XIV . 0 F THE D I V IN E AuT H 0 RI T y Bdides, the very Enemies have not had the Impudenr.· to deny fuch notorious Mat– ters of FaCt, as our Savior's Miracles; only they' afcribe them to ocher Caufes. *Even to this Day, the Jews acknowledge much of the Works of Chrift, but OanderouOy and blafphemouO.y father them on che Power of the Devil, or upon the Force of the Name of God fowed up in his Thigh; and fuch like ridiculous Scories they have. Even ti:e 'I'urks confefs much of the M11·acles of our Lord, and believe him to be a greac Pro– phet, though they are profett Enemies to the Chriftian Name. Nor could ~11 the Ad– verfaries of thefe Miracles and Relations, with all their Arguments or Violence, hinder Thoufands from believing them; and even expofmg their Lives on that Belief, in the very Time and Country where they were done. So that we muft fay, either they were Miracles, or not: If they were, why do you not believe ? If they were not, behold the greatett Miracle of all, that fo many Thoufands (even of the Beholdersl 01ould be lo blind, as to believe Things that never were, efpecially in thole very Times, when it was the ea!ieft Matter in the World to have difproved fuch Falfhoods. Indeed the M iracles of J efus, and thofe of his Difciples and Servants, in the primitive Times, were in Fact fo many, fo eminent, fo vilrble, and lafted fo long, (for they continued in the Church two or three hundred Years) and the Account of them has defcended down to us by fuch a conftant, uninterrupted written,and unwritten Tradition, that fcarce any Man has affumed Impudence enough to gainfay them. lrena:us (who lived about the Year of our Lord 200) affirmeth, that in his Time the working of Miracles, the raijing of the Dead, the cajfing out of Devils, healing the Sick by meer ltzying on of Hands, and Prophejjing, were jlill in Force; and that Jome that were fo raifed from the Dead, remained alive among.ft them long. after. And Cyprian and 'I'ertullian mention the ordinary calling out of Devils, and challenge the Heathen tO come and fee ir. Remark– able are thofe Words of the htter, -j- Let any one be brought before your Tribunals, who is apparently polfejfed with a Devil. that Spirit, being commanded by any Chrijlian jhall con– jefs of truth himfelfto be a Devil, as at other 'I'imes he boafts himjdf a God. And in his Book to Scapula, the Procurator 'of /lfric, Cap. 4· he repeats feveral miraculous Cures done by Chriftians : ~wnti bcnej/i viri, &c. How 111any PerJons of good ~<ality and Efteem, fays he, for we Jpeak not of the vulgar Sort, have been remedied either frcm De– vils or Difeafes? Severus bimfelf, the Fatber of Antoninus, was recovered by Chrijlians, &c. fo that here we have the bejl Doflrine under the higbefl /lttejlation, God himfelf ferring thereunto his fupernatural Seals, eo convince us of the Truth thereof. And t his was the great Argument, whereby Chrift all along convinced the vVorld ; for upon his Beginning of Miracles, at Cana in Galilee, he manifefted his Glory, and his Dif– ciples believed in him, ]ohn i. 48. The ]ews therefore enquired for Signs, as that which muft confirm any new Revelation to be of God, ]ohn ii. 18. and though Chrift blames them for their unreafonable unfatisfied ExpeCtations herein, and would not ht~mor them in each Particular; yet he continued to give them Miracl::s as great as they defired. They that faw the Miracles of the Loaves, faid, 'I'his i; of a Truth the Pruphet .that jhould come into the World, ']ohn vi. t 4· Many believed, when they Jaw the !Vliracles which he did,, ]ohn x. 41. /lfls iv. 16. Heb. ii. 4· If I had not done the Works that no Man e!Je could do, ye had not had Sin, in not believing, ]ohn xv. 24. And the ~Way of bringing Men to believe ir. thelo Days is expreffed, Heb . ii. 3, 4· Hew jha!lwe efcape, if we neglefl Jo great Salvation, 'which at the firjl began to be JPoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by thofe that heard him, [There is the Evidence of Senfe to the firft Re– ceivers, and their Tradition to the next] God a!fo beari11g them witnefs, both <vitb Signs and Wonders, a11d divers Miracles? L et us conclude this Argument with thar fmart In– t errogation of that blind Man, 'John xix. r6. Can a Man that is a Sinner·do fiuh Mi– racles? Natural Reafon fhewing us, that God being the true and merciful Governor of the. World, the Courfe of Nature cannot be altered, but by his fpecial Appoint– ment; and that he will never fet the Seal of his Omnipotency to a L ie, nor feffer the la!t and greateft Inducement to Belief, to be ufed to draw Men to embrace Fall: hood and Forgeries. IX. T o thefe aftonifhing Miracles we may fitly add, the Prefervation of thefe holv Writings for fo many Ages, beingitfelf little lefs than miraculous, and fuch as is a gre;t • Jo/epbus, in his AntiqtJity of the Jews, makes mention of the n1ighry Miracles that Jcfus did. Sec p. 4oo. t Ttrtul!iau Jl;ol. cap. 31. Ar,gument,
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