Matth. iv. 17. Luke iii. 23. * And we may reasonably suppose, that this was one Caufe why our bleffed Saviour did not begin to preach till he was Thirty Years of Age; and about Three Years after was crucified. Plato, defcribing the Character of a perfect juft Man, fays, that he shall be scourged, tormented, fettered; and at laft, having fuffered a 1 manner of Evils, that he shall be crucified, or cut in Pieces, as the Sacrifices were. And fays, That it is necessary they should wait till fuch an one should come, to teach them how they ought to behave themselves, towards God, and towards Man. O when shall that Time come (fays he)? And who shall be that Teacher? How greatly do I defire to fee that Man who he is? And he fays, that this Lawgiver muft De Leg.1.4. be fomewhat more than of human Race. For that as Beafts are governed by Men, so muft Men, by a Nature which is fuperior to their own: And therefore, that this Man, who was to be the univerfal Lawgiver to Mankind, must likewise partake of the Nature of God. This was the Ground of the Heathen Nation, in feigning their Heroes and Demons to be begotten by the Gods. So agreeable (but far exceeding) was our Jefus, in his Nature, and all his Qualifications, to the Notion and Expectation of the Gentiles! And therefore have fo many of them gladly fubmitted unto him. But fuch a Meffiah as you Jews do now defcribe yours to be, as it was far from what the Gentiles expected (and therefore he could never convert, though he fhould conquer them), so it seems not, indeed, that yourselves * Ο Δίκαιος μας δώσεται, τρεβλώσεται, δεδήσεται - Τελευτῶν πάντα κακὰ παθὼν ανασχινδυλευθή osta. De Repub. 1. 2. + Αναγκαῖον ἔν ἐσιν περιμένειν ἕως ἂν τὶς μαθηὡς δεῖ πρὸς Θεὸς καὶ πρὸς Ανθρώπος διακείσθαι. Πότε εν παρεται ὁ χρόνος ἔτος ; καὶ τὶς ὁ Παιδευσων; ἥδισα γὰρ ἄν μοι δοκῶ ἰδεῖν τότον τὸν Ἄνθρωπον, τὶς ἔσιν. Alcibiade 31. de Præcat. 지 yourselves do expect any fuch an one as you pretend, only for an Excufe. Some of your Rabbies faying, that he is come: Some, that he will never come: Some, that he will not come in this World, till the Refurrection of the Dead: Others, that his Coming is not material, nor to be placed amongst the Fundamentals of your Faith: Others, that his Coming is no way defirable, as bringing greater Mifchief with it than Advantage to the Jews: Others, forbidding all Inquiry into the Time of his Coming, as indeed despairing of it. Of all these Particulars, fee the Authorities of your own Rabbies, in Hoornbeek, contr. Jud. 1. 2. p. 114, 115, and 123. There you will find, in Codice Sanhedrin, R. Hillel faying, That no Meffiah fhall be given to Ifrael; for that they have had him already, in the Days of Hezekiah King of Judah. And, in your Talmud, R. Ula fays of the Meffiah, Let him come, but let me not see it: That is, for the Mifer es it will bring to the Jews, in gathering them out of all Countries, where they are peaceably fettled, to forfake their Houfes and Poffeffions, and follow their Meffiah to Wars, and the Calamities that attend it: Efpecially, confidering what has been before faid, That they muft certainly expect Deftruction and Ruin under their firft Meffiah Ben-Jofeph: For all which, their poffeffing, at laft, the Land of Canaan, will be no fufficient Reparation; they living now in Countries as good as that, and enjoying both Eafe and Plenty. That the Conquefts of their Meffiah may bring greater Glory to him, but no Good to the Jews, proportionable to the Miferies they must endure in fighting for him. Upon all which Confiderations, R. Úla had Reason to fay, Let him come, but let not me fee him. The fame faid Rabba, and Rabbi John, in Codice Sanbedrin. And the many Disappointments you have met with in your Meahs hitherto, has made you forbid any to inquire into the Time of the Meffiah's Coming. Your Schabet Jehuda, p. 245. (as quoted by Hoornbeek, p. 123.) surfes those who fet any Time for the Coming of the Mef fiah; and gives this Reason, That if the Meffiah does not come at that Time, the People's Hearts do fail; and they think that they are put off with perpetual fruitless Hope. Therefore, in the Talmud, Cod. Sanhedrin. cap. xi: Rabbi Samuel fays, in the Words of R. Jonathan, Let their Bones be broken, who compute the Periods of the Times. And this may the better be forbidden, because R. Jofephus Albo has ftruck this Article concerning the Coming of the Mafiab out of the Number of your fundam ntal Doctrines. So that now you may believe it, or not, as you please. And how then will the Gentiles be converted by you? You have confeffed (as before fhewn, p. 104, &c.) That you have no Arguments against them. And now you feem to defpair even of conquering them. Though, if that were done, it would rather obftruct their Converfion, as has been argued before. And plain Reafon does evince, that the Qualifications of a Meffiah, for the Converfion of the Gentiles, could be no