"yet none of the former Evangelifts have faid "a word of it. The only Perfon that re-. "cords it, is St. John; and yet he records it "almost an hundred Years after its date, when "every one was dead that could difprove it: "That no poffible Reafon can be given, why "Jefus fhould raife Perfons of fo much obfcurity; why we fhould have no Account "of their Tranfactions after their Refurrection,

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how long they lived, or what Difcourfes they "had with their Friends concerning their fe"parate Exiftence: That very probably there "was fome miftake or collufion in the Matter:

the Ruler's Daughter might be afleep, the "Widow's Son in a Lethargy; and it feems "manifeft from the Circumftances of the Story, "that there was a Combination between Jefus "and Lazarus; for we cannot imagine, why

the Jews fhould conceive fuch Malice againft "Jefus, or why Jefus fhould flee into the "Wilderness upon his working this Miracle,

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had there been no Declaration of Fraud in "it." To all which it is replied, That the Diftinction of greater and lefs Miracles is deftitute of all real Foundation; and,confequently, the raifing of one Perfon from the Dead is as much a Miracle, as raifing another; That the Evangelifts, in their Accounts of our Saviour's Miracles, are fo far from relating every one, that they omit feveral, which the intended brevity of their Gofpels, and the multiplicity of matter neceffary to be comprized in them, obliged them to do: That upon thefe Confiderations, and perhaps in point of Prudence, that they might not exafperate the Jews againft Lazarus, the three firft Evangelifts have paffed by that Period in our Saviour's Life, wherein La

zarus

zarus was raised from the Dead, and contented themselves with relating the Hiftory of others fo raised That the Gofpel of St. John was profeffedly written to fupply the Defects of thefe other Evangelifts, and accordingly has done it in many remarkable Inftances: That the three Perfons, whofe Resurrections are recorded by these facred Penmen, were, upon feveral accounts, the propereft Objects of our Saviour's kindness to them; and the Scripture's Silence concerning their future Lives, and Intelligence from the other World, may, in a great measure be accounted for: That there could be no mistake in their Death, nor are there any Circumftances in the whole Story denoting a Fallacy in their Refurrection: That in the Cafe of Lazarus, particularly, the whole Procefs is fo ordered, as to take away all imaginable Occafion of Sufpicion; and, laftly, that the bloody Refolves of the Jewish Council thereupon, and our Saviour's Retreat from Jerufalem for his Security, were no more than what an inveterate Prejudice in them, and a Principle of Self-prefervation in him, may very well be fuppofed to fuggeft.

The 22 Section treats of Chrift's own Refur rection. To which it is objected, "That to

difprove the Truth of this Miracle, we want "feveral Anti-Chriftian Books which have been "deftroyed, because they gave us an Infight "into this Impofture: That even the Histories "on the Impofture's fide discover the thing

plain enough; for, whereas there was an "Agreement between the chief Priefts and the Apoftles to feal the Door of the Sepulchre; "and, in the presence of the Multitude, to open the Seals at the time prefixed for his F 2

Re

"Refurrection, we find the Seals broken without the privity of the Chief-Priefts, the Body

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ftolen away a whole Day before the stated time, "and early in the Morning, while the Guards "were faft afleep: That had not this been the "Cafe, he would certainly have appeared to the

Jews in order to their Conviction, and not "to his own Difciples, who were engaged to "carry on the Story. For tho' many of them died with great Conftancy in atteftation of their Mafter's Refurrection; yet this is no more than what we fee hardened Villains, or giddy Enthufiafts do daily and therefore we may conclude, that thefe pretended Witneffes of his Refurrection were either filly enough to be impofed on themselves, or "wicked enough to impofe on others." To all which it is replied, That, upon the loss of the ancient Anti-Chriftian Books (which, in all probability, would not have availed us much) we are now reduced, in our Enquiries into the Reality of Chrift's Refurrection, to the fole Account of the Evangelifts: That, according to the Relation of thefe Evangelifts, the feveral Circumftances of the Sepulchre, where the Body was laid, and the great Care and Precaution which the Jewish Rulers took about it, did effectually fecure the Body from the Danger of being carried off, either by Fraud or Violence, had the Disciples been minded fo to do: That, from the whole Behaviour of thefe Difciples, it appears, that they were too fainthearted to attempt fuch an Enterprize, or if attempting it, unlikely to fucceed; or if fucceeding, in no probability to make any Advantage by it: That, after the Refurrection, the Sepulchre was left in fuch Condition, as clears the Disciples

Difciples from the Imputation of any such Robbery, which their bittereft Enemies never once. alledged againft them, even when they had the faireft Call and Opportunity to introducer the Accufation: That our bleffed Saviour, as foon as he had fulfilled the Time of his Interment (which, according to the Jewish way of Computation, he actually did) may be well fuppofed defirous of haftening his Return to his difconfolate Difciples; but was under no concern to do the fame to the Chief Priefts and Ruler, in whom an Exhibition of himself would have wrought no Conviction, and might probably have been an Obftruction to the Progrefsof the Gofpel: That, after his Resurrection, he appeared fo frequently to fuch a number of his Difciples, and converfed fo familiarly with them, that they could not poffibly be mistaken in the Truth and Reality of his Perfon: That they, in their Teftimony of this, could have no Bribe upon their Affections, nor any Temptation of temporal Advantage to pervert them; but, on the contrary, a fure profpect of the bittereft Perfecutions, which they, notwithstanding, un-derwent with great chearfulness, and fealed, at length, the Truth of their Teftimony with their Blood, which no Impoftor was ever known to do: and, laftly, that in confirmation of the Truth of their Teftimony, God was pleased to accompany them with Signs and mighty Wonders, the Power of working Miracles, and the Gifts of the bleffed Spirit; and, therefore, 'tis plain, that in the whole Transaction, the Witneffes of our Saviour's Refurrection could be liable to no Sufpicion. They could have no hand in ftealing away their Master's Body; they could have no room to be deceived them-felvės

F 3

felves in what they frequently faw and felt; nor could they have any Provocation to deceive others in an Affair, where they were fure to get nothing, but Danger and Diftrefs: and, confequently, we have all the Affurance, which a Matter of Fact, at this diftance of time, is capable of, that this great Article of our Religion, as it is related by the Evangelifts, is' literally true.

THE 23d Section treats of the Infufficiency of Reafon, and Neceffity of Revelation. To which it is objected, "That fince God, from the be

ginning, must be fuppofed to give Mankind "fome Religion, that Religion must be what "we call the Religion of Nature, which, coming "from a Being infinitely perfect, must be equally "perfect itself, and confequently, uncapable of "any Alteration or Addition: That, fince God "was minded that all Men fhould come to the

Knowledge of the Truth, he must be fuppofed to have given all Men the means of knowing it; which can be no other than the due Exercise of "their rational Faculties, fufficient to inftruct "them in all religious Duties, which refult either "from the fitness of things, or the Relations they ftand in to God, or to one another:

..

and therefore, fince the Religion of Nature "is perfect, and the Ufe of our Reafon fuffi*cient to understand it, all fupernatural Helps "are fuperfluous; and confequently, the Chriftian Revelation, which pretends to be fuch, muft either be a Deception in the whole, or only a Republication of the Laws of Nature. "For God, who is no arbitrary Being, can "require nothing of us by Revelation, that he "has not required before; nor are we to ad"mit any Doctrines or Inftitutions as Matters

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"of