A SIXTH DISCOURSE ON THE MIRACLES OF OUR
SAVIOUR,
In VIEW of the Present Controversy between INFIDELS and APOSTATES.
Jamque Opus exegi,—
By THO. WOOLSTON, B. D. sometime Fellow of
Sidney-College
in
Cambridge.
LONDON: Printed for the Author, and Sold by him next door to the
Star,
in
Aldermanbury,
and by the Booksellers of
London,
and
Westminster,
1729. [Price One Shilling.]
TO THE Right Reverend Father in GOD
JOHN,
Lord Bishop of Oxford.
MY LORD,
W HEN the following
Discourse
was finish'd and ready for the
Press,
I consider'd to what
Bishop
the
Dedication
of it would be most acceptable; (for I am resolv'd that none but
Bishops
as yet shall have the Honour of my
Dedications
;) and I had not long ponder'd upon the Matter, before I hit upon your
Lordship,
who must needs be pleas'd with this
Discourse,
because of the Advantage, that you, as well as myself, in the End, will reap by it.
By Virtue of your
Professorship
at
Oxford,
you,
My Lord,
are a
Moderator
at theological Disputations, as I am here: And whether the Execution of your Office be as troublesome as mine is, I know not: But if the Design of this
Discourse
take Place, we shall find that modern Controversies about Religion are all vain; and thereupon be
both
of us soon eas'd of the Trouble of our
Moderations
at them.
It may be,
my Lord,
you are not so weary of your
Moderatorship,
as I am: Besides, that you are better paid for your Pains, your Disputants are more amicable, and in the midst of their Disputes more tractable: Tho they may warmly contend, at the present, for and against the Point in Debate; yet like
Lawyers
who are no less zealous for their
Clients
in the Day, they commonly agree to drink a Bottle together at Night, and go to Bed, good Friends. And this is very well done of them.
But my Disputants,
my Lord,
call'd
Infidels
and
Apostates,
at whose Controversy I have the Trouble, by the Appointment of the Fathers, to preside, are more stubborn, turbulent and refractory. What ill Treatment they would give each other, if it was in their Power, I know not: But my
Apostates,
since they can't be aveng'd on their Adversarys, are full of Resentment against their
Moderator,
because I am not altogether partial to their side; and how I shall escape their Indignation, God alone knows.
Whatever the
Clergy, my Lord,
whom I dignify with the Title of
Apostates,
may think, I look upon myself as a notable
Moderator
of the Controversy; I have shewn them all the Favour I can in it, and would have brought them off with Honor, but for a
little Flaw,
here discover'd, in the Foundation of their Church, which, for the Determination of our Disputes, must be confefs'd and granted.
If your
Lordship,
upon reading this
Discourse,
should be of the same Mind with me, I beg of you to Stroak the
Clergy
into Temper, Patience and Compliance; Tell them, they have been long orthodox and glorious Victors over
Infidels,
and that it would be now an Act of Generosity to yield to them in a
small Point
; upon which such a Pacification would ensue, as nothing hereafter would be able to dissolve.
But I have another Favour,
my Lord,
here to crave of you, that you wou
d be pleas'd to persuade my old Friend the
Bishop
of
London
to stay at Home this
Lent,
and keep to his
Prayers
and
Fasting,
for the casting out a certain
Kind
of—, that by fits he's unhappily troubled with; or upon the
ublication of this
Discourse,
I shall be in Danger of being soon kn
pp'd for it.
If your
Lordship
will do me that Favour, then I will do you as good a Turn; and praise you for your Doctrine of
Passive Obedience,
preach'd at the Coronation: Tho many may laugh at your Revival of that Doctrine, Saying, the
Clergy
upon an Occasion, which our most excellent
Sovereign
will never give them, would again have Recourse to their
Reserves
and
Distinctions
; yet I say it was well done of your
Lordship
to preach it, that the Tongues and the Hands (to Say nothing of the Hearts) of the
Clergy
might go together in Subscriptions to
Articles
and
Homilys
; and so avoid that Prevarication and Inconsistency, which some now have no more Wit than to charge them with.
So not questioning your
Lordship
's Approbation of this
Discourse
and the
Dedication
; nor doubting but you'll make me as bountiful a Recompence for it, as any of my other Episcopal Patrons have done; I subscribe my self,
Feb: 15th 1728-9.
My Lord,
The Admirer of your Passive Obedience Sermon
Thomas Woolston.
A SIXTH DISCOURSE ON THE MIRACLES OF OUR
SAVIOUR,
&c.
H ERE goes my sixth and last
Discourse
on
Jesus
's
Miracles
; the Subject whereof is the literal Story of his own Resurrection; which, according to the Proposition in hand, I am to show to consist of Absurditys, Improbabilitys and Incredibilitys. And I hope our
Bishops
will quietly permit the Publication of this
Discourse,
especially if I assure them, that I mean nothing worse by it, than to make way for the Understanding, what the Fathers write of, the mystical Resurrection of
Jesus
out of the Grave of the Letter of the Law and the Prophets;, of which mystical Resurrection of our
spiritual Jesus,
the Evangelical Story of the Resurrection of a
carnal Christ
is but mere Type and Shadow.
I am so far from designing any Service to Infidelity by this
Discourse,
that I aim at the Accomplishment of some of St.
John
's Apocalyptical Visions. The Fathers say that a
Church,
built on the Letter of the Scriptures, particularly on the Letter of
Jesus
's Miracles, is
Babylon
; and that antiliteral Arguments and mystical Interpretations will be the downfal of her. Whether there is any Truth in this Opinion of the Fathers, I am minded to make the Experiment; and tho I should bring the old House of the Church over my Head, and be crush'd to Pieces in its Ruins, I can't forbear it: But however, I would advise the
Clergy
to make haste and
come out of Babylon,
for fear of the worst; or they, who upon the Authority of the Fathers are
the Merchants of Babylon,
will
weep
Revelations Ch. xviii. 11.
and mourn
upon her Fall, because
none will buy their Merchandize
of the Letter
any more.
Dear
Jesu,
that such a
Student,
as I am, in the
Revelations
of St.
John,
and an Interpreter of them too upon the Authority of the Fathers should be charg'd with Blasphemy and Infidelity!
So to Work I went; and I had not been long musing by myself, how to sap this Foundation of the Church, before I was sensible of my own Insufficiency for it. Whereupon I sent to my old Friend, the
Jewish Rabbi,
for his Thoughts on this grand Miracle of
Jesus
's Resurrection, which he gave me some Promise of But I desired him to forbear all Ludicrousness, Satire and Banter for fear of Offence: For tho our
Clergy
liked Volumes of Jests and Facetiousness, if they were discharg'd against
Jews, Turks,
and
Infidels
; yet when they were levell'd at
Ministers
of the
Letter
the
Case was alter'd,
as quoth
Plowden,
and they were not to be born with. Therefore he was to remember that decency, seriousness and calmness of Argument, required by the
Bishop
of
London
In his Pastoral Letter, p. 35.
or I durst not print it.
In Compliance with my Desires he sent me the following Letter, which, having purg'd it of a few
Puns
and
Cunundrums,
because all Appearance of
Wit,
as of
Evil,
was to be abstain'd from, I here publish, and it runs thus.
SIR,
ACcording to your Request, I here send you my Thoughts on
Jesus
's Resurrection, in which I shall be shorter than I would be, because of the customary Bounds of your
Discourse.
The Controversy between us
Jews
and you
Christians
about the
Messiah
has hitherto been of a diffusive Nature: But as the subject of
this
is the Resurrection of your
Jesus
; so by my Consent, we'll now reduce the Controversy to a narrow Compass, and let it turn entirely on this grand Miracle and Article of your Faith. If your
Divines
can prove
Jesus
's Resurrection against the following Objections, then I will acknowledge him to be the
Messiab,
and will turn Chtistian, otherwise he must still pass with us for an Impostor and false Prophet.
I have often lamented the Loss of such Writings, which our
Ancestors
unquestionably dispers'd against
Jesus,
because of the cl
ar fight they would give us, into the Cheat and Imposture of his Religion. But I rejoice and thank God, there is little or no want of them, to the Point in Hand. For I had not long meditated on the Story of
Jesus
's Resurrection, as your
Evangelists
have related it, but I plainly discern'd it to be the most notorious and monstrous Imposture, that ever was put upon Mankind. And if you please to attend to my following Arguments, which require no depth of Judgment and Capacity to apprehend, I am persuaded that you and every one disinterested, will be of the same Mind too.
To overthrow and confute the Story of this monstrous and incredible Miracle, I was thinking once to premise an Argument of the Justice of the Sentence denounc'd against and executed upon
Jesus,
who was so far from being the innocent Person, you Christians would make of him, that, as may easily be proved, he was so grand a
Deceiver,
Impostor
and
Malefactor,
as no Punishment could be too great for him. But this Argument (which I reserve against a Day of perfect Liberty, to publish by itself in Defence of the Honour and Justice of our
Ancestors
) would be too long for the Compass of this Letter; and therefore I pass it by, tho it would give Force to my following Objections; it being hard and even impossible to imagine, that God would vouchsafe the Favour of a miraculous Resurrection to one, who for his Crimes deservedly suffer'd and underwent Death.
But waveing, I say, that Argument for the present, which of itself would be enough to prejudice a reasonable Man against the Belief of
Jesus
's Resurrection; I will allow
Jesus
to have been a much better Man, than I believe him to have been; or as good a one in Morals as your Divines do suppose him; and will only consider the Circumstances of the Evangelical Story of his Resurrection; from which, if I don't prove it to have been the most bare-fac'd Imposture that ever was put upon the World, I deserve for the Vanity of this Attempt a much worse Punishment than he for his Frauds endured.
