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SERIES OF LETTERS 
 
 ON THE 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY, 
 
 (AS THEY FIRST APPEARED IN THE OCCIDENT.) 
 
 BY 
 
 BENJAMIN BIAS FERNANDES. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 PUBLISHED AT 371 WALNUT STREET. 
 5614. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 BY THE EDITOR OF THE OCCIDENT. 
 
 IT is now fully thirty years when there appeared, in the 
 city of New York, a monthly paper called *' The Jew," and 
 edited by Solomon Henry Jackson. The object of this 
 work was to lay before the public arguments in defence of 
 the Jewish religion, which was then, as now, assailed by 
 the agents and messengers of the association calling itself, 
 arrogantly, "The American Society for Meliorating the 
 Condition of the Jews." Mr. Jackson and his coadjutors 
 fiercely assailed the popular belief, and occasionally their 
 honest zeal hurried them into expressions which would have 
 been stronger had they been conveyed in gentler tones. 
 The work dragged along a painful existence for two years, 
 and died with the spring of the year 1825, when the editor 
 retired, having had sad experience enough of the public 
 indifference towards his laudable undertaking. The number 
 of Israelites, however, at that time in America, could not 
 have exceeded ten thousand, if there were so many ; hence 
 it was naturally a difficult matter to support any denomina- 
 tional work, irrespective of the fact that Mr. Jackson had 
 in all likelihood no acquaintance with general literature, and 
 " The Jew" contained little besides controversial papers. 
 Still it is a pity that it died so soon, with so little satisfac- 
 tion to the originators, and probably with a loss more con- 
 
 cm) 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 siderable than the extent of his means permitted him to 
 bear. In short, like with many similar undertakings, Mr. 
 Jackson found out that journalism had more sorrows than 
 pleasures for nearly all who engage in it ; and for twenty 
 years nearly, no attempt was made again to start a Jewish 
 Journal in America. 
 
 One of the most attractive features of " The Jew/' were 
 the papers which appeared therein under the name of 
 "Dea's Letters/' of which seventeen had been printed 
 when the work stopped. They were noticed for their 
 cogency and gentlemanly tone, the arguments being not the 
 less striking for the gentleness with which the author 
 wielded his weapons. At that time, which was soon after 
 my arrival in America, it was a fruitless task to discover 
 who the writer was, as no one seemed able to give any 
 information on the subject. Not long after, however, an old 
 gentleman of Richmond, Virginia, where I then resided, the 
 late Jacob Mordecai, informed me that a little before the 
 commencement of the nineteenth century, persons connected 
 with the Simson family, of New York, had in vain endeav- 
 oured to find a printer in Philadelphia to give publicity to 
 a series of letters, probably the identical Dea's papers which 
 had appeared in " The Jew." 
 
 In the meanwhile I had the pleasure of making the 
 acquaintance of Sampson Simson, Esq., of Yenkers, New 
 York ; and when I had commenced " The Occident/' in the 
 month of April, 1843, and after the second number had 
 appeared, I paid him a visit for the purpose of procuring 
 the MS. of these letters, which I had ascertained were in his 
 possession, intending to print the whole of them should my 
 work survive sufficiently long. Mr. Simson was kind enough 
 
PREFACE. 7 
 
 to put the MS. in my hands, consisting of four books, cov- 
 ering in all about four hundred pages. I learned from him 
 that, sometime before the American revolution, these letters 
 had been loaned to his father, Solomon Simson, by a person 
 to him unknown, and that they had been 'copied in the 
 present MS. by Mr. Jacobs, a clerk, if I recollect aright, 
 of Mr. S's father. More than this I did not learn. 
 
 On printing the first letter, in June, 1843, I at once sug- 
 gested that the name of the author had been wrongly spelled 
 in the MS., and should be Dias instead of Dea. Much to 
 my gratification I received, soon after, a letter from the late 
 lamented Grace Aguilar, informing me that I was right in 
 my conjecture, and that the author's name was Benjamin 
 Dias, her maternal great grand father, a merchant of Por- 
 tuguese origin, who came from Jamaica to England, where 
 he spent the latter part of his life, and where, in fact, these 
 important letters were written. It appears, likewise, from 
 her statement, that Mr. Dias wrote two copies of the work, 
 one of which he gave to his eldest son, Isaac, and the other 
 to his youngest son, Jacob. The latter, who was the grand 
 father of Miss Aguilar, lent his copy to a relative, and it 
 was never returned ; and only some years back the descen- 
 dants of Isaac, who reside in Jamaica, sent their copy to 
 their aunt, the venerable widow of Jacob Dias, and it was 
 greatly to the surprise of the family that they found the 
 letters published in " The Occident" identical with those in 
 their possession. Subsequently I ascertained that the other 
 copy was in this country, the owner having proposed to me 
 to have it stereotyped for general circulation; but having 
 stipulated with him that he should bear the expense of pub- 
 lication, which his ample means would have readily enabled 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 him to defray, iny letter remained unanswered. This person 
 died some time ago, and an application through a friend in 
 the South to his son-in law, who is not an Israelite, for a 
 loan of the MS. to compare it with the one in my posses- 
 sion, was refused without assigning any reason. The Eng- 
 lish MS. neither has ever been in my hands ; so I am unable 
 to determine whether the present collection contains all the 
 writings of Mr. Dias or not. Any how it embraces all I 
 have ever seen, and it is given with strict fidelity, only that 
 I have made the necessary corrections in orthography and 
 punctuation, and occasionally, when absolutely requiste, I 
 corrected a few errors made by the transcriber or the author ; 
 a procedure absolutely requisite with all manuscripts, even 
 when one prints his own works. 
 
 I have ascertained, likewise, that the author's full name 
 was Benjaman Dias Fernandes ; and I regret that his rela- 
 tives in England either know nothing more than what is 
 given here, or that they did not care about communicating 
 it for publication. Nor has any account ever reached me as 
 to the reasons which induced Mr. Dias to write, or respecting 
 the persons to whom they were addressed; but I rather 
 think that nothing is known by his descendants on these 
 topics, or else there can be but little doubt that Miss Aguilar 
 would have informed me of them, as our correspondence for 
 some years was quite familiar. If this conjecture be correct, 
 Mr. Dias is but an addition to the many Israelites who have 
 laboured well for their people, of whose history, nevertheless, 
 we have nothing but their works. 
 
 It is possible that there may be other letters of Mr. Dias 
 than those in this collection. But as it is my intention to 
 take good care that Mrs. Aguilar, who still survives her 
 
PREFACE. Vll 
 
 gifted daughter, shall see this book, it is to be hoped that she 
 will communicate these, in case they do exist, to be made 
 public hereafter. 
 
 The Israelitish reader has, accordingly, this work in his 
 possession, after it has lain for nearly a hundred years either 
 unpublished or scattered through the pages of " The Jew," 
 and the " Christian Inquirer/' a magazine edited by the late 
 Barnabas Bates, of postage reform memory, in each of which 
 a portion appeared, and " The Occident," in No. 3 of which 
 the first letter was presented, and the dissertation on Genesis 
 xlix. 10,* in No. 128, the whole publication occupying a 
 space of ten and a half years. From the beginning these 
 papers have been eagerly read by Israelites living scattered 
 through the country ; and they have furnished them many 
 good opportunities to give convincing answers to those who 
 assailed them on account of their faith. It was in obedience, 
 therefore, to the request of many friends, that I announced, 
 several months ago, my intention of issuing them in book 
 form, and I am now happy that I have done so. It is to be 
 hoped that the work will attract, as it deserves, the attention 
 of all Israelites, especially of ministers and elders, that they 
 may give it the widest possible circulation ; as it is a sharp- 
 edged sword of faith to ward off the attacks which are so 
 frequently made, and which are not always so easily answered 
 
 * It is more than probable that Mr. Dias is not the author of the last 
 mentioned paper, as it is headed in the MS : " Not being satisfied with 
 the solution of this prophecy, as it is contained in the twenty-second 
 letter, and having myself written a letter on the subject, (which I have 
 hereunto annexed) I have made a few remarks in haste, which I here 
 subjoin for the perusal of my friend." Whether, therefore, this is a 
 subsequent remark of Mr. D., or orignating with the transcriber, or some 
 one else, is at present impossible to determine. 
 
Vlil PREFACE. 
 
 as some may suppose in their self-conceit. But these letters, 
 if they are not always the best that can be advanced on a 
 particular topic, at least give always a candid view of the 
 question which they discuss, and in such a manner that 
 their force cannot be easily weakened or avoided. 
 
 This is the first publication of mine which does not 
 emanate from my pen ; but then these letters passed succes- 
 sively under, my review, and have a few, though but a very 
 few, notes of mine appended to them; and I trust that I 
 shall meet with so much encouragement as to induce me 
 to issue hereafter more works of the kind, so that this may 
 be " The Jewish Controversial Library, No. 1," as I had at 
 one time thought to print on the title page. We owe it to 
 ourselves to defend our religion ; and it would be a shame 
 if, with a free press at our command, we do not scatter light 
 all over the land, and "teach the sons of Judah to wield 
 the bow," the arrows of which slay unbelief and exter- 
 minate erroneous teaching. 
 
 ISAAC LEESER. 
 
 I November 14th, 1853. 
 j Marchegllvan 12t 
 
DIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 DEAR SIR: No distance between us shall hinder me, 
 now having leisure, from satisfying your curiosity, and 
 sending you my opinion concerning primitive Christianity, 
 and the foundation on which it is established. I believe, 
 when you required this task of me, you little thought of 
 the trouble and pains I should be at; and I have no doubt, 
 but you expected I should do this in about half a dozen 
 letters. If so, you will find yourself greatly mistaken ; for 
 as the subject is extensive, you will find that the considera- 
 tion of one thing will insensibly lead me to another. Your 
 curiosity, I am afraid, will cost you dear, and you are 
 likely to pay for postage more than perhaps any thing I 
 can say will be worth. 
 
 I intend my letters on this subject shall be separate, 
 that the thread of them may not be interrupted by any 
 thing foreign to the purpose. I likewise intend to keep a 
 copy, and to number them, and this is the first. By this 
 means I shall be enabled, should there be any miscarriage, 
 to transcribe another copy. 
 
 In the course of these letters 1 shall say, myself, as 
 
 i CD 
 
BIAS* LETTERS. 
 
 little as possible; neither shall I assert any thing but 
 under the authority of Scripture, or of some eminent 
 authors. Of these there are three, (all in Spanish.) The 
 first is " Fortificacion de la Fe," by Isaac, the son of 
 Abraham, of whom take the following character from 
 Basnage :* " It must not be denied ," says he, " but that 
 they had their defenders, at the head of whom we may 
 rank Rabbi Isaac, the son of Abraham ; this man declares 
 that he spent his life in the courts of Germany, near 
 princes, who often gave him marks of distinction; he had 
 frequent conferences with Luther's disciples, and it was 
 against them he composed his { Buttress of Faith/ It 
 must be confessed his book is one of the most dangerous 
 that has been produced against Christianity. The author 
 runs through the whole gospel, and dwells upon all the 
 passages of the sacred story that can furnish him with any 
 objections; he enforces them briskly, and at the same time 
 refutes the Christian's answer." This book is translated 
 into Latin under the title of " Munumen Fidei." Cl It 
 were to be wished/' adds Mr. Basnage, lt the learned 
 translator had followed this author, step by step, and con- 
 futed him." The author wrote it originally in Hebrew; 
 the Spanish translator has added several notes and remarks 
 of his own. The second is the famous "Tratado de la 
 Verdad de la Ley," written by Saul Levy Morteria, of 
 whom no doubt but you have heard. The third is c< Pre- 
 venciones Divinas Contra La Vana Idolatria de las Gen- 
 tes," by the learned Doctor Isaac Orobio de Castro, of 
 whom Mr. Basnage makes mention.f This learned person had 
 
 * History of the Jews, B. 7, C. 30. f Ibid. 
 
LETTEK I. O 
 
 a famous controversy with Limborch, concerning the Chris- 
 tian religion, which is published in Latin ; but I very much 
 doubt if the arguments on his side be fairly represented. 
 In the manuscript which I have, there appears so much 
 learning, solid argument, and sound judgment, that he must 
 have been entirely qualified to support the advantages ari- 
 sing from his cause, besides his being well versed in all the 
 doctrines of Christianity, and in their subtlety of subter- 
 fuges, which he continually exposes and explodes by his 
 solid reasonings. These are the principal Jewish authors, 
 who have written on controverted points, whose works are 
 all in manuscript. I am indebted to some eminent Chris- 
 tian authors, who have supplied me with many hints, which 
 I shall make use of occasionally ; as what they assert must, 
 when properly applied, give an additional strength to, and 
 illustrate whatever I shall assert. 
 
 I shall take care to settle and fix the proper meaning of 
 the terms, and to use them according to their true sense and 
 signification ; otherwise it will be impossible to avoid mis- 
 takes and confusion, as it happens when terms are made use 
 of, or introduced, which have no determinate meaning, or 
 have not proper ideas annexed to them ; for how, otherwise, 
 can we judge of the truth of any proposition? After all, I 
 am very sure that the subject will suffer greatly in my 
 hands for want of abilities equal to the task. For though I 
 shall take care to assert nothing but such truths as I am 
 convinced of, yet I cannot pretend to the happiness of being 
 able to set them forth to you with that clearness which the 
 importance of the subject requires; neither can I pretend, 
 or you expect, that I should follow that method and regularity 
 so necessary to be observed, and which oftentimes gives 
 
4 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 additional light to a subject; and I assure you that nothing 
 less than the pleasure which I always take in obeying you, 
 together with a strong propensity, or desire in me, to search 
 into these matters (for my own satisfaction and information) 
 could induce me to undertake that which must expose my 
 ignorance, and which I only do on the condition that you ' 
 keep these letters private ; and that you show them to no 
 person whatever. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 How unfortunate is it that there should not be any 
 authentic ancient writing of the transactions which are 
 related in the New Testament, on the veracity of which we 
 might depend. The disadvantage of being reduced to the 
 necessity of taking every particular from such as were 
 deeply engaged, and whose interest must naturally have led 
 them to relate things which, perhaps, never happened, and 
 many others in which they might be deceived, great as it is, 
 is nothing (were there any certainty that the evidence of such 
 authors is genuine) in comparison with what these writings 
 have ^ suffered, and the many alterations and additions they 
 have received, and this to such a degree, that I dare say no 
 learned man of the present day will be willing to assert of 
 any one single text that it may not have undergone some 
 change or alteration. Our first inquiry, therefore, must be 
 into the authority of the New Testament ; for no person can 
 have the least right over our understanding, or demand our 
 
LETTER H. 
 
 \ 
 
 assent to any proposition contrary to our conviction ; and we 
 may be sure that we cannot offend, when we make inquiry 
 into the nature of the evidence produced for our conversion, 
 since it is the only method we have to come at the know- 
 ledge of truth in any matter. Besides, in so doing, we 
 avoid as much as possible the being imposed on, and act as 
 reasonable creatures, and according to the dignity of our 
 natures. 
 
 " God himself," says the judicious Mr. Chandler, " who 
 is the object of all religious worship, to whom we owe the 
 most absolute subjection, and whose actions are all guided 
 by the discerned reason and fitness of things, cannot, as I 
 apprehend, consistent with his own perfect wisdom, require 
 of his creatures the implicit belief of, or actual assent to 
 any proposition which they do not, or cannot, either wholly 
 or in part understand; because it is requiring of them a 
 real impossibility, no man being able to stretch his faith 
 beyond his understanding."* Therefore, our inquiry into 
 the nature of any proposition is absolutely necessary ; par- 
 ticularly in matters offered for our conversion. And it is a 
 very just observation of Mr. Basnage, when he says, (t We 
 must prove the divine authority of the Gospel (to the Jews) 
 before we engage in the particulars of other controversies."^ 
 And I add, till this is done, and the 'Jews admit the divine 
 authority of the New Testament, nothing can be urged from 
 it for their conversion ; for, in controversies, neither party 
 can, with the least shadow of reason, make use of any 
 authority which is not admitted or granted by the other. A 
 Mahomedan might as consistently urge the authority of the 
 
 * Introduction to his History of the Inquisition, 
 f History of the Jews, B. 7, C. 34. 
 
6 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 Koran for the conviction of the Christian, as a Christian 
 make use of or urge any thing from the New Testament for 
 the conviction of the Jew. The absurdity of such a method 
 in either case is equally plain and obvious; for, as the 
 Christian does not admit the infallibility or divine inspiration 
 of the Koran, what force or validity could any argument 
 drawn therefrom have, or what regard would the Christian 
 pay to any such authority ? So, in like manner, what 
 regard can it be expected the Jew will pay to any proof 
 drawn from the New Testament, the authority or infallibility 
 of which they do not admit ? Can conviction be reasonably 
 expected from such grounds ? 
 
 By inspiration, I mean * ' God communicating his will, and 
 exciting a person to publish, by writing, or proclaiming by 
 words, such matters as are dictated to him." A person thus 
 actuated, either in his writings or words, is properly inspi- 
 red ; and whatever he writes or says, under such circ^um- 
 stances, must be infallible or true ; because, being under the 
 immediate influence or guidance t)f God, he cannot be liable 
 to error or deception. But the person, so actuated or influ- 
 enced, must necessarily lose his own free agency ; because 
 he thereby becomes an instrument which God makes use of, 
 under whose direction he acts ; for otherwise he would not be 
 infallible. Therefore, when I speak of the infallibility of 
 any book or writing, I mean thereby that its author was 
 under the circumstances afore-mentioned at the time of 
 writing; for if he was not under these circumstances, then 
 cannot his writings be infallible ; because he, like other free 
 agents, must be liable to deception, and may mistake the 
 things concerning which he writes, or may impose upon 
 others. 
 
LETTER II. 7 
 
 It is a doubt with me, whether there is any considerate 
 person who believes in the infallibility of the New Testa- 
 men. For no person will undertake to say that every word 
 it contains was dictated by God to those who wrote it ; and 
 if they were not all dictated by God, then cannot the whole 
 be infallible. 
 
 That every word could not be dictated by God is plain, 
 from the contradictions it contains ; and if only some part 
 or parts of these writings should be thought infallible, such 
 difficulties must necessarily arise in settling what part is so, 
 and what part is not so, that it would be impossible to come 
 to any tolerable agreement concerning it. And I am sure 
 that nothing less than an inspired person could understand 
 it ; for otherwise there would be as many different opinions 
 as persons employed in the work ; and we should hear one 
 person give as fallible what another asserted to be infal- 
 lible. 
 
 Thus stands the case. Whoever now believes, or is 
 persuaded of the divine inspiration or infallibility of the 
 writings of the New Testament, must, I apprehend, have 
 his evidence and conviction from one of the following 
 means : 
 
 1. The immediate inspiration of the writer. 
 
 2. The immediate evidence of God's influence. 
 8. Immediate tradition from the inspired writer. 
 
 4. Distant tradition. 
 
 5. Education or authority. 
 
 6. Evidence arising from examination. 
 
 1. As to an immediate inspiration of the writer, or that 
 evidence which the writer has, at finding himself, at the 
 
DIAS' LETTERS 
 
 time of writing, under the irresistible influence and imme- 
 diate guidance of God, whose dictates he is forced to set 
 down as an instrument, and (during the time) with the loss 
 of his natural free-agency, the person thus influenced and 
 excited may very consistently believe his writings to be 
 inspired, and consequently infallible; because the circum- 
 stance in which he found himself at the time of his writing 
 produced that conviction in him. 
 
 It is questionable whether those, who are so anxious to 
 impress on others the infallibility of the writings of the New 
 Testament, ever believed the writers thereof - under the 
 afore-mentioned circumstances j which they must necessa- 
 rily do, otherwise their infallibility falls to the ground ; but 
 if they believed they were, I should be glad to know from 
 what source their conviction arises ; for I have not yet met 
 with any thing to this purpose. 
 
 2. The next evidence, to that which the writer himself 
 has, is when God is pleased to impress on, or influence the 
 mind of a person by irresistibly forcing him, by some super- 
 natural means, to believe such and such writings to be in- 
 spired. It is very certain that God may do this ; but it is 
 a question if He ever did ; for no person did ever pretend 
 to these supernatural illuminations, without being suspected 
 by the more cool and sedate ; and all pretending to such a 
 gift never met with any credit from the most discerning, 
 who generally ascribe it to a distempered imagination. 
 However, they, like the writer, may very consistently 
 believe such writings to be infallible. But, then, neither 
 the writer or the person so influenced can be any evidence 
 to me, unless I attain to the certainty of it by the same 
 supernatural means. 
 
LETTER H. 9 
 
 3. Immediate tradition from the inspired writer.* This 
 can be to me nothing but mere human fallible tradition ; for 
 if a person, whether really or pretendedly inspired, publishes 
 a book or writing, and declares that it contains doctrines 
 dictated by God to himself, his evidence to me is at least 
 but human evidence, and therefore, uncertain and precari- 
 ous : for if I believe it written by inspiration, it is on his 
 own authority, which is both human and fallible. This 
 being the case, how or in what manner shall I be able to 
 distinguish the truly inspired writer from the imposter, who 
 should pretend to the like privilege ? And if we take the 
 writers' words in all cases, or give heed to their own testimony, 
 we shall be liable to be deceived and imposed on by every im- 
 postor or pretender to revelation ; and the want of a certain 
 criterion, I apprehend, was the occasion that in the first 
 ages of the church so many different gospels appeared, 
 which by many were received with veneration, while others 
 rejected them as false and spurious : so that this immediate 
 tradition can be no evidence at all of the divine inspiration 
 or infallibility of any book or writing. 
 
 4. As to distant tradition, this evidence must be propor- 
 tionably less the farther it is removed from the original ; 
 and if immediate tradition be but human fallible evidence, 
 and a true revelation cannot by it be distinguished from a 
 false one, how can it be the better ascertained by being more 
 distant from the original tradition? for the farther it is 
 removed the more it is weakened. 
 
 5. The evidence arising from education or authority, if it 
 
 * This influence must also take away the free agency of the object so 
 irresistibly influenced, and, of a consequence, accountability also, as 
 there can be neither reward nor punishment for doing that we are, as 
 machines, impelled to do by the power irresistible. ED. JEW. 
 
10 BIAS* LETTERS. 
 
 
 
 proves any thing, proves that all the different books which 
 give rise to the different religions in the world, are all inspi- 
 red ; for on this footing each person believes his to be so, 
 and therefore, this can be no evidence at all. 
 
 6. Evidence arising from examination. This is the only 
 one to be depended on ; but then it is entirely personal, and 
 can never extend farther than the person who examines : 
 that is, it may appear probable to me, on examination, that 
 such a book was written under God's immediate influence 
 and direction; but if a book appears to me to be probably 
 divinely revealed, this is no reason why another person 
 should believe the same, or that it should appear to him in 
 the same light, unless he likewise find it to be so on his own 
 examination. 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 HAVING myself examined the writings of the New Testa- 
 ment, and likewise what is generally offered to support the 
 opinion of their inspiration, I declare it to be altogether 
 insufficient to me ; for there does not appear any one cir- 
 cumstance, whether alleged by others, or contained in the 
 writings themselves, sufficient to prove that either of the 
 writers, at the time of writing, was under the unerring 
 guidance or special influence of God. Besides, there is not 
 in all the gospels any one expression intimating any such 
 thing; neither do the writers thereof lay any claim, or in 
 the least pretend to -any such privilege or -authority ; nor 
 indeed could such a prerogative be consistently ever allowed 
 
LETTER III. 11 
 
 them ; for if every one of them at the time of writing, had 
 been under the immediate guidance of Grod, they would, in 
 this case, all have given us the very same account of things, 
 without the least difference or variation ; for it is impossible, 
 if Gk>d dictated to them all the same history, that any vari- 
 ation or difference should be found, unless it could be sup- 
 posed that God could dictate different facts in different his- 
 tories of the same person. But that there are frequent 
 contradictions is evident. 
 
 From this circumstance, and many others, I conclude that 
 the writers of the New Testament could not be under the 
 infallible guidance of Clod ; neither do I find that they pub- 
 lished or gave out their writings as such. And if they did 
 not declare themselves inspired, what authority or founda- 
 tion could any one else have to declare them so ? On the 
 contrary, it very evidently appears that there were no wri- 
 tings deemed canonical in what is called the first ages of 
 Christianity, but the Old Testament ! The famous Dodwell 
 says, " We have at this day, certain most authentic ecclesi- 
 astical writers of the times, as Clemens Romanus, Barnabas, 
 Hermas, Ignatius, and Polycarpus, who wrote in the same 
 order wherein I have named them, and after all the writers 
 of the New Testament, except Jude and the two Johns, but 
 in Hermas you will not find one passage, nor any mention 
 of the New Testament; nor in all the rest is any one of the 
 Evangelists named ; and if sometimes they cite any passa- 
 ges like those we read in our gospels, you will find them so 
 much changed, and for the most part, so interpolated, that 
 it cannot be known whether they produced them out of our, 
 or some other apocryphal gospels; nay, they sometimes cite 
 passages which most certainly are not in the present gos- 
 
12 BIAS* LETTERS. 
 
 pels."* The first who wrote is Matthew, but at what time 
 he did write is uncertain ; some fixing his date at one time, 
 and some at another. Again, some think he composed his 
 gospel in the Hebrew or Jerusalem dialect ; for it seems 
 the very language he wrote in is uncertain ; and it is con- 
 fessed on all hands that no account can be had of the origi- 
 nal ; so that if he wrote in this language, it has disappeared, 
 but how or in what manner nobody knows. And what is 
 still more extraordinary, the Judaizing Christians (for whose 
 use it is said he wrote) had a gospel under his name, but its 
 authenticity was not admitted by the other sects ; not because 
 they found, on comparing it with the original, that it was 
 corrupted, (for this they could not do for want of the origi- 
 nal,) but because it differed from or was contradictory to 
 the many other spurious gospels which they had received, 
 or to the opinion which the majority of that council which 
 settled the canon had embraced. But what will appear still 
 more surprising to you, is that the Christian should offer to 
 the world for acceptance, as inspired and infallible, a Greek 
 version, which is the one now existing, and which most 
 people mistake for the original of Matthew's gospel, without 
 any person's comparing this version with the original, or 
 indeed without knowing any thing either of the original 01 
 the author of the version. Should they not, in an affair of 
 such importance, and before they pretend to fix on it the 
 stamp of infallibility, be certain that it was at least a true 
 version ? But nothing of this kind is done, which appears 
 to me such a proceeding as nothing can justify. 
 
 They are not wanting, however, in giving it all the 
 authority that possibly can be given to it; and for this pur- 
 
 * Dissert. 1. In Iren. 
 
LETTER III. 13 
 
 pose, and with this intention, some ascribe the version to 
 St. Matthew himself; others ascribe it to St. James^ bishop 
 of Jerusalem; others to St. John; others to St. Paul; 
 others to St. Luke ; others to St. Barnabas ; and others 
 again ascribe the translation to the joint labour of all the 
 Apostles ; so that the ascription to some one or other, or 
 all of the Apostles, proves nothing but their ignorance in 
 this important matter ; and their uncertainty and disagree- 
 ment prove how little dependence ought to be placed on it, 
 and their manifest intention of imposing on the weak and 
 credulous. 
 
 But can people be so serious in persuading others to admit 
 as infallible, the version of a book, without any knowledge 
 of the original, or without knowing whether it be a true ver- 
 sion, or without any certain knowledge of the person who 
 made this version ? For should it be admitted that St. 
 Matthew did write a gospel, how are we to know, or how 
 can it be ascertained, that the version we now have, is from 
 the original, or that it is a true and faithful one ? This we 
 know, that in the last century an Armenian translation was 
 discovered, which a doctor of the Sorbonne thought to be of 
 great antiquity, and was of opinion that it might be very useful 
 in correcting the Greek text. This shows that they do not 
 think it infallible, for if it were, it would require no human 
 correction.* 
 
 Of as little authority, or rather less, if possible, is the 
 gospel under the name of Mark. Some take this Evange- 
 list to be the disciple of Peter, and his interpreter; others 
 take him to be the same as John Mark, mentioned in the 
 
 * See all the particulars in Calmet's Dictionary on the word Matthew. 
 
 
14 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 Acts ; some think him to have been a priest, while others 
 say he was Peter's nephew. And as regards the gospel, 
 some take him to be the author of it ; while others ascribe 
 it to Peter } others have it that he wrote from what he 
 heard from Peter by word of mouth, in his lifetime ; others 
 say that Peter dictated it to him ; while others affirm that 
 it was written after Peter's death. 
 
 The same difference of opinion we find in respect to the 
 place where it was written ; for while some affirm it to have 
 been written at Home, others affirm it to have been written 
 in Egypt. " All these different sentiments/' says our au- 
 thor, "are enough to prove that the circumstances of time 
 and place are uncertain, when and where St. Mark composed 
 his gospel. Men are as much divided as to the language it 
 was written in; some saying it was composed in Greek, and 
 others, in Latin ;"* and I add that these different sentiments 
 evidently prove that they know nothing concerning its infal- 
 libility, or the inspiration of its author. It rather appears 
 much more probable, (which, indeed, is generally believed,) 
 that this gospel is no more than an abridgement made from 
 Matthew ; and then it will signify but little who the author 
 was, where, when, or in what language he wrote. " For," 
 says the aforecited author, "as far as maybe judged by 
 comparing the gospel of St. Mark with St. Matthew's, the 
 first is an abridgement of the second. St. Mark very often 
 uses the same terms, relates the same facts, and takes notice 
 of the same circumstances." So that, let it be an original 
 or an abridgement, its infallibility cannot be proved, and, 
 therefore, can be of no authority. 
 
 The third Evangelist is Luke, who, as he declares in his 
 
 * Calmet on the word Mark. 
 
LETTER III. 15 
 
 Preface or Introduction to his Gospel, wrote only by hearsay, 
 and according to information given him by others, and 
 makes not the least pretension to supernatural illumination 
 or information; neither does he pretend to be an original 
 evidence of the facts which he relates : so that it will be 
 hard to say how infallibility came to be ascribed to his 
 writings ; for it was even impossible for him ever to vouch for 
 the truth of the facts which he relates; nor could his evidence 
 be admitted in any court of law or justice. I cannot here 
 forbear noticing how useless and how little known must the 
 Gospels, which were published, have been, when the writer 
 or author of one, knew not of the publication or writings 
 of the others, as is plainly demonstrable from the following 
 facts : Matthew published his Gospel many years before 
 Luke; yet when Luke published his, he takes no notice of 
 Matthew's ; for it is certain he thought no Gospel authentic 
 when he wrote ; for if he had, he would not have been 
 under the necessity of collecting his materials from others, 
 having an infallible guide in Matthew; so that either he 
 knew not that Matthew had written an infallible relation 
 of those facts, or he confounds the Gospel of Matthew 
 amongst the spurious ones that were abroad in those days ; 
 none of which he admitted as true and authentic. 
 
 Now, how a person of Luke's character should be igno- 
 rant of the infallibility of Matthew's Gospel ; or how, if he 
 was not ignorant of it, he should not make use of it, or send 
 it to his friend, rather than his own, is what I confess I 
 cannot comprehend. 
 
 "The Gospels," says a famous author, "continued 
 so concealed in those corners of the world where they 
 were written, that the latter Evangelists knew nothing of 
 
16 BIAS* LETTERS. 
 
 what the preceding wrote, otherwise there could not have 
 been so many apparent contradictions, which, almost since 
 the first constitution of the canon, have exercised the wits 
 tff learned men. Surely if St. Luke had seen that gene- 
 alogy of otir Lord which is in St. Matthew, he would not 
 himself have produced one wholly different from the other, 
 without giving the least reason for the diversity ; and when 
 in the preface to his Gospel he tells the occasion of his 
 writing, which is, that he undertook it from being furnished 
 with the relation of such as were eye-witnesses of what he 
 writes, he plainly intimates that the authors of those Gos- 
 pels which he had seen were destitute of that help ; so that 
 neither having seen themselves what they relate, nor con- 
 sulted with diligence and care such as had seen them, their 
 credit was, therefore, dubious and suspected ; whence it 
 must necessarily follow, that the writers of those Gospels 
 which Luke had seen, were not at all the same as our present 
 Evangelists."* 
 
 To the foregoing observations I shall only add, that there 
 are the same doubts as to his person and character, profes- 
 sion and writings, as the others ; for it is not certainly 
 known whether he was a Jew or a heathen, a physician or a 
 painter ] and as to his Gospel, some think it properly St. 
 Paul's, whilst others say, that Luke only digested what St. 
 Paul preached to the gentiles ; and others again, that he 
 wrote with the help of St. Paul.f 
 
 The last is St. John ; and it is plain that he wrote with 
 the intention of establishing the divinity of Jesus, which 
 particular is not contained in the Gospels then extant ; he, 
 
 * Dodwell Dissert, in Iren. 
 
 f For particulars, see Calmet on the word Luke. 
 
LETTER III. 17 
 
 for this reason, goes on a very different plan from the other 
 Evangelists. " His principal care in this undertaking/' 
 says Calmet, " was to relate such things as might be of use 
 in confirming the divinity of the son ; and to this purpose 
 says many things which the others are silent on, and omits 
 such matters in which the others are very particular, and 
 which are reckoned very principal and necessary in the 
 history. Thus, considering his very great care and tender- 
 ness for Mary, the mother of Jesus, he does but little hon- 
 our to her memory, in not relating those most remarkable 
 and wonderful transactions mentioned by Matthew and Luke, 
 (though with a wide difference,) concerning the miraculous 
 conception of Mary, and the birth of Jesus. And as Mary 
 continued to live with him from the time of Jesus' death, 
 surely he must have had many opportunities of informing 
 himself of those extraordinary affairs, from her own mouth, 
 with much more certainty than the others; for it must be 
 thought very extraordinary that the Evangelist, under the 
 circumstances aforementioned, should make no mention at 
 all of such an essential article as the most wonderful con- 
 ception of a virgin, and the birth of the person who was the 
 subject of his history. How far his neglect of relating so 
 important a matter, and likewise those extraordinary dreams 
 and visions which the others mention, weakens the authority 
 of their relation, or of his own, I shall not determine ; but 
 certain it is, that his Gospel met not with that reception 
 which one would think was due to a person of his authority, 
 for many rejected his Gospel ; the Alogians in particular 
 though they admitted the three others, yet rejected this; 
 and others believed a heretic was its author, one Ceren- 
 thius ; and no doubt but the difference in the point of doc- 
 2* 
 
18 BIAS 7 LETTERS. 
 
 trine might be the occasion of it, or the want of sufficient 
 evidence of his being the author/ 7 * 
 
 The difficulties which must arise from the aforesaid con- 
 siderations, are such, in respect to the proof of the inspira- 
 tion or infallibility of the Gospels, as cannofc be got over ; 
 and yet this is not all ; for whoever is in any way acquainted 
 with the history of the ancients, and the observations of the 
 moderns, must be convinced of the many additions, altera- 
 tions, and interpolations, which the writings of the New 
 Testament have undergone, of which I shall collect some 
 accounts for your information. 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 THERE was not any one sect but complained of interpo- 
 lations and additions made to the Gospels ; nay, some sects 
 or parties went so far as to reject some one or other of 
 the Gospels, now received as canonical ,-t-and others the 
 whole of the New Testament.f Eusebius states the story 
 of the woman taken in adultery to be only in the Gospel 
 according to the Hebrews ; and consequently must have been 
 inserted after his time into the Gospel of St. John ; and 
 St. Jerome declares, that in his time the story was only 
 to be found in some copies. Both St. Jerome and St. Austin 
 complain of the great variety of the Latin copies of the 
 Evangelists, and how widely they differed from each other ;J 
 
 * See Calmet on the words John and Gospel, 
 t Eccles. Hist. lib. iii. c. 39. 
 % See Calmet on the word Bible. 
 
LETTER IV. 19 
 
 and they likewise declare the same difference in the Greek 
 copies. St. Ambrose says of the Greek copies that they 
 were so different as to give rise to many controversies among 
 them ; (and these different copies must as naturally have 
 occasioned different opinions and doctrines.) St. Jerome 
 asserts that he found as many different versions as books.* 
 Now as there could not be any possibility of distinguishing 
 the true copy or version (had there been one,) so every one 
 followed that, which either suited with his interests or opin- 
 ions ; and to this end, every one added, omitted, or altered 
 whatever he thought most conducive to his purpose. 
 
 Origen says, " We found great difference in the copies, 
 and made use of what was convenient out of the Old Testa- 
 ment, making use of our judgment in such things, as out 
 of the Seventy seemed doubtful, and were not to be found 
 in the Hebrew ; and in other things, inserting and making 
 up the deficiency from the Hebrew. " Thus did every one 
 insert whatever he thought necessary, or agreeable to his 
 opinions ; and every one made use of that copy which best 
 suited his notions. Thus Grotius declares he made use of 
 the Yulgate ; because the author delivers no opinions con- 
 trary to the faith. f Now if liberty has been taken of cor- 
 recting, interpolating and altering the New Testament, what 
 person is there who can assert and prove that these are the 
 genuine writings of those persons whose names they bear ? 
 If it should be said that this was done only in matters of 
 small importance, I ask, what certainty have we, that any 
 thing was left untouched ? Surely those that found means 
 
 *Vide ib. on the word Vulgate. 
 
 t Grot. Pref. Annot. suas in Vet. Test. 
 
20 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 of interpolating and inserting whole passages, would rather 
 do it in things which in their own conceit, were of greater 
 consequence, and which they might do either by the omis- 
 sion, transposition, or addition of a word, the which might 
 contribute towards maintaining their different doctrines, 
 more especially in such affairs, as in their opinions concerned 
 salvation, should such a procedure confer authority on them, 
 than in things either of small or no importance. And 
 this was no doubt the cause which gave rise to the many 
 different copies, not only of the four Gospels which they 
 now have and receive as canonical, but likewise to the many 
 other Gospels, which were received by the different parties, 
 without there being any possibility of knowing the true 
 from the false if indeed, any of them were true ; for they 
 could have no other criterion, than as the copies they did 
 receive agreed more or less with their different systems of 
 faith. And for this reason alone were the four Gospels we 
 now have preferred, or made authentic, rather than those 
 rejected as spurious; for it is certain no authority appeared 
 in these above the others. "The ancient heretics," says 
 Calmet, "began generally with attacking the Gospels, in 
 order to maintain their errors, or excuse them; some re- 
 jected all the genuine Gospels (that is, those which the 
 councils declared such) and substituted such as were spu- 
 rious in their room ; others have corrupted the true Gospels, 
 and have suppressed whatever gave them any trouble, and 
 have inserted what might favour their erroneous doctrines." 
 Thus the Nazareans corrupted the original Gospel of St. 
 Matthew, and the Mercionites mangled that of St. Luke, 
 which was the only one they received. The Alogians, seeing 
 their condemnation too plainly declared in St. John, re- 
 
LETTER IV. 21 
 
 jected him, and admitted only the three other Evangelists. 
 The Ebionites rejected St. Matthew, and received the three 
 other Gospels. The Cerinthians acknowledged only St. 
 Mark; and the Yalentineans St. John only.* In Origen's 
 time, Celsus exclaims against the liberty which Christians 
 (as if they were drunk, says he) took of changing the first 
 writing of the Gospel, three, four, or more times. f The 
 Manicheans skowed other scriptures, and denied the genu- 
 ineness of the whole New Testament. Faustus, their bishop, 
 says, " You think that of all the books in the world, the 
 Testament of the Son only, could not be corrupted; and 
 that it alone contains nothing which ought to be disallowed, 
 especially when it appears it was neither written by himself, 
 nor his apostles, but a long time after, by certain obscure 
 persons, who, lest no credit should be given to the stories 
 they told, did prefix to their writings partly the names of 
 the apostles, and partly of those who succeeded the apos- 
 tles, affirming that what they wrote themselves was written 
 by these, wherein they seem to have been more injurious to 
 the disciples of Christ, by attributing to them what they 
 wrote themselves, so dissonant and repugnant, pretending 
 to write those Gospels under their names, which are so full 
 of mistakes and of contradictory relations and opinions, that 
 they are neither coherent with themselves, nor consistent 
 with one another." J Again, the same bishop says, " Many 
 things were foisted by your ancestors into the Scriptures of 
 our Lord which, although marked with his name, agree not 
 with his faith." The learned Dr. Mills gives an account 
 
 * Calmet's Dictionary on the word Gospel. 
 
 f Origen lib. ii. Contra Celsus. 
 
 $ Augustin Con. Faustus, lib. xxxii. c. 2. \ Lib. 33. o. 3. 
 
22 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 of a general alteration of the Gospels, so low down as the 
 sixth century.* He likewise with great labour collected 
 and published all the readings of the New Testament, which 
 are so different and various, that the learned Doctor Whitby 
 declares, that " The vast quantity of various readings col- 
 lected must of course make the mind doubtful or suspicious, 
 that nothing certain can be expected from books where 
 there are various readings in every verse, and almost in 
 every part of every verse. "f Mr. Gregory, of Christ 
 church, in Oxford, declares, that " There is no profane au- 
 thor whatever, cseteris paribus, has suffered so much by the 
 hand of time as the New Testament has done."J How 
 willing and ready the priests have been at all times to en- 
 courage pious frauds, and continue impositions on the credu- 
 lity of the ignorant, need not be mentioned. One fact, 
 however, I cannot pass in silence, and that is a letter of 
 Cardinal Belarmine, who with the other divines attended 
 the correction of the Vulgate, in which he acknowledges 
 that there are still several faults, which, for good reasons, 
 the correctors did not think proper to remove. I shall 
 make no remark on this passage, but shall proceed to a 
 short account of the rest of the writings of the New Tes- 
 tament. 
 
 And first the book of Acts, which is said to be the 
 work of St. Luke, was rejected by many, particularly the 
 Marconites and Manicheans; many others described the 
 acts of the apostles, yet were they rejected, || for the same 
 
 * Mills' Prolegom. p. 98. fWhitby's Exam. Var. Lect. Milli. p. 3, 4. 
 J Preface to his posthumous works. 
 Calmet's Diet, on the word Vulgate. 
 U Calmet's Die. on the word Acts. 
 
LETTER IV. 23 
 
 important reason that this was received, that is, because it 
 agreed better with the doctrines in vogue than the others. 
 St. Chrysostom complains that this book was little known, 
 and that the reading of it was much neglected, which shows 
 that even in his time it was not held in any degree of au- 
 thority. In this book St. Paul cites a saying of Jesus,* 
 which is not to be found in any of the gospels ; so that 
 either he had this passage out of some spurious gospel, or 
 it has been left out of the present copies since his time. 
 Concerning the authority and genuineness of the epistles, 
 there have been many debates, and I think all have been 
 doubted and rejected by some party or other, and this for 
 the same important reason above mentioned, according as 
 they either agreed or disagreed with the doctrines and opin- 
 ions embraced by the different sects ; particularly St. Paul's 
 epistles to the Hebrews, the epistle of James, the second 
 epistle of St. Peter, the second and third epistles of St. 
 John, and the epistle of Jude. But as the inspiration of 
 all or either of them can never be proved, I shall say 
 nothing concerning them, but refer you for a more particular 
 account of them to Calmet.f 
 
 As to the authority of the Apocalypse, or Book of Reve- 
 lations, as its author cannot be ascertained, how is it possi- 
 ble that its inspiration should ? For " Caius, priest of the 
 Church of Rome, who lived at the end of the second age, 
 seems to assure us that the Apocalypse, or Book of Revela- 
 tions, was written by the arch-heretic Cerinthus; and 
 Deonylas, Bishop of Alexandria, says, that some indeed 
 thought Cerinthus to be the author of it, that for his own 
 
 * Acts xx. 35. t On the different articles, and word Apocryphal. 
 
24 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 part, he believed it to be written by a holy man named 
 John, but he would not take upon himself to affirm that it 
 was really the work of the apostle and evangelist of that 
 name. The Apocalypse, has not at all times been owned 
 to be canonical. St. Jerome, Amphilocus, and Sulpitius 
 Severus remark, that in their time there were many churches 
 in Greece that did not receive this book."* 
 
 On the whole, the writings of the New Testament appear 
 to me so far from being infallible, or written under the 
 immediate guidance and influence of God, that I am sur- 
 prised how it is possible that any persons should make them 
 the foundation or basis of their religion ; for the contrary 
 most evidently appears; and they are even destitute of 
 proof that they were written by the persons whose names 
 they bear ; nor, indeed, does it appear that those persons 
 ever ^ wrote any thing themselves. This uncertainty, to- 
 gether with the continual alterations they have undergone, 
 makes it impossible to credit them even as historians. 
 Moreover, it appears highly improbable thaC any of the 
 writings we now have, should be the genuine works of the 
 apostles ; because, had this been the case, they would have 
 published them as such, and nobody could have refused 
 them ; for they would then have been received by all with- 
 out contradiction, as every person had it in his power to 
 have satisfaction concerning their genuineness from the 
 apostle who published them: the contrary of all this is 
 very evident. Besides, common and usual facts, such as 
 may happen in the common course things, may, and do 
 generally receive credit on the evidence of the historian ; 
 
 * Calmet on the word Apocalypse. 
 
LETTER IV. 25 
 
 but it would not be the same, were he to relate things out 
 of the common course of probability, or what appeared im- 
 probable; for the more extraordinary the facts are which 
 he relates, the more extraordinary ought the evidence to be. 
 But this evidence is nowhere to be had but in these writings 
 themselves, which ia no evidence at all, they being destitute 
 of proof, and therefore cannot be admitted or allowed. 
 
 The only thing which seems probable to me from the 
 account transmitted to us, is, that there were many who 
 wrote j -and, in order to give a greater repute to their writings, 
 they published them under the names of such persons as 
 would give them a greater degree of authority; and, as 
 these writings contained different facts and doctrines, very 
 opposite and contradictory to each other, so every one chose, 
 and made use of such or as many gospels as he pleased or 
 liked best. As these gospels were in private hands, the 
 possessors did not want for opportunities of changing, inter- 
 polating, adding, and curtailing whatever they thought con- 
 venient, or was agreeable to the opinions which they had 
 embraced. Under these circumstances, it was impossible 
 to have known the true gospel of either of the apostles, 
 had there been any; because it could have no mark of 
 authority, and the true one must have suffered equally with, 
 the false; for had there been any mark or criterion by 
 which the true might have been distinguished from the 
 false, every one would have received it. So that ifc is plain, 
 either that the apostles did not publish any gospels, or that 
 they fared no better than those which were published by 
 others, and were confounded with them. 
 
 It likewise appears to me, that the authors and trans- 
 cribers thought of nothing else but inserting and relating 
 3 
 
26 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 surprising and marvellous events, such as would astonish 
 and catch the credulity of the vulgar, and also such things 
 as best suited with their prejudices and purposes ; for it 
 seems improbable that the apostles, whose labours and 
 sufferings are always represented as proceeding from their 
 love of mankind, and care of their salvation, should be 
 the authors of the writings we now have under their 
 names, which have caused such disputes, discord, hatred, 
 disorders, troubles, grievous persecutions, and even wars and 
 desolations and all this occasioned by these very writings ; 
 for every party authorizes its doctrines and its proceedings 
 by them. Surely, if they were such persons as they are 
 represented to be, they never would have published or 
 authorized any thing like it, unless they were determined 
 literally to fulfil the saying recorded of Jesus tf Think 
 not that I am come to send peace upon earth; I come not 
 to send peace, but a sword;"* which sword has been drawn 
 from the beginning, and which Christians have taken care 
 not to sheath. It is well for the doctrine of the infallibility 
 of these writings that the Christian laity or bulk of mankind, 
 take it on trust, and that few, very few, take any pains, 
 or make inquiry concerning the evidence of their inspira- 
 tion and infallibility; and that those who actually make 
 such inquiry are disposed or concerned, either through 
 interest or policy, not to publish their thoughts respecting 
 this matter, contenting themselves with keeping their dis- 
 coveries secret ; for, were the infallibility or inspiration 
 of any writings contrary to these to have no better founda- 
 tion, how would they publish their arguments against them, 
 and expose their insufficiency ! 
 
 * Matth. x. 34. 
 
27 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 OUR next inquiry is, first, who were the persons that met 
 in council to establish a new canon ? and secondly, what 
 authority they had for so doing.* 
 
 As to the first question, they plainly appear to have been 
 a set of men entirely unqualified for such an undertaking ; 
 for from the best authority we may collect that a majority 
 in these councils was always formed by faction and intrigue ; 
 that the members were led by interest, prejudice, and pas- 
 sion ; and that they were contentious, ambitious, ignorant, 
 and wicked. The judicious Mr. Chandler gives such a 
 character of the Fathers, such a description of all general 
 councils, as must be very convincing how improper they 
 were, and what little authority their determinations ought 
 to have. I shall therefore transcribe a few passages from 
 him 
 
 As to the Fathers he says, " It is infinite, it is endlesss 
 labour to consult all that the Fathers have written; and 
 when we have consulted them, what one controversy have 
 they rationally decided ? how few texts of Scripture have 
 they critically settled the sense and meaning of? how 
 often do they differ from one another, and in how many in- 
 stances from themselves? Those who read them, greatly 
 differ in their interpretation of them, and men of the most 
 contrary sentiments all claim them for their own. Atha- 
 
 * The Council of Laodicea was the first that established the new 
 canon ; it met towards the end of the fourth century. 
 
28 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 nasians and Ariajas, all appeal to the Fathers, and support 
 their principles by quotations from them. And are these 
 the venerable gentlemen, whose writings are to be set up 
 in opposition to the Scriptures ? are creeds of their dicta- 
 ting to be submitted to as the only criterion of orthodoxy ? 
 or esteemed as standards to distinguish between truth and 
 error ? Away with this folly and superstition ! the creeds 
 of the Fathers and Councils are but human creeds, that have 
 marks in them of human frailty and ignorance."* 
 
 Another eminent person declares himself thus: "The 
 Fathers, you say, whom you regard as the propagators of 
 the Christian religion, must necessarily have been men of 
 true piety and knowledge ; but it has been maintained and 
 proved to you by a great number of instances, that the 
 Fathers have not only fallen into very gross errors, and been 
 most profoundly ignorant of many things which they ought 
 to have known ; but farther, that most of them have more or 
 less suffered themselves to be led by passion \ so that their 
 conduct has been found frequently to be such as is neither 
 regular nor justifiable/' Again, "In the first ages of 
 Christianity, and those that followed after, the men most 
 applauded, and who bore the greatest character in the 
 church, were not always those that had the greatest share 
 of good sense, or were the most eniment for learning and 
 virtue."f 
 
 As to general councils, " I think it will evidently follow 
 from this account," says Mr. Chandler, ''that the deter- 
 minations of councils and decrees of synods as to matters 
 
 * Introduction to the History of the Inquisition, p. 111. 
 t Barbeyr. Hist, and Critical Account of the Science of Morality, 
 chap. x. See the whole chapter, as likewise the 9th. 
 
