Part 19

First, he says, _He must himself have been a witness of the prophecy_. But why so? Is there no way of being reasonably assured that a prophecy has been delivered, unless one has been actually present at the delivery of it? Does any one doubt, whether Socrates told his friend that he should die within three days’ time, because he did not hear these words from the mouth of the philosopher? But, there is less reason still to doubt whether Jesus uttered the prophecies, ascribed to him in the Gospel.

Next, _He must have been, himself, a witness of the event_. With just as good reason, as of the prophecy. However, it so happens that we are, or may be, if we please, witnesses of the events, foretold in many prophecies. What does he think of the dispersion of the Jews, for instance? Is he not a witness of this event?

But lastly, _He must have it demonstrated to him that the agreement between the prophecy and the event could not have been fortuitous_. What, will nothing less than _demonstration_ satisfy him? Will not a high degree of probability serve him to form a conclusion upon, nay, and to regulate his conduct? And will he stand out against the strongest degree of evidence, short of mathematical, or a proof _à la rigueur_, as he terms it, in a subject, where, from the nature of it, mathematical certainty is not to be had?

Surely one needs be no great philosopher to see that all which is wanting to give authority to the argument from prophecy, is, That we have _reason_ to admit the delivery of a prediction—that we have _reason_ to admit the completion of it—and that we have reason to think the agreement between the prediction and the event not fortuitous. And where is the impossibility that these three reasons should concur?—It is plain that the only one of these three reasons that appears in any degree problematical is the last concerning the completion of a prophecy in its event, whether it be fortuitous or not. Have I not reason then to say, as I do below p. 81, 82, that the strength of the infidel cause lies in this last consideration?—But what that strength is, we shall see as we go along.

[42] Socrates foretold that he should _dye within three days_: and the event followed.—_Est apud Platonem Socrates, cùm esset in custodiâ publicâ, dicens Critoni suo familiari, sibi post tertium diem esse moriendum—quod, ut est dictum, sic scribitur contigisse_ [Cic. de Div. l. i. c. 25.] Jesus foretold that he should suffer death by _crucifixion_. [John iii. 14. viii. 28. xii. 32.] He, likewise, foretold that he should _rise from the dead_, within _three days_ after his crucifixion. [John ii. 19. Matth. xii. 39, 40.]—The _first_ of these predictions might be a sagacious conjecture. Can it be said of such, as the _two last_,—

_Augurium, ratio est, et conjectura futuri_? Ovid. Trist. l. I. viii. 51.

[43] Hoc si est in libris, in _quem hominem_, et in _quod tempus_ est? Callidè enim, qui illa composuit, perfecit, ut, quodcunque accidisset, prædictum videretur, _hominum et temporum definitione sublatâ_—said, in discredit of the Sibylline oracles [_De Div._ l. ii. p. 295. _fol. Lutet._ 1565]: how far applicable to the scriptural prophecies, will be seen in its place.

[44] Διὰ τὸ ὅλως εἶναι ἁμάρτημα ἔλαττον, διὰ τῶν γενῶν τοῦ πράγματος λέγουσιν οἱ μάντεις. And again—οἱ χρησμολόγοι, οὐ προσορίζονται πότε. Aristot. Rhet. l. iii. c. v.

[45] Permultorum exemplorum et nostra plena est respublica, et omnia regna, omnesque populi, cunctæque gentes, augurum prædictis multa incredibiliter vera cecidisse. _Cic. de Leg._ l. ii. p. 337.

[46] Certabant, urbem Romam, Remoramne vocarent. Omnibu’ cura viris, uter esset induperator.

Cedunt de cœlo ter quatuor corpora sancta Avium, præpetibus sese, pulchrisque locis dant. Conspicit inde sibi data Romulus esse priora, Auspicio regni stabilita scamna solumque. _Cic. de Div._ l. i. c. 48.

