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They could not mistake as to his ascension into heaven; as to the fact whether they themselves were suddenly endowed with the power of speaking in languages which they had never acquired; and whether they were able to work miracles, and to impart the same power to others.

They were not only disinterested in their testimony; but their interests were on the side of concealment. One of the Evangelists, Matthew, occupied a lucrative situation when called by Jesus, and was evidently an opulent man; the fishermen of Galilee were at least in circumstances of comfort, and never had any worldly inducement held out to them by their master; Nicodemus was a ruler among the Jews; Joseph of Arimathea "a rich man ;" and St. Paul, both from his education, connexions, and talents, had encouraging prospects in life: but of himself and of his fellow-labourers he speaks, and describes all the earthly rewards they obtained for testifying both to Jews and Greeks that Jesus was the Christ," Even unto this present hour we both hunger and thirst, and are naked, and are buffetted, and have no certain dwelling place; we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day." Finally, they sealed their testimony in many instances with their blood, a circumstance of which they had been forewarned by their master, and in the daily expectation of which they lived. From this the conclusion of Dr. Paley is irresistible, "These men could not be deceivers. By only not bearing testimony they might have avoided all their sufferings, and have lived quietly. Would men in such circumstances pretend to have seen what they never saw; assert facts of which they had no knowledge; go about lying, to teach virtue; and though not only convinced of Christ's being an impostor, but having seen the success of his imposture in his crucifixion, yet persist in carrying it on, and so persist, as to bring upon themselves, for nothing, and with a full knowledge of the consequence, enmity and hatred, danger and death?"

To complete the character of their testimony, it is in the highest degree circumstantial. We never find that forged or false accounts of things abound in particularities; and where many particulars are related of time, place, persons, &c., there is always a strong presumption of truth, and on the contrary. Here the evidence is more than presumptive. The history of the Evangelists and of the Acts of the Apostles is so full of reference to persons then living, and often persons of consequence, to places in which miracles and other transactions took place publicly and not in secret; and the application of all these facts by the first propagators of the Christian religion to give credit to its Divine authority was so frequent and explicit, and often so reproving to their opposers, that if they had not been true, they must have been contradicted; and, if contradicted on good evidence, the authors must have been overwhelmed with confusion. This argument is rendered the stronger when it is considered, that "these things were not done in a corner," nor was the age dark and illiterate and prone to admit fables. The Augustine Age was the most learned the world ever saw. The love of arts, sciences, and literature was the universal passion in almost every part of the Roman empire, where Christianity was first taught in its doctrines and proclaimed in its facts; and in this inquisitive and discerning era, it rose, flourished, and established itself, with much resistance to its doctrines, but without being once questioned as to the truth of its historical facts.

Yet how easily might they have been disproved had they been false-that Herod the Great was not the sovereign of Judea when our Lord was born-that wise men from the East did not come to be informed of the place of his birth--and that Herod did not convene the Sanhedrim, to inquire where their expected Messiah was to be born-that the infants in Bethlehem were not massacred-that in the time of Augustus all Judea was not enrolled by an imperial edict-that Simeon did not take the infant in his arms and proclaim him to be the expected salvation of Israel, which is stated to have been done publicly in the temple, before all the people-that the numerous persons, many of whose names are mentioned, and some, the relatives of rulers and centurions, were not miraculously healed nor raised from the dead--that the resurrection of Lazarus, stated to have been done publicly, near to Jeru

salem, and himself a respectable person, well known, did not occur that the circumstances of the trial, con demnation, and crucifixion of Christ did not take place as stated by his disciples; in particular, that Pilate did not wash his hands before them and give his testimony to the character of our Lord; that there was no preternatural darkness from twelve to three in the afternoon on the day of the crucifixion; and that there was no earthquake; facts which if they did not occur could have been contradicted by thousands: finally, that these well known unlettered men, the Apostles, were not heard to speak with tongues by many who were present in the assembly in which this was said to take place. But we might select almost all the circumstances out of the four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, and show, that for the most part they were capable of being contradicted at the time when they were first published, and that the immense number of circumstances mentioned would in after-times have furnished acute investigators of the history with the means of detecting its falsehood had it not been indubitable, either by comparing the different relations with each other, or with some well authenticated facts of accredited collateral history. On the contrary, the small variations in the story of the Evangelists are confirmations of their testimony, being in proof that there was no concert among them to impose upon the world, and they do not affect in the least the facts of the history itself; while as far as collateral, or immediately subsequent history has given its evidence, we have already seen, that it is confirmatory of the exactness and accuracy of the sacred penmen.