LETTER V- 29 
 
 of faith are of no manner of authority, and carry no obliga- 
 tion upon any Christian whatsoever. I will mention here 
 one reason, which will be itself sufficient, if all others were 
 wanting ; viz., that they have no power given them in any 
 part of the gospel revelations, to make these decisions in 
 controverted points, and to oblige others to subscribe to 
 them ; and that therefore the pretence to it is an usurpation 
 of what belongs to the great God, who only has and can 
 have a right to prescribe to the conscience of men. But, to 
 let this pass, what one council can be fixed upon that will 
 appear to be composed of such persons, as upon impartial 
 examination can be allowed to be fit for the work of settling 
 the faith, and determining all controversies relating to it ? 
 I mean, in which the majority of the members may in 
 charity be supposed to be disinterested, wise, learned, 
 peaceable and pious men ? Will any man undertake to 
 affirm this of the Council of Nice ! Can any thing be more 
 evident, than that the members of that venerable assembly 
 came, many of them, full of passion and resentment ; and 
 others of them were crafty and wicked; and others ignorant 
 and weak ? Did their meeting together in a synod immedi- 
 ately cure them of their desire of revenge, make the wicked 
 virtuous, or the ignorant wise? If not, their joint decree 
 as a synod could really be of no more weight than their 
 private opinions, nor perhaps of so much; because it is 
 well known that the great transactions of such an assembly 
 are generally- managed and conducted by a few; and that 
 authority, persecution, prospect of interest, and other tem- 
 poral motives, are commonly made use of to secure a ma- 
 jority. The second general council were plainly the crea- 
 tures of the Emperor Theodosius, all of his party, and 
 3* 
 
30 DIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 convened to do as ne bid them. The third general council 
 were the creatures of Cyril, who was their president, and 
 the inveterate enemy of Nestorius, whom he condemned for 
 heresy, and was himself condemned for rashness in this 
 affair. The fourth met under the awe of Emperor Marcian, 
 managed their debates with noise and tumult; were formed 
 into a majority by the intrigues of the Legates of Rome, 
 and settled the faith by the opinions of Athanasius, Cyril ; 
 and others. I need not mention more ; the farther they go 
 the worse they will appear. As their decisions in matters 
 of faith were arbitrary and unwarranted, and as the decisions 
 themselves were generally owing to court practices, intrigu- 
 ing statesmen, the thirst for revenge, the management of a 
 few crafty interested bishops, to noise and tumult, the pros- 
 pects and hopes of promotions and translations, and other 
 like causes, the reverence paid them by many Christians is 
 truly surprising."* 
 
 " All the world saw/' says M. Barbeyrac, "who quotes 
 an author who cannot be suspected of any ill-will towards 
 the Fathers, " the dreadful cruelties that were committed 
 in these unhappy centuries : they maintained seiges in their 
 monasteries; they battled in their councils; they treated 
 with the utmost cruelty all whom they but suspected to 
 favour opinions, which too often proved to be such as nobody 
 understood, not even those that defended them with the 
 greatest zeal and obstinancy." " These," says he, " are the 
 great lights of the church ! these are the holy Fathers 
 whom we must take for men of true piety and knowledge. "{ 
 
 " One council/' says another historian, was summoned to 
 
 * Introduction to the Hist, of Inquisition, sec. iii. p. 100 to 102. 
 f Historical Ace. of the Science of Morality, sec. x. 
 
LETTER V. 31 
 
 annul what another had done, and all things were managed 
 with that faction, strife and contention, as if they labored 
 to quench the spirit of meekness and brotherly love, so 
 often recommended in the gospel. Some were banished, 
 some were imprisoned, and against others they proceeded 
 with more severity, even to the loss of their lives. 7 '* 
 
 As to the second inquiry, " What authority they had to 
 establish a new canon ?" I should say that no other ap- 
 pears to me but their own ; which, considering what sort 
 of men they were, will never be allowed to be any authority 
 at all; they produced none from Jesus, none from the 
 apostles, neither had they any given but those very writings. 
 They had no criterion by which they could distinguish 
 among the variety of books that were then in the world 
 under the name of the apostles, (if any were truly theirs,) 
 which were so, and which not : and we do not hear a word 
 of the least pretensions to any extraordinary assistance or 
 revelation to this council from God ; so that the authority 
 which they imposed on these writings appears to have been 
 entirely accidental, and to have depended upon their having 
 a majority in their favour. This, I think, is most that can 
 be said of them, and the same might or would have befallen 
 any of those writings which were rejected as spurious, had 
 the majority of the council consisted of a contrary party; 
 but what authority the opinion of the majority of any coun- 
 cil, acting under the influence and motives before mentioned, 
 can have, is what every person must determine for himself. 
 
 * Echard, Roin. Hist. Vol. iii. p. 57. 
 
LETTER VI. 
 
 I REMEMBER having read, but in what author I cannot 
 at present recollect, that in a controversy between a Christian 
 and a Jew, the latter made several objections to the authority 
 of the New Testament, to which the other, not being able 
 to clear them up, returned this remarkable answer : " The 
 authority or divine inspiration of the New Testament was as 
 well grounded as that of the Old ; and that there was no 
 objection which could be made to the New Testament, which 
 might not with equal propriety be made to the Old." 
 
 I think there cannot be a greater instance of distress, or 
 rather despair, than when a disputant, rather than yield, is 
 obliged to give up the very principles on which alone he can 
 support his cause. A fine method this to convince the Jews 
 of the authority of the New Testament, and at one stroke 
 to silence them. But if Christians have no other arguments 
 to establish its authority, we may declare they never will be 
 able to work their conversion } for how can a Christian 
 consistently call himself by that name, unless he admits the 
 authority of the Old Testament ? since, if he gives that up, 
 must he not give up his religion at the same time also ? It 
 is of such who, notwithstanding, would be thought Christian, 
 that an author very judiciously observes, " If they really 
 imagine that Christianity hath no dependence on Judaism, 
 they deserve our tenderest compassion, as being plainly 
 ignorant of the very elements of the religion they profess."* 
 
 * Warburton's Divine Legation, Vol. i. B. I. Sect. 1, p. 6. 
 
LETTER VI. 33 
 
 They must therefore admit as a postulatum, its authority ; 
 for was not the Old Testament cited by the apostles for every 
 thing they pretended to prove ? and is it not the Old Testa- 
 ment which they pretend is fulfilled in the New ? Can 
 persons, then, pretend to be Christians, on rational princi- 
 ples, withour admitting the authority of the Old Testaments ? 
 Can they either deny or lessen its authority ? Therefore, 
 there needs not any proof from us to Christians for the 
 authority of the Scriptures called by them the Old Testament ; 
 to produce any, would be both labour and time lost, because 
 they must admit its authority, or they cannot be Christians. 
 The case of the Jews, in respect of the authority of the New 
 Testament, is quite another thing ; and this they must all 
 know and acknowledge. 
 
 Besides, they well know the doubts which subsist con- 
 cerning the books of the New Testament. The learned 
 Doctor Beveridge says : "No one can be ignorant that some 
 of the truly canonical books of the apostles were doubted of^ 
 in the three first centuries of Christianity."* And again, 
 " Amongst all the more ancient writers of ecclesiastical 
 matters, you will hardly find two that agree in the same 
 number of canonical books."*)* u The writers of those times." 
 says the famous Dodwell, " do not chequer their works 
 with texts of the New Testament, which yet is the custom 
 of the moderns, and was also theirs in such books as they 
 acknowledged for Scripture ; but they most frequently cite 
 the books of the Old Testament, and would doubtless have 
 done so by those of the New, if they had been received as 
 canonical."! 
 
 * Codex Can. Vind. Edit. Elerico. p. 117. 
 t Apend. Anter. Bibl. Sacr. p. 376. 
 J Dissert. 1, in Iren. 
 
34 BIAS 7 LETTERS. 
 
 Now, from all these particulars, and what I before ob- 
 served, it plainly appears, that the books of the Old Testa- 
 ment were the sole canon both of Jews and Christians; and 
 that in the first ages of Christianity no other writings were 
 accounted canonical; neither had they any other Scriptures but 
 the Old Testament; and all the evidence which is produced 
 to prove that Jesus is the Messiah, must be taken from 
 there ; for no other evidence can be of any validity or au- 
 thority. Neither could he claim the messiahship but from 
 the prophecies ; and, therefore, Jesus constantly refers to 
 the evidence of the Old Testament. (l In fine," says the most 
 ingenious Mr. Collins, " Jesus and his apostles do fre- 
 quently and emphatically style the books of the Old Testa- 
 ment ' the Scriptures/ and refer men to them as their rule 
 and canon ; but no new books are declared by them to have 
 that character, And if Jesus and his apostles have declared 
 no books to be canonical : I would ask who did, or who could, 
 afterwards declare or make any books canonical ? If it had 
 been deemed proper, and suited to the state of Christianity, 
 to have given or declared a new canon, or digest of laws : it 
 should seem most proper to have been done by Jesus or his 
 apostles, and not left to any after them to do ; but especially 
 not left to be settled long after their times, by weak, fallible, 
 factious, and interested men, who were disputing with one 
 another about the genuineness of all books bearing the 
 names of the apostles, and contending with one another 
 about the authority of every different book/'* "Indeed, to 
 speak properly/' says the same ingenious person, " the Old 
 Testament is yet the sole true canon of Scripture, meaning 
 thereby a canon, established by those who had a divine 
 
 * Grounds and Reasons, p. 13. 
 
LETTER VI. 35 
 
 authority to establis a canon, and in virtue thereof, did estab- 
 lish a canon, as it was in the begining of Christianity.' 7 * The 
 Old Testament being, without dispute, the only Scripture 
 both of Jews and Christians, are we Jto judge from that 
 alone of the office and character of the Messiah ; and for 
 this purpose it will be proper to extract a few of the many 
 prophecies concerning the Messiah, his kingdom, and the 
 events to happen in his time, the better to compare them 
 with what is related of Jesus in the New Testament, in 
 which they are said to be fulfilled. 
 
 1. (l In those days the house of Judah shall walk with 
 the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of 
 the land of the North to the land that I have given for an 
 inheritance unto your fathers. 7 ' Jeremiah iii. 18. 
 
 2. " Thus saith the LORD GOD, behold, I will take the 
 children of Israel from among the nations^ whither they 
 be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring 
 them into their own land, and will make them one nation 
 in the land, upon the mountains of Israel; and one king 
 shall be king to them all, and they shall no more be two 
 nations ; neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms 
 any more at all ; neither shall they defile themselves any 
 more their with idols, nor with their detestable things, nor 
 with any of their transgressions; but I will save them out of 
 all their dwelling places wherein they have sinned, and will 
 cleanse them, so shall they be my people, and I will be 
 their God. And DAVID my servent shall be king over 
 them, and they shall have one shepherd : they shall also 
 walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do 
 
 * Grounds and Reasons, p. 16, 17. 
 
 t There is no such word in Hebrew as gentiles or heathen, as it only 
 means nations. 
 
36 BIAS 7 LETTERS. 
 
 them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given 
 unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt, 
 and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, 
 and their children's children for ever; and my servant 
 DAYID shall be their prince for ever. Moreover I will 
 make a covenant of peace with them, it shall be an ever- 
 lasting covenant, and I will place them, and multiply them, 
 and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for ever- 
 more. My tabernacle also shall be with them, yea, I will 
 be their God, and they shall be my people ; and the nations 
 shall know that I, the LORD, do sanctify Israel, when my 
 sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore/' 
 Ezekiel xxxvii. 21-36. 
 
 3. "And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of 
 all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring 
 them again to their folds ; and they shall be fruitful and 
 increase. And I will set up shepherds over them which 
 shall feed them ; and they shall fear no more, nor be dis- 
 mayed; neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD. 
 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise 
 unto David a righteous branch, and a King shall reign and 
 prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the 
 earth. In his day Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall 
 dwell safely ; and this is his name whereby he shall be 
 called, The LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Therefore, behold 
 the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, 
 The LORD iiveth, which brought up the children of Israel 
 out of the land of Egypt; but the LORD Iiveth which 
 brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel 
 out of the north country, and from all countries wherein I 
 had driven them ; and they shall dwell in their own land." 
 Jeremiah xxiii. 38. 
 
LETTER VI. 37 
 
 4. " And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which 
 shall stand for an ensign to the people ; to it shall the gen- 
 tiles seek : and his rest shall be glorious. And it shall 
 come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall set his hand 
 again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, 
 which shall be left from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from 
 Pathros, and from Gush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, 
 and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And 
 he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assem- 
 ble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed 
 of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The envy 
 also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah 
 shall be cut off ; Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah 
 shall not vex Ephraim/' Isaiah xi. 1013. 
 
 5. " Therefore, thus saith the LORD GOD, now will I 
 bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon 
 the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy 
 name, after that they have borne their shame and all their tres- 
 passes whereby they have trespassed against me, when they 
 dwelt safely in their land and none made them afraid. When 
 I have brought them again from the people, and gathered 
 them out from their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in 
 them in the sight of many nations; then shall they know 
 that I am the LORD their God, which caused them to be led 
 into captivity among the nations ; but I have gathered them 
 unto their own land, and have left none of them any more 
 there, neither will I hide my face any more from them; for 
 I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith 
 the LORD GOD." Ezekiel xxxix. 25-29. 
 
 6. u And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD 
 shall beat off from the channel of the river unto the stream 
 
BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 of Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one by one, ye chil- 
 dren of Israel. And it shall come to pass in that day, that 
 the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which 
 were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the out- 
 casts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in 
 the holy mount at Jerusalem." Isaiah xxvii. 12, 13. 
 
 7. " Therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no 
 more be a prey ; and I will judge between cattle and cattle. 
 And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed 
 them, even my servant DAVID ; he shall feed them, and he 
 shall be their shepherd. And I the LORD will be their G-od, 
 and my servant DAVID a prince among them ; I the LORD 
 have spoken it. And I will make with them a covenant 
 of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the 
 land, and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and 
 sleep in the woods. And I will make them, and the places 
 round about my hill a blessing ; and I will cause the shower 
 to come down in its season ; there shall be showers of blessing. 
 And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth 
 shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, 
 and shall know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the 
 bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of 
 those that served themselves of them. And they shall no 
 more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beasts of the 
 land devour them ; they shall dwell safely, and none shall 
 make them afraid. And I will raise up for. them a plant of 
 renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger 
 in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any 
 more/' Ezekiel xxxiv. 22-29. 
 
 8. " And there shall be no more a pricking briar unto the 
 house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn of all that are round 
 
LETTER VI. 39 
 
 about them that despised them ; and they shall know that 
 I am the LORD God. Thus saith the LORD God, When I 
 shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people 
 among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in 
 them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in 
 their land that I have given to my servant Jacob. And 
 they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and 
 plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, 
 when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise 
 them, round about them and they shall know that I am the 
 LORD their G-od." -Ezekiel xxviii. 24-26. v 
 
 9. " As I live, saith the Lord God, Surely with a mighty 
 hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured 
 out, will I rule over you. And I will bring you out from 
 the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein 
 ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched 
 out arm, and with fury poured out. And I will bring you 
 into the wilderness of the people, and there I will plead with 
 you face to face. Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the 
 wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, 
 saith the Lord God." Ezekiel xx. 33-36. 
 
 10. " I will accept you with your sweet savour, when 
 I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the 
 countries where ye have been scattered, and I will be sanc- 
 tified in you before the heathen." Ezekiel xx. 41, 42. 
 
 11. "Hear the word of the Lord, ye nations, and declare 
 it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel 
 will gather him, and keep him as a shepherd doth his flock. 
 For the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from 
 the hand of him that was stronger then he." Jeremiah 
 xxxi. 10, 11. 
 
40 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 12. " Fear not, for I am with thee; I will bring thy seed 
 from the east, and gather thee from the west ; I will say to 
 the north, give up ; and to the south, keep not back ; bring 
 my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends, of the 
 earth, even every one that is called by my name ; for I have 
 created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have 
 made him." Isaiah xliii. 5, 6, 7.* 
 
 It is needless to transcribe more passages declarative of 
 these great events of which the prophetic writings are full. 
 From these and many other prophecies of the like nature, 
 we may collect the office and character of the Messiah. But 
 before we proceed, it is certainly necessary to explain the 
 meaning of the word Messiah. m#D Messiah or Mashiach, 
 as pronounced in Hebrew, signifies ''annointed," or " the 
 anointed one." It is applied to kings, priests and prophets, 
 as they were anointed to their office. Jews, therefore, by 
 way of eminence and emphasis, called, and continue to call, 
 that person whom God should raise up, and make the in- 
 strument for the accomplishment of such prophecies, as 
 particularly describe, and foretell the delivery and glory of 
 the nation, by this name. Now, if Christians will prove 
 that Jesus fulfilled these prophecies, they will then convert 
 the Jews, for they require nothing else.f 
 
 * Mr. Bias quotes the ordinary Bible version, which strengthens, if 
 any thing, his argument. 
 
 f With due deference to the author, we wish to observe that only his 
 mission as Messiah would thereby be proved, but not the character 
 which Christians assume for him ; since the one whom we expect is to 
 be a man acting under the power and guidance of the Lord, 'but not a 
 part of the divinity. Such a being is contrary to scripture and is not 
 the CHRIST whom we expect. ED. Oc. 
 
41 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 I THINK it necessary, before we proceed, to clear up the 
 objections generally made against such prophecies, as declare 
 and foretell the deliverance of the Jews, from their present 
 dispersion, and the glorious restoration to God's favour } 
 and the different methods which are taken in he explana- 
 tion and application of those prophecies, And first 
 
 Some pretend that the promises were made good, and 
 that the prophecies received their accomplishment, at the 
 return from the Babylonish captivity ; and that consequently, 
 the hopes of a future deliverance are vain and without 
 foundation. In order to clear up this point, let the pro- 
 phecies be compared with what, as, Ezra and Nehemiah relate 
 befell the nation at their return from Babylon, and let us 
 see if all those glorious promises did then receive their ac- 
 complishments. To those passages which I transcribed in 
 my last, I shall here add one whole chapter of Isaiah, that, 
 according to his description of those glorious times, the 
 comparison may be made. 
 
 " Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of 
 the LORD is risen upon thee. For behold the darkness shall 
 cover the earth, and gross darkness the people; but the 
 LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon 
 thee, and the gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to 
 the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round 
 about and see : all they gather themselves together, they 
 come to thee : thy sons shall come from far, and thy 
 daughters shall be nursed at thy side. Then thou shalt see ; 
 
42 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; 
 because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto 
 thee, the forces of the gentiles shall come unto thee. The 
 multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of 
 Midian and Epha ; all they from Sheba shall come : they 
 shall bring gold and incense ; and they shall show forth the 
 praises of the LORD. All the flocks of Kedar shall be 
 gathered together unto thee ; the rams of Nebaioth shall 
 minister unto thee : they shall come up with acceptance on 
 mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory. Who are 
 these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows ? 
 Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish 
 first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold 
 with them, unto the name of the LORD thy God, and to 
 the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee. 
 And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and 
 their kings shall minister unto thee : for in my wrath I 
 smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee. 
 Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not 
 be shut day nor night ; that men may bring unto thee the 
 forces of the gentiles, and that their kings may be brought. 
 For the nation and kingdom that will not serve tlxee shall 
 perish ; yea those nations shall be utterly wasted. The 
 glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir-tree, the pine- 
 tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my 
 sanctuary ; and I will make the place of my feet glorious. 
 The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bend- 
 ing unto thee : and all they that despised thee shall bow 
 themselves down at the soles of thy feet ; and they shall 
 call thee The city of the LO&D, The Zion of the Holy One 
 of Israel. Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so 
 
LETTER VII. 43 
 
 that no man went through ihee, I will make thee an eter- 
 nal excellency, a joy of many generations. Thou shall also 
 suck the milk of the gentiles, and shall suck the breast of 
 kings ; and thou shalt know that I the LORD am thy 
 Saviour and thy Kedeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. 
 For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, 
 and for wood brass, and for stones iron : I will also make 
 thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness. Vio- 
 lence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor 
 destruction within thy borders; but thou shall call thy 
 walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise. The sun shall be 
 no more thy light by day : neither for brightness shall the 
 moon give light unto thee ; but the LORD shall be unto 
 thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun 
 shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw 
 itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and 
 the days of thy mourning shall be ended. Thy people also 
 shall be all righteous : they shall inherit the land for ever, 
 the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I 
 may be glorified. A little one shall become a thousand, 
 and a small one a strong nation : I the LORD will hasten it 
 in his time."* 
 
 This is the glorious state of the Jews, according to the 
 prophet's description. It will be tiresome to make extracts 
 from Ezra and Nehemiah, to prove that nothing like this ap- 
 peared to the nation at their return from Babylon. I shall, 
 therefore, refer you to the accounts which these writers give of 
 this miserable return, and the many hardships and interrup- 
 tions the buildings meet with, together with the weakness 
 
 * Isaiah Ix. Eng. Bible version. 
 
44 BIAS* LETTERS. 
 
 and wickedness of those few who did return. I shall con- 
 tent myself with giving you a few passages from the 
 history now in the greatest vogue. 
 
 " It will be convenient (says the historian) to premise 
 some few things concerning the state of the Jews during 
 this new epoch ; for, from this time, they are no more to be 
 looked upon as that free, rich, and glorious people which 
 they had been, either under the former theocracy, as 
 Josephus justly terms it, or under their opulent and war- 
 like monarchs, and the direction of their prophets. Their 
 condition, government, manners, their very name is now en- 
 tirely changed; and though some of them we find to have 
 attained to very considerable posts, or growing exceeding 
 rich in the land of their captivity, yet these are but few in 
 comparison of those who groaned under the heavy hand of 
 their oppressors. Neither were they the former, but the 
 latter, that is, the poorer sort, that came back into Judea ; 
 and even of these, the whole number of all that came, 
 either with Zerubbabel, Ezra, or Nehemiah, scarcely amounted 
 to seventy thousand, among whom a multitude of strangers 
 were likewise intermixed, either by marriages or otherwise : 
 most of them so indigent, that they were forced to be sup- 
 ported in their journey by the charitable contributions of 
 those that stayed behind. They were indeed to be governed 
 by their own laws; but as they still continued in subjec- 
 tion to other nations, to the Persians, Greeks, and Romans, 
 that privilege, as well as the exercise of their religion, 
 very much depended upon the arbitrary will of their con- 
 querors. Even whilst they were under the Persians, the 
 lives and estates of the whole nation were on the brink of 
 
LETTER VII. 45 
 
 being sacrificed to the ambition of a favourite/'* Now, 
 from this description, it plainly appears that none of the 
 prophecies did receive their accomplishments at the said 
 return, nor at any time after ; so that the promises therein 
 made are still unfulfilled. 
 
 I think proper, now we are on this subject, to observe 
 the exact description which Moses makes of the present 
 dispersion of the Jews, which according to the circumstances 
 he foretells cannot be applied to any other. " And the 
 LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from one end of 
 the earth even unto the other : and there thou shalt serve 
 other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, 
 even wood and stone. And among these nations shalt thou 
 find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy feet have rest: 
 but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and 
 failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind. And thy life shall hang 
 in doubt before thee, and thou shalt fear day and night, 
 and shall have none assurance of thy life."f 
 
 It is impossible that any historian could describe the 
 state of the Jews in their present dispersion more exactly ; 
 for what more could he say concerning their miserable 
 state, than they are scattered from one end of the earth to 
 the other ? that they are obliged to worship strange gods, 
 unknown to their ancestors, made of wood and stone ? that 
 they neither have ease nor rest ? continual fear and trem- 
 bling, both day and night, with never-ceasing sorrows and 
 doubts ? persecuted, imprisoned and delivered to the flames ? 
 This has been the miserable state of the Jews in many 
 
 * Universal History, Vol. vi. Chap. 10. | Deut. xxviii. 64-66. 
 
46 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 places, and is still their case in Spain and Portugal.* 
 There is not in this prophecy the least resemblance of what 
 the Jews suffered in any other captivity. In the time of 
 the Judges they were often overcome, and made tributary, 
 but never dispersed. At the first destruction of Jerusalem 
 they were made captives, and carried to Babylon ; but so 
 far were they there from worshipping other gods, that it 
 entirely cured them from idolatry; so that from that 
 epoch the Jews are never accused of that henious crime. 
 And their being obliged to worship gods unknown to them 
 and their ancestors, plainly points out a new system of 
 idolatry, invented and introduced long after that time. 
 And as all the circumstances do wonderfully agree to their 
 present dispersion and oppressions, so their return (described 
 in the following passage), u That then the LORD thy God 
 will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee ; 
 and will return and gather thee from among all the nations 
 whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee : If any of 
 thine be driven out unto the utmost parts of heaven, from 
 thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence 
 will he fetch thee ; and the LORD thy God will bring thee unto 
 the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess 
 it ] and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy 
 fathers/'f can only be from their present captivity, as the 
 circumstances which were promised them were never accom- 
 plished nor made good in any of their former deliverances. 
 Now if the promises made to the Jews by all the pro- 
 
 * It must be kept in mind that these letters were written about 
 1750, when many martyrdoms were witnessed in these countries for the 
 sake of the faith. ED. Oc. 
 
 f Deuteronomy xxx. 3-5. 
 
LETTER vnr. 
 
 phets have not been fulfilled at the return from Babylon, 
 lor at any other time either before or since : it follows that 
 ;heir hopes of a Messiah, or a person whom God is to ap- 
 3oint to make good his promise to the nation, in their de- 
 iverance and restoration, are just and well grounded ; and 
 t must be vain and presumptuous to pretend that the prophe- 
 sies have been fulfilled, whilst they find themselves in a 
 dtuation so very opposite to that which the prophets 
 fortell and describe; a contradiction so glaring, that I 
 Bonder any one should pretend to affirm it. 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 
 THE difficulties, which arise from the prophecies concerning 
 lie delivery and return of the Jews not being completed, 
 ire obviated by pretending that none of these prophecies 
 mght to be taken in their plain, literal sense and obvious 
 neaning ; in other words, they will not allow the prophecies 
 ,o have any meaning at all, in order to impose on all such 
 )rophecies, and likewise on many historical passages of 
 Scripture, what they call a spiritual, or figurative and 
 ypical sense and meaning of their own, such as best suits 
 nth their purposes; accommodating, by these means, pro- 
 )hecies and history to events with which neither the one 
 lor the other has the least connexion, contrary to the 
 express sense of the prophets and the passages cited ; and 
 herefore, they cannot expect that any credit should be given 
 hem. Of this, the most learned are sensible, and confess 
 hat they a can give no tolerable reason why the prophecies 
 
48 BIAS* LETTERS. 
 
 concerning his (Jesus's) humiliation and sufferings should 
 be understood in a literal, and those of his exaltation and 
 glorious reign, in a spiritual sense. "* The case then stands 
 thus : the Jews must be convinced from the prophecies, that 
 Jesus was the glorious person therein promised for their 
 Messiah ; not according to the sense and meaning of the 
 words of the prophets, for they are entirely repugnant to 
 such pretensions, but according to the sense and meaning 
 which Christians shall be pleased arbitrarily to impose on 
 all the prophets, (without assigning any tolerable reasons, 
 as is confessed by them,) though that sense be the most 
 contradictory to the prophets' description; for otherwise 
 they can prove nothing. It is a very just and judicious 
 observation " that the Jew possessed the oracles of God, 
 and was firmly persuaded of the truth of them. The very 
 first thing, therefore, that he had to do, upon the appearance 
 of the Messiah, was to examine his title, by the character 
 given of him in the prophets; he could not, consistently 
 with the belief in God and faith in the ancient prophecies, 
 attend to other arguments, till fully satisfied and convinced 
 in this. All the prophecies of the Old Testament, relating 
 to the office and character of the Messiah, were immovable 
 bars to all pretensions, till fulfilled and accomplished in the 
 person."f This is so fair a state of the case, that none of 
 the parties can reasonably have any objection against it; 
 and there only wants proofs that Jesus did fulfil and accom- 
 plish the character given of the Messiah in the prophets. 
 Now if this be done according to the plain sense and mean- 
 
 * Universal History, vol. iii. p. 39. 
 
 f Sherlock on Prophecy, 6th Discourse, p. 157. 
 
LETTER VIII. 49 
 
 ing of the prophecies, the character which they give us is so 
 contradictory and repugnant to that of Jesus, that his pre- 
 tensions can have no manner of foundation on that descrip- 
 tion ; for the plain sense of the prophecies is, and ever will 
 be, an immovable bar to his claim. 
 
 But if we are to judge of his title from the sense which 
 Christians impose on the prophets, then the character given 
 by the prophecies can be of no manner of signification, and, 
 therefore, it would be in vain to examine his title by the 
 character given of him in the prophets; since, let the 
 character be ever so ample and plain, yet such a meaning 
 would be imposed on the words of the prophets as might 
 make them answer very different purposes. And this is 
 actually the case ; for if we are to have no regard to the 
 plain sense and meaning of the prophets, and take a liberty 
 to depart from their literal and obvious meanings : how can 
 we distinguish the true Messiah from the vain pretender, 
 who may, by types and allegories, impose such a sense of 
 his own on the prophecies as may easily be made to answer 
 his pretensions, and by such means apply them to himself 
 and his purposes, construing them according to his fancy, 
 and, under a pretence of a refined spiritual sense, be able to 
 prove thereby all the passages of his life, both from pro- 
 phecy and Scripture history ? For, as no regard is to be had 
 to the prophets' literal meaning, no bounds can be put to 
 any person's imaginations; for all will be spiritualized. 
 But would not the Jews be in the most deplorable condition, 
 if they admitted allegory for proof? would they not be 
 liable to the grossest abuse and deception ? and could they 
 in any other way oppose such pretenders, but from the plain 
 and literal sense of the prophecies ? and must they not he- 
 ft 
 
50 BIAS* LETTERS. 
 
 lieve that the prophets had but that one plain sense and mean- 
 ing, and argue accordingly from it ? For to suppose that 
 {t an author has but one meaning at a time to a proposition, 
 (which is to be found out by a critical examination of his 
 words,) and to cite that proposition from him, and argue 
 from it in that one meaning, is to proceed by the common 
 rules of grammar and logic, which, being human rules, are 
 not very difficult to be set forth and explained ; but to sup- 
 pose passages cited, explained, and argued from in any other 
 method, seems very extraordinary ."* And such a method 
 can only serve to open a door to fraud and imposition; for 
 when once we depart from the plain and obvious meaning 
 of an author, and put a different sense on his words, we 
 then commit such an act of violence as nothing can justify. 
 But it is still worse, when we do the like to inspired writ- 
 ings; for we, in such case, deprive the prophet of his 
 meaning, which is infallible, and in its place substitute our 
 own weak fallible sense, and that for no other reason but 
 because it best serves our purposes ; and it must give one a 
 very bad opinion of the cause which depends on such a 
 support. For et allegory is a figure in discourse which we 
 are then said to use, when we make the terms which are 
 peculiar to one thing to signify another."*)* This being the 
 case, can allegory or types prove any thing, much less a 
 Messiah, whose character and office are plainly revealed in 
 the Scriptures ? And pray, what is there which may not 
 be proved, when terms and words, peculiar to one thing, 
 are made to signify another ? What confusion must ensue 
 
 * Grounds and Reasons, p. 51. 
 
 j- Calmet's Dictionary, on the word Allegory. 
 
LETTER VIII. 51 
 
 on such a scheme? How invalid must the proof of the 
 Messiah be, if founded on types and allegory ! For " alle- 
 gorical explanations may edify indeed/' (says a learned per- 
 son,) " but they are good for nothing else ; they cannot be 
 regularly produced as proofs of any thing/' St. Paul 
 founded Christianity on allegory, and though he says that 
 he uses great u plainness of speech/'* yet is all Scripture 
 by him turned into type. This he does even to the histo- 
 rical passages, and that when the literal sense is most clear. 
 To this end he declares himself and others to be " ministers 
 of the New Testament, not of the letter, but of the spirit, 
 for" (says he) "the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth 
 life." ]" It is by this invention that he pretends to prove 
 every thing; for he applies his allegories and types without 
 the least resemblance, or without the least likeness of the 
 types to the antitype. This is plain and evident from every 
 chapter of the writings which go under his name. Thus, 
 for example, he makes the patriarch's two sons, Isaac and 
 Ishmael, to typify two covenants.f 
 
 Again Abraham's concubine is with him a type of 
 Mount Sinai, in Arabia. This same Mount Sinai in 
 Arabia stands with him for a type of Jerusalem in bondage 
 with her children. He carries this type still farther; for 
 this same Jerusalem typifies that above, which he calls the 
 mother of all.|| After the same manner he makes Malchi- 
 zedek a type of Jesus, whom he declares to have been made 
 like the Son of God.^[ By the same art he turns the veil 
 which Moses put over his face, where it shone, into a type 
 
 * 2 Corinthians iii. 12, 16. f Ibid. 6. J Galatians iv. 22. 
 
 % Ibid. 25. || Ibid. 26. f Heb. vii. 3. 
 
52 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 of the Jews not understanding the Scriptures, that is, his 
 spiritual sense of them.* In the same way he pretends that 
 God himself preached the gospel to Abraham. f By the 
 same help he declares the baptism of the Israelites unto 
 Moses. This he finds typified by their passing the Red 
 Sea, and their being under the cloud of smoke.J The 
 water which the Israelites drank from the rock Moses 
 struck, he calls spiritual drink ; and he not only makes that 
 rock to follow the camp, but will have the rock itself to be 
 the Messiah. By the same never-failing art he proves that 
 the tribe of Levi paid tithe some hundred years before its 
 existence. || In short, the passover, the tabernacle, and 
 every thing in it, the Israelites' wanderings in the wilder- 
 derness, their entering into the land of Canaan, and the 
 whole Jewish economy and history is, by St. Paul, turned into 
 types ; and he makes every thing subservient to his point. 
 But if this method proves any thing, it proves that the 
 same passages and figures might prove a thousand things 
 besides, for which they may be made to stand, and such 
 proofs would be, to the full, as conclusive as St. Paul's. 
 
 This must be the natural consequence of believing that 
 the letter killeth, or rather, of resolving to kill the letter; 
 because, otherwise the letter would kill their purposes : and 
 when once we embrace the opinion of making the terms 
 which are peculiar to one thing stand for another, the same 
 thing may be made to typify things the most opposite and 
 contrary to each other. Thus it is observed, that ''the 
 serpent was remarkable for an insidious cunning, and there- 
 
 * 2 Cor. iii. 13-15. f Galat. iii. 8. J 1 Cor. x. 1, 2. 
 
 I Ibid. 3. \ Heb. vii. 9, 10. 
 
LETTER VIII. 53 
 
 fore stand as a proper emblem of a deceiver."* Another 
 asserts that " it cannot be doubted but under the name of 
 the serpent we ought to understand the devil. ^f Yet, not- 
 withstanding the serpent stands for, and means the devil, 
 one of the evangelists declares, "as Moses lifted up the 
 serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be 
 lifted up :"J by which means the servent serves to typify 
 both Jesus and the devil. Such strange things are alle- 
 gories ! A fruitful imagination might still carry the allegory 
 farther, and show how the serpent caused the people to err 
 by the worship which was paid it. 
 
 Now let me seriously ask, can such whims be admitted 
 for proofs ? or can any one pretend the conversion of the 
 Jews on such evidence ? May we not as well believe Luther 
 to have been the antitype of Aaron, (as one of his followers 
 pretended,) because he first set up the candlestick of the 
 reformation ? or shall we believe Calvin to have been the 
 antitype of the same High Priest (as one of his followers 
 pretended), " because it was beyond all doubt/' (says he,) 
 " that if he had not taken the snuifers into his hand, the 
 candlestick must have given so dim a light that few people 
 would have been the better for it." Pray, is there not just the 
 same foundation for the idle dreams of Luther's and Calvin's 
 followers, in making each their master to be Aaron's anti- 
 type, as there is for those others made by St. Paul ? If 
 we believe the one, why not the other ? Can such reveries 
 pass ; because delivered under the name of this or that man ? 
 
 * Sherlock on Prophecy, p. 57. 
 
 f Calmet's Diet, on the word Serpent. J John iii. 14. 
 
 \ Le Clerc. Bibl. Tom. x. p. 313. See Likewise Universal History, 
 I Vol. iii. p. 404. 
 
54 BIAS* LETTERS. 
 
 The authority of all men must be upon a level, if they 
 deliver things alike inconsistent, or equally contrary to 
 facts. How easily may Scripture be applied to every pas- 
 sage of a man's life, if such liberty be allowed! But 
 certainly any person would be deservedly laughed at who 
 should pretend to prove the actions of his life from thence 
 by turning it into types. 
 
 It is therefore evident that the prophecies ought to be 
 taken in their plainest and most obvious sense and literal 
 meaning : " for it is but justice to the omnipotent Being to 
 believe that HE speaks candidly and intelligibly to his 
 creatures/'* and it is highly derogating from the goodness of 
 God to think otherwise; and therefore the contrary method, 
 when made use of, must be incoherent and inconsistent, 
 enthusiastical and erroneous, invented for unwarrantable 
 purposes, and made use of to deceive and blind our eyes for 
 lack of better proof, excluding the Scripture from any mean- 
 ing at all; and, as it may be made use of to prove any thing, 
 and to square to every man's opinion, it can of course have 
 no force in argument, and therefore cannot be produced in 
 proof of any thing. Of this opinion was Bishop Smallbrook, 
 who says : " So very fanciful a thing is allegorical interpre- 
 tation, that not only different fathers build different alle- 
 gories on the same facts, but the very same father at dif- 
 ferent times, and on different subjects, makes different 
 applications of the very same literal story ;f and in his 
 preface he says : " Allegories prove any thing out of any 
 thing"! 
 
 * Independent Whig, No. 74. 
 
 f Vindication of the Miracles, chap. v. p. 254. 
 
 J Ibid. p. 8. 
 
LETTER IX. 55 
 
 I cannot better conclude this letter, than with a passage 
 of the same bishop,* viz : All that I would desire of the 
 reader here, is to observe the great uncertainty of mystical 
 interpretation in itself, as it is a mere creature of fancy. " 
 
 LETTER IX. 
 
 THE literal meaning of prophecy is what Christian 
 writers would, if they could handsomely do it, get rid of ; 
 not because the prophecies are in themselves hard to be un- 
 derstood, or difficult to be explained, but because their 
 obvious meanings and plain drift run counter to the 
 system which they labour to establish ; for otherwise, they 
 are very fond of the plain sense and literal meaning, 
 provided there is any appearance in their favour, or resem- 
 blance by which they can make it square with their doc- 
 trines ; for they then exult as if that alone were sufficient 
 to prove their point, overlooking whatever else is neces- 
 sarily connected with, and belonging to the same subject; 
 they generally extract here and there little scraps and parts 
 of Scripture, and join them together, but which, considered 
 and examined in their proper places, and connected with 
 their proper subjects, mean quite a different thing. 
 
 But, notwithstanding their commentaries, their innum- 
 erable volumes to reconcile their contradictions, their 
 endeavours to drown or hide the insufficiency of their 
 proofs, by glosses and rhetorical discourses, their subtleties 
 
 * Vindication of the Miracles, chap. viii. p. 359. 
 
56 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 and evasions, their declamations and subterfuges, their arts 
 and continual inventions, their types and their allegories, 
 they still find themselves greatly embarrassed and perplexed, 
 how, consistently, to prove the prophecies fulfilled. Neither 
 can they in any literal degree (not even to their own satis- 
 faction) fit the accomplishment to the prophecy, or the 
 type to the antitype. We are, indeed, told that " one 
 of the characters which Jesus claims and assumes in the 
 gospel is this that he was the person spoken of by Moses 
 and the prophets; whether he is this person or not must be 
 tried by the words of prophecy."* Undoubtedly it must; 
 but how the characters given of the Messiah by the prophets 
 answers the accomplishment in Jesus, by which we are to 
 judge of his claim, and whether he is that person or not, is 
 what ought to have been made clear and evident from the 
 prophecies ; for it is here that the difficulties lie. But the 
 learned prelate, instead of proving this point, and clearing 
 up the difficulties which attend it, most unaccountably shifts 
 the argument ; for, though he refers you to the prophets 
 for consideration, as the criterion by which you must form 
 a judgment, yet he tells you that, "'tis evident the word 
 of prophecy was not intended to give a clear and distinct 
 light in this case ;"f " that prophecy was never intended 
 to be a very strict evidence ;"J " 'tis absurd to expect clear 
 and evident conviction from every single prophecy as 
 applied to Christ/' How so ? must people be sent to 
 the prophecies to judge whether Jesus is the person spoken 
 of, and yet be told ' ( that prophecy was never intended to 
 
 * Intent and Use of Prophecy, page 42, f Ibid. p. 28. 
 
 J Ibid. 30. \ Ibid. 33. 
 
LETTER IX. 57 
 
 be a very distinct evidence ; and that it is absurd to expect 
 conviction from that which we are sent to, and by which 
 we must try his claim'/" Why are we sent to the prophets 
 for conviction, if it is not to be had there ? or if it is ab- 
 surd to expect it? Bufc the absurdity does most certainly 
 centre in this learned prelate; for I would willingly know 
 on what other evidence it can be proved to the Jews, that 
 Jesus is the Messiah, but from the prophecies concerning 
 him in the Old Testament ? And* if these be clearly and 
 evidently fulfilled, as they pretend they are, then let them 
 abide* by the test; for it is ridiculous, first to send them to 
 the prophets to judge his claim, and then to take away the 
 force of their evidence, by declaring that they cannot expect 
 conviction from them ; and, consequently, that they can 
 have none ! 
 
 The Bishop, as a means to establish the insufficiency of 
 the evidence from the prophecies, takes great pains to rep- 
 resent them as dark and obscure. You will no doubt think 
 his conduct strange ; and indeed he thinks so himself, and 
 makes the following apology for his behaviour : " You may 
 think it perhaps strange," says he, " that I should be here 
 pleading as it were, for the obscurity of ancient prophecy, 
 whereas you may very well conceive it would be more to 
 the purpose of a Christian divine to maintain their clear- 
 ; ness. Now, as Moses in another case said, u I would to 
 [God all the Lord's people were prophets;" so say I, in 
 I this case ; I would to God all the prophecies of the Lord 
 I were manifest unto all his people ; but it matters not what 
 1 we wish or think. "* But there are those who maintain 
 
 * Intent and Use of Prophecy, p. 36. 
 
58 BIAS* LETTERS. 
 
 their clearness, whether it be for the purposes of Christain 
 divines or not. 
 
 Whoever is any way acquainted with the writings of 
 such learned divines as have written in support and defence 
 of Christianity, must be fully convinced of the insurmount- 
 able difficulties under which they labour, in proving the 
 messiahship of Jesus from the prophecies, as applied to, and 
 said to be fulfilled by him. For some, proceeding on the 
 allegorical scheme, ground the pretensions of Jesus on the 
 turn which they are pleased to give the prophecies, and ap- 
 ply them as fulfilled in the sense which they impose on 
 them. Others unsatisfied with arguments drawn from such 
 proofs, oppose this scheme as weak and absurd, (though 
 thereby they oppose the evangelists and apostles) and en- 
 deavour to establish his messiahship, by pretending to a 
 literal application of the prophecies. The consequence is 
 they prove nothing but the glorious deliverance expected 
 by the Jews. Some, in these difficulties, fly for refuge to 
 his miracles, and pretend to prove his messiahship from 
 his works. Some fly to the goodness and soundness of 
 his doctrines, and from thence prove his messiahship. 
 Some invent a heavenly kingdom, and from that oppose the 
 prophecies. Others take on themselves, and usurp, the 
 names of Israel and Judah, and then prove the prophecies 
 accomplished in them. But after all, they seem so dissat- 
 isfied with these inventions of theirs, that at last they are 
 obliged to confess their insufficiency, and declare, and as 
 firmly believe, the restoration of the Jews, as the Jews do 
 themselves ; and this they prove by the same arguments, 
 and from those very prophecies on which the Jews ground 
 
LETTER IX. 59 
 
 their hopes and expectations. All which I shall make very 
 clear to you. 
 
 Such are the methods which are made use of, and such 
 the contradictions and inconsistencies to be met with in 
 their writings, and often times in the same author. But 
 you must not impute this to their want either of abilities 
 or learning, for many of them are famous for both ; but you 
 must impute it to the cause, which in itself is inconsistent, 
 and not to be either supported or defended on any rational 
 principle whatever ; and they are reduced to such perplexi- 
 ties in defending the prophecies mentioned in the Old Tes- 
 tament, and said to be fulfilled by Jesus in the New, that 
 not being able to show their connexions and pertinency, it is 
 no wonder that they represent them as dark and obscure, 
 and give them up as difficult to be applied, and endeavour 
 to extricate themselves by placing the proofs on something 
 more to their purpose, though in their hearts they wish 
 they had more clear prophecies. But is it reasonable to 
 expect the conviction of the Jews but from the clearest 
 evidence ? Give me leave to ask, with the learned prelate, 
 (t Is not this now a choice account of the G-ospel ? Are we 
 still surrounded on all sides with darkness ?"* And pray 
 who can help it, if the plain sense and meaning of the 
 prophecies run counter to the intents and designs of that to 
 which they are applied ? And the fault does not lie in the 
 prophecies, for they are most clear, though very dark indeed 
 as they are applied. But the reason is plain and obvious ; 
 because they never were intended to prove that which they 
 are applied to, and for that reason will eternally be dark 
 
 * Intent and Use of Prophecy, p. 7. 
 
60 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 and obscure, in like manner as any passage out of any 
 other author would be dark and obscure if it should be 
 applied contrary to the author's meaning and plain sense ; 
 but the darkness, in such case, would not be in the author, 
 but in the application. Nothing can be plainer, according 
 to the Gospel scheme, than, that the words of prophecy 
 were the foundation on which Jesus claimed the messiah- 
 ship ; and as a demonstration that he was the person fore- 
 told, he refers to them for conviction, and tells those he 
 spoke to, " Search the Scriptures ; for in them ye think ye 
 have eternal life ; and they are they which testify of me."* 
 " For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me ; 
 for he wrote of me."f " And he said unto them, these are 
 the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you, 
 that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the 
 law of Moses and the prophets, and in the psalms concerning 
 me."J " And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he 
 expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the thing con- 
 cerning himself." Now let me ask, did Jesus apply the 
 prophecies to himself in their clear sense, and plain mean- 
 ing, or did he impose another sense and meaning on them ? 
 were they plain and clear prophecies by which he undertook 
 to prove himself the Messiah, such as carried their own con- 
 victions with them, or were they dark and obscure, such 
 as it is absurd to expect conviction from ? If he did it ac- 
 cording to the clear sense and plain meaning of the pro- 
 phecies, then, on the same foundation, he may still be proved 
 from the prophecies ; and it will be absurd, if this be the 
 case, to endeavour either to darken or throw obscurity on 
 
 * John, v. 39. t Ibid. 46. J Luke, xxiv. 44. Ibid. 2T. 
 
LETTER IX. 61 
 
 them ; but if be proved bimself tbe Messiab from dark and 
 obscure prophecies, or, which is the same thing, if he ap- 
 plied the propecies in a dark and obscure sense, then must 
 such proof be insufficient to produce conviction ; for a 
 " figurative and dark description of a future event/ 7 says a 
 learned prelate, '' will be figurative and dark when the event 
 happens, and consequently will have all the obscurity of a 
 dark and figurative description, as well after, as before the 
 event, so that it can be no proof at all."* And let Chris- 
 tians say what they please, it is certain that the prophets 
 speak clearly and intelligibly concerning the Messiah and 
 his office ; and it is from them that we are to judge, who is 
 the true Messiah; consequently, if Jesus is the Messiah, 
 and they can prove him to be the true one, how absurd must 
 it be to represent the prophecies as dark and obscure ! or 
 to pretend that no conviction is to be expected from them, 
 when " all the prophets from Samuel, and those that follow 
 after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold these 
 days."f From the prophecies it was that the Bereans 
 found out that Jesus was the Messiah ; " for they searched 
 the Scriptures daily whether those things were so."J 
 
 Now if this foundation on which the Christian religion is 
 built, the foundation on which Jesus and his apostles estab- 
 lished it, can afford no distinct evidence, (t nor ever was in- 
 tended to give a clear and distinct light on the case :" what 
 must the consequence be of Jesus and his followers appeal- 
 ing to its evidence, and building on a foundation so preca- 
 rious ? for no superstructure can possibly be stronger than 
 the foundation. For if Jesus be clearly revealed in the 
 
 * Intent and use of Prophecy, Dis. 2, p. 33. f Acts iii. 24. 
 t Ibid. xvii. 11. 
 
62 BIAS* LETTERS. 
 
 prophecies, then must the application of them to him be 
 evident ; if this be the case, then cannot the prophecies be 
 dark and obscure. But if, on the contrary, they be not 
 clearly and evidently applicable to him as the Messiah, then 
 is all their trouble and pretension vain and ineffectual; for 
 clear proofs never can be had from dark and obscure pas- 
 sages ; neither can the conclusion be stronger than the pre- 
 mises. 
 
 The prophecies concerning the Messiah, his kingdom, and 
 great glory, as well as that of the Jews, are foretold with 
 such particularity and plainness by all the prophets, as can- 
 not be surpassed by any one description that ever was made. 
 To suppose that the Almighty God should, in an affair of 
 the utmost importance, (an affair that concerned both 
 learned and ignorant,) deliver himself in such terms or words 
 as must introduce into our minds ideas the most opposite and 
 contrary to what his goodness intended to reveal and de- 
 scribe, is to suppose Him capable of deceiving those whom 
 He condescended to instruct and enlighten ; and, " it is 
 irrational and impious to suppose that the Almighty God, 
 the good, and merciful God, would give to his creatures in- 
 structions, commands, and advice, which were puzzling, ob- 
 scure, and uncertain, when their eternal salvation was de- 
 pending upon their conceiving or applying them aright "* 
 Can any thing more unjust be imputed to God than to pre 
 tend He reveals one thing and means another ? yet this is 
 the deplorable case. How many are the endeavours to make 
 out this very thing ! Learning, art, cunning, industry, 
 power, and every human invention is made use of for this 
 
 * Independent Whig, No. 74. 
 
LETTER X. 63 
 
 purpose ; and to make way with their own senseless jargon, 
 they reject, set at naught the words, which, as coming 
 from God, are infallible ; and then they set up themselves, 
 and their explanations for such, as if they were neither 
 peccable, fallible nor interested, or were not liable to error, 
 deception, and imposition. 
 
 LETTER X. 
 