I have sometimes wonder'd, considering the Nature and Heinousness of
Jesus
's Faults, for which he dy'd, that our
Chief Priests
and
Pharisees
had any regard to his Prediction (which was so like a Bambouzlement of the Populace) that he was to rise again the
third Day
after his Crucifixion. There's no other Nation in the World, which would not have slighted such a vain Prognostication of a known Impostor. Let him foretel with ever so much Confidence his speedy return to Life, I dare say, any other Magistrates of ordinary Prudence would have despised him for a presumptuous
Enthusiast
: But, when I reflected on the Imposture of
Lazarus
's Resurrection, and of what pernicious Consequence it had like to have proved to the Peace and Welfare of our Nation, if it had not been happily discover'd, my Wonder here ceas'd; and I as much admire now the Wisdom, Caution and Circumspection of our
Chief Priests
against all possible Fraud and Deceit in the foretold Resurrection of
Jesus.
Tho
Jesus
himself, the Head of the Confederacy, and prime Projector of the design'd Cheat in the Case of
Lazarus
was cut off, yet his Associates were still numerous; and it was not impossible, but they might concert a Project of a counterfeited Resurrection of him, in Accomplishment of his Prophecy, that might be of more fatal Consequence, and tend to such Confusions and Distractions among the People, as would not be soon quell'd and quieted. Whereupon our
Chief Priests
very prudently consider of Precautions against Cheat here, and wisely make Application to
Pilat
the
Governor,
that proper and effectual Measures may be taken against a false and feign'd Resurrection, for Fear of the ill Effects of it. And one of them, as the
Spokesman
of their Company, seems, according to
Matthew,
Ch. xxvii. to have made the Speech following.
SIR,
We remember that this Deceiver and Impostor
Jesus,
who was yesterday crucified and justly suffer'd Death for his Blasphemy and many Delusions of the People (that were of bad Consequence, and might have been of much worse, if he had not been timely brought to condign Punishment) said repeatedly before, that notwithstanding the Death he was to undergo, he should rise again to Life the
third Day
after. It is not that we are at all apprehensive of such a wonderful and miraculous Event, which knowing him to have been a false Prophet as well as a deceitful Juggler, we have no Fears nor Belief of. But as it is not long since, that the Inhabitants in and about
Bethany
had like to have been fatally deluded and imposed on by him, in the pretended Resuscitation of
Lazarus,
one of his Disciples and Confederates in Iniquity; so it is not altogether impossible nor improbable bat his Disciples and Accomplices, who are many, may project a feign'd Resurrection of
Jesus,
(in Accomplishment of his Prediction) by stealing his Body away, and pretending he is risen from the dead. Should such a Sham-Miracle be contrived amongst them and cunningly executed it would be
(
not an Error but
) an Imposture of worse Consequence to our Nation and Religion, than the former in
Lazarus
could have been, if it had never been detected: We crave therefore the Favour of your
Excellency,
to give Command for the making his Sepulchre sure, till the
third Day
is past, that neither his
dead
Body may be taken away, and a Resurrection pretended; nor a
living
one slipt into its Place, and a Miracle counterfeited on that Day, when we will be present at the opening of the Sepulchre, and give Satisfaction to the People of his being a false Prophet.
Whether
Pilat
was at all intent on the Prevention of Fraud in this Case, or would not willingly have connived at it, to increase the Divisions and Distractions of our then unhappy Nation, may be question'd: But the Request of our
Chief Priests
was so reasonable, and their Importunitys so urgent, that he could not resist them; and therefore order'd them a
Watch
for the Sepulchre, which they might make as sure, as they could, against Fraud and Imposture, till the
third Day.
Whereupon our
Chief Priests
deliberate, what measures were fittest to be taken to this Purpose. And as I can't, and don't believe any Man else can, devise any better for the security of the Sepulchre against Fraud, than what they took; so I admire and applaud their Prudence, Circumspection, and Precaution in the Case. They
seal'd the Stone
at the mouth of the Sepulchre, and placed a Guard of Soldiers about it; which were
Two
such certain means for the Prevention or Detection of Cheat in a Resurrection, as are not to be equall'd by any other.
They
seal'd the Stone
of the Sepulchre, which, tho it was no Security at all against Violence, yet was an absolute one against Fraud. How the
Stone
which fitted the Mouth of the Sepulchre, as a Door do's the Entrance into a Room, was seal'd, I need not describe. The use and manner of sealing of Doors of Closets, of Chests, and of Papers is common; and as it is an obvious Expedient, for the Satisfaction of the Signators, against Deceit; so it has been an antient as well as a modern Practice.
Nebuchadnezzar
Daniel. Cap. vi. 17.
seal'd the Door of the Den of Lions wherein
Daniel
was cast, with his own Signet: And wherefore did He so? For the Satisfaction of himself and of his Courtiers, when he came again to open and compare the Signature with his Signet, that no Art nor Artifice hid been used for the Preservation of
Daniel.
So our
Chief Priests
seal'd the Stone of
Jesus
's Sepulchre, which they design'd to be present at the opening of, on the
third Day,
the Time appointed by
Jesus
for his Resurrection, and then give ample Satisfaction to the People, that there was a real or could be no Resurrection of his Body. Wherefore else did they
seal
the Stone of his Sepulchre?
Your
Grotius
Adducor ut credam Pilati Annulo et hunc Lapidem signatum.
In Loc. Matt.
thinks, that
Pilat
's Seal was affix'd to the Stone of the Sepulchre; but, as I believe,
Pilat
little concern'd himself about the Prevention of Deceit here; so I much question it. It is more reasonable to think that the
Chief Priests
and other Civil Magistrates of
Jerusalem
with their several Seals, which could not be open'd but by themselves without suspicion of Fraud, sign'd the Stone, and intended to be present, on the Day appointed, at the opening of the Sepulchre; not doubting, what no body could question, but
Jesus
would wait their coming, and arise to Life if he could, in the sight of themselves, and of a vast Concourse of People, that were sure to attend on them to behold the Miracle. Such a Resurrection would have been of Satisfaction to the whole Nation; and such a Resurrection, reasonably speaking,
Jesus
would, if he could, have vouchsafed in Accommodation to the
sealing
of the
Stone.
But, notwithstanding this Precaution, in sealing of the Stone, the best that could be taken against Fraud,
Jesus
's Body was privately slipt off, early in the Morning of the Day before, and a Resurrection pretended by his Disciples; and you would have us and our Ancestors to believe, there was no Deceit in the Case; tho confessedly none of the
Sealers
of the Sepulchre were present: Who can believe it? Was or can there be any Imposture more against: Sense and Reason palm'd upon the Understandings of Mankind? If there had been a real Resurrection, the
Sealers
of the
Stone
would have been the
Openers
of the Sepulchre; wherefore else was the
Stone seal'd
?
A Question, that here arises, is, On what Day and what Time of the Day, did our
Chief Priests,
the Sealers of the Stone, expect, what they could not think would ever come to pass,
Jesus
's Resurrection? Or what was the Extent of the Time meant by
Jesus,
when he said that after
three Days,
or on the
third Day
after his Passion, he should rise again? if any Impostor or Prophet like
Jesus
should in this Age so predict his Resurrection, and be executed on a
Fryday,
the Day for his Resurrection would be presumed to be
Monday,
and not
Sunday
Morning before Day. And I humbly conceive former Ages and Nations, and our Nation in particular did compute after this Fashion. Accordingly on
Monday
our
Chief Priests,
I don't doubt, intended to be present at the opening of the Seals of the Sepulchre, and to behold the Miracle: But
Jesus
's Body was clandestinely moved off early on
Sunday,
(the Day before
that
signified and predicted for his Resurrection) to the Laughter more than to the surprize of our Ancestors, at the Notoriety of the Fraud committed, and at the Vanity of a Resurrection pretended upon it. And I may appeal, even to your
Chief Priests
of the Church, whether here's not another Note of Cheat and Imposture; and whether the Disciples were not afraid to trust
Jesus
's Body, it's full time, in the Grave; because of the greater Difficulty to carry it off afterwards, and pretend a Resurrection upon it.
But because your
Divines
(who have singular Knacks at making two Nights and a full Day, that
Jesus
was buried, to be
three Days
and
three Nights
; and whose various Ways of Computation I always smile at) do assert that
Sunday
was the
third Day,
on which, in Accomplishment of
Jonah
's Prophecy, and of his own Prediction, he was to rise again; I will suppose so with them, and will, if they please, grant that our
Chief Priests,
the
Sealers
of the Sepulchre, expected his Resurrection on that Day, and intended, for the opening of the Seals, to be present at it.
But at what Time of Day were they to come or could be expected at the Sepulchre? Not long before Noon. But
Jesus
's Body was gone betimes in the Morning, before our
Chief Priests
could be out of their Beds; and a barefaced Infringment of the Seals of the Sepulchre was made against the Laws of Honour and Honesty, and a Resurrection confidently talk'd of by the Disciples; and yet your Christian Priesthood at this Day would have us to believe, there was no Fraud and Deceit in all this! O most monstrous!
If our
Chief Priests
had trespass'd upon
Jesus
's Patience, and would not attend at the Sepulchre for the opening of the Seals, on the Day and Time appointed; if they hid been for confining him longer in the Grave than was meet, according to Prophecy, then his Resurrection, without their Presence, had been excusable and justifiable. But this his pretended Rising to Life, not only a Day before the Chief Priests could imagine he would, or earlier in the Morning than he should, for the Sake of their requisite Presence, is, together with the Fracture of the Seals against the Law of Security, such a manifest and indisputable Mark and Indication of Fraud, as is not to be equall'd in all or any of the Impostures, that ever were attempted to be put upon the World.
