'66 A RATIONAL DEFENCE OF THE GOSPEL; t5E&M. ;d'_ our sins by, the sufferings of Christ, did not almost all the heathen world suppose that God would not pardon sin without satisfaction P. else mean all their bloody sacrifices ? And why did they sometimes proceed so far as to murder men, , and offer them to God for their sins ? I .confess indeed, that many of the .philosophers and learned men amongst ,them, yho derided the gospel of Christ, did also despise the sacrifices and religious- cere monies of their own countrymen, believing that God would be merciful to men that were penitent and pious, with- out any rites of atonement and sacrifice. But it is as evident also, that the, people had a general notion of the necessity of some .atonement for sin, and that the more valuable the sacrificewas,; the sooner was their god ap- peased, and the benefit procured would be more exten- sive, howsoever the philosophers might ridicule it: It is manifest then, that manyof the heathens did imagine. that the death and sufferings of one person should procure pardon and immunities for a whole multitude. And upon this principle some of the ancient Romans, now and then out of nobility of .spirit, devoted themselves to death, to appease the anger of the gods, for their whole country. Thus.it appears, that the business of satisfac- tion for sin, and the doctrine of expiation and atone- ment by the blood and death of a surety, was not so ut- terly unknown in the world. I add farther, that the notion ofone person's making; satisfaction for the crime of another inhuman and poli- tical affairs, has been, sometimes practised, and thought , to be very intelligible ; and why should it be counted so very monstrous and absurd in things divine ? Do we understand what it is for one man to become a surety for another, or for a criminal to be set free from punishment by the voluntary substitution of another person in his stead ? Are we not well acquainted what it is for one man to pay the debt of another, and the original person that was obliged thereby, to become free.? Do we not knowwhat it is for a whole family of children to inherit a possession for manyages, one after another, for some noble acts and services of their father ? .Therefore ho, Hour, and glory, and happiness, bestowed upon a mul-. titude, for the sake of what one man has done, is not so unintelligible a thing as some men would -persuade
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=