N00941:261
Meat out of the eater. Or, Funeral-discourses occasioned by the death of several relatives.…
Meat out of the eater. Or, Funeral-discourses occasioned by the death of several relatives. Work accommodated unto the service of all that are in any affliction; but very particularly such as are afflicted with the loss of their consorts or children. / By Cotton Mather. ; [Four lines from I Corinthians]
Boston: printed by B. Green & J. Allen for Benjamin Eliot, 1703
Title page typeset from the transcription.
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.
In these Apparitions, they Saw Him, they Heard Him, they Felt Him; and they convinced all their Senses, that it was not a Spectre which now imposed on them. They had, Acts 1. 3. Many infallible proofs! This Thing, these Disciples testified unto all the World; and the World had Arguments enough to make their Testimony credible. The Disciples could not be Deceived; for God had endued them with so much Capacity, that it puzzled and Nonplussed the greatest Wits in their Nation to Encounter them. And the Disciples would not be Deceivers. If they had found themselves cheated by the Promises which our Lord had given them of His Rising again, would they have Preached Him any more? No, they would have Hated Him, as an Impostor, with a most inexpressible Indignation. Had they been Deceivers, they had been the worst men that ever brea•hed; yea, rather Devils than Men. But you will find, that they were Eminent Saints of God. They could not be the Servants of ⟨p. 165⟩the Devil: for the Devils Kingdom suffered more from these men, than ever from any men under Heaven. The Devil could never have put it into the Hearts of those men, to oppose and confound and ruin all his Interests among the Children of men. Had the Disciples been Deceivers, they must have propounded some likely Benefit unto themselves; A Sum of Money was given to Numerius Atticus, for Swearing that he saw the Deceased Augustus fly up into Heaven. But what Benefit could these men propound, Except Reproach, Wants, Fears, and horrible Torments, and all the Horrors of a bloody Death, be a Benefit! It was impossible for the Disciples to go forth publishing the Resurrection of our Lord▪ Redeemer, without a great Faith in God, for the Success of their Ministry. But the Hearts of Deceivers could never have had such a Faith!
In these Apparitions, they Saw Him, they Heard Him, they Felt Him; and they convinced all their Senses, that it was not a Spectre which now imposed on them. They had, Acts 1. 3. Many infallible proofs! This Thing, these Disciples testified unto all the World; and the World had Arguments enough to make their Testimony credible. The Disciples could not be Deceived; for God had endued them with so much Capacity, that it puzzled and Nonplust the greatest Wits in their Nation to Encounter them. And the Disciples would not be Deceivers. If they had found themselves cheated by the Promises which our Lord had given them of His Rising again, would they have Preached Him any more? No, they would have Hated Him, as an Imposter, with a most inexpressible Indignation. Had they been Deceivers, they had been the worst men that ever breahed; yea, rather Devils than Men. But you will find, that they were Eminent Saints of God. They could not be the Servants of