For all these reasons, the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are to be taken as a faithful and uncorrupted record of the transactions they exhibit; and nothing now appears to be necessary, but that this record be examined in order to determine its claims to be admitted as the deposite of the standing revelations of the will of God to mankind. The evidence of the genuineness and authenticity of the books of which it is composed, at least such of them as is necessary to the argument, is full and complete; and if certain of the facts which they detail are proved to be really miraculous, and the prophecies they record are in the proper sense predictive, then, according to the principles before established, the conclusion must be, THAT THE DOCTRINES WHICH THEY ATTEST ARE DIVINE. This shall be the next subject examined; minor objections being postponed to be answered in a subsequent chapter.

CHAPTER XV.

THE MIRACLES OF SCRIPTURE.

IT has been already proved, that miracles are possible, that they are appropriate, necessary, and satisfactory evidences of a Revelation from God, and that, like other facts, they are capable of being authenticated by credible testimony. These points having been established, the main questions before us are, whether the facts alleged as miraculous in the Old and New Testaments have a sufficient claim to that character, and whether they were wrought in confirmation of the doctrine and mission of the founders of the Jewish and Christian religions.

That definition of a true miracle which we have adopted may be here conveniently repeated:

A miracle is an effect or event contrary to the established constitution or course of things, or a sensible suspension or controlment of, or deviation from, the known laws of nature wrought either by the immediate act or by the concurrence or by the permission of God, for the proof or evidence of some particular doctrine, or in attestation of the authority of some particular person.

The force of the argument from miracles lies in this that as such works are manifestly above human power, and as no created being can effect them, unless empowered by the Author of nature, when they are wrought for such an end as that mentioned in the definition, they are to be considered as authentications of a Divine mission by a special and sensible interposition of God himself.

To adduce all the extraordinary works wrought by Moses and by Christ, would be unnecessary. In those

we select for examination, the miraculous character will sufficiently appear to bring them within our definition, and it will be recollected that it has been already established, that the books which contain the account of these facts must have been written by their reputed authors, and that had not the facts themselves occurred as there related, it is impossible that the people of the age in which the accounts of them were published could have been brought to believe them. On the basis then of the arguments already adduced to prove these great points, it is concluded that we have in the Scriptures a true relation of the facts themselves. Nothing therefore remains but to establish their claims as miracles.

Out of the numerous miracles wrought by the agency of Moses we select, in addition to those before mentioned in chapter ix., the plague of DARKNESS. Two circumstances are to be noted in the relation given of this event, Exodus x. It continued three days, and it afflicted the Egyptians only, for "all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings." The fact here mentioned was of the most public kind: and had it not taken place, every Egyptian and every Israelite could have contradicted the account. The phenomenon was not produced by an eclipse of the sun, for no eclipse of that luminary can endure so long. Some of the Roman writers mention a darkness by day so great that persons were unable to know each other; but we have no historical account of any other darkness so long continued as this, and so intense that the Egyptians "rose not up from their places for three days." But if any such circumstance had again occurred, and a natural cause could have been assigned for it, yet even then the miraculous character of this event would remain unshaken; for to what but to a supernatural cause could the distinction made between the Israelites and the Egyptians be attributed, when they inhabited a portion of the same country, and when their neighbourhoods were immediately adjoining. Here then are the characters of a true miracle. The established course of natural causes and effects is interrupted by an operation upon that mighty element, the atmosphere. That it was not a chance irregularity in nature, is made apparent from the effect following the volition of a man acting in the name of the Lord of nature, and from its being restrained by that to a certain part of the same country-" Moses stretched out his hand," and the darkness prevailed, every where but in the dwellings of his own people. The fact has been established by former arguments; and the fact being allowed, the miracle of necessity follows.

of the event are:-The waters are divided, and stand up on each side;-the instrument is a strong east wind, which begins its operation upon the waters, at the stretching out of the hand of Moses, and ceases at the same sigual, and that at the precise moment when the return of the waters would be most fatal to the Egyptian pursuing army.