 HAVING mentioned the insurmountable difficulties which 
 attend the application of the prophecies concerning the Mes- 
 siah, according to their obvious plain sense and meaning, to 
 any person either pretending or claiming that character, 
 which is the only rational proof by which his character is to 
 be maintained and supported : I think some notice ought to 
 be taken of the shifts and evasions to which they have re- 
 course, in which they take shelter, and by which they en- 
 deavour and pretend to support a character, which, in reality, 
 is the most contradictory to that which the prophets de- 
 scribe j and to show the fallacy and invalidity of such appli- 
 cations. Their principal engine is the allegorical or typical 
 scheme, by the help of which they solve all difficulties ; for, 
 as it is but making one thing to mean another, they can, 
 by its help, answer all objections ; for, Proteus like, they 
 apply it in all shapes and to all things. It is from this 
 scheme that their various arts and inventions have their 
 
64 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 rise. As I have already considered this scheme, I shall now 
 only observe, 
 
 1. They declare, " That the prophecies concerning the 
 coming, the character, the death, and passion of the Messiah, 
 are to be found in a multitude of places in the Old Testa- 
 ment, but after a mysterious and figurative manner."* 
 
 2. They declare, " That it does not prove that things had 
 originally any such sense, meaning, and construction, merely 
 because they are afterward referred to, in the way of alle- 
 gory, simile, or allusion."f 
 
 3. They declare, " That such proofs cannot alone estab- 
 lish any doctrinal truth ;J and also that they cannot be re- 
 gularly produced as proofs of any thing." 
 
 4. They maintain, notwithstanding, " That this is evi- 
 dently the scheme which the apostle Paul goes upon."|| 
 
 The foregoing assertions plainly demonstrate the insuffi- 
 ciency of the allegorical and typical scheme, or that things 
 referred to for proof in the way of figure, simile, and allu- 
 sion, (which is confessedly St. Paul's scheme) can prove 
 nothing ] and, consequently, that all inferences or conclu- 
 sions from such premises, must be fallacious and invalid. 
 
 This appears very evident ; for if a prophecy be a future 
 event foretold,^ nothing but a proper fulfilling of that 
 event can be deemed a completion of the prophecy, and no 
 prophecy, can possibly receive its completion unless it be 
 fulfilled according to the event foretold : therefore it is ab- 
 surd to pretend that types, allegories, similes, allusions, and 
 figures, are the fulfilling thereof; for nothing but the entire 
 
 * Calmet on the word Mystery, f Divine Authority, v. ii. p. 181. % Ib. 
 $ Calmet on the word Allegory. || Divine Authority, v. li. p. 181. 
 TT Calmet on the word Prophecy. 
 
LETTER X. 65 
 
 completion of the prophecy, by the event, can be deemed 
 valid j all other methods being thereby excluded. So much 
 for the allegorical or typical scheme. 
 
 Another method and invention whereby they endeavour 
 to solve difficulties arising from the most material prophe- 
 cies concerning the kingdom of the Messiah, is to remove 
 it to heaven. It was to this new invented heavenly kingdom 
 that " Jesus invited the high priest, and promised that he 
 should see him sitting at the right hand of power."* They 
 tell us it is in this kingdom he sitsf and reigns with great 
 amplitude of power and dominion, over a most glorious race 
 of spiritual beings and departed souls of true believers, who 
 alone are admitted to the enjoyment of that happiness 
 which, the prophets foretold, the Messiah should introduce 
 here on earth. They have, indeed, carefully guarded 
 against any possibility of searching, or having satisfaction 
 concerning this kingdom, by placing it out of the reach of 
 inquiring mortals ; therefore you must take it all on their 
 bare words. 
 
 Another invention to evade the prophecies is to pretend 
 that the kingdom of the Messiah, though they cannot deny 
 it to be of this world, was, nevertheless, not to consist of 
 mere worldly power and dominion, but was to be likewise 
 of a spiritual nature. As in this claim they confound a 
 temporal with a spiritual earthly empire, and as neither the 
 one nor the other is anywise capable of being applied to 
 Jesus I choose, for this reason, to set it forth in the words 
 of a famous divine : 
 
 <( It appears" (says he) " that the kingdom of the Mes- 
 siah, and that glorious state of things so much spoken of in 
 
 * Matthew xxvi. 64. f See the Creed. 
 
66 BIAS* LETTERS. 
 
 the prophets, is not to be understood merely of a worldly 
 dominion or empire, under the government of a mere tem- 
 poral prince, that was to be a proper king of the Jews, and 
 of them only ; but of a kingdom of righteousness and peace, 
 of truth and holiness. The proper design was to spread the 
 knowledge and the practice of true religion among men 
 His dominion was to be over all nations. The blessing of 
 his reign was not to be confined to the Jews only, but was 
 to extend to all nations."* 
 
 This is not only a most glorious description of the cha- 
 racter of the Messiah, but likewise a most desirable one. I 
 think it wants only one thing to make it a complete character, 
 and I will add it ; it is this : That the Messiah was to gather 
 the dispersed Jews from all countries and restore them. 
 This appears from the twelve prophecies which I have cited, \ 
 and from many others. If this, his distinguishing character, 
 be implied in the author's description, by his representing 
 him, " not as a mere king of the Jews, and of them only/' 
 I know not; but let that be as it will, it is plain that, ac- 
 cording to this author, the prophets speak much of a glorious 
 state of things under the Messiah; that worldly dominion 
 or empire was a principal part of his character; that he 
 was to be a proper king of the Jews ; that the Jews were 
 to enjoy the blessing of his reign. These qualities are 
 extended farther ; that is, under this glorious state of things 
 the Messiah was to introduce righteousness and peace, truth 
 and holiness, or the knowledge and practice of true religion. 
 He was not only to be a proper king of the Jews, but to have 
 universal empire ; for his dominion was to be over all nations, 
 
 * Divine Authority, Vol. i. pp. 358, 359. 
 f See Letter VI. 
 
LETTER X. 67 
 
 and the blessings of his reign were not to be confined to the 
 Jews, and them only, but these blessings were to extend to 
 all nations likewise. 
 
 Now this being in part the glorious state of things so 
 much spoken of and described by the prophets, and the 
 distinguishing character of the Messiah : it would be an 
 easy matter to work the conversion of the Jews,' which 
 might be done only by making application of all this to 
 Jesus. But this they are not able to do ; and it is as im- 
 possible to prove his spiritual empire as his temporal; for 
 where will they find either the one or the other ? Surely 
 persecution and the different sects damning each other, can- 
 not be part of those blessings which were to extend to all 
 nations spiritually. Thus, with the same breath, they 
 endeavour to establish a spiritual kingdom, or empire, 
 which they affect to call a state of peace, and holiness, or 
 the practice of piety and virtue, but which they cannot 
 prove to have been generally practised at any time. They 
 very effectually establish the power, greatness, and earthly 
 dominion of the Messiah, in like manner as the Jews do ; 
 and it is worthy of observation how it weighs them down ; for 
 they never endeavour to soar above it, but directly sink 
 under it. 
 
 For, notwithstanding Jesus disowns and disclaims any 
 earthly power or authority, by declaring, " That his kingdom 
 was not of this world ; for if it were, his servants would fight 
 that he might not be delivered up :"* yet his followers cannot 
 avoid forcing it upon him, contrary to his expressed declara- 
 tion and renunciation; for they will have him to be, not a 
 mere king of the Jews, but a universal monarch. 
 
 * John xviii. 36. 
 
68 DIAS ? LETTERS. 
 
 Another invention is, to pretend that the offices and 
 character of the Messiah clash, or are contradictory to one 
 another. The following passage will set this invention in its 
 true light : " The evidence appealed to by our Saviour" (says 
 Mr. West) " was the testimony of the Scriptures, in which 
 are contained not only the promises of a Messiah and Saviour 
 of the world, but the mark and description by which he was 
 to be known. Of these, there are so many, and those so 
 various so seemingly incompatible in one and the same 
 person, and exhibited, under such a multitude of types and 
 figures, that it was absurd for a mere mortal to pretend to 
 answer the character of the Messiah in all points."* 
 
 This is the light in which they represent that great and 
 noble character, which all the prophets so unanimously 
 describe. But the absurdity of representing it such as no 
 mere mortal could answer in all points, is owing to themselves. 
 It is nothing but a phantom of their own raising, by applying 
 to him passages which do not belong to him, or ever were 
 intended as any part of his character. This they are obliged 
 to do, that it may answer their purposes, and because the 
 plain characters by which he is described by the prophets, 
 are clearly a contradiction of their schemes. They, there- 
 fore, make his character a contradiction, that they may have 
 the opportunity of explaining the prophecies, and applying 
 other passages in such a manner as is most suitable to their 
 cause. Thus it was the custom of designing heathen priests 
 to deliver the oracles of their false gods, couched artfully 
 in dubious or ambiguous terms, " so as to be easily applied 
 to the event, let it fall out which way it would. "f For, as 
 they were ignorant of futurity, an ambiguous, or doubtful, 
 
 * Dis. on the Christian Revelation, pp. 101, 102. t Ib. 
 
LETTER X. 69 
 
 reserved meaning, delivered in seemingly incompatible or 
 clashing terms, capable of different senses, meanings, and 
 constructions, would certainly bring their votaries to receive 
 the explanations of such oracles from them. This was agree- 
 able to their cause, a cause of darkness, deceit, fraud, lies, 
 error, and imposition. But, to suppose ambiguity, double 
 or hidden constructions, clashing or incompatible meanings 
 in the oracles delivered for our information and direction, 
 
 by THE ALL-WISE, GOOD, AND MERCIFUL GOD, THE FATHER 
 
 OF LIGHT, is either to suppose Him as ignorant of futurity, as 
 the priest who made use of that method, or to suppose Him 
 deceiving those whom He, in his great goodness, thought pro- 
 per to enlighten and instruct ; since for this end only did He 
 reveal those things. Therefore, whatever passages clash, or 
 are incompatible, can be no part of that character so often and 
 repeatedly uniformly described Such passages are, there- 
 fore, inconsistently ushered in, and made a part of it, by 
 artful and designing men, to answer their own interested 
 views, prejudices, and purposes. 
 
 Therefore, in justice to Him who only could foretell and 
 reveal future events with a fixed certainty, we must believe 
 that what He has revealed is candid, and easily to be under- 
 stood ; and that the characters which He describes are uni- 
 form, and have neither contradiction, double sense, hidden 
 meaning, or ambiguities; and that those who, represent 
 them in a contrary light, act inconsistently and absurdly. 
 
 Another invention which they make use of is, to take 
 and usurp the names by which the Jews are always meant. 
 Of this they stand in very great need } for, how otherwise 
 could they inherit the promises ? It is no wonder then that 
 they boldly use the name of Judah and Israel. The fol- 
 
70 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 lowing passage shall describe this pretension : t( Whereas 
 the Messiah's kingdom seems sometimes to be described 
 with a particular regard to the Jews, and it is foretold that 
 he should reign over them, as their prince and shepherd, 
 and that in his days Israel and Judah shall dwell safely, 
 and in a happy state : there are two things which will en- 
 tirely take off the advantage ; the one is, that the terms 
 Israel and Judah, and the House of Israel, are not to be 
 understood, in the prophets, precisely of the seed of Jacob, 
 literally so called, or of the Jewish people and nation ; but 
 are sometimes designed for the church in general."* 
 
 This is the method by which the Jews are entirely to be 
 deprived of the advantages promised them. Here, then, by a 
 dash of the pen, you have the Jews stripped of their name, 
 and the advantages of thef promises to them made ; and 
 both the one and the other transferred to the church in 
 general. They, whenever they stand in need of it for their 
 purpose, (as sometimes they do,) why then, they make use 
 of it; but, their turn being served, they very willingly part 
 with it, and generally restore it to the right owner ; for, 
 whenever there is a calamity foretold, that should happen 
 to Judah or Israel, then the Jews are thereby meant ; and, 
 upon such an occasion, they are the literal seed of Jacob, 
 and they will most certainly find it fulfilled and accom- 
 plished. But whenever they find any promises of good 
 things, or happy days, then the Jews, or literal seed of 
 Jacob, have nothing to do with it; for the advantage of 
 their name must be taken from them, and such things only 
 
 * Divine Authority, Vol. i. p. 162. 
 
 f The remaining portion of this letter is wanting in our MS. We 
 copy therefore from the "Jew" in which paper it first appeared. 
 
LETTER X. 71 
 
 belong to the Christian church, that is, to the mysterious 
 seed of Jacob. 
 
 Thus absurdly do they reason ; and make the prophecies 
 a two-edged tool, to cut which way they please. Should not 
 a reason be given why the literal sense should be applied 
 one time, and a different one at another ? Have not the 
 Jews a right to urge that the words of the prophets were 
 always understood and taken in the literal sense, whenever 
 they described or foretold either the exaltation or downfall 
 of any people or kingdom ? And are not such prophecies 
 always applied according to their plain sense, and literal 
 meaning ? Nay, is it not an argument made use of to prove 
 the inspiration of the prophets, that they did so clearly 
 foretell such events ? Would not the Jews, in their Egyp- 
 tian bondage, have had great reason to refuse the mission 
 of any person that should have pretended to persuade them 
 that the promises which Grod made to Abraham, of their 
 delivery from thence, and of possessing the land of Canaan, 
 were not to be taken in their literal meaning, but that these 
 promises meant, and should be applied and explained in a 
 spiritual sense ? Are not the promises made to the House 
 of Israel and of Judah of their delivery from their oppres- 
 sion and dispersion, and their return from all parts, as 
 express as those made concerning their delivery from Egypt? 
 If so, the Jews act consistently in rejecting the sense of a 
 spiritual delivery from their present dispersion : in like 
 manner as their ancestors would have acted judiciously to 
 refuse the mission of that person who should have pretended 
 their delivery from Egypt was only to be spiritual, and not 
 from their oppression, which was the promise made ; and as 
 God made good his promise, in delivering them literally 
 
72 DIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 from Egypt, why should they not expect, and hope for, a 
 literal accomplishment of his promise in this other ? 
 
 How absurd would it appear, even to Christians, were 
 any nation or people to pretend that the promise to Abra- 
 ham, of the delivery of his seed from Egypt, was not 
 intended for his descendants, but meant themselves, who 
 were intend by that promise to have a spiritual deliverance ! 
 The fallacy of such a supposition they would immediately 
 discover and detect ; and, dare I affirm, would agree very 
 much in favour of the delivery of the Jews, and very clearly 
 show how chimerical that people or nation's pretensions 
 were, and demonstrate the absurdity of such a claim, and 
 the vanity of usurping a name which was none of theirs. 
 Now if it be absurd in the one case, why not in the other ? 
 Besides, if the Jews are the natural seed of Jacob for their 
 calamities, why not for the promise of good things ? And 
 if they are literally fulfilled in one case, why should they 
 not be literally accomplished in the other ? 
 
 But the vanity of this pretension is plainly described by 
 the prophet, in these words : " One shall say, I am the 
 LORD'S; and another shall call himself by the name of 
 Jacob ; and another shall subscribe with his hand by the 
 name of Israel/'* From the prophet they have also the 
 answer: "Who, as I, shall call and shall declare it, and 
 set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people ? 
 and the things that are coming and shall come, let them 
 show unto them."")* " Is my hand shortened at all that I 
 cannot redeem, or have I no power to deliver ?"J 
 
 To conclude this long letter : it is by such arts and 
 
 * Isaiah xliv. 5. f Ib - ^ t Ib - L 2 - 
 
LETTER XI. 73 
 
 inventions, without any authority, that they pretend to 
 reconcile the greatest difficulties and contradictions. Allow 
 them but the means, and they will attain their ends. Take 
 but their words, and every thing is made clear by the appli- 
 cation and explanation of terms and passages. 
 
 There are, besides, some other methods and inventions, 
 which I shall take notice of upon proper occasion. 
 
 LETTER XL 
 
 THE better to show the insufficiency of the arts and in- 
 ventions, mentioned in my last, it is necessary to instance 
 some prophecies, which being explained according to those 
 rules, you will then be the better able to judge the vanity 
 of all such arts, and how absurd it is to pretend by such 
 evasions to prove either the fulfilling of the prophecies, or 
 to support any claim. It is pretended, " that the prophets 
 intimated clear enough, that a new dispensation was to be 
 introduced, and a new covenant different from that which 
 God made with their fathers/'* To prove this they refer 
 to a passage of Jeremiah, which I will transcribe at length, 
 give you its literal meaning, and then consider it according 
 to" the application made by their arts. The passage is as 
 follows : 
 
 " Behold, the days come saith the LORD, that I will make 
 a, new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house 
 of Judah : not according to the covenant that I made with 
 
 * Divine Authority, Vol. i. p. 101. 
 
74 BIAS* LETTERS. 
 
 their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand 
 to bring them out of the land of Egypt ; which my covenant 
 (Berith) they brake, although I was a husband unto them, 
 saith the LORD. But this shall be the covenant that I will make 
 with the house of Israel. After those days, saith the LORD, 
 I will put my law ( Torali^} in their inward parts, and write it 
 in their hearts, and will be their God, and they shall be my 
 people. And they shall teach no more every man his 
 neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the 
 LORD ; for they shall all know me, from the least of them 
 unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD ; for I will for- 
 give their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. 
 Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by 
 day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a 
 light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves 
 thereof roar; the LORD of Hosts is his name : If those or- 
 dinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the 
 seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me 
 for ever. Thus saith the LORD, If heaven above can be 
 measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out 
 beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel, for all that 
 they have done, saith the LORD. Behold the days come, 
 saith the LORD, that the city shall be built to the LORD 
 from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner. And 
 the measuring line shall yet go forth over against it, upon 
 the hill Gareb, and shall compass about to Goath. And the 
 whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes and all 
 the fields unto the brook Kidron, unto the corner of the 
 horse-gate towards the east, shall le holy unto the LORD } it 
 
 * ToraJi is the law of Moses; Berith is the covenant concerning its 
 observance. 
 
LETTER XI. T5 
 
 shall not be plucked up nor thrown down any more for 
 ever."* 
 
 Now from this prophecy it plainly appears, that God was 
 to make a new covenant with the houses of Israel and Judah, 
 or Jewish nation, which covenant should not be broken like 
 that made with their fathers. The condition on the people's 
 part is, that they are to observe the law, (signified by God's 
 writing it on their hearts, and fixing it in their inward 
 parts,) and be God's peculiar people : and God, on his part, 
 was to forgive and forget their iniquity and sin, was to 
 restore, preserve them, and be their God, and cause their 
 city to be built, never more to be destroyed. This, in few 
 words, are the contents of the promised covenant, 
 according to the clear sense and obvious meaning of the 
 prophet, conformable and agreeable to the repeated promise 
 made to the nation, by all the prophets. The plain 
 meaning of this prophecy, and the peculiar terms in which 
 it is delivered, ought, one would think, to deter people 
 from practising their arts, and imposing meanings thereon, 
 so different from, and so entirely contradictory to that 
 of the prophet. He has entered into a particular des- 
 cription of the people who were to be parties or partakers 
 of the new covenant. And he has also particularized and 
 declared, not only its contents, but likewise in what it was 
 to differ from the former one. Thus it plainly appears, that 
 God would enter into a new covenant with the Jews } but 
 that a new law, or any new dispensation, was to be intro- 
 duced, has no manner of foundation. That the new covenant 
 
 was to be different from that which their fathers entered 
 
 % 
 
 * Jeremiah, Chap, xxxi., verse 31 to the end. Bible Translation. 
 
76 BIAS 7 LETTERS. 
 
 into, is likewise plain and evident. But what has that to 
 do with a new dispensation which is pretended was to be 
 introduced? does not the prophet declare in what the 
 difference was to consist ? The former covenant had been con- 
 ditional; by it the nation's happiness and welfare were made 
 to depend entirely on the observance of that which they 
 stipulated ; but they continually failed, and broke the con- 
 ditions, and, in consequence, often received exemplary pun- 
 ishments. But the ne\v covenant was to be formed upon an 
 entirely new plan; by it the nation's happiness was to be 
 permanent, lasting, unconditional; for they were to have 
 such knowledge of God, from the least to the greatest, as 
 was to insure duty and fidelity ever after; apd this in such 
 a manner, that though all nations failed, yet the Jews should 
 never be cast off, or cease to be a nation ; for the same 
 Almighty Power that created the universe, and gave 
 laws to nature, would preserve and protect them. This, 
 then, are the contents and condition of the new covenant; 
 and the difference from the old to the new is this. By the 
 old, the nation's happiness was only conditional ; whereas, 
 by the new, it is to be absolute and unconditional. The 
 old they often broke, but the new they never should break ; 
 for it was to be as lasting as nature itself. 
 
 The reasoning of St. Paul on this passage is most remark- 
 able, and ought not to be passed in silence. He will have 
 Jesus to be the mediator of it,* and reasons, " that if the 
 first covenant had been faultless, there had been no place 
 for a second/'f To these two assertions, I shall only say, 
 1st, that the prophet neither points out Jesus, nor intimates 
 
 * Heb. viiu 6. f Ibid. 7. 
 
LETTER XT. 77 
 
 any thing concerning a mediator; and 2dly, that, had 
 any other than St, Paul declared that what God did was 
 faulty, so many arguments would be urged against him by 
 Christian divines, and such a defence be made of God's 
 goodness and conduct, that the impossibility of his commit- 
 ting any fault would be made so evident as should silence all 
 such opinions. And there appears so little connexion be- 
 tween the new covenant promised by the prophet, and the 
 transaction related to have happened in the time of Jesus, 
 that I cannot see the least resemblance of the prophecy to 
 the completion. The comparing of a few instances may help 
 to set this in a clear light. 
 
 It is pretended that Jesus was the mediator of the new 
 covenant ; but how was this performed ? did he enter into 
 any agreement or covenant with the house of Israel ? No, 
 the Jews know of none, and history is entirely silent, as to 
 this circumstance, and not the least footstep of any such 
 contract is to be traced. Besides no contract can be made 
 without the consent of the parties ; and if they did not give 
 either their express or tacit consent, the covenant, or con- 
 tract, can never be either valid or binding. But was it at 
 that time that God entered into a special relation with the 
 houses of Israel and Judah, of being their God, and taking 
 them for his chosen people ? 
 
 Was it then that they were full of the knowledge of God, 
 even from the least to the greatest ? 
 
 Was it at that time that God forgave their sins and ini- 
 quity ? 
 
 Were they at that time restored, never more to be cast 
 off, or cease to be a nation ? 
 7* 
 
78 
 
 BIAS LETTERS. 
 
 Was then the time in which their city should be rebuilt, 
 never after to be plucked up or thrown down ? 
 
 These particulars, it is well known, never came to pass, 
 neither then nor since. How, then, could the promised 
 covenant take place ? Should not every particular circum- 
 stance of the prophet's description be fulfilled and accom- 
 plished, before they lay their claims ? and are not things 
 represented in the very opposite, or contrary extreme? 
 
 For, instead of having God's law fixed in their hearts, 
 they are represented as the wickedest generation that ever 
 existed. 
 
 Instead of having a perfect knowledge of God, and being 
 his people, they are represented as the most abominable and 
 reprobate nation under heaven. 
 
 Instead of having their city and temple rebuilt, never 
 more to be destroyed, behold both miserably laid waste ! 
 
 Instead of being a nation never to be cast off, behold them 
 struggling under every species of hardship, oppression and 
 dependence. 
 
 Instead of having their sins forgiven, they are represented 
 as committing, at that very time, the most heinous and 
 atrocious crimes, particularly that of refusing the Messiah, 
 and putting him to an ignominious death. 
 
 Instead of continuing a glorious nation, behold them 
 miserable, conquered, and dispersed throughout the four 
 corners of the earth, persecuted in turn by every nation. 
 
 How, then, is this prophecy fulfilled ? Has the applica- 
 tion the least shadow of agreement with the promise therein 
 contained ? 
 
 But here they take shelter in their evasions, and fly for 
 
LETTER XI. 79 
 
 refuge to their arts and inventions, the strength of which let 
 us examine. 
 
 They say that by the names of Israel and Judah, not the 
 Jews, but the gentiles, are thereby intended and meant. It 
 is the Christian church, under those denominations, that 
 was to enjoy the peculiar privileges and advantages pro- 
 mised by the new covenant. Were they able to make out 
 their claim, it would be but reasonable to grant their pre- 
 tensions ; but it happens that the prophet is so minutely 
 circumstantial in his description, that it effectually excludes 
 any people or nation from being thereby intended, excepting 
 the literal house of Israel, or natural seed of Jacob. No- 
 thing, under the utmost violence done to the text, and a 
 most unnatural meaning imposed on it, can give it a con- 
 trary sense. But certainly the liberty of imposing a sense 
 and meaning on words different from that which they im- 
 port according to their first and known acceptation and 
 signification, is such a violation as ought never to be 
 admitted. 
 
 For, if words are made use of as signs to denote our ideas, 
 what a confusion and subversion of language must ensue, 
 if a meaning contrary to that which the words stand as a 
 known sign of, be arbitrarily imposed on them at pleasure ? 
 What is there, according to this scheme, that a person may 
 not be made to say ? But, as this is the greatest and 
 grossest abuse of language, the bare mentioning of it is 
 sufficient to expose its absurdity. However, I should be 
 glad to know from whence the authority of imposing an 
 opposite, contrary, or different sense on Scripture is derived. 
 I am sure no such liberty would be allowed to any person ; 
 no, not even in the most common affairs of life. Ought not 
 
80 BIAS* LETTERS. 
 
 the pretenders to this privilege (supposing in this prophecy) 
 at least to have referred to some passage wherein mention 
 is made of the houses of Israel and Judah , and showing the 
 inconsistency and absurdity of applying these terms to the 
 literal seed of Israel or Judah, or the Jewish nation, and 
 then show their pertinency and exact agreement as applied 
 to the Christian church ? Was it for want of words in the 
 Hebrew language, that the gentiles are called by that very 
 name by which the Jews are always meant and intended ? 
 Can it be supposed that God would do that which must 
 appear highly absurd in man ? By no means ; the very 
 passage is plain and explicit against any such pretensions, 
 and puts it out of all doubt, that none but the literal houses 
 of Israel and Judah were intended. For the new covenant 
 was to be made with those whose fathers the Lord brought 
 up from the land of Egypt; with whose fathers He made 
 a former covenant; with those whose fathers had broken that 
 covenant, notwithstanding He had behaved like a husband 
 unto them. Now pray, whom does this description fit, the 
 Jews or the gentiles ? If the Jews, then it was with them 
 that God was to make the new covenant ; and as it is they, 
 literally, to whom the preceding particulars are alone appli- 
 cable, so it is with them literally that the covenant was 
 to be made. But since the gentiles are so fond of being 
 thought to be meant by the name of Israel, why do they 
 not undertake to prove that it was not the ancestors of the 
 Jews (literally) but theirs who entered, into a former cove- 
 nant that it was not the fathers of the Jews (literally) 
 who broke the covenant, and were punished, but theirs ? 
 and then, after they have properly made all this out, it will 
 be time to put in for that name, and claim the privilege of 
 
LETTER XI. 81 
 
 the new covenant. But, as it is natural to think they can 
 never make out all this, they may, perhaps, make use of 
 another invention, and pretend that the new covenant was 
 to be spiritual. To this I answer that God made no such 
 distinction ; and, as the former covenant was worldly, so 
 also must the new one be; for it particularizes things 
 entirely of worldly nature, particularly, that the house of 
 Israel should never be cast off, nor cease to be a nation. 
 
 It may likewise be pretended that this covenant was to 
 take place in heaven, and you may be referred to paradise 
 for its accomplishment ; it is but putting heaven for Jeru- 
 salem, an invention often made use of. To this I answer, 
 that the prophet intimates the very contrary ; and, lest any 
 such pretension should be made, he carefully and minutely 
 describes the earthly Jerusalem, and describes the tower 
 Hanancel, the gates, the hill Gareb and Goath, the valley 
 of dead bodies and of ashes, the fields, the brook Kidron, 
 and the Horse-gate; all which puts it beyond dispute that 
 he meant Jerusalem literally and not paradise nor heaven. 
 Besides, the Words " shall not be plucked up or thrown 
 down any more for ever" imply that the place had been 
 destroyed, which never could be said of a heavenly one. 
 
 In short, it seems as if God had carefully provided that 
 his meaning should not be misapplied in any part of it, by 
 circumstantially describing every particular ; and that He 
 has done so minutely, as strongly enforces his plain mean- 
 ing in such a manner as to render it impracticable, consist- 
 ently, to apply this prophecy in any other sense. 
 
 These are the arts and evasions to which the most learned 
 and eminent men have recourse ; it is to these, and such 
 like subterfuges, that they fly for shelter; it is from such 
 
82 BIAS* LETTERS. 
 
 chimerical and vain pretensions, that they undertake to 
 prove the fulfilling of prophecy. As they write to people 
 of the same persuasion and way of thinking, it is very rare 
 that their reasoning meets any Opposition ; but every thing 
 they say, though ever so absurd, is received with applause 
 and approbation, as if they had demonstratively proved their 
 point, or convinced their opponents. They exult and sing 
 Te Deum for their victory. They triumph and exclaim 
 against the Jews for wilfully shutting their eyes and hard- 
 ening their hearts against the plain arguments and dictates 
 of truth, concluding them to be under a national blindness, 
 an infatuation. They will, indeed, invite people to make 
 their objections; but wo then to the poor creatures who 
 undertake the task ; for they are to expect no quarter ; 
 heresy, infidelity, and apostacy, will be proved against 
 them; and defamation and ill-language will certainly ensue; 
 for they are generally very eloquent and expert at these 
 weapons. 
 
 Allow me, sir, to ask one question, and this is: " Sup- 
 posing a prophet had positive orders from God to promise 
 and fulfil any thing which was to happen and befall the 
 house of Israel or Judah, or their literal descendents ; would 
 it be possible for the prophet to deliver or make known 
 God's will, and reveal his purpose to them, in words and 
 terms naore significant and proper than those very words 
 which the prophet has, in the passage now under considera- 
 tion, delivered his commission in ?" I challenge any person 
 to do it in words more expressive and less liable to objec- 
 tions or exceptions; and if this be the case, as it certainly 
 is, what reasons are there to think that when He has chosen 
 the most unexceptionable terms, He has deceived those He 
 
LETTER XII. 83 
 
 spoke to, and intended the contrary. Shall we impute that 
 to God which we should condemn as the greatest absurdity 
 and abuse in men ? 
 
 LETTER XII. 
 
 THE best method, and indeed the only sure guide we 
 have to come to the truth, is to examine the prophecies 
 which are cited in the New, from the Old Testament, and 
 applied as fulfilled by Jesus, and accomplished in him. It 
 is by such an examination only that a true judgment can 
 be formed of the validity of their application and accom- 
 plishment, the prophecies being the only criterion by which 
 the Messiah is to be known, since it is from them alone that 
 his character must be proved ; and we may be most certain 
 that such evidence must be, not only superior, but the most 
 sure, as St. Peter expresses it.* For what in nature can 
 be superior to plain and clear prophecies delivered to differ- 
 ent persons, and at different times, all unanimously and 
 uniformly foretelling, so long before, that which should hap- 
 pen or come to pass, being transactions so very extraordi- 
 nary that, when duly attended to, the prophecies compared 
 to the events, evidently, obviously, and literally fulfilled 
 and accomplished, must be the highest testimony any thing 
 can possibly be capable of ? This task is therefore absolutely 
 necessary, and I with pleasure undertake the examination. 
 
 1. The first prophecy taken from the Old Testament, and 
 
 * Peter i. 19. 
 
84 DIAS ? LETTERS. 
 
 applied in the New, is that which concerns the conception 
 of Mary, and the birth of Jesus from a Virgin ; which St. 
 Matthew proves by applying a passage out of Isaiah :* 
 " Now all this was done, (says he,) that it might be fulfilled 
 which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, 
 Behold a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a 
 son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, ")* Now it 
 happens that the passage cited from Isaiah, according to its 
 natural, plain, and obvious meaning, concerns neither the 
 birth of Jesus from a virgin t nor the birth of the Messiah 
 at all : this being no prophecy, the evangelist's citing it, 
 as fulfilled, can prove nothing. This will plainly and 
 evidently appear from a due consideration of the pro- 
 phet's design and intention in the sign, and also from the 
 nature of the sign, by him given to Ahaz, which was on 
 the following occasion, viz. In the days of Ahaz king of 
 Judah, Rezin king of Syria, and Pekah king of Israel, 
 laid siege to Jerusalem, but could not prevail." The 
 two kings being disappointed, conclude a new alliance, and, 
 with a greater force, agree to return again to the siege. 
 This confederacy struck great panic and terror in the house 
 of David and inhabitants of Jerusalem. On this occasion 
 Isaiah was sent by God to comfort Ahaz, and to assure 
 him in his name, that the confederate kings should not pre- 
 vail in their design ; and in order to convince Ahaz of its 
 certainty, the prophet, in (rod's name, tells him to ask a 
 sign of him. The incredulous king excuses himself, under 
 pretence of not tempting God. The prophet, after com- 
 plaining of the king's behaviour, tells him that the Lord 
 himself shall give him a sign, no doubt a clear, indisputable, 
 
 * Isaiah vii. 14. f Matthew i. 23. 
 
LETTER XII. 85 
 
 immediate sign, and such an one, as should effectually 
 answer the intention and purpose for which it was given, 
 viz : That a young woman, (for so the word Almah signi- 
 fies,) should be delivered of a son, whose name should be 
 called Immanuel; that before this child should know how 
 to refuse the evil, or choose the good, that is, within a very 
 short time, " The land which he abhorred should be forsaken 
 of both her kings. "* Now, it is plain as words can make 
 it, that it was to convince Ahaz of the truth of the prophet's 
 prediction, that this sign was given him from the Lord; 
 and the nature of the sign given was most certainly calcu- 
 lated and adapted to answer the purpose for which it was 
 given, viz : that it might be a proof of and testimony to the 
 prophet's prediction ; and so it effectually was ; and it must 
 have been the greatest absurdity, and contrary to the very 
 intention of the sign, to have understood the prophet as St. 
 Matthew does, describing here the conception of Mary, and 
 the birth of her son Jesus, an event which was not to hap- 
 pen till seven or eight hundred years after. For how could 
 a sign, either of this pretended nature or so remote, have 
 confirmed Ahaz in the hope and expectation, which the 
 prophet gave him from the Lord, of the destruction of his two 
 great enemies, within a very short time ? 'But the certain 
 foretelling of a birth of a male child, and the declaring that 
 before it should have any knowledge, both the kings, his 
 enemies, should be destroyed, .appears a proper and well 
 adapted sign; because it must have shortly verified the 
 prophet's prediction. But a sign which was not to come to 
 pass till upwards of seven or eight hundred years after, 
 
 * Isaiah vii. 2 ; and 2 Kings xvi. 
 
86 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 could never answer the purpose; for how could it be a sign 
 to the incredulous king, to prove that which was immedi- 
 ately to happen ? For the incredulity of Ahaz was the ac- 
 casion of God's given him a sign. But how could that sign 
 contribute to convince him, unless he saw the accomplish- 
 ment? And if he disbelieved the promise from God in 
 what was soon to happen, what credit could be expected he 
 should give to an event so very remote ? Would it not be 
 the greatest absurdity for a person to foretell a thing as im- 
 mediately, or soon coming to pass, and to give a sign, which 
 should not come to pass for seven or eight hundred years 
 after? When the thing foretold was over, could a sign 
 at that distance be any proof or confirmation of the truth 
 of the thing foretold? No, certainly, it must appear 
 useless to every person, and rather a banter than a sign, 
 and could only serve to add to the incredulity of those 
 concerned. 
 
 On the other hand, nothing can be clearer than that the 
 whole transaction was plainly fulfilled in the days of Ahaz, 
 within the time limited by the prophet, before the child 
 which was born could distinguished good from evil, or in 
 about two years, as is evident from sacred history ; for with- 
 in that time the king of Syria was slain, after the taking of 
 Damascus ;* and the king of Israel was smitten by Hosea, 
 who rebelled against him ;*(* by which means the land which 
 Ahaz abhorred was bereft of both her kings, which event 
 fulfilled the prophet's prediction, for which the prophet's 
 own child, (and not Jesus, as it is pretended,) was given as 
 the sign. 
 
 * 2 Kings xvi. 9. f *!>*. xv - 30 ' 
 
LETTER XII. 87 
 
 That it was so, the prophet himself declares, by saying, 
 " Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me 
 are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of 
 Hosts."* Thus was the sign given to convince Ahaz ful- 
 filled, and the whole prophecy accomplished at that very 
 time, and consequently it excludes all their pretensions. 
 The word Almah, rendered " virgin" in the English Bible, 
 signifies no more than a young woman, whether maid, mar- 
 ried, or widow. When a virgin is intended, it is always 
 expressed by the word Betlmlali, which is the proper term 
 for a virgin; this is evident from the vrord^ Bethulah being 
 used for virgin throughout all Scripture. f 
 
 I cannot here forbear observing, how cautiously Father 
 Calniet treats, and explains the word Almah. He trifles 
 and imposes on his readers, and endeavours to hide from 
 them, as much as lies in his power, its true meaning, by 
 declaring, that, " The Hebrews had no term that more pro- 
 perly signifies a virgin than Almah " for though he at last, 
 (and as it were, contrary to his inclination,) is forced to 
 confess the contrary, he does it in such a manner, as disco- 
 vers his glaring chicanery ; for he says, " It must be con- 
 fessed, without lessening however the certainty of Isaiah's 
 prophecy, that sometimes, by mistake, any young woman 
 whatsoever, whether a virgin or not, is called Almah." 
 Now observe : First he assures you, that, " The Hebrews 
 have no term that more properly signifies a virgin, than 
 Almah" which is evidently false; secondly, when he 
 brings himself to the confession, " that any young woman 
 whatsoever" is called by this name, he will have it to be by 
 
 * Isaiah viii. 18. 
 
 j-Vide Gen. xxiv. 16; Levit. xxi. 3, 13; Deut. xxii. 23, 28, <fcc. 
 
88 BIAS* LETTERS. 
 
 mistake, which is also false ; and lastly, for fear of prejudi- 
 cing or lessening the authority of the application of Isaiah's 
 prophecy by St. Matthew, he inserts a salvo by which he 
 excepts the word in that place, not to mean any young wo- 
 man whatsoever, but that it means a virgin. How vain, 
 nay, how ridiculous are such shifts and evasions.* 
 
 Let us return : There are many Christian commentators, 
 both ancient and modern, who do justice to this passage of 
 Isaiah, and acknowledge that the whole must be literally 
 understood of his own son, who was made the sign to Ahaz, 
 and was consequently accomplished in his days ; and then 
 content themselves, either with making Isaiah's son to be a 
 type of Jesus, or with barely contending for an accommo- 
 dation of phrases, made use of here by the evangelist. But 
 as neither of these inventions is of weight, or proves any 
 thing, it makes others, who are not at all pleased with the 
 aforesaid methods of accounting for the evangelist's saying 
 that a thing was fulfilled when in fact it was not, endeavour, 
 by various shifts and wretched evasions, to extend this pas- 
 sage of Isaiah to the miraculous conception of a virgin, and 
 birth of Jesus. These always take for granted, that the 
 term Almah means a virgin. At all this you must not be 
 surprised; for on such occasions, let the passage be ever so 
 plain, they must endeavour to fix on some other meaning, 
 and make it out some way or other ; this they will always 
 do rather than give up a point so essential, and on which 
 they place the very foundation of the Christian religion. 
 
 The authors of the Universal History furnish you with a 
 very remarkable instance, who, having put their own sense 
 on the prophecy, that the sceptre should not depart from 
 
 * See Calmet Diet, on the word Almah. 
 
LETTER XII. 89 
 
 Judah, till Shiloh come to put an end to the kingdom,* 
 they tell you that the desponding king (Ahaz) could not be 
 ignorant of it ; as if the wise authors knew, and were cer- 
 tain, that Ahaz believed this prophecy of Jacob in the sense 
 given to that passage by Christians, after the establishment 
 of Christianity; when on the contrary, it very evidently 
 and plainly appears, that the sense of the whole Jewish 
 church and nation, not excepting even Jesus himself, the 
 evangelist, and apostles, who never made use of, or applied 
 that prophecy in any sense whatever, (a plain proof that they 
 never understood it in the sense since given it,) must ever 
 have been against any such application or explanation ; for 
 they did always ardently wish for, and expect the Messiah, 
 as the greatest blessing and happiness that could befall 
 them ; consequently they either did not believe Shiloh to 
 be the Messiah ; or if they did believe the Messiah to be 
 thereby meant, it must have been in a very different sense, 
 since the restoring of the kingdom and nation was that 
 which they expected at his coming ; otherwise, instead of 
 joyfully expecting him as the greatest blessing, they would 
 have had cause to dread his coming. Therefore Ahaz's fears 
 could never have proceeded from that passage; for if he knew 
 any thing of that passage, he must have considered it in a 
 different sense ; and it is much more probable, that he had 
 but little faith in prediction, to which he seems to have paid 
 but little regard, as appears from the whole history of his life. 
 It is surprising therefore, that the learned authors should 
 explain this passage by building on so inconsistent and so 
 false a foundation ; asserting as they do, " that this Shiloh 
 
 * Universal History, Vol. iv. p. 153. 
 8* 
 
90 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 promised to Judah and David, who was to forerun the total 
 excision of the Jewish polity, was to be born in a miracu- 
 lous manner, and with a divine character, and other remark- 
 able circustances." But all this is a mere ramble of the 
 authors' own invention, and has no foundation at all, nor 
 any connexion with Isaiah's prophecy ; for the authors speak 
 of matters which could not be given for signs, either to 
 Ahaz or to any other persons : no, not even to those who 
 should live in the time of this pretended miraculous birth. 
 Therefore such signs must have been useless, and conse- 
 quently could answer no purpose at all ; for how could that 
 be given for a sign, which according to the nature and 
 frame of things, could never be made manifest, it being 
 impracticable to evidence the virginity of any woman? 
 Take me right, I am not here speaking against the possi- 
 bility of the thing, that not being the question at present ; 
 but what I urge is, the uselessness of such a sign ; because 
 it was of that nature, as made it impracticable to be wrought 
 in a manner capable to answer the purpose for which alone 
 a sign can be given, that is, conviction. 
 
 I am therefore only clearing and defending the prophet 
 from having any such design; for such a sign and miracle, 
 being by the nature of things invisible, could never have 
 been intended as a proof of that which should come 
 to pass; the same being actually contrary to the manner of 
 God's performing his miracles on all other occasions. For 
 unless they were manifest and public, how could they 
 be attended to, or how could the people be convinced by 
 them? 
 
 The same objections may also be urged against the con- 
 ception of a woman without the concurrence of a man : the 
 
LETTER XII. 91 
 
 possibility of the thing is not here the question ; but the 
 impossibility of the same being made manifest, or evident, 
 is all I contend for, and which is sufficient for my purpose. 
 I need not urge the different accounts given by Matthew 
 and Luke ; from which many objections might be made ; 
 but there are some expressions, such as " The Holy Ghost 
 shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall 
 overshadow thee,"* which I should be glad to have explained 
 according to the rules of language ; for as they stand, they 
 may possibly introduce into unwary and ignorant minds 
 ideas very unbecoming God, or the Holy Ghost; at least it 
 may be thought to give too great a sanction to stories 
 feigned and invented by the heathens, concerning the amours 
 of their gods, with which their poets sometimes diverted 
 themselves : Homer in particular, very agreeably exposes 
 Mars and Venus, when Vulcan caught them in his net.f 
 
 But whether this be so or not, let us now return to the 
 authors of the Universal History. They say, " As for that 
 part of the prophecy, which is commonly urged on the other 
 side, namely, before this wonderful child shall know good 
 from evil, the land which thou abhorrest shall be forsaken 
 of both her kings," they think that by this ought to be un- 
 derstood, not the land of Syria and Israel, the land which 
 Ahaz abhorred, and which was to be forsaken of both her 
 kings, viz. Rezin and Pekah, his two great enemies, bufc 
 the land of Judah and Israel, which should be forsaken of 
 both her kings before the coming of the Messiah ; thus they 
 pretend to make a new version of the text. How stupid 
 must the commentators of so many centuries have been, not 
 / 
 
 * Luke i. 35. t See the eighth Book of the Odyssey. 
 
92 BIAS* LETTERS. 
 
 to have found out this ? But facts are stubborn things, and 
 the destruction of Kezin and Pekah by violent deaths, 
 within the time limited by the prophet, puts it beyond 
 dispute what kings they were whom the prophet meant. 
 
 I must not pass in silence the art which the before-men- 
 tioned historians make use of to prejudice and blind their 
 readers ; by inserting the word WONDERFUL, cited as if it was in 
 the text, which only says, " For before the child shall know 
 how to refuse the evil and choose the good."* By this 
 means they endeavour to make Jesus to be this wonderful 
 child. But supposing the prophet had said this wonderful 
 child, how could he be proved to be so ? since it is im- 
 possible to do it, either from the conception of a woman 
 without the concurrence of a man, or from the nature of vir- 
 ginity ; both these being hidden and invisible. Had his 
 birth any thing wonderful, or was his person so? As for 
 his birth, for any thing that appears, it seems to have 
 been the same as that of other babes ; being formed in his 
 mother's womb, in the due course of time, and brought forth 
 into the world in the common manner. He does not ap- 
 pear to have been endowed with any thing superior to other 
 babes, and he required the same nourishment and nursing; and 
 as to his person, no doubt it was fashioned like other babes ; 
 nothing is recorded of any thing extraordinary in his body, 
 be that as handsome or perfect as they please. So that in 
 all things he appeared like other children that were begat 
 in the common way, and he grew in like manner as other 
 children do, and no person, from his fashion or make, ever 
 thought otherwise. From all which particulars one may 
 
 * Isaiah Chap. vii. 16. 
 
LETTER XII. 93 
 
 with certainty draw a very fair and natural inference, and 
 that is, as he appeared in his birth, shape and growth, like 
 other men, so nothing which can be alleged, will be suf- 
 ficient to prove that he was not got by the same usual means 
 as others are. 
 
 This natural inference being founded on facts and occular 
 demonstration, no evidence can be superior to it ; since it 
 must always outweigh any other proof, unless it could be 
 made as demonstrable and visible to our senses. For this 
 reason some Christians believe that he was Joseph's son ; 
 but be that as it may, they cannot pretend to impose him 
 upon us as a wonderful child. One may indeed, with 
 Doctor Echart, admire, and " see the profound humility of 
 our blessed Saviour, who chose not to descend from heaven 
 with the glories of a triumphant monarch and deliverer, but 
 privately to enter into the womb of a mean virgin ; from 
 thence to be brought forth as an infant ; and then to appear 
 in the world in the form of the lowest rank of mankind. "* 
 I produce not this passage to make any observations, but 
 only to strengthen what I have asserted, viz. that nothing 
 wonderful, as is pretended, appeared, or was visible in him ; 
 and that consequently these historians misrepresent the 
 whole transaction which concerns the birth of Isaiah's child, 
 (as appears from the history of those times,) given as a sign 
 to Ahaz, which was accomplished in those days. Therefore 
 the evangelist's saying, " that it might be fulfilled," &c. 
 citing this passage, is at most but an accommodation of 
 phrases, and does not say that any thing was thereby 
 fulfilled. 
 
 * Introduct. to Eccle. History, p. 42. 
 
94 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 . In like manner we shall find, as we proceed farther in 
 this examination, many other citations, made and accom- 
 modated to things which the places from whence they are 
 cited could have no reference to, according to their plain 
 sense and meaning; so that not being literally applied, they 
 cannot be proof of any thing. 
 
 I must beg pardon for having troubled you with so long 
 a letter, and have no other excuse but that it was required 
 from the importance of the subject, which drew me to this 
 length, notwithstanding I forebore saying and remarking 
 many things, as you may easily guess I might have done 
 on so copious a subject. But I shall conclude with one, 
 and that is, that no use was ever made by Jesus of his being 
 wonderfully conceived or born, nor offered by him as any 
 proof of his being the Messiah; which shows that these 
 transactions could not be intended as any proof of him, or 
 his office, and are consequently useless. 
 
 LETTER XIII. 
 
 II. THE next prophecy cited by Matthew, as fulfilled in 
 Jesus, is concerning the place of his birth, and greatness. 
 The place referred to is in Micah :* '* And thou Bethlehem 
 in the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes 
 of Judah: for out of thee shall come a governor that 
 shall rule my people Israel. "f This is said to be the 
 
 * Micah v. 2. f Matt. ii. 6. 
 
LETTER XIII. 95 
 
 answer made to Herod by the chief priests and scribes, 
 when he inquired of them concerning the place of the 
 Messiah's birth; both he and all Jerusalem being trou- 
 bled at the news published by the eastern wise men, 
 of having seen his star in the east, by which they 
 knew of the birth of the king of the Jews.* This is the 
 account transmitted to us of this affair. But in this whole 
 transaction there seem some things, not only very improba- 
 ble, but even incredible : such as that Herod should gather 
 the chief priests and scribes to ask such a question, and 
 that they should return him such an answer ; that an ex- 
 traordinary star should appear in the east; or that its 
 appearance should be known to be a notification of the birth 
 of a child in Judea; that the wise men should take a 
 long journey to no purpose; that the star should make its 
 appearance to people who were nowise concerned in the 
 birth of the king of the Jews, and not to the Jews 
 themselves, who were the people chiefly interested; that 
 Jerusalem should be troubled at an event, which must 
 have been a matter of great joy and comfort to them ;{" 
 that an assembly of chief priests and scribes should fix the 
 place where their glorious king should be born, when it 
 seems to have been an established principle among them, 
 that they were not to know the place of the Messiah's 
 birth 7 J since there have followed many pretenders to that 
 character, without being born at Bethlehem ; and lastly, 
 that the star which the wise men had seen in the east, 
 should again appear to them when they had parted from 
 Herod, march before them, and make a stand " Over where 
 
 * Matt. ii. 1-4 f Luke ii. 10. J John vii. 27. 
 
96 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 the child was/'* for no manner of purpose; since we hear 
 no more of these wise men, nor of any use that was made 
 of their journey ; all which seems to be such a piece of 
 extravagance, and such a continued series of impossibilities 
 and incredibilities, as nothing can equal. For how could 
 people, acquainted with the vast magnitude of the stars, 
 (for wise they were,) think that one went before them, to 
 show them their way from house to house ? And singe the 
 star must necessarily have travelled from the east, where it 
 first appeared, to Jerusalem, where the wise men again 
 found it, for it was the same starf which guided them to 
 the place where the child was, why did not the star guide 
 them directly from the place they set out from to Bethle- 
 hem ? for the guidance of the star from Jerusalem appears 
 needless, since Herod had directed them before. Besides, 
 so extraordinary a phenomenon must have drawn the atten- 
 tion of the whole city, and numbers of other people would 
 have followed it as well as the wise men, had it been seen ; 
 but of this the story takes no manner of notice. All the 
 aforesaid considerations make it probable, that the whole 
 was invented to make way for the application of this and 
 two other passages as fulfilled; for, as this gospel of Mat- 
 thew's was written for the use of the Jews, and they believ- 
 ing that the character of the Messiah could only be proved 
 by prophecy, and finding none in the prophets applicable to 
 him, according to their plain, obvious meaning, facts were 
 invented, to have an opportunity of introducing something 
 as having been fulfilled. This is only a conjecture of my 
 own ; but whether it was really so in fact or not, it is cer- 
 
 * Matt. ii. 9. f Matt. ii. 9. 
 
