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deduction, on account of other persons giving a different testimony.

The Jewish priests and rulers did, indeed, cause to be circulated, a story, relative to the dead body of Christ, contrary to the testimony of the apostles, which has been handed down to us by the evangelists. They hired the soldiers to report, that Christ's disciples had come by night, and stolen the body, while they slepta story too absurd and inconsistent to require a moment's refutation. But as the body was gone out of their possession, they could not, perhaps, have invented any thing more plausible. It proved nothing, however, except that the body was removed while the soldiers slept, and for aught they could testify, might have risen from the dead, according to the testimony of the apostles.

Deists sometimes demand the testimony of the enemięs, as well as the friends of Christianity. To which I would reply, that the silence of enemies, is all that can reasonably be expected from them. That they should come forward, voluntarily, with testimony in favor of a religion, which, through prejudice, or worldly policy, they opposed, could not reasonably be expected. Now, since they would have contradicted these facts, if it had been in their power, their not doing so, furnishes the strongest negative evidence, which we can possess. And no other evidence than that which is negative, or merely incidental, ought to be expected from the enemies of the Gospel; unless, like Paul, they were convinced by the evidence exhibited to them. But no denial of the reality of the miracles of Christ has reached us from any quarter. As far as we have any accounts, there is no reason to think, that they were ever denied by his most implacable enemies. They said, that he performed his works by the help of Beelzebub. The first heathen writers against Christianity, did not dare to deny Christ's miracles. Neither Celsus, Porphyry, Hierocles, nor Julian, pretend, that these facts were entirely false; for they attempted to account for them. The Jewish Rabbies, in the Talmud, acknowledge these miracles, and pretend that they were wrought by magic, or by the power of the venerable name of Jehovah, called, tertragrammaton, which they ridiculously pretend, Jesus stole out of the temple, and by which they say he performed wonderful works.

From what has been said, I trust it is sufficiently manifest, that we have such testimony for the miracles of the New Testament, as will render them credible, in the view of all impartial persons. We have shown that the miracles recorded are real miracles; that they were performed in an open and public manner ;--that the witnesses could not possibly have been deceived themselves ;- that enemies had every opportunity and motive for disproving the facts if they had not been true ;-that there is every evidence of sincerity and honesty in the evangelists ;--that the epistles of the apostles furnish strong collateral proof of the same facts ;-that all Christians from the beginning, must have believed in these miracles, and they must, therefore, be considered competent witnesses ;—that none of the witnesses could have any motive to deceive;—that they never could have succeeded in imposing such a fraud on the world, if they could have attempted it;—that it would have been the easiest thing in the world, for the Jewish Rulers to have silenced such reports if they had been false;—that the commencement of preaching at Jerusa

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lem, and the success of Christianity there, cannot be accounted for, on any other principles, than the truth of the miracles ;—that the conduct of the apostles in going to the most enlightened countries and cities, and their success in those places, can never be reconciled with the idea that they were ignorant impostors;- that the astonishing progress of the Gospel, in the midst of opposition and persecution, and the extraordinary temper of the primitive Christians, under sufferings of the most cruel kind, can only be accounted for, on the supposition of a full persuasion of the truth of the facts, and that this persuasion is proof of their reality ;-and, finally, that no contrary evidence exists : but that even the early enemies of Christianity have been obliged to admit, that such miracles were performed.

Now, when all these things are fairly and fully considered, is it not reasonable to conclude, that it is more probable that miracles should have been performed, than that such a body of testimony, so corroborated by circumstances, and by effects reaching to our own times, should be false?

If all this testimony is false, we may call in question all historical testimony whatever; for what facts ever have been so fully attested?

But why should this testimony be rejected ? No reason has ever been assigned, except that the facts were miraculous; but we have shown, that it is not unreasonable to expect miracles in such a case; and that miracles are capable of satisfactory proof from testimony. It is, therefore, a just conclusion, THAT THE MIRACLES OF THE GOSPEL ARE CREDIBLE.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE BIBLE CONTAINS PREDICTIONS OF EVENTS,

WHICH NO HUMAN SAGACITY COULD HAVE FORESEEN, AND WHICH HAVE BEEN EXACTLY AND REMARKABLY ACCOMPLISHED.

The subject of prophecy is so extensive, and the difficulty of presenting, with brevity, the argument which it furnishes, so great, that if I had not determined to give a general outline of the evidences of revelation, I should have omitted this topic, as one to to which justice cannot be done, in so short an essay.

But, I would not be understood as intimating, that the evidence from prophecy is of an inferior kind. So far from believing this to be the fact, I am persuaded, that whoever will take the pains to examine the subject thoroughly, will find that this source of evidence for the truth of revelation, is exceeded by no other, in the firmness of conviction which it is calculated to produce. Prophecy possesses, as a proof of divine revelation, some advantages which are peculiar. For the proof of miracles we must have recourse to ancient testimony; but the fulfilling of prophecy may fall under our own observation, or may be conveyed to us by living witnesses. The evidence of miracles cannot, in any case, become stronger than it was at first; but that of prophecy is continually increasing, and will go on increasing, until the whole scheme of predictions are fulfilled. The mere publication of a prediction fur

nishes no decisive evidence, that it is a revelation from God: it is the accomplishment which completes the proof. As prophecies have been fulfilled in every age, and are still in a course of being fulfilled; and as some most remarkable predictions remain to be accomplished, it is plain, from the nature of the case, that this proof will continue to increase in strength.

It deserves to be well weighed, that any one prediction which has been fulfilled, is, of itself, a complete evidence of divine revelation; or to speak more properly, is itself a revelation. For, certainly, no one but God himself can foretell distant future events which depend entirely on the purpose of Him, who worketh all things after the council of his own will."

If then, we can adduce one prophecy, the accomplishment of which cannot be doubted, we have established the principle, that a revelation has been given ; and if in one instance, and to one person, the probability is strong, that he is not the only person, who has been favored with such a communication.

The remark, which is frequently made, that most prophecies are obscure, and the meaning very uncertain, will not affect the evidence arising from such as are perspicuous, and of which the accomplishment is exact. There are good reasons, why these future events should sometimes be wrapped up in the covering of strong figures and symbolical language; so that often the prophet himself, probably, did not understand the meaning of the prediction which he uttered. It was not intended, that they should be capable of being clearly interpreted, until the key was furnished, by the completion. If these observations are just, the study of the prophecies will become more and more interest

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