It has, indeed, been asked, whether there were not some ledges of rocks where the water was shallow, so that an army, at particular times, might pass over; and whether the Etesian winds which blow strongly all summer from the north-west, might not blow so violently against the sea as to keep it back" on a heap." But if there were any force in these questions, it is plain that such suppositions would leave the destruction of the Egyptians unaccounted for. To show that there is no weight in them at all, let the place where the passage of the Red Sea was effected be first noted. Some fix it near Suez, at the head of the gulf; but if there were satisfactory evidence of this, it ought also to be taken into the account, that formerly the gulf extended at least twenty-five miles north of Suez, the place where it terminates at present.(5) But the names of places, as well as tradition, fix the passage about ten hours' journey lower down, at Clysma, or the valley of Bedea. The name given by Moses to the place where the Israelites encamped before the sea was divided, was Pihahiroth, which signifies "the mouth of the ridge," or of that chain of mountains which line the western coast of the Red Sea; and as there is but one mouth of that chain through which an immense multitude of men, women, and children could possibly pass when flying before their enemies, there can be no doubt whatever respecting the situation of Pihahiroth; and the modern names of conspicuous places in its neighbourhood prove, that those, by whom such names were given, believed that this was the place at which the Israelites passed the sea in safety, and where Pharaoh was drowned. Thus, we have close by Pihahiroth, on the western side of the gulf, a mountain called Attaka, which signifies deliverance. On the eastern coast opposite is a headland called Ras Musa, or "the Cape of Moses;" somewhat lower, Harnam Faraun, "Pharaoh's Springs;" while at these places the general name of the gulf itself is Bahr-al-Kolsum, "the Bay of Submersion," in which there is a whirlpool called Birket Faraun, "the Pool of Pharaoh." This, then, was the passage of the Israelites; and the depth of the sea here is stated by Bruce, who may be consulted as to these localities, at about fourteen fathoms, and the breadth at between three and four leagues. But there is no "ledge of rocks," The destruction of the FIRST-BORN of the Egyptians and as to the "Etesian wind," the same traveller obmay be next considered. Here, too, are several circum- serves, "If the Etesian wind blowing from the northstances to be carefully noted. This judgment was west in summer, could keep the sea as a wall, on the threatened in the presence of Pharaoh, before any of the right, of fifty feet high, still the difficulty would remain other plagues were brought upon him and his people. of building the wall to the left, or to the north. If the EteThe Israelites also were forewarned of it. They were sian winds had done this once, they must have repeated directed to slay a lamb, sprinkle the blood upon their it many a time before or since, from the same causes." door-posts, and prepare for their departure that same The wind which actually did blow, according to the hisnight. The stroke was inflicted upon the first-born of tory, either as an instrument of dividing the waters, or, the Egyptians only, and not upon any other part of the which is more probable, as the instrument of drying the family-it occurred in the same hour-the first-born of ground, after the waters were divided by the immediate the Israelites escaped without exception-and the fes-energy of the Divine power, was not a north wind, but an tival of "the passover" was from that night instituted "east wind;" and, as Dr. Hales observes, "seems to be in remembrance of the event. Such a festival could introduced by way of anticipation, to exclude the natunot in the nature of the thing be established in any sub-ral agency which might be afterward resorted to for sequent age, in commemoration of an event which solving the miracle; for it is remarkable, that the monnever occurred; and if instituted at the time, the event soon in the Red Sea blows the summer half of the year must have taken place, for by no means could this large from the north, and the winter half from the south, neibody of men have been persuaded that their first-born ther of which could produce the miracle in question." had been saved and those of the Egyptians destroyed, The miraculous character of this event is, therefore, if the facts had not been before their eyes. The history most strongly marked. An expanse of water, and that therefore being established, the miracle follows; for water a sea, of from nine to twelve miles broad, known the order of nature is sufficiently known to warrant the to be exceedingly subject to agitations, is divided, and a conclusion, that if a pestilence were to be assumed as wall of water is formed on each hand, affording a pasthe agent of this calamity, an epidemic disease, how-sage on dry land for the Israelites. The phenomeever rapid and destructive, comes not upon the threat non occurs, too, just as the Egyptian host are on the of a mortal, and makes no such selection as the first-point of overtaking the fugitives, and ceases at the moborn of every family.