LETTER XIII. 97 
 
 tain that this citation could never be an} 7 description of 
 Jesus ; the whole passage as it is in Micah, is, throughout, 
 very justly and judiciously applied to Zerubbabel ; and every 
 circumstance in the description excludes Jesus from being 
 thereby meant, or intended, since the person there spoken 
 of, " was to be a ruler in Israel; 7 ' and farther the prophet 
 declares, " that this man shall be the peace, when the As- 
 syrian shall come into our land, and when he shall tread 
 into our palaces; then shall we raise against him seven 
 shepherds and eight principal men. And they shall waste 
 the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod 
 in the entrances thereof; thus shall he deliver us from the 
 Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he 
 treadeth within our borders/' " And the remnant of Jacob 
 shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the 
 LORD/' &c. See the whole chapter, and the impossibility 
 of applying it to Jesus literally. For unless it be so ac- 
 cording to its primary sense and meaning, it can neither be 
 deemed to be fulfilled, nor produced to prove any thing. 
 
 III. One of the passages, or prophecies, which is cited 
 by St. Matthew, and said by him to be fulfilled, in conse- 
 quence of the needless discovery made to Herod by the wise 
 men, is the following, and is the next which the said evan- 
 gelist cites. It is from that discovery that he tells us, how 
 that Joseph dreamed that an angel appeared to him, and 
 ordered him to flee with the child and its mother into Egypt, 
 which being done, he says, " that he was there till the death 
 of Herod, that it might be fulfilled what was spoken of the 
 LORD, by the prophet saying, Out of Egypt have I called 
 my Son."* These words are taken from Hosea, where 
 * Matt. ii. 15. 
 
y BIAS 7 LETTERS. 
 
 they very evidently appear not to be prophetical, but to 
 have relation to a past action, viz., the call of the children 
 of Israel out of Egypt. The prophet's words are, " When 
 Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out 
 of Egypt;"* so that this passage could not be fulfilled in 
 Jesus' s return, according to the literal meaning of it. Give 
 me leave to observe, that Luke in all these things contra- 
 dicts Matthew ; for according to him, they brought Jesus to 
 Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord, and to offer the 
 appointed sacrifice ;f where u when they had performed all 
 things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into 
 Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth/' j which, if true, 
 Matthew must be out in his whole narration. 
 
 IY. The other passage or prophecy which I think to be 
 cited by Matthew, and said by him to be fulfilled in conse- 
 quence of the discovery which the wise men made to Herod, 
 is the following, being the next cited by him, on occasion 
 of the slaughter which, he says, Herod made of the babes in 
 Bethlehem, and the coasts thereof, from two years and 
 under. " Then (says he) was fulfilled, that which was 
 spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, In Rama was there 
 a voice heard, lamentations, and weeping, and great mourn- 
 ing, Rachel weeping for her children and would not be 
 comforted, because they are not." This passage is taken 
 from Jeremiah, 1 1 and it evidently and plainly relates to the 
 sufferings of the ten tribes, and their glorious return, ac- 
 cording to its obvious literal sense, as is evident from the 
 whole chapter. Indeed to apply "and they shall come 
 again from the land of the enemy," ^[ to the slaughter of 
 
 * Hosea xi. 1. t Luke ii. 21-24. J Ibid. ii. 39. 
 
 % Matt. ii. 16-18. || Jer. xxxi. 12. ^ Ibid.16. 
 
LETTER XIII. 99 
 
 the babes, must appear to be a very great absurdity. This 
 is so plain, that Father Calmet declares : " As to what St. 
 Matthew says that at the time, when the innocents were 
 massacred, the accomplishment was seen of this prophecy 
 by Jeremiah ; ' a voice was heard in Rama/ &c., it is our 
 opinion, that the primary sense of this prophecy relates to 
 the carrying away of the ten tribes into captivity ; and that 
 St. Matthew accommodated it to the circumstances in ques- 
 tion/'* And in another place it is said : "St. Matthew 
 has made an application of this passage, of the mourning 
 of Rachel, to the massacre of the infants of Bethlehem b^ 
 Herod. But it is plain, that that was not the literal and 
 historical sense of this passage of Jeremiah ;"*[* so that this 
 is not literally to fulfill the prophecy. 
 
 I am confirmed in my conjecture, that the story of the 
 wise men was invented, to usher in the accommodation of 
 the three last cited prophecies, and citing them as fulfilled by 
 way of allusion, from Luke's silence in all these matters, and 
 his giving a very different relation of things. For he is en- 
 tirely silent as to the story of the wise men and the star 
 which appeared to them, and was their guide, and, in its 
 place, substitutes the story of the shepherds who kept 
 watch ; J to which you may turn for your edification. I 
 have observed before his differing also concerning the jour- 
 ney to Egypt. So, neither does he make mention of the 
 massacre of the innocents by Herod, which to do him 
 justice he could not have consistently done; because Jesus 
 was born when Cyrenius was made governor of Syria, that 
 
 * Calmet's Diet, on the word Innocents. 
 
 t Ibid, on the word Rama. t Luke ii. 8-20. 
 
100 DIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 is long after Herod's death,* Judea (as Josephus observes) 
 being already annexed to Syria ; " For it was Cyrenius's 
 province to tax and assess those people, and make seizure 
 of the moneys and moveables of Archelaus."f It was on 
 this occasion, that Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem to 
 be taxed. " And so it was, that, while they were there, the 
 days were accomplished, that she should be delivered ; and she 
 brought forth her firstborn son ;"J so that it was a grand 
 mistake to place the birth of Jesus under Herod. But 
 had he been born in Herod's life, it must appear very sur- 
 prising and incredible, that none but Matthew should relate 
 this most barbarous and inhuman act. Josephus is very 
 circumstantial, and very particularly describes the cruelties 
 which this barbarous king committed ; and yet says not a 
 word concerning this bloody deed, which he would most 
 certainly have related had it been true ; for he was never 
 sparing of his character. It is mere trifling to pretend, as 
 some do, that Josephus purposely concealed this butchery, 
 to avoid giving countenance to the evangelist. For, sup- 
 posing he had recorded it, it could only prove that Herod 
 was grown jealous from the information given him; but it 
 could never be a proof, that the king, whom the Jews ex- 
 pected as Messiah, was really born. Because the proof of 
 this must have depended not on the information, and the 
 slaughter which ensued, but on the accomplishment of those 
 things which he, according to the prophecies, was to per- 
 form. But surely they cannot, and dare not tax St. Luke, 
 with having any such design ; yet 'tis plain, from his plac- 
 
 * Luke ii. 2 t Basnage ; Jos. Ant. B. xviii. ch. i. 
 
 t Luke ii. 4-8. I Universal Hist. Vol. x. p. 495. 
 
LETTER XIV. 101 
 
 ing the birth of Jesus when Cyrenius was governor of 
 Syria, (that is, when Judea was made a province of his 
 government, which happened after the death of Herod,) 
 that Jesus, could not be born during his reign ; and the 
 argument in this particular of Josephus and Luke's, to- 
 gether with the silence of this evangelist in all these affairs, 
 and his never mentioning any thing to have happened 
 under Herod, is equal to a demonstration against the facts 
 as recorded by Matthew. 
 
 LETTER XIY. 
 
 Y. THE next citation made by St. Matthew, and said by 
 him to be fulfilled, is the following : " And he came and 
 dwelt in a city, called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled, 
 which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a 
 Nazarene."* But as none of the prophets declare any such 
 thing, or have any such passage, nothing could thereby be 
 literally fulfilled ; for his dwelling in the city of Nazareth 
 could not denominate him a Nazarene or Nazarite ; because 
 this term denotes a person's being under a particular vow ;f 
 and none could be called by that name unless he was ac- 
 tually under the vow. Commentators puzzle themselves, 
 and are at a loss to find out the place referred to, to make 
 out the fulfilling mentioned by the evangelist ; to this end 
 they have recourse to, and make such shifts, as shows their 
 
 * Matt. ii. 3. f Consult Numb. vi. 
 
102 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 perplexities, the reading of which has often made me smile. 
 As I am only showing that the passages, or prophecies, said 
 to be fulfilled in Jesus, are not literally applied, and none 
 pretending that this is literally fulfilled, it is not my place 
 to take notice, or make any remarks on what they say con- 
 cerning this passage. But the solution of Doctor Echard is 
 certainly very curious, who after relating Jesus' return to 
 his former habitation, adds, " which being a mean and des- 
 picable place, it afterwards gained Jesus the reproachful 
 title of a Nazarene, according to the aim and turn of sev- 
 eral propecies, as St. Matthew observes."* But here the 
 Doctor is mistaken, for the title of Nazarene was honourable, 
 being the term by which those under a special and religious 
 vow were called, and which none despised, nor was it given 
 by way of reproach. This he very well knew, as also, that 
 his dwelling in Nazareth could not denominate him to be 
 what he was not, a Nazarene, or Nazarite ; for we never 
 heard that he was under that vow. Had the evangelist 
 cited, as fulfilled, any particular passage, declarative that 
 Jesus should dwell in the city of Nazareth, he might then 
 have called him Jesus of Nazareth, but to call him a Naz- 
 because he dwelt in Nazareth, and for such circum- 
 
 * Ecclestiac. Hist. Vol. i. p. 7. 
 
 f Mr. Dias seems to take the terms Nazarene and Nazarite as 
 synonymous. This they certainly are not, as the one would signify a 
 person who belongs to Nazar, therefore an inhabitant of that place ; but 
 the term Nazarite is a corruption of the word Nahzeer, or one who has 
 taken a vow of separation for the time being from wine and all manner 
 of uncleanness. The error, however, is referable to the author of the 
 gospel more than to Dias, as he evidently meant to call Jesus one sepa- 
 rated from the world at large. But, as is observed in the text, no such 
 passage as to make him a Nazarene or Nazarite does any where exist in 
 our Bible. ED. Oc. 
 
LETTER XIV. 103 
 
 stances to say the prophecies are fulfilled, seems very ex- 
 traordinary. 
 
 VI. The next citation made by St. Matthew concerns 
 the preaching of John. " For this is he that was spoken 
 of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying 
 in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, and 
 make his paths straight/'* But the context of the text 
 whence this citation is taken, very evidently shows, that 
 John was not the person spoken of. For it says, lt Comfort, 
 comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye com- 
 fortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is 
 accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned ; for she hath 
 received of the LORD'S hand double for all her sins/'f which 
 verses precede that cited by St. Matthew. Now what com- 
 fort it was that John brought to the Jews and Jerusalem, 
 has not yet been made out. How could their warfare be ac- 
 complished, when the greatest vengeance was at that time 
 to be poured out ? how could their iniquities have been par- 
 doned, when it is said, that at that very time they contracted 
 the highest guilt ? or how could the prophet declare that 
 they had received double for all their sins, when the great- 
 est punishment was still to be inflicted on them ? from which 
 circumstances in the prophecy, it is plain that this passage 
 is not literally cited, at least not literally fulfilled. For the 
 prophecy is, according to its plain obvious meaning, decla- 
 rative of times and circumstances entirely different from 
 those which came to pass at that time, therefore it could not 
 relate to John. 
 
 VII. The next citation made by St. Matthew is to prove 
 
 * Matt. iii. 3. f Isaiah xl. 1-2 
 
104 BIAS* LETTERS. 
 
 that Jesus' removal from Nazareth, and settling at Caper- 
 naum, was foretold. " This Jesus did, that it might be 
 fulfilled, which was spoken by Esaias the prophet ; saying : 
 
 MATTHEW iv. 15, 16. ISAIAH ix. 1, 2. 
 
 "The land of Zabulon, and the '-'Nevertheless, the dimness shall 
 land of Nephthalim, by the way of not be such as teas in her vexation, 
 the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of when at the first he lightly afflicted 
 the Gentiles; the people which sat the land of Zebulun, and the land 
 in darkness saw great light; and to of Naphtali, and afterward did more 
 them which sat in the region and grievously afflict her by the way of 
 shadow of death light is sprung the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee 
 up." of the nations. The people that 
 
 walked in darkness have seen a 
 great light; they that dwell in the 
 land of the shadow of death, upon 
 them hath the light shined." 
 
 I have put the citation and text in different columns, that 
 you may see the difference. The prophet's plain meaning 
 is, to declare the joy which the inhabitants of those regions 
 should have, in the midst of their sorrow and affliction, 
 occasioned by the army of the king of Syria, which was 
 to be totally vanquished, whilst they were to be delivered 
 from their dreadful enemy; which event relates no more to 
 the removal of Jesus from one place to another, than it does 
 to your removal from London and dwelling in Naples. 
 
 VIII. The next prophecy cited by St. Matthew, and said 
 to be fulfilled by Jesus, in his casting out devils, and heal- 
 ing all the sick. His words are : ( ' When the even was 
 come, they brought unto him many that were possessed 
 with devils ; and he cast out the spirits with his word, and 
 healed all that were sick ; that it might be fulfilled, what 
 
LETTER XIV. 105 
 
 was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our 
 infirmities and bare our sicknesses/'* which citation, thus 
 said to be fulfilled, is this : " Surely he hath borne our grief, 
 and carried our sorrows.' 'f Now, whoever can, from this 
 passage of the prophet, draw a sense, importing the casting 
 out devils out of men's bodies, and the healing of sicknesses, 
 must do it by the help of some uncommon rule, or art, to 
 us unknown ; for, literally, it can mean no such thing. But 
 supposing it did mean, that a person should cure the sick, 
 and cast out devils, and that it was really fulfilled by Jesus' 
 performing these cures literally, must it not overset some 
 people's reasoning, who extend the same passage to the cure 
 of sin, and spiritural infirmities, by his death ? for if it be 
 fulfilled (literally I mean) in the one case, then it cannot 
 be literally fulfilled in the other ; and the pretending it to 
 mean spiritual cures must, of course, be contrary to St, 
 Matthew, who says the passage was fulfilled by those bodily 
 cures. I think Doctor Echard seems to have been sensible 
 of this, and therefore says, (by what authority I know not,) 
 that it was, " In some measure accomplishing the prophecy 
 of Isaiah, which says, He took our infirmities upon himself, 
 and bore our diseases."! Now I wish the learned Doctor 
 had told us by what rule or means he found this out in the 
 prophet's saying, not infirmities and diseases, as he does, but 
 grief and sorrows. He ought also to have tol'd us the rea- 
 
 * Matt. viii. 16, 17. f Isaiah liii. 4. J Eccle. Hist. Vol. i. p. 89. 
 
 $ There is a note appended to the above in the MS. of the letters, 
 probably by the transcriber, in these words: '* Notwithstanding the 
 remark made on Dr. Echard's version on the text, the Hebrew will very 
 well bear that sense, i. e. infirmities or disease. The other remark has 
 more weight." Thus far the note ; only there should have been sug- 
 
106 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 son why it was only " in some measure accomplished/' and 
 not actually fulfilled, as the evangelist, (who I suppose knew 
 as much of the matter as he) says it was. For if it was 
 not actually fulfilled, it must be absurd in St. Matthew to 
 say it was, and proving it by referring to the passage, which 
 he could only do with that intention. For otherwise how 
 shall we know from the use of that term, and from the ci- 
 ting or referring to a passage said to be fulfilled, whether it 
 be so or not ? 
 
 Is not this striking at the authority of the evangelist ? 
 Thus much for this passage, which let them settle it in what 
 manner they will, it is not certain, that "he hath borne 
 our griefs and carried our sorrows" can ever be fulfilled by 
 casting outs devils and curing diseases. I mean literally; 
 for as to a fulfilling in a different sense, I have nothing to 
 do with. 
 
 IX. The next citation made by St. Matthew is, when 
 Jesus in order to persuade the people to believe that John 
 was Elias, says, " And if ye will receive it, this was Elias 
 which was for to come."f The promise and purpose of Elias' 
 coming you will find in Malachi : " Behold I will send you 
 Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dread- 
 ful day of the LORD, and he shall turn the heart of the 
 fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to the 
 fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. " 
 This was a great and glorious work, which that great prophet 
 
 gested that the Hebrew words ought to be rendered " diseases and pains." 
 At all events, let the translation be as it may, the fulfilment was not 
 according to the prophecy ; for it says there " he bore/* not " removed 
 them." ED. Oc. 
 
 * Matt. xi. 14. f Malachi iv. 5, 6. 
 
LETTER XIV. 107 
 
 was to be sent to do, and to be employed in ; and it should 
 not be wondered that the Jews, on a promise so express, 
 should found the hope of Elias' or Elijah's coming for this, 
 so desirable and beneficent a purpose ; at least those, who on 
 another occasion, do firmly believe, that not only Elias, but 
 Moses too, did really come down from heaven in a bodily 
 shape, (for how otherwise could the disciples know it was 
 they, or to what end should they desire to build a tabernacle 
 for their abode ?*) to answer no purpose at all that we know 
 of, ought not to be surprised at their having such hopes. But 
 be that as it will, thus much is certain, Elias or Elijah was 
 promised to be sent, that is, a person who bore that name, 
 and was so called; consequently, neither John's nor any 
 other person's coming can be deemed a literal fulfilling of 
 the promise. 
 
 X. The next citation made by St. Matthew, and said by 
 him to be fulfilled by Jesus, is the cures that he wrought 
 on the multitude of his followers, and his charging them 
 not to make it known : Ct All this happened/ 7 says St. Mat- 
 thew, "that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by 
 Esaias the prophet, saying, Behold my servant whom I 
 have chosen ; my beloved, in whom my soul was well 
 pleased : I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew 
 judgment to the gentiles. He shall not strive nor cry ; 
 neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. A 
 bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he 
 not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. And 
 in his name shall the gentiles trust."f This citation is 
 made from Isaiah,J with some difference, particularly the 
 
 * Matt. xvii. 1-4 ; Mark ix. 4, 5 j Luke ix. 30-33. 
 
 f Matt. xii. 15-21. J Isaiah xlii. 1-4. 
 
108 DIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 last sentence, " And in his name shall the gentiles trust/' 
 which is an addition of the evangelist's. I confess, that 
 considering the citation, and what is said thereby to be ful- 
 filled, I cannot comprehend the least resemblance, nor find 
 the least connexion to the matter intended ; for how can the 
 passage cited be said to be fulfilled, either by the multi- 
 tude's following Jesus, or by his healing them, or by his 
 charging them not to make him known ? Can the passage 
 cited be fulfilled by his doing those things, when it men- 
 tions nothing like it ? I know that it is pretended, " that 
 by the secrecy which Jesus imposed on those he cured, the 
 passage is fulfilled, because it represents his quiet, humble, 
 and meek temper/'* To this I answer, that his imposing 
 silence on those he cured, did not proceed from his quiet, 
 humble, and meek disposition, but from other motives ; and 
 for the truth of this I appeal to Dr. Echard himself, f to 
 Mr. Lock,! and to the authors of the Universal History, 
 who assign very different motives for his imposing secrecy j 
 therefore this citation neither proves one thing nor the other 
 to be thereby fulfilled. 
 
 * Echard's Eccles. Hist. Vol. i. p. 96, 97. f Ibid. 89-90. 
 
 J Reas. of Chris, ed. 4, Vol. ii. p. 522, 523. g Uni. Hist. Vol. x. p. 558. 
 
109 
 
 LETTER XV. 
 
 XL THE next citation made by St. Matthew is occasioned 
 by Jesus' speaking in parables, that he might not be under- 
 stood by the people he spoke to, lest otherwise they should 
 understand him, and be by that means converted and healed ; 
 for though it is pretended that he came to save, yet, as St. 
 John says, they were to have their eyes blinded, and their 
 hearts hardened, " that they should not see with their eyes, 
 nor understand with their heart."* " Therefore (says St. 
 Matthew of Jesus) speak I to them in parable; because, 
 they seeing see not ; and hearing they hear not, neither do 
 they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of 
 Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not 
 understand ; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not per- 
 ceive. "{ The prophecy said here to be fulfilled, relates, 
 according to its plain sense and meaning, to the obstinacy 
 of the people in his own time, to those to whom he spoke ;J 
 consequently it has not the least relation to those who lived 
 in the time of Jesus, and is therefore no literal fulfilling; 
 and indeed it could be no fault of the Jews that they were 
 not converted, being not only blinded and hardened, but 
 spoken to in such a way that it was impossible for them to 
 understand. 
 
 XII. St. Matthew makes another citation, and says it 
 was fulfilled by Jesus' speaking in parables : a All these 
 
 * John xii. 40. f Matt. xiii. 13, 14. J Isa. vi. 9 to the end. 
 
 10 
 
110 DIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 things (says he) spake Jesus unto the multitude in para- 
 bles, and without a parable spake he not unto them." 
 
 Matt. xiii. 35. "That it might Psalm Ixxviii. 2, 3. "I will 
 
 be fulfilled which was spoken by open my mouth in a parable ; I 
 
 the prophet, saying, I will open my will utter dark sayings of old, 
 
 mouth in parables,- I will utter which we have heard and known, 
 
 things which have been kept secret and our fathers have told us." 
 from the foundation of the world." 
 
 You have in different columns the citation, and the place 
 from which it is cited, by which it appears, that nothing is 
 thereby fulfilled, neither has the psalm any thing in it which 
 can be extended or made in anywise applicable to the Mes- 
 siah, as it concerns things past; besides this, the evangelist 
 has adulterated the text, and qualified it to his purpose, 
 which, to say no worse, is unfair. 
 
 XIII. The next prophecy, said by St. Matthew to be ful- 
 filled by Jesus, concerns his entry into Jerusalem } it is also 
 mentioned by the other three evangelists, who refer to the 
 same prophecy cited from Zechariah : " Rejoice greatly, 
 daughter of Jerusalem ; shout, daughter of Zion ; behold 
 thy King cometh unto thee; he is just and having salva- 
 tion, lowly and riding upon an ass."* I think it is not of 
 much importance to settle on what sort of a beast it was 
 that Jesus made this his triumphant entry into the capital 
 of his kingdom; you may, if you please, follow St. Matthew, 
 and believe he sat both on the colt and ass ; or you may 
 follow Mark and Luke, who say it was on a colt ; or, if you 
 please, let it be with St. John, the ass alone. You may 
 also believe this evangelist, when he tells you that the beast 
 
 * Zech. ix. 9. 
 
LETTER XV. Ill 
 
 was found by Jesus, and not sent for on purpose, as the 
 others pretend. And in respect to the different discourses 
 which are related to have passed between the owner of the 
 beast and those who went for it, you may follow and believe 
 that which you think most probable. Jesus having got the 
 beast, or, as St. Matthew says, the ass and colt, the disci- 
 ples put their clothes on them, and then set Jesus thereon. 
 To see a king thus mounted, a great -concourse of people 
 was gathered ; for certainly such a cavalcade must have 
 been worth the seeing : and that it might be alike grand in 
 >all things, " A very great multitude spread their garments 
 in the way, others cut down branches of trees, and strewed 
 them in the way; multitudes going before, others following, 
 crying, Hosannah !" " All this (says St. Matthew) was 
 done that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the 
 prophet, saying, Tell ye the daughter of Zion, behold thy 
 King cometh unto thee," &c.* " Hereby (as Dr. Echard 
 very justly observes) giving him those honours that were 
 used only in the triumphs of kings and emperors/ 'f with 
 which Jesus seems not to have been in any great degree 
 transported ; for we are assured by the same learned Doctor, 
 that he " did not repair to the palace. "J But to give the 
 people a just taste of his power, and to show his authority, 
 he drove out all the buyers and sellers from their places, 
 overthrew the table of the money-changers, and the stalls of 
 the dove-sellers. Thus he manifested his power, and his 
 subjects their passive obedience ; for we do not hear that 
 they made any resistance: and if happiness consists in 
 
 * Matt. xxi. See also Mark xi., Luke xix., John xii. 
 f Eccl. Hist. p. 169. J Ib 
 
 J Ibid. p. 107. 
 
112 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 triumphs, great acclamations, and being honoured like kings 
 and emperors, or in the exercise of unlimited power, we may 
 say that Jesus was the greatest temporal monarch upon the 
 earth ; for all these he had in the highest degree, though all 
 this exaltation seems entirely inconsistent with the meek, 
 low, and humble disposition which always accompanied his 
 actions, and by which it is said the prophecy of Isaiah is 
 fulfilled : " He shall not strive nor cry, neither shall he 
 make any man hear his voice in the streets ; a bruised reed 
 shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench;"* 
 which I think may as well be applied here, as to the place 
 where the evangelist has placed it, and in both places with 
 equal propriety. Be that as it will, this his greatness was 
 but of very short duration } for it is plain, that this famous 
 cavalcade, and his refusing to silence and disperse the mob 
 when he was ordered, soon brought him unto his untimely 
 end ; for by taking on himself so much power, state, and 
 pomp, and by the encouraging of the mob to proclaim him 
 king,f it gave the priests and scribes an opportunity to 
 accuse him ; for from his behaviour, and the unruliness of 
 the frantic mob, they rightly inferred (t that if we let him 
 thus alone, all men will believe on him, and the Romans 
 (hearing that a king was set up) shall come and take away 
 both our place and nation : therefore it is expedient for 
 us that one man should die for the people, and that the 
 whole nation perish not."J This seemingly political advice 
 was, it seems, the dictates of the Holy Ghost, and was 
 spoken by the spirit of prophecy, being suited also to the 
 
 * Matt. xii. 19. f Luke xix. 37-40. 
 
 J John xi. 48-50. \ Ibid. 51. 
 
LETTER XV. 113 
 
 circumstances which the nation was then in; therefore it 
 was necessary, for the preservation of the whole, to lay hold 
 of this so fair a pretence which Jesus furnished them with 
 on this occasion, and prevent the impending mischief; all 
 which was very natural and consistent, an advice not un- 
 worthy to be dictated by God or the Holy Ghost. But to 
 take this speech of Caiaphas, as a prophecy, that Jesus ought 
 to be put to death for the nation, in any other sense, is a 
 very great absurdity; for can there be a greater contradic- 
 tion, than to pretend that for following this advice (which 
 as coming from God must have been good) the whole nation 
 was condemned and doomed to destruction, instead of being 
 saved, for performing that which the Holy Ghost directed ? 
 Nothing can be more inconsistent. Excuse this digression, 
 and let us return. A person's riding upon an ass, or any 
 other beast, can never be a sure mark of the Messiah; 
 because this would be a circumstance within any pretender's 
 power to fulfil : did the proof of his character depend upon 
 such a cavalcade, how liable to counterfeits would we be ? 
 This then is no prophecy of the Messiah, but of Zerubbabel; 
 and cannot be literally fulfilled in Jesus, since Jesus was no 
 king, neither was his appearance any matter of rejoicing to 
 Jerusalem, but much the contrary, as they pretend; for 
 instead of the promised victory and defence,* war and deso- 
 lation followed; and the prophecy therefore could not be 
 literally fulfilled in Jesus. 
 
 XIV. The next citation made by St. Matthew, and said by 
 him to be fulfilled, concerns Judas returning the thirty pieces 
 of silver, with which was bought the potter's field. " Then 
 
 * See the remainder of the 9th chapter of Zechariah. 
 
 10* 
 
114 BIAS* LETTERS. 
 
 (says the evangelist) was fulfilled that which was spoken 
 by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty 
 pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued ; whom 
 they of the children of Israel did value, and gave them for 
 the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me."* It happens 
 somewhat unluckily, that the saying of Jeremy is nowhere 
 to be found, and is therefore invented. Neither is any such 
 saying to be found in all the prophets. In Zechariah, there 
 is a passage concerning thirty pieces of silver given to the 
 prophet as a recompense, which he, by God's command, 
 returned to the treasurer of the temple. f The translators 
 of the New Testament refer to this passage ; but this is con- 
 trary to the thing intended by the evangelist; for he repre- 
 sents it as a prophecy spoken or foretold, which the passage 
 in Zechariah is not ; for there it is presented to us as an 
 act, and not as a thing prophetically spoken of or foretold. 
 Besides, what has the prophet's receiving thirty pieces of 
 silver for his price, and returning them by GocFs command, 
 to do with Judas' selling or betraying his master, and 
 returning the price of his iniquity in a remorse of con- 
 science ? or what has the treasurer's receiving it for the 
 service of the temple, to do with the chief priest's refusing 
 to put those returned by Judas in the treasury, and pur- 
 chasing a field to bury strangers ? In short, there is no 
 such prophecy in the whole Bible, and therefore none can 
 be said to be fulfilled ; besides, it is quoted from Jeremy, 
 where there is no mention made of the whole matter ; it is 
 therefore invented. 
 
 XV. The next citation, and the last contained in St. 
 
 * Matt, xxvii. 3-10. f Zech. xi. 13. 
 
LETTER XVI. 115 
 
 Matthew's gospel, and said by him to be fulfilled, is the 
 circumstance of dividing Jesus' vestments ; " That it might 
 be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophet, They parted 
 my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they 
 cast lots, "*alluding to one of the Psalms, that which 
 plainly appears, from its contents, to have been composed 
 by David under the utmost affliction and distress,f proba- 
 bly after he had fled from Jerusalem. His expressions are 
 adapted throughout his Psalms to the circumstances he was 
 then in, describing at the same time his trust in God and 
 his prayer to be delivered. Therefore to imagine that on 
 such an occasion he prophesied or was foretelling how the 
 Roman soldiers were to divide Jesus' garments, appears not 
 only very absurd, but quite foreign and trifling, and cannot 
 be made to answer any end at all; for surely none will 
 place the proof of a Messiah on such a circumstance ; and 
 the whole having relation to David himself, no part can be 
 by any other circumstance literally fulfilled. 
 
 LETTER XVI. 
 
 XVI. HAVING in my four last letters examined all the 
 quotations produced by St. Matthew, and said by him to be 
 fulfilled in Jesus, and found them not to be so, in their 
 proper, plain and literal sense : you will, I am sure, excuse 
 
 
 * Matt, xxvii. 35. Ps. xxii. 18. 
 
 t 2 Sam. xv. 13-17, and 30-32. Ibid. xvi. 5-14. 
 
116 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 my not doing the like by the other quotations in the other 
 evangelists, as it would be not only tedious, but would oc- 
 casion you a needless expense for postage. However, I 
 can with truth assure you that, having carefully examined 
 every one of them, they all appear to me to be such, as 
 either do not concern the Messiah, or are not applied accord- 
 ing to their literal sense and plain obvious meaning. This 
 you will soon find, if you will be at the trouble of comparing 
 the passages, said to be fulfilled, with their plain meaning in 
 the prophet ; the very same fate happens to those quoted in 
 other parts of the New Testament. There is one, however, 
 which I shall treat on, in this letter, that deserves our 
 attention; because it is famous with some people, and is 
 produced, as one that is plainly accomplished and fulfilled 
 in Jesus. 
 
 The passage . I mean is twice alludod to, and quoted in 
 the Acts.* " I will raise them up a prophet from among 
 their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words into 
 his mouth, and he shall speak unto them, all that I shall com- 
 mand him/ 7 ')* From hence Dr. Leland concludes, that 
 " Moses tells the people, that God would raise up from 
 among them a prophet like unto him ; that is, not an ordi- 
 nary prophet, but one of peculiar eminence; that should, 
 like Moses, give them laws in the name of God himself, and 
 to whom they were indispensably obliged to hearken, and to 
 pay an entire obedience. "J Had this learned divine pointed 
 out the particulars, by which Jesus distinguished himself 
 to be this eminent person, prophet, and lawgiver, like 
 Moses, he had done something to the purpose ; and then we 
 
 * Acts iii. 22. t Deut xyiii. 15. 
 
 J Divine Authority, Vol. I. p. 100. 
 
LETTER XVI. 117 
 
 should be enabled to judge of their exact agreement and 
 likeness. This he has not done ; . but this is what I shall 
 now examine ; and as we have on record the principal ac- 
 tions of both, it is not difficult to make the comparison. But 
 first I must observe, that Moses, having nothing foretold, 
 either concerning his person, or character, had, consequently, 
 no description to answer; so .that this circumstance alone 
 makes a wide difference in the character of Moses and that 
 of the Messiah . Had there been any description of Moses, 
 he must undoubtedly have, in a very exact manner, an- 
 swered that description, or it would have been vain and 
 absurd in him, to have expected to be received by the 
 people. Moses therefore, proceeds on a very different plan. 
 To draw the attention of those to whom he was sent, he 
 discovers his commission ; in confirmation of which, and to 
 engage them, he wrought sundry miracles ; and at last happily 
 executed his promise, in delivering the Israelites from the 
 Egyptian bondage. Then it was, and not till then, that 
 the people were convinced, that he was a person sent from 
 God for that purpose. It was his performing this essential 
 part of his commission and promise, that wrought in them 
 this belief. "Thus the LORD saved Israel, that day, out 
 of the hand of the Egyptians ; and Israel saw the Egypti- 
 ans dead upon the sea-shore ; and Israel saw that great 
 work, which the LORD did upon the Egyptians and the 
 people feared the LORD, and believed in the LORD, and Moses 
 his servant,"* Now had Moses failed in the essential part 
 of his commission could or would any of his miracles, how- 
 ever stupendous, have proved him to have been sent from 
 
 * Exod. xiv. 30, 31. 
 
118 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 God with such a commission ? Certainly not. And as it 
 was absolutely necessary, that Moses should accomplish the 
 delivery of the Israelites, according to his promise : so it 
 was necessary, that the Messiah should perform those things, 
 which are foretold concerning him. His character and 
 office we have a description of; therefore, whoever pretends 
 to it must, undoubtedly, answer it, and must never be re- 
 ceived, until he attests his character by fulfilling the prophe- 
 cies, which describe him, the prophecies being, as I have 
 proved, the test, or touchstone, by which alone those he 
 was promised to were to judge, if he were the person there- 
 in described or not. The most stupendous wonders and 
 splendid miracles would not, in this case, afford any proof 
 of his character, because it had no dependence on them. 
 It must stand or fall, according as his actions agreed, or 
 disagreed with the prophecies, or as he did or did not 
 fulfill them. 
 
 If Jesus' pretentious were true, he ought to have per- 
 formed, and done those things, which were foretold; and in 
 so doing, have given an undeniable proof. This would have 
 convinced the people, that he was the promised person, be- 
 yond all objections; and he would then have acted consis- 
 tently. The character of the Messiah, you will find in my 
 sixth letter, (which see) collected from the prophecies 
 their mentioned. The following is a short description 
 or epitome of his office : " And he shall set up an 
 ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of 
 Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah, from 
 the four corners of the earth."* This was the criterion 
 
 * Isaiah xi. 12. 
 
LETTER XVI. 119 
 
 given, by which the people were to judge, and distinguish 
 him from all pretenders. In this description there is no 
 room left to cavil ; his office is described as it concerns the 
 nations, for whom he is to " set up an ensign," that they 
 might enter, and be partakers of the blessing of his govern- 
 ment ; and next we have his office as it concerns the Jews, 
 and what he was do for them, viz. : "He is to assemble the 
 outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of 
 Judah, from the four corners of the earth." Had Jesus ful- 
 filled this prophecy, he would then have proved himself to 
 be the Messiah, or person meant under that denomination, 
 and would have drawn the whole Jewish nation after him. 
 How it came to pass that he did not prove himself by doing 
 so, is not my business to inquire ; but that he did not, is 
 very evident. The names of Israel and Judah cannot be 
 usurped here; because the prophet having described his 
 office with regard to the gentiles, he next describes it as 
 regards the Jews; and that the prophet's true meaning 
 might not be misapprehended, he farther describes them 
 by the epithets of outcasts and dispersed. Surely Christians 
 will not understand themselves as meant, under these dis- 
 tinguished circumstances ; neither do I believe they will 
 refer the accomplishment of his prophecy to their invented 
 heavenly kingdom ; for that would be doing the outcasts and 
 dispersed too much honour, to assemble and gather them 
 there ; and they will hardly allow them that in heaven, of 
 which they deprive them here on earth. Besides, they are 
 not ignorant, that " A king shall reign and prosper, and 
 shall execute judgment and justice in the earth : in his 
 
 
 * Jer. xiii. 5. 
 
120 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 days shall Judah be saved, and Israel dwell safely."* 
 The contrary and reverse of all which happened in the days 
 of Jesus : how then could he be that person ? 
 
 Here then we have a very material difference between 
 Moses and the promised Messiah : the one had no character 
 or description to answer, the other had. But it is plain, 
 that Jesus did not answer it ; and in order to show that 
 Jesus was not the prophet like Moses, let us make a short 
 comparison. Moses was prepared by G-od with a sign, when 
 the Israelites should demand it ; but Jesus constantly re- 
 fused any sign."|* Moses did mighty wonders, and wrought 
 such stupendous miracles, as convinced those who beheld 
 them; these he did not do after the manner of jugglers, 
 before chosen witnesses, or in corners, but in public, and 
 in the presence of all the people, whom he assembled for 
 that purpose ; he performed them in the presence of his very 
 opponents, who were sometimes made to feel the truth and 
 effects of them. The magicians, who endeavoured to rival 
 him, confessed that it was the hand of God. Thus acted 
 Moses. But Jesus took quite a different method; those 
 miracles which are related of him, were wrought in secret, 
 performed before chosen witnesses, and on believers only, in 
 corners, and by-places ; the very persons who partook of 
 the benefits were hindered from mentioning them, and were 
 enjoined secrecy; his very brethren and relations disbelieved 
 them.J The difference is manifest; for one convinced his 
 enemies and' rivals, the other could not even convince his 
 brethren and nearest relations. The more Moses' opponents 
 doubted or denied his commission or power, the greater and 
 
 Jer. xxiii. 5. f Matthew xii. 39. j Ibid. xiii. 54. 
 
LETTER XVI. 121 
 
 more surprising were the proofs he gave them. But Jesus 
 did the very reverse : " For he did not many mighty works 
 there, because of their unbelief/'* Had he acted like 
 Moses, he ought to have performed other great wonders ] 
 for the greater their unbelief, the greater ought his miracles 
 to have been, and the greater would the honour have been 
 by their conviction ; so it was that Moses did and acted. 
 It is not certain from what cause this unbelief arose ; it is 
 not possible, however, that the greatness of his miracles 
 should have occasioned it ; because these would naturally 
 have had a contrary effect. Who knows but their unbelief 
 might be owing to some discovery made in the method of 
 his performing his miracles, at which they might take 
 offence; of which discovery "He," (Jesus being ignorant 
 of the true cause,) "marvelled, because of their unbelief 1" 
 This I only offer as a conjecture ; pray, consult the evange- 
 lists, to sec if what they say concerning this affair will bear 
 this sense.f 
 
 Let us continue the comparison : Moses was greatly 
 honoured and esteemed by his brethren and countrymen ; 
 but Jesus was quite the contrary; for he declares himself, 
 that no prophet is accepted in his own country. J Moses 
 delivered the Israelites from the Egyptian bondage : did 
 Jesus deliver the Jews from the power and yoke of the 
 Romans ? He indeed promised to " gather them, as a hen 
 did her brood. " But this he never performed, nor even 
 attempted ; though he knew this to be the chief part of 
 the Messiah's character, and the desire and hope of the 
 
 * Matthew xiii. 58. f Ibid. xiii. 58. 
 
 t Luke iv. 24. g Ibid. xiii. 34. 
 
 11 
 
122 DIAS* LETTERS 
 
 nation : yet he pretends to excuse himself by saying, " they 
 would not/' when the contrary is really true. 
 
 Moses was forty days and forty nights with G-od on the 
 mount; but of Jesus, it is declared that he was there as 
 many days and nights with very different company, detained 
 contrary to his will, famished, tossed, and led about by the 
 devil, who must have been very superior in power to him,* 
 or he could not so disrespectfully have used him. Moses 
 governed the Israelites forty years : did Jesus do the like, 
 or had he any command, post, or dignity ? 
 
 Moses solemnly prepared the people, and appointed a time 
 for the whole body of the nation, to gather themselves in 
 one place, to the end that they all might receive the law : 
 did Jesus do the like ? Moses delivered to the Israelites a 
 system of laws, moral, ritual, and political, by which they 
 were to be governed, both in church and state: did Jesus 
 do any thing like this ? 
 
 I know it is pretended that he introduced a new dispen- 
 sation ; but this is so far from being clear, that the cause 
 of his mission has always, is, and will for ever, be disputed. 
 And I should be glad to be informed which of his laws, (I 
 mean those which are practicable,) are new, and not com- 
 manded or known before : I have searched the evangelists, 
 and do not find one. If this be the case, how can he be 
 made to answer the description given of him, " of his giving 
 laws like Moses, in the name of God himself?" If he did, 
 which is the state or kingdom governed by them ? It is 
 evident from the different, or rather opposite governments, 
 in both, that he gave none ; and they so widely differ in 
 
 * Matthew iv. 1, 2. 
 
LETTER XVI. 123 
 
 that of the church, (which one would think, ought to be 
 his peculiar care,) that the different denominations, or sects 
 of Christians, do most uncharitably condemn each other, 
 and what one party follows as right, the rest condemn as 
 sinful. Surely this could never have happened, had he, 
 like Moses, delivered laws for the government of both 
 church and state. Moses published his laws in the most 
 authentic manner; they were attested by God himself: 
 were those of Jesus published or attested in like manner ? 
 Moses took the people's express consent, who bound them- 
 selves, and posterity, to observe and obey : did Jesus do 
 any thing like it ? Moses, to convince the people that his 
 laws were from God, enacted immediate rewards as a recom- 
 pense, and blessing if they kept them ; and on the contrary, 
 immediate pains and penalties, if they neglected or forsook 
 them. But Jesus refers them, both for rewards and pun- 
 ishments, to a state after their deaths. The nature of the 
 first was convincing; the latter was not. In short, Moses 
 proved himself to the satisfaction of all, that he was a per- 
 son sent by God : Jesus did not. From these, and many 
 other instances, I think that it is very evident and clear, 
 that a more opposite character, to that of Moses, cannot be 
 produced, either in their lives, or deaths. If even, there- 
 fore, we suppose, what is pretended, that a person was 
 promised, who should be like Moses, and like him give 
 laws : yet Jesus can never have been that person ; for this 
 passage cannot be consistently applied to him. On the 
 other hand, it plainly and evidently appears from the con- 
 text, that Moses promised a prophet to succeed him, or 
 rather a succession of prophets ; for he having therein for- 
 bidden the people the abominations of other nations, such 
 
124 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 as divinations, observing times, practising enchantments, or 
 the consulting of witches, familiar spirits, wizards, and ne- 
 cromancers,* he then promises to raise them a prophet, &c., 
 to whom they should resort, apply, and have recourse to, on 
 all proper exigencies, for the knowledge of some future 
 events. This is the true scope and intention of this pas- 
 sage ; and in this, its plain, obvious sense, it is understood 
 by persons of the greatest learning and knowledge, both 
 Christians and Jews. Father Calmet, very justly and ju- 
 diciously asserts this to be the true meaning. I will trans- 
 cribe what he says ; " As to the Hebrews," says he, " who 
 lived in the midst of these idolatrous people, accustomed to 
 receive oracles, to have recourse to their diviners, magicians, 
 and their interpreters of dreams : what temptation would 
 they not have been under, to imitate these practices, these 
 impieties, and superstitions, if G-od had not provided against 
 it by affording them certain means of knowing some future 
 events, in their most urgent necessities, by having recourse to 
 the Lord, to his priests, and prophets ? Thus, when Moses 
 had forbidden the Israelites to consult magicians, witches, 
 enchanters and necromancers, he promised to send them a 
 prophet of their own nation, who should instruct them, and 
 discover the truth to them, * The LORD thy God will raise 
 up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thy brethren, like 
 unto me ; unto him ye shall hearken/ ; 'f It is needless 
 to produce more authorities ; the passage best explains its 
 own meaning. 
 
 But notwithstanding the clearness of this passage, the 
 authors of the Universal History pretend that Joshua could 
 
 * Deut. xviii. 9-13. f See Cal. Diet, on the word Oracle. 
 

 LETTER XVI. 125 
 
 not be that prophet like Moses, whom God promised to 
 raise, and commanded the people to obey under heavy 
 penalties, because Joshua received directions from Moses 
 to consult the Urim and Thummim, upon all emergencies j* 
 and from thence they urge and say, " How could he, there- 
 fore, be the head prophet and director of such a numerous 
 nation, who wanted a director himself? or how could the 
 people be charged to hear, and obey him who was to receive 
 his orders from the high priest. "f To this objection I 
 answer partly in their own words, from a remark of theirs : 
 " That his (Joshua's) great character, drawn by Jesus the 
 son of Sirach, mentions his succeeding that lawgiver, (mean- 
 ing Moses,) in the prophetic spirit ;" and concerning his 
 book, they tell us, " That both Jews and the generality of 
 Christians, have acknowledged it as his, and as a canonical 
 book.^J To this we may add what they also assert, " That 
 Joshua was the only inspired writer of that age that we 
 read of." Thus these historians are obliged to assert, not 
 only his inspiration, but his being the head prophet; for 
 they read of no other, notwithstanding their endeavours to 
 depreciate his character, to serve a turn. In like manner 
 they are obliged to make him the director and governor of 
 "'such a numerous nation," when they say, " Providence 
 had by this time so far signalized him, that he became 
 reputed by the whole Jewish nation." || And they assert 
 in another place that " After this Joshua governed the 
 Israelitish commonwealth peaceably,"^]" and they do, through- 
 out their history, give repeated instances of his being the 
 
 * Numb, xxvii. 21. f Univ. Hist. Vol. iii. p. 436. J Ibid. 483. 
 I Ibid., || Ibid. 479. \ Ibid. 482. 
 
 11* 
 
126 DIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 governor, and also of the obedience being paid him. Thus 
 do these historians contradict themselves. But whatever 
 they may think or say, we have a superior evidence and 
 guide ; to that then let us go ; I mean the Bible ; from 
 which it is plain, <( That he was the man in whom was the 
 spirit/ 7 * as the text expresses it. It is also plain, that it 
 was he whom the people were to obey.")" It is plain like- 
 wise, that those who did not regard that which he com- 
 manded were severely punished. J This answered to what 
 God promised : " That whosoever will not hearken unto my 
 words, which he shall speak in my name, I will require it 
 of him." Jesus^ therefore could not be here meant; be- 
 cause to him, there happened the very reverse ; neither can 
 Christians, consistently, claim this passage for Jesus, because 
 there is in it a clause, declaring that u The prophet which 
 shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have 
 not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the 
 name of other gods, even that prophet shall die."|| A pro- 
 vision this, which there could be no necessity for making, 
 had the promise concerned Jesus ; who, they, if consistent, 
 must allow could never come under it. Be that as it will, 
 it is plain that God spoke to Joshua immediately, without 
 the intervention of any other person or thing, in like man- 
 ner as he did to Moses.^f Of this we have repeated in- 
 stances ; and God himself tells him, " As I was with Moses, 
 so will I be with thee ; I will not fail thee, nor forsake 
 
 * Numb, xxvii. 18. t Ibid. SO. 
 
 J Compare the 17th and 18th verses of the 6th ch. of Joshua, with 
 the 22d and sequel of the 7th ch. 
 g Deut. xviii. 19. |] Ibid. 20. 
 
 fl Josh. i. 1 } iv. 1-15 ; v. 2 ; vi. 2 ; vii. 10 ; viii. 1 <fcc. 
 
LETTER XVII. 127 
 
 thee."* In consequence of this promise, " God magnified 
 him in the sight of all Israel, that they might know, that 
 as I was with Moses, so will I be with thee."f And we 
 accordingly find that the people " feared him, as they did 
 Moses, all the days of his life." J These instances are enough 
 to show that Joshua succeeded $[oses as a prophet, director, 
 and governor; that Grod revealed, and spoke to him, imme- 
 diately, in like manner as he did to Moses, in whose place 
 he was appointed and substituted ; that he was obeyed and 
 feared, in like manner as Moses was, all the days of his life ; 
 and to think otherwise, or to imagine that Jesus is meant 
 here is, in every respect, inconsistent and absurd, he being 
 the most unlike the person promised, as is evident from all 
 the circumstances of his life. 
 
 LETTEE XVII. 
 
 I INTEND this letter shall contain an examination of 
 another citation made in the Acts ; and also a few quota- 
 tions produced by St. Paul. In the method of applying 
 them, we shall find the insufficiency of proving the things 
 which are thereby intended : not one being made according 
 to the primary sense and plain literal meaning. 
 
 XVII. When it was debated in the first council, whether 
 the gentile converts should receive circumcision, and submit 
 to the law of Moses, a passage is produced by St. James, 
 
 * Josh. i. 5. t Ibid. iii. 7 , iv. 14 J Ibid. 
 
128 DIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 by which the matter then in debate was decided; (for 
 sayeth he) " To this agree the words of the prophet ; as it 
 is written/' 
 
 ACTS xv. 16. AMOS ix. I. 
 
 "After this I will return and " In that day I will raise up the 
 
 build again the tabernacle of David, tabernacle of David, that is fallen, 
 
 which is fallen down ; and I will and close up the breaches thereof, 
 
 build again the ruins thereof, and I and I will raise up his ruins, and I 
 
 will set it up, that the residue of will build it, as in the days of old, 
 
 men might seek the LORD, and all that they may possess the remnant 
 
 the gentiles upon whom my name of Edom, and all the heathen which 
 
 is called, saith the LORD who doeth are called by my name, saith the 
 
 all these things." LORD that doeth this." 
 
 You see how the text is adulterated, and that there is not 
 the least connexion between the prophecy and the applica- 
 tion ; for it is obvious and plain, that the prophecy promises 
 the re-establishment of the fallen kingdom, as in the days 
 of old; the next verse declares the joy on that occasion, and 
 the return of the captivity of Israel, with the building and 
 inhabiting of the waste city, concluding with the following 
 promise : "I will plant them upon their land, and they 
 shall no more be pulled out of their land, which I* gave 
 them, saith the LORD their God."f Whenever this is 
 proved to have happened literally in the days of Jesus, it 
 will then work the conviction of the Jews, which no appli- 
 cation of text denoting very different manners has ever been 
 able to do. 
 
 XVIII. It is just in the same manner that St. Paul en- 
 deavours to prove the call of the gentiles, when he says, 
 
 * En. Bib., " have given." f Amos xi. last v. 
 
LETTER XVII. 129 
 
 " Even us whom be hath called, not of the Jews only, but 
 also of the gentiles, as he saith also in Osee, I will call 
 them my people, which are not my people, and her beloved, 
 which was not beloved. And it shall come to pass that 
 in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not 
 my people ; there shall they be called, The children of the 
 living God."* Here he jumbles together two very different 
 texts, and applies them as spoken of the gentiles, which 
 plainly concern none but the Jews, as is evident from the 
 texts to which please to turn, which are prophetical of very 
 different times than those in which Jesus lived. The plain 
 case is as follows : The prophet being ordered to take a wife 
 of immoral habits, she bore him a son, who was called Jez- 
 reel, for reason there given ; she then bore a daughter, who 
 was called Lo-Ruchamah (i. e., not beloved) ; she next bore 
 another son, who was called Lo-Ammi (i. e., not my peo- 
 ple) : in the very next verse the prophet himself makes 
 application of these names, for, says he, " Yet the number 
 of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, 
 which cannot be measured nor numbered ; and it shall come 
 to pass that in the place where it was said to them, Ye are 
 not my people, there it shall be said to them, Ye are the 
 sons of the living God." " Then/' continues the prophet, 
 " shall the children of Judah, and the children of Israel be 
 gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and 
 they shall come up out of the land ; for great shall be the 
 day of Jezreel."f Does all this concern any but the Jews, 
 and their Restoration ? can it be applied to any besides 
 them ? was any thing like this fulfilled in those times ? 
 
