of his Disciples; and that Act was remember'd in the Piety and
Zeal[286] of _Ignatius_, who made a renown'd Bishop. But the Favour
and Blessing conferr'd on these three rais'd Persons was exceedingly
greater; and one might have expected, that _Lazarus_ and the Widow's
Son would have been eminent Ministers of the Gospel. But instead of
that, their Lives afterwards were pass'd in Obscurity, or, what's as
bad, Ecclesiastical History has neglected a Report of them. What can
any one hereupon think less, than that the Favour of the Miracles was
lost on undeserving Persons, which I abhor the Thoughts of; or that
their Stories are but Parables, which I rather incline to.
Ministers of the _Letter_ may here say, "That the Ecclesiastical History
of the Apostolical Age is very scanty; and that many Memorials of other
Persons and Transactions are lost and buried in Oblivion: Which unhappy
Fate has attended the after-Lives and Actions of these rais'd Persons,
or undoubtedly we should have had a famous Record of them." This is not
impossible; tho' in the Wisdom of Providence it is hardly probable, but
that some more Remembrance must have been left of one or other, if not
of all the three Persons; in as much as such a Remembrance of them would
now-a-days have no less gain'd a Belief of the Miracles, than this
Historical Silence tends to the Discredit of them.
It's somewhat strange, that we hear no more of the after-Fame and Life
of any of the diseased Persons, whom _Jesus_ miraculously cured;
excepting of the Woman, heal'd of an Issue of Blood; who, tho' she
_spent_ ALL _she had, even_ ALL _her Living_ upon _Physicians_; yet
out of the Remains of it erected, says[287] _Eusebius_, at _Cæsarea
Philippi_, two most costly Statues of Brass, to the Memory of _Jesus_
and of herself, and of the Miracle wrought by him; which Dr.
_Whitby_[288] as if he was tainted with Infidelity, endeavours to make
an idle Tale of. But excepting, I say this Story of this Woman, we
hear nothing of any other heal'd Person; which is Matter of some
Speculation: But that the Persons rais'd from the dead should not at
all be mention'd in History for their Labours and Lives afterwards to
the Honour of _Jesus_, is absolutely unaccountable. Whether such a
profound Silence in History about them be not shocking of the Credit
of the Miracles, let our _Divines_ consider. I am of Opinion that if
_Jesus_ really rais'd these Persons from the dead; this and no other
Reason, in the Providence of God, can be given for the Silence of
Ecclesiastical History about them afterwards, than to make
_dead-letter'd_ Stories of their Miracles, in order to turn our Heads
entirely to the Consideration of their mystical Signification, without
which the _Letter_, for the Argument before us, is deserving of no
Regard nor Credit. But
3. By way of Objection to the _Letter_ of these three Miracles, let us
consider the Condition of the Persons rais'd from the dead; and
whether they were at all proper Persons for _Jesus_ to work such a
Miracle upon, in Testimony of his divine Power. If they were improper
Persons according to the _Letter_, it's not credible that He, who was
the Wisdom of God, would raise them; or if he did, it was because they
were the properest to make mystical Emblems of their Stories.
That _Jesus_ ought to have rais'd all that dy'd, where-ever he came,
during the Time of his Ministry, none, I presume, can hold. Two or three
Instances of his almighty and miraculous Power of this Kind will be
allow'd to be sufficient: But then they must be wisely and judiciously
made Choice of, out of a vast Number of Persons, that must needs die in
that Time. Where then was his Wisdom and Prudence to chuse these three
Persons above others to that Honour? Why were all of them, or indeed any
one of them preferr'd to other Persons of a different Age and Condition
in the World? Nay, if the _Letter_ of their Stories is only to be
regarded, were not all these three Persons almost the improperest and
most unfit of any for _Jesus_ to exercise that Power on?
_Jairus_'s Daughter was an insignificant _Girl_ of twelve Years old: And
there could be no Reason for raising her, but to wipe sorrow from the
Hearts, and Tears from the Eyes of her Parents, who ought to have been
better Philosophers, than immoderately to grieve for her. And was here a
good Reason for _Jesus_ to interpose with his Almighty Power? No
certainly; a Lecture of Patience and Resignation this Case had been
enough. And tho' _Jesus_ could raise her from the dead; yet for as much
as that Favour was to be conferr'd but on a few; and his Miracles ought
to be useful as well as conspicuous, she should have been pass'd by, as
an improper Object of his Power, in Comparison of many others, presently
to be named. If therefore a better Reason, than what's discernible in
the _Letter_, is not to be fetch'd from the Mystery; I can't suppose
that _Jesus_, the Wisdom of God would raise this _Girl_; but that the
modern Belief of her Resuscitation, exclusive of the mystical
Signification, is, as shall be by and by argued, altogether groundless.
