(h) Which ^ivas a fufficient Reafon, &c.] This very Reafon for the Law of Sacrifices, is alleged by Mai?nonides in his Guide to the Doubting, Book III. Ch.32 Tertidlian^ig'xm^ Marcion, Book II. *' Would ** you have no Body find Fault *' with the Labour and Burthen '* of Sacrifices, and the bufy " Scrupuloufnefs of Oblations, ** as if God truly defired fucli " things, when he fo plainly ** exclaims againil them? To ** whatPurpofeis the Multitude " of your Sacrifices? And who ■' hath required them at your " Hands? But let fuch obferve " the Care God has taken, tq ** oblige a People prone toldo- *' latry and- Sin, to be reli- " gious; by fuch Duties, as *' that fuperftitious Age was ** moil converfant in, that he *' might call them off from ** Superfi:ition, by commanc^- *' ing thofe things to be done ** upon his Account, as if he *' defired it, left they fhould ** fall to making Images."
Sedt. 8. the Chrijlian Religion, 22 1 iliould caufe them to return to the Worfhip of falfe Gods. But when their Poflerity, fet a greater Value upon them than they ought; as it they were acceptable to God upon their own Account, and a Part of true Piety: they are reproved by the Prophets: (a) As to Sacrifices^ fays God m David's Fiftieth Pfalm, according to the Hebrew^ I will not fpeak to you at all concerning them^ viz. that you pd all Jl ay Burnt -offerings upon Burnt-offerings^ or that I will accept young Bullocks or Goats out of thy Fold: For all the living Creatures^ which feed in the Forefls^ and wander upon the Mountains^ are mine; / number both the Birds ^ and the wildBeafts; fo that if I be hungry^ I need not come to declare it to you; for the whole Univerfe, and every thing in it is mine. Do you think I will eat the Fat of FlefJj^ and drink the Blood of Goats? No: Sacrifice "Thankfgiving^ and offer thy Fows unto God. There are lome amonglt the Hebrews^ who affirm ^ that this was faid, becaufe they who offered thefe Sacrifices were unholy in their Hearts and Lives. But the Words themfelves, which we have quoted,' tell us the contrary, viz, that the Thing, was not at all acceptable to God, in itfelf. And if we confider the whole Tenor of the Pfalm, we lliall find that God addreffes himfclf to holy Men •, for he had before faid. Gather my Saints together, and afterwards, Hear^ O my People. Thefe are the Words of a Teacher; then having finifhed the Words before cited, he turns his Difcourfe, as is ufual, to the Wicked: But to the IFicked, faid God ♦, and in other Places, we find the fame Senfe. As Pfalm LI. ^0 offer Sacrifices is not acceptable to thee, neither (a) Js to Sacrifices, &c.] Trarilation, And fo are the This IS Grctiui\ Paraphrafe following. Lg Clerc. upon FJalm L. not a iicerai 121 Of the Truth of Book V, ther art thou delighted with Burnt- off eriyigs: But the Sacrifice which thou truly delighteft in, is a Mind humbled l?y the Senfe of its Faults •, for thou^ O God^ wilt not defpife a broken and contrite Heart: The like of which is that of Pfalm L. Sacrifices and Oblations thou dofi not delight in^ hut thou fecureft me to thy f elf ^ (a) as if I were bored through the Ear \ thoudofi not reqttire Burnt- facrifices^ orTr eff of s- offerings \ therefore have I an fweredy Lo^ I come; and I am as ready to do thy Will, as any Covenant can make me •, for it is my Delight, For thy Law is fixed in my whole Heart; the Praifes of thy Mercy ^ I do not keep clofe in my noughts, but I declare thy 'Truth and Loving-kindnefs every where •, but thy Compaffion and Faithfulnefs do J 'particularly celebrate in the great Congregation. In Chap. I. of Ifaiah, God is introduced fpeaking in this manner. What are fo many Sacrifices to me? I am filled with the Burnt- offerings of Rams, and the Fat of fed Bcafis •, / do not love the Blood of young Bullocks, of Lambs, or of GoatSy that you fhould appear with it before me: For who hath required this of you, that you fhall thus pollute my Courts? And Jeremiah VII. which is a like Place, and may fcrve to explain this. Thus faith the Lord cf Angels, the God of Ifrael, ye heap up your Burnt- offerings with your Sacrifices, andyourfelves eat the Flejij of them. For at the time when I firfi brought your Fathers up out of Egypt, I neither re* quired nor commanded them any thing about Sacrifices ^ or Burnt- offerings. But that which I earnefily commanded them, was, that they fJoouldbe obedient to me; fo would I be their God, and they (hould be my People \ and that they fhould walk in the Way that I fhould teach them ^ fo fhould all things fucceed profperoujly [a] As if Injcen bored, &c.] A Mark of Servitude amongft the Hehre-ws.
