than that most unhappy one in which you

now are.

You expect that your Meffiah will be lineally defcended from David, and therefore you cannot be reconciled to the idea of Jefus being that Meffiah, because chriftians fay that he had no human father; fo that according to your rules of genealogy, he could not be said to be the fon of David. But it is no where faid that the perfon who is characterized by the title of Meffiah, should be defcended from David, but only that prince under whom you are to enjoy your temporal profperity.

However, the hiftory of the miraculous conception of Jefus does not appear to me to be fufficiently authenticated. The evidence of it is by no means the fame with that of his public life, his miracles, his death, and refurrection, which are all that the truth of chriftianity requires (and of which there were many witneffes) and the original gofpel of Matthew, received by your countrymen, did not contain it.

Your

Your facred books, as well as ours, being written by men, neither of them can be expected to be entirely free from mistakes, or exempt from interpolations. Yours, as you must acknowledge, have, in a course of time, fuffered in these respects. But it is fufficient for us both, that the great events, on which every thing that is of importance to our religion depends, are true. As to any thing that is not neceffarily connected with such events, and therefore is not fupported by their evidence, we fhould think ourselves at liberty to receive or reject it, according to its feparate evidence. Myfelf, and many other chriftians, are no believers in the miraculous conception of Jefus, but are of opinion, that he was the legitimate fon of Jofeph, who was of the family of David; and fuch feems to have been the opinion of the great body of Jewish chriftians, who had more opportunity of informing themselves concerning the fact than the gentiles had. But we are not lefs firm believers in all the public tranfactions of the life of Jefus, in his miracles, his death, and

1

his refurrection; and confequently, in his divine miffion. With respect to his fuppofed miraculous conception, and other articles relating to christianity, but not effential to it, do you examine and judge for yourfelves.

LETTER V.

Mifcellaneous Obfervations, and Conclufion,

SOME of you may perhaps say, that

you

cannot enter into any difcuffion concerning the evidence of christianity, till the different profeffors of it fhall agree among themselves, and tell you what it really is. But this demand would be manifeftly unreasonable; becaufe it is very poffible that christianity may be true, though many perfons fhould hold wrong opinions concerning it. You Jews hold very different opinions concerning many things relating to your law. But does this circumftance prove that it has no foundation in truth ?

There

There is not, indeed, any fubject of human fpeculation, with refpect to which different men have not maintained different opinions. But would you think it wife in any person to refufe to study the law, or medicine, or philofophy, till all the profeffors of thefe fciences. were agreed about the principles of them?

Befides, all chriftians are agreed with refpect to the great articles of their faith. They all maintain that Jefus had a divine miffion, evidenced by his miracles and refurrection; that he was the perfon announced by your prophets under the character of the Meffiab; and that, though he is afcended to heaven, he will come again to raise the dead, and judge the world. Admit the truth of these articles only, and we shall readily acknowledge you to be chriftians. As you acknowledge any man to be a believer in the religion of Mofes, who admits bis divine miffion; nothing is requifite to denominate any perfon a christian, but his believing the divine miffion of Christ. If it stagger you to think that chriftianity fhould have been fo corrupted, as it

muft

1

A

must have been if my ideas of it be juft; I beg leave to refer you to my Hiftory of the Corruptions of Chriftianity, in which you will find the origin and progress of them, I flatter myself, fatisfactorily accounted for, without implying any reflection on christianity itself. And if you wish to have a more particular account of the origin of the doctrine of the trinity, at which you are so juftly fcandalized, I refer you to my Hiftory of early Opinions concerning Jefus Chrift, in which will fee a full account of the you rife and progrefs of that doctrine, with all the changes it has undergone, from its fource in the Platonic philofophy to the prefent day..

You may, however, fay, that chriftians are fo much divided among themselves, that you do not know which denomination of them you can join. But the fame may be faid concerning your religion. For there are different fects among you, and you differ in the interpretation of your scriptures as we do in that of ours.

Befides, there is no occafion for you Jews to connect yourselves with any class of chrif

tians.