and who, upon apoftatizing, would become more felf-interefted, vain-glorious, and impure, than before. These were Antichrifts, as St. John calls them, who left the church because they were not of it. Some of these forged books, to fupport themselves, and establish their own tenets; others might write partly like enthufiafts, partly like impoftors; and, laftly, there were fome both weak and wicked men, though not fo abandoned as the ancient Heretics, who, in the latter end of the second centnry, and afterwards, endeavoured to make converts by forgeries, and fuch other wicked arts. However, all those who are ufually called Fathers, in the firft ages, ftand remarkably clear of fuch charges.

Fourthly, the propagation of Chriftianity, with the manner in which it was oppofed by both Jews and Gentiles, bears witness to the truth and genuineness of the books of the New Teftament. But I forbear entering upon this argument, as it will come more properly in another place. Let me only obferve here, that there are many paffages in the Talmudical writings, which afford both light and confirmation to the New Teftament, notwithstanding that one principal defign of the authors was to difcredit it.

PROP. X.

THE AGREEMENT OF THE BOOKS OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS WITH THEMSELVES AND WITH EACH OTHER, IS AN ARGUMENT BOTH OF THEIR GENUINENESS AND TRUTH.

THE truth of this propofition will be evident, if a fufficient number of these mutual agreements can be made out. It is never found, that any fingle perfon, who deviates much from the truth, can be fo perfectly upon his guard, as to be always confiftent with himself. Much lefs therefore can this happen in the cafe of a number, living alfo in different ages. Nothing can make them confiftent, but their copying faithfully after real facts. The inftances will make this

clearer.

The laws of the Ifraelites are contained in the Pentateuch, and referred to in a great variety of ways, direct and indirect, in the Hiftorical Books, in the Pfalms, and in the Prophecies. The hiftorical facts alfo in the preceding books are often referred to in thofe that fucceed, and in the Palms and Prophecies. In like manner the Gofpels have the greateft harmony with each other, and the Epiftles of St. Paul with the Acts of the Apoftles. And indeed one may fay, that there is fcarce any book of either Old or New Teftament, which may not be fhewn to refer to many of the reft in fome way or other. For it is to be obferved, that the Bible has been ftudied and commented upon far more than any other book whatsoever; and that it has been the bufinefs of believers in all ages to find out the mutual relations of its parts, and of unbelievers to fearch for inconfiftencies; alfo that the first meet every day with more and more evidences in favour of the Scriptures from the mutual agreements and coincidences here confidered; and that unbelievers have never been able to alledge any inconfiftencies that could in the leaft invalidate

the

the truth of the principal facts; I think, not even affect the divine infpiration of the hiftorical books, according to the second or third hypothefis above mentioned.

It will probably illuftrate this propofition, to bring a parallel inftance from the Roman writers. Suppofe then that no more remained of these writers than Livy, Tully, and Horace. Would they not, by their references to the fame facts and cuftoms, by the fameness of ftyle in the fame writer, and differences in the different ones, and numberlefs other fuch like circumftances of critical confideration, prove themfelves and one another to be genuine, and the principal facts related, or alluded to, to be true?

It is alfo to be obferved, that this mutual harmony and self-confiftency, in its ultimate ratio, is the whole of the evidence which we have for facts done in ancient times, or diftant places. Thus, if a perfon was fo fceptical as to call in queftion the whole Roman hiftory, even the most notorious facts, as their conquefts first of Italy, and then of the neighbouring countries, the death of Cæfar, and the fall of the Weltern empire by the invafions of the Goths and Vandals, with all the evidences of thefe from books, inferiptions, coins, customs, &c. as being all forged in order to deceive; one could only fhew him, that it is incorfiftent with what he fees of human nature, to fuppofe that there fhould be fuch a combination to deceive; or that the agreement of, thefe evidences with each other is far too great to be the effect of any fuch fraudulent defign, of chance, &c. And all these arguments are, in effect, only bringing a number of concurring evidences, whofe fum total foon approaches to the ultimate limit, i. e. to unity, or abfolute certainty, nearer than by any diftinguishable difference. It does not therefore import, in refpect of real conviction, after a certain nomber are brought, whether we bring any more or no; they can only add this imperceptible defect, i. e. practically nothing. Thus I fuppofe, that the remaining writings of Livy, Tully, and Horace, alone would fatisfy any impartial man fo much of the general extenfiveness of the Roman conquefts, &c. that nothing perceptible could be added to his conviction; no more than any common event can, or ever does in fact, appear more credible from the teftimony of a thousand than of ten or twenty witnelles of approved integrity. And whoever will apply this reafoning to the prefent cafe, muft perceive, as it ap'pears to me, that the numberlefs minute, direct, and indirect agreements and coincidences, that prefent themfelves to all diligent readers of the Scriptures, prove their truth and genuinenefs beyond all contradiction, at leaft according to the firft and loweft hypothefis concerning divine infpiration.

