portant of all that are contained in the Gofpel; becaufe, if they be denied, all the Divine worship given to Jefus Chrift, by the Apoftles, and a great number of Jews and Gentiles, who received him for their mafter in matters of religion, is abfolutely unlawful; fo we ought folidly to prove, that they are indifputably true. Of which we fhall be fully convinced, by making fome obfervations upon the relation which the Evangelifts give us concerning them; and we fhall eafily find therein

all the characters of truth.

There is no neceflity of obferving, that a refurrection from the dead is a fact which can hardly be believed, and that, though the Jews did not all of them look upon it is an impoffible thing, yet there were Sadducees amongst them, whofe doctrine was publicly taught. It is certain that though the Difciples had feen Jefus Chrift railing three perfons from the dead, and amongst others Lazarus, a little before his death, yet we find that they were not thereby more difpofed to believe that Chrift was to rife from the dead.

In fhort, though the Evangelifts tell us, that Jefus Chrift himself had foretold that he was to rife again the third day, which was a thing to commonly known, that the priests, to elude the prophecy, defired of Pilate, that a guard might be fet on Jefus's grave; yet they exprefsly tell us, that the Difciples, none excepted, were in fuch a confternation at the death of Jefus Chrift, that they had entirely loft the hopes of feeing the accomplishment of that prophecy. Some pious women, who had accompanied him to the crofs, and were defirous to fhew fome marks of their veneration after his death, came indeed to his fepulchre, but with pices to embalm his dead body; fo far were they from expecting to find him rifen from the dead. Though thefe holy women were convinced of the refurrection of Jefus Chrift, by the apparition of an angel, by the difcourfe of our Saviour himself, and by the repetition of his order, that they fhould go to Galilee, where they fhould fee him, yet the relation which they give of thefe things is accounted fabulous; fo that two only of all the Apoftles had the curiofity to go to the grave, and inform themfelves. Here is a great unbelief amongft the Apoftles, which was to be cured this was a condition wholly inconfiftent, if we fuppofe them im poftors, and that they intended to impote upon the world.

A fecond thing we may obferve is, That as the incredulity of our Saviour's own Difciples was extraordinary, fo we cannot imagine any more efficacious means than were employed to overcome this their doubtfulnefs. If one joins the relations of the Evangelifts together, one may find feveral degrees of evidence in thofe proofs which confirm the truth of the refurrection of our Saviour.

The firft is, the manner of their being informed of the refurrection of Jefus Chrift. Angels at firit declare his refurrection to fome women; Jefus Chrift afterwards appears to Mary Magdalen, all alone; afterwards he appears only to two of his Difciples, then to St. Peter; afterwards he appears to feven of them at once; then, to all his Difciples, except Thomas; and foon after, to the eleven, Thomas being one of them. After all this, he appears to a greater number of his followers; till at last, having been feveral times feen of them all, he appears to them all aflembled together, and is taken up into heaven in their fight. It is evident, that

as they were informed of this truth one after another, fo they were more obliged to examine the fact more attentively when Jefus Chrift appeared

to them.

The fecond degree has relation to thofe marks and characters by which they were affured that it was Jefus Chrift him felf. The Angels repeat to the women the command which Jefus Chrift, before his death, had given to his Difciples, to go into Galilee; Jefus Chrift, appearing to Mary Magdalen, repeats the fame to her, and gives her a particular commiffion for St. Peter, to comfort him in his affliction, for having denied his mafter. Appearing to his Difciples, as they went to Emmaus, he refers them to the prophecies which fpoke of his death and refurrection; and morcover, when he broke bread with them, they hear the fame prayers which he ordinarily used at the bleffing of it. He appears to them the fame day the fifth time, and fhews them his feet and his hands; he repeats the grant of the authority which the Father had given him; he breathes upon them, faying, Receive the Holy Ghost; a week after, he lets Thomas touch him; he appears afterwards to feven of his Apoftles upon the lake of Tiberias, where he confirms St. Peter in his charge, from which his denying of Chrift might feem to have excluded him, after he had wrought a miracle in the draught of the fishes, which was like fome miracles which he had wrought before his death. Afterwards, he appears upon the fame mountain in Galilee, where, in all probability, he had been transfigured before, and is there feen of five hundred of his Difciples at once. And laft of all, he appears to them at Jerufalem, after their return from Galilee; and from thence goes with them to Bethany, where, after he had told them of the abfolute power which God had given them, he commands them to go and baptize in his name, he foretels the miracles which they fhould work, and the gifts which they fhould receive at Jerufalem. All these fo very different circumftances were only defigned to affure their eyes, their hands, their minds, their confciences, that was the fame Jefus whom they had always followed.

