■ sojne ascribed to three Roman Emperors ; 338 ~-» those ascrilKid to Esculapius ridiculed by Luciati 359 r\Iontes(juieu, Mr. de, on the mi- raculous establishment of Chris- tianity 423 on the efficacy of it upon the temporal happiness of mankind, andin the production of virtue 493 ' - on the influence of cli- mate 49Y Morery, restoration of a passage in... 178 Momay, INIr. Du Plessis, mistaken about the miraculous star . . 64 — his just reflection upon the trial of our Lord 119 ■ on the effect of magic encou- raged in the time of J. C 121 on the fortitude of the mar- tyrs 380 •• on Miracles 426 Mosheim, Mr. his excellent observa- sion upon the sera of our Saviour ■« birth ...^ G5 INDEX. ^vlosaeim, Mr. on Polj'carp's Epistle to the Philippians -. 280 r— qpinion as to the miracle obtained by the prayers of the (Christians ia the army of M. Au- relius ..<....: 352 on the miracle which over- threw Jliiian's design 47 1 Moyle, Mr. on the miracle which put a stop to Julian's attempt 471 Muret, Mark Anthony, his application of a sentiment m Terence .... Q6 N. Nicephorus Callistus, his Ecclesiasti- cal history somewhat fabulous 265 Kicodemus, the only Pharisee con- verted to Christianity 214 O. Oracles, the heathen, bore honour- able testimony to J. C 77 • well suited to favour Pagan- ism 141 ' their cessation foretold by Zechariah, and by J. C. 147, 14S • their silence unanimously attributed by the primitive Chris- tians to J. C 156 ' and attested by the pagans 157 ' respected by the most en- lightened philosophers .... 172 their silence accounted for by Eusebius and St. Athanasius 176 Origen asserts that J. C. left nothing in writing 26 ' on the enumeration in Judea 58 ' • - quotes Phlegon vqmn the mira- culous darkness at the time of our Lord's crucifixion 83 — -— and on the earthquake lu Bithy- nia 100 supposed to be mistaken . . 101 proves the necessity of mira- cles 118 on the power of the name of Jesus when invoked b}' the unwor- thy 127 — — q^ttotes the f«ur Evangeli»ts 198 Origen, a disciple of Clemens of Alex- andria , 23ft attests the authenticity of the New Testament. 242 — — his answer to Celsus who said the Christians wei-e intolerant 400 on our Saviour's prophecy touching the destruction of Jerusa-. lem 431 on the power of Christianity 498 Orosius, Paulus, on the proposition of Tiberius ............ ...^ 13 on the Ernperor Adrian's opinion of Christianity .... 19p on the letter of M. Aurellus to the Senate 347 P. Pajrans, on the silence of their cele- brated authors on the subject of Christianity 211 many converted 218 • ■ on their knowledge, of the Jewish Scriptures 503 Pagi, Father, on the Apology of Athe- nagoras , 226 Pantsenus, preceptor and predecessor of Clement in the chair of Alexan- dria 230 ■ ■ ~ ■ ■ ■ had been a Stoic philoso- pher 310 Panvini, Onuphrio, on Phlegon's tes- timony of the darkness at the time of our Saviour's crucifixion . . 95 Papias, on the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark 196^ Pascal, on the disposition of the Jews 479 Patin, Charles, edition of Suetonius gives a curious inscription .. 115 Paul the hermit, the first splitary Christian 282 his life written by Jerome not much approved by Erasmus . 283 Pearson, bishop, admits the orig\nal Acts of P. Pilate 16 Petau, Father, on the unanimity of the ancient Fathers respecting the darkness mentioned by Phlegon 9 8 Ffaff, Mr. on the fragments of Ire- INDEX. iKCTis — refitted by the marqnis Maffei '2~1 Philo, the Jew, on the custom of Tro- vincial governors to keep a register of events that occurred in their district 17 • suspected the history of the Jews, ascribed to Hecatauis, to be a forgery ...^ I'.B Philosophical Considerations, the Au- thor of, refuted 8.1 Philostorgius, on the literal fiiirilniont of prophecy by the failuie of Ju- lian's attempt 4oo Philostratus wrote the life of Api>l- lonius Tyaneus in order to make his court to Caracalla vS2 Phlegon, freed man of Adrian, testifies our Saviour's pi-ophecies .... 8.5 — -^— speaks of a memorable eclipse ,... 87 ■ in what sense ..-- 92 • also of an eartliquake— iMr. Bayle replied to on t)>is point 99 Photius, has preserved tons Phleuon's history of the 177th 01}inpia Pictet, Mr. Benedict, his observasinn upon Dion 31 Pilate, Pontius, thouj^ht by 'lertul- lian to have been a convert to Quiiitianity 12 ■ Acts ascribed to 17 Pitbou, tlie pre^dent Peter, supj^osed Animianus Marcellmus to be a Christian — refuted 4.') 5 Pliny the younger, his testimony for Christianity lOi — — imprudence of legendaries re- specting 1 07 — ^ — on the progress of Christi- anity 220 Plotinus, a celebrated philosopher, his request to. the emperor Gallienus refused , 428 Phiche, Abbe, on the field bought with the money given to Judas 1 1 .3 -■■ on the primitive historj'' of Christianity- 312 * ■ ■ ■ on the union of Christian courage with the purity of life and doctrine ..