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ing, which breed long disputes, and which these men of reason deny by wholesale-though they can give no reason for it, only suppose that authors have been trumped upon us, interpolated and corrupted, so that no stress can be laid upon them, though it cannot be shown wherein they are so corrupted; which, in reason, ought to lie upon them to prove who alledge it; otherwise it is not only a precarious, but a guilty plea: and the more, that they refrain not to quote books on their side, for whose authority there are no better, or not so good grounds. However, you say, it makes your disputes endless, and they go away with noise and clamour, and a boast, that there is nothing, at least nothing certain,to be said on the Christian side. Therefore you are desirous to find some one topic of reason, which should demonstrate the truth of the Christian Religion, and at the same time distinguish it from the impostures of Mahomet, and the whole Pagan world: that our Deists may be brought to this test, and be obliged either to renounce their reason, and the common reason of mankind, or to submit to the clear proof, from reason, of the Christian Religion; which must be such a proof as no imposture can pretend to, otherwise it cannot prove the Christian Religion not to be an imposture. And, whether such a proof, one single proof, (to avoid confusion,) is not to be found out, you desire to know from me.

And you say, that you cannot imagine, but there must be such a proof, because every truth is in itself clear, and one; and therefore that one reason for it, if it be the true reason, must be sufficient; and if sufficient, it is better than many: for multiplicity confounds, especially to weak judgments.

Sir, you have imposed an hard task upon me; I wish I could perform it. For though every truth is one, yet our sight is so feeble, that we cannot (always) come to it directly, but by many inferences, and laying of things together.

But I think, that in the case before us, there is such a proof as you require, and I will set it down as short and plain as I can.

II. First, then, I suppose, that the truth of the doctrine of CHRIST will be sufficiently evinced, if the matters

of fact, which are recorded of him in the Gospels, be true for his miracles, if true, do vouch the truth of what he delivered.

The same is to be said as to Moses. If he brought the children of Israel through the Red Sea in that miraculous manner which is related in Exodus, and did such other wonderful things as are there told of him, it must necessarily follow, that he was sent from GOD: these being the strongest proofs we can desire, and which every Deist will confess he would acquiesce in, if he saw them with his eyes. Therefore, the stress of this cause will depend upon the proof of these matters of fact.

1. And the method I will take, is, first, to lay down such rules, as to the truth of matters of fact in general, that where they all meet, such matters of fact cannot be false. And then, secondly, to show that all these rules do meet in the matters of fact of Moses and of CHRIST: and that they do not meet in the matters of fact of Mahomet and the Heathen deities, nor can possibly meet in any imposture whatsoever.

2. The rules are these:

1st. THAT THE MATTERS OF FACT BE SUCH, AS THAT MEN'S OUTWARD SENSES, THEIR EYES AND EARS, MAY BE JUDGES OF IT.

2nd. THAT IT BE DONE PUBLICLY IN THE FACE OF

THE WORLD.

3rd. THAT NOT ONLY PUBLIC MONUMENTS BE KEPT UP IN MEMORY OF IT, BUT SOME OUTWARD ACTIONS TO BE PERFORMED,

4th. THAT SUCH MONUMENTS, AND SUCH ACTIONS OR OBSERVANCES, BE INSTITUTED, AND DO COMMENCE FROM THE TIME THAT THE MATTER OF FACT WAS DONE.

such

3. The two first rules make it impossible for any matter of fact to be imposed upon men, at the time when

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This mark is, in a subsequent publication, explained by the Author more fully, to avoid misunderstanding. He there adds, "And consequently, that the book wherein these facts and institutions are recorded, should be written at the time, and by those who did the facts, or by eye and ear witnesses. For that is included in this Mark, and is the main part of it, to prevent false stories being coined in after ages, of things done many hundred years before, which none alive can disprove," Truth of Christianity Demonstrated, p. 46. 6th ed.

such matter of fact was said to be done, because every man's eyes and senses would contradict it. For example, suppose any man should pretend, that yesterday he divided the Thames, in presence of all the people of London, and carried the whole city, men, women, and children, over to Southwark," on dry land, the waters standing like walls on both sides: I say, it is morally impossible that he could persuade the people of London that this was true, when every man, woman, and child could contradict him, and say, that this was a notorious falsehood, for they had not seen the Thames so divided, or had gone over on dry land. Therefore I take it for granted (and I suppose, with the allowance of all the Deists in the world) that no such imposition could be put upon men, at the time when such' public matter of fact was said to be done.

