lished throughout the vast Roman empire; the kingdom of Satan and pagan idolatry fell down before it; and vast numbers were every where turned from darkness to light, from worshipping idols to serve the living and true God, and from vice and wickedness, and the most immoral conduct, to a life of holiness, purity and virtue. Any one that considers this, and at the same time considers the pompous figures of the prophetic style, will not be surprised that such a glorious person, and such a dispensation and state of things should be foretold and set forth by lofty figures, and in the most strong and elevated expressions. And if Christians afterwards fell off from the purity and glory of the gospel into a great and general apostacy; though still in times of the greatest degeneracy there were many thousands among them that faithfully adhered to the true worship, love, and obedience of the only true God through Jesus Christ, and to the practice of real piety and righteousness; and if there has risen exorbitant anti-christian power and spiritual tyranny, which hath been of long continuance; this also hath been plainly foretold, and that a very glorious state of things shall follow, and shall continue for a long time. And under that glorious state of the church, the prophetical predictions relating to the Messiah's kingdom, its universal extent, peace, purity, happiness, shall receive their fullest accomplishment. And the remarkable completion of the other parts of the prophecies leave us no reasonable room to doubt that whatever remains to be fulfilled, shall in the due season be accomplished also.

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And whereas the Messiah's kingdom seems sometimes to be described with a particular regard to the Jews and it is foretold that he should reign over them as their Prince and Shepherd, and that in his days 'Israel and Judah should dwell safely,' and in a happy state there are two things that will entirely take off the advantage our author pretends to take from these expressions. The one is, that the terms Israel and Judah and the house of Jacob,' are not always to be understood in the prophets precisely of the seed of Jacob, literally so called, or of the Jewish people and nation; but are sometimes designed to signify the church in general, as it should be vastly enlarged under the gospel dispensation, when Jew and Gentile should be all one in Christ Jesus. It might be easily shown that there is nothing in this but what is perfectly agreeable to the prophetical style and manner of expression. And in conformity to this way of speaking, the church under the New Testament is described under the character of the 'Jerusalem which is above,' Gal. iv. 26. Heb. xii. 23. True Christians are called Jews, Rev. iii. 9. 'the Israel of God,' Gal. vi. 6. The true circumcision,' Phil. iii. 3. And all sincere believers are called 'Abraham's seed,' and 'the children of Abraham.' The other thing to be observed is, that if some of those prophecies that speak of the advantages Israel and Judah were to enjoy under the Messiah, be understood literally of the people of the Jews, they relate to a future restoration of the Jews that is yet to be accomplished. As the present wonderful dispersion of the Jews, their being scattered through all nations of the

earth, and their finding no rest among them, but being every where hated and despised, scorned and reproached; and their still continuing in this their unexampled dispersion to be a distinct people, is foretold and described by many remarkable characters, and which could never be applied to any other nation, so their recovery and return is also foretold. And this their deliverance is sometimes expressly applied to the latter days, and is connected with the times of the Messiah. Not as if it were to happen immediately upon the Messiah's coming: on the contrary it is plainly signified, that the Jews would despise and reject him when he came, Isa. liii. 1, 2, 3. that he would be a 'stone of stumbling and a rock of offence' to them, at which many 'should fall and be broken,' Isa. viii. 14, 15. It is intimated that Israel should not be gathered at his coming, and yet he should be glorified, Isa. xlix. 5. that the day of his coming would be great and terrible to many among them, Mal. iii. 1, 2. iv. 1. 5. And most plainly and expressly it is foretold by Daniel, that the coming of the Messiah would be attended with the destruction of their city and sanctuary, and the subversion of their whole constitution, Dan. ix. 26, 27. And finally, that after they had continued many days, or for a long time, 'without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without Teraphim:' a most exact description of their present state, when they are without any form of government, without the exercise of the legal priesthood or oblations, and at the same time free from that idolatry to which they were anciently so prone; they should 'afterward return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king,' that is, the true Messiah, who is sometimes represented under that character, and should 'fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days,' Hos. iii. 4, 5. And that God would 'pour forth upon them a spirit of grace and supplication,' and that they should 'look upon him whom they had pierced and mourn,' Žech. xii. 10-14. xiii. 1. And their state under the Messiah is described in figurative expressions, as a state of peace and holiness, Ezek. xxxiv. 23-31, xxxvi. 21-28. This return and conversion of the Jews, and the happy effects of it, St. Paul clearly speaks of in the eleventh chapter of the epistle to the Romans. And since the former part of the prophecies relating to the Jews is so remarkably accomplished, we may regard it as a pledge and assurance, that the other part of the prophecies, relating to their future conversion and return, shall also receive its proper completion. And indeed their being still preserved a distinct people, in such remarkable circumstances, seems to show that they are reserved for some signal purposes of divine providence.

