with them, will excite little furprife, when we know the conditions which he propofed to the vanquished. Death or converfion was the only choice offered to idolaters. "Strike off their

heads; ftrike off all the ends of their fingers : kill the idolaters, wherefoever ye fhall find them." ." To the Jews and Chriftians was left a fomewhat milder alternative, of fubjection and tribute, if they perfifted in their own religion, or of an equal participation in the rights and liberty, the honours and privileges, of the faithful, if they embraced the religion of their conquerors. "Ye Christian dogs, you know your option; the Koran, the tribute, or the fword." The corrupt ftate of Chriftianity in the seventh century, and the contentions of its fects, unhappily fo fell in with men's care for their fafety, or their fortunes, as to induce many to forfake its profeffion. Add to all which, that Mahomet's victories not only operated by the natural effect of conqueft, but that they were conftantly reprefented, both to his friends. and enemies, as divine declarations in his favour. Succefs was evidence. Profperity carried with it not only influence but proof. "Ye have already," fays he, after the battle of Bedr, "had a miracle fhown you, in two armies which attacked each other; one army fought for God's true religion, but the other were infidels."d Again, "Ye flew not thofe who were flain at Bedr, but God flew them. If ye defire a decifion of the matter between us, now hath a decifion come unto you.'

Many more paffages might be collected out of the Koran to the fame effect. But they are unneceffary. The fuccefs of Mahometanifm during this, and indeed every future period of its history, bears fo little refemblance to the early propagation of Christianity, that no inference whatever can juftly be drawn from it to the prejudice of the Chriftian argument. For what are we comparing? A Galilean peafant, accompanied by a few fishermen, with a conqueror at the head of his army. We compare Jefus, without force, without power, without fupport, without one external circumftance of attraction or influence, prevailing against the prejudices, the learning, the hierarchy of his country, against the ancient religious opinions, the pompous religious rites, the philofophy, the wifdom, the authority of the Roman empire, in the most polished and enlightened period of its exiftence, with Mahomet making his way amongst Arabs; collectb Ib. c. ix. p. 149.

a Sale's Koran, c. viii. p. 140. Gibb, ib. p. 337.

d Sale's Kor. c. iii. p. 36.

e Ch, viii. p. 14-Ir

ing followers in the midft of conquefts and triumphs, in the darkest ages and countries of the world, and when fuccefs in arms not only operated by that command of men's wills and perfons which attends profperous undertakings, but was confidered as a fure teftimony of divine approbation. That multitudes, perfuaded by this argument, fhould join the train of a victorious chief; that ftill greater multitudes should, without any argument bow down before irrefiftible power, is a conduct in which we cannot fee much to furprise us: in which we can fee nothing that refembles the caufes, by which the establishment of Chrif tianity was effected.

The fuccefs therefore of Mahometanifm ftands not in the way of this important conclufion, that the propagation of Chriftianity, in the manner and under the circumfences in which it was propagated, is an unique in the history of the fpecies. A Jewish. peafant overthrew the religion of the world.

I have, nevertheless, placed the prevalency of the religion. amongst the auxiliary arguments of its truth; becaufe, whether it had prevailed or not, or whether its prevalency can or cannot be accounted for, the direct argument remains ftill. It is ftill true, that a great number of men upon the fpot, perfonally connected with the history and with the author of the religion, were induced by what they heard and faw and knew, not only to change their former opinions, but to give up their time, and facrifice their eafe to traverfe feas and kingdoms, without rest, and without wearinefs, to commit themselves to extreme dangers, to undertake inceffant toils, to undergo grievous fufferings, and all this, folely in confequence, and in fupport of their belief of fas, which, if true, establish the truth of the religion, which, if falfe, they must have known to be fo..

PART THE THIRD.

A BRIEF CONSIDERATION OF SOME POPULAR OBJECTIONS..

I

CHAP. I.

The Difcrepancies between the feveral Gofpels.

KNOW not a more rafh or more unphilofophical conduct of the understanding than to reject the substance of a story by reafon of fome diverfity in the circumftances with which it is related. The usual character of human teftimony is substantial truth under circumftantial variety. This is what the daily experience of courts of juftice teaches. When accounts of a transaction come from the mouths of different witneffes, it is feldom that it is not poffible to pick out apparent or real inconfiftencies between them. Thefe inconfiftencies are ftudiously difplayed by an adverse pleader, but oftentimes with little impreffion upon the minds of the judges. On the contrary, a clofe and minute agreement induces the fufpicion of confederacy and fraud: When written hiftories touch upon the fame fcenes of action, the comparison almost always affords ground for a like reflection. Numerous, and fometimes important, variations prefent themselves; not feldom alfo, abfolute and final contradictions; yet neither one nor the other are deemed fufficient to fhake the credibility of. the main fact. The embaffy.of the Jews to deprecate the execution of Claudian's order to place his ftatue in their temple, Philo places in harveft, Jofephus in feed time; both contemporary writers. No reader is led by this inconfiftency to doubt,, whether fuch an embaffy was fent, or whether fuch an order was given. Our own hiftory fupplies examples of the fame kind. In the account of the Marquis of Argyle's death in the reign. of Charles the Second, we have a very remarkable contradiction. Lord Clarendon relates that he was condemned to be hanged, which was performed the fame day on the contrary, Burnet, Woodrow, Heath, Echard, agree that he was beheaded; and that he was condemned upon the Saturday, and executed upon the Monday. Was any reader of English hiflory ever a See Biog. Britain.

