whose Controversy I have the Trouble, by the Appointment of the
Fathers, to preside, are more stubborn, turbulent and refractory. What
ill Treatment they would give each other, if it was in their Power, I
know not: But my_ Apostates, _since they can't be aveng'd on their
Adversaries, are full of Resentment against their_ Moderator, _because
I am not altogether partial to their Side; and how I shall escape
their Indignation, God alone knows_.
WHATEVER _the_ Clergy, my Lord, _whom I dignify with the Title of_
Apostates, _may think, I look upon my self as a notable_ Moderator
_of the Controversy; I have shewn them all the Favour I can in it, and
would have brought them off with Honour, but for a_ little Flaw, _here
discover'd, in the Foundation of their Church, which, for the
Determination of our Disputes, must be confess'd and granted_.
IF _your_ Lordship, _upon reading this_ Discourse, _should be of the
same Mind with me, I beg of you to stroak the_ Clergy _into Temper,
Patience and Compliance: Tell them, they have been long orthodox and
glorious Victors over_ Infidels, _and that it would be now an Act of
Generosity to yield to them in a_ small Point; _upon which such a
Pacification would ensue, as nothing hereafter would be able to
dissolve_.
BUT _I have another Favour_, my Lord, _here to crave of you_, viz.
_that you would be pleas'd to persuade my old Friend, the_ Bishop _of_
London, _to stay at Home this_ Lent, _and keep to his_ Prayers _and_
Fasting, _for the casting out a certain_ Kind _of ----, that by Fits
he's unhapily troubled with; or upon the Publication of this_
Discourse, _I shall be in Danger of being soon knapp'd for it_.
IF _your_ Lordship _will do me that Favour, then I will do you as good
a Turn; and praise you for your Doctrine of_ Passive Obedience,
_preach'd at the_ Coronation: _Tho' many may laugh at your Revival of
that Doctrine, saying the_ Clergy _upon an Occasion, which our most
excellent_ Sovereign _will never give them, would again have Recourse
to their_ Reserves _and_ Distinctions; _yet I say it was well done of
your_ Lordship _to preach it, that the Tongues and the Hands (to say
nothing of the Hearts) of the_ Clergy _might go together in
Subscriptions to_ Articles _and_ Homilies; _and so avoid that
Prevarication and Inconsistency, which some now have no more Wit than
to charge them with_.
SO _not questioning your_ Lordship's _Approbation of this_ Discourse
_and the_ Dedication; _nor doubting but you'll make me as bountiful a
Recompence for it, as any of my other Episcopal Patrons have done; I
subscribe my self_,
[Sidenote: _Feb. 15th 1728-9_]
My Lord,
The Admirer of your
Passive Obedience Sermon,
_Thomas Woolston_.
[Illustration]
A SIXTH
DISCOURSE
ON THE
MIRACLES
OF OUR
_SAVIOUR_, &c.
Here goes my sixth and last _Discourse_ on _Jesus_'s _Miracles_; the
Subject whereof is the literal Story of his own Resurrection; which,
according to the Proposition in Hand, I am to shew to consist of
Absurdities, Improbabilities and Incredibilities. And I hope our
_Bishops_ will quietly permit the Publication of this _Discourse_,
especially if I assure them that I mean nothing worse by it, than to
make way for the understanding what the Fathers write of the mystical
Resurrection of _Jesus_ out of the Grave of the Letter of the Law and
the Prophets; of which mystical Resurrection of our _spiritual Jesus_,
the Evangelical Story of the Resurrection of a _carnal Christ_ is but
mere Type and Shadow.
