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The Christian Witnesses Numerous. [Ess. II.

however, were far indeed from being the only Christian witnesses of the truth of that miraculous history which is recorded in their Gospels. All the twelve apostles (Matthias having been substituted for Judas) and others of the earliest followers of Christ, persons who had heard his doctrine and beheld his actions, were engaged in the same work. They proclaimed the principles of Christianity, and adduced the miracles of Christ, as well as their own, in proof of the divine origin of the religion which they taught: see Acts x, 39, &c. That preeminent miracle, the spontaneous resurrection of their Divine Master from the dead, was more especially a fact to which they all appealed, and with the truth of which (according to their own account of the matter) they were all personally acquainted for the apostle Paul assures us that the risen Jesus had appeared first to Peter, then to all the apostles together, and afterwards "to five hundred brethren at once:" 1 Cor. xv, 6. Now, the numerous individuals who were thus engaged in bearing their testimony to the miraculous history of the Gospel went forth as preachers of Christianity into every part of those very countries where the miracles of Christ are said to have taken place, and at a period when the whole circumstances of the case were fresh in the recollection of their hearers: and, although they were surrounded by a host of inveterate enemies, were carried before many formidable tribunals, and were subjected to the most severe examinations, (see for example, Acts iv, xxiv, xxv, xxvi;) no want of consistency appears to have been discovered in their testimony; nor is there the slightest ground to suppose that their story met with any refutation.

To consider this branch of the subject with somewhat more of precision, it is plain that these earliest propagators of the Gospel, in their capacity of wit

ESS. II.]

Neither Deceived nor Deceivers.

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nesses of the miracles and resurrection of Christ, were neither deceived nor deceivers.

That they were not deceived, appears from two considerations. First, that the apostles-the principal persons thus engaged, and who had been present with Jesus during the whole course of his ministry-were no enthusiasts or fanatics: for the four Gospels, (considered as genuine and generally credible histories) afford abundant evidence that they were simple, sober, and unsophisticated, persons; that, so far from being distinguished by eager credulity, they were full of fears, prone to distrust, and peculiarly slow and cautious in the reception of Christian truth. Secondly, that the very numerous miracles, to the performance of which they bore testimony, are described as having been subjected to their frequent yet cool and deliberate observation, and as being at the same time of far too decided a character to admit of any mistake or delusion. When, for example, the Lord Jesus, after he had publicly expired on the cross, and had been as publicly watched in his grave, repeatedly appeared alive in the midst of their company, conversed with them, ate with them, and shewed them his woundswhen they saw him, heard him, and handled him,it is certain that they could not be deluded, when they admitted the fact of his resurrection.

That the apostles were not deceivers, is a point equally susceptible of moral demonstration. The entire candour and honesty manifested by two of their number, in recording the humiliation of their master, as well as their own faults and those of their brethren, have already been noticed; nor can any thing be more evident than the simplicity and godly sincerity which distinguish the Epistles of Paul, Peter, James, Jude, and John. Jesus himself was denominated the Truth; and from various passages of the New Testament it is

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They Appealed to their own Miracles. [Ess. 11.

manifest, that a deep sense of the importance of truth was one principal characteristic of his followers. The personal virtue of the apostles is indeed indisputable; they were engaged in propagating the strictest code of morality which had ever been heard of in the world; and they were thus engaged, under sanctions and motives of unspeakable weight and moment. More especially, it was a doctrine explicitly recognized among them, that Satan was the father of lies, and that liars were exposed to eternal punishment in the world to come: see John viii, 44: Rev. xxii, 15.

The veracity of the apostles may also be justly measured by their disinterestedness. They sought no temporal advantages; they pursued no outward emoluments; they engaged in a career fraught with inconveniences, dangers, labours, and sorrows; they gave up all that was naturally dear to them, and sacrificed their pleasures, their comforts, and their worldly hopes, to the welfare of mankind and to the service of a crucified Redeemer. Their cause was the cause of righteousness, and in the support of that holy cause they exposed themselves, without reserve, to "cruel mockings and scourgings," to "the spoiling of their goods," to "bonds and imprisonments," and, finally, to the violent infliction of death itself.