^ 373 ■■■■ ■ ■ on St. Paul's conversion 379 Pluche, Abbe, on the accomplishment of the prophecy against Jerusalem 444 on the effect of Christianity upon the most barbarous nations 500 Plutarch admits the fall of the ora- cles ; takes no notice of Christianity in his writings 15S his anecdote of Cicero.. 173 Pt.lycarp, the disciple of St. John, seen by Ireuaius 27S his epistle to the Philippians doubted '. 28(V the account of his martyrdom, written by tlie church of Smyrna to be foimd in F.uscbius 365' Pontbriant, Al)be, on the character of the primitive Christians . . . 37& ' on the dispersion of the Jews 477 Pomponia Gracina, a Roman lady of quality converted to Christian- ity 220 Pope, Mr. on the divine honours paid tss respected in the time 0i Suidas, his mistake about the suppo- sed accovuit of all the subjects of the Roman Empire 52 ,-.■ • - ■ attritrates the preser\ation of the army of M. Aurelius to ma- gic ■ 334 Sulpitius Severus, attests the period of the first martyrdoms m CJaul 217 - his observation respecting Origen 239 Superstition, Christianity so called by the heathens 115 ■■ the meaning of " Judaica * ' Superstitio" 344 Syncellus gives too gieat a latitude to a passage in Phlegon .... 88 Syria, Judea so called 67 — fall of the kingdom of, foretold by Isaiah, and related by Hero- id and miraculous" progress of Christianity 426 Thomas, St. fabulous accounts of him mixed with truth 262 Thomasius, rejects the Acts of Pilat© and the circumstance of Tiberius' proposition to the senate .... 14? on the travels of the Apos- tles 267 • rejects tiie story of the thundering legion 351 — ' does not question the mira- cle .which put a stop to Julian'* attempt 463 INDEX, Tiberlus's proposition to the senate to enroll J. C. amongst the gods 1 1 Tillemont, Mr. de, conjectures that Phlegon and ThaUus had their ac- count from that of P. Pilate . 96 his opinion of Aquila V29' ■ accuses Jerome of being incoiTCCt 283- compares Christianity with heathen philosophy 428 Titus, the Emperor, used" all his ef- forts to save the Tempkof Jerusa- lem ...- 441 Titus-Livius, on the toleration of fo- reign rites among the Romans 406 Tradition, Apostolical, transmitted in succession 274 Trajan, the Emperor, his 'goodness proverbial 104 —— his answer to Pliny. .... 106 consulted the oracle, of Helio- polis 151 Tribute sent by the Jews annually to Jerusalem ................. 411 V.U. Valesius' remat* €>h Quadratus 193 i-efutes the opinion that AramianusMarcellinus was a Chris- tian ..:.... 435' Vandale mistakes the system of the Fathers respecting the Heathen ora- cles 143 Vanini attacks the history of the nai- raculous Star 64 Vernet, Professor, on the taste of the Augustan age 120 Vespasian, reason for ascribing a mi- racle to 359 Ulpian, examination of a rescript re- ported by 344 Vossius, Gerard John, on the operation of evil spirits 138 Usher, Abp. on a passage in Sui- das 5% W. "Wagenseil, on the confession of Rabbi Gedaljah, respecting Julian's attempt 467 Warburton, bishop, on the lumii^ous Crosses which appeared on the bo- die^nd garments of the people as- semt)led in Jerusalem . . _ . , 448 Witsius, on the thundering le- gion 345 Wbolston, his en-oneous opinions 123 — sentence against hun for - publishing them , 125 X. Xipliilin'd opinion of Adrian .... 131 Z, Zemath -David, a Jewish Rabbi, quo- tted in e\*idencebv Mr. Addison 393 [•T. C. HANSARD, Printer,-* Peterborough-Court, > L Fleet-sueet. J ERRATA. Line. 10 .. 5 for Str;artrt read liisa-vit 11 . 25 ex et 12 .. 1 .... men- ... nun- 13 .. 24 «. •• consituit ... constituit 31 .. 5 ...• with- .... within 52 .. 15 ...> considerable ... considerably 56 .. 16 »••• heavens ... heaven 83 . 24 ,, ,. is ta . .. ista 92 . 21 dele in 102 .. 6 .... ^ earth world 109 .. 24 nonnumqiiam .... nonnunquam 178 .. 8 .... an • ■>. a 194 .. 15 dele is 238 .. 1 .... lecture she .... lectures he 265 .. 5 ■ ••• Cahxtus Callistus 279 .. 9 .... of .... to 287 .. 4 'dele in 291 .. •!24 25 ...• writers .».. writings 438 ., 11 • • »• been .... be 443 .. 13 .... transccndant ... transcendent 457 .. a >. •• bcgining ... beginning 459 .. 8 .... Zonoras .. .. Zonaras 493 . 19 .... enexpiable >• .. inexpiable 505 . 24 dele that In the Marginal Note 9, P age. 99 for Palm read Psalm 139 1 Eph 1 Ep. 153 «.. Ballus's Balthus's 158 ... regn reign JOS ... Vin Vir. 358 . .. Augst Aug ust. 366 . .. Hiches Hickes 380 . a« Murney .... Momay i 157 ... Judaes Judajos, and the last Note in page 141, should be in page 140. wee 192. MAR 2 1956 tU JW ^4)969 99 101un'64RR 40U\^'^ o9 ;?^^ v?7'R4-8PI j^U\^ fe'i.'^ v^ 50m-7,'27 "1*^1%.* J b38 A3t>~ UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY \ ^I^^^^ '^ -^^