fent to his being crucified, which St. Peter therefore charges home upon them as their Guilt. They had afterwards been Witnesses to the preternatural Darkness, the Earthquake, and other extraordinary things that happened at his Crucifixion, and which made a mighty Impreffion on many of the People *. They knew that his Difciples teftified that he was risen again from the dead, and they themselves were now Witneffes of the wonderful Effufion of the Holy Ghost upon his Difciples, and were convinced, by what they heard and faw, of the Truth and Reality of it, and that it was a thing which far exceeded all human Power, and carried in it the strongest Evidences of a divine Interpofition. This fatisfied them, that the Testimony the Apostles gave of Chrift's Refurrection and Exaltation was true, and that therefore he was the promised Saviour; efpecially as the Apostle Peter Thewed that all this was perfectly agreeable to the Predictions of the Prophets concerning him. In fuch an extraordinary Concurrence of Circumstances the Conviction wrought upon them was speedy, but very reafonable, and founded upon fufficient Evidence. The fame Obfervation may be made with regard to the Numbers that were converted afterwards on occafion of another Difcourfe of St. Peter. They had juft seen a most astonishing Miracle performed by Peter and John in refloring a Man whom they all knew to have been lame from his Mother's

*Luke xxiii 47, 48.

Womb,

Womb, by only bidding him in the Name of Jefus rife up and walk: No wonder that this, together with the Apostle's excellent Discourse, added to what had fo lately happened at the day of Pentecoft, which was then fresh in memory, and to what they obferv'd concerning the exemplary Lives, the Piety and Charity of the firft Believers, brought over to the Faith many that probably were very favourably difpofed before; but were now, by this additional Evidence, fully convinced. Befides all which, we may well fuppofe there was an extraordinary Prefence and Influence of the Holy Spirit upon the Minds of Men, communicated for the more speedy and effectual spreading of the Gospel at its first Publication; and which was a farther illuftrious Proof of its divine Original, and of the Approbation of Heaven. Upon the whole, all that can be justly concluded from the numerous and fudden Converfions at the first Publication of the Gofpel, is not that Christianity is not founded on Argument, or that the first Believers had no Reafon or Evidence for their believing; but that the Evidence was so strong and convincing, and came upon them with fuch an over-powering Light and Force, as made a much quicker Progrefs than mere abstracted fubtil Reafonings would have done. For it procceded upon Facts of the most extraordinary nature, obvious and convincing, even to the meaneft Capacities; and from whence the Inference was cafy and natural, that Jefus and the

Apoftles

Apostles were fent from God, and that God bare witness to their Doctrine. But then it must be confidered, that tho' the Gospel continued to make a wonderful Progrefs throughout the World by the force of the Evidence with which it was accompanied, yet it was principally at first, and in Jerufalem, that we read of fuch numbers converted in fo fhort a time to the Chriftian Faith. For there were many Circumstances there concurring to it, which did not meet to such advantage in other places. It had been the Scene of Chrift's Miracles, Sufferings, Refurrection, and the extraordinary Effufion of the Holy Ghoft; and there were many there that had been Witneffes to what Chrift had faid and done, and who had been in his Life-time well-difpofed to believe in him, tho' afterwards fcandalized by his Sufferings; and therefore were the more eafily' wrought upon by the manifeft Demonftrations of his Divine Power and Glory after his Afcenfion. And certainly the Evidence must have been very strong, which could engage fuch numbers in Jerufalem itself to acknowledge him for the Meffiah, who had been but a little before fo ignominioufly crucified there, after having been condemned as an Impoftor by the chief Men of their Nation, and by their great Sanhedrim, for whofe Decifions they had all had the profoundest Veneration.

I have now confidered the account this Gentleman is pleas'd to give us of the Proceedings

of

of our bleffed Lord and his Apostles in planting the Gofpel, and from which he pretends to prove, that there was no Appeal to the UnderStanding ever made or intended; and that they commanded Men to believe at once, without offering any Reason or Evidence to ingage them to believe. He himself is fenfible, that there is one obvious Objection lies against his Account, and that is, that the Miracles wrought by Christ and his Apostles were defigned as Evidence to ingage Men to believe; and to take away the force of this he endeavours to fhew,

That it was not the Meaning or Intention of Christ himself to prove his own divine Miffion by his Miracles; and that they were in themfelves no way fitted to be fuch Proofs and Evidences.

As to the first of these, it is certainly a very extraordinary Attempt to undertake to fhew from the Gospel-Hiftory, that Chrift had no Intention to prove his divine Miffion by his Miracles, when he himself in the most exprefs terms imaginable declares, that this was one principal Intention of them, and refers both the Jews and his own Disciples to thofe Miracles, as the strongest Atteftations to the Divinity of his Miffion, fufficient to convince them that he came from God, and to render them inexcufable if they did not believe in him; concerning which fee above, p. 7.

Part of what our Author here urges, is what he had faid before, and which has been already confidered,

Confidered, concerning our Saviour's reproving the Pharifees for afking a Sign, and concerning his previously requiring Faith from those upon whom he wrought his Miracles.

Other things that he offers here are fo weak; that it would be honouring them too far to enter into a laborious Confutation of them. Thus he argues, that our Saviour did not intend his Miracles as Proofs of his divine Miffion, because he did not gratify Herod in working a Miracle before him at the time of his Paffion; as if a Man of Herod's Character were difpofed in those Circumstances to become his Difciple, though not long before, upon being affured of the Miracles Chrift wrought in Galilee, he defigned to have murdered him *. He argues the fame thing from our Saviour's refufing to fuffer the evil Spirits whom he ejected to bear witnefs to him as the Chrift; and if he had readily accepted their Teftimony, his Adverfaries would probably have improved it to give countenance to that blafphemous Calumny they had raised against him, that he was in confede-racy with those evil Spirits.

It would be fomething more to his purpofe,if it were true, that Chrift was remarkably upon the Referve, whenever he happened to be among unbelieving Company, and that he was particularly fparing of thofe fuppofed Arguments, viz. his Miracles, amongst the very Perfons who feemed most to want them. I know no inftance Lett. II.

F

*Se Luke xi. 7. xiii. 31, 32.

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