miracles are _Pythagoras_, _Jamblichus_, and _Adrian_; though it
is certain the writers of their lives lay great stress upon them.
_Jamblichus_ and _Porphyry_, after enlarging on several of Pythagoras’s
miracles, which drew the applause and admiration of his followers, appeal
to current fame for the credit of these, and of other still _diviner
miracles_, which, say they, _are related of him with an uniform_ and
constant belief, μυρια δ’ ἑτερα θαυμαστοτερα και θειοτερα περι τ’ ανδρος
ὁμαλως και συμφονως ειρηται. (_Porph._ S. 28 and to the same purpose, and
nearly in the same words, _Jambl._ S. 135). Jamblichus even goes so far,
in speaking of the Pythagorean fondness for miracles, as to assure us,
that they were conceived to prove the _divinity_ of their authors, and
by that means to give a sanction to their _opinions and doctrines_. την
πιστιν των παρ’ αυτοις ὑποληψεων ἡγουνται ειναι ταυτην, &c. S. 140. _They
conceive it, says he, to add a_ CREDIT _and authority to their doctrines,
that the author of them was a_ GOD; _and therefore to the question, Who
was Pythagoras? their answer was, The hyperborean Apollo; and in proof
of this they alledge the miracle of his golden thigh. And yet_, says the
Inquirer, _Pythagoras was not much more esteemed for his thigh of gold
than one of flesh_. What pity is it, the wit of this antithesis should be
no better supported!
As for _Eunapius_, though he plainly disbelieved the silly tale of the
two boys of Gadara, yet, in relating it circumstantially as he does, he
clearly enough expresses his own opinion of miracles, and acknowledges
thereby the credit they would bring his master, were they better
attested, or but fairly received.
The miracles of the emperors are well known. And as their manifest intent
was, of the one of them, to add a credit, or, as Suetonius more strongly
expresses it, an _authority, and certain awfulness, befitting majesty_,
to the person of _Trajan_, and of the _other_, to inspire the hopes of
recovery into _Adrian_, so the relation of them by their historians, as
useful and subservient to those ends, is a thorough confutation of what
the author pretends about the little regard paid to them. And here it
may be proper to observe, once for all, that the frequent narrations of
prodigies and miracles, of which all Pagan story and antiquity is full,
is infinitely a stronger argument for the high credit of miracles amongst
the heathens in general, than any pretended _coolness, tranquillity,
and indifference_, which the writer’s warmth, in the prosecution of his
favourite novelty, leads him to imagine in the narrations themselves,
is, or can be, for the contrary opinion. Since _this_ could only shew
the incredulity of the relaters; whilst the _relating_ them at all
demonstrates the general good reception they met with from the people.
[65] This miracle was that of the fiery eruptions which hindered the
building of the temple at Jerusalem by _Julian_; and which, falling
into the hands of _Marcellinus_, might be expected to be spoken of as
a natural event. But this is all: for, as to that _wonderful coolness
and tranquillity_, which the writer pretends to have discovered in the
narration, it is so far from appearing to me, that, on the contrary, I
see not how the historian could have expressed himself with more emotion,
without directly owning the miracle. His words are these: Quum itaque rei
fortiter instaret Alypius, juvaretque provinciæ rector, _metuendi globi
flammarum prope fundamenta crebris assultibus erumpentes, fecere locum,
exustis aliquoties operantibus, inaccessum: hoc modo elemento destinatius
repellente cessavit Inceptum_.
[66] Pp. 40, 54, 57.
[67] Epicurus, Democritus, &c. p. 58.