a

:

fceptic enough, to raise from hence a queftion, whether the Marquis of Argyle was executed or not? Yet this ought to be left in uncertainty, according to the principles upon which the Christian history has fometimes been attacked. Dr. Middleton contended, that the different hours of the day affigned to the crucifixion of Christ by John and by the other evangelifts, did not admit of the reconcilement which learned men had propofed ; and then concludes the difcuffion with this hard remark: "We must be forced, with feveral of the critics, to leave the difficulty just as we found it, chargeable with all the confequences of manifeft inconfiftency." But what are these confequences? by no means the difcrediting of the history as to the principal fact, by a repugnacy (even supposing that repugnancy not to be refolvable into different modes of computation) in the time of the day, in which it is faid to have taken place.

A great deal of the difcrepancy obfervable in the gospels, arifes from omiffion; from a fact or a paffage of Chrift's life being noticed by one writer, which is unnoticed by another. Now omiffion is at all times a very uncertain ground of objection. We perceive it, not only in the comparison of different writers, but even in the fame writer, when compared with himfelf. There are a great many particulars, and fome of them of importance, mentioned by Jofephus in his Antiquities, which, as we fhould have fuppofed, ought to have been put down by him in their place in his Jewifh wars. Suetonius, Tacitus, Dio Caffius, have, all three, written of the reign of Tiberius. Each has mentioned many things omitted by the rest, yet no. objection is from thence taken to the refpective credit of their hiftories. We have in our own times, if there were not fomething indecorous in the comparison, the life of an eminent perfon, written by three of his friends, in which there is very great variety in the incidents felected by them, fome apparent, and perhaps fome real contradictions; yet without any impeachment of the substantial truth of their accounts, of the authenticity of the books, the competent information or general fidelity of the writers.

But thefe difcrepancies will be ftill more numerous, when men do not write histories, but memoirs; which is perhaps the true

a Middleton's Reflections answered by Benson, Hift. Chrif. vol. III. p. 50. cb. p. 743.

b Lard. part. I. vol. II. p. 755, et feq.

nanie, and proper defcription of our gofpels: that is, when they do not undertake, or ever meant to deliver, in order of time, a regular and complete account of all the things of importance, which the perfon, who is the subject of their history, did or faid; but only, out of many fimilar ones, to give fuch paffages, or fuch actions and difcourfes, as offered themselves more immediately to their attention, came in the way of their inquiries, occurred to their recollection, or were fuggefted by their particular defign at the time of writing.

This particular defign may appear fometimes, but not always, nor often. Thus I think that the particular defign, which St. Matthew had in view whilft he was writing the history of the refurrection, was to atteft the faithful performance of Chrift's promife to his difciples to go before them into Galilee; because he alone, except Mark, who seems to have taken it from him, has recorded this promife, and he alone has confined his narrative to that fingle appearance to the difciples which fulfilled it. It was the preconcerted, the great and most public manifeftation of our Lord's perfon. It was the thing which dwelt upon St. Matthew's mind, and he adapted his narrative to it. But, that there is nothing in St. Matthew's language, which negatives. other appearances, or which imports that this his appearance to his difciples in Galilee, in purfuance of his promife, was his first or only appearance, is made pretty evident by St. Mark's gofpel, which ufed the fame terms concerning the appearance in Galilee as St. Matthew ufes, yet itself records two other appearances prior to this: "Go your way, tell his difciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee, then shall ye fee him as he faid unto you." (xvi. 7.) We might be apt to infer from these words, that this was the first time they were to fee him at least, we might infer it, with as much re. fon as we draw the inference from the fame words in Matthew: yet the hifto rian himself did not perceive that he was leading his readers to any fuch conclufion, for, in the twelfth and two following verfes of this chapter, he informs us of two appearances, which, by comparing the order of events, are shown to have been prior to the appearance in Galilee. "He appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked and went into the country; and they went and told it unto the refidue. neither believed they them afterwards he appeared unto the eleven, as they fat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief, because they be lieved not them that had feen him after he was rifen,"