[47] Quot sæcula urbi Romæ debeantur, dicere meum non est: sed, quid apud Varronem legerim, non tacebo. Qui libro Antiquitatum duodevicesimo ait, fuisse Vettium Romæ in augurio non ignobilem, ingenio magno, cuivis docto in disceptando parem; eum se audisse dicentem: Si ita esset, ut traderent historici, de Romuli urbis condendæ auguriis, ac _duodecim vulturibus_; quoniam CXX annos incolumis præteriisset populus Romanus, ad _mille et ducentos_ perventurum. CENSORINUS _de die natali_, c. xvii. p. 97. Cantab. 1695.

[48] Hence Sidonius, in personating the city of Rome, makes her ask—

Quid, rogo, _bis seno_ mihi _vulture_ Thuscus aruspex _Portendit_? Sidon. Carm. vii. 55.

And again, addressing himself to the same city,

Jam propè fata _tui bissenas vulturis alas_ Complebant (scis namque tuos, scis, _Roma_, labores.) Ib. ver. 358.

And, before him, Claudian, to the same purpose—

Tunc reputant annos, _interceptoque volatu Vulturis_, incidunt properatis sæcula metis. B. G. ver. 262.

[49] Medea, ver. 374.

[50] _Annis seris._

[51] Ferdinand.

[52] _Casu_, inquis. Itáne verò quicquam potest esse _casu_ factum, quod omnes habet in se numeros veritatis? Quatuor tali jacti, _casu_ Venereum efficiunt. Num etiam centum Venereos, si CCCC talos jeceris, _casu_ futuros putas? _De Div._ l. i. p. 259, Lutet. 1565.—Had the supposed case been fairly applied to the subject, there had been an end of the dispute; as may appear from the pitiful answer, made in the next book to this reasoning—dixisti multa de _casu_: ut, Venereum jaci posse casu, quatuor talis jactis; quadringentis, centum Venereos non posse casu consistere. Primùm, NESCIO, CUR NON POSSINT.—Was this, like a philosopher?

[53] Multa vera, inquit, evadere. Quid, quòd multo plura, falsa? Nónne ipsa varietas, quæ est propria fortunæ, fortunam esse causam, non naturam, docet? _De Div._ l. ii. p. 295. This, methinks, looks like sense.

[54] See the ancient apologists, who are frequent and large on this subject; and, of the moderns, see especially Huetii _Dem. Evang. Prop._ IX.—Bishop Kidder’s _Dem. of the Messias_, c. ii. p. 17, 18. London, 1726, fol.—Dr. Clarke’s _Evidences of Nat. and Rev. Religion_.—_Pensées de M. Pascal_, p. 108.

[55] I take these examples to be more in point, than those given by Bishop Butler in his _Analogy_, P. II c. vii. p. 386. Lond. 1740: not but those, too, have their weight.

[56] Grotius.

[57] Serm. II.

[58] Ἀπ’ αἰῶνος. Luke i. 70.

[59] This use and intent of prophecy was seen, and admirably expressed, by the great _M. Pascal_—“Les propheties sont mêlées de propheties particulieres, et de celles du Messie, afin que les propheties du Messie ne fussent pas sans _preuves_, et que les propheties particulieres ne fussent pas sans _fruit_.” _Pensées_, p. 112.

[60] _The Lord himself shall give you a sign_, Isai. vii. 14.—This SIGN (and the extraordinary introduction of it, in the words quoted, indicates no less) had plainly a recondite and even complicated meaning!

1. As addressed to _Ahaz_, it was simply an ASSURANCE, that his deliverance from his two great enemies was now at hand.

2. As addressed to the _house of David_—_Hear ye now, O house of David_—it was a TYPE of Christ.

3. It was, farther, a TOKEN, or pledge, that the remote deliverance of the house of David by Immanuel, should hereafter take place, just as the approaching deliverance of Ahaz, by the prophet’s Son, would be seen to do.

4. This sign, when fulfilled in the near event, would, thenceforward, become a PROOF, or evidence, that it would be fulfilled in the remote one.

5. Lastly, in the Antitype, the sign was a MIRACLE, properly so called.

So eminently was this Child, a SIGN! A _sign_, in all the _senses_ of the word, as employed by the Jewish prophets; and to all the _purposes_, for which signs were given.