 * Rom. ix. 24-26. t Hosea i. throughout. 
 
130 BIAS* LETTER, 
 
 XIX. In the very same epistle St. Paul says, " For 
 Moses deseribeth the righteousness which is of the law, that 
 the man which doeth these things shall live by them. But 
 the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, 
 Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven ? (that 
 is to bring Christ down from above :) or, Who shall descend 
 into the deep ? (that is to bring up Christ from the dead.) 
 But what saith it ? The word is nigh thee, even in thy 
 mouth, and in thy heart : that is, the word of faith, which 
 we preach."* An excellent comment this, truly ! who but 
 St. Paul could find that Jesus was here intended by Moses to 
 be brought down from above, and then again from below ? 
 or that the works recommended by Moses in the plainest 
 manner, as being in every one's power to do and perform, 
 meant the faith preached by St. Paul ? Now compare St. 
 Paul with Moses. The passage referred to is the following : 
 " For this commandment which I command thee this day, 
 it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off; it is not in 
 heaven, that thou shouldst say, Who shall go up for us to 
 heaven and bring it unto us, that we may hear it and do it ? 
 neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldst say, Who 
 shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we 
 may hear it and do it ? But the word is very nigh unto 
 thee, in thy mouth, and in thine heart, that thou mayest 
 do it."f If prophecies and passages of Scripture be thus 
 applied, what wonder, that it should produce unbelief! 
 
 XX. St. Paul, in one of his epistles, says, "Now to 
 Abraham and his seed were the promises made ; he saith 
 not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy 
 
 * Rom. x. 5-8. t Deut. xxx. 11-14. 
 
LETTER XVII. 131 
 
 seed, which is Christ/' By this and such like reasonings, 
 one would think, St. Paul intended to convince by gross 
 impositions; how great must the difficulties under which 
 he laboured have been, when ; in order to prove his point, 
 he is forced to such shifts, and reduced to prove it by such 
 unnatural interpretations. Who is there that is the least 
 acquainted with the Hebrew language, but could tell St. 
 Paul, and prove that the word in Hebrew is always used 
 to signify many ? Was the land of Canaan to be possessed 
 by Christ alone, when the promise was made to Abraham 
 in his seed ? For if " thy seed" be Christ, as St. Paul 
 pretends, then was none else to have a share in it ? The 
 false reasoning is too plain to be admitted, and confutes 
 itself. 
 
 XXI. The same apostle in another place says, " When 
 he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave 
 gifts unto men. Now that he ascended, what is it but that 
 he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth ? 
 He that descended, is the same also that ascended up far 
 above all heavens, that he might fill all things/'* Here you 
 have reasoning in a most extraordinary manner. The place 
 referred to is, u Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast 
 led captivity captive ; thou hast received gifts for men/'*}" 
 The Psalmist says he received gifts, St. Paul says he gave 
 gifts. But nothing can qualify the passage to his purpose ; 
 for the text speaks of Moses, when he ascended Mount 
 Sinai to receive the law, as is plain and obvious from the 
 context; and there is not the least hint that he descended 
 first into the lower parts of the earth, as St. Paul has it. 
 
 * Eph. iv. 8-10. t Psalm Ixviii. 18. 
 
132 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 XXIT. St. Paul, in his epistle to the Hebrews, has the 
 following passage, "For unto which of the angels said he 
 at any time, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten 
 thee ?" And again, " I will be unto him a father, and he 
 shall be to me a son "* The first part is plainly of David, 
 and declares the pre-eminence which God gave him over the 
 other kings of the earth, who had counselled against him, 
 and his victory over them ;f the other refers to a passage 
 in Samuel : "I will be his father, and he shall be my son; 
 if he commit iniquity, I will chastise him with the rod of 
 men."J This plainly and literally concerns Solomon, and 
 accordingly excludes any other from being thereby meant. 
 Could Jesus commit iniquity ? or could he for his offence 
 be chastised ? this surely will never be allowed. 
 
 XXIII. In the same epistle St. Paul says, "And again, 
 when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world he 
 saith, And let all the angels of God worship him." This 
 refers to a passage in the Psalms, wherein the Psalmist, 
 setting forth the glory of God, says, " The heavens declare 
 his righteousness, and all the people see his glory. Con- 
 founded be all they that serve graven images, that boast 
 themselves of idols ; worship him all ye angels ;" or, if you 
 please, gods, as the word Elohim is translated in the Eng- 
 lish Bible. || The worship here recommended is to God; 
 nothing in it concerns the worship of the Messiah, or first 
 begotten, as St. Paul styles him, nor of his being brought 
 into the world. 
 
 XXIY. St. Paul says in another epistle, " And hath 
 
 * Heb. i. 5. f Psalm ii. J 2 Sam. vii. 14 
 
 2 Heb. i. 6. [| Psalm xcvii. 7, 
 
LETTER XVII. 133 
 
 put all things under his feet, and gave him to be head over 
 all things to the church. "* This superiority he pretends 
 to prove from the following passage : " Thou madest him to 
 have dominion over the work of thine hands ; thou hast 
 put all things under his feet."*}* But this is no prophecy; 
 for the Psalmist here speaks of men, and the power given 
 them over the brute creation, as is plain from the verse next 
 following, mentioning: "All sheep, and oxen, yea the 
 beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and the fish of 
 the sea;" as also from the context; and therefore, it is not 
 applicable to the dominion of Jesus. These instances are, 
 I think, sumcient, and prove beyond contradiction that the 
 application made by the apostles and evangelists, of prophe- 
 cies and passages of Scripture, are not made according to 
 their plain, obvious, literal meaning ; their primary sense 
 being of persons and things, which neither relate to Jesus, 
 nor what passed in his time. 
 
 In some of my former letters (particularly my 8th, which 
 please to peruse again) I have shown the insufficiency and 
 absurdity of applying prophecies and passages in a different 
 sense, for which reason I shall not now trouble you with 
 repetitions; but conclude with applying to the evangelists 
 and apostles, what a judicious person observed, viz. : 
 " They argue from types, antitypes, parables, metaphors, 
 allegories, allusions, inferences, patterns, resemblances, 
 figures and shadows ; and by such means can fetch every 
 thing out of any thing/'J It is necessary to complete our 
 inquiry (that nothing, though but seemingly material, es- 
 cape our examination,) to attend to such other arguments 
 
 * Eph. i. 22. t Psalm viii. 6. J Indep. Whig, No. 48. 
 
134 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 and proofs as are made use of, as an addition to the proofs 
 and evidence contained in the New Testament. Indeed, one 
 might be led to imagine that the evangelists and apotles 
 being inspired (as is pretended,) must have known, if not 
 of themselves, yet from the assistance, or rather guidance 
 of the spirit, the prophecies and passages which contained 
 proofs of what they advanced, and one might conclude that 
 they, under the circumstance aforementioned, must have 
 known, and taken in, and mentioned all the material passa- 
 ges which concerned their cause ; to suppose that they did 
 not, seems to me, to reflect on the foundations of Christi- 
 anity, and to strike at their inspiration. It is in some sort 
 accusing them of not making use of the most proper, effi- 
 cacious and convincing passages, and is nothing less than 
 giving the preference to their own discoveries, as thinking 
 them superior to those produced by the inspired writers. 
 Whether this be really the case, or whether the evangelists' 
 and apostles' reasonings and proofs be not by them deemed 
 convincing, I shall not determine ; but my next work shall 
 be to examine some other prophecies, on which the greatest 
 weight is laid, not taken notice of or applied by the writers 
 of the New Testament, which are, notwithstanding, urged 
 to evidence the messiahship of Jesus. 
 
135 
 
 LETTER XVIII. 
 
 THE doctrine of the trinity is the most extraordinary in- 
 vention ever attempted, and so contradictory to Scripture, 
 reason, and sense, that no proposition, whatever impossi- 
 bilities or contradictions it may consist of, can equal it. It 
 is likely that this doctrine owed its first rise to the plurality 
 of gods worshipped by the heathen, the more easily to gain 
 them over to Christianity ; and it was no hard matter so to 
 apply some passages, and impose such a sense and meaning 
 on phrases in the New Testament, as should confirm it, 
 more especially as those converts must have been entirely 
 ignorant of the true import and meaning of the phrases 
 there used. I was led to the consideration of this doctrine, 
 on examining the application of such passages to Jesus, as 
 are not mentioned by the writers of the New Testament. 
 The authors of the Universal History quote two prophesies 
 as having relation to the birth and divinity of Jesus. The 
 first is that passage of Josiah, " Behold a virgin shall con- 
 ceive/' &c., which, being already considered, I shall say 
 nothing concerning. The other is, "Unto us a child is 
 born ; unto us a son is given ; and the government shall be 
 upon his shoulders, and his name shall be called Wonder- 
 ful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, 
 the Prince of Peace;"* all which titles and epithets are 
 ascribed to Jesus, as being G-od and man, urging that they 
 are of such a nature, as not capable of being applied to mere 
 
 * Isaiah, ix. 6. 
 
136 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 humanity ; pretending, in consequence, that this was a cha- 
 racter of a divine child, who was wonderfully conceived, 
 wonderfully born, and 'wonderfully manifested.* His won- 
 derful conception, I have heretofore considered, as also his 
 wonderful birth. As to his wonderful manifestation, these 
 historians make it to consist in that "the babe was /wrapped 
 up in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger. "f They 
 may believe it, if they please, on this or any other circum- 
 stances; it is not more extraordinary than their believing 
 that the ancient Jews worshipped a trinity,! or that this 
 person, or Jesus the Messiah, made frequent appearances 
 before his incarnation; and they give us several instances 
 of his conversing with mortals. But the most extravagant 
 opinion, I think, is that of Mr. Whiston, quoted in the 
 Universal History, which declares, " That it was the same 
 person, that is, Jesus the Messiah, who gave the Law on 
 Mount Sinai, and who took the title of the God of Israel, 
 and was adored by the children of Israel." || But leaving 
 these ridiculous opinions, some are confirmed in the notion 
 of the trinity from the word Eloliim being plural ; and to the 
 same purpose do they allege that passage, * ' let us make 
 man in our image, "^[ which they pretend was a consulta- 
 tion of the trinity. I have put all these passages together, 
 tending, as is pretended, to prove the divinity of Jesus, and 
 the doctrine of the trinity ; the which I shall consider. 
 As to that passage of Isaiah,** it plainly concerns the per- 
 son and character of king Hezekiah, who was born about 
 the time in which he delivered that prophecy, The word 
 
 * Univ. Hist, Vol. x. p. 459. f Ibid. J Ibid. Vol. iii. p. 10. 
 
 g Ibid. pp. 261, 288, 355, 486. || Ibid. Vol. i. p. 91. 
 
 f Gen. i. 26. ** Isaiah ix. 6. 
 
LETTER XVIII. 137 
 
 El, translated God, I shall prove to be an appellation given 
 to a great or a mighty hero, and ought to be rendered in 
 this place as in Moses' song, where Ele Moab, is rendered 
 " the mighty men of Moab."* AbiAd, rendered ll everlasting 
 father/' is, rightly translated, Pater Seculi, u father of the 
 age/' by Arias Montanus,not "everlasting father ;" for this 
 even Jesus never pretended to be. Indeed there is the highest 
 probability to think that no other than Hezekiah was meant; 
 for on him a wonderful cure was wrought, and for him the 
 sun's shadow went back ten degrees. For the character of 
 this prince, I refer you to his history.f I cannot, however, 
 forbear quoting a passage from an ingenious author : 
 " Justin Martyr, (says he,) cites the following passage of 
 the same prophet, 'Unto us a child is born, and a young 
 man given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder;' 
 which he (Justin Martyr) says is a prophetic description 
 of the power of the cross, to which Jesus applied his shoul- 
 der at his crucifixion ; though the passage as it stands in 
 Isaiah relates in its obvious and primary sense to Hezekiah, 
 and that part of it, whereon Justin Martyr lays stress, most 
 manifestly relates to the bearing the office of a civil magis- 
 trate, and not to carrying the cross. "J As to the word 
 Elohim, it is well-known to such as are acquainted with the 
 Hebrew language, that it bears very different senses in 
 Scripture ; and is accordingly made use of to denote very 
 different things. For instance, " And the LORD said to 
 Moses, See I have made thee a god (Elohim) unto Pha- 
 raoh/^ Here it means a superior. " And Manoah said 
 
 * Exodus xv. 15. 
 
 t 2 Kings xviii. to xxi., and 2 Chron. xxix. to xxxiii. 
 J Grounds and Reasons, p. 259. Exodus vii. 1. 
 
 12 * 
 
138 BIAS* LETTERS. 
 
 unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen 
 god (Elohim)."* Here it signifies an angel, which Manoah 
 in the preceding verse is declared to have seen. " Then 
 the master of the house shall be brought to the judges (Elo- 
 him). "{ Here it is made use of for the magistrate. Here, 
 then, to produce no more examples, you have the same 
 word used to denote different things : would it not be 
 absurd to suppose in these applications of the word, that, 
 because it is plural, it therefore signifies a plurality of 
 persons in each case ? that Moses, by having the word 
 applied to him, was a triune person ? that when applied to 
 the angel it meant not one, but three? or that a judge sig- 
 nified a trinity ? Now, if it be absurd to put such a con- 
 struction on the word Elohim, when used to denote these 
 three persons, or oflices, how much more must it be to put 
 the like construction on the word when applied to God, who 
 is also named in the singular ; for instance, " Then he for- 
 sook God (Eloah) ;"J " Now consider this ye that forget 
 God (Eloah). " Besides, if Elohim implies more than one, 
 why not more than three ? 
 
 It is equally absurd to pretend that, because the Scrip- 
 ture says, " Let us make man," that the consultation was 
 made with the other persons in the Trinity; for either the 
 other persons knew it, or were ignorant of it; if the first, 
 then was the consultation needless ; if the latter, then were 
 both the other persons deficient in knowledge, and conse- 
 quently could neither be gods, nor of the same essence with 
 God ; to this dilemma must they be reduced, who interpret 
 
 * Judges xiii. 22. f Exodus xxii. 28. 
 
 % Deut. xxii. 28. I Psalm 1. 22. 
 
LETTER XVIII. 139 
 
 this verse as referring to a trinity. Besides, the Scripture 
 presently says, "So God created man in his own image, in 
 the image of God created he him,"* all which is in the 
 singular. The whole passage very plainly indicates that 
 God, being about to make an extraordinary creation, con- 
 descended to consult the angels, to whom he thought proper 
 to impart beforehand so important an event. Besides which, 
 this mode of speaking in the plural for the singular is com- 
 mon and agreeable to the majesty of the Hebrew language. 
 Thus one of Job's companions tells him, " How long will 
 it be ere you make an end of words ? mark and afterwards 
 we will speak. "( Daniel, when he was speaking to the 
 king, says, " And we will tell the interpretation."! Thus 
 it is also said, " The sons of Dan, Hushim," which, how- 
 ever, was only one; and again, "The sons of Pallu, 
 Eliab/'|| But these things are so plain, and so well-known 
 to you, that I shall trouble you no farther; tbo' I cannot 
 forbear inserting a passage from one, who will not be ac- 
 cused of favouring the Jews. The person I mean is Father 
 Calmet, who thus delivers his sentiments on the word : 
 u Elohi ; or Eloi, Elohim, one of the names of God, Angels, 
 Princes, Great Men, Judges ; and even false gods are some- 
 times called by this name ; the sequel of the discourse is 
 what assists us in judging rightly concerning the true mean- 
 ing of this word. It is the same as Eloah, one is the singu- 
 lar, the other is the plural ; nevertheless, Elohim is often 
 
 * Gen. i. 27. 
 
 f Job. xviii. 23, this I think not conclusive, as there were probably 
 more than one present. 
 J Ch. ii. 36. I Gen. xlvi. 23. |] Num. xxvi. 8. 
 
140 DIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 construed in the singular number."* According to which 
 rule, whenever this name is applied to men, it cannot imply 
 any divinity in them ; therefore, the word El Gibbor cannot 
 mean mighty God, as it is rendered (in the ninth chapter 
 of Isaiah) in the English version, but means, as it does in 
 other places, a great or mighty person, or hero. 
 
 Thus have I examined the passage from which they pre- 
 tend to prove the divinity of Jesus, or the trinity. I shall 
 in my next show how repugnant such doctrine is, not only 
 to the Old Testament, but also prove from the new, that 
 Jesus had no such pretensions, and how contradictory such 
 doctrine is to many passages therein contained, and conclude 
 the whole from some of the most learned and eminent men. 
 
 LETTER XIX. 
 
 PROTESTANTS very justly reject the doctrine of transubstan- 
 tiation ; because it is manifestly contradictory to reason and 
 sense; for as the eye cannot forbear seeing that the object 
 continues the same, notwithstanding any form of words, so 
 the understanding cannot forbear either assenting or dis- 
 senting, according to the agreement or disagreement of 
 ideas ; we having as sure a guide in the conduct of our un- 
 derstanding, as we can possibly have in that of our senses. 
 Was any person to assure me that one is three, and that three 
 are but one ; or that one simple unit was three simple units, 
 
 * Calmet on the word Elohim. 
 
LETTER XIX. 141 
 
 and three simple units were but one simple unit : I should take 
 such a person to be either mad, or of having some intentions to 
 impose on me in the grossest manner. And were such a person 
 to tell me that he had a positive command from God to teach 
 me any such propositions, I should certainly call his integrity 
 in question ; for my understanding would immediately give 
 him the lie ; for as God had not given me faculties to com- 
 prehend the proposition, how could He expect my assent ? 
 And, in justice, He could not command me to believe that 
 which He had not enabled me to comprehend. On the con- 
 trary, God has laid down such propositions as are diametri- 
 cally opposite to the doctrine of the trinity. To instance in 
 a few : u Hear, Israel, the LORD our God is one LORD;" 
 or rather, " the LORD is one."* " That the LORD, he is 
 God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath ; there is 
 none else."f " Unto thee was it shown, that thou mightest 
 know, that the LORD he is god, there is none else besides 
 him. "| te See now that I, even I, am He : and there is no 
 god with me ; I kill, and I make alive, I wound, and I heal ; 
 neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand." 
 Let the Arians, or trinitarians, reconcile the trinity, or deified 
 persons, to these texts, or to the following passages : 
 " And thou shalt know no other god but me, for there is no 
 saviour besides me."|| " Have not I told thee from that 
 time, and have declared it ? ye are even my witness. Is 
 there a god beside me? Yea, there is no god; I know not 
 any."^[ " I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is 
 no god besides me."** " Look unto me and be ye saved, all 
 
 * Deut. vi. 4. f Ibid. iv. 39. J Deut. iv. 35. 
 
 \ Ibid, xxxii. 39. || Hosea xii. 4. \ Isa. xliv. 8. ** Ibid. xlv. 5. 
 
142 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 the ends of the earth ; for I am God, and there is none 
 else."* u To whom will ye liken me, and make me equal, 
 and compare me, that we may be alike ?"f " Remember 
 the former things of old ; for I am God, and there is none 
 else; I am God, and there is none like me."J In short, if 
 there is no other "god but He/' ''if there is none with 
 Him, (or, if you please, in his essence) ; if there is none be- 
 besides Him ;" " if there is none like Him ;" " if He has 
 no equal, nor any god able to save besides Him," and if 
 God declares that he " knpws not any other god :" how vain 
 and impious is it to worship any other, or to pretend to put 
 any such meaning on any part of Scripture ! 
 
 In the New Testament there are many passages which 
 directly contradict the divinity of Jesus. To instance a 
 few : we are told that " Jesus increased in wisdom and 
 stature, and in favour with God and rnan" which is declar- 
 ing him to be merely human; for what greater absurdity, 
 than to say that God increases in wisdom, or that he was 
 grown in favour with himself ? Jesus declares, < e My doc- 
 trine is not mine, but his that sent me;"|| by which he de- 
 clares himself to be only an agent, to do the will of his 
 superior, and consequently could not be the same as he that 
 had the power of sending; as he that sends, or commands 
 another to go, cannot be the same as he who goes and is 
 commanded by a superior ; for to command and to obey are 
 different acts, inconsistent in the same person, unless a 
 person, can be said, not only to command himself, but also 
 to obey himself, which is absurd. Of the like passages we 
 
 * Isa. xlr 22. t Ibid. xlvi. 5. J Ibid. 9. 
 
 g Luke. ii. 52. || John vii. 16. 
 

 LETTER XIX. 143 
 
 have many, Again, Jesus declares of himself, " I go unto 
 the Father ; for my Father is greater than I."* Conse- 
 quently, he that has a superior cannot be God. In another 
 place he has the following passage : " And now, Father, 
 glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which 
 I had with thee before the world was,"f Here he invokes 
 his superior for that which he not only had not, but 
 could not obtain of himself. For either he had that glory, or 
 he had it not : if he had it, it was absurd to pray for what 
 he had ; and if he had it not, then could he not be God ; for 
 he that had the power to grant it, and to whom he prayed, 
 must have been his superior. Besides he prays for a thing 
 which he had '< before the world was," of which (to make 
 the passage sense) he must have been divested ; but how 
 absurd it is to suppose that the Deity divests himself, or is 
 divested by another of his glory or any of his attributes ! 
 Another remarkable expression of his is that concerning his 
 knowledge of the day of judgment, declaring, " Of that day 
 and that hour knoweth no man, no not the angels which 
 are in heaven, neither the son, but the Father,"! by which 
 he excludes himself of having that knowledge, confessing 
 his ignorance, as it is declared to be known only to the 
 Father 
 
 Now how can he be God, or of the same essence with the 
 Father, and yet be ignorant of what the Father knew ? Or can 
 that person be God who is deficient in knowledge in not know- 
 ing that which another knows ? These passages are sufficient, 
 and unanswerable, and clearly prove that Jesus pretended not 
 to any divinity and so far was he from taking any of the divine 
 
 * John xiv. 28. f Ibid. xvii. 5. + Matt. xiii. 32. 
 
144 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 attributes to himself, that he rebukes one for only calling 
 him " Good master," and tells him 6t Why callest thou me 
 good ? there is none good but one, that is, God."* I 
 think a more express declaration cannot be had, and so 
 persuaded was he of this, and that worship was only due 
 to God, that he tells the devil, (who it seems would per- 
 suade him to the contrary,) " Get thee hence, Satan : for it 
 is written, thou shalt worship the LORD thy God, and him 
 only shalt thou serve ;"f a saying that ought to be strictly 
 followed. 
 
 One of the phrases which I make no doubt, might have been 
 misapplied by those who propagated the doctrine of the trinity, 
 either through policy, design, or ignorance, is that of " Son 
 of God," so often used in the New Testament ; but it ap- 
 pears very plain that this phrase means not either a divine 
 person, or one co-equal with God, but was synonymous with 
 Messiah : either or both being used indifferently to signify 
 the same thing. This is evident from the use of these terms 
 throughout the New Testament. To prove this I will make 
 use of the words of Mr. Locke, who in his Reasonableness 
 of Christianity,! cites the following passage (John, i. 41) : 
 Andrew says to Simon, " We have found the Messiah ;" 
 and Philip, on the same occasion, (45) says to Nathaniel, 
 " We have found him of whom Moses in the law did write, 
 Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." Nathaniel who dis- 
 believed this, upon Christ's speaking to him was convinced 
 of it, when he declares his assent in these words, " Rabbi, 
 thou art the Son of God, thou art the King of Israel ;" 
 from which it is evident, that to believe him to be " Him 
 
 * Matt. xix. 17. t Ibid. iv. 10. t p. 519. 
 
LETTER XIX. 145 
 
 of whom the law and the Prophets did write," or to be tC Son 
 of God," or to be " King of Israel," was in effect the same 
 as to be the Messiah. " When the priests and Levites sent 
 to John the Baptist to ask who he was," (John, i. 19) he, 
 understanding their meaning, answered, " I am not the Mes- 
 siah ;" but he bears witness that Jesus is the " Son of 
 God," that is the Messiah. (See p. 520.) This also was 
 the declaration of him at his baptism, by a voice from 
 heaven, " This is my beloved son, in whom I am well 
 pleased," (Mat. iii. 17,) which was a declaration of him, of 
 his being the Messiah. (See p. 521.) He asks his disci- 
 ples, " Whom do men say that I am? And they answered, 
 John the Baptist ; but others say Elias, and others, one of 
 the prophets," (so that it is evident that those who believed 
 him an extraordinary person knew not yet who he was, 
 though it was the third year of his ministry, and not a year 
 before his death ;) and he says unto them, " But whom say 
 ye that I am ? And Peter answered and said unto him, 
 Thou art the Messiah." Luke iv. 41, " And devils also came 
 out of many, crying out and saying, Thou art Christ, the 
 Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to 
 speak; for they knew that he was Christ." Mar. iii. 11, 
 12. " Unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down be- 
 fore him, and cried, saying, thou art the Son of God. And 
 he straitly charged them, that they should not make him 
 known." Here again we may observe, from the compar- 
 ing of the two texts, that {t thou art the Son of God," or 
 "thou art the Messiah," were indifferently used for the 
 same thing. And again, " Where confessing Jesus to be 
 the Son of God," is the same as " confessing him to be the 
 Messiah," those two expressions being understood, amongst 
 13 
 
146 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 the Jews, to signify the same thing, (p. 531.) He inquired 
 of his disciples (Mark, viii. 27, whom the people took him 
 for ; and they telling him, for John the Baptist, or one of the 
 old prophets risen from the dead, he asked, what they them- 
 selves thought, and here again Peter answers in these words, 
 (Mark viii. 29,) " Thou art the Messiah." (Luke ix. 20,) 
 lt Thou art the Messiah, the Son of the living God/' which 
 expressions we may hence gather, mean the same thing. (See 
 p. 533.) "How calling him the son of God, came to sig- 
 nify that he was the Messiah, would not be hard to show j 
 but it is enough that it appears plainly, that it was so 
 used, and had that import among the Jews at that time, 
 which, if any one desires to have further evidence to him, 
 he may add Matt. xxvi. 63; John vi. 69, xi. 27, 30, 31, 
 and those places occasionly take notice of." (See p. 531.) 
 In his first vindication he quotes the words of Doctor Pat- 
 rick, Bishop of Ely, viz : u To be the Son of God, and to 
 be Christ, being but different expressions of the same thing." 
 And again, from the same prelate, "It is the very thing 
 to believe that Jesus is the Christ, and to believe that 
 Jesus is the Son of God; express it how you please." 
 (See p. 598.) These passages, and many others to the 
 same purpose, he defends and confirms in his vindication ; but 
 what I have here collected is sufficient to my purpose, which 
 is to show the signification of the phrase, Son of God, and in 
 what sense this phrase was used in the New Testament. 
 The following remarks will set this in a clear light. 
 
 We have a passage in the gospel of a question proposed 
 by Jesus to the scribes and pharisees, namely, " Whose so.n 
 they thought the Messiah was to be T' To this they an- 
 swered, " The son of David." He saith unto them, " How 
 
LETTER XIX. 147 
 
 doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The Lord said 
 unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand, till I make thine ene- 
 mies thy footstool ?" To which he added, " If David then 
 did call him Lord, how is he his son ?"* " And no man was 
 able to answer him." The authors of the Universal History 
 remark on this passage, that " it doth not indeed appear 
 that they had any notion of his divine nature, and therefore 
 might be easily puzzled to answer this question,""}* which 
 plainly shows, that the calling him Son of God, could not 
 be owing to any notion of his divinity. For had they un- 
 derstood his pretensions, they might have easily answered, 
 that David could not have intended to call the Messiah 
 Lord, or thought him God; for if he had, he would not 
 have made him stand in need of another's assistance to 
 make his enemies his footstool ; because it must be incon- 
 sistent and absurd ; for he that stands in need of another's 
 help could neither be Lord, nor of the same essence with 
 God ; and thus might Jesus have been nonplussed. 
 
 The passage refers to Psalm ex., which though at the 
 top is put a Psalm of David, is still not of his composing, 
 any more than the twentieth and twenty-first Psalms are, 
 which bear the same title. This is evident from the con- 
 tents of those and this Psalm, which, like many more, were 
 composed by others, such as Ethan, Yeduthun, the sons of 
 Korah, and Assaph, &c. This Psalm, in particular, seems 
 to me to be dedicated to David, on his escape from the 
 imminent, danger his life was in, in the encounter with the 
 giant Ishbi-benob, which caused his men to swear, that he 
 should not go out to battle any more,J but that he should 
 
 * Matt. xxii. 42, and sequel f Univ. Hist. Vol. x. p. 586. 
 
 I 2 Sam. xxi. 16, 17. 
 
148 DIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 abide in Jerusalem whilst the Lord chastised his enemies, 
 and he ruled like Melchizedeck, or a just king, (which that 
 word signifies) ; the word coJien, rendered priest, signifies 
 also chief ruler, and is rightly so translated in another 
 place,* where it says, " and David's sons were (cohanim) 
 chief rulers/' not chief priests ; and in like manner it ought 
 to be translated here, in this Psalm, which represents David 
 as chief ruler, and acting like a just king in Zion, whilst, 
 without danger of his life, the Lord should make his ene- 
 mies his footstool. This is the intent and scope of the 
 Psalm, as is evident from every part of it; and the title 
 Lord, therein given David, imports no divinity, no more 
 than it does in many other places. This Psalm cannot be 
 applied to Jesus, nor can it be made to correspond to him ; 
 for it is evident that to him there happened the very reverse. 
 And if Jesus' s authority avails any thing, from it might be 
 proved, that when such titles are given to men they imply 
 no divinity ; for when he was in danger of being stoned, 
 because, that being a man, they apprehended from his dis- 
 course that he made himself a god, Jesus answered in his 
 own excuse, " Is it not written in your law, I said ye are 
 gods ? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God 
 came, why should you think me a blasphemer that am sent 
 of God, for declaring myself the Son of God ?"f By which 
 expression it is evident he pretends to no divinity, no more 
 than those who were called gods did. 
 
 2 Sam. viii. 18. t John x. 34, &c. 
 
149 
 
 LETTER XX. 
 
 THE doctrine of the Trinity being once introduced, and 
 made a fundamental article of Christianity, all persons pre- 
 tends to support their different opinions concerning it, and 
 all appeal to the witnesses of the New Testament to prove 
 that, which they themselves declare to be incomprehensible 
 and unintelligible. 
 
 The very terms contradicting one another, and showing 
 the folly of pretending to explain that which none can 
 either understand or comprehend, soon occasioned such divi- 
 sions amongst Christians, as are not to be paralleled in 
 history } each party damning, excommunicating, banishing, 
 imprisoning, fining, and even murdering the other, in such 
 a manner, that I have often wondered that people who are 
 so ready to apply G-od's judgment on other occasions, should 
 not bethink themselves that these troubles came on the 
 Church, as a judgment for their manifold absurdities and 
 impieties. 
 
 The creed which establishes this doctrine, is so full of 
 contradictions and inconsistencies, that I challenge any per- 
 son to compose, within the same compass of words, any- 
 thing equal to it, or more repugnant to reason and common 
 sense. For the truth of this, I shall refer you to the Atha- 
 nasian Creed, which is crammed down the throats of be- 
 lievers, a as necessary to salvation," inflicting on unbelievers 
 the cruelest punishments, even that of " perishing everlast- 
 ing," concluding by saying : {t This is the Catholic Faith, 
 which except a man believe he cannot be saved." But as 
 13* 
 
150 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 it is impossible for any intelligent, reasonable man to be- 
 lieve the doctrine of the Trinity, those who pretend to it^ 
 assert such things as are almost incredible. The pious 
 Bishop Beveridge (as he is commonly called) is an instance 
 of this. Concerning this article of the Trinity he has the 
 following passage : " This, I confess, is a mystery which I 
 cannot possibly conceive ; yet it is a truth which I can 
 easily believe; yea, therefore it is so true, that I can easily 
 believe it ; because it is so high that I cannot possibly con- 
 ceive it ; for it is impossible anything should be true of the In- 
 finite Creator, which can be easily expressed to the capacities 
 of a finite creature ; and for this reason I ever did, and ever 
 shall look upon those apprehensions of God to be the truest, 
 whereby we apprehend Him to be the most incomprehensible, 
 and that to be the most true of God which seems the most im- 
 possible unto us."* Who after this can believe the Trinity, 
 since it gives us notions of God so contradictory in them- 
 selves, and so inconsistent to his attributes ? But this is 
 not all; for the Bishop continues: a IJpon this ground, 
 therefore, it is that the mysteries of the Gospel, which I 
 am less able to conceive, I think myself the more obliged 
 to believe, especially this mystery of mysteries, the Trinity 
 in Unity, and Unity in Trinity, which I am so far from 
 being able to comprehend, or indeed to apprehend, that I 
 cannot seriously set myself to think of it, or to sum up my 
 thoughts a little concerning it, but I immediately lose my- 
 self in a trance or ecstacy. That God the Father should 
 be one perfect God of himself; God the Son, one perfect 
 G-od of himself; and God the Holy Ghost one perfect God 
 
 * Thoughts on Religion, Article 3. 
 
LETTER XX. 151 
 
 of himself; and yet these three, should be but one perfect 
 God of himself; so that one should be perfectly three, and 
 three perfectly one ; that the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, 
 should be three, and yet but one but one, and yet three ! 
 
 heart-amazing thought, devouring, inconceivable mystery ! 
 who cannot believe it to be true of the glorious Deity? 
 Certainly none but such as are able to apprehend it ; which 
 
 1 am sure I cannot, and I believe no other creature can ; and 
 because no creature can possibly conceive how it should be 
 so, therefore I believe it to be so." I am tired of trans- 
 cribing this nonsense, which is really what Christians must 
 believe, a faith, or cause of faith, however, that I shall 
 never be able to attain ; neither do I believe the Bishop 
 himself ever did, if he was a rational, reasonable creature. 
 Thus you see to what absurdities, inconsistencies, and in- 
 credibilities, those are led to believe, who contrary to 
 Scripture, to reason, and to common sense, set up the 
 Trinity. 
 
 I know of but one passage in the whole New Testament 
 which can lead to this doctrine, and that is : u Go ye there- 
 fore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of 
 the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ;"* 
 which passage I will, on another occasion, take into conside- 
 ration, and prove, from many circumstances, its spurious- 
 ness, inserted long after Matthew's time, when the doctrine 
 of the Trinity took place, and baptism had been instituted 
 as a sacrament, in order to authorize both the one and the 
 other. There is, however, one method made use of to baffle 
 all inquiries concerning this, and other articles of the 
 
 * Matthew xx. 19. 
 
152 BIAS* LETTERS. 
 
 Christian faith, which is, to make them mysteries; every- 
 thing which is contrary to reason and common sense (as 
 everything peculiar to Christianity is) is a mystery. They 
 have but little regard to what St Peter advises them to 
 "Be always ready to give an answer to every man that 
 asketh you a reason concerning the hope that is in you."* 
 They choose rather to answer the character which Paul the 
 Apostle gives of some in his days, namely : " Desiring to 
 be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they 
 say, nor wherefore they affirm. "f To such we may say in 
 St. Paul's words, " So likewise you, except ye utter by the 
 tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known 
 what is spoken ?"J Ct Therefore if I know not the meaning 
 of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian ; 
 and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me." All 
 which is a very just way of reasoning ; for if the meaning 
 of the voice may be known and explained, then it ceases to 
 be mysterious ; but if they utter with their tongues things 
 not understood : or if they form propositions contradictory 
 in themselves, " How shall it be known what is spoken," or 
 how shall people believe if they " Know not the meaning 
 of the voice?" Must not such doctrine be rejected on St. 
 Paul's principles ? But alas ! they not only subscribe to 
 these doctrines, but swear to the belief of them; and are 
 therefore under an obligation to support them, an unhap- 
 piness this, greatly to be lamented, as a hindrance to truth 
 and sincerity. 
 
 Mahomed, whatever he might have been in other respects, 
 merits the highest praises for his just and true notion of 
 
 * 1 Pet. iii. 15. 1 1 Tim. i. 7. % 1 Cor. xiv. 9. 1 1 Cor. xiv. 11. 
 
LETTER XX. 163 
 
 God, and for inculcating the same to his followers. The 
 ingenious Mr. Sale does him justice by declaring : " That 
 both Mahomed, and those among his followers who were 
 reckoned orthodox, had and continue to have just notions of 
 God and his attributes, (always excepting their obstinate 
 and impious rejecting of the Trinity.")* Now, how a per- 
 son can be called impious, who has just notions of God and 
 his attributes, merely because he does not admit of a 
 Trinity, is what I cannot comprehend. But if Christians 
 think them obstinate, they are, however, consistent in re- 
 jecting this doctrine ; for Mahomed declares, " Whoever 
 shall give a companion unto God, God shall exclude him 
 from paradise, and his habitation shall be hell-fire. They 
 are certainly infidels, who say God is the third of three; for 
 there is no God besides one God."f In another chapter he 
 says, " Say not there are three gods ; forbear this, it will be 
 better for you God is but one God."J And why may they 
 not urge that those, who admit a generation in the deity, 
 reason inconsistently ? for if it only produce the same God, 
 then it is useless ; and if another, unnecessary ; an argu- 
 ment not to be answered by either Arians or Trinitarians. 
 I shall conclude this article with the opinions of the great- 
 est geniuses of our age. The first is Mr. Wollaston, who 
 says, " He who exists of himself, depends in no regard upon 
 another, and (as being a Supreme Cause) in the foundation 
 of existence to other beings, must exist in the uppermost 
 and best means of existing ; and not only so, but (since He 
 is infinite and illimited,) He must exist in the best manner, 
 
 * See his Prelim. Disc. Sec. iv. p. 71. 
 f Alcoran, chap. v. J Ibid. chap. iv. 
 
154 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 illimitedly and infinitely ; now, to exist thus, is infinite 
 goodness of existence ; and to exist in a manner infinitely 
 good, is to be perfect. There can be but one such being, 
 that is, as it appears by Prop. 3d, that there must be at 
 least one independent being, such as is mentioned in Prop. 
 1st, so now that, in reality, there is but one ; because his 
 manner of existence being perfect and illiinited. That man- 
 ner of being, (if I may speak so) is exhausted by Him, or 
 belongs solely to Him; if any other could partake with 
 Him in it, He must want what that other had, be deficient 
 and limited ; infinite and illimited inclose all. If there 
 could be two beings, each by himself absolutely perfect, 
 they must be either of the same, or different natures ; of 
 the same it cannot be; because, thus both being infinite, 
 their existence would be coincident; that is, they would be 
 but the same one. Nor can they be of different natures ; 
 because if their natures were opposite, or contrary, one to 
 the other, being equal, (infinite both, and everywhere meet- 
 ing the one with the other,) the one would just destroy, or 
 be the negation of the other/' 
 
 The following is a translation of part of Mr. Locke's 
 Letter to Mr. Limborch, dated 2d April, 1698. (See his 
 Works.) " The question you propose is reduced to this, 
 6 How the unity of God may be proved/ or in other terms, 
 ' How it can be proved that there is but one Grod To 
 resolve this question, it is necessary to know, before we 
 come to prove the unity of Grod, what we understand by the 
 word Grod. The ordinary idea, and I believe the true idea 
 we have of Grod, and of such who know his existence, is 
 that he is an infinite Being, eternal, incorporeal, and all- 
 perfect. Then, from this known idea, it seems to me easy 
 
LETTER XX. 155 
 
 to deduce the unity of God. In effect, a being all-perfect, 
 or otherwise perfectly perfect, cannot be but solely ; be- 
 cause a being all-perfect cannot want any of its attributes, 
 perfections, or degrees of perfection, which imports him 
 more to possess than to be deprived of; for otherwise he 
 would want as much as would make him entirely perfect. 
 For example : to have power is a much greater perfection 
 than to have none ; to have still greater power, is a greater 
 perfection than to have less ; and to have all power, which 
 is to be almighty, is a greater perfection than to want any 
 part of it. This proved, two beings, almighty, are incom- 
 patible j because we should be obliged to suppose, that one 
 would necessarily will that which the other would, and, in 
 that case, one of the two, in which the will is, must neces- 
 sarily determine the will of the other, who could not be free, 
 and would, consequently, want that perfection, which we 
 have treated of. For it is better to be free, than to be sub- 
 missive to the determination and will of another. And if 
 they are not reduced to the necessity of willing always one 
 and the same thing : in such case, the one might act that 
 which the other would not ; and then the will of the one 
 would prevail over the will of the other, and he of the two, 
 whose power could not second his will, cannot be al- 
 mighty ; for he cannot do as much as the other. Of course, 
 then, there are not two almighty beings, nor can there be 
 two almighty beings ; consequently there cannot be two gods. 
 By the same idea of perfection we attain to the knowledge 
 of G-od being omniscient ; so that the supposition of two 
 distinct beings which have a power, and one distinct will, is 
 an imperfection that one cannot screen his thoughts from 
 the other, but if one can sever his thoughts from the other, 
 
156 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 then cannot the other be omniscient ; for not only does he not 
 know that which may be known ; but, likewise, does not 
 know what the other knows. The same may be said of 
 God's omnipresence. It is better he should be in the vast 
 extent of infinite space, than to be excluded from the small- 
 est part of space ; for if he is excluded from any part of 
 space, he cannot operate, nor know what is done in that 
 space, and consequently, can neither be almighty nor omni- 
 scient. If against this reasoning it should be said that the 
 two gods which they suppose, (or the two hundred thousand, 
 for by the same reasoning that there may be two, there may 
 be two million, for there is no method of limiting the num- 
 ber, I say if they suppose, that several gods have one per- 
 fect almighty, that is exactly the same power; and have 
 also the same knowledge, the same will, and that they 
 equally exist in the same place ; it is only multiplying the 
 same being. But in the end, they do but reduce one sup- 
 posed plurality to one true unity. For to suppose two intel- 
 ligent beings, who know, will, and do incessantly the same 
 thing, and have not a separate existence, is nothing more 
 than to suppose, in words, one plurality, and to admit, 
 effectually, one simple unity. For the being inseparably 
 united by the will, by the understanding, by the action, 
 and by the place, is as great an union as one intelligent 
 being can possibly be united to himself; and, consequently, 
 the supposing that where there is such an union, there can 
 be two beings, is to suppose a division where there can be 
 none, or a thing divided with itself." There requires no 
 addition to the plain, clear, and convincing reasoning of the 
 foregoing learned persons. I shall only apply to the sub- 
 ject of these letters, the words of the excellent Archbishop 
 
LETTER XXI. 157 
 
 Tillotson, when he tells us, "That if all the great mathe- 
 maticians; of all ages, Archimedes, and Euclid, and Appo- 
 lonius, and Diophantus, &c., could be supposed to meet in a 
 general council, and should there declare in a most solemn 
 manner, and give it under their hands and seals, that twice 
 two did not make four, but five, that this would not in the 
 least move him to be of their mind ;"* and of this opinion 
 must all reasonable people be, by what names or epithets 
 they may be called. I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER XXI. 
 
 JACOB' s blessing to* Judah is famous both among the 
 Jewish and Christian commentators ; the latter pretend, that 
 it is a plain prophecy of Jesus, and consequently take great 
 pains to show its literal accomplishment in him. But to be 
 convinced that it is neither plainly nor literally fulfilled in 
 Jesus, one need but observe, not only the variety, but the 
 contrariety of opinions which their commentators have run 
 into. The terms which the Patriarch has made use of are 
 such as increase the difficulty and divisions, every one ex- 
 plaining and deriving the sense and meaning of the words 
 shebetj mecliokelc, ad, and Shiloh, and fixing their import as 
 best suits their different purpose. This you will find to be 
 the real state of the case on consulting a few out of the 
 many different authors, who have" commented on, or ex- 
 
 * Six Sermons p. 13. 
 
 14 
 
158 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 plained this famous passage, which is rendered in our Eng- 
 lish Bible, " The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor 
 a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh come ; and 
 unto him shall the gathering of the people be." (Gen. 
 xlix. 10.) I do not suppose you expect I should enter into 
 a critical examination, much less a confutation of the many 
 different and contradictory opinions. This would be need- 
 less, since there is not one interpretation and application 
 that ever was made, but what has been objected to and con- 
 futed by some author or other, amongst themselves ; so that 
 you will find this task amply and fully done to your 
 hands. 
 
 There is, however, of late, a new interpretation and appli- 
 cation, started by the authors of the Universal History, 
 who, I suppose, dissatisfied with interpretations hitherto 
 made, have opened a new and different plan from all other 
 commentators. A few observations are therefore necessary 
 on their hypothesis. They pretend ''that the Jews did not 
 lose their sceptre, Sanhedrin, or highest court of judicature, 
 and supreme legislative power, till the heathen became con- 
 verts to Christianity, of whom Cornelius was the first, that 
 event denoting the gathering of the people, as foretold by the 
 Patriarch." (Yol. x. p. 317.) 
 
 In consequence of this opinion, they (contrary to all 
 other commentators) place the accomplishment of this pro- 
 phecy in the Sanhedrin's retaining, until that event, the 
 supreme legislative power, and conformably thereto they 
 represent Jesus' trial before Pilate in a suitable light: 
 " In order (say they) to set those right who, from the no- 
 tion of the whole power of life and death being taken away 
 before this time, have inferred that the sceptre spoken of by 
 
LETTER XXI. 159 
 
 Jacob was departed from Judah."* It was hitherto a 
 matter of difference amongst commentators, where to fix the 
 sceptre's departure from Judah, which was generally placed 
 in the supreme power of the Sanhedrin j but its departure, by 
 the Sanhedrin' s loss of that power, was what they all agreed 
 in, (indeed the only thing they did agree in,) and this was a 
 circumstance deemed necessary to make out the accomplish- 
 ment of this prophecy. A few quotations from some authors 
 of note will set this in a clear light. One author declares, 
 "That the Sanhedrin had lost the power of life and death; 
 and when they were crucifying the Messiah, they acknowl- 
 edged that the sceptre was departed from Judah ; since the 
 Jews said to Pilate, <It is not lawful for us to put any man 
 to death/f This is the first period (says this author) of 
 the accomplishment of the oracle/ 'J Another asserts, 
 " That the Romans, who were masters of the country, had 
 taken from them the power of life and death ; they might 
 pronounce a man guilty, but not condemn him in form, nor 
 order his execution ; they (for this reason) carried him be- 
 fore Pilate, the Governor of the Province. " Another, 
 speaking of Herod, says, " This was the first foreigner to 
 whom the Jews became immediately subject, so that the 
 ancient prophecy of the sceptre's departing from Judah, is, 
 by the best critics, supposed to begin to take place at this 
 time." || Another learned author declares, that "Cyrenius 
 having reduced Judea into the form of a Roman province, 
 and instead of their former governor of their own nation, 
 placed a Roman Procurator over them, then began the fulfil- 
 
 * Un. His. Vol. x. p. 594. f John xviii. 3. J Basnage Book iv. 21. 
 g Calmet's Diet, on the word Jesus. || Ech. Ecc. His., Intro, p. 16. 
 
160 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 ling of this prophecy. For then, that is, at the time of this 
 redaction of Judea to a Roman province, the sceptre and 
 the lawgiver from between their feet began to be taken 
 away.* But then (says the same author) when Coponius 
 was made Governor of Judea, the power of life and death 
 being taken away from them and placed in a foreign gover- 
 nor, and justice being thenceforth administered by the laws 
 of Rome instead of their own nation, then truly began the 
 sceptre to depart from Judah, and the lawgiver from be- 
 tween his feet."f Thus you see how unanimous they all 
 are in placing the departure of the supreme power, in which 
 they make the sceptre to consist, before the coming of Jesus, 
 contrary to the authors of the Universal History. 
 
 These different opinions prove what I intimated in a 
 former letter (X), of their making two-edged tools of the 
 prophecies, to cut which way they please, or as it best suits 
 or serves their turn. For if the sceptre, which they place 
 in the supreme legislative power, departed, or was before that 
 time taken away from the Sanhedrin, as is generally asserted, 
 (no matter when,) why, then they do, from that remark- 
 able circumstance, pretend to prove, that the prophecy was 
 literally fulfilled at that time. But if on the contrary, the 
 sceptre, or supreme legislative power, did still subsist, or 
 was possessed by the Sanhedrin, why, then they do, from 
 that contrary or opposite circumstance, also pretend to prove 
 the accomplishment of the same prophecy, literally too, to 
 be sure, so that nothing, however inconsistent or contra- 
 dictory in itself, stands in their way. The literal applica- 
 tion of this prophecy and its accomplishment in Jesus, is 
 
 * Prid. Connec. Vol. iv. p. 932. t Ibid. p. 953. 
 
LETTER XXI. 161 
 
 therefore far from being as clear and evident as they pre- 
 tend ; and for the truth of this, I appeal to Dr. Sherlock, 
 who says, that a there are so many interpretations of this 
 prophecy, some peculiar to the Jews, and some to Chris- 
 tians, and so many difficulties to be accounted for, whatever 
 way we take."* And again he declares, " That there is no 
 prophecy in the Old Testament, that has undergone so many 
 interpretations and critical disquisitions as this now before 
 us. It would make a volume (says he) to report exactly 
 the various sentiments of learned men upon this subject."f 
 You see now, how much learned men differ, notwithstanding 
 they pretend it to be so clear, that " The oracle doth not 
 now admit of any difficulty ;"J all which, unless you take 
 their word, will appear in fact to be the very reverse ; for 
 though they have been canvassing, commenting, and illus- 
 trating this passage, and that by the ablest pens and most 
 acute wits : yet such irreconcilable differences still subsist, 
 both in explaining and applying, as also in the chief circum- 
 stances of its accomplishment, to make it dark and intricate 
 now, as applied to Jesus, as ever it was. For if it be a 
 plain prophecy of Jesus, why such contradictions and variety 
 of opinions concerning its accomplishments ? 
 
 Let us now examine, whether the supreme legislative 
 power, (in which the sceptre promised to Judah, is made to 
 consist,) was held by the Sanhedrin ; but on examination 
 it appears very plain that it was departed, or taken away 
 from it, long before that period, and its authority, reduced 
 
 * Intent and Use of Proph. Dis. vi. p. 146. f Ibid. iii. p. 254. 
 
 J Basnage, B. iv. ch. 21. 
 
 $ Thus far these letters were published before they appeared in The 
 Occident. 
 
