there was none with him; but his own Arm brought him Salvation, Ifai. Ixiii. 3. 5. But his Death completed his Victory; whereby he overcame all the Rower of the Enemy, and having spoiled Principalities and Powers, be made a Shew of them openly, triumphing over them in his Cross, Col. ii. 15.

(12.) David, whofe Son CHRIST is called, fpeaks frequently of him in his own Perfon, and in Events which cannot be applied to David, as Pfal. xvi. 10. Thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell, nor fuffer thine Holy One to fee Corruption. For David has feen Corruption. Chrift is faid to fit upon the Throne of David, Ifai. ix. 7. And Chrift is called by the Name of David, Hof. iii. 5. and frequently in the Prophets.

David from a Shepherd became a King and a Prophet; denoting the threefold Office of Chrift, Paftoral, Regal, and Prophetical,

(13.) Solomon, the wifeft of Men; his peaceable and magnificent Reign reprefented the triumphal State of Chrift's Kingdom, which is defcribed, Pfal. lxxii. (infcribed for Solomon, there called the King's Son) but far exceeding the Glory of his Reign, or what can poffibly. be applied to him, as ver. 5. 8. 11. 17. But his Reign came the nearest of any to that univerfal and glorious Reign there described; particularly in his being chofen to build the Temple, because he was a Man of Peace, and had fhed no Blood, like David his Father, who conquered the Enemies of Ifrael; but Solomon built the Church, in full Peace; and as it is particularly fet down, 1 Kings vi. 7. And no doubt he was ordered by God fo to do, That the Houfe, when it was in building, was built of Stone made ready before it was brought thither: So that there was neither Hammer nor Ax, nor any Tool of Iron heard in the Houfe, while it was in building. Which did denote that the Church of Chrift was to be built not only in Peace, but without Noife or Confufion; as Ifaiah prophefied of him, chap. xlii. 2. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor caufe his Voice to be heard in the Street: a bruifed Reed shall he not break, &c. He was not to conquer with the Sword, as the Ifraelites fubdued

Canaan;

Canaan; but to overcome by Meeknefs, and doing Good to his Enemies, and patiently fuffering all Injuries from them. And fo he taught his Followers, as St. Paul fays, 2 Tim. ii. 24. The Servant of the Lord must not ftrive, but be gentle unto all Men-In Meekness inftructing thofe that oppose themselves, &c.

And I cannot think but there was fome Imitation of this peaceable Temple of Solomon in the Temple of Janus among the Romans; for that was never to be fout but in time of Peace, which happened rarely among them; but three Times in all their Hiftory. The laft was in the Reign of Auguftus, in which time Chrift came into the World, when there was a profound and univerfal Peace. And fo it became the Prince of Peace, whofe Birth was thus proclaimed by the Angels, Luke ii. 14. Glory to God on High, and on Earth Peace, Goodwill towards Men. But to go on.

(14.) Jonah's being three Days and Nights in the Belly of the Whale, was a Sign of Chrift's being fo long in the Heart of the Earth. Chrift himself makes the Allufion, Matth. xii. 40.

(15.) But as there were feveral Perfons, at several times, reprefenting and prefiguring feveral Particulars of the Life and Death of Chrift; fo there was one ftanding and continual Representation of him appointed in the Perfon of the High Prieft under the Law; who entering into the Holy of Holies once in a Year, with the Blood of the great Expiatory Sacrifice, and he only, to make Atonement for Sin, did lively reprefent our great High Prieft, entering into Heaven, once for all, with his own Blood, to expiate the Sins of the whole World. This is largely infifted upon in the Epiftle to the Hebrews, chap. vii. viii. ix. x.

And our Deliverance by the Death of Chrift is reprefented, as in a Picture, in that Ordinance of the Law, That the Man-flayer, who fled to one of the Cities of Refuge, (which were all of the Cities of the Levites) fhould not come out thence till the Death of the High Prieft; and no Satisfaction be taken till then; and then

he

he fhould be acquitted, and return into the Land of his Poffeffion, Numb. xxxv. 6. 25, 26, 27, 28.

And I doubt not but the Gentiles had from hence their Afyla, or Temples of Refuge for Criminals.

(1.) DE. There is a Refemblance in thefe Things: But I would not have admitted them as a Proof, if you had not fupported them, at leaft most of them, with the Authority of the New Teftament. And it was not neceffary that every one should be named in it; for those that are named are only occafionally: And I must take time to confider of the Evidences you have brought for the Authority of the New Teftament; which you have made full as great, if not greater, than the Evidences for the Old Teftament.

