Troposchemmalogia: Tropes and figures; or, A treatise of the metaphors, allegories, and express similitudes, &c. contained in the Bible of the Old and New Testament To which is prefixed, divers arguments to prove the divine authority of the Holy Scriptures wherein also 'tis largely evinced, that by the great whore, mystery Babylon is meant the Papal hierarchy, or present state and church of Rome. Philologia sacra, the second part. Wherein the schemes, or figures in Scripture, are reduced under their proper heads, with a brief explication of each. Together with a treatise of types, parables, &c. with an improvement of them parallel-wise. By B. KTroposchēmalogia: Tropes and figures; or, A treatise of the metaphors, allegories, and express similitudes, &c. contained in the Bible of the Old and New Testament To which is prefixed, divers arguments to prove the divine authority of the Holy Scriptures wherein also 'tis largely evinced, that by the great whore, mystery Babylon is meant the Papal hierarchy, or present state and church of Rome. Philologia sacra, the second part. Wherein the schemes, or figures in Scripture, are reduced under their proper heads, with a brief explication of each. Together with a treatise of types, parables, &c. with an improvement of them parallel-wise. By B. K
Benjamin Keach 1640–1704London: printed by John Darby, 1682
[12], xvi, 436, 48, 437-444 p. · 337k words · Wing K101A · ESTC R7039
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
And if we consider, how low, mean, and imperfect all humane Inventions were in those Times; and what foolish, irrational, and absurd Conceptions, both the Egyptians and Grecians, (Nations most celebrated for Wisdom) had of Things Divine, and the Duty and Happiness of Man; we cannot but conclude, That so clear an Account of the World's Beginning, Depravation, Destruction by the Flood, and Re-peopling; such a most excellent Law and Doctrine, in reference both to God and Man, &c. could not be of Humane Extract, but must needs be in truth, what it pretends it self to be, a Divine Revelation. Besides, who can believe the first Religion should be the worst, or the most timely Notions of God the falsest? Were this so, and the Bible not a Divine Book, but composed by Impostors, then it follows, That the most primitive Account we have of Religion is counterfeit; that the Devil set up his Chapel, before God built his Church; that in the earliest Notices we have of God, of the World's Original, Man's Fall, and the Way of his Recovery, the World is deceived and abused; and that God suffered the Devil, in the first place, (and without any Thing publicly extant from him, either before or since, to contradict it) in his Name, and under pretence of his Authority, to delude and mislead Mankind, with a false Account of all those Things which they are most concerned to know, and upon the right Knowledge of which their present and future Happiness depends: All which, as it is unworthy of God, so it is no less repugnant to the Dictates of Reason. But on the contrary, 'tis most rational to believe, that God's Revelations were as early as Man's Necessities; and that the Bible being the most ancient, as well as the wisest Book in the World, is also the truest, and proceeded from the God of Truth.
And if we consider, how low, mean, and imperfect all humane Inventions were in those Times; and what foolish, irrational, and absurd Conceptions, both the Egyptians and Grecians, (Nations most celebrated for Wisdom) had of Things Divine, and the Duty and Happiness of Man; we cannot but conclude, That so clear an Account of the World's Beginning, Depravation, Destruction by the Flood, and Re-peopling; such a most excellent Law and Doctrine, in reference both to God and Man, &c. could not be of Humane Extract, but must needs be in truth, what it pretends it self to be, a Divine Revelation. Besides, who can believe the first Religion should be the worst, or the most timely Notions of God the falsest? Were this so, and the Bible not a Divine Book, but composed by Impostors, then it follows, That the most primitive Account we have of Religion is counterfeit; that the Devil set up his Chappel, before God built his Church; that in the earliest Notices we have of God, of the World's Original, Man's Fall, and the Way of his Recovery, the World is deceived and abused; and that God suffered the Devil, in the first place, (and without any Thing publickly extant from him, either before or since, to contradict it) in his Name, and under pretence of his Authority, to delude and mislead Mankind, with a false Account of all those Things which they are most concerned to know, and upon the right Knowledg of which their present and future Happiness depends: All which, as it is unworthy of God, so it is no less repugnant to the Dictates of Reason. But on the contrary, 'tis most rational to believe, that God's Revelations were as early as Man's Necessities; and that the Bible being the most ancient, as well as the wisest Book in the World, is also the truest, and proceeded from the God of Truth.