Seft. S. the Chrijlian Religion, 223 roujly to them. And thefe are the Words of God in Hofedy Chap. VI. Loving-kindnejs towards Men^ {a) is much more acceptable to me than Sacrifice; to think aright of God, is above all Burnt-offerings, And in Micah, when the Queftion was put, how any Man fhould render himlelf mod acceptable to God? by a vaft Number of Rams, by a huge Quantity of Oil, or by Calves of a Year eld? God anfwers, / will tell you what is truly good and acceptable to me^ viz. {b) that you render to every Man his due^ that you do Good to others, and that yon become humble and lowly before God, Since therefore it appears from thefe Places, that Sacrifices are not reckoned amongft thofe things which are primarily, and of themfelves acceptable to God; but the People, gradually, as is ufual, falling ii lo wicked Superflition; placed the principal Part of their Piety in them, and believed that their Sacrifices made a fufficient Compenfation for their Sins: It is not to be wondered at; if God in time abohfhed a thing in its own Nature indifferent, but by ufe converted into Evil; efpecially (c) when King Hezekiah broke the brazen Serpent, eredled by Mofes, becaufe the People began to worfhip it with religious Worfhip. Nor are there wanting prophecies, which foretold that thofe Sacrifices, about which the Controverfy now is, fhould ceafe: Which any one will eafily underdand, who will but confider, that according to the Law o^ Mojes, the the {a) Is much more acceptable to Chap XXXIII. 1 5 • by Ajua^, •mey &C.J So the Chaldee In- into three in this Place; by terpreter explains thio Place. Ifaiah into two, Chap. \^\, \b) That you render to 0very I. by Habbakkuk into one, Man his due, &c.] Therefore Chap. II 4. as alfo by Amos, the Je^vs fay, that the CCII. V. 6.
Precepts of the Law are by (c) When King Hezekiah, Jjaiah contraded into fix, &c.] 2 Kings XV ill, 4.
224 Of the 'T^ruth of Book V, the facrificing was committed entirely to the Pofterity of Aaron^ and that only in their own Country^ Now in FJalm CX. according to the Hebrew^ a King is promifed, whofe Kingdom fhould be exceeding large, who Ihould begin his Reign in 5i^», and who Ihould be a King and a Prieft for ever, after the Order of Melchifedecb. And Ifaiahi Chap. XIX. faith, that an Altar fhould be {ttn in Egypt ^ where not only the Egyptians^ but the JJfyrians alfo and Ifraelites fliould worfhip God j and Chap. LXVI. he faith, that the molt diftant Nations, and People of all Languages, as well as the 7/r^^/f/^j, fliould offerGiftsuntoGod,and out of them: fihould be appointed Priefls and Levites; all which could not be, {a) whilfl the Law of Mj/^j continued* To thefe we may add that Place in {b) Malachi^ Chap. I. where God foretelling future Events, fays, that the Offerings of the Hebrews would be an Abomination to him; that from the Eafl to the Wefl, his Name fhould be celebrated among alJ Nations: and that Incenfe, and the pureft things fhould be offered him: and Daniel in Chap. IX. relating the Prophecy of the An^el Gabriel^ con-^ cerning Chrifl, fays, thai he Jhalf abolifb Sacrifices^ and and [a] Whilfl the La-tv ^/Mofes Males Ibould go up thrice in continued, k,z'\ Add this Place a Year lo Jemfalem, accordof Jeremy^ Chap III. i6. In ingtotheLaw, Exodus'KXWl.
thofe Days faith the Lord, they 17. from all thofe Countries Jhall fay no more, the Ark of which were inhabited by them.
