The Gospel its own Witness: &.c. &c.

PART IF.

IN WHICH THE HARMONY OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION IS CONSIDERED AS AN EVIDENCE OF ITS DIVINITY.

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F Chriftianity be an impofture, it may, like all other impoftures, be detected. Falfehood may always be proved to clash with fact, with rea fon or with itself, and often with them all. If on the contrary, its origin be divine, it may be expected to bear the character of confiftency, which diftinguishes every other divine production. If the Scriptures can be proved to harmonize with hiftoric fact, with truth, with themfelves, and with fober reafon; they muft, confidering what they profefs, be divinely inspired, and Christianity muft be of God.

CHAP. I.

The harmony of Scripture with hiftoric fact, evinced by the fulfilment of prophecy.

If the pretence which the Scriptures make

to divine infpiration be unfounded, it can be no

very difficult undertaking to prove it fo. The facred writers, besides abounding in history, doctrine, and morality, have dealt largely in prophecy; and this not in the manner of the heathen priests, who made ufe of dark and dubious language. Their meaning in general is capable of being understood, even at this distance of time; and in many inftances cannot be miftaken. The difpute, therefore, between believers and unbelievers is reducible to a fhort iffue. If Scripture prophecy be divinely infpired, it will be accomplished; but if it be imposture, it will not.

Let us fuppofe that, by digging in the earth, a cheft were discovered, containing a number of ancient curiofities; and among other things a tablet, infcribed with calculations of the moft remarkable eclipfes that fhould take place for a great while to come. These calculations are examined, and found to correfpond with fact for more than two thou fand years paft. The infpectors cannot agree perhaps in deciding who was the author, whether it had not gone through feveral hands when it was depofited in the cheft, and various other questions = but does this invalidate the truth of the calculations, or diminish the value of the tablet ?

It cannot be objected that events have been predicted from mere political forefight, which have actually come to pafs: for though this may have been the cafe in a few inftances, wherein causes have already existed which afforded ground for the conclu fion; yet it is impoffible that the fucceffive changes. and revolutions of empires, fome of which were more than a thousand years diftant, and depended on ten thousand unknown incidents, fhould be the objects of human speculation.

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Mr. Paine feems to feel the difficulty attending his caufe on this fubject. His method of meeting it is not by foberly examining the agreement or difagreement of prophecy and hiftory: that would not have fuited his purpose; but, as though he had made a wonderful difcovery, he in the firft place goes about to prove that the prophets wrote poetry; and from hence would perfuade us that a prophet was no other than an ancient Jewish bard. That the prophecies are what is now called poetic, Mr. Paine need not have given himself the trouble to prove, as no perfon of common understanding can doubt it but the queftion is, did not thefe writings, in whatever kind of language they were written, contain predictions of future events; yea and of the most notorious and remarkable events, fuch as fhould form the grand outlines of hiftory in the following ages? Mr. Paine will not deny this; nor will he foberly undertake to difprove that many of thofe events have already come to pafs. He will, however, take a fhorter method; a method more fuited to his turn of mind. He will call the prophets "impoftors and liars," he will roundly affert without a fhadow of proof, and in defiance of hiftoric evidence, that the prediction concerning Cyrus was written after the event took place; he will labour to pervert and explain away fome few of the prophecies, and get rid of the reft by calling the writer ་་ a falfe prophet," and his production "a book of falfehoods." Thefe are weapons worthy of Mr. Paine's warfare. But why all this rage against an ancient bard? Juft now a prophet was only a poet, and the idea of a predictor of future events was not

Age of Reafon, Part II. p. 53, 44, 47、.

It seems,

included in the meaning of the term. however, by this time, that Mr. Paine has found a number of predictions in the prophetic writings, to get rid of which he is obliged, as is usual with him in cafes of emergency, to fummon all his talents for mifreprefentation and abufe.

I take no particular notice of this writer's attempts to explain away a few of the predictions of Ifaiah, and other prophets. Thofe who have undertaken to anfwer him have performed this part of the business. I fhall only notice that he has not dared to meet the great body of feripture prophecy, or fairly to look it in the face.

To fay nothing of the predictions of the deftruction of mankind by a flood; of that of Sodom and Gomorrah by fire; of the defcendants of Abraham being put in poffeffion of Canaan within a limited period; and of various other events, the history as well as the prophecy of which is confined to the Scriptures; let us review thofe predictions the fulfilment of which has been recorded by historians who knew nothing of them, and confequently could have no design in their favour.

It is worthy of notice, that facred history ends where profane history, that part of it at least which is commonly reckoned authentic, begins. Prior to the Babylonifh Captivity, the fcriptural writers were in the habit of narrating the leading events of their country, and of incidentally introducing thofe of the furrounding nations; but fhortly after this time the great changes in the world began to be recorded by other hands, as Herodotus, Xenophon, and others. From this period they dealt chiefly in prophecy, leaving it to common hiftorians to record its fulfilment.:

Mr. Paine fays the fcripture prophecies are "a book of falsehoods." Let us examine this charge. Ifaiah, above a hundred years before the Captivity, predicted the deftruction of the Babylonifh empire by the Medes and Perfians, and Judah's confequent deliverance. The plunderer is plundered, and the deftroyer is deftroyed: Go up, O Elam; befiege, O Media: all the crying thereof have I made to ccafe.* Ask He-. rodotus and Xenophon; Was this a falfehood?

Daniel, fourteen years before the eftablishment of the Medo-Perfian dominion by the taking of Babylon, defcribed that dominion, with its conquests, and the fuperiority of the Perfian influence to that of the Median, under the fymbol of a Ram with two horns. I lifted up mine eyes and faw, and behold there food by the river a ram, which had two horns; and the two borns were high, and the higher came up laft. I faw the ram pufhing westward and northward, and fouthward; fo that no beafts might ftand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand but he did according to his will, and became great. This is expounded as follows: The ram which thou faweft having two horns are the kings of Media and Perfiat Afk the afore-mentioned historians ; Was this a falfehood?

The fame Daniel, at the fame time, two hundred and twenty-three years before the event, predicted the overthrow of this Medo-Perfian domi nion, by the arms of Greece, under the command of Alexander; and defcribed the latter government

Lowth's tranflation of Hai. xxi. 2. Other prophecies of the fame event may be feen in Ifai. xiii. xiv. xxi. xliii. 14-17. xliv. 28. xlv. 14. xlvii. Jer. xxv. 12-26. 1. li. Hab.

Dan. viii. 3, 4, 20. See alfo on the fame fubject, Chap vii. 5.