In short, by the Sealing of the Stone of the Sepulchre we are to understand nothing less than a Covenant enterd into, between our
Cheif Priests
and the
Apostles,
by which
Jesus
's Veracity, Power and
Messiahship
was to be try'd. Tho we read not of the Apostles giving their Consent to the Covenant, yet it was reasonably presum'd and could not have been refus'd, if ask'd. The Condition of the seal'd Covenant was, that if
Jesus
arose from the dead in the Presence of our
Cheif Priests
upon their opening the Seals of the Sepulchre, at the Time appointed; then was he to be acknowledg'd to be the
Messiah
: But if he continued in a corrupt and putrified state of Mortality, then was he to be granted to be an
Impostor
: Very wisely and rightly agreed! And if the Apostles had stood to this Covenant, Christianity had been nipt in its Bud, and suppress'd in its Birth. But they had other Views and another Game to play at all Adventures. The Body was to be removed and a Resurrection pretended to the Delusion, it possibe, of all Mankind, in which they have been more successful than could be imagin'd upon a Project that had so little Sense or Reason, so little Colour of Truth or Artifice in the Contrivance and Execution of it. Our
Cheif Priests
were apprehensive at first of their stealing the Body away, and pretending a Resurrection: Bat after the
sealing
of the
Stone,
those fears vanish'd; because upon the stealing the Body, away against such security and Precaution, the Fraud would be felf evident, and want no Demonstration and Proof of it. Bur, for all this Precaution, I say, the Body was in a barefaced Manner taken away, a Resurrection talk'd of, and to the Amazement of every one, who can think freely, has been beleived thro' all Ages of the Church since. Upon the whole then, I think, you may as well say, when a seal'd Closet is broken open, and the Treasure gone without the Privity of the Signators, that there's no wrong done; as that in the Resurrection of
Jesus,
there was no Fraud. The Cases are equal and parallel. What then can your Christian,
Priests
say to this demonstrative Argument of a manifest and bare-faced Cheat in
Jesus
's Resurrection? I have been thinking, what they will or can say; and upon the maturest Consideration I don't find they can make any other than one or more of these shuffling Answers to it,
viz.
1. That it was impossible for the Disciples to Steal the Body of
Jesus
away, because of the Watchfulness of the Guards; and therefore there was a real Resurrection, tho the
Cheif Priests
and
Sellers
of Sepulchre were not present at it.
2. That tho the
Cheif Priests
and
Sealers
of the stone of the Sepulchre were not presenr, as I say they ought to have been, to behold the Miracle; yet his Resurrection was afterwards made as manifest to them, as if they had been there present.
3. That if
Jesus
did not really arise from the dead, the Beleif of his Resurrection could never have been so propagated at first, nor would have been retain'd in the World for so many Ages since.
I can think of no other Answers, and believe it impossible for your Christian
Priests
to form any other, to the foresaid Argument of Fraud in
Jesus
's Resurrection: But how weak, frivolous and insufficient they all and every one are, will appear upon a little Examination into them.
1. Then, against the foresaid demonstrative Argument of Fraud, it may be pretended,
That it was impossible for the Disciples to steal the Body of
Jesus
away, because of the Watchfulness of the Guards; and therefore there was a real Resurrection, tho the
Cheif Priests,
the
Sealers
of the Sepulchre were not present at it.
To which I reply, and confess, that if it was impossible to evade the Guards of the Sepulchre, then there was a real Resurrection; but if there was but a bare Possibility of evading them, then this Answer is of no Force. And I am of Opinion, that the Thing was not only possible, but easy, feassible, and practicable. Tho the
Roman
Soldiers were of as much Fidelity and Integrity as any of their Profession; yet it is well known, that such Creatures are subject to Bribery and Corruption, if the Disciples had any Money to tempt them with: Or if their Faithfulness to their Trust was untainted; yet it is not improbable, but their Officers, at the Direction of
Pilat,
who found his Account in the Distractions of our Nation, might give them the Hint to wink hard, at the Commission of such a Fraud. But not to insist on either of these Ways to evade the
Watch
; our Ancestors said, what your
Evangelist
has recorded, that the Disciples, taking the opportunity of the sleep of the Guards, carry'd the Body of
Jesus
off; which was a thing both possible and probable.
Of what Number the
Watch
did consist is uncertain. Your
Whitly
Upon the Place in
Matthew.
says they were
sixty
; but he has no Reason nor Authority to think, they were so many. If they had been to be a Guard against Violence, I should easily have believed they were more; but in as much as they were only a
Watch
against Fraud, and against any casual defaceing of the
Seals
on the Stone, before the
Cheif Priests
came to open the Sepulchre,
three
or
four
Soldiers were sufficient, and I don't think, there were any more set to this Purpose.
It is not then at all improbable, that so few Soldiers should be fast asleep at that time of Night, or so early in the Morning, when the clandestine Work was done; especially after keeping such a
Gaudy day,
as was the Feast of the Passover, which, like the Festivals of other Nations, was celebrated with Excess. Foot Soldiers then, you may be sure, upon the Bounty of one or other did no more want, than they would scruple to take their
Fill,
which like an Opiat lock'd up their Senses for that Night, when the Disciples, being aware of the lucky opportunity, carry'd the Body of
Jesus
off safely.
And where's the Absurdity to suppose, that the Disciples themselves might contrive the Intoxication of the Guards?
Herodotus
tells us a Story of a dead-Body's being stolen away by such an Artifice. And I don't think the Disciples of
Jesus
either so foolish or conscientious as not to take the Hint and enterprise the like Fraud.
Peter,
who upon occasion, could
swear
and
curse
like a
Trooper,
would hardly scruple to fuddle a few
Foot-Soldiers.
But which way soever it came to pass, the Watch were asleep, which is neither hard to conceive nor believe; and then the Disciples executed
that
Fraud, which has been the Delusion of Nations and Ages since.
Your
Evangelists
would hint that the
Cheif Priests
gave Money to the Soldiers to say, they were asleep, when the Disciples stole the Body of
Jesus
away, as if they were brib'd to a false Testimony; but there neither was nor could be any such Thing. If there had been a real Resurrection to their Astonishment and Amazement, as it is represented in your Gospels, no Money could so soon have corrupted them to a false Witness, being under such Fears of God and of
Jesus.
I don't doubt but our
Cheif Priests
might reward the Soldiers for speaking the Truth, and exhort them to persist in it, with a Promise to
secure
them against the Anger of
Pilat
for their sleeping and neglect of their Duty.
Here then is no
Answer
to the foresaid Argument or Objection against
Jesus
's Resurrection. It was not at all impossible for the Disciples, who stole the Body away, to avoid the Guards, who were and may reasonably be supposed to be lull'd asleep, when the Disciples did it. Neither is there any more Force in the
2. Second Answer to it,
viz. That tho the Cheif Priests, the sealers of the Stone of ths Sepulchre, were not present, opening the Seals and beholding the Miracle; yet his Resurrection was afterwards as manifest to them, as if they had been there present.
Ay, this is somewhat like an Answer, if there be any Truth in it. A Manifestation of
Christ risen
afterwards to our
Cheif Priests
would have been equivalent to their Presence at, and sight of the Miracle. But how was his Resurrection manifested to them? did
Jesus
ever afterwards appear personally to them, to their satisfaction, that he was the same Person, whom they crucified and put to Death for a Deceiver and false Prophet? No; this is not once asserted by your
Evangelists
or ever insinuated by any antient or modern Writer. How then was
Jesus
's Resurrection made manifest to our Cheif Priests? Why; your
Divines
say, what is all that can be said here, that the Words of the Disciples, who, being Men of Honesty, Simplicity and Integrity, would not Lye, are to be taken for it. Very fine indeed! our Cheif Priests are to take the Words of the Disciples for
Jesus
's Resurrection, and look upon them as Men of Veracity, when they knew and experienc'd them to be grand Cheats, not only in Stealing the Body of
Jesus
away, but in the
known Imposture
of
Lazarus
's Resurrection, or your
Evangelist
had never implicitly called it so. When therefore Deceivers will not be
Lyers
; nor Theives,
Dissemblers
of the Fact, they are accused of, I will own
Jesus
's Resurrection to have been manifest enough to our
Cheif Priests.
There's no Need of more Argument here; He that bestows more Words on it, loses Time.
It has been a Constant Objection of us
Jews
against the Resurrection of
Jesus,
that he appear'd not personally afterwards to our
Cheif Priests,
to
Pilat
and to others his Crucifiers and Insultors, to upbraid them with their Infidelity and ill Treatment of him. Whether
Jesus
would not have done so, if he really arose from the dead; and whether he ought not in Reason, for the Conviction and Conversion of Unbeleivers, to have done so, with me is no Question.
Celsus
of old
Si Jesus volebat revera declarare suam divinam Potentiam, debuerat suis Insultatoribus, ipsi
que
Praesidi qui capitalem sententiam contra se tulerat, denique caeteris omnibus se ostendere.
In Orig. Lib.
ii.
contra Celsum.
in the Name of the
Jews
made the Objection; and
Olibio,
a late
Rabbi
In Limborchii Arnica Collatione cum Judaeo.
has repeated it. But in all my Reading and Conversation with Men or Books I never met with a tolerable Answer to it.
Origen
and
Limborch,
the Writers against
Celsus
and
Olibio,
gently slide over the Objection, as if it was too hot or weighty to be touch'd and handled by them. To recite the poor, short and insufficient Answers of those two great Authors, to the Objection, would be the Exposing of them, and giving such Strength to the Objection, which it don't want. Therefore I will leave the Objection, which
Origen
Magna Sane Res et miranda occurrit hoc loco, quae non Solum aliquem
vulgo Credentium exercere posset, Sed perfectiores etiam; cur non Dominus post Resurrectionem aeque ac superioribus temporibus conspiciendum se praebuerit.
In Lib.
ii. cont.
Celsum.
owns to be a considerable one, to the Meditation of your modern Advocates for Christianity; and when they can prove, that
Jesus
after his Resurrection did personally appear to his Crucifiers, the
Cheif
Priests
and
Sealers
of the Sepulchre, to their Confutation; or that, according to the Law of Reason, he ought not to have appeared to them, then I will turn
Christian
and grant that in the Argument above, which proves plain Fraud in the Resurrection, there's no Force nor Truth. In the mean time
Jesus
's Non-Appearance to the
Cheif Priests
is a Confirmation, that he did not arise from the Dead, bat that his Body was stolen away, or he would have waited in the Grave, the coming of the Sealers of the Stone, and their regular opening of the Sepulchre, to the Conviction and Conversion of all there present and Confirmation of the Faith of all Ages and Nations since, But,
3. A third Answer to the foresaid Argument of Fraud in the Resurrection of
Jesus,
drawn from the Nature, Use and Design of sealing the Stone of the Sepulchre, is,
that tho the
Sealers
of the Sepulchre were not present, opening the Seals and beholding the Miracle; yet
Jesus
did certainly arise from the Dead, or the Belief of his Resurrecton could never have been at first propagated by the Apostles, nor would for so many Ages of the Church since have stood its Ground.