The miracle of dividing the waters of the RED SEA has already been mentioned, but merits more particular consideration. In this event we observe, as in the others, circumstances which exclude all possibility of mistake or collusion. The subject of the miracle is the sea; the witnesses of it the host of Israel, who passed through on foot, and the Egyptian nation, who lost the king and his whole army. The miraculous characters

ment when the latter reach the opposite shore in safety, and when their enemies are in the midst of the passage, in the only position in which the closing of the wall of waters on each side could ensure the entire destruction of so large a force!

The falling of the MANNA in the wilderness for forty years is another unquestionable miracle, and one in

(5) Lord VALENTIA's Travels, vol. iii. p. 344.

fused to deliver the body for burial until he had expressly inquired of the officer on duty, whether he were already dead. Nor was he taken away to an unknown or distant tomb. Joseph of Arimathea made no secret of the place where he had buried him. It was in his own family tomb, and the Pharisees knew where to direct the watch which was appointed to guard the body against the approach of his disciples. The reality of the death of Christ is therefore established.

2. But by both parties, by the Pharisees on the one part, and by the disciples on the other, it was agreed, that the body was missing, and that, in a state of death, it was never more seen! The sepulchre was made sure, the stone at the mouth being sealed, and a watch of sixty Roman soldiers appointed to guard it, and yet the body was not to be found. Let us see, then, how each party accounts for this fact. The disciples affirm that two of their company, going early in the morning to the sepulchre to embalm the body, saw an angel descend and roll away the stone, sit upon it, and invite them to see the place where their Lord had lain, informing them that he was risen, and commanding them to tell the other disciples of the fact;-that others went to the sepulchre and found not the body, though the grave clothes remained; that, at different times, he appeared to them, both separately and when assembled; that they conversed with him; that he partook of their food; that they touched his body; that he continued to make his appearance among them for nearly six weeks, and then, after many advices, finally led them out as far as Bethany, and, in the presence of them all, ascended into the clouds of heaven. This is the statement of the disciples.

which there could be neither mistake on the part of those who were sustained by it, nor fraud on the part of Moses. That this event was not produced by the ordinary course of nature, is rendered certain by the fact, that the same wilderness has been travelled by individuals, and by large bodies of men, from the earliest ages to the present, but no such supply of food was ever met with, except on this occasion; and its miraculous character is farther marked by the following circumstances:-1, That it fell but six days in the week: 2, that it fell in such prodigious quantities, as sustained three millions of souls: 3, that there fell a double quantity every Friday, to serve the Israelites for the next day, which was their Sabbath: 4, that what was gathered on the first five days of the week stank and bred worms if kept above one day; but that which was gathered on Friday kept sweet for two days: and, 5, that it continued falling while the Israelites remained in the wilderness, but ceased as soon as they came out of it, and got corn to eat in the land of Canaan.(6) Let these very extraordinary particulars be considered, and they at once confirm the fact, while they unequivocally establish the miracle. No people could be deceived in these circumstances; no person could persuade them of their truth, if they had not occurred; and the whole was so clearly out of the regular course of nature, as to mark unequivocally the interposition of God. To the majority of the numerous miracles recorded in the Old Testament the same remarks apply, and upon them the same miraculous characters are as indubitably impressed. If we proceed to those of Christ, the evidence becomes, if possible, more indubitable. They were clearly above the power of either human agency or natural causes: they were public: they were such as could not admit of collusion or deception: they were performed under such circumstances as rendered it impossible for the witnesses and reporters of them to mistake: they were of ten done in the presence of malignant, scrutinizing, and intelligent enemies, the Jewish rulers, who acknowledged the facts, but attributed them to an evil super-resurrection of Jesus. We are warranted, therefore, natural agency; and there is no interruption in the testimony, from the age in which they were wrought to this day. It would be trifling with the reader to examine instances so well known in their circumstances; for the slightest recollection of the feeding of the multitudes in the desert;-the healing of the paralytic, who, because of the multitude, was let down from the housetop; the instant cure of the withered hand in the synagogue, near Jerusalem, where the Pharisees were "watching our Lord whether he would heal on the Sabbath-day"-the raising from the dead of the daughter of Jairus, the widow's son, and Lazarus: and many other instances of miraculous power, will be sufficient to convince any ingenuous mind, that all the characters of real and adequately attested miracles meet in them. That great miracle, the resurrection of our Lord himself from the dead, so often appealed to by the first teachers of his religion, may, however, be here properly adduced, with its convincing and irrefragable circumstances, as completing this branch of the External Evidence.

