But the account which Josephus gives of John Baptist, is yet more important, both by what he says, and by what he conceals. "Some of the Jews were of opinion that God had suffered Herod's army to be destroyed, as a just punishment on him for the death of John, called the Baptist. For Herod had killed him who was a just man, and who had called upon the Jews to be baptized, and to practise virtue. And many coming to him, (for they were wonderfully taken with his discourses,) Herod was seized with apprehensions, lest by his authority they should be led into sedition against him. Being taken up on this suspicion of Herod, and being sent bound to the castle of Macharus, he was slain there."

This passage admits and verifies all the principal facts concerning John Baptist, as contained in our books. Nor does the omission of a reference to John Baptist's doctrine, and of his being the forerunner of the Messiah, less clearly confirm, though tacitly, the other parts of our gospel account. Indeed, the silence of this great historian in his other writings, where he was almost compelled to speak, on the particulars of our Lord's life and crucifixion, and the establishment of Christianity, whilst he details the most minute circumstances of the very time when they occurred, proves to a demonstration the truth of our Christian history. For that Josephus was acquainted with the chief events, his notice of John Baptist shows, and the records of the contemporary historian Tacitus, would have compelled him to know. Had the apostles then been practising any imposition upon mankind, had they proclaimed things which had

That immediately the Angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory, and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost. Acts xii. 19-23.

garb, gave him a majestic and awful appearance; and that in a short time the people began in several parts of the theatre flattering acclamations, calling him a god, and entreating him to be propitious to them.

That the king neither reproved these persons, nor rejected the impious flattery; that immediately after this, he was seized with pains in the bowels, extremely violent, was carried in all haste to his palace, and expired in torment in five days. Ant. l. 19, c. 8, s. 2, apud Lardner.

not really taken place, he would have rejoiced to expose the deception. That he has not done so, can only be accounted for by the truth of the facts. The historian, a Jew, a contemporary, writing the narrative of the time, who had the fullest opportunity of knowledge, and whose bitterness to the Christian name doubtless resembled that of his countrymen, brings no charge of imposition or fraud, gives no account of things different from our own, holds his peacesurely the silence of such an individual proclaims aloud the fidelity of our history; whilst every word of his testimony, where he does speak, goes to confirm positively and decisively that fidelity.i

I have not time to dwell on the important testimony to be derived from the Mishna, a collection of Jewish Traditions, published about A. D. 180; and from the Talmuds, or Comments on those Traditions, which appeared about the years 300 and 500; and which, amidst much absurdity and keen contempt, admit all the facts of the Christian history.

4. I must not however omit that proof of the credibility which arises from the character of many of the converts to the Christian faith, who examined anxiously its pretensions, met its claims at first with prejudice and hatred, and ended in yielding to the undoubted facts and the holy doctrines derived from them. I enter not now on the subject of the propagation of the gospel, I merely say, that men of the finest talents-philosophers, orators, grammarians, rhetoricians, lawyers-persons of every rank and station in society,

(i) I do not enter upon the disputed passage, where he notices briefly our Lord, and allows him to be the Messiah: though all external testimony, as well as the judgment of many of the best critics, is in its favor. I cannot but add here the following reflection of the writer just referred to, upon the history of Josephus, when taken together and as a whole, in convincing us of the truth of the gospel history. "No man, (says our author,) I think, can rise from a perusal of the latter books of the Antiquities, and the account of the Jewish War, without a very strong impression that the state of Judæa, civil, political, and moral, as far as it can be gathered from the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles, is portrayed in these latter (the Gospels and Acts) with the greatest accuracy, and with the strictest attention to all the circumstances of the place and the times. It is impossible to impart this conviction to my readers in a paragraph; the nature of the case does not admit of it; it is the result of a thousand little facts, which it would be difficult to detach from the general narrative, and which, considered separately, might seem frivolous and fanciful." Blunt's Veracity, p. 120.

from the humble slave to the attendants on the imperial court, examined the facts of our history, and yielded to the force of conviction, and persevered in acting on that conviction, in spite of strong previous prejudice, and subsequent opposition, ridicule, persecution, and death-and I affirm, that the credit which they gave to these facts, and which was the ground of their conversion then, is a strong confirmation of our faith in them now.

5. Nor can I pass unnoticed the circumstance, that the impostor Mahomet, who claimed to deliver to men a new revelation, (A. D. 612,) and was filled with the bitterest hatred of Christianity, ventured not to question the facts on which it rests. He speaks of John Baptist and our Lord by name, mentions our Lord's miraculous works, his death, his ascension, his apostles, and the unbelief of the Jews. Can concurring testimonies be pushed further?