III. This Royal Descent, or Divinity of the Scriptures, further appears,1 by that Majesty and Authoritativeness of the Spirit of God speaking in them, and that extraordinary and inimitable Stile wherein they are written. As 'tis said of our blessed Lord, Mat. 7.28. That he taught as one having Authority, and not as the Scribes: So the Scriptures teach with an awful Authority.† The Stile of the Sacred Scripture is singular, and has peculiar Properties, not elsewhere to be found; its Simplicity is joined with Majesty, commanding the Veneration of all serious Men.* Augustine says, That the Holy Scriptures seemed rude and unpolished to him, in comparison of Cicero's adorned Stile, because he did not then understand its (interiora, or) inward Beauty: But when he was converted to Christianity, declared,‖ That when he understood them, no Writing appeared more wise and eloquent.† Greg. Nazianzen, a Man of prodigious Wit, Learning, and Eloquence, ⟨p. iv⟩when he came to study the sacred Scriptures, vilifies all Ornaments of Literature amongst the Greek Philosophers, as infinitely below those Divine Oracles. Illyricus says, That although we find not in the Holy Scripture that idle or delicate Itch of Words, that external Sweetness or Allurement, that Numerosity of Sounds, or those pleasing Trifles, which vain-glorious Orators of Greece and Rome beautified their so much famed Harangues with; yet we find there a grave and masculine Eloquence, exceeding all others. And shall we indeed think, that the great God would use Inductions, as Plato; Syllogisms, as Aristotle; Elenchs, as the Carmeades; Epiphonema's, as Cicero; Subtleties, as Seneca; or Words far fetched, joined together with an artificial Syntax, with respect to Weight, Number, and Sound? If a Royal Edict were published in that kind of Speech, consisting of School-Follies, every wise Man would laugh at it. The more plain therefore the Word and Law of the great God is, 'tis (we say) the more becoming the Author thereof, and an Evidence of his Divine Stamp and Authority. Yet in that Humility of Stile in Scripture, there is far more Height and Loftiness, and more Profoundness in its Simplicity, more Beauty in its Nakedness, and more Vigour and Acuteness in its (seeming) Rudeness, than in those other Things Men so much praise and admire, &c. Easiness and Plainness doth best become the Truth. A Pearl needs no painting;
it becomes not the Majesty of a Prince to play the Orator. In the holy Scripture is a peculiar and admirable Eloquence. What are all the elaborate Blandishments of Human Writers, to that grave, lively, and venerable Majesty of the Prophet Isaiah's Stile, as the Exordium of his Prophecy shows, also in chap. 25, 26, &c. That which Critics admire in Homer, Pindar, &c. singly, are universally found here, tho not that Elegance that tickles the Ear and Fancy, and relishes with the Flesh, but the noble and immortal Part, viz. an illuminated Soul. Commandments are here given forth, and Subjection peremptorily required, with great Severity, and with no stronger Arguments than the Will of the Law-maker. Promises above likelihood are made; to allure of performance, no Reason is alleged, but I the Lord have spoken*: And to encourage against Difficulties, &c. divine Assistance is promised, both as necessary and sufficient, in the manner of its‖ Threats. Also the Divinity of the Stile may be observed, that without respect of Persons, all degrees of Men are concerned, High and Low, Rich and Poor, Noble and Ignoble, Kings and Peasants, commanding what is distasteful to their Natures, and forbidding what they approve; promising not terrene Honour, but Life everlasting; threatening not with Rack and Gibbet, but eternal Pain, and Torment in Hell-Fire.
it becomes not the Majesty of a Prince to play the Orator. In the holy Scripture is a peculiar and admirable Eloquence. What are all the elaborate Blandishments of Human Writers, to that grave, lively, and venerable Majesty of the Prophet Isaiah's Stile, as the Exordium of his Prophecy shews, also in chap. 25, 26, &c. That which Criticks admire in Homer, Pindar, &c. singly, are universally found here, tho not that Elegancy that tickles the Ear and Fancy, and relishes with the Flesh, but the noble and immortal Part, viz. an illuminated Soul. Commandments are here given forth, and Subjection peremptorily required, with great Severity, and with no stronger Arguments than the Will of the Law-maker. Promises above likelihood are made; to allure of performance, no Reason is alledged, but I the Lord have spoken*: And to encourage against Difficulties, &c. divine Assistance is promised, both as necessary and sufficient, in the manner of its
Of all Writings in the World, the Sacred Scriptures assume most unto themselves; they tell us,1 that they are the Words of Eternal Life; that they are by the Inspiration of the Holy-Ghost, the Testimony of Jesus Christ, the Faithful Witness; that they shall judg the World; that they are able to make wise unto Salvation; that they are the Immortal Seed, of which the Sons and Daughters of God must be begotten. Their Tenor is, Thus saith the Lord; and no Conclusion, but, The Lord hath spoken; Hear the Word of the Lord; He that hath Ears to hear, let him hear, &c. The Nature, Quality, or Composure of the Stile or Phrase (we say) is emphatically and signally different from that of all Humane Writings whatsoever. Here are no Apologies, begging Pardon of the Reader, or insinuating into his good Opinion by Devices of Rhetoric, but a stately Plainness, 2and mysterious Simplicity. We also speak (saith the Apostle) not in the Words which Mans Wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy-Ghost, comparing, (or rather suiting or fitting, [Greek or Hebrew],) spirituals with spirituals, (for so only the Original runs, [Greek or Hebrew],) that is, Matter or Things, which for their Nature and Substance are spiritual, 3with Words or Phrases which are spiritual also, and so suitable to them. Hence, well saith one of the Ancients, The Scripture so speaketh, that with the Height of it, it laughs proud and lofty-spirited Men to scorn; with the Depth of it, it terrifies those who with Attention look into it; with the Truth of it, it feeds Men of the greatest Knowledge and Understanding; and with the Sweetness of it, it nourisheth Babes and Sucklings.