[61] Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν τὰ γενόμενα ἤδη πάντα ἀποδείκνυμεν, πρὶν ἢ γενέσθαι, προκεκηρύχθαι διὰ τῶν προφητῶν, ἀνάγκη καὶ περὶ τῶν ὁμοίως προφητευθέντων, μελλόντων δὲ γίνεσθαι, πίϛιν ἔχειν ὡς πάντως γενησομένων. JUSTIN MARTYR, _Apol._ i. c. 87.

[62] Isaiah vii. 16. Daniel ix. 24.

[63] Mal. iv. 5. Luke xvi. 16.

[64] Joel ii. 28, 29.

[65] Is not their case exactly delineated by the prophet Ezekiel—_Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumour shall be upon rumour; then shall they_ SEEK A VISION OF THE PROPHET; i. e. they shall seek what they shall not find, _for the_ LAW _shall perish from the priest, and_ COUNCIL _from the ancients_; i. e. their ecclesiastical and civil polity, to which prophecy was annexed, shall be utterly abolished. See Ezekiel vii. 26. and compare Isaiah iii. 1, 2.

[66] See A. VAN DALE, _de Oraculorum ethnicorum duratione atque interitu_.

[67] The sacred text says—_myriads_—θεωρεῖς, ἀδελφὲ, πόσαι μυριάδες εἶσιν Ἰουδαίων τῶν πεπιϛευκότων—Acts xxi. 20.

[68] Acts x.

[69] Acts xiii. 42. 48.

[70] Τίνι γὰρ ἂν λόγῳ ἀνθρώπῳ ϛαυρωθέντι ἐπειθόμεθα, ὅτι πρωτότοκος τῷ ἀγεννήτῳ ἐϛι, καὶ αὐτὸς τὴν κρίσιν τοῦ παντὸς ἀνθρωπείου γένους ποιήσεται, εἰ μὴ μαρτύρια, πρὶν ἐλθεῖν αὐτὸν ἄνθρωπον γενόμενον, κεκηρυγμένα περὶ αὐτοῦ εὕρομεν, καὶ οὕτως γενόμενα ὁρῶμεν; JUSTIN MARTYR, _Apol._ i. c. 88.

[71] Acts xv. 18.

[72] Isaiah xl. 21.

[73] We see this design very plainly, in the prophecies of Jesus concerning _his own death and resurrection_; concerning _the descent of the holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost_; concerning _events, that were to befall his disciples_; and in other instances.

[74] La plus grande des preuves de Jesus Christ, ce sont les propheties. C’est aussi à quoi Dieu a la plus pourvû; car l’evenement, qui les a remplies, est un MIRACLE SUBSISTANT depuis la naissance de l’Eglise jusqu’ à la fin. _M. Pascal._

[75] For these particulars, see Dr. Jortin’s _Rem. on Ecclesiastical History_, vol. I. p. 20-89.

[76] An event, it must be owned, the more likely to happen, as the Jews had always been disposed to _trust to their high and fenced walls_; which yet could never defend them from their enemies, as their history shews, and, as Moses had distinctly foretold, _Deut._ xxviii. 52.

[77] Matth. xxiv. 28. and compare Luke xvii. 37. Ὅπου γὰρ ἐὰν ᾖ τὸ πτῶμα, ἐκεῖ συναχθήσονται οἱ ἀετοί.—Meaning by _eagles_, the standards of the Roman army.—Some writers of name have, indeed, observed, that this is only a _proverbial_ expression. True: but proverbial prophecies are often fulfilled in the strict literal sense of the expression; as Grotius well observes on Matth. xxvi. 23. hîc quoque accidit, quod in _multis aliis vaticiniis_, ut verba—non tantùm secundùm proverbialem loquendi modum, sed etiam secundùm _exactissimam verborum significationem_ implerentur.—If the reader calls to mind the prediction of our Lord, as it is elsewhere expressed, without a figure—_when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with_ ARMIES [Luke, xxi. 20]—and compares it with the _event_, he will hardly make a doubt whether _eagles_, in those figurative predictions, which respect the same subject, namely, the destruction of Jerusalem, were not intended by our Lord to denote, the ROMAN armies.