As to thofe few and fmall apparent inconfiftencies, which are fuppofed to confine the infpiration of the Scriptures to this loweft fenfe; one may obferve, that they decreafe every day as learned men inquire farther; and that, were the Scriptures perfectly exact in every particular, there must be fome apparent difficulties, arifing merely from our ignorance of ancient languages, cuftoms, diftant places, &c. and confequently that, if these be not more than our ignorance makes

it reasonable to expect, they are no objection at all. And of apparent inconfiftencies, one may remark in particular, that they exclude the fuppofition of forgery. No fingle forger, or combination of forgers, would have fuffered the apparent inconfiftencies which occur in a few places, fuch as the different genealogies of Chrift in St. Matthew and St. Luke, and fome little variations in the narration of the fame fact in different Gofpels. These are too obvious at firft fight, not to have been prevented, had there been any fraud.:

I will here add an hypothefis, by which, as it appears to me, one may reconcile the genealogies of St. Matthew and St. Luke. I fuppofe, then, that St. Matthew relates the real progenitors of Jofeph; St. Luke, the feries of those who were heirs to David by birthright; and that both transcribed from genealogical tables, well known to the Jews of thofe times. St. Matthew after David takes Solomon, from whom Jofeph lineally defcended. St. Luke takes Nathan, upon whom, though younger than fome others, and even than Solomon, we muft fuppofe the birthright to be conferred, as in the inftances of Jacob and Jofeph. St. Matthew proceeds by real descent to Salathiel at the time of the captivity; St. Luke proceeds by the heirs, according to birthright, and comes to Salathiel likewife. We must therefore fuppofe, that Salathiel, Solomon's heir, was now David's alfo, by the extinction of all the branches of Nathan's family. St. Matthew then takes Zorobabel as Jofeph's real progenitor; St. Luke takes him as heir or eldeft fon to Salathiel. Again, St. Matthew takes Abuid the real progenitor; St. Luke, Rhefa, the elder fon and thus St. Matthew proceeds by lineal defcent to Jofeph; St. Luke, by heirs, to the fame Jofeph for we are to fuppofe, that Heli dying without heirs male, Jofeph became his heir by birthright, i. e. heir to Zorobabel, i. c. to David. If we farther fuppofe, that the Virgin Mary was daughter to Heli, for which there appears to be fome evi dence, the folution will be more complete and more agreeable to the Jewish customs. It confirms this folution, that St. Matthew uses the word times, which reftrains, his genealogy: to lineal defcent; whereas St. Luke ufes the article T8, which is very general. It con firms it also, that St. Luke's, defcents, reckoning from David to Salathiel, are but about twenty-two years apiece; which is much too short for defcents from father to fon, but agrees very well to defeents by birthright. As to St. Matthew's defcents, they are far too long, after the captivity, for defcents from father to fon; but then it is ealy to fuppofe, that fome were left out on account of dying before their fathers, or fome other reafon. Three of the Kings of Judah are left out after Joram, perhaps on account of their being of the immediate pofterity of the idolatrous Ahab's daughter Athaliah Others are left out after the captivity, perhaps for fome fimilar

reafon.

VOL. V.

D

PROP.

PROP. XI.

THE UNITY OF DESIGN WHICH APPEARS IN THE DISPENSATIONS RECORDED IN THE SCRIPTURES, IS AN ARGUMENT NOT ONLY OF THEIR TRUTH AND GENUINENESS, BUT ALSO OF THEIR DIVINE

FOR this unity is not only for great as to exclude forgery and fiction in the fame way as the mutual agreements mentioned in the laft propofition, but alfo greater than the beft and ablest men could have preferved, in the circumftance of thefe writers, without the divine affiftance. In order to fee this, let us inquire what this defign is, and how it is pursued by the series of events, and divine interpofitions, recorded in the Scriptures.