Of all Writings in the World, the Sacred Scriptures assume most unto themselves; they tell us,1 that they are the Words of Eternal Life; that they are by the Inspiration of the Holy-Ghost, the Testimony of Jesus Christ, the Faithful Witness; that they shall judg the World; that they are able to make wise unto Salvation; that they are the Immortal Seed, of which the Sons and Daughters of God must be begotten. Their Tenor is, Thus saith the Lord; and no Conclusion, but, The Lord hath spoken; Hear the Word of the Lord; He that hath Ears to hear, let him hear, &c. The Nature, Quality, or Composure of the Stile or Phrase (we say) is emphatically and signally different from that of all Humane Writings whatsoever. Here are no Apologies, begging Pardon of the Reader, or insinuating into his good Opinion by Devices of Rhetorick, but a stately Plainness,
1IV. That excellent Spirit of Holiness, which every where breaths in and from the Scriptures, is another fair Lineament of the Hand of God in the framing them. To this Holiness they most powerfully persuade Men, by express Commands: Ye shall be holy, for I am holy. As he who hath called you is holy; so be ye holy in all manner of Conversation. And by Threatenings, Without Holiness no Man shall see God. Heb. 12.14. And by a Multitude of Examples of holy Men, as Abraham, David, and all the Prophets and Apostles, and especially of that immaculate Lamb of God, the blessed JESUS. As on the other side, it sets before us the dreadful Vengeance that attends all Profaneness, Unrighteousness, Uncleanness, Pride, and worldly Lusts; requires not only an Abstinence ⟨p. v⟩from the gross outward Acts of Sin, but searches the Heart, and condemns the very Thoughts and Inclinations: He that hateth his Brother, is a Murderer. He that lusteth after a Woman, hath committed Adultery. The Doctrine taught every-where in this Book, is directly opposite to the whole Corporation of debauched and wicked Men; destructive to all Impiety, and corrupt Doctrines and Practices whatsoever, and perfectly ruinous and destructive to the Interests of the Devil in the World: A Doctrine, that has visibly the highest Tendency to those two great Ends of all Religion, the Honour of God, and Man's present and future Happiness. What pitiful, crooked, and imperfect Lines have the wisest and best of mere Men, as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Tully, Seneca, Plutarch, or any others, drawn, in their fairest Documents, both Moral and Divine, compared with this complete and transcendent Rule of holy Living! What undefiled Religion, what pure and spiritual Worship is here! How suitable to the holy Nature of God! What superlative Piety and Virtue, without any spot of Vice! What punctual and perpetual Truth and Honesty is here required! yet without the least Taint of base Means, or unworthy sordid Ends! No Vain-Glory! no Esteem of Men! no corrupt Advantages! But on the contrary, what Charity is here required! What repeated Commands not to offend weak Ones! What mutual Forgivenesses! What Provocations to Love! With what Patience and Meekness, Justice and Modesty, are we taught to behave our selves! In a word, 'Tis such a Doctrine as makes a Man perfect, throughly furnished to every good Work;
which brings Men to the best Way of Living, the noblest Way of Suffering, and the comfortablest Way of Dying. — Now must not such pure Streams needs flow from the Fountain of all Perfection? Does such a serious and effectual Advancement of Holiness in the World, look like an Intrigue of polluted Man, or any unclean Spirit? How can we better judg of a Law, that declares it proceeds from God, and is of Divine Obligation, than by its Nature, Tendency and Influence on humane Life? Whether it be suitable to those Pretensions, and such an adorable and unspotted Original? And when we find so holy and excellent a Design, as appears throughout this whole Book, for the Honour of God, and completing the Happiness of Men, by Methods so agreeable, and yet above the reach of Humane Invention; what can we judg, (unless we will be obstinately perverse) but that such a Book's Testimony of it self is true, and that it is indeed of God, and not of Men?
which brings Men to the best Way of Living, the noblest Way of Suffering, and the comfortablest Way of Dying. — Now must not such pure Streams needs flow from the Fountain of all Perfection? Does such a serious and effectual Advancement of Holiness in the World, look like an Intrigue of polluted Man, or any unclean Spirit? How can we better judg of a Law, that declares it proceeds from God, and is of Divine Obligation, than by its Nature, Tendency and Influence on humane Life? Whether it be suitable to those Pretensions, and such an adorable and unspotted Original? And when we find so holy and excellent a Design, as appears throughout this whole Book, for the Honour of God, and compleating the Happiness of Men, by Methods so agreeable, and yet above the reach of Humane Invention; what can we judg, (unless we will be obstinately perverse) but that such a Book's Testimony of it self is true, and that it is indeed of God, and not of Men?
V. The sweet and admirable Agreement, Consent, Dependence, and Harmony,1 that we find in all and every part of Scripture, tho there are so many Books thereof, written by so many different Persons, of various Conditions, many Ages removed, in several Places, and in different Languages, yet all agreeing with each other, and every part with the whole, which could not be foreseen or contrived by any humane Wisdom or Cunning, in the writing of any one Part: For all the Histories, Prophecies, Promises, Types, and Doctrines, in an orderly Connection, tend to promote the same Thing; and every Age proves a fresh Interpreter, and reveals to us more and more of this admirable Concord, which could not be the Effect of humane Artifice, nor of any other Cause, but an infinite Comprehension and Fore-sight, and that the several Writers of this Book were in all Times guided in what they wrote by the Supreme Wisdom of that one God, who is always constant to himself, and the same yesterday, to day, and for ever.
V. The sweet and admirable Agreement, Consent, Dependence, and Harmony,1 that we find in all and every part of Scripture, tho there are so many Books thereof, written by so many different Persons, of various Conditions, many Ages remov'd, in several Places, and in different Languages, yet all agreeing with each other, and every part with the whole, which could not be foreseen or contriv'd by any humane Wisdom or Cunning, in the writing of any one Part: For all the Histories, Prophecies, Promises, Types, and Doctrines, in an orderly Connection, tend to promote the same Thing; and every Age proves a fresh Interpreter, and reveals to us more and more of this admirable Concord, which could not be the Effect of humane Artifice, nor of any other Cause, but an infinite Comprehension and Fore-sight, and that the several Writers of this Book were in all Times guided in what they wrote by the Supreme Wisdom of that one God, who is always constant to himself, and the same yesterday, to day, and for ever.
