fceptic, whom I will not hesitate to pronounce a fool, + to look upon a revelation of one, the fufficiency of which precludes the neceffity, and confequently the existence of more, to be adequate to a fuller view of that which admits of a fuller view. In short, my recommendation amounts to no more, nor less, than the old established maxim, that proofs, and confequently our credit, are to be deduced from the beft evidence the nature of the cafe admits of. The best evidence then, which the nature of the case before us admits of, is the revelation of God, allowed to have been made by him, and admitted incontrovertibly true. Whatsoever is related therein, is advanced upon authority fufficient to warrant our affent; but as the revelation is not itself supported by an equally ftrong evidence as that which, upon admittance, it affords to whatsoever it teftifies, we are not required to yield more than bélief to the affertions contained in it; were it as certainly the word of God, as the word of God is certainly true, we fhould poffefs little less than certainty of the facts revealed therein; but being allowed, upon that evidence which is unquestionably fufficient to induce credit, it remains to be enquired into, whether it bears teftimony to the divinity of our bleffed Reedeemer Jefus Chrift, or not? As I have now reached the threshold, and am just entering into the proofs, and the nature of the proofs, which the fcriptures afford of the truth of this great mystery, once more let me warn, and deeply inculcate the warning, to beware of the delufions of natural religion, if such a religion there be, and if that which we conceive to have been derived from nature, be not rather a refiduum, after our pride has rejected whatsoever is revealed beyond its reach. The The Chinese philofopher believes, that the earth ftands upon the back of an elephant, which stands upon the back of a tortoife, which stands upon the back of, &c. &c. &c. Now, fuppofe this fame philofopher to be inftructed in the Copernican fyftem, and that he had, upon full confideration, yielded his affent to the great probability of its truth; would it not rather feem abfurd in him, after a time, to recur to his old tenets, because the fufficiency of the fun's attrac→ tive power to support this world, was inconfiftent with the occupation of his old elephant and tortoise, and that he could not fee how it fhould be poffible for ani mals fo loaded, and of themselves none of the fwiftest, to carry the earth, whirling through its orbit with fuch aftonishing velocity? Juft fo abfurd fhall we be, if, af ter our affent to the truth of God, and admiffion that he has revealed himself, we fuffer any one previous per fuafion to recur, and require that fcripture should be confonant to it, after we have admitted that the word of God is true, whether it be confonant to any previous perfuafion or not. The fenfible Chinese would furely reject his ancient tenets upon the admiffion of that which he had affented to, because of the value of thofe arguments which had induced his affent; let us then, upon the admiffion of the fcriptures as the ultimate boundary of argument, reject whatsoever feems tỏ make against their ceded truth; howfoever we may perfuade ourselves that reason had supplied it to us, we must have expatiated beyond her limits to feek for the tenet, for within her proper province it is not to be found. CHAP С НА Р. II. Of the Nature of the Evidence of our Saviour's Divinity afforded by the Scripture. TH HE full effulgence of the Gofpel did not burst fuddenly upon mankind. That fun of righteoufhefs, by the light of which we are enabled to walk, did not at once reach its meridian height; fo exceedingly gradual was its progrefs, that, when firft it dawned upon the world, its rays were not difcernible; "it fhone in darknefs, and the darkness comprehended it not," it encreased in fplendor, but was not fufficient to be the "light of those who come into the world; at length the day-star arose, and a light shone forth to lighten the Gentiles, and the day-spring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that fit in darkness, and in the fhadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace," To drop the metaphor. We find the prophecies of qur bleffed Saviour, from great obfcurity, become more and more explicit as they approach the great event: At the first they were extreamly indefinite, and fuch only as were adapted to the purposes for which they were pronounced. The first hope of redemption to mankind accompanied the fentence of condemnation, and was graciously conveyed by God himfelf, who comforted: the forlorn ftate of our fallen parents with a promise conceived in general terms, that the feed of the woman fhould bruife the head of the ferpent which had beguiled her. Noah is afterwards taught by the Spirit to hope, and to exclaim, "bleffed be the Lord God of Shem." To fhew thew that this bleffing is a prophecy, it is enough to fay, that Noah spoke it in a train of prophecy concerning the future ftate of his own fons and their pofterity. From Shem defcended Abraham, to Abraham was the promife made, and from Abraham, as concerning the flesh, Chrift came. From the manner in which the bleffing upon Shem is pronounced, I incline greatly to believe that this defcent was the object of Noah's prophetic vifion; it feems to have been the refult of his having foreseen, that, in the progeny of Shem, all the families of the earth fhould be bleffed: and let it be remembered, that Noah was no unconcerned prophet in whatsoever should happen to any future inhabitants of the earth; for all were then equally to defcend from him as their common parent; and well might he rejoice and blefs the God of Shem, by one of whofe line he forefaw that all his pofterity fhould be bleffed. To Abraham, because he had obeyed the voice of the Lord, it is foretold, (and this is by the New Teftament declared to be fpoken of Jefus Chrift) that in his feed all the nations of the earth should be bleffed; and this promife is from time to time renewed in that line of which our Saviour was to be born; to Ifaac, in prefe rence to Ishmael; to Jacob, in preference to Efau; and to Judah, in preference to his eleven brothers. To Judah, indeed, there is fomewhat of more particular revelation made, for the length of time during which he fhall bear the fceptre (that is, continue a tribe) is made commensurate with the coming of Shiloh, upon which the fceptre is to depart from him. Judah alone continued to be a tribe after the Affyrian Captivity, and then only ceafed when Chrift came; whence, however difficult it may be to explain this paffage with certainty, it is to be prefumed that the prophecy of Jacob, concerning the fceptre of Judah and its time of of departure, bears reference to the coming of the Meffiah. Mofes, who is the relater of what was spoken before his day, in his own person also often speaks of a future prophet: And in the compelled prophecies of Balaam, when he poured forth bleffings from a heart replete with curses, and in fpight of that indignation with which he afcended the rock to denounce evil, forefhewed the future brightness of the ftar that fhall come forth out of Jacob, there is fomething which, however obfcure it may be, is certainly referable to our Lord: David hoped for one of his feed to fit upon his throne; and though he looked for a defcendent from himself, he has nevertheless in fpirit called him Lord." That our Saviour was the object of David's expectation, though he knew not why he called him Lord, and only trufted that fome great good was promised to him, the declaration of the angel to the Virgin Mary evinces, who fays to her of the child which fhe is to bear, and whom she is to call Jefus, "He fhall be great, and fhall be called the Son of the Higheft; and the Lord fhall give unto him the throne of his Father David, and he fhall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end," Luke i. 32, 33. Every fucceeding prophet throughout the Old Testament found a confolation to the several troubles of Judea, in looking forward to that which was revealed to them in a general way, by the spirit of Chrift; but the full declaration of that which was fo revealed was withheld from them; they understood it not themselves, and even when they spoke of the divinity of our Saviour, |