454 Provin e us to be the Meíia. % f Vol. O I. And thus I have (hewn in what Refpe&s the Poor were more difpofed for the receiving the Gofpel, than others. I proceed now to the Second Thing, namely, What thofe Prejudices and Obje&ions are which the World had againfi our Saviour and his Religion at their fiat Appearance ; as al- fo to enquire into thofe which Men have at this Day againft the Chrillian Religi- on, and to (hew the Weaknefs and UnreaConablenefs of them. I begin, Firfi, With thofe Prejudices which the World hadagainft our Saviour and his Religion at their firft Appearance. Both 7ews and Gentiles were offended at him and his Do&rive ; but not both upon the fame account. They both took Exceptions at him, efpecially at his low and fuffering Condition ; but not both upon the fame ReaCori. I (hall be- gin with the Exceptions which the pews took again(t our bleffed Saviour and his Religion ; and I (hall reduce them all, or at leaft the molt confiderable of them (as I find them difperfed in the Hi(tory of the Gofpel, and in the .9í1s of the Apo- ftles) to thefeSix Heads. Firf$, the Exceptions which they took againft him upon account of his Extra- &ion and Original. Secondly, at the Meannefs of his Condition, contrary to their Univerfal Ex- pe&ation. Thirdly, As to his Miracles. Fourthly, His Converfation. Fifthly, The Prejudice that lay agairft him from the Oppofition that was made by Perlons ofgreaten Knowledge and Authority among them. And, Lafily, That the Religionwhich he endéavonr'd to introduce, did abolifh and fuperfede their ancient Religion, as of no longer Ule and Continuance, though it was plain it was at fire innituted by God. Firft, TheExceptions which they took at his Extra&ion and Original. In re- lation to this they were offended at three Things. a. That his Original was known among them. This you find urged againn him, John 7. 27. We lenow this Man whence he is, but when the Meffias comes, no Man knows whence he is. This to be lure was no jun Exception in realon againn him. For what if his Extra&ion were known might he not be from God for all that ? They owned Mofes for the greateft Prophet that ever was, and yet it was very well known from whence he was. But they feem to refer to fome Prophecy of the Old Teftament, which did feem to affert fo much. If they meant that his Extra&ion fhould be altogether un- known ; they knew very well, and believed the contrary, that he was to be of the Line ofDavid, and to come out of Bethlehem. If they referr'd to that prophecy, that a Virgin fhould conceive and bear a Son, and fo underflood that he fhould be without Father; this was really true, tho' they thought that he was the Son of Jofeph. And if he affirmed that he had no Father, he did fuflciently juflify it by his Miracles 5 that being as eafie to be believed poffible by a Divine Power, as the Miracles which he wrought ; which yet they could not deny, becaufe they law them. 2. Another Prejudice againnhis Extrallion, was the Meannefs of his Parents and Breeding. This you find mentioned, Matth. 13. 54, 55. Whence bath this Man this Wifdom, and thefe mighty Works ? Is not this the Carpenter's Son, is not his Mother called Mary ; and his Brethren 5ames and Yes, and Simon and Judas? Andhis Sifters, are they not all with us ? Whence then bath this Man theft things ? And they wereoffended in him. And fo likewife, John 7. 15. Flow knoweth this Man Letters, having never learned ? A nrange Prejudice and molt unreafonable. They could not believe him to be an extraordinary Perlon, becaufe his Parents and Relations, his Birth and Breeding were fo mean. He had been brought up to a Trade, and not brought up to Learning : whereas in Reafon, this ought to have been an Argument jolt the other way ; that he was an extraordinary Perlon, and divinely aft-irked,', who all on the fudden, without the help and afffiance of Education, gave loch
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