[68] For the passage referred to (Orig. contr. Cels. l. 8) is in
answer to an harangue of Celsus, wherein he had expatiated largely on
the heathen miracles, and opposed them with great confidence to the
Christian. Upon which the excellent Father observes with much force,
“I know not how it is that Celsus thinks proper to alledge the heathen
miracles as incontestably evident, and undoubted facts; and yet affects
to treat the Jewish and Christian miracles recorded in our books as
mere fables. For why should not ours rather be thought true, and those
which Celsus preaches up fabulous? Especially, since those were never
_credited_ by their own philosophers, such as _Democritus_, _Epicurus_,
and _Aristotle_; who yet, had they lived with Moses or Jesus, on account
of the exceeding great clearness and evidence of the facts, δια την
εναργειαν, would in all probability have believed ours.” Having thus
fairly laid the passage before the reader, it is submitted to his
judgment with what colour of reason the learned writer could think of
deducing a proof of the _low opinion of miracles in general amongst the
philosophers_ from it.
[69] P. 62.
[70] P. 63. Philost. L., v. c. 15.
[71] P. 64.
[72] This was remarkably the case of Mahomet and Numa; the former of
whose _converse with the angel Gabriel, his journey to heaven, and
the armies of angels attending on his battles_—as well as the other’s
pretended _intercourse with the goddess Egeria_, is well known.
[73] It may seem odd that any of the Fathers of the Church should retain
such a strong tincture of this _evil principle_; yet this, &c. p. 66.
[74] Matthew, xxiv. 24. For there shall arise false Christs and false
Prophets, and shall shew _great signs and wonders_, insomuch that (if it
were possible) they shall deceive the very Elect.
[75] Our evidence is still increasing, and is in the next place confirmed
even by Divine authority. P. 70.
[76] But I could not lay too great a stress on the authority of the Jews,
because it _neither properly belongs to the present case_, nor, &c. P. 74.
[77] For this would shew that the _heathen_ rejection of miracles _might_
not be owing to any contempt of them as _such_, since the _Jewish_ was
plainly owing to a very different reason.
[78] 1 Cor. i. 22. The Jews require a _sign_, and the Greeks seek after
wisdom, &c.
[79] V. 17.
[80] V. 19.
[81] V. 20, 21, 22.
[82] It is remarkable that Maimonides pushes this prejudice so far
as to deny that the true Messiah was to work any miracles at all,
except that of restoring the temporal dominion of Israel. _If he_ (the
person pretending to be the Messiah) PROSPERS _in what he undertakes,
and subdues all the neighbouring nations round him, and rebuilds the
Sanctuary in its former place, and gathers together the dispersed of
Israel, then_ HE IS FOR CERTAIN THE MESSIAH. Maimon. in Yad Hachazekah
Tract. de Reg. et Bell. eorum. c. 11. s. 4.
[83] The right understanding of what is meant by the Jews _requiring a
sign_ is of such importance to the perfectly comprehending several parts
of the Gospel history, that I shall be allowed to justify and illustrate
the interpretation here given by some further considerations. And,
1. If by σημειον is to be understood simply a _miracle_, then it is not
true that Jesus, whom Paul preached, was or could be on that account a
_stumbling block_ to the Jews, it being allowed on all hands that many
and great miracles _did shew forth themselves through him_. See John vii.
31. xi. 47. But,
2. Notwithstanding this, and though it was owned in the fullest manner
by the chief priests and Pharisees themselves, yet we find them very
pressing for a _sign_, σημειον [Matth. xii. 38. xvi. 1. Luke xi. 29.] and
that too (which is very remarkable) at the instant our Saviour had been
working a miracle before them; a degree of perversity not rashly to be
credited of the Jews themselves.