 14* 
 
162 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 to a mere nothing, a very shadow of authority,* was made 
 dependent on the Roman governors; consequently those 
 governors, and not the Sanhedrin, had the supreme power. 
 This is easily shown from those very historians, though they 
 assert, and pretend to make out the very reverse, to serve a 
 turn. They tell us themselves, that from a change which 
 Gabinus made in the government (long before the birth of 
 Jesus) the Jews "fell under the subjection of a set of 
 domineering lords/ ' and consequently lost their powerf by 
 the change ; and, though Hyrcanus had afterwards a grant 
 of the government, both as Prince and High Priest, with 
 privilege of judging all causes, J it is evident that whatever 
 power wherewith he invested the Sanhedrin, it must have 
 been very precarious, far short of the supreme legislative 
 power. This appears from their suffering Herod to appear 
 before them, " though summoned as a criminal, in such 
 guise as gave them to understand that he came not as a 
 private person to be judged by them." And how could 
 they possess the supreme power, without either the freedom 
 of judging or enforcing their sentence ? That they had not 
 that privilege, is very plain from the letters which Sextus 
 Caesar wrote to intimidate the Sanhedrin, and that in their 
 judicial capacity. Can it be said they were the supreme 
 legislators, and yet have their jurisdiction disclaimed by 
 Herod, 1 1 who cruelly put to death all the members excepting 
 two, and that too, for their proceeding in that very council ? 
 How insignificant must their power have been if they could 
 not hinder the abolition of their ceremonies, and the intro- 
 
 * Prid. Connexions, Vol. iv. p. 933. t Univ. Hist. Vol. x. p. 376. 
 $ Jos. Ant. lib. xiv. ch. 17. I Univ. Hist. Vol. x. 385. 
 
 || Ibid. p. 386. 
 
LETTER XXI. 163 
 
 ducing of foreign customs, contrary to law :* neither could 
 they hinder a law of Herod's being imposed on them, not 
 only contrary to the laws of Moses, but also contrary to 
 the inclination of the whole nation. If these be not proofs, 
 that they had lost the supreme legislative power, and that 
 it was never restored to the Sanhedrin, I know not what can 
 be deemed so.f 
 
 Besides if they had not lost that power, would they 
 have dared to tell Pilate such a notorious fasehood, as that 
 (( it was not lawful for them to put any man to death/' who 
 certainly must have known the contrary? As for the 
 motives which they allege, pretending that the Sanhedrin 
 acted in the manner " they did, 1st, To throw the odium 
 of his death as much as possible upon Pilate and the Ro- 
 mans; and 2d, To make him undergo a more severe and 
 ignominous punishment,"! it will be sufficient to observe, 
 that if it be true, as they pretend, that the Sanhedrin had 
 at that time the supreme legislative power, they could have 
 nothing to fear from either the people or the Romans. 
 From the first they must have had the power to challenge 
 obedience, that in all governments, (and much more so in 
 the Jewish,) being due to those who have the supreme 
 authority; besides, from the people they had nothing to 
 fear, for they were, it appears, clamorous for his execution. 
 
 And as for the Romans, if the Sanhedrin could try, 
 condemn, and execute, by their own sole authority, then 
 
 * Univ. Hist. Vol. x. p. 386. 
 
 f Dr. Warburton, applying this prophecy in a different sense, " thinks 
 the continuance of the power of life and death amongst a tributary 
 people a perplexed question/' 
 
 I Univ. Hist. Vol. x. p. 593. 
 
164 BIAS* LETTERS. 
 
 were they safe "in doing so, with respect to them. Besides, 
 the Romans knew nothing of Jesus, and their usage of him 
 shows how little they valued him ; and therefore the Sanhed- 
 rin could have run no risk, had they asserted their own 
 supreme power. The second motive, has as little founda- 
 tion. For it is not at all probable or consistent that the 
 supreme legislature, tenacious of their power and privileges 
 and a strict adherence to the laws, which they deemed 
 sacred, should here all at once, not only give them up, but 
 act contrary to the very constitution, and that in an affair 
 the most trivial, nothing more than the inflicting one kind 
 of death instead of another; for the power of punishing 
 with death is what they say the Sanhedrin had, to prove 
 which they instance the case of Stephen, and say, " He was 
 regularly tried, condemned and stoned by their single au- 
 thority."* Now I think that the contrary to this represen- 
 tation is plain from the passage itself: Stephen might 
 indeed be brought to his examination as is related; but 
 there is no regular condemnation, nor sentence pronounced. 
 The fact was this : The people, being exasperated at his 
 behaviour, tumultuously ({ ran upon him with one accord, 
 and cast him out of the city and stoned him."f It mani- 
 festly was a violent act of the people, without either con- 
 demnation or sentence, and in this very light it is repre- 
 sented in the Acts ; so that I think nothing offered by these 
 historians any way proves their point, or carries the least 
 colour of probability. I find it said by way of excuse, 
 < ' That if Jesus Christ and his Apostles did not make use 
 of this passage to prove the coming of the Messiah, it was 
 
 * Univ. Hist. Vol. x. p. 593. t Acts vii. 57, 58. 
 
LETTER XXI. 165 
 
 because then the completion of this prophecy was not suffi- 
 ciently manifest."* In one of my letters I took notice of 
 the authors of the Universal History affirming, " that King 
 Ahaz could not be ignorant from this prophecy that the 
 sceptre was not to depart from Judah till Shiloh was come;"*)* 
 by which means, these historians honour Ahaz with having 
 a more minute and perfect knowledge of this prophecy, 
 eight hundred years before the completion in Jesus, than 
 either Jesus himself, or his Apostles ; for if it was not suffi- 
 ciently manifest, either to the person in whom it was accom- 
 plished, or to those who lived and wrote long after the con- 
 version of Cornelius (nay, St. John wrote even after the 
 destruction of Jerusalem) who had all those manifesting 
 circumstances to guide them in applying it, and an oppor- 
 tunity from thence of proving his character, how absurd 
 must it appear to make Ahaz have any such knowledge ! 
 For how could it be plain to Ahaz, who had not those mani- 
 festing circumstances to guide him, which Jesus and his 
 Apostles had ? circumstances, indeed, so very dark when 
 they happened, as to be incapable of guiding the persons 
 themselves whom it concerned, and gave no proof, even to 
 those (the inspired) whose business it was to show its com- 
 pletion ; and, since neither from the event, nor from the as- 
 sistance of the Spirit which guided them, they could discern 
 or discover the accomplishment, we may reasonably conclude, 
 that this passage concerned not Jesus at all, and also that 
 Ahaz was entirely ignorant of its having any such meaning. 
 There is another thing which I must take notice of, and 
 
 * Cal. Die. on the word Shiloh. 
 
 t See my 12th Letter; also, Univ. Hist. Vol. x. p. 155. 
 
166 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 that is, that Jacob gave each of his children a particular, 
 separate blessing, considering each of his sons in their pos- 
 terity as twelve different tribes ; consequently the blessing 
 was peculiar to each tribe; for <f all these are the twelve tribes 
 of Israel, and this is it that their father spake unto them, and 
 blessed them; every one according to his blessing, he 
 blessed them."* The blessing to Judah must therefore be 
 limited to his particular tribe or his descendants. I make 
 this observation, because Christian commentators do artfully 
 transfer the supreme legislative power (in which they make 
 the sceptre to consist) to those who held the power or magi- 
 stracy in the land of Judea ; though that power had long 
 before departed from Judah, in the person of Zedekiah, the 
 last of Judah' s descendants that held the power or sceptre, 
 never afterwards returning in any of his descendants, ex- 
 cepting Zerubbabel, who held it by the appointment of 
 another, and that only for a limited time, the government 
 being afterwards in the tribe of Levi, and others, but not in 
 the tribe or descendants of Judah, as is manifest from the 
 history of those times. Therefore it is absurd to pretend to 
 extend the blessing of Judah, which was his particular 
 privilege, to others. 
 
 LETTER XXII. 
 
 I CONCLUDED my last with the observation that the 
 Patriarch's blessing was particular to each tribe. " For 
 since Jacob gave his blessing to every one of his children, no 
 
 * Gen. xlix. 28. 
 
LETTER XXII. 167 
 
 doubt but he promised there some particular advantage to 
 the tribe of Judah ; and notwithstanding (says Basnage) 
 that opinion has not appeared favourable to Christians, 
 truth must always be preferred to interest."* I shall now 
 give that explanation of the famous passage, which to me 
 seems the plainest and most conformable to the literal mean- 
 ing and import of the text. The following advantages are 
 then promised to Judah : 
 
 1st. That this tribe should be respected by the others 
 for its courage and intrepidity. 
 
 2dly. That it was to hold the sceptre, or have pre-eminence 
 above the other tribes. 
 
 3dly. That it should have its lawgiver or supreme legis- 
 lature within itself, independent or separate from the rest 
 of the tribes. 
 
 4thly. That these advantages they should possess till 
 the coming of Shiloh, who was to unite the people under 
 his obedience and government, 
 
 5thly. A more considerable inheritance. 
 
 These are the advantages promised to Judah, and the 
 blessing will then run thus : 
 
 Judah, (says the Patriarch,) thou shalt have the praise 
 of thy brethren; thy father's children shall bow down to 
 thee; for thy courage and intrepidity shall draw their re- 
 spect and obedience ; the sceptre (or pre-eminence) shall not 
 depart from Judah, (the tribe collectively,) nor a lawgiver 
 (or supreme legislature and independent power within it- 
 self) from between his feet, until Shiloh (or him to whom 
 it belongs) shall come, (to whom all the people shall be 
 
 * His. and Rel. of the Jews, Book iv. cb. 21. 
 
168 DIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 gathered ; ) [or] unto him shall the gathering of the people 
 be : binding his foal unto the vine, &c. To avoid needless 
 disputes concerning words, I shall fix the meaning of those 
 made use of by the Patriarch in a sense given them by 
 Christian commentators. 
 
 1st. By the word shebet (or sceptre) I with Basnage 
 " understand a degree of pre-eminence which distinguished 
 the tribe of Judah, as kings are distinguished in their own 
 dominions. Judah carried the sceptre (says he) because it 
 had a great pre-eminence/' 
 
 2dly. *By the word mechoJceJc, (translated lawgiver,) I 
 with the generality of commentators understand a supreme 
 legislative power. 
 
 3dly. By the word Shiloh, I with sundry (and in particu- 
 lar with the authors of the Universal History) understood, 
 he to whom it belongs, drawing it from Shiloh. f 
 
 4thly. By the word 'ad, I take in the sense in which it 
 is rendered in the English version, (until.) Having fixed 
 the meaning of the words in the sense given them by the 
 adversaries, that no exception may be made, it remains now 
 that we show how this prophecy received its accomplish- 
 ments. I shall confine myself to those propositions which 
 are matter of controversy ; for as to the first, that is, the 
 tribe of Judah being respected for its numbers, courage, and 
 intrepidity, as likewise its having a larger share of the land 
 and the most fertile soil, it is, I think, agreed on all hands. 
 The sceptre or pre-eminence which the tribe of Judah held 
 above the rest, is made evident from Scripture. It was 
 foremost in the encampment, J and had precedence in march- 
 
 * Bas. His. and Rel. of the Jews, Book iv. ch. 21. 
 
 f Vol. iii. p. 318. J Numb. ii. 3. 
 
LETTER XXII. 169 
 
 ing.* When the altar was dedicated, this tribe by its 
 prince had the privilege of the first day's offering,-)* and by 
 God's appointment led the van in battle.J " In short, 
 Judah prevailed over his brethren, and of him came the 
 chief ruler. " That the sceptre or this pre-eminence over 
 the other tribes never departed from Judah, is evident from 
 the words of David. " The LORD God of Israel (says he) 
 chose me before all the house of my father, to be a king 
 over Israel for ever; for he hath chosen Judah to be the 
 ruler; and of the house of Judah, the house of my father ; 
 and among the sons of my father, he liked me, to make me 
 king over all Israel/ 7 1| Having proved the pre-eminence 
 or sceptre which this tribe held over the rest, we must now 
 proceed to prove its supreme legislative power, independent 
 of the other tribes, which with the pre-eminence (or sceptre) 
 was to last till the coming of the Shiloh, him to whom the 
 kingdom belonged, under whom all the tribes should be 
 united. The independency of the tribe of Judah, its con- 
 stituting a particular separate republic, and consequently its 
 having its lawgiver or supreme judicature within itself, 
 appears from the following circumstances : 
 
 1st. After the victory which Deborah obtained over Sisera, 
 she in her song upon that deliverance praises and mentions all 
 the tribes excepting Judah, (the most numerous and most 
 valiant of all;)^f from which it is inferred that this tribe was 
 not under the subjection of Jabin, but being independent 
 from the rest, and constituting within itself a separate republic, 
 did not think itself engaged to join the others in a war in 
 
 * Num. x. 4. f Num. vii. 12. J Jud. i. 20, & xx. 18. 
 
 I 1 Chron. v. 2. || Ibid, xxviii. 4. f Jud. v. 
 
 15 
 
170 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 which it was not concerned; for had this tribe partaken or 
 been under the same government as the rest, it must neces- 
 sarily have joined them ; and if it had, it would have shared 
 in the praises bestowed on the others. 
 
 2dly. It appears that this tribe was not under the same 
 government as the others, from their binding and delivering 
 up Samson, the judge of Israel, to the Philistines, when he 
 took shelter among them ; which shows that they were not 
 under his government, and consequently they must have 
 been a particular separate republic.* 
 
 3dly. From this tribe being named and numbered separa- 
 tely from others, which shows that they were deemed sepa- 
 rate and independent from the rest.f 
 
 4thly. When the love which the people bore to David is 
 expressed, distinct mention is made of Judah as in contra- 
 distinction to Israel, which shows them a distinct people, 
 independent of the rest.J 
 
 5thly, and lastly. That they had a distinct, independent 
 government is very plain from their anointing David their 
 king, whilst the other tribes, or all Israel, adhered to Ish- 
 bosheth, from whence it is evident and plain that they were 
 neither bound by the decision of the other tribes. nor 
 paid they any regard to their decrees, being a different and 
 independent government, which continued till they were 
 united under David, the Shiloh or Sbilo he to whom the 
 kingdom belonged. This prophecy received its accomplish- 
 ment in David, to whom the people were gathered. When 
 Israel and Judah united under one monarch or head, the 
 Shiloh, or he to whom the kingdom belonged by God's own 
 
 * Jud. xv. 9, 13. f 1 Sam. xi. S. ; Ibid, xviii. 16. 
 
IMTMi \\ll 171 
 
 appointment, & descendant of Judah, took possession ; for to 
 him oaino all the tribes of Israel, and spoke, saying: "Bo- 
 
 nd thy it -t. whon 
 
 Saul *ai kiu:: OH* us. thou wast ho that loil out. ami brought 
 
 i shall be 4 oapfcuu over Israel ; so nil 
 the elders of Israel came to the king of Hebron to anl- 
 
 
 
 OYC Israol :uul all tho ivst nl>o ot' Israol \voiv of ouo 
 
 heart to make David kiug."f Hwo then \N 
 plisliuicut of oTOpy part of this prophooy according t 
 
 u ,t tho Patriarch! who gave a particular diatmct 
 blessing to each tribe, and conM^uoutlv ouo to Judah. 
 '* This sense/' (to use tho words of the authors of tlu Uni- 
 versa! History,) ** seems the most easy, natural, and agree- 
 able to the original." We difier in the ftllo* 
 law 4 
 1st. They will have the sceptre to mean tho supreme 
 
 po\viT of tho Saulu'ilriu, \vluoh thoy }>V(-t(Mhl was possosM\l 
 
 by that council, though in reality they had lost it long 
 before ; whilst I, agreeable to some of their writers, make 
 
 tho svvptvo M oonsist iu tho ,A\ Jmlah hohl 
 
 ovor tho v, -: : , : ; , 
 
 N In like manner they will have the law^wr to b< 
 
 tho Sauhoilriu, whioh I inako to OOUMSI in tin . ,N 
 
 ing a distinct judicature within itself, independent of the 
 rost. 
 8dly. They will have Shiloh to b 
 
 * 1 SAM. Y. 1-& 1 1 Chrtk xiU S3. t S* Vol. iii. n>. 817, 319. 
 
172 BIAS 7 LETTERS. 
 
 the king of kings; whilst I think the passage most applica- 
 ble to David, the literal king of Israel and Judah. 
 
 4thly. They will have the gathering of the people to 
 mean the conversion of Cornelius; whilst I think it was 
 literally fulfilled when all the tribes gathered to make David 
 king, and by their union under his government. 
 
 Now which of us has better applied the prophecy, or 
 best kept to its most literal sense and meaning, is what you 
 must determine. According to my hypothesis, there is no 
 necessity of having recourse to forced constructions, unnatu- 
 ral interpretations, or imaginary events, mere " ipse dixits," 
 nor of transferring the events from the tribe of Judah to 
 that of Levi, or to any person whatsoever. I have often 
 wondered at the pains which is taken to make out Jesus' s 
 lineal descent from David, which being attended with insur- 
 mountable difficulties, they have not hitherto been able to 
 do. It has also been surprising to many that they have not 
 taken refuge in the easy mystic tropological sense, and so 
 fall on some method of spiritualising the Shiloh promised to 
 Judah. This might be done in like manner as they have made 
 aome passages and things to stand for and mean their very 
 opposites. Have they not changed earth into heaven ? 
 Jerusalem and Zion into Christian churches ? placed the 
 gentiles for Israel and Judah ? turned glorious times in 
 the most troublesome ? deliverence and liberty into slavery 
 and oppression, &c. ? why might not any person besides a 
 descendant of David be made to stand for Shiloh, and save 
 themselves the necessary trouble of doing that which is im- 
 possible, that is, showing him to be descended from David ? 
 Were they to defend Jesus' s descent from David to give him 
 possession of his throne, kingdom and government, they 
 
LETTER XXIII. 173 
 
 would then act consistently ; but to these Jesus never laid 
 the least claim; notwithstanding which they think it abso- 
 lutely necessary that Jesus should be descended from the 
 royal house of that monarch, without which they think he 
 could neither be the Shiloh promised, nor lay claim to the 
 messiahship. This then being a matter of importance, I 
 shall in my next examine the evidence of his descent from 
 David. 
 
 LETTER XXIII. 
 
 THE Messiah's descent from David being (as I observed 
 in my last) deemed by Christians a necessary circumstance 
 or qualification in the person who should pretend to that 
 character, more than ordinary pains are taken to make out 
 Jesus' s descent, as a thing of the utmost importance. In 
 vain do commentators puzzle themselves to make out this 
 descent : the genealogies delivered by Matthew and Luke 
 do but increase the difficulties, and they are reduced to 
 shifts and assertions peculiar to the cause. " Notwithstand- 
 ing our Saviour's voluntary appearance," says Doctor 
 Echard, ' ' under these mean circumstances, we are to re- 
 member that even in his human capacity he was true heir 
 to the kingdom of Israel, which had been by God entailed 
 upon David and his posterity, so that he was the king of 
 the Jews in a natural and legal, as well as spiritual and 
 divine sense ; and this appears not only from former pro- 
 
174 
 
 DIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 phecies, types, and other circumstances, but also from the 
 genealogy of our Saviour's ancestors, given us by the evan- 
 gelists Matthew and Luke, which genealogies, though 
 they have their difficulties and their seeming disagreements, 
 yet they both manifest him to be of the line of David; 
 the former draws the pedigree of his reputed father Joseph, 
 and the latter that of his mother Mary."* But this is a 
 mere invention, a direct contradiction to the genealogies, 
 which are only of Joseph, and of him only, he being the 
 person mentioned in both to be the descendant of those ances- 
 tors, and not a word is said of Mary. The authors of the 
 Universal History assert the same, and declare them both 
 of the house and lineage of David, and in their notes add : 
 " We have taken notice in a former volume that the Jews 
 had a law which expressly forbade heiresses to marry out 
 of their own tribes. It is true, the Virgin Mary seems to 
 have been far enough from being one of that sort, at least 
 in possession, whatever there might be in reversion, or by 
 virtue of the jubilee laws; but there was still a much 
 greater tie which kept the virgins of the tribe of Judah, 
 but especially those of the house of David, from marrying 
 into another tribe or family, namely, the sure expectation 
 which they had that the Messiah was to be of that lineage, 
 and to be born in Bethlehem, the city and patrimony of 
 that monarch ; and how careful every family was to preserve 
 their genealogy, needs not to be repeated." And they then 
 add : " It is therefore vain that the Jews exclaim against 
 the uncertainty of Christ's being the seed of David, because 
 Joseph's and not Mary's genealogy is deduced from him by 
 
 * Introd. to His., Vol. i. p. 42. 
 
LETTER XXIII. 
 
 the two Evangelists, who is yet affirmed by them to have 
 had no share in his conception. The certainty of the Vir- 
 gin's descent from that house is rendered evident enough 
 by what we have observed above, especially if we add the 
 testimony of the Evangelists themselves, who call her mira- 
 culous child the son or descendant of David. If it be 
 asked, Why they choose rather to give us that of her hus- 
 band ? it may be answered, that they conformed in it to the 
 ciistom of the Hebrews, and even of the sacred writers, who 
 deduce their genealogies from the male rather than the 
 female line ; for if Christ, the son of Mary, was the son or 
 descendant of David, it must follow that his mother must be 
 so too. 7 '* I have cited these historians at length, that you 
 might better take a view of their arguments and chain of 
 /reasoning; and now let us consider their proofs as to their 
 asserting that both Joseph and Mary were of the lineage of 
 David ; as it is of no weight it is their proofs which we 
 must consider. The first proof is the Jews, having a law 
 forbidding their heiresses marrying out of their tribes ; but 
 as they tell us Mary was far enough from being an heiress, 
 this, of course, is no proof that she was a descendant from, 
 or of the line of David, even though she had been an heiress. 
 Their second proof is an invention, " A tie which they pre- 
 tend was upon the virgins of the tribe of Judah, and espe- 
 cially on those of the house of David, from an expectation 
 that the Messiah was to proceed from that lineage, and to 
 be born in Bethlehem ; for which reason they were not to 
 marry in another tribe or family." But this can be no 
 proof that Mary was of that lineage ; the proof that she was 
 
 * Vol. x. p. 451. 
 
176 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 lineally descended from that monarch should first have been 
 made manifest ; that done, then the proofs, that the virgins 
 of the tribes of Judah were under that tie, would have been 
 right. But here no proof is brought of Mary's lineal 
 descent, nor any proof that the virgins of that tribe were 
 under any such tie ; and their asserting this without any 
 authority is a sufficient confutation. Besides, is it probable 
 or reasonable to think that the virgins of that tribe would 
 put themselves under the disadvantageous tie of refusing a 
 good offer for that which they knew nothing of? for the 
 Messiah might as well be born from a woman of any other 
 tribe married into that of Judah ; consequently they had 
 but little chance, and at most it could only have been the 
 privilege of one of them. No such consideration, I am sure, 
 would actuate the young ladies in any other country ; why, 
 then, should we think those of Judah should act contrary 
 to the innate inclinations of their sex without any appear- 
 ance of advantage ? But nothing can be more ridiculous 
 than their saying, that l( It is therefore in vain that the 
 Jews exclaim against the uncertainty of Christ being of the 
 seed of David/' One would think they had, beyond all 
 dispute, made out Jesus's descent, and so ridiculed the 
 Jews for their vanity in objecting to that which they had 
 so plainly made out ; and, indeed, as they say that " the 
 certainty of the Virgin's descent from that house is ren- 
 dered evident enough from what they observe above/' it 
 put me upon examining what they had said to prove this 
 point, but was surprised to find the only arguments made 
 use of to be those of the " heiresses' being forbid marrying 
 out of their tribe," and the pretended tie on the virgins of 
 " the tribe of Judah, in expectation that the Messiah was 
 
LETTER XXIII. 177 
 
 to be born of them." But how these assertions prove Mary 
 to have been descended from the royal house of David, is 
 past my abilities to find out. Thus much is certain, what- 
 ever they may pretend, Joseph's and not Mary's genealogy 
 is deduced from David by the two Evangelists, so that 
 from the genealogies, which they give us, nothing can be 
 drawn or extended to Mary. This is all that the Jews pre- 
 tend ; for though these historians insinuate as if the Jews 
 affirmed that Joseph had no share in his conception, yet 
 they well know it is not the Jews who say so, but the 
 Evangelists who declare it : " And he (Joseph) knew her 
 (Mary) not till she had brought forth her first-born son." 
 Therefore it is the Christians, with the Evangelists at their 
 head, who affirm it. The Jews knew nothing concerning 
 these transactions : all that the Jews pretended to insinuate 
 is, that if Joseph be not Jesus' father, he from those gene- 
 alogies cannot be proved to be a descendant from David, 
 neither are Christians able to make it out. 
 
 To the foregoing proofs they " add the testimony of the 
 Evangelists themselves, who call her miraculous child the 
 son or descendant of David ;" but this proves nothing. 
 1st. Because the Jews admit not their authority. 2dly. Be- 
 cause their calling him the son of David* can be no proof 
 of his descent because, as we proved from Mr. Locke, the 
 calling him so means no more than that he was the Mes- 
 siah. 3dly. By the same rule that Luke supposes him to 
 be Joseph's son, or, if you please, being, as was supposed, 
 the son of Joseph,*)* when in fact he was not, since " he 
 had no share in his conception/' so might the other Evan- 
 
 * Matt. i. 1. 
 
178 DIAS ? LETTERS. 
 
 gelist suppose him to have been the son of David, though in 
 fact he might not be so. In short, it is from facts alone 
 we are to form our judgment, and none of the Evangelists 
 mention any thing concerning his ancestors. " The Scrip- 
 ture," says Calmet, " tells us nothing of her parents, not 
 so much as their names."* All that they say concerning 
 her parentage is, that she was related to Elizabeth, who, we 
 are told, was of the daughters of Aaron. f " If it be 
 asked/' continue the historians, " why they choose to give 
 us that of her husband : it may be answered that they con- 
 formed in it to the custom of the Hebrews, and even of the 
 sacred writers, who deduce their genealogies from the male 
 line." This proves that the male line alone constituted a 
 right, and that it was of no consequence of what line the 
 mother was, or from whom she descended. Now if he was 
 not Joseph's son, he was no more the son or descendant of 
 David than of Jeroboam, for any thing that appears, and 
 consequently could not claim the kingdom of that monarch 
 by his lineal descent. The Messiah's right to the kingdom 
 of Israel is so necessary a qualification give me leave to 
 repeat it that " we ought to remember," says Dr. Echard, 
 " that even in his human capacity he was true heir to the 
 kingdom of Israel, which had been by God entailed upon 
 David and his posterity ; so that he was the king of the 
 Jews in a natural and legal, as well as spiritual and divine 
 sense ; and this appears not only from former prophecies, 
 types, and other circumstances, but also from the genealogy 
 of our Saviour's ancestors, given by the two Evangelists, 
 Matthew and Luke, which genealogies, though they have 
 
 * See his Dictionary, on the word Mary. f Luke i. 5. 
 
LETTEE XXIII 179 
 
 their difficulties and seeming disagreements, yet they both 
 manifest him to be of the line of David/'* which might 
 possibly be, had he been the son of Joseph, whose ancestors 
 those genealogies describe ; but his not being Joseph's son, 
 the genealogies, though full of difficulties and contradictions, 
 can give him no legal right. 
 
 And the learned Doctor seems to have been so possessed 
 with the divine indefeasible right, that he again takes up 
 the subject. " Jesus/' says he, "being rightful and legal 
 king of the Jews, and that only by his reputed father's 
 side" (if so, how could his title descend to Jesus ?) u is 
 an unanswerable argument both against those who affirm 
 Joseph to have had other children by a former wife, as also " 
 against those who deny the perpetual virginity of Mary, 
 affirming that Joseph had often children by her after the 
 birth of Jesus; for had Joseph had any children, either by 
 Mary or any other wife, they, as coming from the elder 
 branch by Joseph, their father, must have claimed the in- 
 heritance of his kingdom in his right, and not Jesus, the 
 son of Mary, who descended from a younger line, and there- 
 fore could not legally inherit but upon default of issue from 
 Joseph, the only remaining heir of the elder j so that Joseph 
 was the very last of the royal line of David, which was fully 
 terminated in him."f I know that you see the fallacy of 
 all this ; yet it is on such evidence that foundation is laid 
 for raising a most extraordinary superstructure. Now if 
 Jesus was that rightful and legal king of the Jews, how 
 came he to declare "his kingdom was not to be of this 
 world ?" If his title was so clear, how came the Jews to 
 
 * Introd. to his History, p. 42. f Ibid. p. 43. 
 
180 BIAS* LETTERS. 
 
 disown him ? Did lie ever claim his inheritance then pos- 
 sessed by Romans ? No doubt but the reverend Doctor can 
 prove that he did ; for if no claim was to be made, why so 
 much pains to prove the right? I think Joseph acted the 
 most prudent in maintaining himself by his labour rather than 
 to engage in a contest, or exert his right. And why might 
 not Joseph's children have sat down contented and easy in 
 like manner as their father did ? for who in his senses 
 would claim such a kingdom, or be such a king ? so that 
 it is no argument, much less an unanswerable one, either of 
 Joseph's not having other children, or of Mary's perpetual 
 virginity. But that he had other children is plain; for 
 when the Evangelist relates how Jesus was despised by his 
 countrymen, the people say : " Is not this the carpenter's son? 
 is not his mother called Mary ? and his brothers, James, and 
 Joses, and Simon, and Judas ? And his sisters, are they not 
 all with us ?"* And though his behaviour, either towards his 
 mother or brethren, is not represented in the best light,f yet 
 it proves Joseph had other children, and those probably by 
 Mary; since the Evangelist declares " that he knew her not 
 till she had brought forth her first-born," plainly indicating 
 11 that he had knowledge of her afterwards." But that 
 Jesus was the last of the royal line of David, his whole 
 posterity becoming extinct in him, is as extraordinary an 
 assertion as any of the rest. In short, they grope in the 
 dark, and care not either what they say or what they affirm ; 
 if they could but establish their point, no matter for the 
 evidence, or whom they contradict. 
 
 To return to the authors of the Universal History, their 
 
 * Matt. xiii. 55, 56. f Ibid. xii. 47; Mark iii. 31 j Luke viii. 20. 
 
LETTER XXIV. 181 
 
 last proof is this: "If Christ, the son of Mary," say they, 
 ft was the son or descended of David, it follows that his 
 mother must be so too " but this is a fallacious proof, 
 (rather begging the question;*) for the question is, Whether 
 Mary (for Joseph, not being his father, is consequently out of 
 the question,) is a descendant of David. Had they made that 
 out, then they might have concluded that her son was so too. 
 Here the thing to be proved is taken for granted, and then 
 a conclusion is drawn from it; but the Jews will say : If 
 there be no proof that Mary is descended from David, there 
 can be, consequently, none that Jesus was, the latter pro- 
 ceeding from the former, and not the mother from the son. 
 This is inverting the order of things : therefore if Mary's 
 descent cannot be proved, the consequence is that her son's 
 cannot. I shall take no notice of the ineffectual endeavours 
 made to reconcile the different genealogies of Matthew and 
 Luke : this labour is not only vain, but even absurd ; for 
 after all, neither of them can serve their cause, because 
 they reject Joseph, Mary's husband, from being Jesus' 
 father, and the genealogies concern him, and him only ; so 
 that if Shiloh was to be of the tribe of Judah, it does not 
 appear that Jesus was he, his descent not being ascertained 
 or proved. 
 
 LETTER XXIV. 
 
 EXTRAORDINARY are the pains which have been taken, 
 and the stress laid by Christian commentators on the famous 
 prophecy of Daniel's seventy weeks, as if Christianity could 
 
182 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 not subsist without it ; or, as if the very being of religion 
 depended on the application of this prophecy to Jesus, 
 whom they make to be the Messiah, or Anointed, there men- 
 tioned. It is thus translated in the English Bible : 
 
 " At the beginning of the supplications," (says the angel 
 to Daniel,) " the commandment came forth, and I am come 
 to show thee; for thou art greatly beloved : therefore, un- 
 derstand, the matter, and consider the vision. Seventy 
 weeks are determined upon thy people, and upon thy holy 
 city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, 
 and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in ever- 
 lasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and proph- 
 ecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Know therefore and 
 understand, that from the going forth of the commandment 
 to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the 
 Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks : 
 the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troub- 
 lous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Mes- 
 siah be cut off, but not for himself : and the people of the 
 prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctu- 
 ary ; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto 
 the end of the war desolations are determined. And he 
 shall confirm the covenant with many for one week : and in 
 the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and obla- 
 tion to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he 
 shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that 
 determined shall be poured upon the desolate."* 
 
 The computations which are made of these seventy weeks, 
 by the most learned, are so different and contradictory to 
 
 * Daniel ix. 23, to the end. 
 
LETTER XXIV. 183 
 
 each other, and the calculations do so vary from one anoth- 
 er's hypothesis, as ought, one would think, to convince them 
 of the impracticableness of making the application of it to 
 Jesus, and consequently, of the impossibilities of making 
 it answer their purpose. Its obscurity is confessed by all, 
 and you will hardly find two intelligent persons who agree 
 in their computations ; difficulties surround them which- 
 ever way they take ; how to make or strike out Jesus for 
 the Messiah or Anointed, who was to be cut off, is the thing 
 they aim at ; but where to begin the computation of the 
 weeks, how to continue them, and what time to end them, 
 so that every period may have a proper epoch, are matters 
 of the greatest difficulties and differences amongst the ex- 
 positors. To make the prophecy answer the event they 
 would apply it to, they shorten or lengthen the chronology 
 of those times, (which of itself is dark and perplexed,) ex- 
 tending or diminishing the reigns of Persian monarchs, as 
 may best square with their different hypotheses which, after 
 all the trouble and pains they take, are liable to most potent 
 objections and insurmountable difficulties. The authors of 
 the Universal History, after mentioning in very contemptu- 
 ous terms, (as is their custom,) the differences which subsist 
 among the Jewish authors, and asserting their ignorance as 
 chronological calculators, proceed to give us the following 
 account : 
 
 "The Christians (say they) are not exactly agreed, either 
 in the placing the beginning or end of these weeks 7 or in 
 the calculations of those lunar or Jewish years ; both differ- 
 ences, however, are inconsiderable if duly attended to ; the 
 former is entirely owing to our imperfect knowledge of the 
 chronology of those times ; had we a sure guide in it, the 
 
184 BIAS* LETTERS. 
 
 points would not be long unsettled ; but, whilst in this un- 
 certainty, one author will place the beginning at the decree 
 of Cyrus, another at that of Darius, a third at that of Ar- 
 taxerxes Longimanus, and each of them' endeavours to 
 stretch or shorten the chronology of each interval, as best 
 suits with his hypothesis, it is no wonder there is so little 
 agreement among them, and so little certainty to be gath- 
 ered from the whole dispute."* 
 
 If these things are thus, can the Jews be blamed in re- 
 jecting their application of this prophecy, computed as is 
 acknowledged " both without any perfect knowledge of the 
 chronology of those times, or any sure guide in it 1" Upon 
 what grounds, then, can they pretend either to fix or urge 
 this prophecy ? and does it not betray pitiful shifts (or 
 something worse) in thus shortening and stretching each in- 
 terval as best suits their different views, and is it not using 
 unfair and unwarrantable means ? Here let me observe, that 
 which in the Jewish authors betrayed their ignorance, and 
 showed their pitiful shifts,")* passes unanswered in the others ; 
 though one should think that design (for ignorant they 
 must not be supposed) deserved not less rebuke than igno- 
 rance. These authors having made mention of lunar years, 
 by which some reckon in order to bring the time nearer to 
 the event, to which they endeavour to make application of 
 this prophecy : it will be sufficient to observe with the judi- 
 cious Prideaux, that, " when Daniel had this prophecy 
 revealed unto him, by the angel Gabriel, there was not any 
 form of year purely lunar any where in use ; but of the 
 ancients, we find none who followed this form ; and who can 
 
 * Univ. Hist., Vol. x. p. 446. t Ibid. p. 447. 
 
LETTER XXIV. 185 
 
 think then, that in the collective sum of seventy weeks or 
 four hundred and ninety years, of them the angel should 
 intend a computation, which was then nowhere in practice 
 the whole world over ?"* " Waving (what these authors 
 call) some minute differences" they proceed to give us the 
 system most universally received, and they tell us that, 
 " The difference of time is trifling at most, but nine or ten 
 years between those who make it longest and those who 
 make it shortest ; and who can wonder at it or urge it as 
 an objection against this prophecy/' &c. ?f Against the 
 prophecy none will j neither will the Jews wonder at the 
 difference, and will give this reason, because the event, to 
 which it is applied, could not be that intended by the angel ; 
 for whatever trifling difference they may think of nine 01 
 ten years, yet where there is a determined portion of timt- 
 fixed, the accomplishment must be exact ; otherwise, instead 
 of seventy weeks, the angel ought to have said seventy-one 
 weeks and a half; therefore, it is a very material difference; 
 for it makes the time extend farther than the determined 
 bounds set by the angel. Their hypothesis is to begin the 
 seventy weeks from the decree granted to Nehemiah, by Ar- 
 taxerxes, in the twentieth year of his reign, and end them 
 at the death of Jesus; but to this computation, there are 
 great objections; for it exceeds the four hundred and ninety 
 years by ten years, as their historians acknowledge, or rather 
 thirteen, as Dean Prideaux makes it appear. "And 
 therefore, (says he,) if the four hundred and ninety years 
 of the seventy weeks be computed from thence, they will 
 over-shoot the death of Christ thirteen years, which being 
 
 * Connect. Vol. ii. p. 404-6. f Uni. Hist. Vol. x. p. 448. 
 
 Irt * 
 
186 BIAS* LETTERS. 
 
 the grand event to be brought to pass at the conclusion of 
 these weeks, it is certain they can never there have their 
 beginning from whence they can never be brought to this 
 ending/'* To remedy this evil, some have invented (though 
 without the least foundation or authority) that Artaxerxes 
 reigned ten years with his father, and so pretended it to 
 be only the tenth of his reigning alone, making up by in- 
 vention what is wanting in exactness ; but there is nothing 
 (says Prideaux) in the history of those times that can give 
 countenance to this conjecture. f Besides, according to this 
 hypothesis, they make one continued series of time without 
 making any epochs to the division, as made by the angel, 
 and notwithstanding, the angel declares the commandment 
 to have gone forth, yet they contradict him and make that 
 commandment to be one that was given near ninety years 
 after. I suppose, with Prideaux, that the commandment 
 mentioned by the angel to be that of Cyrus, which he very 
 learnedly proves to be the decree literally meant by the 
 angel, declaring that it " can be applicable to no other re- 
 storing and rebuilding of Jerusalem, than that which was 
 decreed and commaned by Cyrus, at the return of the captiv- 
 ity ;J and therefore, if these words of the prophecy to restore 
 and rebuild Jerusalem are to be understood in a literal sense, 
 they can be understood of no other restoring and building of 
 that city, than that which was accomplished by virtue of that 
 decree; and the computation of the seventy weeks must 
 begin from the granting and going forth thereof." Accord- 
 ing to which, the literal accomplishment of this prophecy 
 
 * Connect. Vol. ii. p. 403. f Ibid. p. 408. 
 
 t Ibid. p. 382. \ Ibid. p. 386. 
 
LETTER XXIV. 187 
 
 must have its completion from the going forth of that de- 
 cree ; and whoever begins the same from any other, cannot 
 pretend to make it a literal prophecy. Other difficulties 
 there are which arise from this hypothesis in common with 
 others, such as the confirmation of the covenant with many 
 for one week, (to which they are entirely silent,) the time 
 of the Messiah's being cut off, the overspreading of abomi- 
 nations, which shall be taken notice of in my observations 
 on the next hypothesis, that of the learned Prideaux, which 
 these historians recommend. 
 
 The Doctor very judiciously objects to the calculations and 
 hypotheses which terminate in Jesus different from his, 
 showing their absurdity, and the impossibility of terminating 
 them in that event ; and therefore begins his own computatiou 
 of the seventy weeks, from the seventh of Artaxerxes, when 
 Ezra began to execute his commission.* For reckoning or 
 calculating the time backward, he finds, from the death of 
 Jesus to the execution of the said commission, just four hun- 
 dred and ninety years :| he therefore takes the commandment 
 of the seventy weeks, or four hundred and ninety years, not 
 literally, but in a figurative sense,J and this he does for a 
 very obvious reason ; for having proved, as I before obser- 
 ved, that the commandment for restoring and building Je- 
 rusalem, could be no other but Cyrus' decree, *<If (says 
 he) the computation be begun so high, the four hundred and 
 ninety years of the said seventy weeks cannot come low 
 enough to reach any of the events predicted by the pro- 
 phecy, (he means those to which Christians would extend the 
 prophecy ;) for from the first of Cyrus to the death of Christ, 
 
 * Con. Vol. ii. p. 377. f Ibid. 381. + Ibid. 382. 
 
188 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 were five hundred and sixty-eight years ; and, therefore, if 
 the said four hundred and ninety years be computed from 
 thence, they will be expired a great many years either be- 
 fore the cutting off, or the coming of the Messiah/'* As 
 he sets out, or begins his computation from a supposed figu- 
 rative prediction of the angel, so he continues the events 
 in the same sense, making the streets and city to mean figu- 
 ratively, church and state. "j* And the ditch, he makes a 
 figurative expression, for good constitutions and establish- 
 ment.! Indeed, he is not silent (as the authors of the Uni- 
 versal History are), concerning the confirming the covenant 
 with many for one week, he says this " was done by Jesus 
 confirming for one week, that is, for the space of seven 
 years, the covenant of the gospel with many of the Jews." 
 Now how, or from what authority he does this, when Chris- 
 tians as well as himself, declare and assert that his gospel 
 u was not a temporal law, as was that of Moses; but to last 
 for ever, and to be a guide unto all righteousness as long as 
 the world should last,"|| and yet reduce it to only a seven 
 years' covenant, seems very strange and contradictory. They 
 find it not less difficult how to make out the fulfilling of 
 that part of the prophecy, which declares that the sacrifice 
 and oblations should cease in the midst of the last week, 
 which none in fact pretended did literally happen ; because 
 they continued for a long time after, even to the destruction 
 of the city. This difficulty is got over, not by pretending 
 they actually did cease, for it is acknowledged that they did 
 not so "till the destruction of the temple, about forty years 
 after ; but by pretending that they lost their efficacy, and 
 
 * Con. Vol. ii. p. 386. f Ibid. 415. Ibid. 416. 
 
 I Ibid. 416. 1J Ibid. 380. 
 
LETTER XXIV. 189 
 
 became useless and insignificant, after the grand sacrifice of 
 the saviour of the world;"* but for this you must take 
 their word. Most remarkable is the fulfilling of this part of 
 the prophecy, as made out by Prideaux ; for he has not the 
 patience to wait till the death of Jesus, but anticipates it by 
 half a week ; for he tells us " that he should in the half 
 past week, that is, in the latter part of it, cause the sacri- 
 fice and oblations of the temple to cease, and in the conclu- 
 sion of the whole, that is, in the precise ending of the 
 seventy weeks, be cut off and die, and accordingly (this he 
 asserts with great assurance) all this was exactly fulfilled, 
 and was brought to pass ;"f so that according to him, they 
 must have lost their efficacy before the death of Jesus : and 
 if this be so, what becomes of all the types of Christ's 
 sacrifice, which they are made to prefigure ? They pretend, 
 by what rule of language I know not, that the overspread- 
 ing of abominations "Sufficiently prefigures the Roman 
 eagles set up in the temple ;" J which is false in fact, none 
 being set up there, as the same was in flames before it was 
 taken ; neither did the Romans set up there any idolatry 
 at all. They are all so greatly perplexed how to make out 
 and apply that part of the prophecy which mentions, " the 
 people of the prince that shall come/' some applying the 
 passage to the Romans under Titus, others to Jesus himself. 
 But the first it cannot be, because the whole extent of the 
 prophecy terminates at the death of Jesus, and all the events 
 mentioned, were to happen within that space ; consequently, 
 Titus with the Romans, who laid seige to Jerusalem many 
 years after, cannot be the person intended; neither can it 
 
 * Uni. His. Vol. x. p. 449. f Prid. Con. Vol. ii. p. 416. 
 
 J Uni. His. Vol. x. p. 449. $ Ibid. 663, 664. 
 
190 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 be Jesus who had been cut off long before. The pro- 
 phecy declares positively, that the Messiah or Anointed was 
 to be cut off after the sixty -second week; whereas the 
 authors of the Universal History stretch it to the sixty- 
 ninth week, and Prideaux to the seventieth, which is a con- 
 tradiction of the prophecy ; for, if the Messiah was not to 
 be cut off till the sixty-ninth or seventieth week, that period 
 would undoubtedly have been fixed by the angel, and not 
 the sixty-second. In short, considering their assertions 
 made without the least foundation, and contrary not only to 
 the prophecy, but also to facts, you will have less cause to 
 be surprised at what is generally asserted by them concern- 
 ing the finishing of transgression, making an end of sins, 
 reconciliation for iniquities, and the bringing in everlasting 
 righteousness, on which, and the sealing up the vision and 
 prophecy, and the anointing the most Holy, they run out 
 and descant most notably ; an instance of this you have in 
 Prideaux, all which he makes to be accomplished, " in the 
 great work of our salvation, undertaken by Jesus, fully com- 
 pleted by "his death, passion, and resurrection. Being born 
 without original sin, and living without actual sin, he was 
 the most holy of all he was anointed with the Holy Ghost, 
 and with, power to be king, priest, and prophet, which 
 offered himself a sacrifice upon the cross, making thereby an 
 end of sin, in so doing he did work reconciliation for us 
 with our Grod," It is a pity that the learned author had not 
 proved every one of these particular points ; for it is im- 
 possible that any one can consider all these events thus put 
 together, and think that they came to pass, or were brought 
 about by Jesus. A transition of our thoughts, and a little 
 reflection on the wickedness of the times in which he lived, 
 
LETTER XXV. 191 
 
 the perpetual divisions, and continual crimes or unrighte- 
 ousness of the church from the beginning down to this 
 time, must surely make it not only impossible, but ridicu- 
 lous to pretend to do it ; the contradictions must appear so 
 glaring to any person anywise acquainted with the history 
 of the church and its proceedings, as must occasion {force) 
 a conclusion entirely opposite } for it must naturally lead 
 him to think, that nothing like that which is pretended 
 ever happened, and that consequently the prophecy could 
 never terminate in Jesus. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER XXV. 
 
 WE are told by Father Calmet that there are many dif- 
 ferent hypotheses concerning Daniel's seventy weeks, even 
 among Christian writers some begin them from the first 
 year of Darius, the Mede, which is the epoch of Daniel's 
 prophecy, and make them determine at the profanation of the 
 temple, which happened under the persecution of Antiochus 
 Epiphanes. Others begin them from the first year of Cyrus 
 at Babylon, and place the end of them at the destruction of 
 the Temple by the Romans. Others fix the beginning at 
 the first year of Darius the Mede, in which the revelation 
 was made to Daniel, and put the end at the birth of Jesus 
 Christ ; Julius Africanus begins the seventy weeks at the 
 second year of Artaxerxes, and makes them terminate at 
 
192 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 the death of the Messiah.* This Julius Africanus flourished 
 in the third century, and, if I mistake not, was the first 
 that calculated the seventy weeks to apply them to Jesus, 
 which none of the New Testament writers, or any other had 
 yet done, or found out any such meaning, though they lived 
 long enough, every one having written after their pretended 
 accomplishment at Jesus' death. Thus you see nothing is 
 left unattempted to make out the accomplishment of this 
 prophecy. But " let them understand by week, weeks of 
 years (though there be no foundation in the Old Testament 
 -for the use of the word), or what other portion of time they 
 think fit ; let them understand by a year the Jewish or 
 Chaldean, a lunar or solar year; let them begin the weeks in 
 the year of Cyrus, or Darius, or Xerxes, or in the seventh 
 or twentieth of Aataxerxes Longimanus, or when Daniel had 
 his vision ; let them fix the time of Jesus' birth, or begin- 
 ning to preach, or death, when they please; and let them 
 assign the time of the expiration of the seventy weeks, which 
 is variously fixed, when they please : yet cannot this pro- 
 phecy be made to square to the event they would refer it to, 
 and will after all be subject to great difficulties.'^ " Many 
 other writers (says Mr. Woolston) besides the Bishop of 
 Litchfield, such as Dr. Clark, Dr. Marshall, Mr. Whiston, 
 and Mr. Sykes, have to their power urged this prophecy 
 against the author of the Grounds ; and indeed it was una- 
 voidable, and not to be passed over in silence by them; since 
 that author, by his insinuations, had objected to the obscu- 
 rity of this prophecy, the difficulty of its application, and 
 the difference amongst expositors in the computation of the 
 
 * Vide the article "Weeks. f Grounds and Reasons, p. 250. 
 
LETTER XXV. 193 
 
 time mentioned in it ; and therefore the said writers against 
 the Grounds were in the right on it, almost every one to con- 
 tend for the truth of this prophecy, and to illustrate it ; and 
 if they had all jumped in their numerical and chronogical 
 notions with the least show of exactness, they had done 
 somewhat to the purpose. But alas ! they are so unhappily 
 divided amongst themselves as any before them, in their way 
 of arithmetic and chronology : and good Mr. Whiston is so 
 offended with the Bishop of Litchfield and Dr. Clarke for 
 their computation of Daniels' weeks, that he could not for- 
 bear writing against them."* 
 
 These differences are enough to make us say, that where 
 there is so little agreement, little certainty can be expected ;}* 
 and you will less wonder at finding some of the most emi- 
 nent Christian chronologists and expounders give up the 
 application of this prophecy and its accomplishment in 
 Jesus, and endeavour at a different computation and appli- 
 cation, ending the seventy weeks, and the events therein 
 mentioned in the times of Antiochus Epiphanes, this being 
 the epoch assigned to the prophecy also by some of the best 
 Jewish authors, the other event being neither satisfactory 
 nor literally fulfilled. For the truth of this we may appeal 
 to almost every Christian commentator. I shall instance 
 in this the judicious Prideaux, who, after the great trouble 
 and pains he had been at to fix his own, and overthrow all 
 other hypotheses, concludes by declaring, et that there are 
 many difficulties in it, must be acknowledged; the per- 
 plexities which many learned men have been led to, in their 
 explications of it ; do sufficiently prove it ; and the under- 
 
 * Dissert, on Daniels' Weeks, p. 4. t Un. Hist. Vol. x. p. 448. 
 
194 BIAS* LETTERS. 
 
 standing in a literal sense, what is there meant in a figurative, 
 hath not been the least cause thereof/'* Let them give up 
 all pretensions, and not lay any stress or urge it against the 
 Jews, unless they are able to clear it of the many difficulties 
 with which it is clogged; and experience ought to convince 
 them of the impracticability of doing it. I shall now give 
 you that explanation and application of this prophecy which 
 to me appears the best. 
 
 I was once of opinion that no person could ever be able 
 to know or ascertain the true meaning and import of this 
 prophecy ; it always appeared to me to be a particular reve- 
 lation made to Daniel, who was favoured with the foreknow- 
 ledge of many future events, particularly with some remark- 
 able transactions which should within a limited space of 
 time befall his people ; and as it was not necessary that any 
 other person should have, or attain to, the like knowledge, 
 it was for that reason revealed in such terms as should evade 
 the conjectures of all inquirers. The divisions amongst ex- 
 positors, who hardly agree in any one circumstance, helped to 
 confirm me in this opinion, and their endeavouring to apply 
 and extend the prophecy to a favourite event, or a particular 
 hypothesis, rather than sincerely endeavour to find out its 
 true meaning, greatly increases the difficulties. I have al- 
 ready shown the impossibility of extending it to one event 
 to which it has, with great pain and labour, been endeav- 
 oured to make it answer. It now remains that I make it 
 square with a very different event, to which I think it bet- 
 ter corresponds. Probability is in my opinion the highest 
 degree we can arrive at. It was the angel indeed who made 
 
 * Connect, ii. p. 441. 
 