And now, upon this brief view of the prophecies relating to the Messiah, which were delivered not all at once, but by different persons, and in diverse manners, at a vast distance of time from one another, and which are remarkably accomplished in our Lord Jesus

*See Deut. xxviii. 63, 64. Amos ix. 8, 9, 11. Deut. xxx. 1-4. Jer. xxx. 11. xxiii. 3. Isa. xi. 11-16.

Christ, in whom the several characters given of the Messiah, though some of them at first view seemed not very consistent with others, do wonderfully concur; I think it must be acknowledged that such a series of prophecy carried on for a long succession of ages, yet all conspiring with an admirable harmony, the like of which cannot be produced in any other case, yields a glorious and peculiar kind of attestation to our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the dispensation he hath introduced. And when joined with his wonderful miracles, and the extraordinary effusion of the Holy Ghost, and the excellent tendency of that doctrine and religion which he taught and published to the world, lays a solid foundation for our faith in him, and obedience to the doctrines and laws which he hath given us. Our author indeed will not allow that the prophecies furnish any proof at all. He argues, that if the 'life or religion of the pope or Mahomet had been prophesied of and foretold, as some think they were,' this would have been no proof of the truth of doctrines, or righteousness of persons, and therefore could have been no rational foundation for true religion.' p. 332, 333. And it will be easily owned, that if our Lord Jesus Christ had been prophesied of no otherwise than as a tyrannous, wicked power, no man in his senses would have produced this as a proof that his mission was divine; when it would rather have proved, that this was that very wicked, oppressive power that had been foretold and described, in order to warn people against it, and to keep them from being too much discouraged on the account of it, as well as to strengthen their hope that it should be at length destroyed. But when there had been a person foretold from the beginning of the world as a blessing to mankind, and the sending of whom is represented as the most extraordinary effect of divine love; when he had been described by the most glorious divine characters, and many particular circumstances relating to his person, actions, offices, and the precise time of his coming plainly pointed out; this being the case, when he actually came in whom all these characters met, and to whom all these predictions pointed, and in whom alone they received their accomplishment, this certainly tended highly to recommend him to the esteem of mankind, and to prepare and engage them to receive that dispensation of righteousness, truth, and charity, which he came to introduce and establish. It tended to remove the prejudices arising from the meanness of his outward appearance, from his sufferings, &c., since it was manifest from the prophecies, that even these things were expressly foretold concerning him, and made a part of the divine scheme. And it showed the great guilt of rejecting him, and thereby counteracting the great and noble design and scheme of divine providence, which had been carried on from the beginning.

I add that these prophecies, and their accomplishments, besides that they exhibit an illustrious proof of a most wise presiding providence that governs the whole series of events, and show the extent of the divine knowledge, and thus are very serviceable even to natural religion, do also show the wonderful harmony between the Old Testament and the New; that there is one and the same