[78] —debellare _superbos_. Virg.

[79] Assuredly this prophecy was not in the number of those, of which it hath been said—_The prophecy is not occasioned by the event, but the event by the prophecy—L’evenement n’est pas predit parcequ’il arrivera; mais il arrive parcequ’il a été predit._ ROUSSEAU, _Nouv. Hel._ t. iv. p. 314. n. Neuf. 1764.

[80] Matth. xvi. 28.

[81] Matth. xxiv. 34.

[82] Luke xxi. 20.

[83] Luke xxi. 18. Acts ii. 21. Mark xiii. 20.

[84] See the learned Bishop Newton’s _Dissertations on the Prophecies_, vol. ii, p. 268. n.

[85] Deut. xxviii.

[86] 1 Thess. ii. 16.

[87] Luke xxi. 22. 24.

[88] Rom. xi. 25.

[89] Jer. xlvi. 28.

[90] Isai. i. 21. Ezek. vi. 8.

[91] Lev. xxvi. 44.

[92] Hear the profound and reflecting M. Pascal—L’etat où l’on voit les Juifs est une grande preuve de la Religion. Car c’est une chose étonnante de voir ce peuple _subsister_ depuis tant d’années, & de le voir _toujours miserable_—et, quoique il soit contraire, D’ETRE MISERABLE, & DE SUBSISTER, il subsiste neanmoins toujours malgré sa misère. PENSEES, p. 115.

[93] —Multò minus nomen criminandum, in captivitate sacratorum suorum, qui supernam patriam veraci fide expectantes, _etiam in suis sedibus peregrinos se esse noverunt_. _Aug. De Civ. Dei_, l. i. 15.

[94] Jer. xlvi. 28.

[95] Ps. ii. 8.

[96] Mal. i. 2.

[97] Is. xlix. 6.

[98] Mark xvi. 15.

[99] The reader may see many of them collected, and the general argument from them well inforced, by Mr. Bullock, in his VINDICATION, Part II.

[100] As in the case of _Mahometanism_, for instance.

[101] What the Philosopher Celsus thought of such a project, we learn from a curious passage in Origen. It being usual with the Christians of that time, as of every other, _to pray for the conversion of the whole world to the Christian faith_, the philosopher laughs at the extravagance of this petition. He observes upon it, ὅτι ὁ τοῦτο οἰόμενος οἶδεν οὐδέν. The words are not easily translated. But the _meaning_ of them is, That he regarded an universal agreement in one mode of religious belief, as a perfect chimæra: and the _turn_ of the words is so contrived, as to express the utmost contempt of those, who, in their supreme ignorance of mankind, could entertain so senseless an idea. _Contr. Celsum_, l. viii. _sub. fin._

[102] Matth. xxiii. 15.

[103] Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a _new covenant_ with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers—but this shall be my covenant that I will make with the house of Israel, after those days, saith the Lord, _I will put my Law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts_, &c. Jer. xxxi. 31-33. See also Jer. iii. 16.

[104] For behold, _I create new heavens and a new earth_: and the _former shall not be remembered nor come into mind_. Is. lxv. 17.

[105] The _Gentiles_ shall see thy righteousness, and all Kings, thy glory: And thou shalt be _called by a new name_, which the mouth of the Lord shall name. Is. lxii. 2.

[106] Is. lx. 22.

[107] Matth. xiii. 31, 32.

[108] Si enim et hostes _exertos_, non tantùm vindices occultos, agere vellemus, _deesset nobis vis numerorum et copiarum_? _Tertull. Apologet._ c. 37.

[109] Could it be _foreseen_, that nothing of this sort would happen? When the _Reformation_ was set on foot in Germany, Luther and his adherents resolved to carry it on in the spirit of the Gospel, that is, by _pacific measures_. But how soon did passion and policy strike in, to drive them from this purpose! The Catholics were intolerant: the Reformed grew powerful: and then, what was too naturally to be expected, followed.