It is true this _sign_ is sometimes called σημειον απο του ουρανου,
_a sign from Heaven_; which, if meaning any thing more than σημειον,
as explained above, i. e. a _test_ or credential of his heavenly or
divine mission (and what can be more natural than that the Jews should
express by this name the _only_ mark they would admit of the Messiah’s
coming from Heaven?) I say, if any thing further be intended in it, it
must be either, 1. An outward, sensible display of the Divine power,
_indicating_, by some prodigious and splendid appearance in the heavens,
or actually _interposing_, in some signal way, to _accomplish_ the
deliverance of Israel; and then either way it falls in with and includes
the interpretation here given. Or else, 2. It must mean a _mere_ prodigy,
asked out of wantonness, and for no other end than to gratify a silly
curiosity in beholding a wondrous sight from Heaven: an interpretation,
which, though maintained by some good writers, is utterly unsupported by
the sacred accounts, calling it σημειον indiscriminately, without as with
the addition of του ουρανου; and shocking to common sense, which makes it
incredible that so frivolous a reason as the being denied a _sign_, thus
understood, could be, as St. Paul asserts it was, _the stumbling-block_
of infidelity to the Jewish nation.
3. But what above all confirms and fixes this interpretation is the
tenor of our Saviour’s answer to the question itself. For, upon the
inquiry, _Master, shew us a sign_, &c. his constant reply was, _A wicked
and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall no sign
be given them but that of the prophet Jonas: For_, &c. As though he
had said, “A perverse and degenerate people, disregarding the wisdom
of my doctrines, and the power of my miracles—the genuine marks and
characteristics of the Messiah—are yet crying out for the _test_,
σημειον, of my coming. I know the proud and ambitious sentiment of your
heart: but assure yourselves, God will not accommodate his proceedings to
your fond views and prejudices. No such _test_ shall be given you. One
sure and certain TEST indeed there shall be, over and above what has yet
been afforded; but to shew you how widely different the Divine conduct
is from your prescriptions, it is such a one as ye shall least expect;
the very reverse of your hopes and expectations. It shall be that of the
prophet _Jonas_. _For, as Jonas was three days and three nights in the
whale’s belly_, so shall Christ (sad contradiction to your conceit of
temporal dominion!) be put to death by the Jews, and _lie three days and
three nights in the heart of the earth_. And this event, so degrading of
my character with you, and so repugnant to your wishes, shall, I readily
foresee, so scandalize you, that, though my return from the grave, like
that of _Jonas_ from the whale, shall be in the demonstration of power,
yet shall ye, through the inveteracy of that prejudice, be so hardened,
as not to be convinced by it.”
The answer of our Saviour is related by _Matthew_ and _Luke_ with some
addition, but such as is further favourable to this interpretation. For,
upon their asking a sign, it is plain he understood them to mean not a
_miracle_, but a TEST, by the question immediately put to them: _When it
is evening, ye say it will be fair weather; for the sky is red. And in
the morning, it will be foul to-day; for the sky is red and lowering. O!
ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky, but can ye not discern
the face of the times?_ “Are the appearances which, in the order and
constitution of nature, precede the changes of weather, a sign or test to
you of those changes? And are ye stupid and perverse enough to neglect
those which, by the Divine appointment, are made the _sign_ or _test_ of
the TIMES, of the change of the Mosaic for the Christian dispensation?
How is it that ye do not collect this from my _miracles_ and _doctrine_,
the ordinary and stated marks of this change, but ye must perversely
demand a _test_ of it, which the Scriptures nowhere promise, and the
order and course of God’s Providence disclaim?”
If, after all this, there can yet remain any doubt of the truth of this
comment, it will be effectually removed by an authority or two from the
other Evangelist, which the reader will indulge me in just mentioning. In
our Saviour’s exerting an act of civil power, in scourging and driving
the money-changers out of the temple, the Jews require him to shew the
credentials of his authority, _What sign shewest thou that thou doest
these things?_ The asking a miracle in this case were impertinent; for
that, how extraordinary soever, could never prove to the Jews that he
came invested with the powers of the civil magistrate. The sign they
expected, then was evidently of another kind: an express declaration,
or open display, of the regal character and office, evidencing his
commission _to do such things_. Accordingly, the reply of our Saviour was
to the same effect as before. _Jesus said unto them, destroy this temple,
and in three days I will raise it up_; for he spake, we know, _of the
temple of his body_. c. ii.