4. Therefore it only remains that such matter of fact might be invented some time after, when the men of that generation wherein the thing was said to be done, are all past and gone; and the credulity of after ages might be imposed upon, to believe that things were done in former ages, which were not.

And for this, the two last rules secure us as much as the two first rules, in the former case; for whenever such a matter of fact came to be invented, if not only monuments were said to remain of it, but likewise that public actions and observances were constantly used ever since the matter of fact was said to be done, the deceit must be detected, by no such monuments appearing, and by the experience of every man, woman, and child, who must know that no such actions or observances were ever used by them. For example; suppose should now invent a story of such a thing done a thousand years ago, I might perhaps get some to believe it; but if I say that not only such a thing was done, but that from that day to this, every man, at the age of twelve years had a joint of his little finger cut off; and that every man in the nation did want the joint of such a finger; and that this institution was said to be part of the matter of fact done so many years ago, and vouched

I

One of the suburbs of London, on the opposite side of the river Thames; situated with regard to London, nearly as Brooklyn is to New-York, or Charlestown to Boston.

as a proof and confirmation of it, and as having descended without interruption, and been constantly practised, in memory of such matter of fact, all along from the time that such matter of fact was done: I say it is impossible I should be believed in such a case, because every one could contradict me as to the mark of cutting off a joint of the finger; and that being part of my original matter of fact, must demonstrate the whole to be false.

III. Let us now come to the second point;-to show that the matters of fact of Moses and of CHRIST, have all these rules or marks before mentioned; and that neither the matters of fact of Mahomet, nor what is reported of the Heathen deities, have the like: and that no imposture can have them all.

1. As to Moses, I suppose it will be allowed me, that he could not have persuaded 600,000 men, that he had brought them out of Egypt, through the Red Sea; fed them forty years, without bread, by miraculous manna; and the other matters of fact recorded in his books; if they had not been true. Because every man's senses that were then alive, must have contradicted it. And therefore he must have imposed upon all their senses, if he could have made them believe it, when it was false, and no such things done. So that here are the first and second of the above mentioned four marks.

From the same reason, it is equally impossible for him to have made them receive his five books, as truth, and not to have rejected them as a manifest imposture; which told of all these things as done before their eyes, if they had not been so done. See how positively he speaks to them, (Deut. xi. 2. to verse 8.) "And know you this day, for I speak not with your children, which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of the LORD your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his stretched out arm, and his miracles, and his acts, which he did in the midst of Egypt, unto Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and unto all his land, and what he did unto the army of Egypt, unto their horses and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Red Sea to overflow them as they pursued after you; and how the LORD hath destroyed them

unto this day and what he did unto you in the wilderness, until ye came unto this place; and what he did unto Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben, how the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and all the substance that was in their possession, in the midst of all Israel. But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the LORD, which he did," &c.

From hence we must suppose it is impossible that these books of Moses (if an imposture) could have been invented and put upon the people who were then alive, when all these things were said to be done.

The utmost therefore that even a supposition can stretch to, is, that these books were wrote in some age after Moses, and put out in his name.

And to this I say, that if it was so, it was impossible that those books should have been received as the books of Moses, in that age wherein they may have been supposed to have been first invented. Why? Because they speak of themselves as delivered by Mo ses, and kept in the ark from his time. "And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished, that Moses commanded the Levites who bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying, take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the cove`nant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee," (Deut. xxxi. 24, 25, 26.) And there was a copy of this book to be left likewise with the king. "And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book, out of that which is before the priests, the Levites and it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his GOD, to keep all the words of this law, and these statutes, to do them." Deut. xvii. 18, 19.

Here then you see that this Book of the Law speaks of itself not only as a history or relation of what things were then done, but as the standing and municipal law and statutes of the nation of the Jews, binding the king as well as the people.

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