If it be said, that the Gospel hath not been always propagated, _without force_; I acknowledge, it has not: but then I observe, 1. that it was incontestably so propagated, till the conversion of the Roman empire; in which event, alone, the prophecies appear to have had a reasonable completion. 2. that the _force employed_, has generally been the force of one Christian sect, directed against some other (in which scandalous contentions the prophecies have no concern), not in the propagation of Christianity itself in unbelieving countries. 3. that the _way of force_, when professedly used against unbelievers, though, in _some_ cases, it has contributed to the enlargement of Christ’s kingdom, has yet, in _others_ (where, too, the utmost force and zeal were combined) very signally failed of success; of which the _crusades against the Mahometans_ afford a striking instance: and 4. lastly, that we expect the _final universal_ prevalence of the Christian faith from the same spiritual arms only, which were first employed with such success in the propagation of it.

[110] An eminent writer, with the view, indeed, of disgracing the Reformation, hath set this matter in a very just light: “Que nos freres, says he, ouvrent donc les yeux; qu’ils les jettent sur l’ancienne Eglise, qui durant tant de siécles d’une persecution si cruelle ne s’est jamais échapée, ni un seul moment, ni dans un seul homme, & qu’on a vûë aussi soûmise sous Diocletien, et même sous Julien l’apostat, lorsqu’elle remplissoit deja toute la terre, que sous Neron & sous Domitien, lorsqu’elle ne faisoit que de naitre: C’EST LA QU’ON VOIT VERITABLEMENT LE DOIGT DE DIEU.” _Hist. des Variations_, l. x. c. 53.

_The finger of God_, as the learned writer says, was indeed conspicuous in this conduct of the primitive Christians, because it fulfilled the prophecies (so unlikely to be fulfilled) concerning the _manner_ in which Christianity was to obtain an establishment in the world. If the conduct of the _reformed_ had not this merit, it was because the prophecies did not extend to the reformation of Christian religion, but to the introduction and first settlement of it. The agents, in this last work of Providence, were therefore left to the natural influence of their passions, and they acted too frequently as those passions impelled them.

For the rest, how far the _general_ precepts of the Gospel require a passive submission and non-resistance to outrageous intolerance, whether absolutely, and in all cases, is a point of nice discussion; in which I take no part, at present, because I am not now making the apology of the _reformed_, but shewing the completion of the prophecies concerning the _propagators_ of Christianity: and the wonder to see them so punctually completed, is not lessened, but increased, by supposing, that the precepts of the Gospel leave mankind to the free use of their natural rights, in the case of extreme violence and injustice.

[111] _The vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lye: though it tarry, wait for it, because it shall surely come, it will not tarry._ Habakkuk, ii. 3.

[112] By the word _Tyranny_, here and elsewhere in these discourses, as applied to the Pope, I would be understood to mean, that _super-eminent dominion_, which he exercised, or claimed a _right_ of exercising, over the princes and states of his communion, in all affairs both temporal and spiritual.—I use the word (somewhat improperly, perhaps) for the sake of brevity, as I know of no other single term, that so well expresses my meaning.

[113] What is here said of the scriptural division of _time_, with regard to the affairs of the _Church_, is enough for my purpose. There is another division of time, in the prophetic scriptures, with regard to the _kingdoms of the world_; concerning which the reader may consult BISHOP KIDDER’S _Dem. of the Messiah_, Part iii. ch. ix.; and especially Mr. MEDE’S _Apostasy of the latter times_, ch. xi.

[114] Matth. xxiv. 24. Mark xiii. 21.

[115] 1 Ep. John, iv. 3.

[116] Ἀντίχριϛος—ἀντι, in the sense either of _pro_, or _contra_.