I am so far from designing any Service to Infidelity by this
_Discourse_, that I aim at the Accomplishment of some of St. _John_'s
Apocalyptical Visions. The Fathers say that a _Church_, built on the
Letter of the Scriptures, particularly on the Letter of _Jesus_'s
Miracles, is _Babylon_; and that antiliteral Arguments and mystical
Interpretations will be the Downfal of her. Whether there is any Truth
in this Opinion of the Fathers, I am minded to make the Experiment;
and tho' I should bring the old House of the Church over my Head, and
be crush'd to Pieces in its Ruins, I can't forbear it: But however, I
would advise the _Clergy_ to make Haste and _come out of Babylon_, for
Fear of the worst; or they, who upon the Authority of the Fathers are
_the Merchants of Babylon_, will _weep_[309] _and mourn_ upon her
Fall, because _none will buy their Merchandize_ of the Letter _any
more_. Dear _Jesu_, that such a _Student_ as I am in the _Revelations_
of St. _John_, and an Interpreter of them too, upon the Authority of
the Fathers, should be charg'd with Blasphemy and Infidelity!
So to Work I went; and I had not been long musing by myself, how to
sap this Foundation of the Church, before I was sensible of my own
Insufficiency for it. Whereupon I sent to my old Friend, the _Jewish
Rabbi_, for his Thoughts on this grand Miracle of _Jesus_'s
Resurrection, which he gave me some Promise of. But I desired him to
forbear all Ludicrousness, Satire and Banter, for fear of Offence: For
tho' our _Clergy_ liked Volumes of Jests and Facetiousness, if they
were discharg'd against _Jews_, _Turks_, and _Infidels_; yet when they
were levell'd at _Ministers_ of the _Letter_, the _Case was alter'd_,
as quoth _Plowden_, and they were not to be borne with. Therefore he
was to remember that Decency, Seriousness and Calmness of Argument,
required by the _Bishop_ of _London_[310] or I durst not print it.
In Compliance with my Desires he sent me the following _Letter_,
which, having purg'd it of a few _Puns_ and _Cunundrums_, because all
Appearance of _Wit_, as of _Evil_, was to be abstain'd from, I here
publish, and it runs thus.
_SIR_,
According to your Request, I here send you my Thoughts on _Jesus_'s
Resurrection, in which I shall be shorter than I would be, because of
the customary Bounds of your _Discourses_.
The Controversy between us _Jews_ and you _Christians_ about the
_Messiah_ has hitherto been of a diffusive Nature: But as the Subject of
_this_ is the Resurrection of your _Jesus_; so, by my Consent, we'll now
reduce the Controversy to a narrow Compass, and let it turn intirely on
this grand Miracle and Article of your Faith. If your _Divines_ can
prove _Jesus_'s Resurrection against the following Objections, then I
will acknowledge him to be the _Messiah_, and will turn Christian,
otherwise he must still pass with us for an Impostor and false Prophet.
I have often lamented the Loss of such Writings, which our _Ancestors_
unquestionably dispers'd against _Jesus_, because of the clear Sight
they would give us, into the Cheat and Imposture of his Religion. But
I rejoice and thank God, there is little or no Want of them, to the
Point in Hand. For I had not long meditated on the Story of _Jesus_'s
Resurrection, as your _Evangelists_ have related it, but I plainly
discern'd it to be the most notorious and monstrous Imposture, that
ever was put upon Mankind. And if you please to attend to my following
Arguments, which require no Depth of Judgment and Capacity to
apprehend, I am persuaded that you and every one disinterested, will
be of the same Mind too.
To overthrow and confute the Story of this monstrous and incredible
Miracle, I was thinking once to premise an Argument of the Justice of
the Sentence denounc'd against and executed upon _Jesus_, who was so
far from being the innocent Person, you Christians would make of him,
that, as may easily be proved, he was so grand a _Deceiver_,
_Impostor_ and _Malefactor_, as no Punishment could be too great for
him. But this Argument (which I reserve against a Day of perfect
Liberty, to publish by it self in Defence of the Honour and Justice of
our _Ancestors_) would be too long for the Compass of this Letter; and
therefore I pass it by, tho' it would give Force to my following
Objections; it being hard and even impossible to imagine, that God
would vouchsafe the Favour of a miraculous Resurrection to one, who
for his Crimes deservedly suffer'd and underwent Death.