other than what were found in our Jefus : And fuch an one they did expect; and therefore fo readily did give up their Names to him. As his Miracles were fo flagrant and undoubted, as to vouch him fent of God, fo could not Malice itself find out the leaft Poffibility of any finifer or Self-end in him. There he lived poor and perfecuted; and poured out his Soul unto Death, as a Demonftration that his Kingdom was not of this World. He chofe Followers that were poor, and unlearned: And this was necessary to obviate the Objection, that either Intereft or Craft had any Part in the framing of his Doctrine. He enjoined to all his Difciples the Doctrine of Self-denial and the Cross; and bad them look for nothing but Afflictions in this World: And this was necessary to obviate the Objection, as if either Luft, Pleafure, or Ambition, had any Part in the framing of his Doctrine. He was rejected by you of his own Nation: And this was neceffary to obviate the Objection, as if he fought to gain you to his Side, upon the Account of obtain ing the Dominion over you; and then to turn your Arms against the Gentiles. His Conqueft of the Gentiles, by their Converfion, did not begin till after his Afcenfion: And this was neceffary to obviate the Objection, as if he had fought the temporal Rule over them; as Mahomet did over his Converts, and as you propofe of your Meffiah. And not in the first Converfion of the Gentiles, nor for three hundred Years after, were any of their Kings or States brought into Chriftianity: And this was neceffary to obviate the Objection, as if the Forgery of the Gospel had been fupported by human Authority, which rendered it hazardous for any to have detected the Deceit. This was fo neceffary, as that we fee the Deifs, for Want of this, have yet the Impudence to fuppofe it, contrary to all Truth, viz. That Authority and Lars being on the Chriftian Side, was the Caufe that its Deceit was not detected at the Beginning; which is now too late to be done, for the Distance of the Ages. Toland's Therefore we may now fee the wonderderful Providence of God in this Conduct: For if the Deifts had the Argument (as they foolishly pretend it) of the Gospel being abetted by Kings or States in its Infancy, or before it was fully fettl d, and Spread over the Earth, we fhould never get their Mouths ftopt; and it would bear a great Face of Sufpicion, that fome Cheat might have been put upon us, when none, who knew it, durft difcover it, without apparent Hazard to themfelves. And again; Kings and States might have come, by this Time of Day, to think that their Authority had fomething to do in fettling of the Church; and that the Gofpel was beholden to them. At leaft Sycophants and Flatterers would fo have complimented them; and Eraftianifm would have had a plaufible Plea. It is a Branch of Deifm: It fands and falls with that; and if it had fuch an Umbrage as this, it would over-run us: For it keeps its Ground, without it. But But Chrift would not permit Kings to become his Servants, till he had firft endured 300 Years of their Perfecution: To teach them, that his Church was not built upon their Shoulders, nor depended upon their Authority; and to stop the Mouths of thefe feveral Sorts of Deifts. In all Things, in every Step of his Conduct, there does appear fuch divine Wiflom and Forefight, as that, if any Part had been otherwife than it is, the whole would have been vifibly defective, and, confequently, not from God. Not that many Things defective may not be from God: He makes every Thing perfect in its Kind, to the End for which he has ordained it: But he makes fome Things for higher Ends than others; and, in Compari fon, one Thing is more perfect than another. Thus the Law of Mofes was perfect in its Kind, for thofe Ends and Purposes to which it was defigned. But Mofes was not defigned for the ultimate and univerfal Lawgiver. He never pretended to it; but, on the contrary, he pointed out to one who was to come after him; and denounces God's Judgments against those who fhould not hearken unto him. Deut. xviii. 18, 19. Mofes was not defigned, nor his Law calculated, for the Converfion of the Gentiles. And he had few of thofe Qualifications which the Gentiles required in the fupreme and univerfal Lawgiver. He was bred up at Pharaoh's Court; the adopted Son of Pharaoh's Daughter; and learned in all the Wisdom of the Egyptians, who were then the most learned Nation upon the Face of the Earth He was mighty in Words, and in Deeds: He marched out of Egypt, at the Head of 600,000 Men; and, having refcued his own Nation, he became their King. Therefore he was not free from the Sufpicion of Defign in the Cafe; and was a Man every way qualified, both for Wisdom, Courage, and Education, to have contrived and effected it. : Deut. xxxiii. 5. And after him, his Difciples went on according to his Example, conquering with the Sword. And you now tell us, |