The Widow of _Naim_'s Son too was but a [Greek: neaniskos] _Youth_,
and whether any thing older than the _Girl_ above is doubtful; but his
Life certainly was of no more Importance to the World after, than
before his Resurrection. And why was he then one of the _three_ to be
rais'd from the dead? Why had he this Honour done him, before others
of greater Age, Worth, and Use to Mankind? Some will say, for the
Comfort or his sorrowful Mother. And is this Reason sufficient? A
Discourse on the Pleasures of _Abraham_'s Bosom, where she would e'er
long meet her Son, had been enough to chear her Heart. If therefore
the Fathers don't help me to a solid mystical Reason, why the Son and
_only Son_ of a Widow was to be rais'd by _Jesus_, as they were
carrying him to his Burial, I'll not believe, He would raise this dead
_Boy_ rather than many others, for the Manifestation of his Power; but
that the Story of his Resurrection, as shall soon be reasonably
proved, was all Sham and Cheat.
_Lazarus_ indeed was _Jesus_'s Friend, whom he Loved; and as I will
not question but _Jesus_'s Affection was wisely and deservedly placed
on him; so here, to Appearance, was a better Reason for the raising of
him, than of either of the other Two. But even this Reason, supposing
_Jesus_ was to raise but three Persons, is not sufficient against the
Cases of many others, that may be put for the Manifestation of his
Power, for the Illustration of his Wisdom and Goodness, and for the
Conversion of Unbelievers: Consequently, if this Story of _Lazarus_ be
not parabolical, the litteral Fact is disputable, and obnoxious to
such Exceptions presently to be observed against it, as will not be
easily got over.
_Jesus_ rais'd the dead, and wrought other Miracles, say our _Divines_
often, not only to manifest his own Power and Glory, but his Love to
Mankind, and his Inclination to do them good: For which Reason his
Miracles are useful and beneficial as well as stupendous and
supernatural Acts, on purpose to conciliate Men's Affections as well
as their Faith to him. On this Topick our _Divines_ are copious and
rhetorical, when they write on _Jesus_'s Miracles, as if no more
useful and wonderful Works could be done, than what he did. And I do
agree with them, that (what Reason bespeaks) the Miracles of a
pretended Author of Religion ought to be both as useful and great as
well as could be. But such were not _Jesus_'s Miracles according to
_Letter_, and least of all his Acts of raising the dead. For if we
consider the Persons rais'd by him, we shall find, he could hardly
have exerted his Power on any of less Importance to the World, both
before and after their Resurrection. A young _Girl_ indeed is fitter
to be raised than a decripid old Woman, who by the Course of Nature
was to return to Corruption again, as soon as restored to Life: And a
_Boy_ rather than an infirm old Man for the same Reason: And _Lazarus_
the Friend of _Jesus_, perhaps, and but perhaps, rather than his
profess'd Enemy. But what are these three Persons in Comparison of
many others of other Circumstances? Instead of a _Boy_, and a _Girl_
and even of _Lazarus_, who were all of no Consequence to the Publick,
either before or since; I should think, _Jesus_ ought to have rais'd
an useful Magistrate, whose Life had been a common Blessing; an
industrious Merchant, whose Death was a publick Loss; a Father of a
numerous Family, which for a comfortable Subsistance depended on him.
Such dead Objects of _Jesus_'s Power and Compassion could not but
offer themselves, during the Time of his Ministry, and if he meant to
be as useful as he could, in his Miracles, he would have laid hold on
them. If a few Persons only were to be rais'd from the dead, the
foresaid were the properest, whose Resurrection and Return to Life
would have begotten the Applause as well as the Wonder of the World;
would most extensively have spread _Jesus_'s Fame; and would have
gain'd him the Love and Discipleship of all that heard of his being
so great a Benefactor to Mankind. Such Instances of his Power would
have demonstrated him to be a most benign as well as a mighty Agent;
and none in Interest or Prejudice could have open'd their Mouths
against him, especially if the Persons rais'd from the dead were
selected upon the Recommendation of the People of this or that City.
But that an insignificant _Boy_ and a _Girl_, (forsooth!) and the
obscure _Lazarus_, are preferr'd by _Jesus_, to such publick and more
deserving Persons is unaccountable. Their Story therefore, upon this
Argument, savours of Romance and Fraud; and unless the _Mystery_ help
us to, what the _Letter_ can't, a good reason for _Jesus_'s Conduct
here, the Miracles may be hence justly question'd, and the Credibility
of their Report disputed.