The next authority is in the sixth chapter, where we have an account
of the miracle of feeding _the five thousand_. Upon the multitude’s
following him after this, our Saviour objects to them their neglect of
miracles, which he presses upon them as motives to their belief. _Ye seek
me not, because ye saw the miracles_, &c. Now what do the Jews return to
this charge? Why, they fairly own it to be just, and, what is more, give
a reason for their conduct. Their answer is to this effect: “Wherefore do
you urge your miracles thus constantly to us, as motives for our belief?
If you would have us trust and confide in you as the Messiah, _Where
is the sign?_ For, as to your miracles so often insisted on by you, we
cannot admit them as proper evidences of your commission. And indeed
how should we? for Moses wrought as great, if not greater wonders than
you. To confront your late boasted miracle of feeding _the five thousand
with five loaves_, did not he, as it is written, _give our fathers bread
from heaven_? What miracle of yours can be more extraordinary? Yet
_Moses_ could do this. The Messiah, therefore, of whom greater things are
promised, we expect to be _characterized_ by other _signs_. What work
takest thou in hand, τι εργαζη?” Here, at last, we see (and the reader
will forgive the length of the note for the sake of so clear conviction)
that the _sign_ asked for, of what kind soever it might be, neither _was_
nor _could_ be a miracle, since all such _signs_ were rejected by these
inquirers upon _principle_.
[84] I have now done with this head [the low opinion of miracles in the
heathen world] and am not aware that any reasonable exceptions can be
made to the testimonies which have been brought to confirm it; but if any
one should think otherwise, and maintain that something else is necessary
for the establishment of so _singular_ an opinion, he will be _gratify’d_
in his expectations, as we _go along_; and will find the principles
and practices of much the greater part of the heathens on this point
_strengthening and confirming_ each other. P. 77.
[85] For this he must say, and not that the credit of miracles would
hereby be something weakened: a point, that, as we shall see hereafter,
may be allowed, and yet be of no manner of service to his conclusion.
[86] I have said _bad Dæmons_; for miracles wrought by the assistance of
_good Dæmons_ were, as the Inquirer observes, p. 247, in great repute.
[87] For that this was the obvious and essential difference betwixt the
genuine miracles of the gospel, and the tricks of magic, is apparent
from many strong expostulations of the Christian apologists, who, when
encountered with this frivolous, but _malicious_ objection, used to
exclaim: _Potestis aliquem nobis designare, monstrare ex omnibus illis
magis, Qui unquam fuere per sæcula, consimile aliquid Christo millesimâ
ex parte qui fecerit? Qui_ SINE ULLA VI CARMINUM SINE HERBARUM AUT
GRAMINUM SUCCIS, SINE ULLA ALIQUA OBSERVATIONE SOLLICITA SACRORUM,
LIBAMINUM, TEMPORUM? &c. Arnob. contr. Gen. L. i. And again, ibid. Atqui
constitit Christum SINE ULLIS ADMINICULIS RERUM, SINE ULLIUS RITUS
ORSERVATIONE TEL LEGE, _omnia illa, quæ fecit, nominis sui possibilitate
fecisse; et quod proprium, consentaneum, Deo dignum fuerat vero, nihil
nocens, aut noxium, sed_ OPIFERUM, SED SALUTARE, SED AUXILIARIBUS PLENUM
BONIS _potestatis munificæ liberalitate donâsse_.
[88] Acts, C. viii. and xix.
[89] For as to the remaining chapters on the _idolatry of the Heathens,
the parallel betwixt the Heathen and Protestant rejection of miracles,
and his Conclusion_, they seem very little to concern either him, or me.
