330 A Second Vindication of the This, by the way, shows the unmasker's mistake in his first particular, p. 74, where he says (as he does here again, in the second particular, which we are now examining-) that " believing Jesus to be the Messiah is " the first step to Christianity; and therefore this, " rather than any other, was propounded to be be- " lieved by all those, whom either our Saviour, or the " apostles, invited to embrace Christianity." The contrary whereof appears here; where the article of one God is proposed in the first place, to those whose unbelief made such a proposal necessary. And there fore, if his reason (which he uses again here, p. 76) were good, viz. That the article of the Messiah is ex pressly mentioned alone, " because it is a leading arti- " cie, and makes way for the rest," this reason would rather conclude for the article of one God; and that alone should be expressly mentioned, instead of the other. Since, as he argues for the other, p. 74, " If " they did not believe this, in the first place," viz. that there was one God, " there could be no hopes " that they would attend unto any other proposal, re- " lating to the Christian religion. The vanity and falsehood of which reasoning, viz. that " the article of " Jesus the Messiah was every-where propounded, ra- " ther than any other, because it was the leading arti- " cle," we see in the history of St. Paul's preaching to the Athenians. St. Luke mentions more than one arti cle, where more than one was proposed by St. Paul; though the first of them was that leading article of one God, which if not received, " in the first place3 there " could be no hope they would attend to the rest."
Something the unmasker would make of this argu ment, of a leading article, for want of a better, though he knows not what. In his first particular, p. 74, he makes use of it to show, why there was but that one article proposed by the first preachers of the gospel; and how well that succeeds with him, we have seen. For this is demonstration, that if there were but that one proposed by our Saviour and the apostles, there was but that one necessary to be believed to make men Christians; unless he will impiously say, that our Reasonableness of Christianity, 8$c. 331 Saviour and the apostles went about preaching to no purpose: for if they proposed not all that was necessary to make men Christians, it was in vain for them to preach, and others to hear; if when they heard and be lieved all that was proposed to them, they were not yet Christians: for if any article was omitted in the pro posal, which was necessary to make a man a Christian, though they believed all that was proposed to them, they could not yet be Christians; unless a man can, from an infidel, become a Christian, without doing what was necessary to make him a Christian.
Further, if his argument, of its being a leading arti cle, proves, that that alone was proposed, it is a con tradiction to give it as a reason, why it was set down alone by the historian, where it was not proposed alone by the preacher, but other necessary " matters of faith " were proposed with it; " unless it can be true, that this article, of " Jesus is the Messiah," was proposed alone by our Saviour and his apostles, because it was a leading article, and was mentioned alone in the history of what they preached, because it was a leading article, though it were not proposed alone, but jointly with other necessary matters of faith. For this is the use he makes here again, p. 76, of his leading article, under his second particular, viz. to show why the historians mentioned this necessary article of Jesus the Messiah alone, in places where the preachers of the gospel pro posed it not alone, but with other necessary articles. But, in this latter case, it has no show of a reason at all. It may be granted as reasonable for the teachers of any religion not to go any farther, where they see the first article which they propose is rejected; where the leading truth, on which all the rest depends, is not received. But it can be no reason at all for an historian, who writes the history of these first preachers, to set down only the first and leading article, and omit all the rest, in instances where more were not only proposed, but believed and embraced, and upon that the hearers and believers admitted into the church. It is not for historians to put any distinction between leading, or A Second Vindication of the not leading articles; but, if they will give a true and useful account of the religion, whose original they are writing, and of the converts made to it, they must tell, not one, but all those necessary articles, upon assent to which, converts were baptized into that religion, and admitted into the church. Whoever says otherwise, accuses them of falsifying the story, misleading the rea ders, and giving a wrong account of the religion which they pretend to teach the world, and to preserve and propagate to future ages. This (if it were so) no pre tence of conciseness could excuse or palliate.
There is yet remaining one consideration, which were sufficient of itself to convince us, that it was the sole article of faith which was preached; and that if there had been other articles necessary to be known and be lieved by converts, they could not, upon any pretence of conciseness, be supposed to be omitted: and that is the commissions of those, that were sent to preach the gospel. Which since the sacred historians mention., they cannot be supposed to leave out any of the mate rial and main heads of those commissions.
