to the facred Records. But tho' this general Anfwer might be fufficient, it will be proper to enter into a particular Difcuffion of the feveral Things produced by him to fhew that our Saviour and his Apoftles never appealed to the Understandings of Men, and that they required them to believe without Reason or Evidence. I am apprehenfive this Part of my Remarks will prove tedious to you, as it has been to myself. For to be obliged to detect a Succeffion of grofs Mifreprefentations, and to confider a great Variety of Paffages, which have little Connexion with one another, leads one into a Detail that yields little Entertainment, either to the Writer or to the Reader.

He first afks," Did our Saviour lay the Argu"ments and Proofs of his Miffion frankly before "his Difciples, and then give them time to con"fider calmly of their Force, and Liberty to de"termine thereon as their Reason fhould direct "them?" If his Meaning be, that our Saviour, after laying the Proofs of his Miffion before his Difciples, fhould have left them entirely at liberty to receive or reject him as they thought fit; I readily own, that he did not do this. For what could be more abfurd, than firft to lay before them. the evident Proofs that he was fent from God for the most important Purposes, and then let them know that they might with equal Innocence receive or reject him? But the Method he took was the wifeft and propereft that could be, and fuch as left room for Deliberation and thorough Conviction. He gave his Difciples many Opportunities of converfing with him, and hearing his admi

rable

rable Difcourfes, and of obferving the Holiness of his Life, the Excellency of his Doctrine, and the many wonderful Works he performed, Works far tranfcending all human Power. And it was not till above a Year after their first coming to him, and after they had all the Opportunities that could be defired of being inftructed, and fully fatisfied of his divine Miffion, that he folemnly called the twelve to be his Apostles. And it was again a confiderable time after this, that he fent them forth to preach in his Name; and the Powers he then gave them of performing the most illuftrious Miracles, muft needs have been an additional mighty Confirmation of their Faith in him. And after this his Refurrection from the Dead, of which they were convinced by many infallible Proofs, and the farther Inftructions he then gave them; his Afcenfion into Heaven, of which they were Eye-Witneffes; the extraordinary Effufion of the Holy Ghost, and the miraculous Powers and fpiritual Gifts with which they were endued, according to his own Prediction and Promife; all this taken together, rendered the Evidence compleat, and fully convinced them that Chrift was the divine Perfon he profeffed himself to be, and that the Religion he taught was from God. And this Evidence they laid before others, as fufficient to convince them too.

But our Author farther urges, that Christ “ did "but ill approve the being called on upon any Oc"cafion to explain himself, and therefore his Dif"ciples were fearful at every turn of giving of"fence, and incurring Reproof by any farther "Enquiry,

Enquiry, even at times when they did not really "apprehend his Meaning *." This is fo far from being true, that on the contrary, it is manifeft from the Accounts given by the Evangelists, that he encouraged them to ask him for Information, and fhewed himself well pleased when they did fo. And fo forward was he to inform them, that he took occafion to explain Things to them even without their asking. The only Paffage that feems to give the leaft countenance to this Pretence is, that when he taught his Difciples, and faid, that the Son of Man is to be delivered into the Hands of Men, and they shall kill him, and after that he is killed, he shall rife the third Day; we are told, they understood not that Saying, and were afraid to ask him. But all that can be gather'd from this is, not that Christ was unwilling to inform them; for the Inftructions he then gave them were as plain as Words could be, that he was to fuffer, and die, and rife again; or that they were in general afraid to apply to him for explaining himself; but that with regard to that particular Subject, the Sufferings of the Meffiah, they were under the Power of the strongest Prejudices; and that it was a thing fo contrary to their Notions and Expectations, that they were loth to believe and hear of it. And accordingly, St. Matthew fpeaking of the fame thing, tells us, they were exceeding forry **. They would all have been willing to explain themselves, as Peter had done on a former occafion, who understood what our Lord

had

*P. 37. Matt. xiii. 18, 36, 37, 51. Mark iv. 34. Mat. xvi. 6-12 John xvi. 18, 19, &c. || Mark ix. 31, 32. Luke ix. 45. ** Matt. xvii. 23.

had faid well enough, which was exceeding plain, but could not reconcile it to his own Notions, Far be it from thee, Lord, this fhall not be unto thee. But as they knew the Rebuke that had been given to Peter, they were afraid of making any farther Enquiries on a Subject fo ungrateful to them.

As our Author thinks proper to represent our Saviour as unwilling to inform his own Difciples, when they defired it, fo he observes, "That he fighed deeply at the Perverseness of "the Pharifees in afking a Sign, i. e. fome "Teftimonial of the Truth of his declared Mif"fion, and ftiled them a foolish and perverse "Generation for their Prefumption; tho' if he "had appealed to their Understanding, it had "been fo far from being criminal, that it had "been their indifpenfable Duty *." And he is fo fond of this Inftance, that he has it over again, p. 49. But our Saviour well knew that their demanding a Sign did not proceed from a teachable Disposition, or an honeft Openness to Conviction, (in which cafe he would certainly have encouraged it) but from a petulant cavilling Temper of Mind, which therefore he juftly reproved. And what fufficiently fhew'd this was, that they called for a Sign from him, after he had for a confiderable time wrought, and was then working a great number of illuftrious Miracles, of many of which the Pharifees themselves had been Eye-Witneffes, and had moft D perversely

Lett. II.

perverfely attributed them to the Affistance of Beelzebub the Prince of the Devils: and when after all this they came and afked of him a Sign, as if he had not wrought any Miracles among them before, juftly did he fhew a Resentment of fuch Perverseness. But tho' he did not think fit at that time to gratify their peevish Demands, or to humour a Temper that is never fatisfied with prefent Evidence, but is always unreasonably demanding more; yet after this he ftill continued in the most open manner, and in the view of his Enemies themselves, to perform the moft ftupendous Miracles, and which were really as great as they themselves could have defired; and at that very time he referred them. to that which was to be the ultimate confirming Evidence of his divine Miffion, his own Refurrection from the Dead; which was attended and followed with fuch Circumstances, as rendered it in the propereft fense what the Pharifees demanded, a Sign from Heaven.

It is with the fame Candour, that this Gentleman reprefents our Saviour as rejecting fome Perfons immediately, because they did not believe at once, and as giving them up inftantly to the Hardness of their Hearts without remedy, depriving them judicially even of the most common Advantages. He did not many mighty Works there, because of their Unbelief, which rather should have been the reason of his multiplying them. The Inftance he here refers to, is Saviour's Conduct towards his own Country

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men