That it is a miracle in its highest sense for a person actually dead to raise himself again to life, cannot be doubted; and when wrought, as the raising of Christ was, in attestation of a Divine commission, it is evidence of the most irrefragable kind. So it has been regarded by unbelievers, who have bent all their force against it; and so it was regarded by Divine Providence, who rendered its proofs ample and indubitable in proportion to its importance. Let us, then, examine the circumstances, as recorded in the history.

In the first place, the reality of Christ's death is circumstantially and fully stated; though, if no circumstantial evidence had been adduced, it is not to be supposed that they who had sought his death with so much eagerness would be inattentive to the full execution of the sentence for which they had clamoured. The execution was public; he was crucified with common malefactors, in the usual place of execution; the soldiers brake not his legs, the usual practice when they would hasten the death of the malefactor, observing that he was dead already. His enemies knew that he had predicted his resurrection, and would therefore be careful that he should not be removed from the cross before death had actually taken place; and Pilate re(6) Universal History, 1. 1, c. 7

The manner in which the Jewish Sanhedrim accounts for the absence of our Lord's body from the sepulchre is, that the Roman soldiers having slept on their post, the disciples stole away the corpse. We know of no other account. Neither in their earliest. books nor traditions is there any other attempt to explain the alleged

in concluding that the Pharisees had nothing but this to oppose to the positive testimony of the disciples, who also added, and published it to the world, that the Roman soldiers related to the Pharisees "all the things that were done," the earthquake, the appearance of the angel, &c.; but that they were bribed to say, "His disciples came by night and stole him away, while we slept."

On the statement of the Pharisees we may remark, that though those who were not convinced by our Lord's former miracles were in a state of mind to resist the impression of his resurrection, yet in this attempt to destroy the testimony of the Apostles they fell below their usual subtlety, in circulating a story which carried with it its own refutation. This, however, may be accounted for from the hurry and agitation of the moment, and the necessity under which they were laid to invent something to amuse the populace, who were not indisposed to charge them with the death of Jesus. Of this it is clear that the Pharisees were apprehensive, "fearing the people," on this as on former occasions. This appears from the manner in which the Sanhedrim addressed the Apostles, Acts v. 28: "Did we not straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and behold you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and INTEND TO BRING THIS MAN'S BLOOD UPON US." The majority of the people were not enemies of Jesus, though the Pharisees were; and it was a mob of base feilows and strangers, of which Jerusalem was full at the passover, who had been excited to clamour for his death. The body of the Jewish populace heard him gladly; great numbers of them had been deeply impressed by the raising of Lazarus, in the very neighbourhood of Jerusalem, and had in consequence accompanied him with public acclamations, as the Messiah, into Jerusalem. These sentiments of the people of Jerusalem towards our Lord were transferred to the Apostles; for after Peter and John had healed the man at the gate of the temple, and refused to obey the Council in keeping silent as to Christ, when the chief priests had "farther threatened them, they let them go, finding not how they might punish them, BECAUSE OF THE PEOPLE."

It was in a state of considerable agitation, therefore, that this absurd and self-exposed rumour was hastily got up, and as hastily published. We may add, also, that it was hastily abandoned; for it is remarkable, that it is never adverted to by the Pharisees in any of those