Here's as little Reason in this Answer as in either of the two former. Who knows not, that many Errors in Philosophy, and as many Frauds in Religion have been sometimes accidentally, sometimes designedly espous'd and palm'd upon Mankind, who in Process of Time become so wedded
them thro' Prejudice and Interest, that they will not give themselves Leave to enquire into the Rise and Foundation of them. False Miracles have been common Things among Christians; and as the Resurrection of
Jesus
is their grand and fundamental one, so it is not at all difficult to account for the Rise, Propagation and Continuance of the Belief of it.
Why it has been believed thro' these latter Ages of the Church, is no Wonder at all. The Priests had their Interest in it; the ignorant and superstitious had their Comfort in it; and the wise and considerate, for Fear of Persection, durst not enquire into the Grounds of it.
The only difficulty here is to know, upon what Principle, the Project and Story of
Jesus
's Resurrection was at first devised. And whether it was Ambition or Revenge upon our ancient and pharisaical Priesthood, that prompted the Apostles to it, is all one to me. Such bad Principles too often put Men upon desperate Attempts. But however, an Imposture it was, for the Argument above. To say, the Apostles and Confederates in the Fraud would not have stood to it, and have dy'd for it, if the Resurrection had not been real Fact, signifies nothing. Many Cheats and Criminals, besides them, have asserted their Innocency, and deny'd their Guilt in the utmost exrremity of Death, without the like Views of Honour and Fame. The only Thing, that's surprising and astonishing in this Sham-Miracle, is that, tho it was the most manifest, the most barefaced, and the most self evident Imposture that ever was put upon the World; yet it has been the most fortunate and successful, having past thro' many Ages and Nations with Reputation and Renown; and might have continued for as many Generations to come, but for the Argument above, that perfectly and clearly overthrows its Credit.
But, some may say here, where was the Wisdom and Providence of God, all this while, to suffer so many Ages and Nations to labour under such a Delusion? Why, I'll tell you; The Providence of God in it was, "To humble Mankind, in the End, for their vain Ostentation of Wisdom, Learning and
Science falsly so call'd
; "To shame them for their Madness and Wickedness to persecute one another for different Opinions in that Religion, whose very Foundation is false and groundless; "To caution them against a blind and implicit Faith for the future; against believing any thing out of the sight and reach of their Understandings; "To admonish them of the necessity of Liberty to think, speak and write freely about Religion, for the Correction of Errors and Discovery of Truth; and lastly, "To reduce the World when it should be ripe for it, to the golden Religion of Nature, which upon the Testimony of our old
Cabalistical
Doctors, and of your
Jesus
himself, is the
End of the Law and the Prophets.
And thus have I spoken to the
Answers,
which your
Christian Priesthood
may be presumed to make, to the foresaid Argument of Fraud in
Jesus
's Resurrection, drawn from the Design of our
Cheif Priests
in sealing of the Stone of his Sepulchre. I should not have concern'd myself to speak to these their supposed
Answers,
but to save them the Trouble of making; them, and the Imagination of there being some Force in them.
As to the Stories, in your
Evangelists,
of
Jesus
's several Appearances after his pretended Resurrection, sometimes to the Women, and at other Times to his Disciples, I am not at all obliged to refute them. If these Appearances had been more frequent, better circumstanced, and more solemnly averr'd, they would have wanted no Confutation. There's no doubt on't, but the Disciples, who, for the Argument above, unquestionably stole
Jesus
's Body away, in order to pretend a Resurrection, would talk much of his appearing to them, and of the Conversation afterwards, they had with him. And if they had told better and more plausible Tales of their fight of, and Conversition with him, it would be nothing to the Purpose;
better,
I say,
and more plausible Tales
than those upon Record, which for Absurdity, Nonsense and Incoherence carry their own Confutation along with them.
Whoever blends together the various History of the four
Evangelists,
as to
Jesus
's Appearances after his Resurrection, will find himself, not only perplex'd how to make an intelligible, consistent, and sensible Story of it; but must; with
Celsus
Quamvis Celsus has Jesu post Resurrectionem Apparitiones conferre conetur cum vulgaribus Spectris & Visionibus.
In Origen. Lib.
ii.
contra Celsum.
, needs think it, if he closely think on't, like some of the confused and incredible womanish Fables of the Apparitions of the Ghosts of deceased Persons, which the Christian World in particular has in former Ages abounded with. The Ghosts of the Dead in this present Age, and especially in this Protestant Country have ceas'd to appear; and we now-a-days hardly ever hear of such an Apparition: And what is the Reason of it? Why, the Beleif of these Storys being banish'd out of Men's Minds, the crafty and vaporous forbear to trump them upon us. There has been so much clear Proof of Fraud in many of these Storys, that the wise and considerate Part of Mankind has rejected them all, excepting
this
of
Jesus,
which to Admiration has stood its Ground. It's no wonder indeed, that the
Clergy,
who are more incredulous than other Folks as to Storys of Apparitions, do stick to this of
Jesus,
the only one excepted out of all others. It is a sweet morsel of Faith, and they readily swallow and digest it, because they live by it; otherwise
this
Story of
Jesus
's Appearances after Death had hardly escaped the Fate of other Apparitions; nay, would have been rejected, one of the first of them; there being hardly one, I dare say it, among all
Storys of Apparitions, were they to be collected together; that's more absurd and incredible than
this
of
Jesus.
I have not here Room to make any Remarks on your Evangelical Story of
Jesus
's Apparitions after his Death; and if I had, I durst not do it, for fear of an offensive Ludicrousness, and of transgressing the Rules of
Decency, Sobriety
and
Sedateness
of Argument, you have confined me to. But however, 1 can't read the Story without smiling, and there are two or three Passages in it, that put me in mind of
Robinson Cruso
's filling his Pockets with Biskets, when he had neither Coat, Wastcoat nor Breeches on. Sometimes I think your
Evangelists
wanted Wit to adapt their Tale to Sense, and to accommodate the Transaction to Nature; and sometimes I think them crafty, and were minded, like
Daniel de Foe
in his foresaid
Romance,
to put the Banter upon the Credulity of Mankind, with some disguised and latent Absurdities, that, in the Conclusion and Discovery, they might be heartily laugh'd at for the Belief of them, I dare not, I say, so much a hint at one of these Absurdities, least I should be unwarily tempted to crack a Jest on it. But the Time, I hope, is coining, when I shall use more Freedom. And should your Priesthood, in Proof of
Jesus
's Resutrection, urge any of these Storys of his corporal Presence and Appearance after it, then I trust, they'll permit me to to make as merry Descants on them, as your
Bishops,
when Academical
Jesters,
used to do on other Men's Bulls and Blunders.
In the mean time I depend on the foregoing single, sober and sedate Argument of Fraud in this grand Miracle, which I found on the Nature and Design of sealing the Sepulchre; and for Confirmation of my Opinion and Proof of Fraud in it, will conclude this Letter with a parallel Case and Story, Not many Years since, one Dr.
Emms,
of the Society of the French Prophets, who in their Inspirations were, like
Jesus
and his Disciples of old, Declaimers against the Pharisaical Priesthood of this Age, did by himself, or some of his Fraternity did for him, predict his Resurrection on a certain Day, when there was a Concourse of People about his Grave in vain to behold the Miracle, as there would have been about
Jesus
's Sepulchre, if he had lain in it, his full Time. But supposing in this Case, that the Magistrates and Priesthood of this City, to prevent a Cheat and Delusion of the People, had interred the
Doctor
in a Chnrch-Vault, and seal'd the Door of it against the Day appointed for his Resurrection, commanding a
Night-Watch
to look to the Vault the no Violence or Deceit be used: This would have been a wise Precaution against Fraud, as was in the Case of
Jesus.
But what if his Fraternity, having a Mind, like
Jesus
's Disciples to bambouzle the People and Priesthood, had, some of them drawn the Watch aside to a
Gin-shop,
whilst others carry'd the Body off, pretending a Resurrection? What would all reasonable Men have said here? That it was an impudent and bare-faced Imposture. But to carry on the Farce; supposing, the
Doctor
's Fraternity had afterwards averr'd that they had seen and convers'd with him alive, several Times, as before his Death; and had told particular Storys of their Conversation with him; as
first
of all, how he appear'd to some of their Women (who were admonish'd of the Certainty of his Resurrection by a Youth or an Angel or two, they could not tell whether, but they were as like to Angels, which they never saw before in their Lives, as Youths could be) who knew him, not by his Countenance, for
their Eyes were holden,
as by his Talk on Scripture-Prophecy, which was his usual Cant before his Death. And at another Time he appear'd to his old Acquaintance, who knew him, not by the Features of his Face, but by an habitual Motion and Action of his Hand in
breaking of Bread.
And at another Time he was corporally present, but
they thought, they saw a Spirit.
About
eight Days after that,
he appear'd among more of his old Friends, but for all their former Intimacy with him, some of them
doubted
whether it was the
Doctor
or not. At another Time he came to them in
another Form
and Shape, unlike to his pristin one, but they were sure it was
He
by his Exposition of the Scripture. At another Time, when they were assembled together and the Doors were lock'd
for fear of the Clergy,
the
Doctor
slipt unexpectedly into their Company, either from behind a Curtain, or miraculously enter'd at the Key-hold. And the last Time he appear'd, there was one of his intimate Friends had not known him, but by a
Sore
in his Breast, which the Power of God in his Resurrection did not heal: After which, they said, he
vanish'd away,
was taken up into Heaven,
and they saw him no more. Supposing, I say, the
French
Prophets had told such like Storys of
Doctor Emms
's Resurrection, and of his Appearances to them; what would your Priests and all other wise Men have said to it? Why, that it was all idle Tales, manifest Lyes, Sham, and lmposture; and that if the
Doctor,
in Confutation of the Errors of your Priests, had risen to Life, God would have kept him in his Sepulchre, his full time, and have rais'd him in the Presenee of Priests, Magistrates and People; and that he would have walk'd afterwards publickly in the Streets without Danger, to the Satisfaction of all, who knew him, that he was the same
Emms
who died and was bury'd:
Without Danger,
I say, from the Populace, who would have been so far from affronting him, that they would have almost adored him for the miraculous Favour, God had done him in his Resurrection from the dead; and that he would never have skulk'd about and absconded himself for
forty Days
together, before he was pretendedly translated; and therefore there was nothing but notorious Deceit and Imposture in all these Pretences.
