A history of the work of redemption. Containing the outlines of a body of…

The nations of the world being united in one monarchy when Christ came, and when the apostles went forth to preach the gospel, did greatly prepare the way for the spreading of the gospel, and the setting up of Christ's kingdom in the world. For the world being thus subject to one government, it opened a communication from nation to nation, and so opportunity was given for the more swiftly propagating the gospel through the world. Thus we find it to be now; as if any thing prevail• in the English nation, the communication is quick from one part of the nation to another, throughout all parts that are subject to the English government, much easier and quicker than to other nations, which are not subject to the English government, and have little to do with them. There are innumerable difficulties in travelling through different nations, that are under different independent governments, which there are not in travelling through different parts of the same realm, or different dominions of the same prince. So the world being under one government, the government of the Romans, in Christ's and the apostles times, facilitated the apostles travelling, and the gospel's spreading through the world.

XVIII. About the same time learning and philosophy were risen to their greatest height in in the Heathen would. The time of learning's flourishing in the Heathen world was principally in this period. Almost all the famous philosophers that we have an ⟨p. 126⟩account of among the Heathen, were after the captivity into Babylon. Almost all the wise men of Greece and Rome flourished in this time. These philosophers, many of them, were indeed men of great temporal wisdom; and that which they in […] chiefly professed to make their business, was to inquire wherein man's chief happiness lay, and the way in which men might obtain happiness. They seemed earnestly •o busy themselves in this inquiry, and wrote multitudes of books about it, many of which are still extant. And they were exceedingly divi••d in their opinions about it. There have been reckoned up several hundreds of different opinions that they had concerning it. Thus they wearied themselves in vain, wandered in the dark, not having the glorious gospel to guide them. God was pleased to suffer men to do the utmost that they could with human wisdom, and to try the extent of their own understandings to find out the way to happiness, before the true light came to enlighten the world; before he sent the great Prophet to lead men in the right way to happiness. God suffered these great philosophers to try what they could do for six hundred years together; and then it proved, by the events of so long a time, that all they could do was in vain; the world not becoming wiser, better, or happier under their instructions, but growing more and more foolish, wicked, and miserable. He suffered their wisdom ad philosophy to come to the greatest height before Christ came, that it might be seen how far reason and philosophy could go in their highest ascent, that the necessity of a divine teacher might appear before Christ came. And God was pleased to make foolish the wisdom of this world, to show men the folly of their best wisdom, by the doctrines of his glorious gospel which were above the reach of all their philosophy. See