Chriftians and Jews, you must imagine, that the whole Jewish nation in all their moft diftant difperfions, united in a confederacy to furnish the world with armour against their own infidelity; and to reprefent themselves as the most unreasonable and wicked of all mankind. These abfurdities are (I am fure) too grofs for you to entertain ; and yet I may venture to challenge you to think of any other way, in which it is poffible this

could be done.

But you tell me, It yet appears the greateft difficulty to you, to come at any certainty of the truth of those facts, upon which the evidence of Christianity depends.' And I readily acknowledge, that if these facts are not true, all our reafonings from prophecy, and miracles too, will come to nothing. It is therefore proper, to confider this cafe more particularly. And in order that this may be brought into the clofeft view, and all the conclufion neceffarily force itself upon our minds; let us confider what confequences must follow upon the supposal, that these facts are not true. can have no rational doubt of these things, but upon one of these fuppofitions: either,

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1. That the apoftles, and other reporters of these facts, did themselves certainly know that their narratives of these miracles were all of them mere fictions and falfhoods: and that they never did in fact see any such miraculous works perform'd by Jefus Chrift; they never did fee and converfe with him after his refurrection; and that they never had thofe miraculous gifts and powers themfelves; nor ever inftrumentally conveyed them to others. Or,

2. That the reporters of these facts, and many thoufands of others, had their fenfes and imaginations im pofed upon; and were made to believe that they did fee, hear, and feel, fuch miraculous operations, as were never performed. Or elfe,

3. That this whole hiftory was an after-game; and a mere piece of forgery obtruded upon the world, after the facts were pretended to be done.

These are all the fuppofitions, that can poffibly be made in this cafe. And I have already in my fecond

letter offer'd you fome proof, that they are all of them unreasonable and abfurd. However, for your fatisfaction, I will endeavour to fhew you under each of these fuppofitions, fome of those abfurdities, that will neceffarily follow from them.

In the first place, If it be fuppofed, that the reporters of these facts did themfelves certainly know that they were false; then it will follow, that thousands of others, before whom thofe miracles were faid to be done, did alfo certainly know that they were mere fictions and fables. For they were as capable of certainty, whether they had seen those multitudes of plain open visible facts, which are reported, as the apoftles were themselves. Upon this fuppofal, all Judea and Jerufalem must cer• tainly know, that they never faw any fuch defcent of the Holy Ghoft in cloven tongues upon the apoftles and company; and that they knew nothing of thofe gifts of languages, which were pretended. The feveral churches throughout the world, among whom the apostles went, did certainly know, that they faw no miracles wrought by them in confirmation of their miffion; that they never had nor knew any thing about those miraculous gifts, which were faid to be fo common among them. And yet that all these confpired in the deceit (Jews, as well as Gentiles) to the utter fubverfion of the religion in which they had been educated; and multitudes of them at the expence of their honours, eftates, and lives, not one perfon among them all appearing to detect the villainy. The Jews tamely fubmitting to the lofs of their religion, and to the imputation of the blackest crime, that ever was committed; and the Chriftian churches as tamely fubmitting to all that is fhocking and terrible to nature, rather than contradict and dif prove what they knew to be falfe. Nay, what is more furprizing ftill, all of thefe, even the greatest enemies of Christianity among them, have not only allowed, but actually afferted the truth of these facts; which, upon this fuppofal, they might have so easily difproved, to the utter ruin of the Chriftian caufe. And to crown all, there can be no motive in the world imagin'd, to put any of them upon acknowledging fuch notorious and

abominable falfhoods. A's I know, on the one hand, that you cannot fwallow fuch grofs abfurdities as thefe; fo I alfo know on the other hand, that you have no way to avoid them, upon the fuppofition before us.