But waving, I say, that Argument for the present, which of itself
would be enough to prejudice a reasonable Man against the Belief of
_Jesus_'s Resurrection; I will allow _Jesus_ to have been a much
better Man, than I believe him to have been; or as good a one in
Morals as your _Divines_ do suppose him; and will only consider the
Circumstances of the Evangelical Story of his Resurrection; from
which, if I don't prove it to have been the most bare-fac'd Imposture
that ever was put upon the World, I deserve for the Vanity of this
Attempt, a much worse Punishment, than he for his Frauds endured.
I have sometimes wonder'd, considering the Nature and Heinousness of
_Jesus_'s Faults, for which he dy'd, that our _Chief Priests_ and
_Pharisees_ had any Regard to his Prediction (which was so like a
Bambouzlement of the Populace) that he was to rise again the _third Day_
after his Crucifixion. There's no other Nation in the World, which would
not have slighted such a vain Prognostication of a known Impostor. Let
him foretell with ever so much Confidence his speedy Return to Life, I
dare say, any other Magistrates of ordinary Prudence would have despised
him for a presumptuous _Enthusiast_: But, when I reflected on the
Imposture of _Lazarus_'s Resurrection, and of what pernicious
Consequence it had like to have proved to the Peace and Welfare of our
Nation, if it had not been happily discover'd, my Wonder here ceas'd;
and I as much admire now the Wisdom, Caution and Circumspection of our
_Chief Priests_ against all possible Fraud and Deceit in the foretold
Resurrection of _Jesus_. Tho' _Jesus_ himself, the Head of the
Confederacy, and prime Projector of the design'd Cheat in the Case of
_Lazarus_ was cut off, yet his Associates were still numerous; and it
was not impossible, but they might concert a Project of a counterfeited
Resurrection of him, in Accomplishment of his Prophecy, that might be of
more fatal Consequence, and tend to such Confusions and Distractions
among the People, as would not be soon quell'd and quieted. Whereupon
our _Chief Priests_ very prudently consider of Precautions against Cheat
here, and wisely make Application to _Pilate_ the _Governour_, that
proper and effectual Measures may be taken against a false and feign'd
Resurrection, for Fear of the ill Effects of it. And one of them, as
the _Spokesman_ of their Company, seems, according to _Matthew_, Ch.
xxviii. to have made the Speech following.
_SIR_, "We remember that this Deceiver and Impostor _Jesus_, who was
yesterday crucified, and justly suffer'd Death for his Blasphemy and
many Delusions of the People (that were of bad Consequence, and
might have been of much worse, if he had not been timely brought to
condign Punishment) said repeatedly before, that notwithstanding the
Death he was to undergo he should rise again to Life the _third Day_
after. It is not that we are at all apprehensive of such a wonderful
and miraculous Event, which knowing him to have been a false Prophet
as well as a deceitful Juggler, we have no Fears nor Belief of. But
as it is not long since, that the Inhabitants in and about _Bethany_
had like to have been fatally deluded and imposed on by him, in the
pretended Resuscitation of _Lazarus_, one of his Disciples and
Confederates in Iniquity; so it is not altogether impossible nor
improbable but his Disciples and Accomplices, who are many, may
project a feign'd Resurrection of _Jesus_ (in Accomplishment of his
Prediction) by stealing his Body away, and pretending he is risen
from the dead. Should such a Sham-Miracle be contrived amongst them,
and cunningly executed, it would be [Greek: planê] (_not an Error
but_) an Imposture of worse Consequence to our Nation and Religion,
than the former in _Lazarus_ could have been, if it had never been
detected: We crave therefore the Favour of your _Excellency_, to
give Command for the making his Sepulchre sure, till the _third_ Day
is past, that neither his _dead_ Body may be taken away, and a
Resurrection pretended; nor a _living_ one slipt into its Place, and
a Miracle counterfeited on that Day, when we will be present at the
opening of the Sepulchre, and give Satisfaction to the People of his
being a false Prophet."