the Covenant of the lord, nei- This Law could be given to ther fhall it come into their no Other, than a People not Minds, neither fhall they re- very great, nor much diftant member it, neither pall they from the Tabernacle. Li ^vifit it, neither fhall that be Clevc.)
done any more. (Even the Je^vs [b] Malacbi, Ch. I. &;c.] See themfclvcs could no longer ob- Chryfofom'^ excellent Paraph, ferve their Law, after they upon this Place, in his lid Difwere fo much fcattered. For courfe againft the Gentiles, it is impoffible that all the Scd, 8, 9. the Chrijiian Religion. 22 J and Offerings: And God has fufficiently fignified, not only by Words, but by the Things themfelves, that the Sacrifices prefcribed by MofeSy are no longer approved by him: Since he has fufferei the Jews to be above fixteen hundred Years witlvr out a Temple, or Altar, or any Diftindlion of FamiUes, whence they might know who thofc are who ought to perform the facred Rites.
Sect. IX. j^nd the Difference of Meats, What has been faid concerning the Law of Sacrifices, the fame may be affirmed of that, in which different kinds of Meat are prohibited. It is manifefir, that after the univerfal Deluge, (a) God gave to Noah and his Pofterity a Right to ufe any fort of Food; which Right defcended, not only to Ja^ phet and Ham^ but alfo to Shem and his Pofterity, Abraham^ Ifaac and Jacob, But afterwards; when the People in Egypt were tindlured with the vile Superftition of that Nation ♦, then it was, that God firit prohibited the eating fome fort of living Creatures; either becaufe for the moft part {b) fuch were offered [a] Gad gd've to Noah and which feed on other living kh Pojierity, &c ] The Men- Creatures.
tion of clean and unclean (b) Such ivere offered by the Creatures, feems to be an Ob- Egyptians, &c ] Origeity in his jedion againft this, in the Hif- IVth Book againit Celfus» tory of the Deluge; but either ** Some wicked D^erKons, and that was faid by way of Pro- " (asl may call themjTitanick hpfes to thofe who knew the ** orGigantickon^s, who were Law; or by unclean, ought:o " rebellious againft the true be underftood, thofe which "God, and the heavenly An- Men naturally avoid for Food, *• gels, and fell from Heavei;, fuch as Tacitus calls prophane, ** and are continually movirg Hid. VI. Unlefs any one had ** about grofs and unclean Boraiher underrtand by clean, ** dies here on Earth; having thofe which are nourifhcd by ** fome forefight of things to Herbs J and by unclean, thofc *' come, by reafon of their Q^ *' Freedom 226 Of the Truth of Book V.
offered by the Egyptians to their Gods, and they made Divination by them i or becaufe {a) in that typical Freedom fromearthly Bodies; and being converfant in fuch things, and being defirous to draw off Mankind from the true God; they enter into living Creatures, efpecially thofe that are ravenous, wild and fagacious, and move them to what they will: Or elfe, they flir up the Fancies of fuch living Creatures, to fly or move in fuch a manner; that Men taken by the Divination in thefe dumb Creatures, might not feek the God that comprehends the Univerfe, nor enquire after the pure Worfhip of God; but fuffer their Reafon to degenerate into earthly things; fuch as Birds and Dragons, Foxes and Wolves. For it is obfcrved by thofe vvho are flcilful in uiefe things, that future Predictions are made by fuch living Creatures as thefe; the Damons having no Power to effed that in tame Creature?, which by Reafon of their Likenefs in Wickednefs, not real, but feeming Wickednefs in fuch Creatures, they are able to effeft in other Creatures. Whence, if any thing be wonderful in Mofes, this particularly deferve^ our Admiration, thatdifcerning the different Natures of living Creatures; and whether inftrudled by God concerning them, and the Dee- " mom appropriated to every ** one of them; or whether *' he underftood by his own *' Wifdom, the feveral ranks *• and forts of them; he '* pronounced them unclean, ** which were elleemed by the ** Egyptians, and other Nations " to caufe Divination, and he *' declared the other to be " clean." The like to which we find in Theodoret y^ookMW. againft the Greeks: And not vsry different from thi?, is that of Maneiho, hwvxng eJiabUJhed in the Laiv many other things, particularly fuch as ivere cofi' traryto theCujioms of the^j^yp' tians. And that which Tacitus fays of the Jeivs: All things are prsphane amongji them^ nvhich are facred amongji us. And afterwards: They flay a Ram in contempt of Jupiter Ammon; and facrifice an Ox, nxhich the Egyptians nxiorjhipped the God Apis by.