For, 1. The influence of idolatry is urged to prove, that the _religion_,
not _miracles_, of Jesus, _was hard to be admitted_ (p. 352); which,
though true, has nothing _new_ in it, and is, besides, intirely foreign,
if not contradictory, to his purpose. 2. _The parallel betwixt the
Heathen and Protestant rejection of miracles_ derives all its little
illustrative force from this poor presumption, already confuted, that the
Heathens had universally _a contempt of miracles_. I said the parallel
drew its whole force from this fact, for unless it be true that the
Heathens universally disbelieved all miracles said to be wrought amongst
them, the case of their rejection of Christian miracles, the reader sees,
is widely different from that of the Protestant rejection of the Popish.
This one circumstance then, to mention no others, overturns the whole use
of his parallel. But, 3. As to his conclusion, the design and business
of that is, I allow, something extraordinary. It is to shew us, that
his whole force was not spent in this wearisome Inquiry, but that, was
he disposed for it, he _could_ go on to answer other objections against
miracles (p. 408-9) and our common Christianity, which had been already
confuted to his hands. For, having shewn us what he _could not_ do with
an argument of his _own_, he was willing, it seems, to shew us what he
_could_ do with those of _other writers_. For which meritorious service
he has my compliments and congratulations:
Labore alieno magno, partam Gloriam
Verbis sæpè in se transfert, qua sal habet,
Quod in TE est.
[90] Page 348, and in another place he says, it has been fairly shewn
from _their own accounts_, and from THE NATURE OF THEIR PRINCIPLES, that
the Heathens neither _had_, nor _could_ have an high opinion of miracles.
P. 383.
[91] Matth. xi. 20. Luke x. 13.
[92] Page 172.
[93] 1 Cor. i. Col. ii. 8.
[94] Rom. i. Eph. v. and elsewhere _passim_.
[95] Mr. Addison of the Christian Religion, S. 1.
[96] Lord Chancellor Hardwicke.
[97] Page 70.
[98] Page 12.
[99] Or, by _judicio suo_ may be understood that the Chancellor is
impowered to inflict which of the several censures mentioned in the
Statute he shall think fit, on offenders. The words are _ignavos, &c.
suspensione graduum, carcere, aut alio leviore supplicio_, JUDICIO SUO
_castigandos_. And the same is the meaning of PRO ARBITRIO SUO in the
Statute _de Officio Procuratorum_; on which the _Inquirer_ affects to
lay some stress (p. 32). “_Eum, qui deliquerit, primò pecuniâ præfinitâ
mulctabit; iterum delinquenti duplicabit mulctam; tertiò verò si
deliquerit, gravius, pro_ ARBITRIO SUO, coercebit.” But take it in which
sense you will, either of _passing sentence by his single authority_
or _determining the kind of punishment at his discretion_, neither
way can this expression be made to serve the cause in hand. No art of
construction can pick, out of the words _judicio suo_, the sense of
_final determination_.
[100] Lord Chancellor Hardwicke.
[101] The ignorance of the _Inquirer_, who asserts _that the University
has nothing to do with ecclesiastical censures_, and that _suspension_
from degrees, in particular, _is a punishment merely academical_ (p. 26),
is amazing. Had he been in the least qualified to treat the matter he has
undertaken, he would have known that _suspension_ is not merely an usage
of the University Court, as such, but was practised by the Ecclesiastical
Court of the Bishops or Archbishops, as long as they had jurisdiction in
the University. To let in one ray or two of light, in mere compassion, on
that utter darkness which environs him, and shuts out all law, _canon_
as well as _civil_, I will just refer him to _Arundel’s Constitutions_
in a provincial Council; where Members of the University offending in
the premisses are declared _suspended_, _ab omni actu scholastico_, and
_deprived_, _ab omni privilegio scholastico_. [_Lyndwood_, de _Hæret._
cap. _Finaliter_.] And the same appears in a Constitution of Archbishop
_Stratford_. [Ib. _De Vit. & Honest. Clericorum_, cap. _Exterior_.]