Whether _Pilate_ was at all intent on the Prevention of Fraud in this
Case, or would not willingly have connived at it, to increase the
Divisions and Distractions of our then unhappy Nation, may be
question'd: But the Request of our _Chief Priests_ was so reasonable,
and their Importunities so urgent, that he could not resist them; and
therefore order'd them a _Watch_ for the Sepulchre, which they might
make as sure, as they could, against Fraud and Imposture, till the
_third Day_.
Whereupon our _Chief Priests_ deliberate, what Measures were fittest
to be taken to this Purpose. And as I can't, and don't believe any Man
else can, devise any better for the Security of the Sepulchre against
Fraud, than what they took; so I admire and applaud their Prudence,
Circumspection, and Precaution in the Case. They _seal'd the Stone_ at
the Mouth of the Sepulchre, and placed a Guard of Soldiers about it;
which were _Two_ such certain Means for the Prevention or Detection of
Cheat in a Resurrection, as are not to be equall'd by any other.
They _seal'd the Stone_ of the Sepulchre, which, tho' it was no Security
at all against Violence, yet was an absolute one against Fraud. How the
_Stone_ which fitted the Mouth of the Sepulchre, as a Door does the
Entrance into a Room, was seal'd, I need not describe. The Use and
Manner of sealing the Doors of Closets, of Chests, and of Papers is
common; and as it is an obvious Expedient, for the Satisfaction of the
Signators, against Deceit; so it has been an antient as well as a modern
Practice. _Darius_, King of _Babylon_,[311] seal'd the Door of the Den
of Lions, wherein _Daniel_ was cast, with his own Signet: And wherefore
did he so? For the Satisfaction of himself and of his Courtiers, when he
came again to open and compare the Signature with his Signet, that no
Art nor Artifice had been used for the Preservation of _Daniel_. So our
_Chief Priests_ seal'd the Stone of _Jesus_'s Sepulchre, which they
design'd to be present at the opening of, on the _third Day_, the Time
appointed by _Jesus_ for his Resurrection, and then give ample
Satisfaction to the People, that there was a real, or could be no
Resurrection of his Body. Wherefore else did they _seal_ the Stone of
his Sepulchre?
Your _Grotius_[312] thinks, that _Pilate_'s Seal was affix'd to the
Stone of the Sepulchre; but, as I believe, _Pilate_ little concern'd
himself about the Prevention of Deceit here; so I much question it. It
is more reasonable to think that the _Chief Priests_ and other Civil
Magistrates of _Jerusalem_ with their several Seals, which could not
be open'd, but by themselves, without Suspicion of Fraud, sign'd the
Stone, and intended to be present, on the Day appointed, at the
opening of the Sepulchre; not doubting, what no body could question,
but _Jesus_ would wait their coming, and arise to Life, if he could,
in the Sight of themselves, and of a vast Concourse of People, that
were sure to attend on them to behold the Miracle. Such a Resurrection
would have been of Satisfaction to the whole Nation; and such a
Resurrection, reasonably speaking, _Jesus_ would, if he could, have
vouchsafed in Accommodation to the _sealing_ of the _Stone_.
But, notwithstanding this Precaution, in sealing of the Stone, the
best that could be taken against Fraud, _Jesus_'s Body was privately
slipt off, early in the Morning of the Day before, and a Resurrection
pretended by his Disciples; and you would have us and our Ancestors to
believe, there was no Deceit in the Case; tho' confessedly none of the
_Sealers_ of the Sepulchre were present: Who can believe it? Was, or
can there be, any Imposture more against Sense and Reason palm'd upon
the Understandings of Mankind? If there had been a real Resurrection,
the _Sealers_ of the _Stone_ would have been the _Openers_ of the
Sepulchre; wherefore else was the _Stone seal'd_?