It may be further obferved, that if the reporters of thefe miracles did themselves know, that their narratives were fictitious and falfe, it will also follow, that the moft vile and wicked men that ever were in the world, and the most abandon'd to all sense of virtue and piety, did draw up the best fyftem of practical religion, the most worthy of God and man, that ever was known ; that they, contrary to their inward principles, fet the best examples, and walk'd according to the rules of this. religion themfelves; yea, without any known motive, fpent their whole lives in a continued course of the greatest toil, fatigue, and 'mifery, that ever men did, to promote this religion, to imprefs it upon the minds of others, and to teach them, according to it, to live in the love and fear of God. It will alfo follow, that these enemies of God and godliness (who were fo profane, as against their own light to propagate this impofture, in the name of God Almighty) did not only give up the hopes of future happiness, but all the comforts of this life alfo, in vindication of this known falfhood; that to this end they ventured upon every thing that is most terrible and affrightening to human nature, and even upon the most cruel and barbarous death, without the leaft poffible hopes of advantage, either in this world, or that to come. For they did know, and could not but know, that they were going themselves, and leading their followers, upon the pikes of their numerous and potent adversaries, without any profpect beyond the grave (upon the fuppofition before us) but of eternal damnation. And what ftill increases the abfurdity of this fuppofition, is, that not one of thefe ever retracted" this known falfhood, even in the article of death; but boldly encountred the most thameful and painful deaths their adverfàries could inflict, rather than confefs the truth. What, Sir, can you poffibly imagine of fuch conduct as this? That these men were not mad and diftracted, appears evidently by their works which,

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though plain and familiar, were the most confiftent, divine, and rational, that ever appeared in the world. Here must therefore be a continued fcene of miracles, one way or other. It must at least be allowed miraculeus, for fo many men knowingly and continually to act in direct oppofition to all their interefts, comforts, and hopes; and-run counter to all the principles of humanity, to all the fprings of action, that were ever known among men.

Let us now try the fecond fuppofal; and enquire whether it is poffible, that the reporters of thefe facts, and all other fpectators of them, had their fenfes impofed upon, by any legerdemain trick, juggle, or deceit ? Whether, for inftance, the fenfes of the apofiles were imposed upon for fome years together, while there were daily miracles wrought by their mafter before their eyes? Whether the fenfes of whole multitudes were impofed upon, that they really thought they faw the fick healed, the dead raised, &c. and thefe things repeated again and again for a long tract of time, when there was indeed nothing at all in it? Whether the witneffes of our Lord's refurrection were impofed upon, when they fuppofed they faw him after his death, eat and drank and converfed familiarly with him for forty days together, and beheld him taken up to heaven before their eyes? And whether all the firft churches were impofed upon, when they imagin'd that they faw miracles repeatedly wrought among them; and had themselves miraculous gifts and powers? If these extravagant fuppofitions are allowed, of what fervice can our fenfes be to us; and how can we any way be certain of any thing whatfoever? We may as reasonably imagine, that our whole life has been one continued dream; and that in reality we never faw, heard, felt, thought, fpake, or acted any thing at all. Here likewife you must neceffarily allow a continued courfe of miracles, one way or other. At least it must be allowed miraculous, that fo great a part of the world thould all lofe their fenfes together; and yet all of them imagine that they had all this time their fenfes in their full exercife..

Let us next confider, whether the laft of the fuppofi

tions, that the whole hiftory of the miracles wrought by our Lord Jefus Chrift and his apoftles, was an aftergame, a mere piece of forgery obtruded upon the world in fome diftant time after the facts were pretended to be done, will appear more reafonable, than the others already confidered, r

I have spoken fomething to this in my fecond letter, to which I refer you: and fhall now only add fome hin's further to illuftrate the cafe before us. If this laft cafe be fuppofed, the forgery must be palm'd upon the world, either before or after Chriftianity had generally obtain'd. If this falfe hiftory was thruft upon the world in fome diftant age after the facts were pretended to be done, before Chriftiarity had generally obtain'd, it will then follow, that all the hiftorians of thofe times (Chriftian, Jewish, and Pagan) have united in confederacy, to give us a falfe account of Chriftianity's immediately fucceeding the crucifixion of Chrift, not only in Judea, but in all parts of the Roman empire. That they do all agree in this report, is what you must acknowledge: but how they came to unite in relating fuch matters of fact, which they all (upon this fuppofition) must know to be falfe, is what no man can poffibly imagine. If this was done after Chriftianity had obtain'd, it will follow, that a great part of the world renounced the religion in which they had been educated, for the defpifed doctrine of the crofs, and for a life of continued contempt, mifery, and peril, without knowing the reason why; and altogether ignorant of the foundation upon which their new religi on was built. For, if they profeffed Chriftianity, before they knew the hiftory of Chrift's life, miracles, death, refurrection, afcenfion, and before they had heard of the apoflles progrefs and miraculous works, with the niiraculous gifts of the Holy Ghoft, which accompanied their miniftry; they then all agreed to facrifice their moft valuable temporal interefts, and multitudes of them endured the most terrible deaths, in a caufe which they knew nothing about, and none of them knew any manner of reafon why they fhould do fo. That is, in plain English, a great part of the world run mad at once,