[102] So Mr. Attorney General _Yorke_, in his _Argument for the
University in Dr._ Bentley’s _Case_,—“The congregation are to be
considered as the judges of the Court, and the _Vice-chancellor_ as their
_official_.” The _Inquirer_ hath himself desired the reader to observe
(p. 10) that the _V. C._ in the absence of the _Chancellor_, hath all the
power which the University delegates to this great officer.
[103] That his Court was directed by this law, appears from a
determination of Delegates, concerning _second Appeals in the same
cause_, which I will take the liberty to transcribe.
De Appellationibus à Delegatis.
In Dei nomine, Amen. Nos D. Buckmaister, Inceptor Dakyns, M’ri Myddylton,
Longforth, et Pomell, authoritate nobis ab Universitate commissâ,
decernimus ac pro firmâ sententiâ determinamus, quòd liceat unicuique in
suâ causâ appellare à judicibus delegatis per Universitatem ad eandem
Universitatem, modò id fiat juxta juris exigentiam, hoc est, si antea ab
eodem secundâ vice in eâdem causâ appellatum non fuerit. Quod si anteà
bis appellaverit, neutiqùam tertiò appellare licebit, quum id prorsus
sit vetitum _tam per jus civile quàm canonicum_: Cæterum unicuique tam
actori quàm reo maneat sua libertas appellandi in suâ causâ à judicibus
delegatis per Universitatem modo supradicto et à jure præscripto. [_Lib.
Proc. Jun. fol._ 132.]
[104] See old Statutes _De Judiciis et Foro scholarium_; _De pœnis
Appellantium_; _De tempore prosequendi Appellationes_.
[105] See _Determination of Delegates_, before cited, p. 25.
[106] P. 26.
[107] P. 1.
[108] P. 62.
[109] _Delegates_ are nominated by the _Caput_; and the Caput is, in
effect, appointed by the Vice-chancellor and Heads of Colleges, who are
commonly parties in all appellations. [See Stat. _De capite Eligendo_.]
So (as the University complained, in their remonstrance against this
very Statute of Q. _Elizabeth_) “when they [the V. C. and Masters of
Houses] offer wrong, and themselves appoint judges to redress that
wrong; it is too true, which _Livy_ writeth in the state of _Decemvira,
siquis Collegam appellaverit_, (meaning Appius’s judgment), _ab eo, ad
quem venerit, ità discessurum, tanquam pæniteret prioris decreto non
stetisse_.” [C. C. C. MSS.] So little reason is there on the part of the
Vice-chancellor, to fear any thing from _partial Delegates_!
[110] The _Inquirer_ hath even had the hardiness to advance this in
the plainest terms. He harangues at large from p. 9. to 13. on the
impropriety of appealing from the _determination of a superior to an
inferior_; and, in another place, p. 39. derides the notion of _citing
the supreme Magistrate before more supreme Delegates_. But how different
were the sentiments of a late learned Civilian on this head, from
those of this _little academical Lawyer_! Speaking of Mr. _Campbell’s_
case, in 1725. “There is, says he, a subordination of jurisdiction in
the University. The Vice-chancellor’s jurisdiction is _inferior_ to
that of the Senate; and upon Mr. _C—’s_ saying, that he appealed to
the University, the _inferior jurisdiction_ ceased and devolved to the
Senate, even before the inhibition. And, afterwards in considering the
proctor’s inhibition; _upon the Appeal_, the Proctors represent the
University, and are in that case superior to the Vice-chancellor.—And
I am of opinion, that the Delegates in Mr. _C—’s_ cause may, upon
the Proctor’s applying to them, _primo et ante omnia_ reverse the
whole proceedings against him, in the V. C’s court, _as an attentat
upon the University’s jurisdiction_; and may likewise inflict such
censures, as the Statutes impower them to make use of, for the breach
of the inhibition; all inhibitions being by Law, _sub pænâ juris et
contemptûs_.” Dr. ANDREWS.
[111] P. 70.