INSTITUTES O F NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGIO N. PART II. CONTAINING The Evidences of the Jewish and Christian Revelations. THE INTRODUCTION. N the firft fection of this part of the work, I have made great ufe of a treatife of Dr. Leland's, intitled, The advantage and neceffity of the Chriftian Revelation, fhewed from the fate of Religion in the antient Heathen world; and as all the articles I have mentioned are much more largely difcuffed in that excellent work, where the proper authorities are alledged, I thought it unneceffary to make any particular reference to authors here. If any thing in the account that I have given of antient or modern unbelievers be controverted, it is that work, and not mine, which must be examined for the purpose. I work, I have made great ufe of a trea Upon • Upon the fubject of prophecy, I have alfo made much use of Bishop Newton's very valuable difcourfes; and I think it better to make this general acknowledgement, than to refer to these writers page by page in the courfe of my work. My readers must not forget that I am writing for the ufe of young perfons, and therefore that I am glad to avail myfelf of any thing that I can meet with, which I think proper for their ufe.. I do not recollect, however, that I have, in any other part of this volume, made fo much ufe of any particular writer, as to think it worth while to make any acknowledgement for it; except, perhaps, my borrowing from Dr. Doddridge's Lectures, fome arguments against the pretended miracles of Apollonius Tyanæus. Let it be obferved, alfo, that writing, as I do, for the inftruction of youth, though I have not knowingly concealed any objection, which, in my own opinion has the appearance of much weight, I have not thought proper I proper to trouble them with the difcuffion of every fubtile cavil, which has at any time. been advanced against revelation in general, or christianity in particular; because I confider fome of them as the effect of fuch manifest perverseness, as would create difficulties in the cleareft caufe in the world. have mentioned so many arguments in favour of revelation, and have replied to so many of the objections to it, that, confidering the general plan of my work, I judged it to be altogether fuperfluous to advance any thing more, whether there be any weight, or no weight at all, in what I have written. Trite as the fubject of this part of my work is, it is far from being exhausted; but, like every other subject of very great importance, it is hardly poffible for any perfon to give much attention to it, without finding either fome new arguments for it, or, at least, setting the old ones in fome new and more ftriking point of light. Some merit of this kind will, perhaps, be allowed to me, especially as far as it refpects a commodious |