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legal processes instituted at Jerusalem against the first preachers of Christ as the risen Messiah, within a few days after the alleged event itself. First, Peter and John are brought before their great council; then the whole body of the Apostles twice; on all these occasions they affirm the fact of the resurrection, before the very men who had originated the tale of the stealing away of the body, and in none of these instances did the chief priests oppose this story to the explicit testimony of his disciples having seen, felt, and conversed with Jesus, after his passion. This silence cannot be accounted for but on the supposition that, in the presence of the Apostles at least, they would not hazard its exposure. If at any time the Roman guards could have been brought forward effectually to confront the Apostles, it was when the whole body of the latter were in custody, and before the council, where indeed the great question at issue between the parties was, whether Jesus were risen from the dead or not. On the one part the Apostles stand before the rulers affirming the fact, and are ready to go into the detail of their testimony; the only testimony which could be opposed to this is that of the Roman soldiers, but not one of the sixty is brought up, and they do not even advert to the rumour which the rulers had proclaimed. On the contrary, one of them, Gamaliel, advises the council to take no farther proceedings, but to let the matter go on, for this reason, that if it were of men it would come to naught, but if of God, they could not overthrow it, and would be found to fight against God himself. Now it is plain, that if the Pharisees themselves believed in the story they had put into the mouths of the Roman soldiers, no Doctor of the Law, like Gamaliel, would have given such advice, and equally impossible is it that the council should unanimously have agreed to it. With honest proofs of an imposture in their hands, they could never thus have tamely surrendered the public to delusion and their own characters to infamy; nor, if they had, could they have put their non-interference on the ground assumed by Gamaliel. The very principle of his decision supposes, that both sides acknowledged something very extraordinary which might prove a work of Gop; and that time would make it manifest. It admitted in point of fact, that JESUS MIGHT BE RISEN AGAIN. The whole council, by adopting Gamaliel's decision, admitted this possibility, or how could time show the whole work built entirely upon this fact, to be a work of God, or not? And thus Gamaliel, without intending it, certainly, has afforded evidence in favour of the resurrection of our Lord, the more powerful from its being incidental.

The absurdity involved in the only testimony ever brought against the resurrection of our Lord, rendered it indeed impossible to maintain the story. That a Roman guard should be found off their watch, or asleep, a fault which the military law of that people punished with death, was most incredible; that, if they were asleep, the timid disciples of Christ should dare to make the attempt, when the noise of removing the stone and bearing away the body might awaken them, is very improbable; and, above all, as it has been often put, either the soldiers were awake or asleep-if awake, why did they suffer a few unarmed peasants and women to take away the body? and if asleep, how came they to know that the disciples were the persons?

Against the resurrection of Christ, we may then with confidence say, there is no testimony whatever; it stands, like every other fact in the evangelic history, entirely uncontradicted from the earliest ages to the present; and though we grant that it does not follow, that, because we do not admit the account given of the absence of our Lord's body from the sepulchre by the Jews, we must therefore admit that of the Apostles, yet the very inability of those who first objected to the fact of the resurrection to account for the absence of the body, which had been entirely in their own power, affords very strong presumptive evidence in favour of the statement of the disciples. Under such circumstances the loss of the body became itself an extraordinary event. The tomb was carefully closed and sealed by officers appointed for that purpose, a guard was set, and yet the body is missing. The story of the Pharisees does not at all account for the fact; it is too absurd to be for a moment credited; and unless the history of the Evangelists be admitted, that singular fact remains still unaccounted for.

But in addition to this presumption, let the circum

stances of credibility in the testimony of the disciples be collected, and the evidence becomes indubitable. The account given by the disciples was not even an. improbable one; for allow the miracles wrought by Christ during his life, and the resurrection follows as a natural conclusion; for before that event can be maintained to be in the lowest sense improbable, the whole history of his public life, in opposition not to the Evangelists merely, but, as we have seen, to the testimony of Jews and Heathens themselves, must be proved to be a fable.

The manner in which this testimony is given is in its favour. So far from the Evangelists having written in concert, they give an account of the transaction so varied as to make it clear that they wrote independently of each other; and yet so agreeing in the leading facts, and so easily capable of reconcilement in those minute circumstances in which some discrepancy at first sight appears, that their evidence in every part carries with it the air of honesty and truth.

Their own account sufficiently proves, that they were incredulous as to the fact when announced, and so not disposed to be imposed upon by an imagination. This indeed was impossible; the appearances of Christ were too numerous, and were continued for too long a time,-forty days. They could not mistake, and it is as impossible that they should deceive; impossible that upwards of five hundred persons, to whom Christ appeared, should have been persuaded by the artful few, that they had seen and conversed with Christ, or to agree, not only without reward, but in renunciation of all interests and in hazard of all dangers and of death itself, to continue to assert a falsehood.