6. I appeal, again, to the religious rites and usages springing out of the facts of Christianity, as recorded in the New Testament, and which have subsisted from that time to the present among all the nations of Christendom, as memorials of those facts, and resting upon them. Our history directs that baptism should be the initiatory ordinance of Christianity; that religious assemblies should be holden; that charitable contributions for the poor should be made; that the first day of the week should be observed, in remembrance of our Lord's resurrection; that a sacred supper should be celebrated, to show forth his death till his second coming; that an order of men should be appointed as pastors and instructors of the people. Now all these observances have been kept from the very time of the apostles in each church, in every part of the world-and if the broad facts from which they sprang had not been true, they never could have been universally established and persevered in without interruption, from that time to the present.j

7. I add only, that several ancient and authentic monuments of the events recorded in the gospels, have survived. the wrecks of time, and attest the credibility of our history.

(j) This argument will be stated more largely in the next Lecture.

Amongst the most striking and important proofs of early history, are coins, medals, inscriptions, marbles, struck or formed at the time, or soon after the time of the respective events, and extant still for the examination of mankind. Authentic testimonies of this nature are sought for with eagerness by antiquaries, and are allowed to have the greatest weight in all historical inquiries. Now, it is the glory of Christianity, that, during eighteen centuries, every genuine relic of antiquity has confirmed the facts of her history. I alluded to this source of evidence on the question of authenticity; but its proper bearing is upon the credibility. Medals are struck to commemorate great events. Inscriptions record facts.k

The medal which we appealed to as ascertaining the accuracy of the title given by St. Luke to Philippi, is a confirmation, not only of the authenticity of the book in which it. is found, but of the credibility of the fact itself.

I give another specimen. The town-clerk of Ephesus, (states our sacred author, Acts xix.) in order to quell a tumult, thus addressed the Ephesians: What man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worSHIPPER of the great goddess Diana? The original word is NESKOPON, an appellation taken by cities which were dedicated to the service of some god or goddess. Now there is a medal still extant, on which the front of the temple of Diana is exhibited. In the centre is an image of

(k) I mention one of the last monuments that has been submitted to the public eye, and which, if it is found to be authentic, furnishes an additional evidence to the credibility. I quote it, to give a specimen of the way in which proofs are continually accumulating on the subject of Christianity. In the year 1812, a peasant of Ireland discovered an antique medal of gold, much injured by time, but which, upon examination, proved to be a dye or tessera, having on one side what appeared to be a head of our Saviour, and on the other an inscription almost illegible by decay. Soon after Dr. Walsh (the narrator, who has lately published the account) obtained a medal of the same dye from Rostoc in Germany, in a perfect state of preservation. It turns out, so far as can be judged, to be a tessera, struck by the first Jewish converts. It is mentioned by Theseus Ambrosius, (about A. D. 1500,) and after him known to have been a subject of inquiry among the learned of Europe for two centuries. The head is a representation of our Lord, and the date is indicated by the Hebrew letter Aleph, which then, as now, denotes the number 1, and shows that it was struck in the first year after the Resurrection. The Hebrew words of the inscription on the reverse, are of the following import: "The Messiah has reigned-he came in peace, and being made the light of man, he lives."

the goddess; and around the side and bottom is an inscription, in which the Ephesians are called by this very term NESKOPOI. Besides the testimony furnished by this medal, there is now extant at Ephesus an ancient Greek inscription, which not only confirms the general history related in Acts xix. but even approaches to several sentiments and phrases which occur in that chapter. These coincidences are so striking and conclusive, that they are sufficient of themselves to establish the credibility of the work in which they are found.k

It is in this way that many circumstances of our gospel narratives have been explained, many difficulties removed, titles of governors vindicated, names of places illustrated, the whole series of the facts of Christianity established beyond all reasonable doubt.

What accessible sources, then, have not confirmed, and do not confirm, the credibility of the gospel history? Where can we look for testimonies of ancient events, which are not included in those we have cited? What history is true, if ours be false? Can any thing human be more certain, than the fidelity of the New Testament? Can the exuberance of the divine goodness itself be asked to provide further arguments for those who can harden their hearts against the force of these?

But I shall be reminded that an appeal was made to a third class of proofs of the credit due to the evangelical records.

CHARACTER

AND

CIRCUMSTANCES

OF

THE

III. THE
SACRED WRITERS THEMSELVES.

For we judge in all other cases of the weight of testimony, by considering the character and circumstances of those who depose it. We examine the testimony itself; we inquire whether the natural and unerring signs of veracity are apparent in it; whether there is that honesty and consistency in the different parts of the account which are the sure marks of truth; we examine the character and circumstances of those who give the testimony, whether they were

(k) T. H. Horne, i. 242.