Since, then, the original witnesses of the Christian miracles were of so sober and cautious a character, and were placed under such circumstances, with respect to the miracles, that they could not be deceived: and since their acknowledged virtue and disinterestedness afford the most satisfactory evidence that they could not be deceivers, I know not how the impartial inquirer can escape from the conclusion, that the story which they told is true.

VII. The earliest preachers of the Gospel were enabled, through divine assistance, to confirm their

[Ess. II. Early Diffusion of Christianity.

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declarations respecting Christ by the miracles which they wrought themselves. "They went forth," says the evangelist Mark, "and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word, with signs following:" ch. xvi, 20. The numerous instances which confirm this declaration, and which are recorded in the book of Acts, cannot be here adduced with propriety, since the credibility of that book is in part the subject of our discussion; but we may safely call in the testimony of the apostle Paul, who, in his second Epistle to the Corinthians, expressly appeals to "the signs of an apostle,” “the signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds,” which he had wrought in the presence of the very persons whom he was then addressing: 2 Cor. xii, 12. On another occasion, he gives the Corinthian Christians directions respecting the right use of that miraculous gift of tongues which they themselves enjoyed: 1 Cor. xiv. Had Paul spoken to the Corinthians only of the miracles which he had wrought among the Ephesians, we might have hesitated in admitting his testimony; but, when we find him appealing to the Corinthians as eye-witnesses of his works; when we observe him, moreover, familiarly adverting, in his written communications with them, to their own supernatural endowments, and when we take into account that this apostle was neither a fool nor a madman—we cannot with any reason deny the position, that the earliest propagators of Christianity were gifted with miraculous powers.

VIII. Lastly, let us notice the astonishing propagation and prevalence of early Christianity. Absolutely opposed as it was to the prejudices of the Jews, and to the systems and habits of the Gentiles; offering, in the history of a crucified Redeemer, to the former a sore offence, and to the latter a tale of foolishness; and involving all who embraced it in the loss of tem

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Early Diffusion of Christianity. [Ess. 11.

poral advantage, and in a path of almost unexampled mortification, self-denial, and suffering; the religion of Christ and his apostles extended itself, in primitive times, with irresistible rapidity and force. Thousands were converted by the preaching of Peter, on the day of Pentecost. Soon afterwards, multitudes were added to the church, of both men and women: Acts v, 14. From Jerusalem the new religion spread through Samaria and Syria, and churches were presently gathered in numerous parts of Lesser Asia and Greece. In the reign of Nero, (A.D. 65) "great multitudes" of Christians (as we are expressly informed by Tacitus) were discovered at Rome; and Pliny, when writing to Trajan, (A.D. 107) from his government in Bithynia, describes "the contagion of this superstition" as seizing the lesser towns as well as the cities; as spreading among persons of both sexes, of all ages, and of every rank and as producing the neglect of the temples, and the intermission of the ceremonies of idolatry.9

9 The celebrated letter of Pliny the Younger to Trajan, on the subject of the Christians in Bithynia is as follows:-" Health.-It is my usual custom, Sir, to refer all things, of which I harbour any doubts, to you. For who can better direct my judgment in its hesitation, or instruct my understanding in its ignorance? I never had the fortune to be present at any examination of Christians, before I came into this province. I am therefore at a loss to determine what is the usual object either of inquiry or of punishment, and to what length either of them is to be carried. It has also been with me a question very problematical,-whether any distinction should be made between the young and the old, the tender and the robust;—whether any room should be given for repentance, or the guilt of Christianity once incurred is not to be expiated by the most unequivocal retraction; whether the name itself, abstracted from any flagitiousness of conduct, or the crimes connected with the name, be the object of punishment. In the mean time this has been my method, with respect to those who were brought before me as Christians. I asked them, whether they were Christians: if they pleaded guilty, I interrogated them twice afresh, with a menace of capital punishment. In case of obstinate perseverance, I ordered them to be executed. For of this I had no doubt, whatever was the nature of their religion, that a sullen