A Question, that here arises, is, On what Day, and what Time of the Day,
did our _Chief Priests_, the Sealers of the Stone, expect, what they
could not think would ever come to pass, _Jesus_'s Resurrection? Or what
was the Extent of the Time meant by _Jesus_, when he said that after
_three Days_, or on the _third Day_ after his Passion, he should rise
again? If any Impostor or Prophet like _Jesus_ should in this Age so
predict his Resurrection, and be executed on _Friday_, the Day for his
Resurrection would be presumed to be _Monday_, and not _Sunday_ Morning
before Day. And I humbly conceive former Ages and Nations, and our
Nation in particular did compute after this Fashion. Accordingly on
_Monday_ our _Chief Priests_ I don't doubt, intended to be present at
the opening of the Seals of the Sepulchre, and to behold the Miracle:
But _Jesus_'s Body was clandestinely moved off early on _Sunday_ (the
Day before _that_ signified and predicted for his Resurrection) to the
Laughter more than the Surprize of our Ancestors, at the Notoriety of
the Fraud committed, and at the Vanity of a Resurrection pretended upon
it. And I may appeal even to your _Chief Priests_ of the Church,
whether here's not another Note of Cheat and Imposture; and whether the
Disciples were not afraid to trust _Jesus_'s Body, its full time, in the
Grave; because of the greater Difficulty to carry it off afterwards, and
pretend a Resurrection upon it.
But because your _Divines_ (who have singular Knacks at making two
Nights and a full Day, that _Jesus_ was buried, to be _three Days_ and
_three Nights_; and whose various Ways of Computation I always smile
at) do assert that _Sunday_ was the _third Day_, on which, in
Accomplishment of _Jonah_'s Prophecy, and of his Own Prediction, he
was to rise again; I will suppose so with them, and will, if they
please, grant that our _Chief Priests_, and the _Sealers_ of the
Sepulchre, expected his Resurrection on that Day, and intended, for
the opening of the Seals, to be present at it.
But at what Time of the Day were they to come or could be expected at
the Sepulchre? Not long before Noon. But _Jesus_'s Body was gone
betimes in the Morning, before our _Chief Priests_ could be out of
their Beds; and a barefac'd Infringment of the Seals of the Sepulchre
was made against the Laws of Honour and Honesty, and a Resurrection
confidently talk'd of by the Disciples; and yet your Christian
Priesthood at this Day would have us to believe, there was no Fraud
and Deceit in all this! O most monstrous!
If our _Chief Priests_ had trespass'd upon _Jesus_'s Patience, and
would not attend at the Sepulchre for the opening of the Seals, on the
Day and Time appointed; if they had been for confining him longer in
the Grave than was meet, according to Prophecy, then his Resurrection,
without their Presence, had been excusable and justifiable. But this
his pretended Rising to Life, not only a Day before the _Chief
Priests_ could imagine he would, or earlier in the Morning than he
should, for the Sake of their requisite Presence, is, together with
the Fracture of the Seals against the Law of Security, such a manifest
and indisputable Mark and Indication of Fraud, as is not to be
equall'd in all or any of the Impostures, that ever were attempted to
be put upon the World.