St. Luke records it, chap. iv. 43, that our Saviour says of himself, ** I must go into the other towns to " tell the good news of the kingdom; for (a? TSTO) " upon this errand am I SENT/' This St. Mark calls simply preaching. This preaching, what it contained, St. Matthew tells us, chap. iv. 23, " And Jesus went " about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and " preaching the good news of the kingdom, and heal- " ing all manner of sickness and all manner of diseases " among the people." Here we have his commission, or end of his being sent, and the execution of it; both terminating in this, that he declared the good news, that the kingdom of the Messiah was come; and gave them to understand by the miracles he did, that he himself was he. Nor does St. Matthew seem to affect such conciseness, that he would have left it out, if the gospel had contained any other fundamental parts necessary to be believed to make men Christians. For he here says, " All manner of sickness, and all manner of dis- Reasonableness of Christianity, 8$c. 383 " eases," when either of them might have been better left out, than any necessary article of the gospel, to make his history concise.
We see what our Saviour was sent for. In the next place, let us look into the commission he gave the apostles, when he sent them to preach the gospel. We have it in the tenth of St. Matthew, in these words: " Go not into the way of the gentiles, and into any " city of the Samaritans enter ye not. But go rather " to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye " go, PREACH, SAYING, THE KINGDOM of HEAVEN " is AT HAND. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, t( raise the dead, cast out devils: freely have ye re- " ceived, freely give. Provide neither gold, nor silver, " nor brass in your purses, nor scrip in your journey; " neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves, (for " the workman is worthy of his meat.) And into " whatsoever city, or town, ye shall enter, inquire who " in it is worthy, and there abide until ye go thence. u And when ye come into any house salute it. And " if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it; " and if it be not worthy, let your peace return to " you. And whosoever shall not receive you, nor " hear your words; when ye depart out of that house, " or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily I " say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for the land " of Sodom and Gornorrha, in the day of judgment, " than for that city. Behold I send you forth as sheep, " in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as ser- " pents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men; " for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they " will scourge you in their synagogues. And ye shall " be brought before governors and kings for my sake, " for a testimony against them and the gentiles. But " when they deliver you up, take no thought, how or " what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that " same hour, what ye shall speak. For it is not ye " that speak, but the spirit of your Father, which " speaketh in you. And the brother shall deliver up " the brother to death, and the father the child, and " the children shall rise up against the parents, and " cause them to be put to death. And ye shall be hated 334 A Second Vindication of the " of all men, for my name's sake: but he that en- " dureth to the end shall he saved. But when they per- " secute you in this city, flee ye into another; for verily 66 I say unto you, ye shall not have gone over the cities " of Israel until the Son of man be come. The disciple " is not above his master, nor the servant above his " lord. It is enough for the disciple, that he be as " his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have " called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much " more shall they call them of his household? Fear them " not therefore; for there is nothing covered, which " shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be t( known. What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in " light; and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye " upon the house-tops. And fear not them which kill " the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather " fear him, which is able to destroy both soul and body " in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? " And one of them shall not fall to the ground without " your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all " numbered. Fear ye* not therefore; ye are of more " value than many sparrows. Whosoever therefore shall " confess me before men, him will I confess also before " my Father, which is in heaven. But whosoever shall " deny me before men, him will I also deny before my " Father, which is in heaven. Think not that I am u come to send peace on earth: I came not to send 66 peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at " variance against his father, and the daughter against " her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her " mother-in-law. And a man's foes shall be they of " his own household- He that loveth father and mo- " ther more than me, is not worthy of me; and he that " loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy " of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and fol- " loweth after me, is not worthy of me. He that " iindeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his 44 life for my sake, shall find it. He that receiveth you, " receiveth me: and he that receiveth me, receiveth " him that sent me. He that receiveth a prophet in " the name of a prophet, shall receive a prophet's re- <* ward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the Reasonableness of Christianity, 8$c. 335 " name of a righteous man, shall receive a righteous " man's reward. And whosoever shall give to drink " unto one of these little ones, a cup of cold water " only, in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, " he shall in no wise lose his reward. And it came to " pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding " his twelve disciples " This is the commission our Saviour gave his apostles, when he sent them abroad to recover and save " the " lost sheep of the house of Israel." And will any of the unmasker's intelligent and observing men say., that the history of the " scripture is so concise, that any " passages," any essential, any material, nay, any parts at all of the apostles commission, " are here omitted by " the sacred penman? " This commission is set down so at full, and so particularly,, that St. Matthew, who was one of them to whom it was given, seems not to have left out one word of all that our Saviour gave him in charge. And it is so large, even to every particular article of their instructions, that I doubt not, but my citing so much, " verbatim," out of the sacred text, will here again be troublesome to the unmasker. But whether he will venture again to call it tedious, must be as nature or caution happen to have the better on n. Can any one, who reads this commission, unless he hath the brains, as well as the brow of an un masker, allege, that the conciseness of the history of the scripture has concealed from us those fundamental doctrines, which our Saviour and his apostles preached; but the sacred historians thought fit by consent, for unconceivable reasons, to leave out in the narrative they give us of those preachings? This passage here., wholly confuteth that. They could preach nothing but what they were sent to preach: and that we see is contained in these few words, " preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at " hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the " dead, cast out devils;" i. e. acquaint them, that the kingdom of the Messiah is come, and let them know, by the miracles that you do in my name, that I am that King and Deliverer they expect. If there were any other necessary articles that were to be believed, for the 336 A Second Vindication of the saving of the lost sheep they were sent to, can one think that St. Matthew, who sets down so minutely every circumstance of their commission, would have omitted the most important and material of it? He was an ear-witness, and one that was sent: and so (without supposing him inspired) could not be misled by the short account he might receive from others, who by their own, or others forgetfulness, might have drop ped those other fundamental articles, that the apostles were ordered to preach.