But now I am speaking of the Fitness and Unfitness of deceased Persons
to have this grand Miracle wrought on them; it comes into my Head to
ask, why _Jesus_ rais'd not _John_ the Baptist to Life again? A Person
of greater Merits, and more Worthy of the Favour of _Jesus_ and of
this Miracle, could not be. If _Jesus_ could raise any from the dead
he would surely have raised him; and why did he not? This is a
reasonable Question and an Answer should be thought on for it. Was it
a Thing out of _Jesus_'s Power? Not so; He was Omnipotent, and could
by Force or Persuasion have rescued _John_'s Head out of the Hands of
his Enemies; and the tacking it again to his Body, and the infusing
new Life into him was no more difficult to _Jesus_, than the
Resuscitation of a stinking Carcass. If _Jesus_ had here exerted his
Power, and rais'd his dearest Friend and choicest Minister for the
Preparation, if not Propagation of the Gospel, none could question his
Ability to raise any others, tho' he had rais'd no more. But in as
much as _John_ the _Baptist_, one of his singular Merits and Services
to _Christ_, was overlook'd and neglected by him; and three useless
and insignificant Persons had this Honour done them, the Facts may
reasonably be called into question, and, if the Mysteries don't solve
the Difficulty, their litteral Stories may hence be accounted foolish,
fictitious and fabulous; especially if we consider,
4. That none of these three rais'd Persons had been long enough dead
to amputate all Doubt of _Jesus_'s miraculous Power in their
Resurrection. As to _Jairus_'s Daughter, she was but newly expired, if
at all dead, when _Jesus_ brought her to Life again. _Jesus_ himself
says, she was but asleep. And according to _Theophanes Cerameus_[289],
and _Theophilact_[290] there is Room to suspect that this _Girl_ was
only [Greek: Katochos] _beside herself_. And it is not impossible, but
the passionate Skreams of the Feminine By-standers might fright her
into Fits, that bore the Appearance of Death; otherwise why did
_Jesus_ turn there inordinate Weepers out of the House, before he
could bring her to her Senses again? And why did he tell her Parents,
that she was only in a sleep, but to Comfort them with the Possibility
of his awakening her out of it? Is not this destructive of the
Miracle, and making no more of it, than what another Man might do? And
is there not some Probability, that here's all of this Story? But
supposing she was really dead, yet for the sake of an indisputable
Miracle in her Resurrection, it must be granted, that she ought to
have been much longer, some Days if not Weeks, dead and buried.
As to the Widow of _Naim_'s Son, there was somewhat more of the
Appearance of Death in him, than in _Jairus_'s Daughter. He was
carried forth to his Burial, and so may be presumed to be really a
dead Corpse. But might not here be Fraud or Mistake in the Case?
History and common Fame affords Instances of the mistaken Deaths of
Persons, who sometimes have been unfortunately buried alive, and at
other Times happily, by one Means or other, restored to Life: And who
knows but _Jesus_, upon some Information or other, might suspect this
Youth to be in a lethargick State, and had a Mind to try, if by
chafeing, _&c._ he could not do, what successfully he did, bring him
to his Senses again: Or might not a Piece of Fraud be here concerted
between _Jesus_, a subtil Youth, and his Mother and others; and all
the Formalities of a Death and Burial contrived, that _Jesus_, whose
Fame for a Worker of Miracles was to be rais'd, might here have an
Opportunity to make a shew of a grand one. The Mourning of the Widow,
who had her Tears at Command and _Jesus_'s casual meeting of the
Corpse upon the Road, looks like Contrivance to put the better Face
upon the Matter. God forbid, that I should suspect, there was any
Fraud of this Kind here; but of the Possibility of it, none can doubt.
And where there is a Possibility of Fraud, it is Nonsense, and mere
Credulity to talk of a real, certain and stupendous Miracle,
especially where the Juggler and pretended Worker of Miracles has
been detected in some of his other Tricks. All that I have to say here
to this Matter, is, that if _Jesus_ had a Mind to raise the Son of
this Widow, in Testimony of his divine Power, he should have suffer'd
him to have been buried two or three Weeks first; otherwise, if the
Mystery don't account for _Jesus_'s stopping the Bearers of the Corpse
upon the Road, here is too much Room for suspicion of Cheat in the
Letter of the Story.