The defign is that of bringing all mankind to an exalted, pure, and spiritual happiness, by teaching, enforcing, and begetting in them love and obedience to God. This This appears from many paffages in the Old Testament, and from almoft every part of the New. Now we are not here to inquire in what manner an Almighty Being could fooneft and moft effectually accomplish this. But the question is, Whether, laying down the ftate of things as it has been, is, and probably will be, for our foundation, there be not a remarkable fitnefs in the difpenfations afcribed to God in the Scriptures, to produce this glorious effect; and whether the perfons who adminiftered thefe difpenfations did not here concur with a surprising uniformity, though none of them faw God's ultimate defign completely, and fome but very imperfectly; juft as brutes by their inftincts, and children by the workings of their natural faculties, contribute to their own prefervation, improvement, and happiness, without at all forefeeing that they do this. If we alter any of the circumftances of the microcofm, or macrocofm, of the frame of our own natures, or of the external world that furrounds us, we fhall have queftion rife up after question in an endlefs feries, and hall never be fatisfied, unless God fhould be pleased to produce happiness inftantaneously, i. e. without any means, or fecondary inftrumental caufes at all; and, even then, we fhould only be where we were at our first fetting out, if things be confidered in the true ultimate light. We are therefore to lay down the real state of things as our foundation; i. e. we are to fuppofe man to be in a ftate of good mixed with evil, born with appetites, and expofed to temptations, to which if he yields, fuffering muft follow; which fuffering, however, tends to eradicate the difpofition from whence it flowed, and to implant a better. We are to fuppofe him to be endued with voluntary powers, which enable him to model his affections and actions according to a rule; and that the love of God, his ultimate happiness, can never be genuine, but by his first learn ing to fear God, by his being mortified to pleasure, honour, and profit, and the moft refined felfifh defires, and by his loving his neighbour as him felf; i. e. we muft fuppofe all that which practical writers mean by a ftate of trial, temptation, moral exercise and im

provement,

provement, and of practical free-will. Let us fee, therefore, how the feveral difpenfations mentioned in the Scriptures, their being recorded there, and the fubordinate parts which the prophets and apostles acted, confpired to bring about this ultimate end of man, both in each individual, and in the whole aggregate, confidered as one great individual, as making up the myftical body of Chrift, according to the language of St. Paul; and inquire, whether, if all other reafons were fet afide, the mere harmony and concurrence of so many parts, and fo many perfons removed from each other by long intervals of time, in this one great defign, will not compel us to acknowledge the genuineness, truth, and divine authority of the Scrip

tures.

The first thing which prefents itself to us in the Scriptures, is the hiftory of the Creation and Fall. These are not to be accounted for, as was faid above, being the foundation upon which we go. However, the recording them by Mofes, as tradition began to grow weak and uncertain, has been of great use to all those who have had them communicated by this means, perfectly or imperfectly, i. e. to a great part of the world. This hiftory impreffes an awful and amiable fenfe of the Divine Being, our Creator and Judge; fhews the heinousness of fin; and mortifies us to this world, by declaring that our paffage through it must be attended with labour and forrow. We find ourfelves in this ftate: Revealed Religion did not bring us into it nor is this ftate an objection to Revealed Religion, more than to Natural: however, Revealed Religion goes a ftep higher than Natural, and fhews the immediate fecondary caufe, viz. the fin and wilful disobedience of our firft parents. And when the account of paradife, of man's expulfion thence, and of the curse paffed upon him in Genefis, are compared with the removal of this curfe, of forrow, crying, pain, and death, with the renovation of all things, and with man's restoration to the tree of life and paradise, and his admiffion into the new Jerufalem in the laft chapters of the Revelation, hope and fear quicken each other; and both confpire to purify the mind, and to advance the great defign confidered under this propofition.

How far the deluge was neceffary, cæteris manentibus, for the purification of those who were deftroyed by it, i. e. for accomplishing this great end in them, we cannot prefume to fay. It is fufficient that there is no contrary prefumption, that no methods confiftent with the state of things in the ancient world were neglected, as far as we know, and that we are not in the least able to propofe a better scheme. We leave these rebellious, unhappy people, now tranflated into another ftate, to the fame kind Providence which attended them in this, and all whofe punishments on this fide the grave are for melioration. However the evident footsteps of this in the world, and the clear tradition of it, which would continue for feveral ages, alfo the hiftory of it delivered by Mofes, have an unqueftionable good tendency. Sinners, who reflect at all, cannot but be alarmed at fo dreadful an inftance of divine feverity. Far

ther,