The very like account St. Luke gives of our Saviour's commission to the seventy, chap. x. 1 — 16, "After " these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, " and sent them two and two before his face, into every " city and place, whither he himself would come. " Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is " great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore " the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth " labourers into his harvest. Go your ways: behold I " send you forth as lambs among wolves. Carry neither " purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute no man by the " way. And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, " Peace be to this house. And if the Son of peace be 66 there, your peace shall rest upon it; if not, it shall re- " turn to you again. And in the same house remain, <( eating and drinking such things as they give: for " the labourer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house " to house. And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they " receive you, eat such things as are set before you. " And healthesickthataretherein.and SAY UNTO THEM, " THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS COME NIGH UNTO YOU.
" But into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive " you not, go your ways out into the streets of the " same, and say, even the very dust of your city, which " cleaveth on us, we do wipe off against you; notwith- " standing, be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God " is come nigh unto you. But I say unto you, that it " shall be more tolerable, in that day, for Sodom, than " for that city. Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe unto " thee, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works had been " done in Tyre and Si don, which have been done in Reasonableness of Christianity 9 8$c. 337 " you, they had a great while ago repented sitting in " sackcloth and ashes. But it shall be more tolerable " for Tyre and Sidon, at the day of judgment, than " for you. And thou Capernaum, which art exalted " to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell. He that " heareth you, heareth me: and he that despiseth you, " despiseth me: and he that despiseth me, despiseth " him that sent me."
Our Saviour's commission here to the seventy, whom he sent to preach, is so exactly conformable to that which he had before given to the twelve apostles, that there needs but this one thing more to be observed, to convince any one that they were sent to convert their hearers to this sole belief, That the kingdom of the Messiah was come, and that Jesus was the Messiah: and that the historians of the New Testament are not so concise in their account of this matter, that they would have omitted any other necessary articles of be lief, that had been given to the seventy in commission. That which I mean is, the kingdom of the Messiah is twice mentioned in it to be come, verse 9 and 11. If there were other articles given them by our Saviour, to propose to their hearers, St. Luke must be very fond of this one article, when, for conciseness sake, leaving out the other fundamental articles, that our Saviour gave them in charge to preach, he repeats this more than once.
The unmasker's third particular, p. 76, begins thus: " This also must be thought of, that though there are " several parts and members of the Christian faith, yet " they do not all occur in any one place of scripture." Something is in it, (whether owing to his will or under standing, I shall not inquire,) that the unmasker al ways delivers himself in doubtful and ambiguous terms. It had been as easy for him to have said, " There are " several articles of the Christian faith necessary to be " believed to make a man a Christian," as to say, (as he does here,) " There are several parts and members " of the Christian faith." But as an evidence of the clearness of his notions, or the fairness of his arguing, he always rests in generals. There arc, I grant, several 338 A Second Vindication of the parts and members of the Christian faith, which do no more occur in any one place of scripture, than the whole New Testament can be said to occur in any one place of scripture. For every proposition, delivered in the New Testament for divine revelation, is " a part and " member of the Christian faith." But it is not those " parts and members of the Christian faith" we are speaking of; but only such " parts and members of " the Christian faith," as are absolutely necessary to be believed by every man, before he can be a Christian. And in that sense I deny his assertion to be true, viz. that they do not occur in any one place of the scripture: for they do all occur in that first sermon of St. Peter, Acts ii. 36, by which three thousand were at that time brought into the church, and that in these words: " therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, " that God hath made that same Jesus, whom you have " crucified, Lord and Christ. Repent, and be bap- " tized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ." Here is the doctrine of Jesus the Messiah, the Lord, and of repentance, proposed to those, who already believe one God: which, I say, are all the parts of the Christian faith necessary to be believed to make a man a Christian.