I need not make the Application of this Case and Story, which your
Priests
know how to do for me. To say here, that there's none would be so desperate to engage in such a Fraud, as is the supposed Case of Dr.
Emms
above, is a mistake. Many Thousands for their Diversion would enterprise it; and the Storys of the Apparitions of Ghosts, which are almost all the Frauds of the Crafty to delude the ignorant, do prove it. I my felf would be forward to concert such an Intrigue, if it was but to put the Banter upon the
Clergy,
to ruffle their Tempers, and secretly to laugh at them. Nothing would deter me from it, but fears of the Civil Magistrate, which was not the Danger of the Disciples of
Jesus
; because
Pilat,
for the sake of Rule over the
Jews,
was a Countenancer of every Faction amongst them; and particularly
Comminatus est Periculum Accusatoribus Christianorum.
Tertul. Apol Cap.
v.
Tiberius,
upon
Pilat
's Representation of the matter, soon commanded that the Disciples of
Jesus
should not be molested, nor call'd into Question: So the Disciples stood to the Fraud, told the Story of
Jesus risen
so often, till they believed it themselves, and drew Multitudes into the Belief of it: Which Belief must have continued thro' all Generations to come, but for my Argument of Fraud, before urg'd and argued.
Here, Sir, before I conclude this Letter, I think it my Duty however to give you may Opinion of the Religion, that
Jesus
and his Disciples were for introducing into the World. Tho I beleive, what I have proved, his Resurrection to be a Piece of Fraud, and his other Miracles to have been all Artifice; and tho our
Cheif Priests
and ancient Nation are justifiable in the Sentence, that was pass'd and executed upon
Jesus
; yet I must do him and his Disciples the Justice, to own, that the Doctrine they taught was for the most Part of it, good, ufeful and popular, being no other than the Law and Religion of Nature, which, all Nations being wearied with their own Superstitions, and sick of the Burthen of their Priests, ran apace into. Accordingly one
Justin Martyr.
In Apol.
ii.
of your ancient Fathers says, that they
who lived according to the Law of Nature, were true Christians.
And I must needs say, that if Christians, in Process of Time, had not sophisticated this primitive Religion of
Jesus
; If they had not built their systematical Divinity upon him, and brought strange Inventions of Men into his Worship; If lastly, they had not again subjugated and entangled themselves with another and worse Yoke of Bondage to an intolerable and tyrannical Priesthood of the Church, the World might have enjoy'd great Happiness under
Jesus
's Religion, even
that Happiness
which is now only to be expected upon a Disproof of his miraculous Resurrection, that has been the Foundation of a most confused Superstructure of wild Doctrines and Opinions: Or more truely speaking,
That Happiness
of the state of Nature, Religion and Liberty, which may be look'd for upon the coming of our
Messiah,
the allegorical Accomplisher of the Law and the Prophets; whose Advent, upon the Tradition of our
Cabalists,
will be toward the latter End of the
Sixth
grand Age of the Creation, to remove from our Faces and our Hearts the Vail of the Letter; and in the mean while I adhere to the umbratical Rites, Ceremonies and way of Worship, derived from our Forefathers.
Thus, Sir, have I finish'd my
Letter
on
Jesus
's Resurrection; and whether I hive not said enough to justify our
Jewish
Disbeleif of that Miracle, let your
Cheif Priests
judge. I don't expect my Argument against it will be convincing of any of your Preachers. They have a potent Reason for their Faith, which we
Jews
can't come at; or I don't know, but we might believe with them.
I trust you'll meet with no Molestation for the Publication of this
Letter
; neither do I think, it was any thing of mine, inserted in your Discourses, that at any time brought Trouble on you. It was your own Imprudence to rave, as you do, against
Ecclesiasticks.
What need had you to talk of the Mischeifs and Inconveniences of an Hireling Priesthood? What occasion had you to call them Ecclesiastical Virmin, and to speak of the Happiness of Mankind upon their Extinction? These things are very provoking. And here's the true Sourse, in my Opinion, of all your Troubles!
Tho I have here shewn, that
Christ is not risen,
yet I have more Wit than to make the Inference of
Paul,
that
their Preaching is vain.
Their Oratory is still useful, if it be but to tickle the Ears and amuse the Understandings of the People about Doctrines they understand not, whether true or false. And such an order of Men, as are your Priestood, are, by their Habit of long Robes, an Ornament to Society; and it is an Honour to the Country to have them well fed and clad. Had I Room for it, I could write a curious
Encomium
in Prise of them, and tell the World of what Use and Advantage, they have been, in all Ages. O what Wars and Persecutions might have been rais'd in the World, but for their pacifick Tempers! How would Sin and Immorality have broke in upon Mankind, like a Deluge, but for the Goodness of their Lives and the Excellency of their Precepts! How has the Increase and Multitude of their warm Sermons been the Ruin of
Satan
's hot and divided Kingdom of Darkness and Error! Its owing to their Pains and Labours, that every Age, for many past, has been improving in Virtue, till the present, which for Piety and good Morals is that Perfection of Time, which is not to be meliorated but by the Restitution of the golden Age.
So could I enlarge in Praise of your
Clergy
; and so should you have done; and then you might have disputed, as you do, against any Doctrines, Miracles and Articles of Faith, without Molestation. Try, if you can't correct that fundamental Error, you have committed. Assert still, if you can, with Dr.
Rogers
the Necessity of an establish'd Priesthood, well paid, for the Service of the
King
and the Country, under all Changes of Religion; which may be a means to retrieve their Favour, and will beget in me a better opinion of your Prudence, than at present is entertain'd by your
Assured Friend
N. N.
So ends the Letter of my Friend, the
Jewish Rabbi,
in which to my Comfort, he has conform'd himself to the Rules of
Sedateness, Decency
and
Sobriety
of Argument, prescrib'd by the two great
Bishops
of
London
and St.
Davids.
If the weight and solidity of his Argument don't grieve the
Clergy,
I am in no Pain for the Levity and Ludicrousness of if. And whether the weight and nature of his Argument against
Jesus
's Resurrection will at all startle and surprise them, I know not; but I profess for my self, that I might have study'd long enough for such an Argument against it, as this
Rabbi,
with his great gray Beard, has presently hit off. He told me beforehand, that his Thoughts on
Jesus
's Resurrection should be out of the common Road of thinking; and I must needs say, he has been as good as his Word, or no Man ever kept his Promise.
There are two Things very remarkable in his Argument: The
One
is, the Use and Design of sealing the Stone of
Jesus
's Sepulchre, which he lays great stress on, to the Proof of Fraud in his Resurrection; and the
other
is, his Application of these Words,
the last Error
(or as he reads Deceit or Imposture)
will be worst than the first
or former, in which he makes the
Cheif Priests
in their Speech to
Pilat,
to refer to
Lazarus
's Resurrecrection as the former known Imposture. If his Application be just and true, the Consequence is that the Resurrections of
Jesus
and
Lazarus
are both Impostures. It grieves me to the Heart to think of this Consequence, which our
Divines
are to see to, and evade, if they can. No sooner did I read his Application of the foresaid Words, but I run to our
Commentators
for another and better Exposition of them: But alas! to my Sorrow, they made nothing of them, but a sort of a
proverbial Expression,
which the
Cheif Priests
must have spoil'd and knock'd out of Joint. Being then under great Trouble for the Truth of Christianity and the Certainty of these two grand Miracles, I refer the matter to our Learned
Clergy,
desiring them to be as speedy as they can in another and more proper Interpretation of the foresaid Words, or
Jews
and
Infidels
will run away with them in the
Rabbi
's Sense, to the Confutation of our holy Religion.
I consider'd lately, tint
Easter
drew nigh, when it was usual for our
Divines
in their Pulpits, to insist on the Proof of
Jesus
's Resurrection; and therefore I I hasten'd the Publication of this
Discourse,
that they might have these two peculiar Texts,
viz.
of
sealing the Stone
of the Sepulchre, and of
the last Error
or Imposture
will be worse than the first,
to treat on. He that produces a Sermon or Sermons, wresting the foresaid Texts out of the Hands of my
Rabbi,
and putting another Sense on them, to the Credit of
Jesus
's and
Lazarus
's Resurrection,
Erit mihi magnus Apollo
and by my Consent shall be the next
Arch-Bishop
of
Canterbury.
But my Heart akes a little for our
Divines,
and I almost despair of their clean Solutions of the foresaid two Difficultys. What must they do then? Why, they must give up their
Religion
as well as their
Church,
or go along with me to Fathers for their mystical Interpretation of the whole Story of
Jesus
's Resurrection.
That the Fathers, without questioning their Belief of
Jesus
's corporal Resurrection, universally interpreted the Story and every part of it mystically, is most certain. St.
