An Expofttion upon the think it reafonable to make all Faith and Credit among Mankind a Sacrifice to his Opi~ionativenefs. All Heathen Authors, as well as the Scripwres, give abnndant Telbmony to t his: And although they deny the DoCtrine Of the Scripture, yet there is no reafon they fhould disbelieve it, when it only relates matter of Faa. In this bch:df, we dcfi re they would ,givc it asmuch credit, as they give to thc'Hifl:ories of Livy_, or Tacitm, or any other Author of ap1_)roved Honcfty; and certainly it is but reafonable tO credit the confonant Depofitions of fcvcral !Jlain Men, who all profcfs themfelves to have been Eye-witnenes of thofe things they write: Yea, the :Jews and Heathens who lived in thofe, very t imes, and were moft inveterate and canker'd Enemies 3gainft the Name of Chrift, would have given whatfoevcr was dearcft to them in the World, could they have proved any Forgery in thofe Miracles, or Deceit in·the Rdaters of the Ill: But the Ev idence was fo clear, that they were forced to confefs even in fpi ght of their own Malice, that fuch fhange Works were done and really effi:&ed. But yet their Spleen againft the Truth was fi.lch, chat they imputed them onllto the l)Ower ofMagick, and the Operation of evil Spirits. But will our Athcift do fo too? If fo, he muft needs acknowledge a God, by acknowlcdg- . ing a Devil; if not, he hath as little reafon to believe any thing in the World which he h.imfelf hath not feen, as to believe the truth of thofe Reports, which we have recetved from undoubted hands, delivered to us by the unqucftionable Tcftimonies ofthofe who have known and feen what they have reported. T~erefore, .if ever there have been any fuch.extraordinary Effcc:ts, as reftoring iight to the Blmd, and feet to the Lame, and life tt felf to the Dead, and that by no other application than only a word's fpeaking, there muft certa inly be a God. For thefe tllings arc not within the power of fecond Caufes, being fo contrary to the courfe of Nature; and therefore muft be afcribed to a Supreme De it y, an Infini te Power, who is the Author and grea t Controller of Nature. 2. · Secondly, As there could have been no Miracle~erformed, fo neither could t:here be any 1)fophefies or Prcditl:ions made of contingent Events, unlefs we ackndwledge a God, whd in his infinite Wifdom and Counfel forefees whatfoevcr fhal\ come to .dmos 3· 7· pafs, and rcvealcth his fecrets \Ill to his Senrants the Prophets. We have many Prophefies recorded which have already ~ad their undoubted Ef!Cds: Not to inftance J ll all, I fhall only mention two; the one is that Prophefie of our Lord Jefhs Chrift, concerning the fin:ll DeftrutHon of-:JerufP.lem, Matth. 24. 2. which received its fnll accomplifhmcnt about 40 Ycars after they had crucified the Lord of Life and Glory. And the other, that Prediaion concerningCyrus, that he fhou ld Re-cd ific Jl'riifalem after it had been deftroyed by ~lie ~abyloninns, Ifaiah 44· 28. and t~ make this Prophcfie t~e mort;_ remarkable, ~t lS fa id, Chap. 4)· 4· That for lfrt!el s fake God had called hun by Ius m me. This was a famous and very partiCular Prophcfie of a Perfan named near Two hundred Years befot·e he was Born, and thofe things pu11dually foretold of him which he fhould afterwards perform. The like we hav~ t Kings 13. 2. where the Prophet declaims againfl: the ldolatrous Altar and Worfhip of Bethtl. and foretells that 'Jofiah lhould dcftroy it; caning him by his very Name Tl1ree hundred and forty Years before he was Born, 0 altar1 altar, thus faith the Lord, Behold, '! child ]hall be born unto the Houfe of Da'Vid, 'Jofiah by name; and upon thee jl~all he o./fir the pricfts of the high pl.;ces that burn inMm[eupon thee, and m~ns bones jl~all be burned upon thee; which we read waslexatrly fnlfilled by the fame 'Jofiah, 2 Kings 23· 20. For he flew all the priefts of the high places which were there, upon the altan, and1umt me~s bones upon them. Dm.2. 2 s. Now let any Atheift.give a rational account how thefe ~lturc Contmgents could be thus cer tainl y and circnmftantially fore-known and pred1~ed, were there not a God in Heaven that revcaleth Secrets. They could not certamly fee fuch free and contingent even ts in the Stars, efpecially fo long before they were to be produced; or if they might, yet certainl y they could not r ead Names there, nor fpell the Conftell~ ations into Words and Syllables; There is therefore a God who g1vcthknowlcdge, and dedareth things to come, according a.s it pleafeth him to illuminate the minds of his Servants the Prophets, to whom, and by whom he fpake. And this is a fifth Demonftration of tl1e being of a Deity. The Sixrh and Laft is th is, There is a Confcience in Man ; therefore there is a God in HeaYen. Confciencc cO\Ild have no JX>WCT at all over us, unl.efs it were given it from above. How comes it to pafs that wicked Wret!=hes are fti\lhauntcd With pale Fears and ghafl:ly Horrours, that they arc fometimcS a terrour to thcmfclves, and io all that ar~ about them? they WDl}\d, ifit were poffible, abandon thcmfelves, ~~~
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