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Nor did a long period elapse before the fact of the resurrection was proclaimed; nor was a distant place chosen in which to make the first report of it. These would have been suspicious circumstances; but on the contrary the disciples testify the fact from the day of the resurrection itself. One of them in a public speech at the feast of Pentecost, addressed to a mixed multitude, affirms it; and the same testimony is given by the whole college of Apostles, before the great council twice: this too was done at Jerusalem, the scene of the whole transaction, and in the presence of those most interested in detecting the falsehood. Their evidence was given, not only before private but public persons, before magistrates and tribunals, before philosophers and rabbies, before courtiers, before lawyers, before people expert in examining and crossexamining witnesses," and yet what Christian ever impeached his accomplices? or discovered his pretended imposture? or was convicted of prevarication? or was even confronted with others who could contradict him as to this or any other matter of fact relative to his religion? To this testimony of the Apostles was added the scal of miracles, wrought as publicly, and being as unequivocal in their nature, as open to public investigation, and as numerous, as those of their Lord himself. The miracle of the gift of tongues was in proof of the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ; and the miracles of healing were wrought by the Apostles in their Master's name, and therefore were the proofs both of his resurrection and of their commission. Indeed, of the want of supernatural evidence the Jews, the ancient enemies of Christianity, never complained. They allowed the miracles both of Christ and his Apos tles; but by ascribing them to Satan, and regarding them as diabolical delusions and wonders wrought in order to seduce them from the Law, their admissions are at once in proof of the truth of the Gospel History, and enable us to account for their resistance to an evi dence so majestic and overwhelming.(7).

CHAPTER XVI.

OBJECTIONS TO THE PROOF FROM MIRACLES
CONSIDERED.

THE first objection to the conclusiveness of the argument in favour of the Mosaic and Christian systems which is drawn from their miracles, is grounded upon

(7) The evidences of our Lord's resurrection are fully exhibited in WEST on the Resurrection, SHERLOCK'S Trial of the Witnesses, and Dr. Cook's Illustration of the Evidence of Christ's Resurrection.

facts and doctrines supposed to be found in the Scriptures themselves.

It is stated, that the Scriptures assert miraculous acts to have been performed in opposition to the mission and to the doctrine of those who have professed themselves accredited instruments of making known revelations of the will of God to mankind; and that the sacred writers frequently speak of such events as possible, nay, as certain future occurrences, even when they have not actually taken place. The question therefore is, how miracles should be conclusive proofs of truth, when they actually have been, or may be, wrought in proof of falsehood. "Shall a miracle confirm the belief of one, and not confirm the belief of more gods than one, if wrought for that purpose?"(8) The instances usually adduced are the feats of the Egyptian Magi in opposition to Moses, and the raising of Samuel by the witch of Endor. The presumptions that such works are considered possible are drawn from a passage of Moses in the book of Deuteronomy; a prediction respecting false Christs in St. Matthew's Gospel; and the prediction of the man of sin, in the writings of St. Paul: all of which caution the reader against being seduced from the truth, by signs and wonders" performed by false teachers. With respect to the miracles, or pretended miracles, wrought by the magicians of Pharaoh, some preliminary considerations are to be noted.

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1. That whether the persons called magicians were regular priests, or a distinct class of men, they were known to be expert in producing singular effects and apparent transformations in natural objects, for after Moses had commenced his marvellous operations, they were sent for by Pharaoh to oppose their power and

skill to his.

2. That they succeeded, or appeared to succeed, in three attempts to imitate the works of Moses, and were then controlled, or attempted a work beyond their power, and were obliged to acknowledge themselves vanquished by "the finger of God." The rest of the miracles wrought by Moses went on without any attempt at imitation.

3. That these works, of whatever kind they might be, were wrought to hold up the idols of Egypt as equal in power to Jehovah, the God of Moses and the Israelites. This is a consideration of importance, and the fact is easily proved. If they were mere jugglers and performed their wonders by sleight of hand, they did not wish the people to know this, or their influence over them could not have been maintained. They therefore used "enchantments," incongruous and strange ceremonies, rites, and offerings, which among all superstitious people have been supposed to have a powerful effect in commanding the influence of supernatural beings in their favour, and subjecting them to their will. We have an instance of this use of "enchantments" in the case of Balaam, who lived in the same age; and this example goes very far, we think, to settle the sense in which the Magi used " enchantments;" for though the original word used is different, yet its ideal meaning is equally capable of being applied to the rites of incantation, and in this sense it is confirmed by the whole story.(9) Whatever connexion therefore may be supposed to exist between the "enchantments" used and the works performed, or if all connexion be denied, this species of religious rite was performed, and the people understood, as it was intended they should understand, that the wonders which the Magi performed were done under the influence of their deities. The object of Pharaoh and the magicians

(8) Bishop FLEETWOOD on Miracles.