To suppose, as the unmasker does here, that more is re quired, is to beg, not to prove the question.
If he disputes this collection of mine out of that ser mon of St. Peter, I will give him a more authentic collection of the necessary parts of the Christian faith, from an author that he will not question. Let him look into Acts xx. 20, &c. and there he will find St. Paul saying thus to the elders of Ephesus, whom he was taking his last leave of, with an assurance that he should never see them again: " I have kept back nothing that " was profitable unto you; but have showed you, and " have taught you publicly, and from house to house, " testifying both to the jews, and also to the Greeks, re- " pentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord " Jesus Christ." If St. Paul knew what was neces sary to make a Christian, here it is: here he (if he knew how to do it, tor it is plain from his words he designed to do it) has put it together. But there is a Reasonableness of Christianity, 8$c. 339 greater yet than St. Paul, who has brought all the parts of faith necessary to salvation into one place; I mean our Saviour himself, John xvii. 13, in these words: " This is life eternal, that they might know thee the " only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast " sent."
But the unmasker goes on: " Therefore, when, in " some places, only one single part of the Christian " faith is made mention of, as necessary to be em- " braced in order to salvation, we must be careful not " to take it alone, but to supply it from several other " places, which make mention of other necessary and " indispensable points of belief. I will give the reader " a plain instance of this, Rom. x. 9, " if thou shalt " believe in thine heart, that God hath raised him " (i. e. the Lord Jesus) from the dead, thou shalt be " saved." Here one article of faith, viz. the belief of " Christ's resurrection (because it is of so great impor- " tance in Christianity) is only mentioned: but all the " rest must be supposed, because they are mentioned " in other places."
Answ. One would wonder that any one conversant in holy writ, with ever so little attention, much more that an expounder of the scriptures, should so mistake the sense and style of the scripture. Believing Jesus to be the Messiah, with a lively faith, i. e. as I have showed, taking him to be our King, with a sincere submission, to the laws of his kingdom, is all that is required to make a man a Christian; for this includes repentance j too. The believing him therefore to be the Messiah is very often, and with great reason, put both for faith and repentance too: which are sometimes set down singly, where one is put for both, as implying the other; and sometimes they are both mentioned; and then faith, as contradistinguished to repentance, is taken for a simple assent of the mind to this truth, that Jesus is the Messiah. Now this faith is variously expressed in scripture.
There are some particulars in the history of our Saviour, allowed to be so peculiarly appropriated to the Messiah, such incommunicable marks of him, that to z Z 340 A Second Vindication of the believe them of Jesus of Nazareth, was in effect the same, as to believe him to be the Messiah, and so are put to express it. The principal of these is his resur rection from the dead; which being the great and de monstrative proof of his being the Messiah, it is not at all strange, that the believing his resurrection should be put for believing him to be the Messiah; since the declaring his resurrection, was declaring him to be the Messiah. For thus St. Paul argues, Acts xiii. 32, 33, " We de- " clare unto you good tidings, or we preach the gospel " to you [for so the word signifies], how that the pro- " mise, that was made unto the fathers, God hath ful- " filled the same unto us their children, in that he hath " raised up Jesus again." The force of which argu ment lies in this, that, if Jesus was raised from the dead, then he was certainly the Messiah: and thus the promise of the Messiah was fulfilled, in raising Jesus from the dead. The like argument St. Paul useth, 1 Cor. xv. 17, " If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain, you are yet " in your sins;" i. e. if Jesus be not risen from the dead, he is not the Messiah, your believing it is in vain, and you will receive no benefit by that faith. And so, likewise, from the same argument of his resurrection, he at Thessalonica proves him to be the Messiah, Acts xvii. 2, 3. " And Paul, as his manner was, went into the sy- " nagogue, and three sabbath-days reasoned with the " jews out of the scriptures, opening and alleging, that " the Messiah must needs have suffered and risen again " from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach " unto you, is the Messiah."