raised by the power of another, was the imperfection of his humanity; to rise by ther

power of himself, was the great privilege of his divinity. Thus Christ was raised, and yet rose; and the sense is consistent and true, if considered with respect to the two different and distinct natures, which made up the whole person of Christ.

The Socinians indeed, who deny the divinity of our Saviour, deny likewise that his resurrection was effected by any proper virtue or power of his own. They believe that the Father raised Christ, because St. Paul has taught them so; and we believe the same: But they will not believe that Christ raised himself, though he hath expressly assured them of it: For thus he speaks to the Jews: "De"stroy this temple, and in three days I

will raise it up." Of which the Evangelist gives this explication," He spake "of the temple of his body:" which he might very properly call a temple, because the fullness of the Godhead dwelt in him bodily. Where, by raising up, is not meant, as the Socinians pretend, the SdVOL. IV. 0.

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lifting up of his body out of the grave, after life had been put into it for then any one might have raised it up as well as Christ but the raising up a body, in the language of Scripture, means the putting life into it, the re-uniting it with the same soul: And therefore to say, that he raised it, after the Father had quickened it, is a meer shift and evasion, and wholly inconsistent with that power of life and death, which our Saviour claims to him self, when he says, "I lay down my life, "that I might take it again: no man "taketh it from me, but I lay it down

the

"of myself: I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again." So that our Saviour's death was a voluntary submission to the will of his Father, and his resurrection was an immediate effect of his own proper power and omnipotence and thus was our blessed Sa viour raised by God the Father, and yet by himself; being God as well as man. "

2dly. The resurrection of Christ being a matter of fact, done so many ages ago, our chief evidence for the truth of it must ..to be

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be the testimony of those, who affirm that they saw him after his resurrection. This is the ground into which all the Apostles, and more especially St. Paul, resolve the belief of this article, "That he was seen "of Cephas, then of the twelve, then of "five hundred brethren at once, most of "whom are now alive, after that he was

seen of James, then of all the Apostles, " and, last of all, he was seen of me also."

Now, that the testimony of the Apostles is of sufficient validity for us to ground our belief of Christ's resurrection upon it, will appear, if we enquire first, Whether they were such persons as might certainly know the things they relate; and secondly, Whether they were men of such integrity, that they were not likely to relate more than they knew to be true; For, where the persons are furnished with an opportunity to know the truth of what they relate, and have sufficient integrity to relate no more than they know; there can be no reason at all, under such circumstances, either to deny the evidence, or suspect the testimony. 1st. Then,

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1st. Then, the resurrection of our Lord from the dead is reported to us by such witnesses, as might certainly know the things related by them. For first, The Apostles lived in the same place and country, where the thing is reported to be done, that is, in Judea, where our Lord was crucified, and where he appeared after his resurrection, and therefore might be eye-witnesses of the fact. The resurrection of our Saviour was also a common object of sense, such as their hands and eyes could not fail to inform them of; since the body with which he arose was of the same nature with their own, and the same which was committed to the grave and therefore they had as strong evidence that they conversed with him after his resurrection, as we can have that we converse with our nearest friends. For, that Christ's was a real body, and no spectre or phantasm, which might delude the eyes or impose upon the senses, appears from the scrupulous investigation of St. Thomas, who would not believe, unless he might put his hand into the hole of his sides, and see in his hand the print

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of the nails. Now, our Saviour, by condescending to satisfy him in his scruples, hath thereby made it evident, that the body with which he rose from the grave, was the same individual body which before was crucified, and buried in the sepulchre. And that the rest of the Apos-tles were not men of easy natures or, great credulity, so as to be imposed upon by a mere phantasm or apparition, appears from hence; That when those three pious women, Mary Magdalen, Joanna, and Mary, the mother of James, who went, according to the custom of the Hebrews,' to embalm him; contrary to their expec-` tations found him alive, held him by the feet and worshipped him, and then ran with great joy and fear to bring his disciples word; they all entertained the news with distrust and infidelity, looking on it as the idle suggestion of abused and fantastic persons. And afterwards, when the two disciples going to Emmaus were surprized with his unexpected appearance, and talked and eat with him, and told it to the rest, their story found no better success than the other. After this, he