In short, by the sealing of the Stone of the Sepulchre, we are to
understand nothing less than a Covenant enter'd into between our _Chief
Priests_ and the _Apostles_, by which _Jesus_'s Veracity, Power and
_Messiahship_ was to be try'd. Tho' we read not of the Apostles giving
their Consent to the Covenant, yet it was reasonably presum'd and could
not have been refus'd, if ask'd. The Condition of the seal'd Covenant
was, that if _Jesus_ arose from the dead in the Presence of our _Chief
Priests_, upon their opening the Seals of the Sepulchre, at the Time
appointed; then was he to be acknowledg'd to be the _Messiah_: But if he
continued in a corrupt and putrified State of Mortality, then was he to
be granted to be an _Impostor_: Very wisely and rightly agreed! And if
the Apostles had stood to this Covenant, Christianity had been nipt in
its Bud, and suppress'd in its Birth. But they had other Views, and
another Game to play at all Adventures. The Body was to be removed and a
Resurrection pretended, to the Delusion, if possible, of all Mankind, in
which they have been more successful than could be imagin'd upon a
Project that had so little Sense or Reason, so little Colour of Truth or
Artifice in the Contrivance and Execution of it. Our _Chief Priests_
were apprehensive at first of their stealing the Body away, and
pretending a Resurrection: But after the _sealing_ of the _Stone_, those
Fears vanish'd; because upon the stealing the Body, away against such
Security and Precaution, the Fraud would be self-evident, and want no
Demonstration and Proof of it. But, for all this Precaution, I say, the
Body was in a barefaced Manner taken away, a Resurrection talk'd of, and
to the Amazement of every one, who can think freely, has been believed
thro' all Ages of the Church since. Upon the whole then, I think, you
may as well say, when a seal'd Closet is broken open, and the Treasure
gone without the Privity of the Signators, that there's no Wrong done;
as that in the Resurrection of _Jesus_, there was no Fraud. The Cases
are equal and parallel. What then can your Christian _Priests_ say to
this demonstrative Argument of a manifest and bare-faced Cheat in
_Jesus_'s Resurrection? I have been thinking, what they will or can say;
and upon the maturest Consideration I don't find they can make any other
than one or more of these shuffling Answers to it, _viz._
1. That it was impossible for the Disciples to steal the Body of
_Jesus_ away, because of the Watchfulness of the Guards, and therefore
there was a real Resurrection, tho' the _Chief Priests_ and _Sealers_
of the Sepulchre were not present at it.
2. That, tho' the _Chief Priests_ and _Sealers_ of the Stone of the
Sepulchre were not present, as I say they ought to have been, to
behold the Miracle; yet his Resurrection was afterwards made as
manifest to them, as if they had been there present.
3. That if _Jesus_ did not really arise from the dead, the Belief of
his Resurrection could never have been so propagated at first, nor
would have been retain'd in the World for so many Ages since.
I can think of no other Answers, and believe it impossible for your
Christian _Priests_ to form any other, to the foresaid Argument of
Fraud in _Jesus_'s Resurrection: But how weak, frivolous and
insufficient they all and every one are, will appear upon a little
Examination into them.
1. Then, against the aforesaid demonstrative Argument of Fraud, it may
be pretended, _That it was impossible for the Disciples to steal the
Body of_ Jesus _away, because of the Watchfulness of the Guards; and
therefore there was a real Resurrection, tho' the_ Chief Priests,
_the_ Sealers _of the Sepulchre were not present at it_.
To which I reply, and confess, that if it was impossible to evade the
Guards of the Sepulchre, then there was a real Resurrection; but if
there was but a bare Possibility of evading them, then this Answer is
of no Force. And I am of Opinion, that the Thing was not only
possible, but easy, feasible, and practicable. Tho' the _Roman_
Soldiers were of as much Fidelity and Integrity as any of their
Profession; yet it is well known, that such Creatures are subject to
Bribery and Corruption, if the Disciples had any Money to tempt them
with: Or if their Faithfulness to their Trust was untainted; yet it is
not improbable, but their Officers, at the Direction of _Pilate_, who
found his Account in the Distractions of our Nation, might give them
the Hint to wink hard at the Commission of such a Fraud. But not to
insist on either of these Ways to evade the _Watch_; our Ancestors
said, what your _Evangelist_ has recorded, that the Disciples taking
the Opportunity of the Sleep of the Guards, carry'd the Body of
_Jesus_ off; which was a thing both possible and probable.