It is worth our taking notice of the diverfity of thefe circumftances, for the certainty of this fact, which abfolutely prevent all pretences of doubtfulness. Jefus Chrift appears ten feveral times after his death: he appears five times on the very day of his refurrection; he appears at several hours, to different perfons, in feveral places, but always to perfons to whom he was familiarly known, to thofe who were not at all credulous. The first news they had of his refurrection feemed only to raise their fcruples, if the teftimony of their fenfes, which faw him and touched him, had not removed all fufpicions. Jefus Chrift appears to them in places where he had wrought many miracles, and where he hadoften before converfed with them.

But one may make another more important reflexion, upon the time and the day wherein our Saviour rofe again. Of the ten feveral times in which he appeared to his Difciples, he appeared five times on the day. of his refurrection; he appeared to them eight days after; and after that, the eighth day, which he fignalized by his frequent appearing to his Difciples, was confecrated to celebrate the memory of this event every week: one finds certain tokens hereof in the writings of the Apoftles; and it is known that all Chriftians after them did inviolably obferve this law.

Now,

Now, let any one confider, whether it would have been poffible to introduce this cuftom in the time of the Apoftles, if the refurrection of Chrift had not been a fact confeffed on all hands. Can any one conceive, that the Apofties and their Difciples, who were witneffes of the death of Jefus Chrift, and who celebrated the memory thereof by a facrament, could have been fo ftupid as to establish a cuftom which would put people upon examining the fact, and have convinced them in a little time, fince none of thofe that followed them would have fubmitted to this practice, if they had not been convinced by their eyes, and their other fenfes, and by a thoufand other proofs, of the truth of fo capital a fact, which was fo much difputed by the Jews, of which they were obliged to make a folemn commemoration two and fifty times every year, as long as they lived?

Let us add to this remark, which we have elsewhere urged, with reference to the creation, another reflexion upon a fact which the Evangelifts tell us they tell us, that though the refurrection of Chrift was accompanied with very peculiar circumftances, fufficient to convince both Jews and Gentiles of the truth of it, being ufhered in with an earthquake, with apparitions of angels to the foldiers that guarded the fepulchre of Jefus, and were frightened thereby, yet the council of the Jews contrived, with the foldiers, a moft impudent lie to outface it; and accord. ingly the foldiers, coming before Pilate, tell him that the Disciples had ftolen away the body of Jefus whilft they flept; and his Difciples tell us, that, fince, this hath been the common opinion of the fews.

I will not fo much as take notice here of the palpable falfity of this depofition; for, if the foldiers were afleep, how could they depofe concerning a fact which was done at that time? if they were not asleep, why did not they hinder the Difciples from taking the body of their mafter away? How could they affirm that thieves had taken him away, when the linen clothes wherein his body was fhrouded being left in the grave, and the napkin that was about his head being folded up in a place by itfelf, fo abfolutely evince that he was not taken away by perfons that were in fear of a furprife? What probability is there, in fhort, to fufpect that his Difciples, who forfook Jefus Chrift whilft he was yet alive, who fled from him at that time, fhould undertake fuch a hazardous attempt, to have his body only?

Neither will infift upon a reprefentation of the Apoftle's fincerity, which made them give us in their hiftories a plain account of the report which was fpread against the belief of the refurrection of Jefus, before ever that the Difciples had attefted the fame.

But I obferve another very particular character in their relation, which is, that it was impoffible for them to eftablish this fact of the refurrec tion, without accufing thereby the whole council of the Jews, of the moft fhameful and crying impofture that ever was: to write a thing of this nature against the heads of that religion, was to facrifice them felves to the hatred of the public, and to expofe themfelves to inevitable ruin. In fhort, let us imagine whether, after a charge of this nature, it was eafy for the Apoftles to publifh their books, and preach publicly that Jefus Chrift was rifen from the dead? And yet this was what they did with a furprising diligence, when they inferted this terrible accufation

into their books and fermons; which alone is fufficient to demonftrate that they were infinitely convinced of the refurrection, and alfo in a condition to convince all gainfayers, as we fhall fhew hereafter.

One may add to this proof the converfion of St. Paul, and the care which he afterwards took to confirm the truth of the refurrection of Jefus Chrift. He was a declared enemy of Jefus Chrift, and of the Chriftian religion; and yet, foon after the death of Chrift, he preaches him up for the Meffiah. How came this fudden change? He afferts that he had feen in heaven this Jefus who was rifen from the dead, and received from him the Apoftlefhip; accordingly we find him preaching by thefe orders, without any communication had with the firft Difciples of Jefus Chrift. He relates thefe matters in a manner fo little affected to advance his miniftry in the minds of the Galatians, who preferred St. Peter and the other Apoftles before him, that there is no ground left to doubt of them.