VI. This further appears from the Credit and Sincerity of those that were the Pen-men.1 If the Scriptures were not what they pretend to be, viz. the Word of God, and dictated to the Writers thereof by his holy Spirit, it would be the greatest Affront to the Divine Majesty, and the grossest Cheat towards Mankind, that ever was put upon the World. But if we consider the Pen-men thereof, we shall find them all of undoubted Credit, generally esteemed holy and good Men in the Ages they lived in, so no way to be suspected of Imposture. Some of them were Kings, and of the deepest Learning, not likely to be guilty of such a mean-spirited Baseness, as Lying and Forgery. Many of the Prophets, and most of the Apostles were Men illiterate, of Parts and Education so mean, that of themselves they seem no way capable to write so profoundly, or lay so deep a Contrivance for deluding the World. And as 'tis incredible, that so many Men, of such distant Times, Qualities, and Abilities, should all agree in the same Imposture, and so harmonize in promoting it; so neither could any Interest or Ambition prompt them thereunto: For as the main Tendency of this Book is, to mortify Mens Ambitions and Lusts; so most of them exposed themselves, by publishing these Writings, to great Hazards and Persecutions. Nor have several of them been shy to record the great Failings and Imperfections of themselves, or their Brethren. Thus Moses (a)relates his own Infidelity, ⟨p. vi⟩and Averseness to submit to the extraordinary Call of God. In another place(b), he records the Shame of his Distrustfulness, or at least the Carnality of his Conceit or Apprehension of the Power of God. Again,(c) he inserts God's heavy Sentence, and the Ground thereof, against him. The same Moses did not set up any of his own Posterity to succeed him in the Guidance of Israel, but left Joshua to succeed him, &c. and placed the Kingly Superiority over that People in another Tribe from his own, viz. the Tribe of Judah. Indeed, throughout the whole Book there is a visible Antipathy to all self-seeking Flattery or Compliance: God alone is exalted, and all Mens Persons, Actions, and Reputations are laid in the Dust, in respect of his Honour, and the Truths therein delivered. Besides, these very Writers appear themselves to be under a subjection to the Doctrine they taught, and no way Masters of it, as their own.
All which plainly shows, that they were inspired from above, and wrote not their own Words, or for their own Honour, but as inspired, and for the Honour of God.
All which plainly shews, that they were inspired from above, and wrote not their own Words, or for their own Honour, but as inspired, and for the Honour of God.
1VII. Another Demonstration or Proof, that the Scriptures are from God, is the exact and punctual fulfilling of the Prophecies therein contained. To foretell Events, is the Prerogative of God:(d) Let them bring forth, (saith God, the Lord, expostulating with his People about the Vanity of Idols) and show us, [What shall happen]: Show us the Things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are Gods. Now the Body of the Scriptures is enlivened with the Spirit of Prophecy (almost) throughout. That of Jacob, recorded by Moses, (e)That the Sceptre should not depart from Judah, nor a Law-giver from between his Feet until Shiloh come; and to him shall the gathering of the People be: was not completely fulfilled till well near two thousand Years after, tho made good during a great part of that Time, viz. from the Entrance of the Tribe of Judah upon the Government, in King David, until the going of it out again in the Person of Hircanus, whom Herod slew, as Josephus testifies. But when the Time appointed was expired, the Prophecy it self was completely fulfilled: For when Herod, a Stranger, and of another Nation, had cut off the House and Line of Judah from the Government of Jewry, then and at that Time Shiloh, the long-expected Messiah, our Lord Christ, punctually came into the World: for that by Shiloh is meant the Messiah, the Jewish Rabbis do not deny. Now at the Time of Jacob's uttering these Words, there was little probability, that any of his Posterity should have a Sceptre, or any Kingly Power, being poor, few, and in a strange Land: Or, if they should thrive so, as to become a Kingdom, or Nation, why should Judah have the Government, seeing there were three elder Brothers, Reuben, Simeon, and Levi? Nor was there likelihood of this Prophecy's being accomplished, when Moses set it down in Writing; for then he himself (who was of the Tribe of Levi) was in the actual Possession of the Government, and put into it by God himself, who appointed for his Successor, Joshua, not of the Tribe of Judah, but of Ephraim. Whence we have a notable Evidence of the Truth and Sincerity of this Prediction; for had not Jacob really uttered it, we cannot imagine Moses would have put such a Prophecy in Writing, to the disparagement of his own Tribe. How accurately are the four great Monarchies of the World described by Daniel?
(f)so lively, as if he had lived under them, and had that experience of them all respectively, which the World hath since had of them. How wonderful is that Prophecy of Isaiah, at the end of his 44th, and the beginning of the 45th Chapter, touching Cyrus, delivered at least an hundred Years (some say, two hundred) before he was born, wherein yet he is not only expressly named, Thus saith the Lord to his Anointed Cyrus; but it is foretold, he should conquer Babylon, and rebuild the Temple of Jerusalem: which came to pass accordingly. Nor can this Prophecy be suspected of Forgery, or to be supposititious in any kind, since it was pronounced openly, as other Prophecies were, in the hearing of all the People, and so divulged into many hands, before the Captivity, and then also carried into Babylon, where no doubt it was perused by many, long before the accomplishment of it. And that there was such a Man as Cyrus many Years afterwards, that conquered Babylon, and restored the Jews from their Captivity, and furthered the Building of the Temple, all Heathen Authors, that write of those Times, do affirm. And indeed one great Inducement of his Kindness to the Jews, was, because he understood how his Successes had been thus prophesied of, so long before, by one of that Nation. So that it appears the said Prophecy was then publicly known, and its Truth and Authentickness no way doubted of. How manifestly are the many Prophecies of the Old-Testament, concerning our Saviour, fulfilled? And how dreadfully his Prophecy of the Destruction of Jerusalem, was made good about forty Years after his Crucifixion, we find in the History of Josephus, exactly corresponding to what is foretold in Mat. 24. And ⟨p. vii⟩how many other Prophecies of the New-Testament, and especially of the Revelations, do we daily find Verified in and by the Apostasy, and wicked Usurpations of the Church of Rome? Since therefore to foretell so plainly, Particulars and Events so remote, and depending on the mere Motions and Acts of the Wills of particular Persons, yet unborn, is an evident Mark of Omniscience; we cannot but conclude, that the Scriptures, which are filled with so many evident and certain Predictions, must certainly proceed from the Finger of God.