Hilary
Quod autem a Joseph rogato Pilato ut Corpus redderet & sindone involvitur, & in Monumento novo in Petra excisa reponitur, & Saxum Ostio Monumenti advolvitur: Quanquam sit Ordo Gestorum, & sepeliri eum erat necesse, qui resurrecturus erat a mortuis; tamen non sine Rerum aliquarum Momento expressa sunt singula. Joseph Apostolorum habet speciem: & idcirco quanquam in duodecem numero Apostolorum non fuerit, Discipulus Domini nuncupatur. Hic munda sindone corpus involvit; & quidem in hoc eodem linteo reperimus de caelo ad Petrum universorum Animantium genera summissa. Ex quo forte non superflue intelligitur, sub lintei hujus nomine consepeliri Christo Ecclesiam: quia turn in eo, ut in Confusione Ecclesiae mundorum atque immundorum Animalium fuerit congesta diversitas. Domini igitur Corpus tanquam per Apostolorum doctrinam in vacuam & novam requiem Lapidis excisi,
viz.
in pectus duritiae Gentilis quodam doctrinae opere excisam Christus infertur, rude scilicet & novum, & nullo antea ingressu timoris Dei pervium. Et quia nihil praeter eum oporteat in pectora nostra penetrare Lapis Ostio advolvitur: ut quia nullus antea in nos divinae Cognitionis Auctor fuerat illatus, nullus absque eo postea inferatur. Metus deinde furandi Corporis, & Sepulchri Custodia atque Obsignatio, Stultitiae atque Infidelitatis Testimonium est; quod signare Sepulchrum ejus voluerint, cujus praecepto conspexiffent de Sepulchro mortuum suscitatum.
In Loc. Mat.
enumerates many Particulars of the Story, and intimates what they are typical and figurative of, as any one may see by the Citation referr'd to, which I have not Room to translate and illustrate.
St.
Augustin
Ad hoc enim Dominus hodie resurrexit, ut Imaginem nobis futurae Resurrectionis
enderet.
In Serm.
clxviii.
Append.
says, that
Jesus
's Resurrection from the dead at that Time, was to exhibit an Image and Resemblance of his future and mystical Resurrection. And elsewhere says
Quid singula significent, quaerere sanctae quidem Deliciae sunt.
In Johan. Evang. C.
xx.
Tract.
120.
that its a holy Pleasure to consider and search for the things signified by the Story of it.
That
Origen
is of the same Opinion, no body need question. A multitude of his Testimonies might be produced to this Purpose, but I shall mention only one
Monumentum Christi est divina Scriptura, in qua Divinitatis & Humanitatis cjus mysteria densitate Litterae, veluti quadam muniuntur Petra.
In Diversos Homil.
2.
, wherein he asserts, that by the Sepulchre of
Jesus,
is to be understood the
Letter
of the Scriptures, in which, as in a Rock, he is reposited.
St.
John
of
Jercsalem
Ne putes, tune solummodo traditus est Christus Principilus Sacerdotibus & Scribis.—Quando enim vides Scripturas Ptophetarum & Evangelii & Apostolorum traditas esse in Manus fulsorum Sacerdotum & Scribarum; num intelliges quia Verbum Veritatis traditum est Principibus iniquis & scribis.
In Mat. C.
xx.
by the Crucifiers of
Jesus
understands false Teachers, meaning
Ministers
of the
Letter
to be sure, because he himself was a great Allegorist.
St.
Hilary
says that
Interpretatio autem Nominis Barabbae est Patris filius: Jam itaque Arcanum Infidelitatis futurae oftenditur, Christo Patris filium praeferendo, Anti Christum scilicet hominem Peccati & Diaboli filium, potius
que
adhortantibus principibus suis eligunt, Damnationi reservatum, quatn Salutis Authorem.
In Loc. Mat.
Barabbas
is a Type of
Anti-Christ
; and by
Anti-Christ,
as I have elsewhere shewn but of the Fathers, is meant the
Letter
of the Scriptures, which modern Commentators and Crucifiers of
Jesus
would prefer to the Spirit. For these are the two,
Letter
and Spirit, the
Christ
and
Anti-Christ,
that are contrary one to another.
St.
Jerome
Velum Templi scissun est, & omnia Legis Sacramenta, quae prius tegebantur, prodita sunt atquc ad Gentium Populum transierunt.
In Loc. Mat.
says, that by the
Vail
of the
Temple,
rent at
Jesus
's Resurrection, is to be understood the opening the
Vail
of the
Letter
of the Law and the Prophets for the Manifestation of the divine Mysterys contain'd in them. And by the rending of the Rocks according
Petrae Scissae, id est, universa Vaticinia Prophetarum.
In Epist. ad Hedibriam.
to him is to be understood the Apertion of the Oracles of God, that were before as hard as a Rock, till his spiritual Resurrection for the Illustration of them. And by the Earthquake, He
Sed mihi videtur Terrae Motus & reliqua typum ferre credentium, quod pristinis Erroum vitiis derelictis, & Cordis emollita duritia, postea agnoverint Creatorem.
In Loc. Matt.
says is meant the Shakeing of the Hearts of Men, and preparing them, by a Dereliction of their old Errors, for the susception of the true Knowledge of God.
As to the Time that
Jesus
was dead and bury'd, which modern
Divines
call
three Days
and
three Nights,
St.
Augustin
says
Ipsum autem tridurum, non totum & plenum fuisse Scriptura testis est.
In Lib. iv. de Trinitate. Sect.
10.
that according to the Scripture he was not so long dead and buried. Many, says
De tribus diebus, multi fancti multa hinc senserint atque dixerint.—Sed nos neutram eorum vacantes sententiam; melius tamen, si placet in his spiritalem requiramus Intellectum, tres dies tria Tempora Saeculi ponentes.
In Sermon. de Symbolo.
he, have put various Constructions on the Time of
Christ
's burial, endeavouring to make three Days of it: But we without slighting any of their opinions, are for a mystical Interpretation, and suppose, that by the three Days are to be understood three Ages of the World.
The Day would fail me to collect all the Passages out of the Fathers, in Interpretation of one or other of the Parts of the story of
Jesus
's Resurrection, but what I have here said in a few Citations, is enough to show, that they look'd upon the whole Story, as emblematical of his spiritual Resurrection out of the
Grave
of the
Letter
of the Scriptures, in which he has been bury'd about
three Days
and
three Nights,
according to that mystical Interpretation of prophetical Numbers which I have learn'd of them.
And thus have I done with the Miracle of
Jesus
's Resurrection, which, by the help of my Friend the Jewish
Rabbi,
I have shown, according to the Letter, to consist of the greatest Incredibilitys. And with this I conclude my
Discourses
on his Miracles, intending to treat on no more of them, unless I am invited or provoked to it. I had once an Inclination to make another
Discourse
on
Jesus
's miraculous Conception, and on his feeding his Thousands, in the Wilderness with a few Loaves and Fishes; but upon a little Consideration on the Letter of those two Storys, I found myself too grave for the Work; and my
Rabbi
's Thoughts are too gay and wonton; therefore it must be omitted, till the
Clergy
importune me to it, and signify their Curiosity to see it perform'd by me.
My Discourses hereafter, if God spare me Life and Liberty, which under his Providence I don't despair of, to publish another Volume, shall treat on some historical Passages of the New Testament, such as, "On the Storys of
Jesus
's Birth; and the Appearances of Angels to the Shepherds keeping Watch over their Flocks by Night; "The Journey and Presents of the Wise Men to
Jesus
; The Slaughter of the Innocents at
Bethlehem,
and of
Herods
Cruelty; "The Travels of
Joseph
with the Child
Jesus
and his Mother into
Egypt
; "The Disputation of
Jesus
with the
Doctors
in the Temple, and his Elopement from his Parents; "His riding on an Ass to
Jerusalem
; and on other such like Passages of his Life. For I am resolv'd to give the Letter of the Scripture no Rest, so long as God gives me Life and Abilities to attack it.
Origen
Cum disputamus adversus eos, & cum conquirimus advicem, tunc quaeimus logum Dogmatis illius in littera Legis Historiae, & ostenditur secundum Historiam stare non posse.
In Psal.
xxxvi
says that
when we dispute against Ministers of the Letter, we must select some historical Parts of Scripture, which they understand litterally, and shew that according to the Letter, they can't stand
their Ground, but imply Absurditys and Nonsence.
And how then is such a Work to be perform'd to best Advantage? is it to be done in a grave, sedate, and serious Manner? No, I think Ridicule should here take Place of sober Reasoning, as the more proper and effectual means to cure Men of their foolish Faith and absurd Notions. As no wise Man hardly ever reprehends a Blunderbuss for his Bull, any other way, than by laughing at him; so the Asserters of nonsensical Notions in Theology should, if possible, be satirised and jested upon, or they'll never be put out of Countenance for, nor desert their absurd Doctrines. And there never was a Polemical Divine, that, if he hid an opportunity and Advantage over the Weakness of his Adversary, did not take such a ludicrous and merry Course with him.
But on such historical Passages of the Gospel as before mention'd, do I trust to publish another Volume of
Discourses,
like to these on
Jesus
's Miracles; and at present pass to my third general Head, at first proposed to be spoken to, and that is,
III. To consider, what
Jesus
means, when he appeals to his Works and Miracles, as to a Testimony and witness of his Authority; and to show that he did not properly and ultimately refer to those done in the
Flesh,
but to those mystical ones he would do in the
Spirit,
of which those done in the Flesh are but mere Types and Shadows.
And on this Head I shall be short, there being no Occasion of many Words on it. The
Bishop
of
London
Pastoral Letter, p. 25.
has collected, many Sayings of
Jesus
wherein he seems to appeal to the Works he then did and had done in Flesh, as to a witness of him. But why might not
Jesus
then Prophesy, and mean the spiritual Works which
He-in-us
would do? It is the known Way of the Prophets to speak of Things to come, as if they were already past, because such Prophecys are not to be understood, till their Accomplishment: Even so did
Jesus
Prophesy, when he appeal'd to his Works as I could prove from the Nature and Manner of his Expressions, but that the Argument would be dry and tedious; And therefore I refer the Matter entirely to the Fathers, who asserted that
Jesus
prophesied in his
Miracles
as well as in his
Parables,
and that the Works, he then did in the Flesh were but Types of his mysterious Operations, that would be the Demonstration of his Authority and Messiahship. Hence it is that
Origen
Adventus quidem Christi unus in Humilitate completus est, alius vero Speratur in Gloria. Et hic primus Adventus in Carne, mystico quodam Sermone in Scripturis Sanctis Umbra ejus appellatur.