LETTER XXV. 195 
 
 Daniel to know and understand (with a fixed certainty no 
 doubt) its import, meaning and application ; but as no other 
 person was ever favoured with the like privilege, it would 
 appear presumptuous to attempt it. As this prophecy is 
 largely and fully handled by many express expositors, both 
 Jews and Christians, who apply it to the same event, with 
 little variation, in their hypothesis, I shall refer you to them, 
 and therefore shall be very short. It appears, from Daniel's 
 prayer, and also from the angel's revelation and answer, 
 that he prayed, not only for the return of his people, but 
 likewise for the complete restoration and righteous times* 
 described by Jeremiah and the other prophets, of which he, 
 from their wickedness, judged there was but little prospect^ 
 at that time. These were his supplications. To this 
 prayer the angel answers that seventy weeks were shortened, 
 reduced, or abbreviated (for so neclitach signifies), that his 
 people might finish their transgressions, make an end of sins, 
 and reconciliation for iniquities, that so they might return 
 to God, and bring in everlasting righteousness, for which he 
 prayed, and seal or fulfil the prophecy, which foretold this 
 event, and annoint the (Kodesli HakkodasMm) sanctum 
 sanctorum. The angel then describes, or makes Daniel to 
 know and understand some extraordinary events that should 
 happen to, or befall his people during that space of tinie. 
 But it does not follow that, because there were seventy weeks 
 decreed or abbreviated before his nation should be restored, 
 the same should take effect at that period; because this, ac- 
 cording to all the prophecies, is made to depend on their 
 turning to God and making themselves worthy of it. All, 
 
 * Dan. ix. 13. f Ibid. ix. 5, 11. 
 
196 BIAS* LETTERS. 
 
 therefore, which the angels intimates, is that the time given 
 being accomplished, they were entitled to it should they be 
 deserving of it. 
 
 There is a very great difference concerning the promises 
 relating to the duration of the Egyptian bondage and Baby- 
 lonish captivity, and to that restoration prayed for by Daniel ; 
 the first two were absolute and unconditional; but that 
 which was to be the fulfilling of the prophecies, the restora- 
 tion which Daniel prayed for, had no time fixed ; therefore, 
 what the angel reveals is. that after such a time it depended 
 on his people's rendering themselves deserving by their re- 
 formation, which was only to be obtained by the finishing of 
 transgression, making an end of sin, and reconciliation of 
 iniquity,, which would bring in everlasting righteousness, 
 the completion of prophecies, and restoration of divine ser- 
 vice, or anointing the kodesh hakkodashim, that is, the res- 
 toration of the Jews, an event expected both by Jews and 
 Christians. 
 
 I shall now proceed to mark out the events which the 
 angel declares to Daniel should happen during the limited 
 time and divisions. The first division is that, " from the 
 going forth of the word or prophecy (for so dabar signifies) 
 to restore and build Jerusalem, unto Messiah the Prince 
 shall be seven weeks/' Here then we have a beginning and 
 ending of this epoch, which is, that from the word or pro- 
 mise made to Jeremiah of a return from captivity, in the 
 fourth of Jehoiakim,* where the weeks begin, unto Cyrus, 
 called by Isaiah the Lord's anointed, Messiah, or Christ, "f 
 where they end, are seven weeks, or forty-nine years. Then 
 
 * Jer. xxv. 1, 12. t Isa. xliv. 1. 
 
LETTER XXV. 197 
 
 beginning from the same time, the sixty-two weeks (for they 
 are abbreviated), that is four hundred and thirty-two years, 
 they end or terminate in Judas Maccabeus, during which 
 space, " the streets and walls were to be built even in trou- 
 blous times ;" and that it did so ^ happen is evident from 
 history, the people and city undergoing sundry revolutions 
 and changes. After this epoch, that is, after the sixty-two 
 weeks, shall Messiah (Christ or Anointed) be cut off, that 
 is, Onias, who was the legal, anointed high priest, an upright 
 person and of great holiness, was cruelly put to death, just 
 after the sixty-second week.* Here, then, we find the two 
 Christs or Messiahs ; the first is Cyrus, the Prince Messiah, 
 to whom, from the going forth of the prophecy, revealed to 
 Jeremiah, was to be seven weeks, he having the honour of 
 that denomination from God himself; the second Messiah 
 is Onias, the legal high priest, and in fact anointed, or 
 Messiah, a person of great sanctity,f and of whom it is said, 
 that there are few persons to whom the Scriptures give greater 
 praises,^ who was to be killed after the sixty-two weeks, or 
 four hundred and thirty-four years, " without help. 7 ' The 
 words ve-en lo can never be made to mean, "not for himself," 
 it is much more proper, as they are in the margin of the 
 English Bible " and shall have nothing ;" they are very 
 exactly rendered in the Spanish y-no-ae-l. To make ve-en lo 
 significant, something ought to be added, and nothing so 
 proper, as I have rendered them, or "unto him no help/' or 
 "he had none to help him;" so that in these two Messiahs 
 we have a most literal accomplishment of the prophecy. 
 They were to be different, since to the first were to be seven. 
 
 * 2 Mace. iv. t Ibid. iii. 33. f Diet, on the article Onias. 
 
198 DIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 weeks, or forty-nine years, and the other was to be put to 
 death , or cut off, after sixty-two weeks, or four hundred and 
 thirty -four years. 
 
 Nothing can be more contradictory to the text, than to 
 make the angel say (as those do who would extend the pro- 
 phecy to Jesus), that there shall be seven weeks and sixty- 
 two weeks unto the Messiah Prince; for if the angel meant 
 sixty-nine weeks, it must have been absurd thus to divide 
 the time and make two reckonings, where he meant but one, 
 contrary to all the rules of language and modes of speech. 
 My meaning, therefore, is not only most agreeable to the 
 text, but also conformable to chronology ; besides which, 
 Cyrus and Onias have both an inherent right of being 
 termed or called Messiahs. But Jesus' right to that title 
 is not so evident; for it will not be admitted as an adequate 
 proof, what they assert, " That he was anointed with the 
 Holy Ghost/' which is a phrase, when it comes rightly to 
 be considered, which will amount to an empty sound, without 
 any meaning at all. 
 
 But to proceed. The next part of the prophecy is, "And 
 the people of the Prince that shall come, shall destroy the 
 Holy City, and the sanctuary, and the end thereof shaft be 
 with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are 
 determined/' which is a description of the persecution and 
 transactions of Antiochus Epiphanes and his army, who laid 
 the city and temple waste, and like a flood overpowered every- 
 thing, causing great desolation during the war.* u And he 
 shall confirm the covenant with many for one week." This 
 is the covenant made with many who left the law, to follow 
 
 * I Mace. i. 20-24; 30-39 ; 2 Mace. v. 11-16; 24-26. 
 
LETTER XXV. 199 
 
 the ordinances of the heathen.* " And in the midst of the 
 week, he shall cause the sacrifices and oblation to cease, and 
 for the overspreading of abominations, he shall make it deso- 
 late, even until the consummation/' which happened accor- 
 dingly; for he forbade in the middle of the week "burnt- 
 offerings, and sacrifices, and drink-offerings, in the temple^ 
 and that they should profane the Sabbath and festival days."*)* 
 " Now in the fifteenth day of the month Kislev, in the one 
 hundred and forty-fifth year, they set up the abomination of 
 desolation upon the altar, and builded idol altars through- 
 out the cities of Judah on every side,"J so that this part 
 of the prophecy received the literal accomplishment ; and the 
 author plainly allude to this circumstance in his description. 
 And that " determined shall be poured out upon the desolate." 
 This last part seems to want some word to make up the 
 sentence, and may with propriety be thus made up : " And 
 in the end the desolator shall have vengeance poured on him/' 
 that is, in the end the Jews shall take vengeance on their 
 enemies; which did so happen, under the conduct of the 
 valiant Judas Maccabeus, who overthrew their forces, and 
 recovered the city and temple, and restored the temple ser- 
 vice, in commemoration of which deliverance, a feast was 
 ordained, which has ever since been religiously kept. Thus, 
 sir, have I expounded and explained this famous prophecy, 
 which ends with the war and persecution of Antiochus Epi- 
 phanes. The whole prophecy seems throughout a repre- 
 sentation of the events which happened during that space, 
 as the events themselves are a literal fulfilling of it, and in 
 every respect agree with the history of those times. But 
 
 * 1 Mace. i. 11-15. t Ibid. 45. J Ibid. 54. 
 
200 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 whatever your opinion may be of this performance, one 
 thing I may venture to assert, and that is, that it can be no 
 prophecy of Jesus ; for to him it cannot be applied without 
 doing the utmost violence to the prophecy, and departing 
 from its plain meaning; and if a figurative explanation and 
 application be admitted, I doubt not such a one may be 
 made out as will be much disliked by Christians ; and why 
 it should not be admitted, or be on the same footing, as 
 those which they invent, will be hard for them to show a 
 sufficient cause. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER XXVI. 
 
 THE 53d chapter of Isaiah is famous amongst Christian 
 expositors ; the whole is applied to and explained of Jesus. 
 They tell us that he is therein described and represented 
 as a person despised and rejected, as a man of sorrow and 
 acquainted with grief; as one on whom the sins of the 
 whole world were to be laid ; as one who should offer him- 
 self to an ignominious death, and be chastised for our trans- 
 gressions and iniquities, thereby redeeming lost mankind 
 and working their reconciliation with an infinite and offended 
 God, atoning with his life and suffering for original and 
 actual sin ; the whole human race (as they pretend) being 
 slaves of the devil, and under God's wrath and damnation, 
 as partakers of Adam's sin; God requiring infinite satis- 
 
LETTER XXVI. 201 
 
 faction, which not being in the power of any finite creature 
 to make, could only be done by Jesus as being both God 
 and man. It is really surprising to what lengths they 
 stretch these doctrines } asserting that no person can be 
 saved by his own merits, making salvation attainable only 
 by the merits of Jesus, (that is declaring we are only to be 
 saved by proxy;) and they will have all good or benificent 
 works to be sinful without faith in Jesus, holding all ac- 
 cursed who believe they shall be saved by the law, or sect 
 which they follow. Thus one absurdity giving rise to 
 another, they banish that charity which on many occasions 
 they pretend to be the distinguishing characteristic of their 
 religion ; but with what little foundation I appeal to their 
 creeds ; as these doctrines and inventions are the foundation 
 of the present system of Christianity, and are the conse- 
 quences of, and have their foundation on original sin, from 
 whence they draw a pretence for Jesus' sufferings and ig- 
 nominious death, and the necessity of infinite satisfaction, 
 that is the necessity of one God dying to satisfy another, or 
 the same God. It will be necessary to sift this matter and 
 show its absurdity, and prove that there is no manner of 
 foundation either in reason or Scripture for such invention ; 
 for as is judiciously observed, one of God's revelations can- 
 not contradict another, because He gave us the first to judge 
 all others by.* It will be, therefore, vain to pretend that 
 these doctrines are above reason, if they contradict reason 
 and common sense ; that being the criterion by which all 
 doctrines must be judged. It is very plain and evident that 
 Adam, and the rest concerned in original sin, had sentence 
 
 * Warburton Div. Leg. Vol. i. p. 83. 
 
202 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 pronounced on them by God himself, which sentence was 
 inflicted on the offenders ; we have it in the following words : 
 t( And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou 
 hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle and above 
 every beast of the field ; upon thy belly shalt thou go and 
 dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life ; and I will put 
 enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed 
 and her seed, it shall bruise thy head and thou shall bruise 
 his heel. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply 
 thy sorrow and thy conception, in sorrow shall thou bring 
 forth children, and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and 
 he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because 
 thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast 
 eaten of the tree which I commanded thee, saying, Thou 
 shall not eat of it, cursed is the ground for thy sake, in sor- 
 row shall thou eat of it all the days of thy life/'* &c. This 
 was God's own definitive sentence, which being executed on 
 the different (or several) offenders, will any one say that 
 God required either a greater or- a different satisfaction than 
 that which He himself imposed ? Can any one say ; that He 
 was not satisfied with his own judgment ? 
 
 Go wiser thou, and in thy scale of sense 
 Weigh thy opinions against Providence. Pope. 
 
 Can there he a greater absurdity and contradiction, than 
 to pretend that God himself must suffer that He may par- 
 don? How inconsistent (not to say impious) are such 
 doctrines ! how unacquainted must those who propagate, 
 and inculcate such notions, be with God and his attributes ! 
 
 * Gen. iii. 6-14. 
 
LETTER XXVI. 203 
 
 Is it to be imagined that the sin of our first parents, after 
 judgment and sentence were executed, should again be revived 
 after some thousands of years ? What tribunal or court of 
 justice would allow this ? Or who could be the appellants ? 
 Was it Adam that appealed against his Maker, or did the 
 Almighty appeal against himself, or his sentence ? Is not 
 such a proceeding, in fact, inflicting punishment on the 
 Deity, as if He were the aggressor for giving a merciful 
 sentence against Adam ? 
 
 Snatch from his hand the balance and the rod, 
 Rejudge his justice, be the God of God. Pope. 
 
 Can anything be more ridiculous ? and shall we believe 
 people, nay learned people, are serious, when they pretend to 
 impose such absurdities for doctrines ? 
 
 It is pretended that God being infinitely offended, required 
 infinite satisfaction ; but can God require of his creatures 
 that which He never put in their power to give ? Can we 
 consistently with the natural notion we have of God, think 
 He can act thus with his creatures, or that He in his infinite 
 goodness can ever require more than is in our power to 
 give ? or can finite creatures give infinite offence ? But for 
 argument's sake let us suppose that such a satisfaction was 
 necessary ; and then let them tell us how it was possible that 
 it should be made at all ; for if God the son (as is pre- 
 tended) be of the same essence with God the Father, how can 
 one suffer and not the other? Besides, original sin must 
 have equally offended the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, since 
 they are all but one, or of one and the same essence, for 
 which reason all three must have required the like satisfac- 
 tion ; for, as they all can have but one will, none could par- 
 
204 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 don without it ; and why might not the Father or Holy 
 Ghost be mediators as well as the Son, and if one could par- 
 don or did not require infinite satisfaction, why not the other ? 
 And if we are told that nothing suffered by this satisfaction 
 made on the cross but only the human nature : then they 
 cannot make out the satisfaction which they pretend was 
 necessary ; for if human sufferings were sufficient, there was 
 no necessity for any satisfaction to be made by Jesus, as 
 God and man. Adam, or any of his descendants, would 
 have done as well. But let us inquire farther, Did Jesus 
 make full satisfaction, or did he do it only in part ? If the first, 
 pray what was it that was pardoned ? Why nothing ; for the 
 debt being fully paid, or satisfaction given, there was then, of 
 course, no pardon ; for supposing you owe me a sum of 
 money, can it be said that I pardon you anything, on re- 
 ceiving payment, or satisfaction to the full amount ? Would 
 it not be ridiculous for me to say, I pardon you, having re- 
 ceived the whole ? Is it not equally absurd to say, par- 
 don was obtained, when full satisfaction was made and 
 given ? But we may be told, that though full satisfac- 
 tion could not be made, yet, that God accepted it, and took 
 it for such; if so, then must they allow, that God can par- 
 don without full satisfaction, which, if he can, how absurd 
 must it be to say, He required infinite satisfaction; and 
 why He might not pardon Adam, on the punishment he in- 
 flicted, will be impossible for them to show. In short, they 
 are reduced to this dilemma : If Jesus made full satisfaction, 
 then was there no pardon ; and if he did not make full satis- 
 faction, then was there no necessity for either his sufferings 
 or death. The Messiah, say they, was to die for the sins of 
 the world ; grant he did so ; the natural consequence must 
 
LETTER XXVI. 205 
 
 then be, that mankind were restored j but nothing like this 
 is pretended, for inquire in what the restoration consisted, 
 and it vanishes to a mere nothing. Was the human race 
 restored to any of its forfeited dignities ? no ; was there any 
 alteration in their affairs ? no ; did the Jews, to whom the 
 Messiah was promised as the greatest worldly blessing, re- 
 ceive any benefit or advantage by his coming ? no ; on the 
 contrary, it is pretended, that the doing that which was 
 necessary to be done brought on their ruin. Can there be 
 any thing more inconsistent or contradictory, than to pre- 
 tend that the salvation of the whole world could only be 
 brought about by the ignominious death of a person, and 
 that the very act that introduced this salvation excluded 
 those very people, through whose means it was obtained, 
 from the benefit of it ? How the Jews are upbraided for 
 that very act, let all their writers witness ; one and all agree, 
 that for this sin not only their city and temple were de- 
 stroyed, but that they brought thereby damnation on them- 
 selves and posterity. There is something very unaccount- 
 able in this affair ; for Jesus must die that the world might 
 be saved, and the Jews must be damned for the same rea- 
 son. That Jesus was to suffer an ignominious death was 
 pre-ordained, a thing settled by agreement ; to this end and 
 purpose, it is pretended, " he came into the world, the kings 
 of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together 
 against the Lord, and against his Christ; for of a truth 
 against the holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both 
 Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people 
 of Israel, were gathered together, for to do whatever thy 
 hand and thy council determined before to be done."* That 
 * Acts iv. 26. 
 
206 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 this was so, is evident from what Jesus himself tells Pilate : 
 t( Thou couldst have no power at ail against me, except it 
 were giveri thee from above."* Who can forbear lamenting 
 this contrivance ; who can forbear crying, fatal necessity ! 
 Is it thus that the Almighty, the good, the merciful God 
 deals his blessings to mankind, thus to deceive and doom to 
 destruction the unhappy instruments which He was pleased 
 to make use of in saving the world ? Who could have sus- 
 pected or believed that the Deity, who fills all things, should 
 so contract his existence as to be contained in the womb of 
 a woman,*)" that he should take a human shape, and appear 
 among us in disguise, doing all he could to hide from those 
 to whom he was sent not only his divinity, but also the cha- 
 racter of Messiah ?J Was it to be imagined that the Mes- 
 siah would in his discourses make use of nothing but dark 
 sayings and parables, that he might not be known ? or, as 
 he expresses himself, "that seeing they, may see and not 
 perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand, 
 lest at any time they should be converted and their sins 
 should be forgiven them ?" Is this conduct worthy of 
 God ? is this the Messiah promised the Jews as their greatest 
 good ? Behold him using all the art he can from manifest- 
 ing himself, " lest at any time they should see with their 
 eyes, and should understand with their heart, and should 
 be converted, and I should heal them."|[ Could it be 
 
 * John xix. 11. 
 
 t It is (as it were) to cancel the essential differences of things, to re- 
 move the bounds of nature, to bring heaven and earth (and what is 
 more), both ends of a contradiction together. (Vide, Dr. Youth's Ser- 
 mons, Vol. iii. p. 367.) 
 
 t Matt. xvi. 20. I Ibid. iv. 12. || Ibid. xiii. 15. 
 
907 
 LETTER XXVI 
 
 imagined, that the Messiah would hinder the Jews in ob- 
 taining the means of being healed and forgiven ? " And 
 he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the 
 kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing 
 they might not see, and hearing they might not under- 
 stand."* The Jews did all in their power to be rightly 
 informed, and only desired a sign.f But lest they should 
 be convinced, they are refused ; and a resolution is taken to 
 give them no sign but the sign of Jonas,! which in fact 
 was no sign, as it was never made good to them ; for they 
 were excluded from being present or seeing any of those 
 transactions related of his resurrection ; and I cannot help 
 thinking, that if his death brought on the desolation of 
 Jerusalem, and the damnation of the Jews, it was none of 
 their fault ; since the grand secret was never disclosed to 
 those who ought to have had the information; of this 
 Jesus himself seems to have been sensible ; " Father forgive 
 them, for they know not what they do," were his last and 
 dying words ; and St. Peter declares the Jews guiltless, 
 " And now, brethren, I wot, that through ignorance ye did 
 it, and so did your rulers." || It is, therefore, a great ab- 
 surdity to pretend, that the destruction of the city and 
 temple and the dispersion of the Jews were occasioned by put- 
 ting Jesus to death. Was the destruction of the kingdom 
 of Israel (which happened seven hundred years before Jesus) 
 owing to his death ? was the destruction of the city and 
 temple by the Babylonians owing to his death ? were the 
 many and frequent calamities which befell the Jews owing 
 
 * Luke yiii. 10. f Matt. xvi. 1. j Ibid. 4. 
 
 Luke xxiii. 34. I! Acts iii. 17. 
 
208 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 to his death ? were the frequent profanations and pollutions 
 of the temple, and its being so often taken by different ene- 
 mies, owing to his death ? No ; the Jews will be told, that 
 all these calamities were brought on them by their manifold 
 crimes; and, if so, why is not the last destruction of city 
 and temple imputed to the same cause ? The history of 
 those times furnish such scenes of wickedness and profane- 
 ness, as are not to be equalled at any other epoch : besides, 
 were not the Jews subject to the Romans long before the 
 coming of Jesus ? were they not barbarously oppressed and 
 ill-treated by their extortionate governors, both before, in 
 his time, and afterwards ? was not this, together with a 
 desire of recovering their liberties, and the being misled by 
 some crafty and wicked leaders, that which occasioned their 
 revolt ? They might as well pretend that all the misfor- 
 tunes, which befell the Jews before the coming of Jesus, 
 were owing to his death, as to pretend, that what afterwards 
 befell them was owing to that event; when it evidently 
 appears, that this was brought about by so many concurrent 
 causes. I am, &c. 
 
 LETTEE XXVII. 
 
 THE doctrine of satisfaction and the necessity of Jesus 7 suf- 
 ferings and death, appear very plainly to have been invented 
 by his followers ; his whole conduct very evidently contra- 
 dicts it. We are told that, " as Jesus sat at meat in the 
 
LETTER XXVII. 209 
 
 house, behold many publicans and sinners came and sat down 
 with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it 
 they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your master with pub- 
 licans and sinners ? But when Jesus heard that, he said 
 unto them, Tliey that be whole need not a physician, but they 
 that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will 
 have mercy, and not sacrifice : for I am not come to call the 
 righteous (says he) but sinners to repentance."* Nothing 
 can be more express than this declaration of his ; but how 
 contradictory to the present system of Christianity let any 
 one judge. Jesus declared that they that be whole need 
 not a physician, but only those that are sick ; but Chris- 
 tians insist that unless both the whole and sick have one, 
 they must be damned. Jesus freely declares that he came 
 not to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance ; but 
 Christians insist that without faith they must be damned, 
 repentance not being deemed by them sufficient. Jesus de- 
 clares from Hoseaf "that God will have mercy and not 
 sacrifice/' but Christians contradict him, and strenuously 
 insist that God could have no mercy without sacrifice. Is it 
 possible that Jesus should have made such a declaration, if 
 he knew that he himself was to be made a sacrifice, nay a 
 necessary sacrifice, to which he had, as Christians pretend, 
 devoted and offered himself willingly and freely f But it is 
 very plain that all pretensions of this sort have no manner 
 of foundation ; since it was with the utmost reluctance that 
 he suffered. " My soul is exceeding sorrowful, unto 
 death,"J (says he;) he prayed very fervently, "0 mj 
 Father ! if it be possible let this cup pass from me." 
 
 * Matt. ix. 10, 13. t Hosea vi. 10. 
 
 J Matt. xxvi. 38. I Ibid. 29. 
 
210 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 / 
 
 " Father, if thou be willing remove this cup from me."* 
 Here is what he earnestly desired, and what he be- 
 sought in the utmost agonies, such as even made the 
 sweat that came from him a as it were great drops of blood 
 falling to the ground."f The whole of this transaction, 
 therefore, evidently evinces that he had not made any such 
 agreement ; for either he knew his death to be necessary, or 
 he was ignorant of it : if the first, then was his praying to 
 be exempted from that which was necessary, from that to 
 which he had devoted himself, and from that which he came 
 to perform, absurd and ridiculous, and would have been 
 thought so had any common person acted in the like manner ; 
 for how could he so earnestly pray to be exempted from that 
 which he knew was necessary for him to undergo, having 
 freely offered himself? was the desire of saving the world a 
 matter of such indifference to him ? was his love to man- 
 kind abated ? But if he knew not that his sufferings were 
 necessary, or that, by his means, the world was to be saved : 
 then could he not be that divine person which Christians 
 make him ; and consequently, if infinite satisfaction was ne- 
 cessary, or the death of God requisite, he could not be the 
 person that could make it; that he could not be God, is 
 plain, not only from his whole conduct, but also from the 
 circumstance of the angel's descent from heaven to strengthen 
 him.J Now, for God to be either in such agonies, or to 
 stand in need of another's assistance, appears to be such an 
 absurdity, as surely ought not to be mentioned; for of what 
 service or use would the divine nature be, if it could not 
 prevent human frailties and fears from getting the better of 
 
 * Luke xxii. 42. f Matt. xxvi. 44. J Luke xxii. 43. 
 
LETTER XXVII. 211 
 
 it, nor prevent its triumphing over it ?* On the whole, I 
 think there redounds no honour to Jesus from the represen- 
 tation of this whole affair ; sioce he prayed to be excused 
 from it, and besought it with bloody sweats, it being done 
 contrary to his inclination. il Not as I will," says he, "but 
 as thou wilt/'f or, " Not my will but thine be done;"J so 
 that, if he was a divine person, he must have had an opposite 
 will to that of the Father, which, if so, it will be difficult to 
 make it consistent ; and either the Jews contracted no guilt, 
 since there could be no salvation obtained without his suffer- 
 ings; or salvation must be made the consequence of an ob- 
 noxious wicked act ! To these sad dilemmas are they re- 
 duced. We are told "that the whole economy of man's re- 
 demption is everywhere represented to us as an unsearchable 
 mystery of divine wisdom and goodness, and as the object 
 of our belief, and not of our comprehension j but, as this 
 is the foundation on which the whole superstructure is built, 
 I think that if the same be proved to be false, everything 
 that is built thereon must fall ; for can that be made a mat- 
 ter of belief, which we not only do not comprehend, but is 
 contradictory in itself ? Neither can it be made to answer 
 any end or purpose at all; for as to original sin, they do not 
 pretend that it is atoned for, it being an article of faith that 
 all that arc born are enemies to God, and slaves of the devil, 
 and children are doomed by the Romish Church to limbo if 
 they die before baptism, and the reformed condemn those 
 that are born of parents not baptized to damnation ; this 
 
 * Tho learned Dr. South says concerning the person of Christ, that 
 were it not to be adored as a mystery, it would be exploded as a con- 
 tradiction. Sermons, Vol. iii. p. 316. f Matt. xxvi. 39. 
 
 t Luke xxii. 42. a Uni. His. Vol. x. t>. 591. 
 
212 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 they do for original sin, of which the children are most in- 
 nocent ; so that Jesus' death was of no service. And as to 
 actual sin, we are as subject to be carried away by the flesh 
 as our forefathers were; the same inclination, the same 
 proneness to vice predominates in our weak natures, and .ex- 
 perience will teach us that there is not the least alteration ; 
 so that his sufferings wrought in us no cure. And, as to any 
 spiritual benefit, it is plain that by this scheme the world is 
 in a worse condition than it was before ; for the Jews by 
 the law of Moses, and the gentiles by that of nature, ob- 
 tained salvation ; but now the elect only are to be saved, 
 and this saving doctrine is contracted to such narrow limits 
 that it extends no farther than a particular sect; for the 
 Roman Catholics send the reformed of all sects to the devil, 
 and these in their turn do the like not only by them, but by 
 all of different sects ; for salvation is engrossed, and made 
 the sole privilege of those within their own pale ; and to the 
 rest of mankind they show no mercy, as appears by their 
 creeds. What was it, then, that his death redeemed the 
 world from ? Was it the cause of introducing true religion ? 
 his death for that purpose was needless, and it might have 
 been done without his suffering. But where, or among 
 what sect or party is this true religion to be found ? Is it 
 in the Romish Church? This the others contradict. Is it 
 to be found in many particular sects ? This will be denied 
 by all. This now being the case, of what benefit were Jesus' 
 sufferings and death ? Could they, in fact, show the ben- 
 efit thereof, and demonstrate the cures pretended to be 
 wrought by them : then indeed they might boast, and have 
 some reason to apply the prophecy to him ; but to pretend 
 to impute it to him without proving the effects, is very 
 
LETTER XXVII. 213 
 
 extraordinary. How inconsistent are Christians to their doc- 
 trines ! They tell us that Jesus atoned and made satisfac- 
 tion for original sin, and yet declare that children are born 
 with it. But again they pretend that it is done away by 
 baptism, his death benefitting those only who received it, 
 all others continuing under its penalty, the same as if he 
 had not suffered ; so that to be free from original sin (for 
 which no one ever thought himself in any wise accountable) 
 his death is not sufficient ; the atonement being made to con- 
 sist in baptism, or in being sprinkled with water. And after 
 all, they place the efficacy of the cure in the imagination ; 
 for they will tell you that Jesus did his part, and by his 
 death freed every one from this sin; but it is necessary 
 that you think so, for otherwise you can receive no benefit 
 from it. You must therefore first think yourself under 
 God's curse and indignation, and then imagine Jesus has 
 freed you from it; that is, you must imagine yourself sick, 
 and then imagine Jesus has cured you, and then you are 
 sound and well ; but if you have not strength of imagina- 
 tion sufficient to make you think yourself sick, and conse- 
 quently, that you stand in no need of medicine, why then, 
 and in such case, Adam's eating the forbidden fruit will 
 rise in judgment against you, and you must be eternally 
 damned. Is not mankind by this redemption scheme in a 
 much worse condition than it was before ? Was this the 
 inestimable blessing which the world received by his death. 
 Perhaps one in a thousand will be saved, and all the rest 
 are to be damned. Now, how he carried our sorrows and 
 our griefs, or how he bore our iniquities and our transgres- 
 sions, or how he made atonement for our sins, and in what 
 manner he justified us, are things which I confess I ain not 
 
214 DIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 Almighty Grod has declafed that on our repenting and 
 turning to Him with a reformed life, He would accept and 
 pardon us ;* such acceptance on our repentance and amend- 
 ment being also agreeable to reason, and to G-od's mercy and 
 goodness. The case must always have been so, had Jesus 
 suffered or not. Besides, if Jesus made satisfaction for the 
 sins of the world, the past, present, and to come, then can it- 
 it be of no importance whether we be good or bad ; for if 
 that be so, our reward or happiness -must be secured thereby, 
 without good works or virtuous actions on our part. But 
 it may be pretended that our reward depends partly on our 
 own merits, and partly on the satisfaction which Jesus made, 
 imputing part of his own righteousness to make up our 
 own deficiency. To this I answer, By this scheme Jesus 
 was only a saviour in part, and the redemption must then 
 be as incomplete as it is absurd, besides that it takes from 
 him the merits of having saved the world ; for if our personal 
 righteousness be necessary, or our repentance and amend- 
 ment, then cannot his death be any advantage to us, because 
 upon these terms, "as I before observed, we ever had assurance 
 of being accepted. Nothing can be more contradictory than 
 to pretend that a person (and he a just one, too,) was to 
 suffer, that the wicked might receive reward ; for if that be 
 the case men would be rewarded without regard to their 
 merits; for personal merits must necessarily belong to the 
 agent, and are connected with the very individual, inherent 
 in himself, and no transfer can be made of them from one 
 agent to another ; consequently, to claim another's merits 
 is the most absurd and incoherent scheme that ever was 
 
 * See Isaiah Iv. 7, and Ezek. xxxiii. 11. 
 
LETTER XXVII. 215 
 
 invented. Is it reasonable that a person plead another's 
 merits, and pretend to justify himself by faith ? will this 
 plea of justification avail the greatest villain ? and shall 
 one who practises all the moral duties of life be damned, 
 because he lacks that faith ? Can it be made consistent 
 with either Scripture or reason (to make faith the reward of 
 the wicked), that the wicked be rewarded through faith, 
 and to impute it to them for righteousness; whilst they 
 deny to the good, who have led a life of goodness and 
 virtue, the reward due to their merit$? If God accepts 
 faith, let them trust to it, and let there be no distinction 
 between moral good and evil ; but if good works be deemed 
 necessary, why shall not he who practises them be benefitted 
 thereby, let him belong to what sect or society, either choice 
 or chance may have placed him in ? Shall the merits of one 
 person benefit all that will plead them, and shall not per- 
 sonal acts and righteousness avail those who practise them ? 
 can anything be more inconsistent with God's justice and 
 mercy ? Thus you see to what absurdities the scheme of 
 Jesus' sufferings and passion leads them. But in truth this 
 is only an invention, and entirely fictitious ; for let them 
 suppose that the Jews had received Jesus as their Messiah ; 
 that they had believed him to be God himself, and that they 
 had paid him, whilst living, the adoration paid to him by 
 Christians since his death : what must have been the con- 
 sequence ? Must not the world have been damned ? This must 
 have been the consequence, because, no atonement, no justi- 
 fication, no imputed righteousness, no faith could then have 
 been pleaded, and of consequence all must have perished ever- 
 lastingly. Are they, therefore, not obliged to us for preforming 
 the act, though wicked, as represented, since it brought them 
 
216 BIAS 7 LETTERS. 
 
 salvation ? how ungrateful are they for this benefit Jesus 
 underwent' a momentary pain, and for that they reverence 
 and adore him ; the Jews were involved in the same act, 
 they were appointed to the work, but they brought destruc- 
 tion and damnation on themselves and posterity by doing 
 their part, and are yet despised, ill treated, and abused by 
 those very persons who pretend to reap the benefit. These 
 are the absurdities attending this incomprehensible scheme ; 
 they are in the right therefore, to call it et an unsearchable 
 mystery/ ' and as such let those who can believe it. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 LETTER XXVIII. 
 
 THE absurdity and inconsistency of the doctrines treated 
 of in my two last letters prove the impossibility of applying 
 the prophecy, or making it answer the purposes intended 
 thereby, as some pretend, that a twofold death was implied 
 in the sentence. They infer that Adam and his posterity 
 were condemned both to a natural and spiritual death, from 
 which they could only be released by the sufferings and 
 passion of one, who was both God and man. They say an 
 agreement being made between God the Father and God the 
 Son, the latter offered himself to be made a sacrifice on the 
 cross, to appease the wrath of God the Father, and to atone 
 by this ignominious death for Adam's sin; restoring the 
 human race thereby to God's grace and favour, freeing them 
 
LETTER XXVIII. 217 
 
 from the power of the Devil, and from the penalties under 
 which they must have continued, as no other satisfaction 
 could have been accepted or deemed sufficient. We shall 
 now, therefore, inquire into the foundation of this twofold 
 death ; " In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely 
 die,"* which in Hebrew is expressed by the words moth 
 tahmuthy very properly rendered in the margin of the English 
 Bible, " Dying thou shalt die/' which phrase denotes the 
 certainty of its being inflicted ; as will very evidently appear 
 by considering the use and intent of the same phrase in 
 other places. When Solomon passed sentence on Shirnei, 
 the very same phrase is made use of, "On the day thou 
 goest forth, and passest over the Brook Kidron, thou shalt 
 know for certain thou shalt surely die," Heb. Moth tahmuth.-f 
 
 The prophet Elisha uses the same phrase to Hazael, to 
 denote thereby the certain death of Benhadad, king of Syria. 
 
 " The LORD hath shown me that he shall surely die/' 
 (Heb. Moth tahmuth.)^ When Saul doomed his son Jona- 
 than to death, he makes use of the same expression, " Thou 
 shalt surely die, Jonathan." (Heb. Moth tahmuth.*) He 
 also uses the same phrases when he sentenced the priest, 
 " Thou shalt surely die, Ahimelech," Heb. Moth tahmuth.\\ 
 From which passages, and from all others in Scripture 
 where the same phrase is made use of, it is plain that noth- 
 ing but a corporeal death could be intended. Thus you see 
 , the foundation on which this grand superstructure is built. 
 The sentence, therefore, only imports that on the day Adam 
 ate the forbidden fruit, he should commence to be mortal, 
 or be liable to death. That being the punishment, which was 
 
 * Gen. ii. 17. t 1 Kings ii. 37. J 2 Kings viii. 10. 
 
 1 Sain. xiv. 44. || Ibid, xxii, 16. 
 
 19 
 
218 DIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 to be inflicted, he was banished from paradise, that he might 
 be exposed to want and calamities, that by a decay of nature 
 and frame of body it might come on him. The punishment 
 being thus inflicted on the aggressor, would it be just to 
 doom his race to eternal damnation ? is such a conduct re- 
 concilable to the goodness and mercy of God ?* Supposing 
 a legislator instituted a law, and enacted a certain punish- 
 ment to be inflicted on those who transgressed that law : 
 would any other punishment be inflicted on the transgressor, 
 besides 'that which had been enacted? would it not be a 
 very great injustice to inflict a greater punishment on the 
 offender ? If this would be so in human laws and tribunals, 
 how much more so would it be in the All-merciful God ! 
 In what a woful and miserable state must the whole human 
 race be, if, notwithstanding, they in all respects obeyed the 
 will of God, by which they were entitled to mercy, they 
 should ever continue, to be under his wrath and heavy dis- 
 pleasure, both here and hereafter ? to what purpose did He 
 give laws, if those who practised the duties enjoined by them 
 were not to be benefitted thereby ? Can this be made con- 
 sistent? No, this opinion is invented to give a colouring 
 to what is not on any grounds icJiatever to be maintained or 
 supported. 
 
 To support the doctrine before mentioned, it is pretended 
 that the history of the fall ought not to be taken literally. 
 I cannot better answer this objection than in the words 
 made use of by the authors of the Universal History. u It 
 cannot be denied (say they), that some of the ancient phi- 
 losophers affected such an allegorical way of writing to con- 
 
 * See Univ. Hist. Vol. i. p. 125. 
 
LETTER XXVIII. 219 
 
 ccal their notions from the vulgar, and keep their learning 
 within the bounds of their own school ; yet it is apparent 
 Moses had no such design; and as he pretends only to re- 
 late matters of fact just as they happened, without art or 
 disguise, it cannot be supposed but that the history of the 
 fall is to be taken in a literal sense as well as the rest of his 
 writings."* Notwithstanding this assertion, these authors 
 immediately declare themselves of opinion, that it was the 
 Devil who made use of the serpent's body. That this beast 
 stands for, and means the Devil, is also the opinion of al- 
 most every Christian commentator, and is particularly as- 
 serted by Dr. Sherlock, who has taken great pains to estab- 
 lish this point. But conscious that the passage as it stands, 
 could not bear that meaning, he adds : l '' You'll say, What 
 an unreasonable liberty of interpretation this is ; tell us by 
 what rules of language the seed of the woman is made to 
 denote one particular person (that is, Jesus,) and by what 
 art you discover the mystery of Christ's miraculous concep- 
 tion and birth in this common expression ? Tell us, like- 
 wise, how bruising the serpent's head comes to signify 
 destroying the power of sin, and the redemption of mankind 
 by Christ? As the prophecy stands there" (he ought to 
 have said, the history) " nothing appears to point out this 
 particular meaning, much less to confine the prophecy (the 
 history) to it."f And I think that many good reasons 
 ought to be given to his own objections, and a proper au- 
 thority produced for giving this history any other sense ; 
 since, as he himself owns, and readily allows, the ex- 
 pressions do not imply necessarily this sense. " We allow 
 
 * Univ. Hist. Vol. i. p. 135. f Intent and Use of Prophecy, p. 59. 
 
220 DIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 farther (says lie), that there is no appearance that our first 
 parents understood them in this sense, or that God intended 
 they should so understand them/'* Yet notwithstanding this 
 he has, on doctrines of which our first parents knew nothing, 
 on doctrines which t( God never intended they should un- 
 derstand/' placed and established all the hopes and comforts 
 of religion.f 
 
 But whatever may be pretended, Adam by his fall for- 
 feited that, whatever it was, which he for a very short 
 interval had possessed, and was reduced to a state of labour, 
 and subject to sorrow : yet it nowhere appears that they (he 
 and Eve) were bereft " of a rational foundation for their 
 future endeavours to reconcile themselves to God by a better 
 obedience,"J the best foundation, and indeed the only one, 
 on which they would place their hope (which I choose to 
 give you in the Bishop's words). ; and whenever this founda- 
 tion was neglected, and dependence on a Mediator intro- 
 duced, you may then be sure that false religion and false 
 worship took place ; and it would be very easy to prove that 
 it was such schemes and inventions which gave the first rise 
 to idolatry, and defaced true religion. 
 
 But whatever hopes this learned person makes our first 
 parents to have different from a better obedience ; or what- 
 ever foundation he is pleased to make necessary for the pres- 
 ervation of religion, by the hopes " that their posterity should 
 one day be restored :" this much is certain, that any such 
 dependence must have been ill-grounded ; for if Adam's 
 posterity was to be restored by the satisfaction made by 
 Jesus on the cross, nothing like it was effected; for the 
 
 * Intent and Use of Prophecy, p. 70, 71. f Ibid. p. 60, 61. J Ibid. p. 61. 
 
LETTER XXVIII. 221 
 
 serpent still labours under the curse ; women still bear 
 children in pain, and continue in subjection to their hus- 
 bands (which some of them think the worst part of the curse); 
 the men still labour and endure sorrow ; and death makes 
 the same havoc now as is did before. Let them represent 
 things in what light they please, they still continue as they 
 were. Such inconsistencies put me in mind of what this 
 learned bishop says, " When unbelievers hear such reasoning, 
 they think themselves entitled to laugh ;"* and in truth who 
 can forbear it ? I pity any person of his learning and parts 
 advancing inconsistencies and contradictions, rolling (as it 
 were) with all his might a stone up a steep mountain, and 
 then being obliged to let it fall, not able to stop it, behold- 
 ing his labour lost. 
 
 To establish these doctrines they will have the serpent 
 stand for, and be the Devil. But can anything be plainer 
 than that every part of the sentence is only applicable to a 
 literal serpent, a beast of the field, the being more accursed 
 than any other beast, or above all cattle ? Rank him with 
 the brute creation : the Devil, I think, has nothing to 
 do in this part of the curse. The serpent was to go on his 
 belly j in this punishment the Devil is also excluded. He 
 was to eat dust all the days of his life ; very improper food 
 this is for the Devil, therefore it is not intended for him. 
 The serpent and his seed, and the woman and her seed were 
 to be in continual enmity ; the woman and her descendants 
 were to bruise the serpent's head, whilst the serpent and his 
 seed, being by nature or by the curse made reptiles, should 
 bite the others' heels, that being the part which they could 
 
 * Intent and Use of Prophecy, p. 70. 
 
 19* 
 
222 BIAS* LETTERS. 
 
 most conveniently come at. This being a conflict between 
 the woman and the serpent, and their offsprings, has the 
 Devil any concern in this strife ? Can words be made use 
 of plainer to denote that the whole concerns the serpent and 
 his seed, and not the Devil ? and that the woman and her 
 seed are Eve and her descendants, and not Jesus in particular, 
 as is pretended ? that in this enmity or strife each should 
 hurt the other as they had it in their power? Could the 
 Devil hurt or bite Jesus, or has he any seed or posterity at 
 all ? It is plain, therefore, that the curse concerns the ser- 
 pent only ; he is represented at the very first mention, as a 
 cunning creature : u Now the serpent was more subtle than 
 any beast of the field which the LORD God had made ;"* 
 and for making a bad use of his subtlety he was punished. 
 Now had the serpent been actuated by the Devil, he could 
 deserve no punishment. In short, there is nothing in the 
 sentence which concerns the Devil. Neither can I find in 
 this whole history, any promise of a Messiah, nor any agree- 
 ment between God the Father and God the Son. Indeed 
 such an agreement must be inconsistent, and would prove 
 different wills in the Godhead ; that is, there must have been 
 one willing to make satisfaction, and another willing to re- 
 ceive it, whilst a third remained passive or neuter ; acts as 
 contrary to each other as any distinct beings are capable of, 
 and inconsistent in the same God. 
 
 Thus you see the impossibility of proving what they pre- 
 tend to, from the first eight verses of this chapter, and how 
 'Contradictory it is in every respect. The remainder will 
 appear not less so. Verse 9th. " And he made his grave 
 
 * Gen. Hi. 2. 
 
LETTER XXVIII. 223 
 
 with the wicked and with the rich in his death ; " this hap- 
 pened the very reverse ; for he died with the wicked, being 
 crucified between two thieves, and was buried in the tomb 
 belonging to Joseph of Arimathea ; who is represented as an 
 honourable, just man, and a councillor. 
 
 Yerse 10. ft He shall see his seed, he shall prolong his 
 days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his 
 hand/' Here are three blessings, of which none can be 
 applicable to him (Jesus). The first is, that he should see his 
 seed or descendants ; but children we do not hear that he had 
 any. The second is length of days, or long life ] this he 
 had not, for he was cut off in the thirty-third year of his 
 age. Thirdly, prosperity, of which he had none, as appears 
 from the account of his life and sufferings. To make out 
 these blessings, they have recourse to the mystical applica- 
 tion, though they pretend this whole chapter to be literal 
 of him ; they say that seed here does not mean children or 
 descendants, but that the phrase denotes the church, or his 
 followers, spiritually so called. But this has not the least 
 foundation, the word Zerang being used always to denote 
 descendants or posterity, and there is no such thing in all 
 Scripture as spiritual seed or spiritual descendants. In the 
 same manner they explain his length of days, and pretend, 
 it means immortality. But this is trifling ; since immor- 
 tality could not be given as a privilege, but is general and 
 common to every soul, the privilege even of the wicked and 
 the damned ; so that length of days in the next world could 
 be no peculiar blessing, since immortality takes place there. 
 Length of days, therefore, could only be an earthly blessing, 
 As to ft the pleasure of the LORD prospering in his hands/' 
 or prosperity here as they cannot make it out here, they 
 
224 IAS' LETTERS. 
 
 send us to his heavenly kingdom ; but as they know nothing 
 at all of it, you must therefore take it from their guesses. 
 
 Verse 11. " By this knowledge shall my righteous ser- 
 vant justify many. 7 ' This I have shown very plainly he 
 did not ; therefore I shall say nothing more on this head. 
 
 Verse 12. " Therefore will I divide him a portion with 
 the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong. " 
 This part of the verse is in no ways applicable to him ; for, far 
 from dividing a portion with the great, or having any spoil 
 allotted him, he never possessed anything of his own; of 
 this he complains himself. " Because he poured out his soul 
 unto death/ 7 this being contrary to his will, and forced on 
 him, he could not pretend to any merit from it. How <l he 
 bore the sin of many/' or " made intercession for trans- 
 gressors/' I have already considered. 
 
 Thus, sir, from the objections and considerations afore- 
 said, it is evident that they cannot apply this chapter to 
 Jesus, neither can they prove the benefit which they pre- 
 tend must be the necessary consequence of their doctrine. 
 It now remains that I give a different application. The 
 generality of Jewish commentators explain this prophecy, 
 and apply it to the whole body of the Jews. They tell us 
 that Isaiah, in his 51st chapter, speaks great matters con- 
 cerning the redemption of Israel, and denounces God's 
 wrath and indignation against the oppressors and afflicters 
 of his people. In the next, or 52d chapter, the prophet 
 continues the same subject, and this he does in the most 
 endearing terms that can be expressed ; and under the deno- 
 mination of a servant,* exalts and extols Israel above all 
 
 * This term is not used to describe a state of servitude, but a servant 
 of God is the highest character. Note of the copier. 
 
LETTER XXVIII. 225 
 
 nations, this term best describing the low and despicable 
 state to which that people should be reduced, and what it 
 should be made to suffer ; but from which it should be de- 
 livered. They prove that the whole body of the Jews are 
 often mentioned under this epithet, and in particular that 
 Isaiah calls them by this name. " Yet now hear, Jacob, 
 my servant." "Fear not, Jacob, my servant." " Thou 
 art my servant, Israel." (See Isaiah xl. 1, 2, and 
 xlix. 3.) And in the passage now under consideration: 
 " Behold my servant shall deal prudently," he shall be u ex- 
 alted and extolled, and be very high." (Verse 14.) At this 
 exaltation the world will be astonished; and the more so, 
 because like a servant he Was oppressed and despised, and 
 that in such sort as hardly to appear like other sons of men. 
 At this change (verse 15th), even kings or great men should 
 be astonished, and shut their mouths ; for, in this unexpected 
 exaltation, they should see that which had not been told 
 them, and consider that which they had not heard. The 
 admiration which this event should occasion is continued by 
 the prophet, and he breaks out, chapter 53, verse 1, with, 
 " Who could believe our report, or that the power of the LORD 
 should be manifested as revealed to this despicable people," 
 or that (verse 2), u a tender plant should sprout from a 
 root out of dry ground, which had neither form nor comeli- 
 ness to make it desirable? (Verse 3.) Being such as was 
 always despised and rejected and made to undergo much 
 sorrows and grief; hiding our faces from him, as not worthy 
 of esteem ; for (verse 4), it was always thought that he 
 was stricken, and smitten of Q-od; and for that reason made 
 to undergo much sorrow and grief; for (verse 5) we con- 
 tinually wounded him with our transgressions, and bruised 
 
226 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 him with our iniquitous proceedings against him, the weight 
 of which we made him feel ; and laid on him the chastise- 
 ment of our peace, i. e. y persecuting him in times of peace 
 and leisure, sporting with his sufferings ; thinking that by 
 his stripes we should atone for our sins,* (as is the case 
 actually in Portugal and Spain, where it is believed that the 
 merit of persecuting the Jews atones for all crimes.) But 
 (verse 6) in so doing we strayed like sheep (say the gentiles), 
 and turned every one to his own way, God permitting us to 
 do that to him which we deserved ourselves ; (verse 8) 
 though he was taken from prison and from judgment, and 
 made to undergo torments and death, in the midst of his 
 best days, all which is brought on him for the transgres- 
 sion of my people } (verse 9) making his grave with the 
 wicked, or like the worst of malefactors (for he is denied 
 even burial, as thinking him unworthy of it) : notwith- 
 standing this, his death was honourable, as he was not 
 brought to it for either violence or deceit (verse 10) but 
 merely because it pleased the LORD to afflict him and punish 
 his soul for his sin." His sufferings and afflictions have 
 now an end in his exaltation and restoration ; for "he shall 
 see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of 
 the Lord shall prosper in his hands. (Verse 11.) He shall 
 see the travail of his soul, and be satisfied ; by his know- 
 ledge shall my righteous servant justify many;" for he 
 shall bear or clear them of their iniquities, teaching them 
 the ways of the LORD, and making them acceptable; for 
 many will join themselves to the Jews, as is declared, "Also 
 
 * At the time these letters were written the Inquisition was still in 
 full force in Spain and Portugal. ED. Oc. 
 