VIII. Those Writings, and that Doctrine,1 which were confirmed by many and real Miracles, must needs be of God: But the Books and Doctrines of Canonical Scriptures were so confirmed. Many and great Wonders, such as Satan himself cannot imitate, such as exceed the Power of any, yea, of all the Creatures in the World; such as the most malicious Enemies could not deny to be divine, hath the Lord openly wrought by the hands of Moses, and the Prophets, Christ, and his Apostles, for the Confirmation of this Truth.(g) These Miracles are recorded and attested by Persons of unquestionable Credit, that were Eye and Ear-Witnesses. The Things done, as raising the Dead to Life, curing the Blind, &c. were Matters of Fact, easy to be discerned. They were not done once or twice, but very often; not in the Night, or in a Corner, but in the open Light, in the midst of the People, in the presence of great Multitudes, who were generally Enemies to those that wrought these Miracles: So that if the Relations of them were false, they would presently have disproved them; or if there had been any Deceit, they would soon have detected it.
When God puts forth his Miracle-working Power,1 in the Confirmation of any Word or Doctrine, he avows it to be of and from himself, to be absolutely and infallibly true; setting the fullest and openest Seal unto it, which Men, who cannot discern his Essence or Being, are capable of receiving or discerning. And therefore when any Doctrine, which in it self is such as becometh the Holiness and Righteousness of God, is confirmed by the Emanation of his Divine Power in working of Miracles, there can no greater Assurance, even by God himself, be given to confirm the Truth of it.
And as we have the Testimony of the Evangelists, to confirm the many Miracles that Jesus did; we also plead the Notoriety of those Miracles wrought by him, and the Traditions delivering them down to us: They were openly wrought, and were all or most of them performed before the Eyes of Multitudes, who envied, hated, and persecuted him, and that in the most knowing Days of the World, when Reason and Learning had improved the Light of the Minds of Men to the utmost of their Capacity; in and upon Multitudes, for sundry Years together, being all of them sifted by his Adversaries, to try if they could discover any thing of Deceit in them.
And as we have the Testimony of the Evangelists, to confirm the many Miracles that Jesus did; we also plead the Notoriety of those Miracles wrought by him, and the Traditions delivering them down to us: They were openly wrought, and were all or most of them perform'd before the Eyes of Multitudes, who envied, hated, and persecuted him, and that in the most knowing Days of the World, when Reason and Learning had improved the Light of the Minds of Men to the utmost of their Capacity; in and upon Multitudes, for sundry Years together, being all of them sifted by his Adversaries, to try if they could discover any thing of Deceit in them.
Besides, the very Enemies have not had the impudence to deny such notorious Matters of Fact, as our Saviour's Miracles;1 only they ascribe them to other Causes. Even to this Day, the Jews acknowledge much of the Works of Christ, but slanderously and blasphemously father them on the Power of the Devil, or upon the Force of the Name of God sowed up in his Thigh; and such like ridiculous Stories they have. Even the Turks confess much of the Miracles of our Lord, and believe him to be a great Prophet, though they are profest Enemies to the Christian Name. Nor could all the Adversaries of these Miracles and Relations, with all their Arguments or Violence, hinder Thousands from believing them, and even exposing their Lives on that Belief, in the very Time and Country where they were done. So that we must say, Either they were Miracles, or not: If they were, why do you not believe? If they were not, behold the greatest Miracle of all, that so many Thousands (even of the Beholders) should be so blind, as to believe Things that never were, especially in those very Times, when it was the easiest Matter in the World to have disproved such Falsehoods. Indeed the Miracles of Jesus, and those of his Disciples and Servants, in the Primitive Times, were in Fact so many, so eminent, so visible, and lasted so long, (for they continued in the Church two or three hundred Years) and the Account of them has descended down to us by such a constant, uninterrupted written and unwritten Tradition, that scarce any Man has assumed Impudence enough to gainsay them. Irenaeus (who lived about the Year of our Lord 200) affirmeth, that in his Time the working of Miracles, the raising of the Dead, the casting out of Devils, healing the Sick by mere laying on of Hands, and Prophesying, were still in force; and that some that were so raised from the Dead, remained alive amongst them long after. And Cyprian and Tertullian mention the ordinary casting out of Devils, and challenge the Heathen to come and see it. Remarkable ⟨p. viii⟩are those Words of the latter,(h) Let any one be brought before your Tribunals, who is apparently possessed with a Devil, that Spirit, being commanded by any Christian, shall confess of truth himself to be a Devil, as at other Times he boasts himself a God. And in his Book to Scapula, the Procurator of Afric, Cap. 4. he repeats several miraculous Cures done by Christians:
Quanti honesty viri, &c. How many Persons of good Quality and Esteem, says he, (for we speak not of the Vulgar Sort) have been remedied either from Devils or Diseases? Severus himself, the Father of Antoninus, was recovered by Christians, &c. So that here we have the best Doctrine under the highest Attestation, God himself setting thereunto his supernatural Seals, to convince us of the Truth thereof. And this was the great Argument, whereby Christ all along convinced the World; for upon his beginning of Miracles, at Cana in Galilee, he manifested his Glory, and his Disciples believed in him(i). The Jews therefore enquired for Signs, as that which must confirm any new Revelation to be of God(k). And tho Christ blames them for their unreasonable unsatisfied Expectations herein, and would not humour them in each Particular; yet he continued to give them Miracles as great as they desired. They that saw the Miracles of the Loaves, said, This is of a truth the Prophet that should come into the World(l). Many believed, when they saw the Miracles which he did(m). If I had not done the Works that no Man else could do, ye had not had Sin (in not believing)(n). And the Way of bringing Men to believe in these Days is expressed, Heb. 2.3, 4. How shall we escape, if we neglect so great Salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those that heard him, [There is the Evidence of Sense to the first Receivers, and their Tradition to the next] God also bearing them witness, both with Signs and Wonders, and divers Miracles? Let us conclude this Argument with that smart Interrogation of that blind Man,(o) Can a Man that is a Sinner do such Miracles? Natural Reason showing us, that God being the true and merciful Governor of the World, the Course of Nature cannot be altered, but by his special Appointment; and that he will never set the Seal of his Omnipotency to a Lie, nor suffer the last and greatest Inducement to Belief, to be used to draw Men to embrace Falsehood and Forgeries.