spirit in both; the same uniform design and scheme still carrying on; and that 'prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.' 2 Pet. i. 21. Our author indeed makes little of all this. If the reader will take his word for it, these things are minutenesses, and even minutiæ minutiarum,' as he expresses it. He puts the case that the prophets 'had foretold the birth, life, miracles, crucifixion, and resurrection of Christ, particularly and minutely, in all the circumstances of time, place, persons, &c., and then he asks, 'what could this have proved, but only that these men had the certain knowledge of futurity in those matters? And consequently, that these events were necessary, as depending upon necessary causes, which might be certainly foreknown and predicted?' p. 332. I shall not stay to expose the absurdity of this passage, which plainly implies a denial of God's prescience of future contingencies, and seems to suppose a fatal necessity in human actions and events. For if the actions here referred to, and all the several events foretold by the prophets, were necessary, and depending on necessary causes,' we may equally suppose that all other events, and the actions of all men, at all times, are necessary, and owing to necessary causes, since they have not greater marks of freedom than these had; which would be an odd supposition in one that on all occasions discovers such a mighty zeal against fatalism, and sets up as a warm advocate for man's free-agency. But not to insist upon this, I shall only observe that if the prophets' foretelling these things doth prove, as the author owns, that they had the certain knowledge of futurity in these matters,' it proves they foresaw things which it was impossible for any human sagacity to foresee, and which could only be known to him whose providence presides over all events, and whose views extend throughout all ages. And consequently, it proves, that those prophets were extraordinarily inspired with the knowledge of those things by God himself; and we may be sure, that he would not have thus inspired them but for some valuable end. And in the present case, their being inspired to foretel the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, was with a view to keep up the expectation of this glorious Redeemer that was to come, and the better to prepare the world for receiving him when he actually came; and that by considering the predictions that went before, concerning him, it might appear that he was the extraordinary person, the sending of whom was the thing which the divine providence had all along in view. This gives a great solemnity to his divine mission, and is of signal use, in conjunction with the other illustrious attestations given from heaven. And there having been such a succession of prophets raised up among the Jews, who showed by their wonderful prediction, that they had extraordinary communications from God, and who all harmoniously concurred, both in confirming the Law of Moses that had been already given, and carrying the views of the people to another and more glorious dispensation that was to succeed it, connected the Old Testament and the New, and confirmed the divine original of both.

CHAPTER XIII.

The author's charge against the apostles, examined. His pretence that they themselves were far from claiming infallibility, considered. It is shown that they did profess to be under the unerring guidance and inspiration of the Holy Ghost, in publishing the gospel of Jesus; and that they gave sufficient proofs to convince the world of their divine mission. The attestations given to Christianity, and to the doctrines taught by the apostles, by the extraordinary gifts and powers of the Holy Ghost, considered and vindicated, against our author's exceptions. His pretence that those gifts of the Holy Ghost might be used like natural faculties and talents, according to the pleasure of the persons who were endowed with them, either for the promoting truth or error; and that the false teachers, as well as the true, had these extraordinary gifts and powers, and made use of them in confirmation of their false doctrines, examined at large.

HAVING examined our author's insinuations against the Lord Jesus Christ, let us now proceed to consider what he offers with a view to subvert the authority of the apostles, and to show that they are not at all to be depended on, in the account they give of the religion of Jesus, of which they were the first authorised teachers and publishers to the world. He affirms that they themselves never so much as pretended to the infallible guidance of the Holy Spirit; or if they had pretended to it, their great differences among themselves about the most concerning points of revelation would have been an evident demonstration to the contrary: that they preached quite different and even contrary gospels: they reported the doctrine of Christ according to their own Jewish prejudices, and made a wrong representation of several facts, ascribing to him things which he never did, and prophecies which he never uttered, and doctrines which he never taught; that besides this, the New Testament was farther corrupted and interpolated afterwards by the Christian Jews, so that, as it now stands, it is a strange mixture of religions, of Christianity and Judaism, though they are the most opposite things in the world.

I shall first begin with the attempt he makes against the infallibility and divine inspiration of the apostles. He alleges that There was no pretence in those apostolical times to any Spirit or Holy Ghost, that made men either infallible or impeccable; that set men above the possibility of erring or being deceived themselves as to the inward judgment, or of deceiving others in the outward sentence and declaration of that judgment. This was the wild and impudent claim of the church of Rome in after ages, which the apostles themselves, who really had the Holy Ghost, and the power of working miracles, never pretended to. And though this has been liberally granted them, and supposed of them