[117] Grotius says, “Sicut _Anticæsarem_ dicimus qui contra Cæsarem se Cæsarem vult dici atque Cæsar haberi, sic _Antichristus_ est qui se vero Christo opponit _eo modo_ ut ipse Christus haberi velit.” OP. t. iv. p. 490.—The learned commentator did not reflect, that words are not always used according to the strict import of their etymologies. _False Christs_, we will say, are, in the strict sense of the word, _Antichrists_. But the question is, in _what_ sense this word is used of the person called, by way of eminence, THE ANTICHRIST. This must be collected from the attributes given to him in the prophecies themselves, not from the rigorous etymology of the term. The case was plainly this. St. John is speaking of the _false Christs_, who had appeared in his time; and, to disgrace them the more effectually in the minds of those to whom he writes, he brands them with the name of _Antichrists_: not so much respecting the exact sense of the word, as the ideas of aversion, which, he knew, it would excite. For the tradition of the church concerning _Antichrist_, had made this appellation, of all others, the most opprobrious, and hateful.—Besides, it is not so clear, as Grotius supposes, that the strict sense of the word, _Antichristus_, must be—_is, qui se vero Christo opponit eo modo ut ipse Christus haberi velit_. Cæsar, who generally expressed himself with exact propriety, thought fit, on a certain occasion, to assume the name and character of, ANTICATO. Was it Cæsar’s purpose to say, or was it his ambition to pretend, “_that he opposed himself to the true Cato_, EO MODO _ut ipse_ CATO _haberi vellet_?”

[118] Eusebius mentions, JUDAS, H. E. l. vi. c. 2; and DIONYSIUS, E. H. l. vii. c. 10.—_Others_, seemed to expect that Antichrist would appear as the Messiah of the Jews; but in the person of a Roman Emperor; as will be explained presently. See the next note.

[119] See many citations to this purpose in Dr. Lardner’s _Cred._ p. ii. v. p. 210, 11, 12.

[120] Jerom, in Dan. vii. Mede, p. 657.

[121] Quisquis se universalem vocat, vel vocari desiderat, in elatione suâ Antichristum præcurrit. GREG. M. Op. Ep. xxx. l. vi. _Par._ 1533.

[122] In hâc ejus superbiâ, quid aliud nisi propinqua jam Antichristi esse tempora designatur? Ep. xxxiv. l. iv.

[123] With all his merits, Gregory the Great, it is to be feared, had some Antichristian marks upon him; and his adversary of the East might have gone some way towards _fixing_ them upon his _Grandeur_, if he had but observed, that Antichrist, whoever he was, and whensoever to appear in the world, is clearly marked out in the prophecies, as having his seat in _old Rome_.

[124] A. 991.

[125] Quid hunc, reverendi patres, in sublimi solio residentem, veste purpureâ et aureâ radiantem; quid hunc, inquam, esse censetis? Nimirum, si charitate destituitur, solâque scientiâ inflatur et extollitur, ANTICHRISTUS est, _in templo Dei sedens, et se ostendens tanquam sit Deus_. USSER. _de Christian. Eccl. successione & statu_, c. ii. p. 36. Lond. 1613.—ILLYRICI _Cat. Test. Ver._ p. 1558. _Officin. Jacob. Stoër et Jacob. Chouël._—This Arnulph, Bishop of Orleans, was esteemed, in his day, the wisest and most eloquent of all the Gallican prelates. Arnulphus—de quo sic initio ejus synodi scriptum est—_Inter omnes Galliarum episcopos sapientiâ et eloquentiâ clarissimus habebatur_. Ib.

[126] “Ecclesiam vanitatis, & SEDEM SATANÆ vocabat.” USSER. _de Christian. Eccl. succes. & statu_, c. 7. s. xxiv. p. 196.—In Apocalypsin scripsisse testatur Bostonius Buriensis. CAVE, H. L. vol. ii. p. 131. _Oxon._ 1743.

[127] Plerique omnes boni, aperti, justi, ingenui, simplices, tum imperium Antichristi cœpisse, quod ea quæ Christus servator noster tot annos ante nobis cantavit, evenisse eo tempore cernebant, memoriæ literarum prodidêre. ANNAL. BOIORUM, l. v. p. 591. Ingolstad. 1554.

[128] CAVE, H. L. vol. ii. p. 258. Conc. Flor. 1104. USSER. _De Christ. Eccl. succ. & stat._ c. v. s. v. p. 109.