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and the most obvious appearances of nature. All these various modes of inftruction are fo judiciously blended and mixed together in the history of our Lord's life and conver fation, delivered to us in the Gospel (as all the various forts of pleafing objects are in the unornamented fcenes of nature) that they make a much deeper impreffion both on the understanding and on the heart, than they could poffibly do in any other more artificial form.

**

An expofition of Scripture, then, muft at all times be highly useful and interefting to every fincere difciple of Christ; but must be peculiarly fo at the present moment, when fo much pains have been taken to ridicule and revile the sacred writings, to fubvert the very foundations of our faith, and to poifon the minds of all ranks of people, but especially the middling and the lower claffes, by the most impious and blafphemous publications that ever difgraced any Christian country.* To refift these wicked attempts is the duty of every minister of the Gofpel; and as I have strongly exhorted all those who are under my fuperintendence, to exert themselves with zeal and with vigour in defence of their infulted religion, I think it incumbent on me to take my fhare in this important contest, and to fhew that I wish not to throw burthens on others of which I am not willing to bear my full proportion. As long therefore as my health, and the various duties of an extenfive and populous diocese, will permit, and the exigencies of the times require fuch exertions, I propofe to continue annually thefe Lectures. And I shall think it no unbecoming conclufion of my life, if these labours of my declining years should tend in any degree to render the Holy Scriptures more clear and intelligible, more useful and delightful; if they fhall confirm the faith, reform the manners, confole and revive the hearts of those who hear me; and vindicate the honor of our divine Master from thofe grofs indignities and infults, which have of late been fo indecently and impiously thrown on him and his religion.

About this time, and for some years before, The Age of Reason, and other peftilent writings of the fame nature, were diffeminated through almost every district of this country with incredible industry,

LECTURE II.

MATTHEW ii,

HAVING in the preceding Lecture taken a fhort

comprehenfive view of the feveral books of the facred volume, I now proceed to the Gofpel of St. Matthew; and fhall in this Lecture confine myself to the two firft chapters of that book.*

The hiftory of our Saviour's birth, life, doctrines, precepts, and miracles, is contained in four books or narratives called Gospels, written at different times, and by four differ ent perfons, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, who were among the first converts to Christianity, and perfectly well acquainted with the facts they relate; to which two of them were eye-witneffes, and the other two conftant compan jons of those who were fo, from whom they received immediately every thing they relate. This is better authority for the truth of these hiftories than we have for the greater part of the histories now extant, the fidelity of which we do not in the least question. For few of our best histories, either ancient or modern, were written by persons who were eyewitnesses of all the transactions which they relate; and there is fearce any inftance of the hiftory of the fame person being written by four different contemporary historians, all perfectly agreeing in the main articles, and differing only in a few minute particulars of no moment. This however we find actually done in the life of Jefus, which has been written by each of the four evangelifts, and it is a very strong proof of their veracity. For let us confider what the cafe is, at this very day, in the affairs of common life. When four different perfons are called upon in a court of justice to prove the

* For fome very valuable observations in fome parts of this, and the third and thirteenth Lecture, I am indebted to my late excellent friend and patron, Arch-bishop Secker.

reality of any particular fact that happened twenty or thirty years ago, what is the fort of evidence which they ufually give? Why, in all the great leading circumftances which tend to establish the fact in queftion, they in general perfectly agree. In a few other points perhaps they differ. But then thefe are points which do not at all affect the main question, which were too trifling to make much impreffion at the time on the memory of the obfervers, and which therefore they would all relate with fome little variation in their account. This is precifely the cafe with the writers of the four Gofpels; and this fubftantial coincidence and accidental variation has much more the air and garb of truth, than where there is a perfect agreement in every the minuteft article ; which has too much the appearance of a concerted story.

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That the books which we now have under the names of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, were written by the perfons whofe names they bear, cannot admit the smallest doubt with any unprejudiced mind. They have been acknowledged as fuch by every Christian church in every age, from the time of our Saviour to this moment. There are allusions to them, or quotations from them, in the earliest writers, as far back as the age of the apoftles, and continued down in a regular fucceffion to the prefent hour; a proof of authenticity, which fearce any other ancient book in the world can produce. They were received as genuine hiftories, not only by the firft Chriftians, but by the first enemies of Christianity, and their authority was never queftioned either by the ancient heathens or Jews,*

The first of these Gofpels is that of St. Matthew. It was written probably at the latest not more than fifteen years, fome think only eight years, after our Lord's ascension. The author of it was an apostle and constant companion of Jefus, and of course an eye-witness of every thing he relates. He was called by our blessed Lord from a most lucrative occupation, that of a collector of the public revenue, to be one of his difciples and friends: a call which he immediately

* Whoever wishes for further fatisfaction on this most important fub ject, will not fail of finding it in Dr. Lardner's learned work, The Gredibility of the Gofpel Hiftory, where this question has been very ably treated, and the authenticity of the Gospels established on the most solid grounds,

obeyed, relinquishing every thing that was dear and valuable to him in the prefent life. This is a facrifice which few people have made for the fake of religion, and had St. Matthew's object been the applaufe of men, he might have displayed the merits of this facrifice in a light very favorable to himself. But the apoftle, confcious of much nobler views, defcribes this tranfaction in the fimplest and most artlefs words. "As Jefus," fays he, "paffed forth from thence, he faw a man named Matthew, fitting at the receipt of custom, and he faith unto him, Follow me: and he arofe and fol lowed him."

-The first thing that occurs in the Gofpel of St. Matthew, is the genealogy of Chrift, in order to prove that he was defcended from the house and family of David, as the prophets foretold he should be.

: In this genealogy there are confeffedly fome difficulties, at which we cannot be much furprised, when we confider of what prodigious antiquity this genealogy is, going back fome thousands of years; and when we know too that feveral Jewish perfons had the fame name, and that the fame perfon had different names, (especially under the Babylonish captivity) which is still the cafe in India, and other parts of Afia. This must neceffarily create fome perplexity, especially at such a distance as we are from the first sources of information. But to the Jews themselves at the time, there were probably no difficulties at all; and it does not appear that they (who were certainly the best judges of the question) made any objection to this genealogy of Chrift, or denied him to be defcended from the family of David. We may therefore reasonably conclude, that his descent was originally admitted to be fairly made out by the evangelifts, whatever obscurities may have arisen since. Indeed it is highly probable, that this genealogy was taken from fome public records or registers of the ancient Jewish families, which is very evident from Jofephus that the Jews had, especially with regard to the lineage of David, and which were univerfally known and acknowledged to be authentic documents. I fhall therefore only observe further on this head, that St. Matthew gives the pedigree of Jofeph, and St. Luke that of Mary.

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