LETTER XXVIII. 227 
 
 the sons of the strangers that join themselves to the LORD 
 to be his servants, every one that keepeth the Sabbath from 
 polluting it, and taketh hold on my covenant : even them 
 will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful 
 in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their 
 sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar ; for my house 
 shall be called a house of prayer for all people ; so saith the 
 LORD God which gathereth the outcasts of Israel ; yet will 
 I gather others unto him." (Isaiah Ivi. 6-8.) " For the 
 LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, 
 and set them in their own land ; and the stranger shall be 
 joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of 
 Jacob." (Isaiah xiv. 1.) " Therefore," continues the pro- 
 phet, (liii. 12,) will I divide him a portion with the great, 
 and he shall divide the spoil with the strong ;" and that 
 for the merits of " having poured out his soul unto death/' 
 in witness of God's holy NAME, for which "he was num- 
 bered with the transgressors," patiently bearing the sinful 
 and unrighteous behaviour of many, and now in his exal- 
 tation interceding for (these) transgressors. 
 
 Thus, sir, have I given you a sort of paraphrase on this 
 famous chapter of Isaiah. To me this appears to be the 
 true and genuine sense ; and I am confirmed in my opinion, 
 both from the subject of the preceding chapters, and from 
 that which follows, containing a description of the deliver- 
 ance to be wrought, which the prophet concludes with the 
 following remarkable words : " thou afflicted, tossed with 
 tempest and not comforted, behold I will lay thy stones with 
 fair colours, and lay thy foundation with sapphires ; and I 
 will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates with car- 
 buncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones, And all 
 
228 BIAS' LETTERS. 
 
 thy children shall be taught of the LORD, and great shall be 
 the peace of thy children. In righteousness shalt thou bo 
 established ; thou shalt be far from oppression, for thou 
 shalt not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near 
 thee. Behold they shall surely be gathered together, but 
 not by me ; whosoever shall gather together against thee, 
 shall fall for thy sake. Behold I have created the smith 
 that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth 
 an instrument for his work ; and I have created the waster 
 to destroy. No weapon that is formed against thee shall 
 prosper ; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in 
 judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the 
 servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, 
 saith the LORD." (Isaiah liv. 11, &c.) There are those 
 who apply this prophecy of Isaiah liii. throughout to King 
 Josiah ; but there are many things, in my opinion, which 
 do not answer to his character. The great Grotius I think 
 with better success, applies it to the prophet Jeremiah ; 
 there are many things in his life and persecutions which 
 make the application to fit him more probably; though I 
 cjaoose to give you the explanation which is more generally 
 followed. But, let the prophecy concern the Jews in gene- 
 ral, let it concern Jeremiah or Josiah, this much is evident, 
 it cannot be applied to Jesus ; and of this opinion must 
 the New Testament writers have been, or they would have 
 quoted and made application of it. I am, &c. 
 
229 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 GENESIS XLIX. 10. 
 
 REMARKS ON LETTER XXII. 
 
 2d Prop. It is asserted "That it was to hold the sceptre 
 or pre-eminence above the other tribes." I conceive that 
 the shebet nowhere stands for pre-eminence, but, as I have 
 elsewhere observed, when it is applied to government, always 
 signifies absolute independence. The pre-eminence above 
 the other tribes is expressed in the same prophecy in other 
 terms, namely, Juddhj thou shalt be he whom thy brethren 
 praise, or rather (as yoducha implies), shall confess and 
 acknowledge as the superior. 3d Prop. It is supposed in 
 this letter, " that the mechokek (ppHD) means the legisla- 
 tive power within itself, independent of or separate from 
 the other tribes." This I take to be far from the meaning 
 here intended. For as the first, viz : legislative power, or 
 supreme legislation, there could be no such power in the 
 Jewish commonwealth } such a power supposes a right of 
 enacting, abrogating, and new-modelling, or altering former 
 ones. This is absolutely contrary to the Theocratic govern- 
 ment of that commonwealth. The power lodged in the 
 supreme magistracy among the Israelites was only the 
 explanation and execution of the Divine laws, such a power 
 
 as the king and council have in Great Britain, relative to the 
 
 20 
 

 230 APPENDIX. 
 
 present constitution, which power is included in the shebet 
 or sovereignty annexed to the regal one. I have explained 
 the mechokek in my letter. 2nd. In regard to the tribe of 
 Judah having a distinct government within itself, I conceive 
 that this was not peculiar to that tribe ; I imagine every 
 tribe was alike independent before the royalty was established ; 
 every tribe constituted a separate state by itself, independent 
 and sovereign, save only in matters of general concern, in 
 which case all the tribes (or their deputies) assembled, as 
 was done in extraordinary cases ; then indeed there was, if 
 I may so speak, a determination of the states-general, which 
 every tribe was obliged to obey, as well Judah as the other 
 tribes. But in what concerned each particular tribe, as 
 such, each was independent. 4th Prop. That this was to 
 continue till the coming of Shiloh, who was to unite the 
 people. I have no concordance to ascertain what I am 
 now to assert, but am pretty clear that I am right, viz. : 
 that whenever the people or house of Israel are intended 
 in the law, they are always mentioned by 'am in the 
 singular; and that when 'ammim is used, it is always 
 expressive of the Gentiles as well as the Jews. If this be 
 so, as I think it is, then this gathering or rather obedience, 
 must refer to the nations in general, as well as the Jews, 
 and not to the establishing the royalty in the House of 
 David. 
 
 What I have here to offer, is in substance but a copy of a 
 letter, which I wrote some years ago, to a clergyman of the 
 Church of England, on some part of the 49th chapter of Gen- 
 esis, in which I have endeavoured to show, that as the trans- 
 lation of the 10th verse of this chapter now stands in the 
 English Bible ; it implies a contradiction, and that the use to 
 
GENESIS XLIX 10. 231 
 
 which it is applied, of determining the time for the advent 
 of the Messiah to be already past, has no foundation in the 
 text. But on the contrary, if truly translated, it will afford a 
 very strong presumption that he cannot be yet come } this 
 will be plain to any one that considers the consequences, 
 which will be the result of the subsequent arguments, which 
 must speak for themselves, and for which I shall make no 
 apology here, but proceed to the consideration of the sub- 
 ject. 
 
 And here I must first beg leave to observe in general, that 
 to explain a prediction (and the more so if obscure, or where 
 the terms in which it is couched, be capable of different 
 meanings,) before the. completion, is attended with much 
 more difficulty, than to reduce a fact once supposed, to such 
 prediction. This being premised, it cannot be expected 
 that I should pretend to anything farther than a probable f 
 solution of the text, without pretending to certainty. What 
 I shall first attempt here, will be to show, that as this text is 
 rendered in the English version, it may be reduced to a con- 
 tradiction. But before I proceed farther, it will be necessary 
 to fix the meaning of the word shebet, especially, as I shall 
 use the same term used in that translation, but in its genu- 
 ine sense, which I shall prove to be independent sovereignty, 
 whereas in the application of the word shebet, it is made to 
 signify anything but that. Shebet then admits three dis- 
 tinct meanings. The first, and perhaps original sense, is 
 sceptre, the second, tribe, and the third, a rod.* The first- 
 is the sovereign power, whether lodged in the hands of one 
 or many. The second is any collective body of people, 
 
 * Also a walking staff, and a pen or pencil. Ps. xxiii. 4, & Judg. v. 14. 
 
232 APPENDIX. 
 
 supposed to proceed from one head. The third is a rod 
 and frequently means that of correction, and is applied 
 either to an immediate punishment inflicted by Almighty 
 G-od, or to that of the civil magistrate in punishing offen- 
 ders, or lastly, to the private correction in particular fam- 
 ilies. Now whenever this word is used in Scripture, it 
 retains that sense distinctly to whichsoever it belongs. To 
 instance in the present text which runs thus : xS, 11D- 1 D3ty 
 &c., when if the word shebet be taken in the second sense, 
 it ought to be thus translated : u Judah shall not cease 
 being a tribe," &c., which though the only way it can be 
 rendered if shebet should here mean tribe, yet I think it would 
 be very indifferent grammar to be thus translated ; however, 
 as a prediction, it would be still true, for Judah has not 
 ceased being a tribe, though it were an enslaved one. But 
 this I am satisfied cannot be the meaning of the text ; and 
 if we take the shebet to mean a rod, the translation would run : 
 "The rod shall not depart from Judah," &c. This would 
 be also true, since that tribe, as well as the others, has not 
 been often free from a variety of calamities ; this, however, 
 does not appear to be the meaning of the text, the sliebet 
 here being the promise of a blessing, not a curse. I shall 
 now consider the shebet, as applied to royalty, and let the 
 Scriptures determine the meaning. Now, if in every place 
 wherein it is used in Scripture for royalty, it be confined in 
 its sense to an independent sovereignty, then it will be but 
 reasonable to suppose that it signifies the same thing here ; 
 and that it does signify such an independent sovereignty 
 only, will easily appear to any one that will be at the pains 
 of examining the subsequent text. 
 
 " There shall come a star out of Jacob, and a (shebet) 
 
GENESIS XLIX. 10. 233 
 
 sceptre shall rise out of Israel/'* This is applied to the 
 Messiah by both Jews and Christians. I therefore take it 
 for granted, it will be allowed in this place to mean an inde- 
 pendent sovereignty. " Thy throne, God, is for ever and 
 ever; the (shebet) sceptre of thy kingdom is a right scep- 
 tre. ^f As this is applied to Almighty God, I presume no 
 one will dispute its being an independent sovereignty. 
 
 " The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the 
 (shebet) sceptre of the rulers. "J Here, the destruction of 
 the Babylonian monarchy is predicted by the sceptre of the 
 rulers being broken, or in other terms, the loss of their inde- 
 pendence. " And she had strong rods for the sceptre (shebet) 
 of them that bare rule, &c., so that she hath no strong rods 
 to be a (shebet) sceptre to rule, &c." By holding the 
 sceptre (shebet) in the former text is shown Israel's indepen- 
 dence, and the loss of it in the latter a contrary mark. u I 
 will break also the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabi- 
 tants from the plain of Aven, and him that holdeth the 
 (shebet) sceptre from the house of Eden."|| " And I will 
 cast off the inhabitants from Ashdod, and him that holdeth 
 the (shebet) sceptre from Ashkelon, &c."^f The cutting off 
 him that swayeth the sceptre here, is the mark of their loss 
 of independence; and the departure of the sceptre from 
 Egypt implies the same thing. " And the pride of Assyria 
 shall be brought down, and the (shebet) sceptre of Egypt 
 shall depart away."** These are the only places in the 
 Scriptures that have come to my knowledge, where the shebet 
 is applied to royalty, and in every one it signifies an absolute 
 
 * Num. xxiv. 17. t Ps. xlv. 6. f Isa - xiy - 5 - 2 Ezek. ix. 11-14. 
 || Amos i. 5. 1f Ibid. 8. ** Zech. x. 11. 
 
234 APPENDIX. 
 
 independent sovereignty. It is ; then, but reasonable to con- 
 clude that the shebet, in the text before us, signifies the 
 same independent sovereignty, and not that vague indeter- 
 minate sense of any subordinate government, to which it is 
 here applied by those who would make this text subservient 
 to their system. Having thus fixed the sense of the shebet 
 by the Scriptures when that word is applied to government, 
 the next thing I propose is to show the inconsistency of the 
 English version with itself, granting the shebet to signify 
 what I have above shown it to mean. And here it will 
 be necessary to transcribe the text, the better to keep it in 
 view ; English version thus, " The sceptre shall not depart 
 from Judah, nor the lawgiver from between his feet, until 
 Shiloh come ; and unto him shall the gathering of the peo- 
 ple be." From which it would be natural to conclude that 
 the sovereignty should devolve upon Judah, and with it a 
 continual legislative power, which should uninterruptedly so 
 continue, until Shiloh, or the Messiah come, and on his 
 coming there should be an ingathering of the people to him. 
 This, I believe, is no more than may be fairly taken for the 
 sense of the text, as there rendered. Now, if this be the 
 sense of it, as I think it appears to be, what shall we say, 
 if from the Scriptural account, which we have of that tribe, 
 (viz., Judah,) it was never completed ? And to be con- 
 vinced that it really never was so, no more is necessary than 
 to examine the history of that tribe, which will make it very 
 clear. To begin, then, we are told in the Scriptures that 
 from the time of Joshua until there was a royal establish- 
 ment in the family of Saul, the Israelites were in a state of 
 anarchy, without any regular government, every one doing 
 what to him seemed best, save only when God appointed ex- 
 
GENESIS XLIX. 10. 235 
 
 traordinary Judges, pro tempore, for some particular deliver- 
 ance; at all other times no traces of a regular common- 
 wealth appear. Then God, at their earnest desire, gave the 
 people Saul for their king : the royalty in his family soon 
 had its period. By the same divine appointment, David 
 succeeded in the government, which, after his death, de- 
 volved on Solomon, and in him ended the sovereign power 
 in Judah over all Israel ; for henceforward the sovereignty 
 of Judah was confined within itself and the tribe of 
 Benjamin. This also was comparatively but of short 
 duration, and had its period in the person of Zedekiah, with 
 whom ended the sovereignty of Judah ; and this, according 
 to the English translation, ought to have been the time of 
 the advent of the Messiah. But nothing like that appeared, 
 unless Nebuchadnezzar be set up for that GREAT PRINCE. 
 
 I shall here pass by what might be said on that head, and 
 just take notice of another thing necessary by that transla- 
 tion, which is, that the Lawgiver, or the legislative power, 
 ought to be a prerogative of that tribe ; whereas it is to be 
 observed that neither the kings of Judah, nor the priests, 
 nor the extraordinary judges, nor the whole people joined 
 to them, ever pretended to such power, a power utterly 
 inconsistent with the Mosaic constitution ; for all the laws, 
 moral, political, and ceremonial, were immediately enacted 
 by God himself in sight of the people, as at the giving of 
 the law (ten commandments), or mediately by the hands of 
 Moses, as the greater part of the law ; wherefore it would 
 have been an affront to the Divine Legislator, and the 
 highest presumption in any prince of that people, to assume 
 the power of making laws, without special directions from 
 the same Almighty Author of the laws of Israel ; and in 
 
236 APPENDIX. 
 
 such case it would be only the promulgation of a Divine law, 
 and not a legislative power in the prince. The Israelitish 
 government being a proper theocratic government, the 
 holders of the sovereign power therein were only executors 
 of the law, and not, as in other states, legislators. To go 
 on here would carry me beyond my design, having just 
 touched on this by the by : so I will return to the history 
 of the tribe of Judah. 
 
 When the kingdom of Judah was totally destroyed, and 
 the commonwealth dissolved by Nebuchadnezzar, then did 
 the sceptre depart from Judah, and is accordingly taken 
 notice of by Ezekiel, in that sense, in the passage I before 
 cited, xix. 14. This is the departure of the sceptre in the 
 most limited sense the text can be taken in; for there 
 seems some reason to suppose that Judah's sovereignty 
 should extend over all Israel, as well as be independent him- 
 self, from the tenor of this prophecy, which represents his 
 brethren as his dependents ; and if this was really the case, 
 the sceptre departed long before this, as far back as the re- 
 volt of the ten tribes. However, be that as it will, at this 
 time the sceptre departed from Judah to all intents and pur- 
 poses ; Judah, us well as Israel, being enslaved, and their 
 government being entirely dissolved by the Chaldeans, and 
 themselves made captive, and carried to Chaldea and else- 
 where, their country being all laid waste, their cities burnt, 
 their commonwealth, their laws, religion, and liberty, at an 
 end. Now, if this be not a departure of the sceptre, if this 
 be not the loss of sovereignty, it may be as well affirmed 
 that, when Alexander became master of the empire of Per- 
 sia, after the death of Darius, and the captivity of his 
 family, and destruction of his capital, and after laying all 
 
GENESIS XLIX. 10. 237 
 
 waste before him, I say after Alexander's having performed 
 all this, it may, with as much reason, be affirmed that the 
 sovereignty, or sceptre, had not departed from Persia ; and, 
 indeed, with much better reason; for Alexander himself 
 adopted the Persian manners, and, as far as he was able, 
 became a Persian; but the Jews, on the other hand, in 
 Chaldea, forgot their own language, and in a degree became 
 naturalized to the country and customs of their masters. 
 Notwithstanding that the conquered Persians nearly sub- 
 dued their masters, by their falling in with the Persian 
 manners, yet it is true the Scriptures fix the dissolution of 
 the Persian empire. The same reasoning will hold good 
 with regard to all the revolutions which have happened in 
 the world ; for if the entire conquest of the kingdom, and 
 the transmigration of the' people, be not the departure of 
 the sceptre, or which is the same thing, loss of independence, 
 then may Constantinople be said to be the metropolis of the 
 Greco-Roman, and not of the Turkish empire; but this is 
 too obvious to be farther insisted upon. I have yet to ob- 
 viate one objection which is alleged against what I have 
 here advanced, it is this : It is said the departure of the 
 sceptre at this time was of too short duration to be taken 
 notice of in the text. To this it may be answered, that 
 seventy years' captivity, or the loss of independence for 
 that space, is absolutely a chain in time, where it was to be 
 one continued series of time ; that, as the loss of one link 
 in a chain destroys that connexion necessary to its being one 
 chain : so here this chain in time, of seventy years, as much 
 destroys that uninterrupted continuation of the sceptre's 
 residence in Judah, and as much denies the truth of the 
 prophecy which expresses an absolute non-departure of the 
 
288 APPENDIX. 
 
 sceptre, as if the captivity had continued seven centuries. 
 The question not being how long the sceptre might be gone, 
 but whether it was to depart at all. 
 
 In the 39th chapter of Ezekiel, the desolation of Egypt is 
 foretold in the strongest terms, when at the same time, it is 
 expressly declared, that that captivity should be for only 
 forty years, when a restoration was to take place ; which is 
 enough to satisfy us that the term of duration of the loss of 
 independence does not affect the point in question, the depar- 
 ture of the sceptre. But supposing for once, that seventy 
 years' captivity was too short a space to be taken notice of 
 in this prophecy, the restoration under the Persian monarchy 
 does in no wise answer the intent of the sceptre, or sover- 
 eignty of the text, which I think I have already proved to 
 be an independent sovereignty. -So this confession would be 
 of no real use to our adversaries ; because that restoration 
 of the Jews was still subordinate to the Persian government, 
 and may be considered only as a colony, sent to resettle a 
 waste country. This colony of Jews were sent by the Per- 
 sian government to repeople the country which had formerly 
 belonged to their ancestors, and which they were now to 
 hold under the protection and suffrage of the kings of 
 Persia. 
 
 Their governor, though a Jew, held the government by 
 patent from the king of Persia, over the new province of 
 Judea, with some particular privileges to the Jews, but still 
 considering them as his subjects ; and although the king of 
 Persia favoured the Jews with a governor of their own nation, 
 yet the tribe to whom the governor appertained was not at 
 all considered. After the time of Cyrus, the privileges of 
 the Jews were very precarious, and not confirmed till after 
 
GENESIS XLIX. 10. 239 
 
 sundry embassies to and from the Persian court, as appears 
 from the Book of Ezra and Nehemiah. It seems the lieu- 
 tenants of Syria looked upon Judea as a province included 
 in their commission, which they did not care to part with, till 
 express orders came from the Persian court for that purpose, 
 This must give us a very mean notion of the sceptre, if it 
 were one. This I am sure of, that it is nothing like an 
 independent one, such as Jacob speaks of, and which by way 
 of eminence he calls shebet. When the Persian empire was 
 swallowed up by the Grecians, Judea, as a province of Per- 
 sia, fell under new masters, even before the entire reduction 
 of Persia, Alexander taking this in his way ; and it now 
 became a province of the Grecian empire. This was nearly 
 the situation that Judea continued in, until Antiochus, by 
 his oppression, cruelty, and irreligion, rendered it necessary 
 for the Jews to recover their liberty, or entirely abandon 
 their religion, and embrace idolatry; under such circum- 
 stances to revolt and set up for themselves, became abso- 
 lutely necessary. Then, indeed, and not before, did the 
 Jews become once more independent, under their leaders of 
 the Maccabean family, who were, however, not of the tribe 
 of Judah, but of Levi ; so that now the sovereignty was 
 transferred from the tribe of Judah to that of Levi ; nay, 
 the whole form of government was quite altered, and in 
 many respects different from what it was during the govern- 
 ment of the royal family of David. In his family, the kings 
 were so by divine right,' in the strictest sense ; but here, it 
 was partly by military force, from generals becoming kings, 
 through favour of the soldiery, and partly by the choice of 
 the people, who, finding themselves in desperate circum- 
 stances, were glad to see some able person at their head, and 
 
240 APPENDIX. 
 
 readily received that family for sovereigns, judging that 
 those who had so well defended them, were most capable to 
 govern them : add to this, that as this family were priests, 
 they might have had very considerable interest with the 
 people, previous to the troubles that brought about this revo- 
 lution. 
 
 Still this is certain, let the Maccabean family have ac- 
 quired the royalty by whatsoever means, or the government 
 been what you please, from the time that the royalty was 
 abolished in the house of David, in the person of Zedekiah, 
 till this time, Judah was, as I before observed, but a province 
 at best, which will establish the vacancy in the sovereignty 
 of Judah for several seventy years. During this last form of 
 government, under the Maccabean family, Judea was sub- 
 dued by the Romans, and made a province of that empire ; 
 for notwithstanding the Romans allowed the princes of the 
 Maccabean family the title of kings, it was, however, a bare 
 empty title ; it being well known that the conquered princes 
 under the Roman empire were often cited to appear at Rome 
 for trial, and sometimes at the suit of their own subjects. 
 The kings of Judea were upon the same footing. Moreover, 
 the Romans struck at the very root of the Jewish constitu- 
 tion, when they appointed Herod king of Judea ; for by the 
 constitution no alien could be king, and Herod, as an alien, 
 could not legally be their king; yet by the power of the 
 Romans he enjoyed that dignity to his death. This shows 
 the servile condition to which Judea was then reduced. 
 
 Having thus run through, as briefly as I could, the his- 
 tory of the tribe of Judah, which compared with Jacob's 
 prophecy, as it stands translated, I cannot see what con- 
 nexion there is between them, nor in what manner it has 
 
GENESIS XLIX. 10. 241 
 
 been completed, granting the shebet to imply an independent 
 royalty, which I have already shown to be the sense of it, 
 it will reduce us either to give up the text itself as untrue, 
 or that translation which reduces it to a contradiction. The 
 latter, I presume, ought to be given up, not the former. 
 
 This will lead us to consider whether a translation may 
 not be given that will free us from the before-mentioned 
 contradictions, and admit a reasonable solution. This is 
 what I shall now attempt, and explain myself thereon. 
 
 The text, then, I imagine, ought to be rendered thus : 
 "The sovereignty shall not depart from Judah, nor the 
 scribe from between his feet for ever, when Shiloh cometh ; 
 and to him shall the nations render obedience," or, if you 
 please, " to him shall be the ingathering of the nations/' 
 Any objections which might be made against the term " sove- 
 reignty," which I here use as the most intelligible, is, I 
 believe, already obviated. I have ventured to use another 
 term for the mechokek also, by rendering it a '' scribe or 
 secretary," instead of lawgiver, which I have already shown 
 to be incompatible with the theocratic constitution of the 
 Jewish government. Although it must be granted, there 
 will not be altogether the same reason against the legisla- 
 tive power being vested in the person of the Messiah, as 
 there was against its being vested in the nation under their 
 former kings ; as the power vested in the Messiah will be 
 much more extensive, as well as more unlimited, than any 
 other prince's whatsoever a Prince on whom will rest the 
 Spirit of God in a very eminent manner : yet I am, notwith- 
 standing, of opinion that no more is here meant by the 
 (ppno) mechokek than a secretary in common with all other 
 states. The radix, from which mechokek is derived, I take 
 21 
 
242 APPENDIX. 
 
 to be a word that signifies " to engrave ;" hence the word 
 Chok (pn), "statute," from statutes, &c., being engraved. In 
 Scripture, mechokek is used for lawgiver, as Num. xxi. 19, 
 there applied to Moses ; the same, Deut. xxxiii. 21 ; in 
 Judges v. 9, 14, it is rendered rulers, it there may, I think, 
 also signify scribes. In Ezek. viii. 10, it is used for por- 
 traying. The next term, which I rendered differently from 
 the English version, and whereon is laid much weight is the 
 word ny. Here, I do not pretend that it is always made 
 use of in the sense I shall give it in this place ; all I aim at 
 is only to prove that the word will admit that meaning for 
 it is evident enough that ny generally signifies " until. 7 ' 
 But then this rule must always hold good, that whenever 
 any equivocal term is used, which is capable of more than 
 one sense, that only ought to be understood which best 
 explains the author that makes use of it, and is most conso- 
 nant in the sense it gives to that particular passage, to the 
 whole tenor of the author's writings, and to the system of 
 which it is a part ; and that meaning which would reduce 
 the author to contradict himself ought to be rejected. This, 
 I think, is but fair dealing. This being granted, then, it 
 will be certain that ny, in this place, ought not to be under- 
 stood " until/' if capable of being rendered u for ever, or 
 evermore ;" and as it will be proved capable of meaning the 
 latter, and that the latter will also render the author consis- 
 tent with himself, and the system of which his writings are 
 a part, so it is but reasonable to understand the word here 
 in this latter sense. It is now necessary to show that iy 
 often does signify for ever \ that it does so will evidently 
 appear from the subsequent texts, where ny is used by itself, 
 or absolutely in that sense. Thus, Num. xxiv. 20, 24, ny 
 
GENESIS XLIX. 10. 243 
 
 ON, "is to perish for ever and ever/' and in Job. xx. 4, 
 ^D-Tj; nyT, " Hast thou known this from everlasting 1" also, 
 Psalms xcii. 8, DID^n 1 ? H# "ty, " For to cause them to per- 
 ish for evermore ;" Psalms cxxxii. 12, Tj; Hj? DrpJS DJ : 
 "Also their children for evermore ;" Psalms cxxxii. 14, 
 Ty Hy TiniJD nx?, " And this is my rest for ever and ever." 
 So, in Isa. ix. 5, ly ^x : " Everlasting Father, or father of 
 the age" ; Isa xxvi. 4 : ny "ty V 3 intoa, " Trust in the LORD 
 for ever and ever ;" Isa. xlv. 17, "tj; 'oSiy "iy ID^DH *6l : 
 "Nor shall ye be confounded for ever and ever;" Isa. xlvii. 
 15, ID# t^npl "ly jDty, " He that inhabiteth eternity, whose 
 name is Holy;" Isa. Ixv. 18, ~\y ny iSui Wl^ DN O, "But 
 rejoice and be glad for ever and ever;" and in Hab. i3fl3rn 
 "Hiri *\y, u And the everlasting hills were scattered." Be- 
 sides the texts above cited, the words lyh and i;n occur in the 
 Scriptures, in above thirty places, to signify duration, which 
 I think is sufficient to convince any one that ij will admit 
 the sense I have here given it. Now, if so understood in 
 this place, then it will follow that the particle "D ought 
 also to be rendered when, as it is always regulated in con- 
 struction according to the sense of the preceding and sub- 
 sequent parts of a sentence, and is rendered "that, when, 
 because," &c., as is well known to any one that has but a 
 moderate knowledge of Hebrew. The word nnp' occurring 
 only once more in Scriptures, and that in Prov. xxx. 17, 
 where it is necessarily rendered "obedience," makes it very 
 probable that it has the same meaning here ; especially as 
 the Messiah will have a universal sovereignty, and be truly 
 God's vicegerent on earth, it will be reasonable to suppose 
 that universal obedience will be paid him ; and if any other 
 passage in Scripture hint an ingathering of the nations, it 
 
244 APPENDIX. 
 
 cannot be taken but in a very remote sense. Having thus con- 
 sidered the words of the text grammatically, it now remains 
 to see whether the text, in this light, does not appear more 
 natural, and more consonant with the other parts of the 
 Scripture than the translation rejected. To have a clearer 
 view of which, it will be necessary to observe that the bles- 
 sing given to Judah seems to consist of three parts. 
 
 The first, beginning at the 8th verse, proposes some 
 special privileges to be enjoyed by that tribe, as such, viz : 
 to be reverenced by the other tribes, to be powerful ; hence 
 Judah is compared to a lion ; he was also to be successful 
 against his enemies, implied in that phrase, thy hand shall 
 be on the neck of thine enemies. Each of these prerogatives 
 was actually conferred on that tribe ; Judah had the first 
 place in the camp, was superior in number to the other 
 tribes, and after the death of Joshua was appointed leader 
 in the conquest of Canaan. The second part contains this 
 notable prediction : that when Shiloh or the Messiah should 
 come, the sovereignty should be vested in Judah, in the 
 person of the Messiah himself, and should never depart 
 from it, nor should the scribe or secretary ever fail attending 
 the royalty, and that the nation should be obedient to his 
 government. 
 
 At what precise time this great event should take place, 
 is not there said, only that it shall certainly come to pass. 
 Agreeable to this is that of Isaiah : li There shall come a 
 Redeemer unto Zion," &c., lix. 20; but he is much more 
 expressive and clear in the llth chapter of his book; there 
 he describes the Messiah as yet to come, and is negatively 
 precise in regard to the time, that is, that it should not be 
 till after the second captivity. In respect to the person of 
 
GENESIS XLIX. 10. 245 
 
 the Messiah, he is also clear as to his tribe and family, 
 which was to be of the tribe 'of Judah, and family of David. 
 (Jesse). He also speaks with precision in regard to his char- 
 acter, affirming that he should be invested with the power and 
 sovereignty from on high; that he should be vested with right- 
 eousness, mildness, indeed, with every virtue in the greatest 
 perfection ; that he should administer justice from an intui- 
 tive knowledge ; that the nations should cheerfully obey 
 him, and that they should earnestly repair to his standard. 
 He was also to unite the house of Israel and Judah, and 
 heal that breach which has so long subsisted between them. 
 Finally, that he should restore universal peace on earth, and 
 universal righteousness was to obtain throughout the world. 
 As these singular blessings were to be the effects of this 
 great prince's administration, so were all mankind to be 
 partakers of pure wisdom; and the whole earth (as the 
 prophet expresses it) was to be filled with the knowledge of 
 the Lord. Much to the same purpose is Jeremiah, wherein 
 (chap, xxxiii. 4, to the end) the restoration of the House of 
 Judah and Israel it promised under the HD " branch" of 
 David, and which, I think, cannot so much as be pretended 
 to have been literally accomplished. This branch he then 
 describes as a most upright and perfect prince. These 
 prophecies are all delivered in a very pompous and sublime 
 style, and in the most emphatic terms, suitable to the dig- 
 nity of the subject. Ezekiel, who wrote later, in the 37th 
 chapter of his book, from v. 21 to the end, gives us a more 
 particular description of the union of the Houses of Judah 
 and Israel, together with the promise of their final restora- 
 tion under the Messiah, than either of the before-mentioned 
 prophets, and with this circumstance, that when this predic- 
 21* 
 
246 APPENDIX. 
 
 tion took effect, then they should be no more divided or dis- 
 persed ; but that the government should be established and 
 firm under their prince, Messiah, in this respect corres- 
 ponding with Jacob's prophecy, that when Shiloh came, the 
 sovereignty should evermore continue in Judah, and agreea- 
 ble to the other part of the same prophecy, that the people 
 should render him obedience. As the Messiah was to be a 
 just and perfect prince, the prince of peace, being a subject 
 under such government is the greatest happiness, which is 
 nearly the same that Ezekiel says should happen at the res- 
 toration of universal peace and equity upon earth, and 
 which is the consequence of a cheerful obedience to a just 
 government. 
 
 Thus far, then, Jacob, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel 
 agree. Another thing alluded to in this prophecy, is extent 
 of dominion; David repeats the same thing, Psal. Ixxvii. 
 17, both regarding the same person ; indeed, the whole is 
 so often included in Scriptures by the greatest part of the 
 prophets, that it becomes unnecessary to produce more au- 
 thorities where the thing is so evident. 
 
 The third part of this prophecy has a more special rela- 
 tion to the fertility of the inheritance of the tribe of Judah ; 
 part of this has been accomplished ; but it is to receive its 
 full completion in the latter and final restoration under the 
 Messiah, which is also a circumstance not omitted by the 
 later prophets, though the latter seem to regard the whole 
 of the land of promise, and Amos in particular. I shall 
 therefore transcribe chap. ix. 13, &c., " Behold, the days 
 come, saith the LORD, that the ploughman shall overtake the 
 reaper, and the trader of grapes him that soweth seed; and 
 the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall 
 
\ 
 
 GENESIS XLIX. 10. 247 
 
 melt. And I will bring again the captivity of my people Is- 
 rael, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them ; 
 and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; 
 they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. 
 And I will plant them upon their own land, and they shall 
 no more be pulled out of their land which I have given 
 them, saith the LORD thy God." This is so very plain, 
 that it requires no comment to show the resemblance it bears 
 to Jacob's prophecy. Thus we see the English version in 
 this particular cannot be true; because it makes the text 
 inconsistent with the tenor of the whole Scriptures, so far 
 as it has any concern with any part of it ; and from what 
 has been said, it affords a strong presumption that the Mes- 
 siah is not yet come ; because when he comes the sceptre is 
 not to depart from Judah ; but the sceptre not being now 
 in Judah, it follows the Messiah has not yet come. 
 
 And the prophets say, when the Messiah comes, things 
 are to assume a new face ; and peace and righteousness are 
 universally to obtain among mankind; but as peace, &c., 
 does not obtain universally, it follows, &c. Farther, the 
 prophets say, the Messiah is to restore Israel, and their 
 country is to be repeopled by them ; but Israel is not resto- 
 red, &c., therefore the Messiah has not yet appeared, &c. 
 The prophets say, the whole house of Israel is to be miracu- 
 lously gathered from all their dispersions ; but as they are 
 yet dispersed, therefore the Messiah, &c. 
 
 P. S. Throughout the foregoing piece, I have considered 
 the text as it stands pointed in our Bible ; but it is now well 
 known, and has been fully proved, that the points are but 
 a modern invention, and it is not improbable that the word 
 
248 APPENDIX. 
 
 Ty might be originally read as if pointed with cholem ; this 
 would alter the sense, and instead of u for ever/' it would 
 be i;? 'od, u anymore, or again ;" which would imply that 
 the sceptre having departed once or oftener, it should, when 
 Shiloh came, depart no more, but remain fixed in the tribe 
 of Judah \ this would be still plainer than supposing it iy 
 'ad, for ever. 
 
 It is observable, the word my " anymore" is written once 
 or twice* in Genesis without the l ; ny, whereas I think it is 
 written nowhere else so 
 
 MR. DIAS ON THE SECOND PSALM. 
 
 The following is in answer to a paragraph of a letter re- 
 lating to my translation of the 2d Psalm : 
 
 In regard to my translation of the 2d Psalm, I have no 
 concordance ; so I cannot examine if the word bar is made 
 use of for son in any other part of the Hebrew writings of 
 the Old Testament or not. But I think (and I believe I 
 am not mistaken) that Mr. Nieto, who ought to understand 
 the language, translates it as I do; and if I am not greatly 
 mistaken, I followed him therein. But, be that as it may, 
 
 * This occurs in Gen. iii. 22, and xix. 12 ; the Massorah notes other 
 passages, as Job ii. 9, and several others not now remembered. ED. Oc, 
 
PSALM II. 249 
 
 the translating the word bar in that place son gives no man- 
 ner of advantage to the cause of Christianity; as I think 
 the whole psalm refers to King David. But if it had really 
 any reference to the Messiah, what then ? Does the word 
 son make a divinity ? Are not all the house of Israel called 
 sons of God, Banim attem ladonai elohechem? (Deut. 
 xiv. 1;) and, in the second verse, Ki am kadosli attain 
 " For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God ?" I 
 know Raslii renders it, " Gird yourselves with purity/' 
 But if a text that the Christians think a great prop to their 
 cause (though, in truth, none at all) should be altered, 
 would it not look as if they had some foundation, if for 
 that reason another meaning were introduced, and a rea- 
 son required for so doing ? I have not now time to enter 
 into a farther disquisition of this matter ; another occasion 
 may offer, when I may give you my sentiments more at 
 large on this text. But, in the mean time, take this 
 along with it, that, let whoever be meant, it is in no wise 
 adapted to Jesus, without he had really proved himself the 
 Son of God, in a manner more particular than any other of 
 the sons of Israel, which he has not done, any more than 
 he has proved himself the Messiah. The arguments in the 
 foregoing sheet, prove how little claim he or any other has 
 yet had to that high character. 
 
 January 19. In my letter of this date (the foregoing,) 
 I told you I had no concordance, and therefore could not 
 say whether the word bar in the Hebrew writings of the 
 Old Testament was anywhere used for son. I had thought 
 for some time that I had seen it used in that sense, but 
 could not recollect where. This evening I took a Hebrew 
 Bible, and I fancied I had in my mind a passage wherein it 
 
250 APPENDIX. 
 
 was made use of, and in a very little time found it in Pro- 
 verbs xxxi. 2 : " What my son ? and what the son of my 
 womb ? and what the son of my vows ?" Every word son 
 is here in the text bar. I have cited the text as it is in the 
 English Bible, though I think the word here rendered what 
 ought to be wherefore. However, this is nothing to the 
 present purpose. I shall, notwitstanding, observe to you 
 that the text from Daniel, which I have transcribed, is also 
 from the same version. I have this evening looked over 
 that also in the original, where I think there might be made 
 some amendments in the translation. If, on farther scru- 
 tiny, it appears in a clearer light than what the present ver- 
 sion shows it, it may afford me an opportunity of giving it 
 to you in the light it may appear to me. It is now past 
 eleven o'clock at night, so must conclude, &c. 
 
 AN ABSTEACT 
 
 FROM CHIZZUK HA-EMUNAH, IN A LETTER TO A FRIEND 
 
 THIS author, after having pointed out several passages in 
 the law and prophets, which plainly speak of this present 
 general dispersion of Israel and their redemption therefrom, 
 as well as the destruction of the Fourth or Roman Empire, 
 proceeds to show, from several prophecies relating to the 
 restoration of Israel, and the establishment of the kingdom 
 of the Messiah (which being all unaccomplished,) that the 
 
CHIZZUK HA-EMUNAH. 251 
 
 Messiah cannot be already come, but is yet to be expected, 
 viz. : 
 
 First. The gathering together of the ten tribes and their 
 union with the tribe of Judah, in which Benjamin is in- 
 cluded, and their being subject to one king, who is to be 
 of the seed of David; the prophets calling that prince, 
 " David, my servant." (Ezek. xxxyii. 16, to end.) 
 
 Secondly. The invasion of G-og and Magog, and their 
 overthrow in the land of Israel. (Ezek. xxxviii. 39.) The 
 same thing is alluded to in Zech. xiv. 12 ; and Isaiah Ixvi. 
 19, seems to have reference to the same subject. 
 
 Thirdly. The dividing the Mount of Olives in a most ex- 
 traordinary manner. (Zech. xiv. 4 and 5.) 
 
 Fourthly. The destroying of the tongue of the Egyptian 
 Sea } the smiting of the river into seven streams, and caus- 
 ing a highway for the remnant of his people as it was to 
 Israel, when he came out of Egypt. All these things were 
 to happen, when the Messiah shall assemble the outcasts 
 of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from 
 the four corners of the earth. (Isaiah xi. 12, to the end.) 
 
 Fifthly. The flowing of living waters from Jerusalem 
 out of the sanctuary, &c. (Ezek. xxxvi. 1 to the end of 12, 
 and Zech. xiv. 8.) 
 
 Sixthly. That ten men from all the different nations 
 shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, &c. (Zech. 
 viii. 23.) 
 
 Seventhly. The going up of the remnants of all the na- 
 tions, which came up against Jerusalem, to worship the 
 King, the LORD of Hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of 
 Tabernacles. (Zech. xiv. 16.) 
 
 Eighthly. The universal observance of the new moons 
 
252 APPENDIX. 
 
 and Sabbaths, for the times appointed for coming to worship 
 before the LORD. (Isaiah Ixvi. 23.) 
 
 Ninthly. The extirpation of idolatry, and even the mem- 
 ory thereof; together with the fake prophets and unclean 
 spirits, from the earth, as appears from Zech. xiii. 2, Isaiah 
 ii. 18 ; and confusion and shame are denounced against idol 
 worship. (Isaiah xlii., and Psalm xcvii. 7.) 
 
 Tenthly. That the divine law (to wit : that law which 
 God gave unto Israel by the hands of his servant Moses) 
 should obtain throughout all the world, and one faith uni- 
 versally prevail. (Isaiah xlv. 11, &c., and 23 ; Ibid. In. 1, 
 &c. ; Ibid. Ixvi. 17, &c. ; Zech. ix. 7 ; Ibid. xiv. 9.) 
 
 Eleventhly. That one general dominion or universal mon- 
 archy, that is, the kingdom of Israel, which Daniel, ch. vii. 
 v. 27, calls the holy ones of the Most High, should obtain 
 without ever failing. (Numbers xxiv. 17 ; Isaiah xlix. 23 ; 
 Ibid. Ix. 11 ; Daniel, in the place above cited.) 
 
 Twelfthly. That after the war of Gog and Magog, uni- 
 versal peace should obtain throughout the world, and man- 
 kind should have no farther use or occasion for weapons of 
 war, &c. (Isaiah ii. 4 ; Hosea ii. 18 ; Zech. ix. 10.) 
 
 Thirteenthly. That in the land of Israel, the beasts of 
 prey should cease to be so, and live quietly with the tame 
 cattle, and not hurt one another, much less mankind ; that 
 even the most noxious reptiles should become entirely inof- 
 fensive. (Isaiah xi. 6 ; Ibid. Ixiv. 25 ; Ezek. xxxiv. 25 
 and 28 ; Hosea ii. 18.) 
 
 Fourteenthly. That there will be, in a great measure, an 
 end of iniquity and sin ; but in an especial manner among 
 the people of Israel. (Deut. xxx. 6 ; Isaiah Ix. 21 ; Jer. 
 iii. 17 ; Ibid. 1. 20 ; Ezek. xxxvi. 25 ; Ibid, xxxvii. 23 ; 
 Zephan. iii. 13.) 
 
CHIZZUK HA-EMUNAH. 253 
 
 Fifteenthly. That all distress, anguish, ana sorrow shall be 
 no more in the land of Israel ; but the people of God, the 
 seed of Jacob, shall inherit that land, and long enjoy virtu- 
 ous and happy lives. (Isaiah Ixv. 9, 14, &c., to the end.) 
 
 Sixteenthly. The glorious return of the Divine Presence 
 to Israel, as in the days of old, when prophecy and wisdom 
 shall abound in Israel. (Ezek. xxxvii. 26, to the end.) 
 
 Seven teenthly. The coming of Elijah the Prophet, which 
 is to precede the great day of the LORD. (Malachi iv. 5.) 
 
 Eighteenthly. The building of the future temple, accord- 
 ing to its figure, dimensions, and order, &c., as described in 
 Ezek. xl. to xlv. 
 
 Nineteenthly. The division of the land, for the inheri- 
 tance of the twelve tribes of Israel, according to the portion 
 of each tribe. (Ezek. xlvii. 13, to the end of the book.) 
 
 Twentiethly. The resurrection of the dead, at least of 
 some particulars. (Deut. xxxii. 39 ; Isaiah xxvi. 19 ; 
 Daniel xii. 2.) ( 
 
 These, and many more prophecies of the same import, 
 being yet unaccomplished, are, all of them, still to be ful- 
 filled ; and, thereby prove that the Messiah described by the 
 prophets, whose coming we await, is not already come, but 
 is yet to be expected with certainty. 
 
 The author, after the foregoing proofs, adds : If these 
 appear insufficient, you have yet farther evidence in the 
 Book of .Daniel. The place referred to is chap. ii. v. 31 to 
 45. I shall not here confine myself to a translation, but 
 follow the hints he has given me in the interpretation of the 
 text, which I shall, in the first place, transcribe, that you 
 may have it before you, whereby you may more easily judge 
 how the explication accords with it. 
 22 
 
254 APPENDIX. 
 
 u Daniel, chap. ii. v. 31. Thou, oh King, sawest and 
 behold a great image : this great image, whose brightness 
 was excellent, stood before thee, and the form thereof was 
 terrible. 
 
 "32. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and 
 his arms of silver, his belly and thighs of brass. 
 
 " 33. His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of 
 clay. 
 
 " 34. Thou sawest, till that a stone was cut out without 
 hands, which smote the image upon his feet, that were of 
 iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. 
 
 " 35. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, 
 and the gold broken to pieces together, and became like the 
 chaff of the summer's thrashing-floors ; and the wind car- 
 ried them away, that no place was found for them ; and the 
 stone that smote the image became a great mountain and 
 filled the whole earth. 
 
 " 36. This is the dream ; and we will tell the interpreta- 
 tion thereof before the king. 
 
 " 37. Thou, oh King, art a king of kings ; for the Grod 
 of Heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, 
 and glory. 
 
 " 38. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the 
 beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he 
 given into thine hands, and made thee ruler over them all. 
 Thou art this head of gold. 
 
 " 39. And after thee shall rise another kingdom, inferior 
 to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall 
 bear rule over all the earth. 
 
 " 40. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron ; 
 forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things, 
 
CHIZZUK HA-EMUNAH. 255 
 
 and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces 
 and bruise. 
 
 "41. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of 
 potter's clay and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; 
 but there shall be in it of the strength of iron ; foras- 
 much as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. 
 
 " 42. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron and 
 part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and 
 partly broken. 
 
 " 43. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry 
 clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men ; 
 but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not 
 mixed with clay. 
 
 " 44. And in the days of those kings shall the God of 
 Heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed ; 
 and the kingdom shall not be left to another ; but it shall 
 break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms ; and it 
 shall stand for ever. 
 
 "45. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut 
 out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in 
 
 ; pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; 
 
 j the great God hath made known to the king what shall come 
 
 1 to pass hereafter; and the dream is certain, and the inter- 
 
 j pretation thereof sure/' 
 
 The image here described consisted of five parts, of as 
 
 j many different materials, viz : the gold, the silver, the brass, 
 the iron, and the iron and clay; indicating four great em- 
 pires, which were, respectively, to have almost universal 
 dominion, so far, at least, as to have no rivals in power 
 when at the summit of their greatness. Each of these, in 
 their turn, had dominion over the people of God. It is 
 
256 APPENDIX. 
 
 generally agreed that the gold was descriptive of the Baby- 
 lonian empire, the silver, the Persian, the brass, the Gre- 
 cian, and the iron, the Koman. The prophet allots to the 
 fourth monarchy two parts of the five, the iron alone, and 
 the iron and the clay. He declares, also, that the destruc- 
 tion of the image is to begin by being smitten on the feet, 
 composed of the iron and the clay. The power which is to 
 effect this is the kingdom which the God of Heaven is then 
 to set up. That is the kingdom of the people of the saints 
 of the Most High (Dan. vii. 27), or the kingdom of Israel, 
 who are called the Holy People, as will appear by the texts 
 hereto annexed. This universal empire, the kingdom of 
 the Messiah, was to destroy the image by smitting it on 
 the feet of iron and clay. This is a circumstance very 
 worthy of notice ; for, the fourth monarchy, in its greatest 
 strength, is described as consisting of iron only. This was 
 the state of the Roman empire until its decay. This, then, 
 was not the time of the kingdom of the Messiah. 
 
 The fourth monarchy, in its first state of iron, is well 
 enough understood ; but in its state of iron and clay it is 
 not so clear. I sometime was inclined to think that the 
 German empire, which yet retains the name, and, in some 
 respects, something of the form of the Koman empire, 
 though weakened and divided, to be meant by the iron and 
 clay. It is in this particular that this author has hinted to 
 me something that I had not before thought of. From the 
 time of Daniel, the world was to have four principal Gentile 
 monarchies, the fourth, by much the most potent, as well 
 as most extended, and, while in the iron state, was in pos- 
 session of almost all Europe, a great part of Asia, together 
 with Egypt, and most of the coast of Africa bordering on 
 
CHIZZUK HA-EMUNAH. 257 
 
 the Mediterranean. The several nations inhabiting this 
 very extended dominion were all parts of the fourth mon- 
 archy in its connected state of iron, or strength. During 
 the greater part of this period of the Roman empire, they 
 patronized the religions of all the parts of their empire ; and 
 there was little or no distinction made on that head. Before 
 the decay of the empire, Christianity made its appearance. 
 This, by its increase, became obnoxious to the government 
 for some time, and that only occasionally. But, before the 
 total subversion of the empire in its iron state, it became the 
 religion of the court. Whether the state of the iron and 
 clay may be said to commence at the dividing of the empire 
 into the Western and Eastern, or not, I will not undertake 
 to say. However, the empire now became weaker every 
 day, and was dismembered. In this condition of the empire 
 it was that Mahomedanism made its appearance in the world, 
 and in a little time became possessed of all the Roman pro- 
 vinces of Asia and Africa, and at last got possession of the 
 eastern, and, indeed, at that time, it may be said in some 
 measure, the sole capital of the empire. At this time, if 
 not before, it may be said with propriety that the fourth 
 monarchy became iron and clay. Our author supposes that 
 the Christian and Mohonaedan nations, which were the com- 
 ponent parts of the ancient Roman empire, are now the same 
 fourth monarchy in its debilitated state of iron and clay. 
 The iron and the clay, being so contrary to each other as 
 not to incorporate, though blended together, indicates, as 
 he thinks, the Roman Christian and the Roman Mahomedan 
 parts of the empire, which, though intermixed in regard to 
 habitations and dominions, yet do not intermarry, but re- 
 main separate, and hold each other in contempt. It is during 
 22* 
 
258 APPENDIX. 
 
 this divided and weak state of the fourth monarchy, and not 
 before, that the fifth monarchy, the kingdom of the Mes- 
 siah, which is in no wise included in the image, is to 
 reduce the iron and clay, as well as the other component 
 parts of the image, or, in other words, the several kingdoms, 
 nations, and people, which either are or were the component 
 parts of the several monarchies included in the image, and 
 that in such manner as no traces of those monarchies will 
 afterwards remain, as well as to establish and extend the 
 kingdom of God over all the world : when the knowledge 
 of Grod, with universal righteousness and charity, shall pre- 
 vail throughout the whole world. Then shall the Lord be 
 One, and his name One; which Grod grant speedily. Amen. 
 The texts referred to above, proving the Israelites to be 
 called the Holy People, are the following, besides others 
 that may be omitted, viz: Exod. xix. 6; ibid. xxii. 31; 
 Deut. vii. 6; ibid. xiv. 1; Isaiah Ixii. 12; ibid. Ixiii. 
 18 ; Jer. ii. 3 ; Daniel (before cited) vii. ; ibid. xii. 7, and 
 to the end. The several passages produced by the author 
 in proof of the expected restoration of Israel speak very 
 plainly for that wished-for event under the government of the 
 Messiah, as well as for the reduction of all nations under 
 that happy dominion, so plainly, as the author observes, 
 that any one that attends to the import and meaning of 
 these predictions cannot, without doing violence to his 
 understanding, deny his assent to the foregoing propo- 
 sitions.* 
 
 * Alluding to the propositions he had advanced in his book. 
 
YA 02862 
 
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 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY