by Satan, loe, for eighteen Years_: So the foresaid furious Principle
in Man, which is a mystical _Satan_, an _Adversary_ to Liberty, has
bound the Church, _loe_, to the _eighteenth_ Century of Years: But she
is to be entirely released from this spiritual Bondage, and set
at[117] _perfect Liberty_ against the acceptable and Evangelical
Sabbath. And here it is to be noted out of St. _Augustin_, and most
worthy of Observation it is, that at the[118] same time, in which the
Church will be loosed from her Bondage; _Satan_ himself will[119] be
_bound_ and _chain'd_ for a[120] _thousand Years_, the time of the
evangelical Sabbath, that is, says _Ephræm Syrus_[121] for ever. And
how will our mystical _Satan_ or the _Dragon_ be bound and chain'd?
Not with Chains or Links of Iron or other Metal; but _Vinculis
Rationis_, with the Chains of Reasons and Arguments for Christian
Liberty, which will restrain the _Adversary_, _Satan_, from any more
Impositions and Persecutions of the Church. And I can't here but
applaud the great Mr. _Grounds_ and Mr. _Scheme_, for their Work and
Labour of Love to Mankind, in making _Chains_ of Argumentations for
Liberty, which I hope will prove of sufficient Strength to bind
_Satan_ and restrain him (in Dr. _Rogers_, Bishop _G--bs--n_, and
others his Angels) from giving any more Molestation to Christian
Philosophers in their Enquiries after, and Lucubrations on Divine
Truth. All the Honour that I aim at in that Work is, by the Help of
the Fathers, to point out that anti-Christian Principle or Temper in
the _Clergy_[122] which, for its _Averseness_ to Liberty, is called
_Satan_; for its _Calumnies_, is called the _Devil_; for its
_Furiousness_, is called the _Dragon_; and for its _Unreasonableness_,
is called the _Beast_, to the intellectual Views of Mankind, and to
direct them how to apprehend and lay hold on it.
Our Saviour, according to _Origen_, had never call'd _Peter_,[123]
_Satan_, if _Satan_ had been any Thing else than _Man-averse_ to the
Will of God.
And thus have I spoken to the Miracle of _Jesus_'s healing the _Woman
of her Spirit of Infirmity, whom Satan had bound and bow'd down_,
which, according to the Letter, is no Miracle at all; and some Parts
of the Story are improbable and incredible; but the mystical
Completion of it will be most prodigious, and a Demonstration not only
of Christ's Power and Presence in his Church, but of his
_Messiahship_, in as much as a vast Number of Prophecies of the _Old
Testament_, more than can soon be collated to this Purpose, will
thereupon receive their Accomplishment. And so I come to a
3. _Third_ miraculous Story of _Jesus_'s, that is of his telling
(_John_ iv.) the Woman of _Samaria_ her Fortune, _of having had five
Husbands, and being then an Adulteress_, &c. in which there is a
notable Miracle display'd, in the Opinion of our _Divines_, that
proves _Jesus_'s Omniscience, or he could not so have search'd into
the Heart of this Woman, and told her such Occurrences, that concern'd
her Life past. I thought once of transcribing here entirely this
Story; and so I would, but that it is a long one, and might have set
some Readers, who are by this time awaken'd to pry into the
Absurdities of the Letter, a laughing, before I had time my self
regularly to animadvert on it.
Whether there was any Truth at all in the Letter of this Story, I
should much have questioned, but that some Fathers write of it, as if
they believed it literally, tho' they make a mystical and allegorical
Explication of the whole and every part of it. And I, having a sincere
Veneration for the Fathers, will not contradict them, (and I hope this
Concession will please the _Clergy_) but, for all that, can't like any
part of this Story literally, but could almost wish, that the Fathers,
for the Honour of _Jesus_, had made the whole no other than a Parable.
It's strange that no _Jews_ or _Infidels_ have as yet ludicrously
treated this Story to the, almost, Confutation of our Religion. If
their Tongues had not been ty'd by the aforesaid _Satan_ or
_Adversary_ to Liberty, I can't think but they must have made some
pleasant Animadversions upon it before now. If such a broken,
elliptical, and absurd Tale had been told of any other Impostor in
Religion; the Wits of our _Clergy_ had been at Work to expose it
plentifully; and indeed there's no need of much Wit to make this Tale
nauseous and ridiculous to vulgar Understandings.
I shall not myself here make all the Remarks I can to the Disadvantage
of this Story: I am not as yet so disposed to make Scoffers and
_Infidels_ laugh at the _Clergy_ for their Adherence to the Letter of
it. All I shall do now, is to make my Observations on the two Uses,
that the Clergy very seriously put this Story to, and they are,
_First_, to prove the Expectation that there was amongst the
_Samaritans_, of a _Messiah_ to come; And
_Secondly_, to prove _Jesus_'s Omniscience, or he could not have entered
into the Heart of the Woman, and told her, that she had had five
Husbands, and was then an Adulteress. To these two Purposes, I find this
Story urged by our _Divines_, and I must needs say, as to the
_First_ of them; it is rightly from hence asserted by the[124]
_Bishop_ of _Lichfield_ and others, that the _Samaritans_ had an
Expectation of a _Messiah_: But why then did not the _Bishop_ and
others, who are now in Quest after Arguments of _Jesus_'s Messiahship,
prove him hence to be the _Messiah_, because he told the _Samaritan_
woman her Fortune? If this was a real and substantial Argument to her
of _Jesus_'s _Messiahship_, it ought to be urg'd by the Clergy at this
Day. The Controversy about _Jesus_'s Messiahship is now on foot; Why
do the Advocates for it overlook this Proof of it? Why, because, as I
suppose, they are aware, that _Infidels_ would make sport with it. But
if _Jesus_'s telling the Woman her Fortune was no real and conclusive
Argument of his being the _Messiah_; St. _John_ has told us an
impertinent Tale of a simple Woman, upon whose Credulity and false
Notions _Jesus_ palm'd himself as the true _Messiah_; and whether he
did not ill thus to banter and deceive the Woman, let any one judge.
But let us here behold the Difference amongst the _Jews_ and
_Samaritans_, as to the Expectation of a _Messiah_. Some of the old
_Jews_, like the Apostles, expected the _Messiah_ would be a temporal
Prince, a great Warriour and Conqueror of the World. Others[125] of
them, like the Fathers, expected he would be a Prophet like _Moses_ in
all Things, and deliver his People out of another _Egypt_: But here the
_Samaritans_ expected he would be a _Conjurer_ and _Fortune-Teller_; or
there is no Sense in what the Woman said to the Men of the City, _v._
29. _Come and see a Man that has told me all that I have done_,
particularly my Fortune of having had five Husbands, and being now an
Adulteress, _Is not this the Christ?_ What could she mean, but that the
_Messiah_ would be a strolling _Fortune-Teller_, to inform People of the
Events of their Lives past and to come? And _Jesus_ to humour the Woman
in her Conception of himself and of the _Messiah_, says to her, _v._ 26.
_I that speak unto thee, am He._ Whether our _Divines_ like _Jesus_ the
better for this Story of him literally, I can't tell; but I am sure they
dislike the Fortune-telling Trade at this Day in others, and believe it
to be all Fraud, and are for punishing strolling _Gypsys_ for Cheats,
who practice it; and in the last Age were intent on the[126] Prosecution
of judicial Astrologers, who pretended to it: And if antient History had
furnish'd us with an Instance of the Punishment of a pretended
_Fortune-Teller_ in the Reign of _Tiberius_, they could not have found
Fault with it. Whether any Accusations were laid against _Jesus_ for
such his Delusions of the People, we know not. Evangelical History is
silent, or the _Evangelists_ have prudently suppressed it. But I much
wonder, that our _Gypsys_, from this Story, don't account themselves the
genuine Disciples of _Jesus_, being endu'd with the like Gifts and
exercising no worse Arts, than he himself practised.
If the _Samaritans_ did not expect the _Messiah_ would be a
_Fortune-Teller_; how came the Thought into the Woman's Head, that
_Jesus_ was the _Messiah_, because he had told her, her Fortune? What
can our _Divines_ say to it? Why, they must either say, that his
telling the Woman her Fortune was a real Proof of his _Messiahship_;
or that the Woman was foolish and credulous, and drew a false
Conclusion; and if she had not been an impudent and graceless Whore,
would have gone away blushing, and never have divulg'd, as the Text
supposes she did, her Shame to the Men of _Sychar_, who too had but
little Wit, or they had never stir'd from their Homes, to see such a
Fortune-Teller upon the Report of a poor Whore.
But the Men of the City had their Fortunes too told them by _Jesus_,
and they concluded him to be the _Messiah_ upon it; or there is no
Sense in what they _v._ 42. _said to the Woman, Now we believe not
because of thy Saying, for we have heard him ourselves, and know that
this is indeed the Christ_: What could they hear, but their Fortunes,
as the Woman had before? And if _Jesus_, whose Ability at all fair
Questions in the magic Art I don't question, did tell them their
Fortunes; I hope he had more Prudence than to talk to them in common
of their Fornications and Adulteries, which might occasion domestick
Jarrs, and the Breach of good Neighbourhood amongst them; but if he
directed any of them to find their lost Cattle, and help'd them again
to their stolen Goods, he did well, and they alone did amiss, to
conclude thereupon, _that he was indeed the Christ_. Let our _Divines_
now judge whether I have not made a natural and excellent Comment on
this part of the Story, which relates to the Expectation and Opinion,
which the _Samaritans_ had of a _Messiah_ to come. But,
_Secondly_, From this Story literally our _Divines_ prove _Jesus_'s[127]
Omniscience; and _Cardiognostick_ Power to tell what was in the Hearts
and Thoughts of Man. But how so? Is it because he told a Woman, that she
was an Adulteress, and had had five Husbands? Where's the Consequence?
_Duncan Campbel_, and other _Moorfields_-judicial-Astrologers have done
greater Feats at Conjuration than _this_, and never were thought to be
Omniscient. And for any Thing appears in this Story of our Saviour, it
might be all Cheat and Fraud in him. If _Infidels_ should assert it, our
_Divines_ could not disprove it. If they should say, it was possible for
_Jesus_ to get Intimations of these and other Circumstances of the
Woman's Life, before he attempted to tell her, her Fortune; we can't
say, that this is an impious and unreasonable Suggestion, since it is
the common Subtilty of delusive Fortune-Tellers, to get what
Intelligence they can by Insinuations and Informations, before they
utter their Oracles, and ambiguous Responses to simple poor Folks. And
there is one Circumstance in this Story, that looks very ill upon
_Jesus_, and is enough to make him suspected for a Cheat in his
pretended Art, and that is, he seems to draw the Woman in by a[128]
_Wile_ to hear her Fortune, saying to her, _v._ 16. _Woman go, call thy
Husband_; upon whose denying she had any Husband, Jesus was forward,
very forward to surprize her with his Knowledge of her having had five
Husbands, and living then in Adultery; which raising the silly Woman's
Admiration of his prophetick and soothsaying Talent, he closes with her
Conceptions, and what upon other Occasions, before wiser People, he
was[129] backward to own, says to her, _that he was the Messiah_; and so
he pass'd for the _Messiah_ with her and the Men of _Sychar_, who had no
more Wit than to receive him for such, upon such Proof, and gave him
Entertainment for no less than _v._ 40. _two Days_. I am glad we hear of
no Money, he squeez'd out of them for the exercise of his prophetick
Art, which our _Divines_ would have made an Argument of their Divine
Right to Tythes, Fees, and Stipends for their Divinations.
But no more of this silly Story according to the Letter. To point at
it is enough to expose it to the considerate and unprejudiced. I could
not help saying so much as I have; because it is necessary to form
some Invective against the Letter, to make way for the Reception of
the mystical and allegorical Interpretation of it, which I am now to
speak to.
Tho' the Fathers, against whose Authority I dare not write, or I should
be tempted to it in this Case, acknowledge the Letter of this Story,
suspecting only some[130] particular Passages of it; yet they look upon
the whole, for all that, as a[131] typical Narration, and endeavour at
the mystical Construction of all and every part of it. St. _Augustin_,
as if he was afraid some Christians of after Times should espouse, as
our Divines do, only the Letter, prefaces his Exposition of this Story
with these Words, saying,[132] _There are mysteries in all the Sayings
and Actions of our Saviour, particularly in the Story of the Woman of_
Samaria, _and whoever carelesly and imprudently_ (meaning literally)
_interprets it, will advance erroneous and pernicious Doctrine_; which,
if modern Commentators had any Regard for the Authority of St.
_Augustin_, is enough to deter them from their literal Expositions. The
most literal Interpreter among the Fathers, whom I know of, is St.
_Cyril_, and he says[133] there is a Type and Parable in this Story. But
to descend to Particulars.
By the _Woman of Samaria_ is to be understood an[134] Heretical and
Adulterous Church, which Jesus, _being wearied_ with her[135] corrupt
State, will meet with in _the sixth Hour_, that is in[136] the _sixth
grand Age_ of the World. So, by the By, according to the Fathers,
_Jesus_ will come to, and meet with the _Samaritan_ Church to her
Edification, at the same time, that he cures the Church of her _Issue
of Blood_ and _Spirit of Infirmity_.
And where did _Jesus_ meet with the Woman of _Samaria_? At _Jacob_'s
_Well_, where she was for Water to quench Thirst: So at the[137]
_Well_ of the Holy Scriptures, whose Sense lies deep as in a Well, and
flows with Knowledge as with Water, will Christ then find his Church,
drawing and drinking of the[138] Waters of the Letter, which could not
quench the Thirst of the Soul hitherto: But in the Perfection of Time,
signified by the _sixth Hour_, will Christ, according to the Fathers,
enable her to draw out of this _Well_ of the Profundity of the
Scriptures, spiritual Waters of Divine Knowledge, which will daily
more and more, like the Fountains of the Waters of Life, arise and
flow in upon the Soul, and constantly recreate and refresh her with
Wisdom, to her Delight and Satisfaction; so as she may be said never
to thirst more, after the Manner she does now.
And Jesus _then_ told the Woman of _Samaria_, _all that she had done_:
So will Christ in the _sixth Hour_, that is, towards the latter End of
the _sixth Age_ of the World, give the Woman of the Church to
understand _all that she has done_, according to the Writings of
_Moses_ and the Prophets, who, upon the Testimony of the Fathers, have
written a prophetical History of her, in Types, Symbols and Parables;
which Understanding of the Things that have been prophecy'd of her,
will enable her, of Consequence, to prove and declare to the World,
with Joy and Pleasure, that _Jesus_ is the true Messiah, the Christ,
and Fulfiller of the Law and the Prophets.
But particularly, as _Jesus_ then told the Woman that _she had had
five Husbands, and was then an Adulteress_ with one who was not her
true Husband: So the Church will be made to apprehend, according
to[139] _Origen_ and[140] St. _Augustin_, and others, how she has had
five Husbands of the five bodily Senses, that is, metaphorically
speaking, has been _wedded_ not only to sensual Pleasures, but to the
sensible Things of the Letter of the five Books of _Moses_; and that
at present, consequently, she lives in Adultery[141] with Anti-Christ,
whom the Fathers call the Devil, instead of the Spirit of Christ, the
Spirit of the Law, who should be her true Spouse, whom she should
_call_ for, and believe in.
And not only the Woman of _Samaria_, but the Men of the City,
_Sychar_, believ'd _Jesus_ to be the Messiah, _v._ 42, upon what he
said to themselves as well as to her: So the Ministers of the Letter,
who are _Sycharites_, according to _Origen_ and _Theophanes Cerameus_,
will be clearly convinced, and be able to convince others, that _Jesus
is the Christ or Messiah_, when they shall hear, learn and apprehend
from the Spirit of the Law and the Prophets, that the Church and all
she has been doing, was foretold and prophecy'd of.
Lastly, _Jesus_'s Disciples, _v._ 27. are said _to Marvel that he
talk'd with the Woman_. What in the Name of Wonder, literally, could
be the Meaning of this? Did they _Marvel_ at _Jesus_'s Condescention
to speak to a Woman, as if the Sex was beneath his Care? Or did they
_Marvel_ that he who was very bashful, had Courage to speak to one? Or
did they _Marvel_ at his Conversation with a Whore, for fear of his
being tempted by her? Some one or other of these must be the _Marvel_
of the Disciples; but how absurd and ridiculous they all are,
according to the Letter, let a reasonable Man judge. But mystically,
the true Disciples of our Lord, who understand the Mysteries of the
Kingdom of Heaven, will, when they are apprized of _Jesus_'s spiritual
Conversation with his Church, and of all the Things that she has done
according to Prophecy, _Marvel_ with rapturous Astonishment at the
Wisdom and Power of God in the Accomplishment of the Scriptures.
After such a Mystical and Allegorical Manner, is every minute
Circumstance of this Story of the _Samaritan_ Woman to be apply'd.
St. _Augustin_[142] says there are so many great Mysteries contain'd
in it, that they require much Time to go through them all. I find it
so, and that no less than a Volume might be written of them, out of
the Fathers. But what I have briefly here touch'd on, is enough to
convince any one of the Absurdities of the Letter of this Miracle,
which consisted in the telling a Woman her Fortune, and such a
Fortune, as _Jesus_ by Craft might come to the Knowledge of.
Therefore, for the Honour of _Jesus_, let us look upon the whole Story
as a typical and parabolical Representation of what would be
mysteriously and more wonderfully done by him.
And thus I have spoken to the three Miracles, proposed to be treated
on in this Discourse. Before I enter upon my third general Head, which
is, _to consider what Jesus means when he appeals to his Miracles as
to a Witness of his Divine Authority_; I must take to Task some more
of his pretended Miracles even till I have not left him a good,
credible and substantial Miracle, according to the Letter, to appeal
to. The Consequence of which will be, that his mysterious Operations
are to prove his Authority and Messiahship, or we must give up him and
his Religion for a Piece of Fraud and Imposture.
What Miracles will be the Subject of my next Discourse, I can't
certainly foretell, but there are many Historical as well as
miraculous Parts of _Jesus_'s Life, that according to the Letter, are
to be call'd into Question; such as
The History of his riding on an Ass to _Jerusalem_. I have given some
Offence on this Point already in my _Moderator_, and ought to excuse
or justify my self, by calling the Fathers to Account for laughing at
the Letter of that Story. It was an untoward saying of St. _Jerome_,
that I there cited, and suffered a Prosecution for: But it is a worse
Intimation of St. _John_ of _Jerusalem_, who, if there was any literal
Truth in the Peoples pulling off their Garments, and Branches of
Trees, and strewing them in the Way of _Jesus_, will needs have it not
respectfully but mischievously done, to make the Colt stumble, and so
dismount his Rider. And according to him it may be questioned, whether
the _Hosannahs_ of the People were of any more Respect to _Jesus_,
than the _Huzzahs_ of a _Mob_ would be to the Bishop of _L----n_, if
to shew his Meekness and Lowlyness, he should ride upon an Ass, in his
_Pontificalibus_ through this City. But I have here a momentous
Controversy to decide about the Beast _Jesus_ rode on. St. _Matthew_
seems to say, he rode upon both _Ass_ and _Colt_ together. St. _Mark_
and St. _Luke_ say, he rode upon the _Colt, on which Man never before
sat_. The Bishop of _Lichfield_ says, he rode upon the _Ass_ (on which
Man had before sat) and the _Colt_ ambled after. St. _Cyril_ and St.
_Chrysostom_ say, he rode upon the _Colt_, and the _She-Ass_ trotted
after. St. _John_ the _Evangelist_ says he rode upon a _Mule_, or an
[Greek: onarion] Ass-like Creature of the neuter Gender. The _Jewish
Cabalists_ say, their _Messiah_ was to ride on a great huge _Ass_, big
enough to carry him and all true Israelites, and that the Ministers of
_Antichrist_ would then hang an _A-ss_. So do the great Doctors of the
World differ! To whom I shall decree the Prize of Orthodoxy, I shan't
foretell; but am inclined to favour the Opinion of the _Cabalists_.
