In reply to his lordship’s objection, I stated, if there
were any women who loved their Saviour in the manner he had asserted, it was clear that
they had no knowledge of religion; that those ladies who were pious, never forgot that
their Saviour is divine, and I was afraid their love was too weak rather than too fervent.
The ladies, I added, were, fortunately for themselves, more disposed to attend to religion
from education, habit, and character. They had more time for meditation than men; they were
not exposed, as men of the world are, to the contagion of bad example; nor has it become
fashionable, nor is it received as a proof of a liberal and enlightened mind, and of a
great and towering genius (as it is amongst the men), that the women should profess a
disbelief in Christianity. Among the ladies there are instances of genuine piety combined
with the finest understanding; I was ready
| 444 | APPENDIX |
At this meeting I wished to suit the taste of my hearers, by
reading all the passages in the profane writers who lived immediately after the
promulgation of Christianity which bore on the subject. I read the celebrated paragraphs
from Tacitus, and also that part of his history where he
gives an account of Judea and its inhabitants, preparatory to his account of the siege; an
account, however, which is lost. I read also the letter of Pliny, with Trajan’s answer; the
allusion of Juvenal and Persius to the Jews; the objections of Porphyry and Celsus, and of Julian the Apostate, and the passage of Josephus on the Talmud. I referred to the
testimony of Pilate, as quoted by Eusebius and Tertullian, Suetonius and Lucian. With
all this they were very much pleased and
| APPENDIX | 445 |
In reading these extracts I did not fail to make the comments that must occur to every honest mind, freed from the trammels of prejudice.
As Dr. K. did not complete his design, I have omitted several unconnected or unfinished paragraphs: the following is of too much importance, however, to be laid aside.
Since Hume published his celebrated
Essay on Miracles, it has been the
fashion with all real, or would-be Deists, to assert that miracles are incapable of being
proved by human testimony, and the sentiment was repeatedly expressed by Lord Byron. If there be any one who really believes that
Hume has proved this impossibility, after having read his work, I
have no hesitation in saying, that he is both very ignorant, and very weak in his judgment.
The Essay is a complete piece of sophistry; his premises imply his conclusion, and these
| 446 | APPENDIX |
All the miracles in Scripture are capable of being proved by testimony, for
they are all of a nature perfectly susceptible of it. The manner in which a miracle is
performed, or the discovery of the agent by which it is effected, may not be susceptible of
proof; but if the effects of that miracle remain, and if the effects are be-
| APPENDIX | 447 |
The essential difference between a common fact, and one which we call a
miracle, is, that the one is usual, the
| 448 | APPENDIX |
| APPENDIX | 449 |
Miracles, therefore, can be performed by the Creator through the
instrumentality of such agents as he thinks proper to select; and the fact of their having
been performed can be proved by the honest and uncorrupted testimony of men. Nor will this
power, nor the fact, be denied by any sober man; though thousands should still
disbelieve,—not because they know them not to have been performed, but because such
events did not fall under their personal knowledge. I admit that caution is necessary in
receiving evidence for anything that is unusual, but the mind must be wilfully hardened to
all truth and knowledge, that will refuse to admit testimony to a fact,—to which he
is naturally cautious and reluctant to assent,—merely on the ground of its being
proper to be cautious and reluctant. Miracles are not the only evidence for the truth of
the Scriptures, though they con-
| 450 | APPENDIX |
The Jews and Christians are an example of different people, of different
faiths, believing in the miracles of the Old Testament. No similar example can be adduced
respecting any miracle that is doubtful or pretended; and this alone affords at least a
presumption, that there is such evidence in the nature of the miracles
themselves,—the testimony that attests them, (or arising from other causes,) as tends
to produce similar conviction in the minds of people who differ in almost every thing else.
This fact also shews, that a belief in the existence of miracles is not inconsistent with
the human mind, founding this belief on testimony. Were the same testimony and evidence,
occurring in every age, and gathering strength as time rolls on, brought forward in support
of any other doctrine, except for that of the Christian religion,—of doctrines, in
fact, which require only th« assent of the understanding to the evidence, and not a
| APPENDIX | 451 |
Not only was the name of Cyrus plainly expressed in this prediction, but it describes the most
minute circumstances of an event that did not transpire for more than two centuries after
its delivery, and long before any of the events out of which it arose existed. It contained
a direct intimation that he would not be a believer in the God of Israel,—all this
was fulfilled in every point. One hundred and twenty years elapsed ere the temple and city
of Jerusalem were destroyed; during that time the prediction was preserved by the very
people, whose humiliation it implied, and who, persisting as they did, to the last, in the
disbelief of every intimation of their captivity, would gladly have suppressed all that
| 452 | APPENDIX |
The kingdom of Egypt ceased with the destruction of the Ptolemies. It had lasted 294 years from the death of Alexander the Great. Cambyses invaded the country, conquered and subdued it 526 years B. C., thirty-three years after the vision of Daniel. The empire recovered from this shock, and again flourished as a kingdom,—but since its subjugation by the Roman arms, it has been base among the nations.