III. This Royal Descent, or Divinity of the Scriptures, further appears,1 by that Majesty and Authoritativeness of the Spirit of God speaking in them, and that extraordinary and inimitable Stile wherein they are written. As 'tis said of our blessed Lord, Mat. 7.28. That he taught as one having Authority, and not as the Scribes: So the Scriptures teach with an awful Authority.† The Stile of the Sacred Scripture is singular, and has peculiar Properties, not elsewhere to be found; its Simplicity is joined with Majesty, commanding the Veneration of all serious Men.* Augustine says, That the Holy Scriptures seemed rude and unpolish'd to him, in comparison of Cicero's adorned Stile, because he did not then understand its (interiora, or) inward Beauty: But when he was converted to Christianity, declared,‖ That when he understood them, no Writing appeared more wise and eloquent.† Greg. Nazianzen, a Man of prodigious Wit, Learning, and Eloquence, ⟨p. iv⟩when he came to study the sacred Scriptures, vilifies all Ornaments of Literature amongst the Greek Philosophers, as infinitely below those Divine Oracles. Illyricus says, That altho we find not in the Holy Scripture that idle or delicate Itch of Words, that external Sweetness or Allurement, that Numerosity of Sounds, or those pleasing Triffes, which vain-glorious Orators of Greece and Rome beautified their so much fam'd Harangues with; yet we find there a grave and masculine Eloquence, exceeding all others. And shall we indeed think, that the great God would use Inductions, as Plato; Syllogisms, as Aristotle; Elenchs, as the Carmeades; Epiphonema's, as Cicero; Subtilties, as Seneca; or Words far fetch'd, joined together with an artificial Syntax, with respect to Weight, Number, and Sound? If a Royal Edict were published in that kind of Speech, consisting of School-Follies, every wise Man would laugh at it. The more plain therefore the Word and Law of the great God is, 'tis (we say) the more becoming the Author thereof, and an Evidence of his Divine Stamp and Authority. Yet in that Humility of Stile in Scripture, there is far more Height and Loftiness, and more Profoundness in its Simplicity, more Beauty in its Nakedness, and more Vigor and Acuteness in its (seeming) Rudeness, than in those other Things Men so much praise and admire, &c. Easiness and Plainness doth best become the Truth. A Pearl needs no painting;
13. The Majesty and Strangeness of the Stile.
†See the Epist. to the First Volume.
*Lib. 3. Confess. cap. 5.
‖Lib. 4 de Doctrin. Christ. cap. 6.
†Budoeus, lib. 5. de Asse, & partibus ejus. p. 754.
Threats. Also the Divinity of the Stile may be observed, that without respect of Persons, all degrees of Men are concerned, High and Low, Rich and Poor, Noble and Ignoble, Kings and Peasants, commanding what is distasteful to their Natures, and forbidding what they approve; promising not terrene Honour, but Life everlasting; threatning not with Rack and Gibbet, but eternal Pain, and Torment in Hell-Fire.
and mysterious Simplicity. We also speak (saith the Apostle) not in the Words which Mans Wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy-Ghost, comparing, (or rather suiting or fitting, 〈non-Latin alphabet〉,) spirituals with spirituals, (for so only the Original runs, 〈non-Latin alphabet〉,) that is, Matter or Things, which for their Nature and Substance are spiritual,
with Words or Phrases which are spiritual also, and so suitable to them. Hence, well saith one of the Ancients, The Scripture so speaketh, that with the Height of it, it laughs proud and lofty-spirited Men to scorn; with the Depth of it, it terrifies those who with Attention look into it; with the Truth of it, it feeds Men of the greatest Knowledg and Ʋnderstanding; and with the Sweetness of it, it nourisheth Babes and Sucklings.