In Jesu Nave Homil.
viii.
says that
Jesus
's first coming was but Type and Shadow of his Spiritual Advent; and that his
Vera Christi Miracula & Sanatio Infirmorum est spiritalis.
In Matt. C.
xxv.
true Miracles, by which his Authority is to be proved, are Spiritual: Hence it is that St.
Hilary
repeatedly says
Haec licet in prasens gesta sunt, quid tamen in futurum significent, contuendum est.
In Matt. C.
x.
S.
1. Christi Gesta aliud portendunt.
C.
xii.
S.
1. Peragunt formam futuri gesta praerfentia.
C.
x xi.
that
Jesus
's Works were significative and predictive of mysterious Operations, which we were especially to look to. And Hence it is that all the other Fathers interpreted the Miracles of
Jesus
in a mystical and allegorical Sense.
The Question then is, to what Miracles did
Jesus
truly and properly appeal, in the Opinion of the Fathers, for his Authority and Messiahship? Was it to his Typical or Antitypal Works? was it to the
shadow
or to the
subsistance
of his Operations? To his substantial Operations, to be sure, which are and will be his spiritual ones upon the Soul that are greater than those once done on Men's Bodys, and which will be a proper Proof of his divine Power. And to declare my Opinion freely I am, only for such a spiritual
Messiah,
who will cure the
Errors
call'd the Diseases of Mankind, which
Jesus
of
Nazareth
has not as yet done.
But not to dispute this Point with
Bishop Gibson,
I will leave him in the Enjoyment of his Opinion of his literal
Messiah
and miraculous Operator on Men's Bodys; if he'll but indulge me in the Belief of my spiritual
Messiah
to come for the healing of modern Distempers call'd the Sins and Errors of Mankind. And in the mean time let us draw the Comparison between his
litteral
and my
spiritual
Jesus; and let the World judge, to whom the Preference is to be given for Power and Authority,
Bishop
Gibson
is for
Jesus
of
Nazareth
's Messiahship, because he cured the
bodily blindness
of many miraculously; And a good Work it was: But I am for the Messiahship of a spiritual
Jesus
to come, who will open the
blind Eyes
of pur Understandings to discern Truth from Error, which will be a most glorious Operation; that his
Jesus
of
Nazareth
has not as yet done.
Bishop
Gibson
is for
Jesus
's Messiahship, who once cured
bodily Deafness
in many, which was indeed well done of him: But I am for the Messiahship of a spiritual
Jesus
to come, to heal the
Deafness
of our Souls or their
Dulness
in Apprehension of sublime Mysterys, which will be a divine Work, that his
Jesus
has not as yet done.
Bishop
Gibson
is for
Jesus
's Messiahship, because he cured Men's bodily
Lameness,
for which I do praise him: But I am for a spiritual
Jesus
's Messiahship, who will heal Mankind of their
Halting
between two and more Opinions; a more Blessed Work, that
Jesus
of
Nazareth
has not as yet done for us !
And so, comparing all other Diseases of Body and Soul together, I am for the
Jesus,
who will heal the Diseases of the Soul; and have a much less Regard for
Bishop Gibson
's
Jesus
who cured the Diseases of a few Men's Bodys; but, for all that, am not angry with the
Bishop
for his high Veneration of his
Jesus,
neither would I by any Means have him prosesecuted and punish'd for not being of the same Mind with me.
But, because the
Bishop
suspects me of Infidelity, in that I have ludicrously treated some of the Miracles of his
Jesus,
which, by the by, he has not vindicated from the Absurditys and Incredibilitys I charged them with; I will humour the
Bishop,
and, supposing
Jesus
wrought literally those Miracles which are allegorically interpreted by me, will in those very Miracles compare his
litteral
and my
spiritual
Jesus together; and appeal to all Men of Consideration, which is the most worthy of the Title and Honour of the true
Messiah.
Bishop
Gibson
is for his
Jesus
's Messiahship, who miraculously drove the
Buyers
and
Sellers
out of the Temple, just as if a Man, was God to invest him with Power, should furiously drive the
Butchers
and
Grasiers
with their Cattle, to the Confusion of their several Propertys, out of
Smithfield
: A notable Miracle That! But I am for the spiritual
Jesus
's Messiahship who according to the Form of that typical Story, will at his Coming expel Ecclesiastical Merchants out of his Church, who make Merchandise of the Gospel, Selling their
Bulls
and
Beasts
and
fatlings
of the Letter: A most glorious and Beneficial Work to Mankind will this be ! And to prepare Men's Souls for the susception of such a spiritual
Jesus,
I intend to publish a
Discourse
of the Mischiefs and Inconveniencies of an
Hireling-Priesthood,
wherein it shall be proved, that Mankind can't be either good, wise or happy under the Kingdom of this
Messiah
to come, without an Abolition and Extirpation of them.
Bishop
Gibson
is for the Messiahship of his
Jesus,
who
cast the Devils out of the Madmen, aud permitted them to enter into the Herd of Swine,
that
ran violently down a Precipice and were choak'd in the Sea
: How great a Miracle it was thus to cure the Madmen, the
Bishop
may know best, being perhaps better acquainted with the Devil than I am; but was it not for Pity to the
Swineherds
for their Losses, I could even now laugh at the Thoughts of the Hogs running and tumbling down-hill, as if the
Devil
drove them: But leaving the Bishop
calmly,
decently
and
seriously
to admire the Wisdom and Justice of his
Jesus
in that Act, I am for the spiritual
Jesus,
who according to the typical form of that Story, exorcis'd the furious and diabolical Tempers out of the
Jews
and
Gentiles
of old, whom no Chains of Reason could hold from doing Violence to the Christians, till they were converted; and tho He permitted the like persecuting and diabolical. Spirits to enter into Ecclesiastical Swine; yet will they be precipitated into the
Sea
of the Knowledge of God, wherein they will be absorpt with divine Divisions and Contemplations. O most glorious Work, that bespeaks the Wisdom, Power and Goodness of our spiritual
Jesus
from beginning to the End of it.
Bishop
Gibson
admires his
Jesus,
for his Transfiguration on Mount
Tabor,
tho neither He nor any body else can tell, wherein lay the Miracle, nor into what various Figures and Shapes
Jesus
was transform'd: But I am for the spiritual
Jesus,
whose glorious Transfiguration, after
six
grand Days of the Creation, will be conspicuous, when with the Eyes of our Understanding we shall behold him metamorphosed into the Forms of all the Types of him under the Law. I am now ravish'd with the intellectual View of this Transfiguration; and believe, was I to set about it, I could give others (except the Bishop) an Idea and Conception of it to their Astonishment at the Glory of
Jesus
in it.
Bishop
Gibson
is for the Messiahship of
Jesus
of
Nazareth,
because he cured a
Woman of an Issue of Blood,
after she had spent all she had upon Physicians to no purpose; which might be, or might not be a Miracle, for any Thing he can argue upon it: But I am for the spiritual
Jesus
's Messiahship, who at his Coming will, according to that Typical Story, cure the
Woman
of the Church of her
Issue of Blood,
that is shed in Persecution and War, which her Ecclesiastical Physicians of the
Clergy
have not been able to stop tho they have receiv'd large Fees and Stipends of the Church to that Purpose. Will not this be a desirable and beneficial Work to all Nations? And who knows not, (excepting the
Bishop
) that it is of the Office of the true Messiah, to give
abundance of Peace
to Mankind, to
make the Lion to lye down with the Lamb
; and to induce Men to
break their Swords into Plow-shares,
and
their Spears into Pruning-hooks
; and to
make Wars to cease
in all the World. Which Prophecys are so far from being fulfill'd by
Jesus
of
Nazareth,
that there has been nothing but wrangling and jangling and scolding and fighting about him ever since. I wonder the want of the Accomplishment of the foresaid Prophecys has not long before now occasion'd the Rejection of
Jesus
's Messiahship, or of the Authority of the Prophets.
Bishop
Gibson
is for his
Jesus
's being the Messiah, because he cured an old
Woman
of a
Spirit
of, no body knows what,
Infirmity
; consequently little or nothing is to be said for the Greatness of that Miracle. But I am for the spiritual
Jesus
's Messiahship, who, according to the figure of that litteral Story, is to heal the
Woman
of the Church of her
Infirmity of the Spirit
of Prophecy, which
Jesus
of
Nazareth
has not done for her, or there would not be so many Disputes about Prophecys and their Interpretations, so far, as there is hardly one Prophecy that Christians are agreed about the Sense of. It is the grand Characteristick of the true
Messiah,
that he's to restore Prophecy and the Way of Interpretation of the Prophets, upon the allegorical Scheme too. I speak this, not only upon the Authority of the Prophets themselves, but upon an almost infinite number of Testimonys of ancient
Jews
and
Fathers
; accordingly I expect the Advent of a spiritual Messiah, who alone can do it, to heal the Church of her present
Infirmity,
and to restore the Art and Gift of Prophecy.
Bishop
Gibson
is an Admirer of
Jesus
of
Nazareth,
because he told a poor Whore of
Samaria,
her Fortune of
having had five Husbands,
and being then an Adulteress with another Man; which according to the Letter is such a poor sort of a Miracle, that I can hardly think of it without blushing: But I am an Adorer beforehand of the spiritual
Jesus
who, according to that Type, will out of the Law and the Prophets, allegorically interpreted, tell the present heretical and adulterous Woman of the Church
all that she has done.
and how she has been wedded to the sensible Things of the
five
Books of
Moses,
and is now an Adulteress with the
Anti-Christ
of the Letter. Such an Information of the Church will be a most stupendous and miraculous Work, and a Demonstration of our
Jesus
's Messiahship beyond Contradiction, in as much as it will be agreeable to the Opinion, that all Antiquity entertain'd of the true
Messiah,
viz.
that he was to let us into the Sight, Knowledge and Understanding of the Wisdom and Beauty of Providence thro' all Ages of the World.