|
* Cyropædia, lib. viii. cap. 45. |
| APPENDIX | 453 |
Daniel ix. 25. This commandment is the
beginning of the 70 weeks, or 490 years. It does not refer to the proclamation of Cyrus in the first year of his reign, which was confined to
the rebuilding of the Temple, and did not extend to the city of Jerusalem; nor is it the
decree of Darius Hystaspes, which also only regards the Temple and is
merely a confirmation of the decree of Cyrus, Ezra vi. For the same reasons, it cannot be the decree in the 7th year of the
reign of Artaxerxes, which only confirmed what his
predecessors had granted, but it must be dated from the 20th of Artaxerxes
Longimanus. Bishop Chandler observes,
“That either of the two latter are sufficient to shew the completion of the prophecy
in Christ. The commencement of the weeks (as he remarks) must be either from the 7th of
Artaxerxes, which falls on the 457th year before A. D., or from
the 20th of Artaxerxes, (add to 457 years before Christ, 26 years
after Christ, which is the number that 483—or 69 weeks—exceed 457 years,) and
you are brought to the beginning of John the Baptist’s preaching
of the advent of the Messiah: add seven years, or one week, to the former, and you come to
the 33rd year of A. D., which was the year of Jesus Christ’s
death; or else compute 490 years, the whole seventy weeks, from the 7th of
Artaxerxes by subtracting 457 years (the space of time between
that year and the beginning of A. D.) from 490, and there remains 33, the year of our
Lord’s death. Let the 20th
| 454 | APPENDIX |
It will not perhaps be esteemed tedious, if, in illustration of this point, I refer to Dr. Gill, whose learning and industry were equal. “The Syriac version, though not a literal one, gives the true sense of the passage, rendering it, ‘Unto the coming of the King Messiah,’ unto which there were to be 7 and 62 weeks, or 69 weeks, which make 483 years; and these being understood of eastern years, used by the Egyptians, Chaldeans, and Persians, consisting of 360 days, reckoning 30 days to a month, and 12 months to a year, there were just 483 of these from the 20th year of Artaxerxes, to the 33d year of the vulgar era of Christ, and the 19th of Tiberius Cæsar, in which he suffered.”—From Dr. Gill, in loc.
Dr. Kennedy had gone
extensively through the external evidences, which contain much interesting information, but
which might, nevertheless, be esteemed prolix by the general reader, especially with such
books of reference
| APPENDIX | 455 |
“If the Jewish books had merely contained an account that, two
thousand years ago, their founder, Abraham, was a shepherd;—that
his descendants increased, and by their bravery liberated themselves from the Egyptian
bondage;—that, after leaving Egypt, they wandered in quest of new
settlements—and, allured by the fertility of Canaan, conquered, by their own valour,
the inhabitants; extirpating some, expelling others, and reducing the remainder to
subjection;—that, tired of elective governments, they founded a monarchy;—that
the nation became divided into two portions;—that the one was carried away captive by
the Assyrians; and after some time, the other was taken by the Babylonians;—that the
king of Babylon had, from humanity, or some other motive, reinstated them;—and that,
after various vicissitudes, they became tributary to the Romans:—if their cosmogony
had been as absurd as that of other nations,—had their books been filled with
accounts of gods and goddesses,—had their worship been directed to stones and
statues,—their writings would have been received with interest, and the notice they
incidentally give of the Egyptians, the Edomites, Amalakites, and others little known,
would
| 456 | APPENDIX |
“Let any one consider what authority he has for believing the text
of Cicero, of Aristotle, of Plato, or of any other
ancient writer, and let him ask what security he has that their writings have not been
altered; and let him trace by what channels they have been transmitted; how preserved, and
how many there were in every age, who neither could, nor did take, any interest in them, or
use any exertions to preserve the text uncorrupted. When he has collected all the
information he can gain on these subjects, and after he has meditated on all the chances
and probabilities of the corruption or preservation of the text,—let him compare it
with the evidence that awaits his investigation, and let him acknowledge there is no such
to be found in favour of any other book whatever. Be they a revelation from God, or a
forgery, the evidence of the accurate transmission of these writings from the period of the
Babylonish captivity,—from the time of the translation of the Septuagint; and, with
respect to the books of the New Testament, from the moment they were written, is of such a
nature, that human prudence, had it devised, or human power, had it exerted itself, could
not have produced such a variety of
| APPENDIX | 457 |
“Notwithstanding, however, the mass of evidence derived directly and
indirectly from the belief and disbelief
| 458 | APPENDIX |
“We find that Tacitus, Pliny, Celsus, Porphyry, and Galen—as far as they treat of the subject—confirm the facts related, and only reject the doctrines inferred. I would—were no Christian testimony in existence—believe them. For, if they were false, why not disprove them? And if they were false, why does Tacitus, Suetonius, and others, say that Christ was put to death?—admitting one of the principal facts, while they leave the inquirer to infer that the others are true also, since they are neither denied nor disproved.
“Let not modern unbelievers, therefore, mourn over the silence of
their early predecessors, nor let them argue against the Christian religion because all the
writers of antiquity have not noticed its commencement. Had they all written, could they
have done more than Tacitus, Celsus, and Julian? Why did not these
disprove the facts related, and trample the new religion to the ground? Why permit an error
to be introduced, since it was so easy to prevent it? Could they not then detect falsehood
as easily as at this time? Could they not examine
| APPENDIX | 459 |
The paper here mentioned, as well as the remarks on the Pentateuch, are still in the possession of Mr. H., who has hitherto declined to comply with the request of the Editor. In arguing on the same question, Dean Sherlock observes,—
“There is no proportion, indeed, between time and eternity; and
it is, therefore, difficult to conceive that every momentary sin should, in its own
nature, deserve eternal punishment. But there is no difficulty to conceive, that an
immortal sinner may, by some short and momentary sins, sink himself into an
irrecoverable state of misery, and that he must be miserable as long as he continues to
be. . . . We do not here consider the proportion between the sin and the
punishment,—be-
| 460 | APPENDIX |
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