CHR. I may fay greater, upon this Head of Prophecies and Types; because these are no Proofs till they are fulfilled. Though then they prove the Truth of these Prophecies and Types; and fo the one confirms the other: But the whole Evidence of the Law is not made apparent, till we fee it fulfilled in the Gospel. For which Rea. fon I call the Gospel the strongest Proof, not only as to itself, but likewife as to the Law. And the Jews, as much as in them lies, have invalidated this ftronger Proof for the Old Teftament, which is the fulfilling of it in the New. Nay they have rendered thefe Prophecies falfe; which, they fay, were not fulfilled at the Time they spake of, and never now can be fulfilled. And as no Fact, but that of our Chrift alone, ever had the Evidence of Prophecies and Types from the Beginning, fo never can any other Fact have it now while the World lafts.

(2.) DE. Why do you fay, Never can have it? For may not God make what Fact he pleases, and give it what Evidence he pleases?

CHR. But it cannot have the Evidence that the Fact of Chrift has, unless at that Distance of Time hereaf ter, as from the Beginning of the World to this Day! Because God took care that the Evidence of Chrift fhould commence from the very Beginning, in the Promise

of

of him made to Adam; and to be renewed by the Prophets in all the After-Ages till he should come. And the Evidence of him after his Coming (in which I have instanced, and which continues to this Day) before it can belong to any other, must have the fame Compafs of Time that has gone to confirm this Evidence; elfe it has not the fame Evidence.

(3.) DE. By this Argument the Evidence grows ftronger the longer it continues; fince you fay, that the Prophecies of the Scriptures reach to the End of the World, and fo will be further and further fulfilling every Day.

Craig.Theologiæ Chriftianæ Principia Mathematica,

This is contrary to what one of your Doctors has advanced, who pretends to calculate the Age of Evidences, that in fuch a Time they decay, and in fuch a Time muft die; And that the Evidence of Chriftianity, having lafted fo long, is upon the Decay, and muft wear out foon, if not fupplied by fome fresh and new Evidence.

1699.

CHR. This may be true as to Fables, which have no Foundation; but is that Prophecy I mentioned to you, of the Difperfion, and yet wonderful Prefervation, of the Jews, less evident to you, because it was made fo long ago?

DE. No. It is much more evident for that. If I had lived at the Time when those Prophecies were made, I fanfy I fhould not have believed one Word of them; but wondered at the Affurance of thofe who ventured to foretel fuch improbable and almoftimpoffible Things.

And I should have thought the fame of what you have told me of your Chrift foretelling the Progrefs of his Gospel, at the firft fo very flender Appearance of it, and by the weak and improbable Means, as only Suffering and dying for it; which, to me, would have feemed perfect Defpair, and giving up the Caufe. fhould have thought of them (as of others) who prophefy of Things after their Time, that they might not

I

be

be contradicted while they lived. But my feeing fo much of thefe Prophecies concerning the Jews, and the Progress of the Gospel, come to pass so long Time after, is the only thing that makes me lay a Stress upon them, and which makes them feem wonderful to me.

CHR. When the Prophecies fhall all be fully completed at the End of the World, they will then feem ftrongest of all. They will then be undeniable, when Chrift fhall vifibly defcend from Heaven (in the fame Manner as he afcended), to execute both what he has promised and threatened. And, in the mean time, the Prophecies lofe none of their Force, but their Evidence increases, as the Light Shineth more and more unto the perfed Day.

(VIII.) DE. I obferve you have made no Use of that common Topic of the Truth and Sincerity of the Penmen of the Scriptures, and what Intereft they could have in setting up these Things, if they had been falfe. For this can amount at moft but to a Probability. And you having produced thofe Evidences which you think infallible, it might feem a leffening of your Proof to infift upon bare Probabilities. So that, I fuppofe, you give that up.

(1.) CHR.) No, SIR, I give it not up, though I have not made it the chief Foundation of my Argument. And if it were but a Probability, it wants not its Force; for it is thought unreasonable to deny a flagrant Probability, where there is not as ftrong a Probability on the other Side; for then that makes a Doubt: But otherwise, Men generally are satisfied with Probabilities, for there is the greatest part of our Knowlege. If we believe nothing but what carries an infallible Demonftration along with it, we must be Sceptics in moft Things in the World: And fuch were never thought the wifeft Men.

But befides, a Probability may be fooner difcerned by fome, than the Infallibility of a Demonftration. Therefore we must not lay aside Probabilities. But, in this Cafe, I think there is an infallible Afforance, as

in