146 The general and e ffeaual Publication ol. 1. the Chriftians) -gives this honourable,Report of them, That there was no Fault to befound in them, befides their obflinate Refilled to Sacrifice to the Gods; that at .their Religious Meetings it was an effential part of their Worfhip to oblige them- felves by a folemn Sacrament, againft Murder, and Theft, and Adultery, and all . manner ofWickednefs andVice. No Chriftian Idiftorian could have given a bet- ter Chara&er ofthem than this Heathen Writer does. But, 3. The Succefs of the Gofpel will appear yet moreorange, if we confider the Weaknefs and Meannefs of the Inftruments that were employed in this great Work. ACompanyof plain and illiterateMen, molt of them deftitute of the Advantages of Education, went forth upon this great Defign, weak and unarmed, unaffifted by any worldly Intereft, having no Secular Force and Power on their Side, to give Countenance andAuthority to them ; and this not only at their firft fetting out, but they remained under thefe Difadvantages for three Ages together. The firft Publifhersof the Chriftian Religion offered Violence to no Man; did not go about to compel any by Force to entertain the Dodrine which they preached, and to lift themfelves of their Ntnnber : They were not attended with Legions of armed Men, to difpofe Men for the Reception of their Dodrine by Plunder and Free- Quarter, by Violence and Tortures : This Modern Methodof Converfion was not then thought of; nor did they go about to tempt and allure Men to their Way, by the Promifes of Temporal Rewards, and by the Hopes of Riches and Honours ; nor did they ufe any artificial Infinuations of Wit and Elo- quence, to gain upon the Minds of Men, and (teal their Do&nines into them ; but delivered themfelves with the greatenPlainnefs and Simplicity ; and without any fudied Ornaments of Speech, or fine Arts ofPerfwafion, declared plainly to them the Dodrine andMiracles, the Life, and Death, and Refurre&ion of 7efus promifing Life and Immortality to them that did believe and obey his DoEtrine, and threatning Eternal Woe and Mifery in another World, to the Defpifers of it. And yet thefe contemptible Inftruments, notwithftanding all thefe Difadvan- tages, did their Work effeaually, and, by their Power of God going along with them, gained Numbers every Day to their Religion, and in a fhort Space drew the World after him. Nor did they only win over the Common People, but elfo feveral Perfons con- fiderable for their Dignity, and eminent for their Learning, who afterwards be- came zealous Affertors of Chriftianity, and were not afhamed to be inftru&ed in the Saving Knowledge ofthe Gofpel, by fuch mean and unlearned Perfons as the Apoftles were; for they faw fomething in them more Divine, and which carried with it a greater Power and Perfwafion than Humane Learning and Eloquence. 4. We will confider the mighty Oppofition that was raifed againft the Gofpel. At its firft Appearance it could not be otherwife, but that it muff meet with a great deal of Difficulty and Oppofition, from the Lofts and Vices of Men, which it did fo plainly and fo feverely declare againft, and likewife from the Prejudices of Men that had been brought up in a contrary Religion ; no Prejudice being fo 'ftrong as that which is founded in Education; and of all the Prejudices of Educa- tion, none fo obftinate and hard to be removed, as thofe about Religion, yea, though they be never fo ahfurd and unreafonable ; Hath a Nation changed their Gods, which yet are no Gods ? Men are veryhardly broughtoff from the Reli- gion which they have beenbrought up in, how little Ground and Reafon foever there be for it ; the being trained up in it, and having a Reverence for it im- planted in them in their tender Years, fupplies all other Defe&s. Had Men been free and indifferent in Religion, when Chriftianity firft appeared in the World, and had they not had their Minds prepoffèfs'd with other Appre- henfìons of God and Religion, and been inured to Rites and Superftitions of a quite different Nature from the Chriftian Religion; or had they at that Time been weary of the Superftitions of their Idolatrous Worfhip, and been enquiring after a better way ofReligion ; then, indeed, the Chriftian Religion had appeared withgreat Advantage, and would in all Probability have been entertained with a Readinefs of Mind proportionable to the Reafonablenefs of it. But this was not the
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