57.

time, without any real foundation, that they had gone through seas on dry land, seen the dead raised, &c. But without such a persuasion, it was impossible that either the law or the gospel could have been received. And the truth of the matters of fact of each being no otherwise asserted, than as such public ceremonies had been previously practised, their certainty is established upon the full conviction of the senses of mankind.

It is not asserted that every thing which wants these four marks is false; but that every thing which has them all, must be true.

There can be no doubt that there was such a man as Julius Cæsar, that he conquered at Pharsalia, and was killed in the senate house, though neither his actions, nor his assassination were commemorated by any public observances. But this shows that the matters of fact of Moses, and of Christ, have come down to us better certified than any other whatsoever; and yet our deists, who would consider any one as hopelessly irrational, who should offer to deny the existence of Cæsar, value themselves as the only men of profound sense and judgment, for ridiculing the histories of

Moses and Christ, though guarded with infallible marks, which that of Cæsar wants.

Besides, the nature of the subject would of itself lead to a more minute examination of the one than of the other; for of what consequence is it to us, or to the world, whether there ever were such a man as Cæsar, whether he conquered at Pharsalia, or was killed in the senate house or not? But our eternal welfare is concerned in the truth of what is recorded in the Scriptures, and therefore they would naturally be more narrowly scrutinized when proposed for acceptance.

To the preceding four marks, which are common to the matters of fact of Moses and 58. of Christ, four others may be subjoined, the three last of which, no matter of fact, how Truth of true soever, either has had, or can have, except that of Christ.

This will obviously appear, if it be considered,

5. That the book, which relates the facts, contains likewise the laws of the people to whom it belongs;

6. That Christ was previously announced for that very period by a long train of prophecies;

Christianity.

7. Still more particularly prefigured by types both of a circumstantial and a personal nature, from the earliest ages; and, lastly,

8. That the facts of Christianity are such as to make it impossible, either for their relators or hearers to believe them, if false, without supposing an universal deception of the senses of mankind.

The fifth mark, which has already been 59 discussed, renders it (as was above observed) impossible for any one to have imposed such a book upon any people. This applies

strongly to the books of Moses, in which, not only the history of the Jews, but likewise their whole law, secular and ecclesiastical, was contained. And though, from the early extension and destined universality of the Christian system, it could not, without unnecessary confusion, furnish an uniform civil code to all its various followers, who were already under the government of laws, in some degree adapted to their respective climates and characters, yet it was intended as the spiritual guide of the new church.

But we must hasten to the sixth mark of prophecy.

6. The great fact of Christ's coming, was

previously announced to the Jews in the Old Testament "by all the holy prophets which 60. have been since the world began." (Luke i.

70.)

The first promise upon the subject was made to Adam immediately after the fall. (Gen. iii. 15; compare Col. ii. 15 and Heb. ii. 14.) He was again repeatedly promised to Abraham, (Gen. xii. 3, xviii. 18, and xxii, 18, applied Gal. iii. 16.) to Isaac, (Gen. xxvi. 4,) and to Jacob, (Gen. xxviii. 14.)

Jacob expressly prophesied of him under the appellation of "Shiloh," or "him that was to be sent." (Gen. xlix. 10.) Balaam, also, with the voice of inspiration, pronounced Him "The Star of Jacob and the Sceptre of Israel." (Numb. xxiv. 17.) Moses spake of Him as one "greater than himself;" (Deut. xviii. 15. 18, 19;) and Daniel hailed his arrival under the name of "Messiah the Prince." (ix. 25.)

It was foretold that He should be born of a virgin, (Isa. vii. 14,) in the city of Bethlehem, (Mich. v. 2,) of the seed of Jesse; (Isa. xi. 1. 10 ;) that He should lead a life of poverty and suffering, (Psal. xxii.) inflicted upon him, not "for himself," (Dan. ix. 26,)

but for the sins of others, (Isa. liii.) and after a short confinement in the grave, should rise again; (Psal. xvi. 10, and xiii. 35. 37,) that He should "sit upon the throne of David for ever, and be called the mighty God," (Isa.ix. 6, 7,) &c. &c.

The time of his incarnation was to be before" the sceptre should depart from Judah," (Gen. xlix. 10,) during the continuance of the second temple, (Hagg. ii. 7. 9,) and within seventy weeks, or 490 days, i. e. according to the constant interpretation of prophecy, 490 years from its erection. (Dan. ix. 24.)

From these and other predictions, the coming of Christ was at all times the expectation among the Jews; and that it had ripened into full maturity, at the time of his actual advent, may be inferred from the number of false messiahs who about that period made their appearance.

That He was, likewise, the expectation of the Gentiles (in conformity to the prophecies of Gen. xlix. 10, and Hagg. ii. 7, where the terms "people" and "nations," denote the heathen world) is evinced by the coming of the wise men from the East, &c. a story