_Lazarus_'s Case seems to be the less exceptionable of the three. He
had been buried _four Days_, and supposed to be putrified in the
Opinion of his Sister _Mary_, and of modern Christians: And if so, his
Resuscitation was a most grand and indisputable Miracle. And I could
have wish'd, if I had not loved the _Mystery_ rather than the
_Letter_, that no Cavil and Exception could have been made to it.
Whether _Lazarus_, who was _Jesus_'s Friend and beloved Disciple,
would not come into Measures with his Lord, for the Defence of his
Honour, and Propagation of his Fame, _Infidels_, who take Christianity
for an Imposture, will not question: And whether he would not consent
to be interr'd alive, in a hollow Cave, where there was only a Stone
laid at the Mouth of it, as long as a Man could fast, none of them
will doubt. Four Days was almost too long for a Man to fast without
danger of Health; but if those _four Days_ are number'd according to
the Arithmetick of Jesus's _three Days_ in his Grave, they are
reducible to two Days and three Nights, which Time, if no Victuals
were secretly convey'd with him, a Man might fast in _Lazarus_'s Cave.
As to the _stinking_ of _Lazarus_'s Carcass: that, _Infidels_ will
say, was but the Assertion of his Sister beforehand, like a Prologue
to a Farce. None of the Spectators at his Resurrection say one Word of
his stinking. And as to the Weepings and Lamentations of _Jesus_ and
of _Lazarus_'s Sisters, they will say that was all Sham and
Counterfeit, the better to carry on the Juggle of a feign'd
Resurrection. And what's worst of all, they will say, that tho'
_Jesus_ did call _Lazarus_ forth with a _loud Voice_, as if he had
been as deaf as a dead Man; yet his _Face was bound about with a
Napkin_, so that the Spectators could not discern what was of the
Essence of the Miracle, the Change of his Countenance from a dead to a
live one, which is a plain Sign, that it was all Fraud and Imposture.
God forbid, that I should have the same sense with _Infidels_, of this
Matter; but to be just to their Suggestions and Imaginations here, I
must needs say, there are some other unhappy Circumstances, presently
to be consider'd, in this Story, which, if they are not emblematical,
make it the most notorious Cheat and Imposture that ever was put upon
Mankind. In the mean Time, from what is here argued, it is plain, that
_Lazarus_ was not so long dead and buried, as that there is no Room to
doubt of the Miracle of his Resurrection.
Now whether these Arguments against these three Miracles, drawn from
the Shortness of the Time, in which these Persons lay for dead, have
any Force in them, let our _Divines_ consider. If nothing of all this
is in their Opinion affecting of the Credit of the Miracles; yet they
must allow, that _Jesus_, if he could raise the dead, might have made
Choice of other Instances of Persons, more unquestionably dead, who
had lain longer in their Graves, and were in a visible State of
Putrefaction. And if this grand Miracle of raising the dead was to be
wrought by _Jesus_ for the Manifestation of his Glory, and in
Testimony of his Authority; he should have exercised his Power on some
such Persons, nominated by the Magistrates of this or that City, who
with the People should be present at the miraculous Operation,
beholding the putrified Bodies, (without a Napkin before their Faces)
and how they were suddenly enliven'd and invigorated with new Flesh,
after the Similitude of their pristine Form, when in Health and full
Strength. Because that _Jesus_ rais'd not some such Persons to Life, I
must take the Stories of the three Miracles before us to be but
typical of more mysterious Works; or believe them for the Arguments
above to be downright Cheats and Fables. And what is enough to induce
a modern _Divine_ to this Opinion. Is
5. The Consideration, that none of these rais'd Persons did or could,
after the Return of their Souls to their Bodies, tell any Tales of
their separate Existence otherwise the Evangelists had not been silent
in this main Point, which is of the Essence of Christianity. Are not
our _Divines_ here reduced to an unhappy _Dilemma_, either to deny the
separate Existence of the Soul, or the precedent Deaths of these
rais'd Persons? As Christians, We profess to believe both, which
seemingly are incompatiable; or the Evangelists had made such a
Relation, as their return'd Souls had given of the other World. Was
any Person, in this Age, to be rais'd to Life, that had been any time
dead; the first Thing that his Friends and Acquaintance would enquire
of him, would be to know, where his Soul had been; in what Company;
and how it had fared with him; and Historians would certainly record
his Narrative. The same Curiosity could not but possess People of old,
when these Miracles were wrought; and if the rais'd Persons had told
any Stories of their separate Existance, the Evangelists no less
unquestionally would have reported them, in as much as such a Report
would have been, not only a Confirmation of that Doctrine; which is of
the Essence of our Religion; but an absolute Confutation of the
_Sadducees_ and _Sceptists_ of that Age, and of the _Materialists_ of
this. But this their Silence in this Case is of bad Consequence,
either to the Doctrine of the Soul's Existence in Separation from the
Body, or to these Miracles themselves, since we must hereupon almost
necessarily hold, that these rais'd Persons were not at all dead, or
that their Souls dy'd with them.