However, I shall be very grave as well as learned on this Head: And if
I can, I will, to oblige Dr. _Sherlock_, hook in a Digression about
_Shilo_'s _binding his Fole to the Vine, and his Asses Colt to the
choice Vine_: The Accomplishment of which _literal_ Prophecy seems to
have been drop'd in the Providence of God, or the _Dean_ of
_Chichester_[143] had never stopt at it. I will endeavour to look it
up, in some Corner of History, if it be but to merit the Praises of
the _Master_ of the _Temple_.
I must also sometime take into Consideration the Story of _Jesus_'s
Abode in the Wilderness, forty Days, in Company of the _Devil_, who
tempted him. This literally, as our _Divines_ understand it, is a
Scandalous Story. The _Jews_, in our Saviour's Time, said, that
through _Belzebub_, he cast out _Devils_; and their Posterity have
asserted, that he learn'd the Magick Art of a _Dæmon_. This Story
gives too much Grounds for such a Suspicion. Our _Divines_, who should
know best, talk of abundance of Mischief, the _Devil_ has been
permitted to do in the World ever since; I hope it was not by Compact
and Agreement between them; but it would have been of some
Satisfaction to the Contrary, if the _Evangelist_ had told us expresly
upon what Terms they mett and parted. As Fables go, it is said to the
Honour of St. _Dunstan_, that he took the _Devil_ by the Nose, when he
tempted him; and if _Jesus_ had taken him by the _Collar_, and thrust
him into his _Dungeon_, and there chain'd him, and shut _Hell-Gates_
upon him; I appeal to honest plain Christians, whether such an
_Herculean_ Labour would not have pleased them well. Ever since I read
of _Martin Luther_'s Conversation with the _Devil_, I have had but
indifferent Thoughts of his _Protestantism_; and unless the Fathers
turn this Story before us into Mystery, Allegory and Cabalism, I shall
think ill of Christianity.
I should also take into Examination the Story of an Angel's appearing
to the Shepherds, and saying to them; _Behold I bring you Tidings of
great Joy_, &c. If there was any Truth literally in _this_ Story, and
in _that_ of a Star's appearing to the wise Men, there must be a great
Mistake in the Report of both of them. St. _Matthew_ and St. _Luke_
have both blunder'd. It was the Star that appear'd to the Shepherds by
Night; and the Angel (I speak upon Reason and Authority) that was sent
to the wise Men. What then to do with these two Stories, and to salve
the Credit of the _Evangelists_, I knew not, till the Fathers directed
me to the Use of a mythological _Metamorphosis_: And then I presently
learn'd the Trick on't, to transform Stars into Angels, and Shepherds
too, or Pastors of Christ's Flock (which was the Difficulty) into
wise Men; and so I made one Moral or Mistery of the two Fables.
I must also some Time take to task the Story of the _many dead Bodies of
the Saints, that upon Christs Resurrection, came out of their Graves,
and appear'd unto many_; which is too imperfectly related to merit
Credit. The _Evangelist_, if he would have a reasonable Man believe his
Story, should have told us, who those Saints were, and what Numbers of
them; and whether they appear'd to the converted or unconverted _Jews_;
whether they were some of the Patriarchs and Prophets of old, or some
lately departed Disciples, who, for all _Jesus_'s healing Power, died in
the Time of his Ministry; and whether there were any Women among those
Saints; and whether they appear'd naked (as _Jesus_ modestly did to
_Mary Magdalen_, unless he flip'd himself by _Stealth_ into the Cloths
of the Gardener, which might be the Reason of her Mistake, for she
suppos'd she saw the Gardener) and whether they return'd again to
Corruption, or ascended into Heaven. For want of these specifical
Circumstances, the _Evangelist_ has told us a Tale, that has neither
Head nor Foot to it: and unless the Fathers mystically answer, to
Satisfaction, every one of the aforesaid _Queries_, I'll reject this
Story for mere Romance and Imposture.
These and many other historical and seemingly miraculous Stories of
the Gospel, are some time to be taken into Consideration; for I will
not give this Work over, till I have demonstrated beyond all
Contradiction, that the evangelical Writings are but the Shadow of
Divine Mysteries; and that literal Interpreters, whom[144] _Origen_
calls _vulgar Capacities_, are under a Mistake, if they think, they
understand any Thing, as they ought, of the four Gospels.