One ought to make a like reflexion upon the converfion of Cornelius the centurion: he was a profelyte, that is, a Gentile by birth, but a few by profeffion; and by the employment he was in, he had occafion of being more particularly informed of the depofition of the foldiers, who probably were not unknown to him, for he was in the garrifon at Cafarea, which was not far from Jerufalem. Yet, however, this Cornelius, after he had a vifion which cominanded him to fend to Joppa, a place made famous, because Jonah the Prophet fet fail from thence, who was a type of the Meffiah in his death and refurrection; this Cornelius, I fay, embraced the Chriftian religion, becomes the firft bishop of Cæfarea, and died a martyr for the refurrection of Jefus Chrift.

The great affection which St. Luke had for St. Paul, confirms the fame truth. St. Luke had never feen our Saviour; he was born at Antioch, where in all probability he exercifed his profeffion of phyfic; yet he was converted to Chriftianity, and followed St. Paul in all places, and writ the hiftory of his miracles and preaching. Who doubts but that the reafon hereof was, because he had feen the dead whom Chrift had raised to life, and had feen St. Paul, whom Jefus Chrift had dignified with the Apostleship, raife others alfo from the dead?

It is certain that thofe who were first convinced by the relation of the Apoftles, muft needs have had very evident proofs of the truth of it. The Jews had Sadducees amongst them, who denied the poffibility of the refurrection in general: the council of the Jews especially had made it their bufinefs to decry the conduct, the doctrine, and the miracles of Jefus Chrift, and in particular to make the belief of his refurrection suspected; and fo much the more, because Jesus Christ had foretold it, and his Apoftles maintained that it was come to pafs accordingly. If, in oppofition to thefe ftrong prejudices, there had only been the depofition of two or three perfons to confirm this fact, there would have been reason to doubt of it; but we find that this thing, which of itfelf feems hard to be believed, and was otherwife fo much contefted, is, 1. Proved by ten feveral apparitions; 2. It is attefted by above five hundred Difciples; 3. It was publicly preached by the Difciples of Chrift at Jerufalem itfelf, and throughout all Judea, where it was most of all difputed; 4. It was received by the very enemies of Jefus Chrif, as St. Paul and Cor

nelius,

But here are other reflexions of as great importance as the former. The firft is, That the greatest part of thefe predictions are nothing but a continuance and more diftinct explication of the oracles of the Old Teftament, concerning the fufferings of the Meffiah, the calling of the Gentiles, the deftruction of the commonwealth of the Jews; and befides, they are continued to the last day of the world, which is the end of prophecy.

The fecond is, That these predictions had not the leaft probability upon which they might rationally have been grounded. What likeli hood was there, that Jefus Chrift fhould be crucified, he who raised the dead, who commanded the fea and winds, he whom they would have taken by force to make him their king? What likelihood was there, that the Apoftles, a company of poor miferable Jews, fhould bring over the Gentiles to the religion of a man who was accurfed by the fynagogue of the Jews, and crucified like a flave by the authority of the Roman magiftrate? What probability was there of the deftruction of Ferufalem, whilst the Jews, accustomed to the Roman yoke, made it their bufinefs to avoid all manner of occafions that might ftir up the indignation of their mafters against them? It is expedient, fay they, rather that one man perih (meaning Jefus) than to hazard the welfare of the whole nation.

The third is, That thefe oracles were written by the Apoftles, not only amongst difcourfes of another nature, but alfo linked together in fuch a chain, that their connexion will not permit us to believe that they were contrived after the matters which they relate to were paft; and also that they are conftantly related by three Evangelifts, long time before the things came to pafs, St. John being the only witness of the deftruction of ferufalem.

The fourth is, That thefe oracles gave the Apoftles as much grounds to expect calamities and violent deaths, as to Jefus Chrift himself; fo that there is no pretence of doubting that they were not faithfully recorded by the Evangelifts; and that therefore, feeing the accomplishment has cxactly answered to the oracle, we ought to look upon them as Divine oracles.

I confess that these oracles, no more than the books of the New Teftament, were ever committed to the public cuftody of the Jews, as formerly the oracles of the Prophets of old were; but this cannot really diminish their authority.

I will not obferve at prefent, that because the temple was to be burnt, it was not proper to depofe them there; and it was for this reafon God thought fit to caufe the oracles of the Old Teftament to be tranflated long before.

Nor yet, that it was very proper that thefe predictions, as well as the books of the New Teftament, fhould be put into the hands of the Gentiles, who thenceforward were to be the people of God, and his temple.

But this I obferve, that nothing can be imagined more folemn than thefe prophecies of our Saviour and his Difciples, as well as never any thing was more exactly fulfilled.

Jefus Chrift was born at Bethlehem, according to the oracles. Now, as no man is mafter of the place of his birth, fo it is plain that here is