The Author of a Sermon, ascrib'd to St. _Augustin_ tells us[291] that
_Lazarus_ after his Resurrection made a large Report of _Hell_, where
he had been: But as this is a mere Fiction of that Author, without the
least Authority from Scripture; so I presume it will be accounted a
_Blunder_ in him, to suppose the Soul of _Lazarus_, the Friend and
beloved of _Jesus_, was in Hell. The Soul of _Jesus_ indeed, for
Reasons best known to himself, upon his Death, descended into Hell,
when some think he should rather have gone, with the penitent Thief,
into Paradise. But the Thoughts, that any of _Jesus_'s Friends should
go to Hell, I suppose will not be born with; or what will become of
the Preachers of this Age, who would be accounted Men or that
Denomination. And if _Lazarus_'s Soul had been in Paradise, it was
hardly a good Work in _Jesus_ to recall it, for thirty Years
afterwards, to the Miseries and Troubles of this wicked World. I wish
therefore our _Divines_ could determine, where _Lazarus_'s Soul was
for the four Days of his Burial; because I can't possibly conceive any
thing else, than that he was not really dead, or that his Soul dy'd
with him, or went to a bad place, otherwise after his Resurrection he
had never absconded for fear of the _Jews_, as if he was unwilling to
die again, and return to the Place from whence he came.
But however it was with the Souls of these rais'd Persons before their
Re-union to their Bodies, here is another Difficulty and Objection
against these Miracles; and how will our _Divines_ get over it?
Perhaps they may say, that tho' these rais'd Persons were before
really dead; yet their Souls were not as yet gone to their Places
prepared of God for them, but continued hovering about their Bodies,
like the Flame about the Snuff of a Candle, with desires
----_iterumq; reverti
Corpora_----
to be again rejoin'd to them. And withall my Heart let this Answer pass,
if our _Divines_ and _Infidels_ can so agree upon it. As for my own
Opinion, it is this, that these Miracles of _Jesus_ are Parables, and
that it was beside the Purpose of the Parable, and of the _Evangelists_
to say any thing of the Place and State of the Soul upon its Separation
from the Body; otherwise the Letter of their Stories is manifestly
obnoxious to the Objection above, or the Deaths of these pretended
rais'd Persons, upon Christian Principles, are questionable. But
6. And lastly, Let us consider the intrinsick Absurdities and
Incredibilities of the several Stories of these three Miracles. And
such Absurdities shall we find in them, that, if they had been
intended as Testimonies of _Jesus_'s divine Power, had never been
inserted in their Narratives.
As to _Jairus_'s Daughter, and her Resurrection from the dead, St.
_Hilary_[292] hints, that there was no such Person as _Jairus_ whose
Name was fictitious, and coin'd with a spiritual Signification for the
Use of the Parable; and he gives this Reason, and a good Reason it is,
why he thought so, because it is elsewhere[293] intimated in the
Gospel, that none of the Rulers of the Synagogues confessedly believed
on _Jesus_. Is not here then a stumbling-Block at the Threshold of the
Letter of this Story? But why did _Jesus_ say, this Girl was but in a
Sleep? If he was going to work a Miracle in her Resuscitation, he
should not have call'd Death, _Sleep_; but if others had been of a
contrary Opinion, he should first have convinced them of the Certainty
of her Death, before he did the great Work on her. And why did he
charge the Parents of the Girl not to speak of the Miracle? If he
meant it as Testimony of his divine Power, he should rather have
exhorted them, in justice to himself to publish it, and make it well
known. And why, as St. _Ambrose_[294] puts the Question, did he turn
the People out of the House, before he would raise her? The more
Witnesses are present at a Miracle, the better it is attested, and the
more readily believed by others; and who should be present at the
Miracle rather than those who were incredulous of _Jesus_'s divine
Power? Are not all these Circumstances, so many _Absurdities_, which,
if they are not to be accounted for in the _Mystery_, are so far
destructive of the _Letter_, as that it is Nonsense and Folly in our
_Divines_ to talk of a Miracle here, against _Jesus_'s express Word
and Prohibition to the contrary.