IV. That excellent Spirit of Holiness, which every where breaths in and from the Scriptures, is another fair Lineament of the Hand of God in the framing them. To this Holiness they most powerfully persuade Men, by express Commands: Ye shall be holy, for I am holy. As he who hath called you is holy; so be ye holy in all manner of Conversation. And by Threatnings, Without Holiness no Man shall see God. Heb. 12.14. And by a Multitude of Examples of holy Men, as Abraham, David, and all the Prophets and Apostles, and especially of that immaculate Lamb of God, the blessed JESUS. As on the other side, it sets before us the dreadful Vengeance that attends all Prophaneness, Unrighteousness, Uncleanness, Pride, and worldly Lusts; requires not only an Abstinence
⟨p. v⟩
from the gross outward Acts of Sin, but searches the Heart, and condemns the very Thoughts and Inclinations: He that hateth his Brother, is a Murtherer. He that lusteth after a Woman, hath committed Adultery. The Doctrine taught every-where in this Book, is directly opposite to the whole Corporation of debauched and wicked Men; destructive to all Impiety, and corrupt Doctrines and Practices whatsoever, and perfectly ruinous and destructive to the Interests of the Devil in the World: A Doctrine, that has visibly the highest Tendency to those two great Ends of all Religion, the Honour of God, and Man's present and future Happiness. What pitiful, crooked, and imperfect Lines have the wisest and best of meer Men, as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Tully, Seneca, Plutarch, or any others, drawn, in their fairest Documents, both Moral and Divine, compared with this compleat and transcendent Rule of holy Living! What undefiled Religion, what pure and spiritual Worship is here! How suitable to the holy Nature of God! What superlative Piety and Vertue, without any spot of Vice! What punctual and perpetual Truth and Honesty is here required! yet without the least Taint of base Means, or unworthy sordid Ends! No Vain-Glory! no Esteem of Men! no corrupt Advantages! But on the contrary, what Charity is here required! What repeated Commands not to offend weak Ones! What mutual Forgivenesses! What Provocations to Love! With what Patience and Meekness, Justice and Modesty, are we taught to behave our selves! In a word, 'Tis such a Doctrine as makes a Man perfect, throughly furnished to every good Work;
VI. This further appears from the Credit and Sincerity of those that were the Pen-men.1 If the Scriptures were not what they pretend to be, viz. the Word of God, and dictated to the Writers thereof by his holy Spirit, it would be the greatest Affront to the Divine Majesty, and the grossest Cheat towards Mankind, that ever was put upon the World. But if we consider the Pen-men thereof, we shall find them all of undoubted Credit, generally esteemed holy and good Men in the Ages they liv'd in, so no way to be suspected of Imposture. Some of them were Kings, and of the deepest Learning, not likely to be guilty of such a mean-spirited Baseness, as Lying and Forgery. Many of the Prophets, and most of the Apostles were Men illiterate, of Parts and Education so mean, that of themselves they seem no way capable to write so profoundly, or lay so deep a Contrivance for deluding the World. And as 'tis incredible, that so many Men, of such distant Times, Qualities, and Abilities, should all agree in the same Imposture, and so harmonize in promoting it; so neither could any Interest or Ambition prompt them thereunto: For as the main Tendency of this Book is, to mortify Mens Ambitions and Lusts; so most of them exposed themselves, by publishing these Writings, to great Hazards and Persecutions. Nor have several of them been shie to record the great Failings and Imperfections of themselves, or their Brethren. Thus Moses (a)relates his own Infidelity, ⟨p. vi⟩and Averseness to submit to the extraordinary Call of God. In another place(b), he records the Shame of his Distrustfulness, or at least the Carnality of his Conceit or Apprehension of the Power of God. Again,(c) he inserts God's heavy Sentence, and the Ground thereof, against him. The same Moses did not set up any of his own Posterity to succeed him in the Guidance of Israel, but left Joshua to succeed him, &c. and placed the Kingly Superiority over that People in another Tribe from his own, viz. the Tribe of Judah. Indeed, throughout the whole Book there is a visible Antipathy to all self-seeking Flattery or Compliance: God alone is exalted, and all Mens Persons, Actions, and Reputations are laid in the Dust, in respect of his Honour, and the Truths therein delivered. Besides, these very Writers appear themselves to be under a subjection to the Doctrine they taught, and no way Masters of it, as their own.
VII. Another Demonstration or Proof, that the Scriptures are from God, is the exact and punctual fulfilling of the Prophecies therein contained. To foretell Events, is the Prerogative of God:
Let them bring forth, (saith God, the Lord, expostulating with his People about the Vanity of Idols) and shew us, [What shall happen]: Shew us the Things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are Gods. Now the Body of the Scriptures is enlivened with the Spirit of Prophecy (almost) throughout. That of Jacob, recorded by Moses,
That the Scepter should not depart from Judah, nor a Law-giver from between his Feet untill Shiloh come; and to him shall the gathering of the People be: was not compleatly fulfilled till well near two thousand Years after, tho made good during a great part of that Time, viz. from the Entrance of the Tribe of Judah upon the Government, in King David, until the going of it out again in the Person of Hircanus, whom Herod slew, as Josephus testifies. But when the Time appointed was expired, the Prophecy it self was compleatly fulfilled: For when Herod, a Stranger, and of another Nation, had cut off the House and Line of Judah from the Government of Jewry, then and at that Time Shiloh, the long-expected Messiah, our Lord Christ, punctually came into the World: for that by Shiloh is meant the Messiah, the Jewish Rabbies do not deny. Now at the Time of Jacob's uttering these Words, there was little probability, that any of his Posterity should have a Scepter, or any Kingly Power, being poor, few, and in a strange Land: Or, if they should thrive so, as to become a Kingdom, or Nation, why should Judah have the Government, seeing there were three elder Brothers, Reuben, Simeon, and Levi? Nor was there likelihood of this Prophecy's being accomplish'd, when Moses set it down in Writing; for then he himself (who was of the Tribe of Levi) was in the actual Possession of the Government, and put into it by God himself, who appointed for his Successor, Joshua, not of the Tribe of Judah, but of Ephraim. Whence we have a notable Evidence of the Truth and Sincerity of this Prediction; for had not Jacob really uttered it, we cannot imagine Moses would have put such a Prophecy in Writing, to the disparagement of his own Tribe. How accurately are the four great Monarchies of the World described by Daniel?