(9) "They also did in like manner with their enchantments. The word, lahatim, comes from, lahat, to burn, to set on fire; and probably signifies such incantations as required lustral fires, sacrifices, fumigations, burning of incense, aromatic and odoriferous drugs, &c., as the means of evoking departed spirits, or assistant demons, by whose ministry, it is probable, the magicians in question wrought some of their deceptive miracles; for as the term miracle properly signifies something which exceeds the power of nature or art to produce (see verse 9); hence there could be no miracle in this case, but those wrought through the power of God, by the ministry of Moses and Aaron."--Dr. ADAM CLARKE in loc.

was to show, that their gods were as powerful as the God who had commissioned Moses, and that they could protect them from his displeasure, though they should refuse at the command of his commissioned servant to let his people go.

But whatever pretence there was of supernatural assistance, it is contended by several writers of great and deserved authority, that no miracles were wrought at all on these occasions; that, by dexterity and previous preparation, serpents were substituted by the magicians for rods; that a colouring matter was infused into a portion of water; and that as frogs, through the previous miracle of Moses, every where abounded in the land of Egypt, a sufficient number might be easily procured to cover some given space; and they farther argue, that when the miracles of Moses became such as to defy the possibility of the most distant imitation, at that point the simulations of the Magi ceased.

The obvious objection to this is, that "Moses describes the works of the magicians in the very same language as he does his own, and therefore there is reason to conclude that they were equally miraculous." To this it is replied, that nothing is more common than to speak of professed jugglers as doing what they pretend or appear to do, and that this language never misleads. But it is also stated, and the observation is of great weight, that the word used by Moses is one of great latitude"they DID SO," that is, in like manner, importing that they attempted some imitation of Moses; because it is used when they failed in their attempt-"they DID SO to bring forth lice; but they could not." Farther, Mr. Farmer, Dr. Hales, and others contend, that the root of the word translated "enchantments" fitly expresses any "secret artifices or methods of deception, whereby false appearances are imposed upon the spectators." For a farther explanation and defence of this hypothesis, an extract from Farmer's Dissertation on Miracles is given, at the end of the Chapter.(1)

Much as these observations deserve attention, it may be very much doubted, whether mere manual dexterity and sleight of hand can sufficiently account for the effects actually produced, if only human agents were engaged; and it does not appear impracticable to meet any difficulty which may arise out of an admission of supernatural evil agency in the imitation of the three first wonders performed by Moses.

It ought, however, in the first place, to be previously stated, that the history before us is not in fairness to be judged of as an insulated statement, independent of the principles and doctrines of the revelation in which it is found. With that revelation it is bound up, and by the light of its doctrine it is to be judged. No infidel, who would find in Scripture an argument against Scripture, has the right to consider any passage separately, or to apply to it the rule of his own theory on religious subjects, unless he has first, by fair and honest argument, disposed of the evidences of the Scriptures themselves He must disprove the authenticity of the sacred record, and the truth of the facts contained in it, he must rid himself of every proof of the Divine mission of Moses, and of the evidence of his miracles, before he is entitled to this right; and if he is inadequate to this task, he can only consider the case as a difficulty, standing on the admission of the Scriptures themselves, and to be explained, as far as possible, on the principles of that general system of religion which the Scriptures themselves supply. In this nothing more is asked than argumentative fairness. The same rule is still more obligatory upon those interpreters who profess to believe in the Divine authority of the sacred records; for by the aid of their general principles and unequivocal doctrines, every difficulty which they profess to extract from them is surely to be examined in order to ascertain its real character. difficulty in the present case, supposing it to be allowed What, however, is the real that the magicians performed works superior to the power of any mere human agent, and therefore supernatural? This it is the more necessary to settle, as the difficulty supposed to arise out of this admission has been exaggerated.

It seems generally to have been supposed, that these counter-performances were wrought to contradict the Divine mission of Moses, and that by allowing them to be supernatural, we are brought into the difficulty of supposing, that God may authenticate the mission of

(1) See note A, at the end of the chapter.

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