ceived by all chriftians, at the very time when they were first forged, as if they had been originally there.

If this were true, the accounts of JESUS's predictions of his own death and refurrection; and of the application of THE CHIEF PRIESTS THEMSELVES to Pilate, to make the fepulchre fure, becaufe THEY REMEMBERED that Jefus had faid, After three days I will rife again;-as well as the fact itself, that a guard was fet at the fepulchre, in confequence of it;and further, all the accounts of his refurrection itself, and every particular relating to it; and especially that of its being publicly known that money was given by the High Priests to the guard to be filent about it; together with his feveral appearances to his difciples, and every thing he is related to have faid and done after it; and his ascension in particular; All these relations must not only have been false in fact, but they must have been clandeftinely inferted into the Gospels, above fixty years after the death of CHRIST; and many years after the Gofpels had been conftantly read in the religious meetings of the chriftians; and yet the christians in all places muft univerfally have agreed, even the very firft time they heard all these astonishing relations, that they always had been acquainted with them from their firft knowledge of the Gospel.

If this were true, The relation we now have of the defcent of the Holy Ghoft on the Apoftles on the day of Pentecoft, with the miraculous effects of it; their immediately speaking in a variety of languages which they knew not before, and their converting a great multitude of the Jews by that means; as well as their poffeffing this gift of tongues, and all other miraculous powers ever

* Matth. xxvii. 62, &c.

after;

after; and their actually conferring the very fame powers on those they converted to the faith in CHRIST; muft not only be utter falfehoods, which had no foundation in fact, but they must have been forged, and inferted into Luke's genuine Hiftory of the Acts of the Apoftles, many years after it was written, and delivered to the difciples for their inftruction; and all who had heard it read before these interpolations, must nevertheless have been perfuaded, that these facts were nothing more than they had always heard of, from the very first time they heard this history read.

If this were true, the relations we now have of the deaths of Ananias and Saphira *;-And every circumstance recorded of the miraculous converfion of St. Paul +; as well as his own appeal to these circumftances before the multitude at Jerufalem, and before Agrippa and Feftus at Cefarea §;-And the accounts of all the miracles univerfally which the Apoftles are faid to have performed; muft not only have been utterly falfe in fact, but they must have been first inferted into Luke's genuine Hiftory, many years after it had been in the poffeffion of many christian congregations; and yet none of those who had heard and read it, before these false and amazing relations were foifted in, were able to perceive that any thing was inferted into it, which had not always been related there before.

But not to go on enumerating that multitude of the most glaring abfurdities, neceffarily included in the fundamental principles of the Author, with which almost every page of the New Teftament would supply us; Two particulars there are, yet unmentioned, which alone would furnish an

* A&s. v. ¶ Acts v. 15, 16.

+ Ibid. ix. + Ibid. xxii.

§ Ibid. xxv.

unanfwer

unanswerable proof, that the Author's principles must be falfe.

If JESUS was nothing more than a mere man, who for his own fatisfaction went about inculcating the mere duties of morality alone; and every thing fupernatural related of him in the New Teftament is forged ;-The accounts we now have of his inftituting The Rite of Baptifm, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghoft * ;

And of his inftitution of The Lord's Supper; in which institution, His body is declared to be given, or broken, for us†; and his blood is called, his blood. of the New Teftament, Or the New Teftament in his blood, fhed for many, for the remission of fins ‡; The accounts we now have of JESUS's inftituting these two distinguishing Rites, in which the capital fupernatural revelations of the New Teftament are expressly afferted; must be forged and abfolutely. falfe-JESUS himself could not have inftituted these Rites; nor could his Apoftles have ever celebrated these Rites Themselves, or have fuffered them to be celebrated by the converts they made to the Gospel.

If therefore the Author's principles were true, these Rites never could have been celebrated, or even heard of, while any of the Apostles themfelves were alive; notwithstanding we are exprefsly told, that the Apostles baptized about three thousand converts even on the day of Pentecoft; and that from that time they conftantly celebrated the Last Supper §; but the hiftory of their inftitution, and conftant celebration from the very beginning, must have been foifted into the New Teftament, at the fooneft after the death of John; that is, above fixty years after the

Apostles began to preach the Gospel. And further, what is more furprising still, as foon as these forgeries were made, all the chriftians in every place where the Gofpel was profeffed, must have concurred in believing and acknowledging, That these peculiar Rites, which they had never heard of before, had originally been inftituted by CHRIST himself, and always been celebrated by the Apo ftles, from their firft beginning to preach the Gof pel;-Nay, they must all have concurred in believing, that they themselves had actually been baptized, and been conftantly accustomed to ce lebrate the Lord's Supper; when in fact no fuch inftitutions had ever been heard of as either the One, or the Other.

Such, and fo flagrant, are the manifold abfurdities which we must unavoidably admit, before we can fuppofe, with our Author, that JESUS was nothing more than a preacher of mere morality alone; and that whatever elfe is attributed to him in the New Teftament, has been furreptitiously foifted into it, by any perfons whatever, fince the time of the Apostles, its original Writers. And fince we have likewife feen, that the absurdities to be admitted would be neither fewer, nor lefs extravagant, were we to fuppofe, that the divine character and doctrines of JESUS, as we find them in the New Testament, had been falfely attributed to him by the Apoftles themselves; the confequence is unavoidable; that That divine character, and Those fupernatural works and declarations, which the New Testament attributes to him; are the very character he himself affumed, the very declarations he made, and the very works he performed; and therefore, that all thefe doctrines and declarations are as much to be regarded upon his established divine authority; as his moral precepts are on

their own account, for their evident propriety and truth.

And thus, it is hoped, the divine character of JESUS appears already fully vindicated, from those falfe, contradictory, and abfurd afperfions, which the Author before us has tried all his ftrength to fix upon it. Whether after coolly confidering what has here been alleged, he will still adhere to the principles for which he contends, the event alone must fhew. But fhould this prove the cafe, what can reasonably be concluded, but that either there must be in him an evil heart of unbelief; or, as I would rather hope, that fome unfortunate prejudices have fo effectually hood-winked all his reasoning powers, as to difable him, in this in ftance, from diftinguishing the most glaring falsehood from evident truth.

SECT. III.

The Author's argument founded on what he fuppofes to be the Nature of MYSTERIES, confidered.

T

HE flagrant abfurdity of those principles themselves, co concerning the true character of JESUS, and the Scriptures of the New Teftament, for which alone the Author contends, having been thus, it is conceived, unanswerably proved, from the very nature of the things themfelves; we might juftly be excufed the trouble of examining any of thofe arguments he has thrown confusedly together in their fupport; fince whatever principles can once be fatisfactorily proved to be falfe and abfurd, no arguments can ever render credible or true. But because the arguments he has alleged, and more especially that ftrange