18. Scripture-prophecies, and their Accomplishments, prove 'tis divine.
so lively, as if he had lived under them, and had that experience of them all respectively, which the World hath since had of them. How wonderful is that Prophecy of Isaiah, at the end of his 44th, and the beginning of the 45th Chapter, touching Cyrus, delivered at least an hundred Years (some say, two hundred) before he was born, wherein yet he is not only expresly named, Thus saith the Lord to his Anointed Cyrus; but it is foretold, he should conquer Babylon, and rebuild the Temple of Jerusalem: which came to pass accordingly. Nor can this Prophecy be suspected of Forgery, or to be supposititious in any kind, since it was pronounced openly, as other Prophecies were, in the hearing of all the People, and so divulged into many hands, before the Captivity, and then also carried into Babylon, where no doubt it was perused by many, long before the accomplishment of it. And that there was such a Man as Cyrus many Years afterwards, that conquered Babylon, and restored the Jews from their Captivity, and furthered the Building of the Temple, all Heathen Authors, that write of those Times, do affirm. And indeed one great Inducement of his Kindness to the Jews, was, because he understood how his Successes had been thus prophesied of, so long before, by one of that Nation. So that it appears the said Prophecy was then publickly known, and its Truth and Authentickness no way doubted of. How manifestly are the many Prophecies of the Old-Testament, concerning our Saviour, fulfilled? And how dreadfully his Prophecy of the Destruction of Jerusalem, was made good about forty Years after his Crucifixion, we find in the History of Josephus, exactly corresponding to what is foretold in
how many other Prophecies of the New-Testament, and especially of the Revelations, do we daily find Verified in and by the Apostacy, and wicked Usurpations of the Church of Rome? Since therefore to foretell so plainly, Particulars and Events so remote, and depending on the meer Motions and Acts of the Wills of particular Persons, yet unborn, is an evident Mark of Omnisciency; we cannot but conclude, that the Scriptures, which are fill'd with so many evident and certain Predictions, must certainly proceed from the Finger of God.
Besides, the very Enemies have not had the impudence to deny such notorious Matters of Fact, as our Saviour's Miracles;1 only they ascribe them to other Causes. Even to this Day, the Jews acknowledg much of the Works of Christ, but slanderously and blasphemously father them on the Power of the Devil, or upon the Force of the Name of God sowed up in his Thigh; and such like ridiculous Stories they have. Even the Turks confess much of the Miracles of our Lord, and believe him to be a great Prophet, though they are profest Enemies to the Christian Name. Nor could all the Adversaries of these Miracles and Relations, with all their Arguments or Violence, hinder Thousands from believing them, and even exposing their Lives on that Belief, in the very Time and Country where they were done. So that we must say, Either they were Miracles, or not: If they were, why do you not believe? If they were not, behold the greatest Miracle of all, that so many Thousands (even of the Beholders) should be so blind, as to believe Things that never were, especially in those very Times, when it was the easiest Matter in the World to have disproved such Falshoods. Indeed the Miracles of Jesus, and those of his Disciples and Servants, in the Primitive Times, were in Fact so many, so eminent, so visible, and lasted so long, (for they continued in the Church two or three hundred Years) and the Account of them has descended down to us by such a constant, uninterrupted written and unwritten Tradition, that scarce any Man has assumed Impudence enough to gainsay them. Irenaeus (who lived about the Year of our Lord 200) affirmeth, that in his Time the working of Miracles, the raising of the Dead, the casting out of Devils, healing the Sick by meer laying on of Hands, and Prophesying, were still in force; and that some that were so raised from the Dead, remained alive amongst them long after. And Cyprian and Tertullian mention the ordinary casting out of Devils, and challenge the Heathen to come and see it. Remarkable ⟨p. viii⟩are those Words of the latter,(h) Let any one be brought before your Tribunals, who is apparently possessed with a Devil, that Spirit, being commanded by any Christian, shall confess of truth himself to be a Devil, as at other Times he boasts himself a God. And in his Book to Scapula, the Procurator of Africk, Cap. 4. he repeats several miraculous Cures done by Christians:
1Josephus, in his Antiquity of the Jews, makes mention of the mighty Miracles that Jesus did. See p. 400.
(h)Tertullian Apol. Ca. 23.
Quanti honesti viri, &c. How many Persons of good Quality and Esteem, says he, (for we speak not of the Vulgar Sort) have been remedied either from Devils or Diseases? Severus himself, the Father of Antoninus, was recovered by Christians, &c. So that here we have the best Doctrine under the highest Attestation, God himself setting thereunto his supernatural Seals, to convince us of the Truth thereof. And this was the great Argument, whereby Christ all along convinced the World; for upon his beginning of Miracles, at Cana in Galilee, he manifested his Glory, and his Disciples believed in him(i). The Jews therefore enquired for Signs, as that which must confirm any new Revelation to be of God(k). And tho Christ blames them for their unreasonable unsatisfied Expectations herein, and would not humor them in each Particular; yet he continued to give them Miracles as great as they desired. They that saw the Miracles of the Loaves, said, This is of a truth the Prophet that should come into the World(l). Many believed, when they saw the Miracles which he did(m). If I had not done the Works that no Man else could do, ye had not had Sin (in not believing)(n). And the Way of bringing Men to believe in these Days is expressed, Heb. 2.3, 4. How shall we escape, if we neglect so great Salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those that heard him, [There is the Evidence of Sense to the first Re•eivers, and their Tradition to the next] God also bearing them witness, both with Signs and Wonders, and divers Miracles? Let us conclude this Argument with that smart Interrogation of that blind Man,(o) Can a Man that is a Sinner do such Miracles? Natural Reason shewing us, that God being the true and merciful Governor of the World, the Course of Nature cannot be altered, but by his special Appointment; and that he will never set the Seal of his Omnipotency to a Lie, nor suffer the last and greatest Inducement to Belief, to be used to draw Men to embrace Falshood and Forgeries.
