been gainfaid; the Time therein affign'd for our Lord's Refurrection was then well and publickly known, and fresh in People's Memory, nor were the Things there mentioned done in a Corner; many Copies and Translations were taken from thefe Originals, and have been handed down to us in fo pure a manner, that the general Agreement of them with one another is esteem'd highly providential: This is the Reafon of our Faith, and our Affent to thofe facred Truths is in fome measure better grounded than that of abundance of the first Chriftians, whofe Cities believed and repented upon the Preaching of one Apostle, but we enjoy the concurrent Teftimony of many of them; St. Peter and St. Paul, St. Matthew and St. John, all confpire to establish us in the Faith; befides the Completion of feveral Prophecies have fince evinced the Truth of thofe Doctrines which the Dependance of thofe Prophecies might in fome measure have kept in Sufpence: The Deftruction of Jerufalem, and the vaft Succefs in the Propagation of the Gospel,

H 4

are

are pregnant Proofs to us of the Divine Origin of our most Holy Religion; and Christianity has now ftood the Teft of almost two thousand Years Oppofition : The Truth of its Hiftory has always rofe fuperior to the Force and Stratagems of the Gates of Hell, which with Confidence we may now affirm, will never prevail against it: And the Purity of its Profeffion has always brighten'd under the most severe Trials of fiery Persecution; fo far is the Credibility of the Gospel-Testimony from decreafing in Proportion to the Distances of Time and Place, that the Extenfivenefs of its Propagation and the Length of its Continuance ought rather to enlarge and exalt our Belief of it.

I HAVE been fomewhat large upon this Head, because the Free - thinking Principles, which our present Times do fo perniciously indulge, make it neceffary to establish the Credibility of the Holy Scriptures upon the fame Foot with common Writings; and the general and plaufible Manner, in which our modern Deifts fpread the Poifon of their Irreligious

ligious Sentiments, oblige us to bring those Questions into the Pulpits, which used to be chiefly confined to the Schools, and make them the neceffary Mediations of the more illiterate, which used only to employ the Thoughts of the Learned. When therefore any Deift asks upon what Grounds we believe the Hiftory of the New Teftament; our Answer is, it is a well-attested Hiftory; how do we prove fuch its Atteftation? It is written with all poffible Marks of Truth and Certainty; it was publish'd foon after the Facts there recorded were performed by Perfons who could not but be well informed of the Things themfelves, and who would not impose upon Mankind in the Relation of them: But how do we know they were thus written? Even as as we know who were the Writers of all other Books; they have come down to our Hands with the concurrent Teftimony of all intermediate Ages, without any Sufpicion of Deceit; if thefe Men think them not written by the Apoftles, it is their Business to offer fome Argument at least for fuch their wild Conception; for,

to

to disbelieve so obvious a Truth, purely because we have not fenfible Demonftration of it, is an Argument, in Point of Reasoning, too weak to deserve an Anfwer; but confidering the Subject, which is thus triflingly handled, it is too impious to pass uncenfured: This, as I just mentioned, was putting the Holy Scriptures upon the fame Foot with common Writings; and this Argument mayferve to confute the Weaknefs of thofe Men who make Reason the top, the fole Rule of judging even in Spiritual Matters: But let a Person who is well difpofed to Religious Knowledge attentively confider those Sacred Writings, and he will perceive that unaffected Simplicity of Narration, that majestick Plainnefs of Stile, that powerful Force of Inftruction, that heavenly Purity of Doctrine, thofe bleffed Tendencies of promoting God's Glory and Man's Happiness, that admirable Connection of every Part, and fuch-like Circumftances, to be fuch bright Indications of Truth, fuch glorious Strokes of Divinity itself, as fet them above the Poffibility not only of Impofture and

Falfhood,

Falfhood, but even of human Invention and Compofure. Thefe Sentiments will inspire a Faith modeft and humble, but ftrong and lively, far fuperior to the ftubborn Stupidity of Senfe, the disputative Weakness of Reafon; Faith founded upon Infallibility itself, not to be fhaken by any Difficulties, or undermin'd by Science, falfely fo called. Thefe are the Bleed here fpoken of in the Text; but upon what Grounds they are pronounced thus blessed, comes now in the

2d Place to be confidered; wherein I proposed to show the fuperior Bleffednefs of those who have not feen, and yet have believed, above those who require fenfible Evidence to engage their Affent to the Articles of Faith. Articles of fuch Importance as thofe contained in the Gospel, ought regularly to engage our Clofet-Application to discover the Truth of them; but Truths of fuch Comfort ought to engage our heartieft and most joyful Affent, when once difcovered. The Nature of the Chriftian Difpenfation abfolutely required fuch Facts to be tranfacted as are there recorded: The Incarnation