Bishop
Gibson
admires
Jesus
of
Nazareth
for
his cursing the Figtree
;
for not bearing Fruit out of Season
: Shame on that Miracle, according to the Letter, and on all Admirers of it! But I am for the spiritual
Jesus
who at his Coming to the Figtree of his Church will make its
present
unfruitful State to
wither away,
and cause it to produce the Fruits of the Spirit, and allegorical Interpretations of the Scriptures, that are compared so sweet and ripe Figs. For such his Advent to this miraculous and beneficial Purpose I daily pray and say too, Blessed are all those who love his Appearance!
After this Fashion could I go thro' the other Miracles, I have treated on in these
Discourses
; and Upon the Comparison set plainly before the Eyes of my
Readers
the Difference between the
litteral
Miracles of Bishop
Gibson
's
carnal
Jesus and the
allegorical
ones of my
spiritual
Jesus, as to Stupendousness, Use and Excellency: But, what I have here done in the seven Instances above, is enough to induce us to believe, with the Fathers, that
Jesus
's first Coming in the
Flesh
was but Type and Shadow of his second Advent in the
Spirit
; and that
Jesus
of old when he appeal'd to his Works then done, as to a Witness of his Authority, did only Prophesy, and re erultimately to his mystical Operations, that are alone the Proof of his Godlike and divine Power. Bishop
Gibson
says
Pastoral Letter, p. 3.
of me, that
pretending to raise the Actions and Miracles of our Saviour to a more exalted and spiritual Meaning, I
have labour'd to take away the Reality of them, and by that to destroy one of the principal Evidences of Christianity.
But I presume now, he'll be sensible of the Rashness and Incogitancy of that Accusation. If he be not, I shall say of him, in Case he write any more for
Jesus
's
litteral
Miracles in Opposition to his
allegorical
ones, that he's like the Dog in the Fable (the
Bishop
will excuse the Coarsness of the Comparison) that let go the
Substance
of his Mutton, and catch'd at the Shadow, and so, like a foolish
Cur
as he was, lost both.
And thus have I done with the
Three
general Heads at first proposed to be handled in these
Discourses
Now whether I am, upon the whole, an
Infidel
or
Beleiver
of Christianity, the World is to judge. I'll make no more solemn Declarations of my Belief of it, much less at this Juncture of Time, when I am under Prosecution for Infidelity; because it would be a sneaking, tame and cowardly Act in me, and such an Argument of that meanness of Spirit, as I abhor and detest. My
Works
shall speak for me, in which being, conscious of the Innocency of my Intentions, and of the Usefulness of my Design, I mean to proceed; not doubting but some of our
Clergy,
upon two or three more
Discourses
against the Letter of the
New Testament,
will find me out, what I am, and whether I am not a true Professor of the Religion of the spiritual and holy
Jesus.
In the mean Time, I'll not compound the Difference depending between Bishop
Gibson
and myself, upon any other Terms, than his making me ample Satisfaction for the Injurys done to my Reputation and low Fortunes. Tho he may thirst after my Life, or at least, my Liberty; yet under the Providence of God I fear not the Loss of either. God be prais'd, this Kingdom is bless'd with such a Civil Administration for Wisdom, Justice and Mercy as no Nation of the World can equal. Our Magistrates are all Philosophers, Lovers of Truth, and of an Enquiry into it; and so tender of the religious as well as of the civil Rights of the Subject, that I have nothing to dread from them.
There is somewhat
popular
indeed, tho nothing true nor rational, in the Clamour and Accusations of the
Clergy
against me. Bishop
Gibson
would insinuate
Pastoral Letter, p. 35.
that my
Discourses
on
Miracles
strike
at the Foundation of civil Society
; but by an unnatural Consequence of his own making. I confess, it is an heinous Crime to write any Thing, that tends to the Subversion or Prejudice of the civil Society: But how will the
Bishop
make me guilty of it? If the
Clergy
will not be Disturbers of the Peace of the publick upon my
Discourses
; it's certain, that the Quiet of the World, which I wish and aim at, will be inviolably kept and preserv'd for all me. My Followers indeed, when I walk the Streets of this
City,
are
numerous
; and if any of them should break the Peace, what serves my
Lord Mayor
's Power for, but to chastise them for it? As for my self and my Adherents at home which as yet are
without Number,
we are all
Quietists
and should act against our Consciences and Religion, if we should injure any Man in his Person and Property. But I smile to see a
Clergyman
all on a sudden, like the
Bishop,
so tender of the Welfare of the Publick, when
Ecclesiasticks,
in all Ages past, have been the
Bane
of Society and the
Pest
of Mankind, as appears from the Wars and Persecutions, they have rais'd in the World; and from that Strife, Variance and Discords, they have occasion'd in Citys and Familys. And with Submission to the
Bishop,
who I hope will not be angry for my saying it, I am sure, the
Clergy
at this Juncture, even darken'd and obscured the seemingly native simplicity of the Story of the Life of Jesus. So leaving you to chew upon this, I turn
My Address to
Infidels,
particularly to the two most renown'd Writers of the Party, Mr.
Grounds
and Mr.
Scheme.
I should,
Gentlemen,
by Right salute you with the Title of
Free-Thinkers,
a proper Name for your Philosophical Sect, who are for the free Exercise of your Reason about divine and speculative Points in Theology. And I had distinguish'd you by this Title from your Apostatical Adversarys, but that I had a Mind to oblige my old Friends the
Clergy
in giving you a no more honourable Title than I do them. And I trust you will not be offended at the Title of
Infidels,
since not only your Writings seem to have a Tendency to Infidelity; but, if there be any Fault in your Principles, you know how to charge it on your Adversarys, the pretended Advocates for Christianity, whose Absurditys, false Reasonings. Inconsistencys, and foolish Glosses on the Scriptures have occasion'd your departure from the Faith in Christ.
I thank Mr.
Scheme
for the noble Present of his Book, which I received and read with Pleasure. But instead of one, he should have sent me a
Dozen
for the Use of Friends and Borrowers, who are very curious and importunate for the Perusal of it. For what Reason He envys the
Booksellers
the publick Sale of his Work, chusing rather to give it away
gratis,
than that they should reap any Profit by it, I know not. Surely it is not to bring an
Odium
on the
Clergy
for Persecutors, as if such an useful and philosophical Piece might not appear publickly without danger from them: If so, I hope the
Clergy
will resent the Indignity, and invite him to a Publication of his Book, with a Promise of Impunity, which would wipe off the Reproach, which this clandestine Method of disposing of it has cast on them.
I once almost despair'd,
Sirs,
of seeing such another Piece from your Quarter. I was afraid the Prosecution of the
Moderator
would have deterr'd you from the Press, whereby our excellent Controversy on Foot must have been drop't: But the sudden and unexpected appearance of Mr.
Scheme
has revived me, and rejoiced the Cockles of my Heart. Go on then,
Great Sirs,
in this Controversy, which Mr.
Grounds
happily commenc'd, and if you are deny'd the Liberty of the Press, and publick Sale of your Books, I hope you'll, for all that, as occasion offers it self, oblige the Learned and Curious with some more of your bright Lucubrations, tho' you Print them, and dispose of them in this clancular and subtile Method.
It is not that I wish well to your Cause of Infidelity, that I thus encourage you. You have more Sense and Reason than to suspect me tainted with unbelieving Principles. Christianity will stand its Ground against your battering Armour; and the Church of Christ will be the more firmly establish'd on a Rock of Wisdom, for that Opposition you make to it. Tho' you will entirely vanquish the litteral
Schemists,
and ride in Triumph over them; yet other Defenders of the Faith, call'd
Allegorists,
will arise to your Confutation and final overthrow.
If I am not mistaken,
Sirs,
your Adversarys, the litteral
Schemists,
whom I call
Apostates,
are about making a Retreat, and yeilding the Field of Battle to you. The
Bishop
of
Lichfield,
the greatest General on their Side, will not only find it hard to levy any more Forces in Defence of his
twelve
litteral Prophecys; but he knows, that, if he draw his Sword any more against you, he must attack too the Authority of the Fathers for the allegorical Interpretation of some of those Prophecys, already urg'd in my
Supplements
to the
Moderator
; or, if the Fathers are neglected by him; they and I, keeping out of the Reach of his
Bug-Pear,
will treat him with such familiar Language, as never was given to one of his Order.
Mr.
Scheme
seems to promise us a Discourse on the Miracles in the Scriptures, I hope he'll be as good as his Word, and 'ere long publish it. This Discourse of mine can't possibly supersede his. As I question not, but his Thoughts and Remarks on Miracles will be very considerable; so I shall be a little impatient till I see them. But be his Discourse on Miracles of what Kind soever, I believe it will hardly be an Obstruction to my Undertaking in Hand, which I intend, by Gods Leave, to go on with, to the Honour of the Holy
Jesus,
our Spiritual
Mesiah,
to whom be Glory and Praise for ever and ever. Amen.
FINIS.
Books written by Mr.
Woolston,
and Sold by him near
More-gate,
and the Booksellers of
London
and
Westminster.
I. The Old Apology reviv'd,
&c.
II. Dissertatio de Pontii Pilati Epist la ad Tiberium circa Res Jesu Christi gestas.
III. Origenis Adamantii Epistolae
circa Fidem vere orthodoxam et Scripturarum Interpretationem.
IV. The exact Fitness of the Time of Christ's Advent, demonstrated by Reason against the Objections of the old Gentiles and modern Unbelievers.
V. Four free Gifts to the Clergy, or Challenges to a Disputation on this Question: Whether the Hireling Priests of this Age, who are all Ministers of the Letter be not Worshipers of the Apolalyptical Beast and Ministers of Anti-Christ.
VI. An Answer to the said four Free Gifts.
VII. Two Letters to Dr.
Bennet,
on this Question. Whether the People call'd Quakers do not the nearest of any other Sect in Religion resemble the Primitive Christians in Principle and Practice.
VIII. An Answer to the said two Letters.
IX. The Moderator between an Infidel and an Apostate set in a clear Light,
&c.
X. Two Supplements to the Moderator,
&c.
XI. A Defence of the Miracles of the Thundering
Legion against
a Dissertation of
Walter Moyle,
Esq