[a] In that typical Laiv, Sec. "^ Barnabas in his Epijile. '* Mo- ** fes, faid, ye fhall not eat a ** Swine, nor an Eagle, nor a *' Hawk, nor a Raven, nor a- *' ny Fiih, which hath no Fins. *' By which he meant three O- ** pinions figuratively expreffed. *< What he aims at, is evident ** from thefe Words in Deute- ** rononiy. And my Judgments *' (hall be eftablifhed among my ** People. Now the Command- *' mentofGod, is, not literally *' to ptohibit eating them; " but Sed:. 9. the Chrijiian Religion. 227 typical Law, the particular Voices of Men, were reprefented by certain Kinds of living Creatures. That thefc Precepts were not univerfal, appears from the Inftance of what is appointed concernino; the Flefli of a Bead that died of itfelf.
Beut. XIV. that it was not lawful for the Ifraelites but Mofes fpake them in a fpirituni Senfe. He mentions Swine for thisEnd, that they iliould not converfe with Men who refemble Swine; for when they live in Luxury, they forget theiriVlafter; but when they want, they own their Mailer; Thus a Swine while he is eating, will not know hisMafter; when he is hungry, he cries out, and when he is full, he is quiet. Again, Thou fbak not, fays he, eat the Eagle, or the Hawk, or the Kite, or the Raven. As much as to fay, you (hall not converfe with fuch iVlen, who know not how to get their Food by Labour and Pains, but unjuilly Ileal it from others; and who walk about as if they were fmcere, when they lie in- wait for others. Thus thefe flothfulCreatures, contrive how they may devour the Flelh of otl)ers, being peftilent by their Wickedjnefs. Again, Thou fhalt not eat, fays he, the Lamprey, nor the Pourcontrel, nor the Cuttle; that is to fay, yoa ftiall not converfe with thofe Men who are finally wicked, and condemned to Death: As thefe Sort ** ofFifh alone, are doomed to " fwim at the Bottom of the *' Sea, not like others to hover •' on the Top of the Water, " but to dwell on the Ground •* at the Bottom. Alfo he *• fays, thou (halt not eat the '' Coney: Wherefore? That ** you may not be a Corrupter " of Children, nor fuch like j *' for the Hare has a new Place *' to lay her Excrements in *' every Year; for fo many *' Years as fhe lives, {o many *' Holes has fhe under Ground. ** Further, thou fhalt not eat '* the Hyaena, that is, thou " fhalt not be an Adulterer, or '• unclean Perfon,or fuch like: ** For what Reafon? Becaufe '* this Creature changes its " Nature every Year, and *' fometimes is a Male, and ** fometimes a Female. And *' he juilly hated the Weafel; ** as much as to fay, you fhali ** not be like fuch Perfons •* who, we have heard, have ** committed Iniquity in their " Mouths, by Uncleannefs; '* neither fliall you have Cor-- ** refpondence with fuch Work- ** ers of Iniquity; for this Ani- *' mal conceives in its Mouth. *' ConcerningMeats therefore, " Mofes meant three Things *• fpiritually; but they, tnro* 0^2 *• fieflily 228, Of t^e "truth of Book V.
raelites to eat it, {a) but it was lawful for Strangers, which Strangers the Jews were commanded to perform all good Offices to, as efteemed of God. And the antient Hebrew Teachers openly declare, {h) that in the Times of the MelTiah, the Law of the fledily Inclinations, underftood him of Meats. But Da'vid knew thefe three Opinions,?nd therefore agreeably thereto he iays, Blejfedis the Man that nx-alketh not in the Council of the Ungodly, as Fifhes wander in Darknefs at the Bottom of the Sea. And hath not flood in the Way of Sifiners, viz. like them, who though they would feem to fear God, fm like Swine: And hath not fat in the Seat ofthefcoriifuly like Birds watching for their Prey. Thus you have the End and the Meaning of them. But Mojes commanded to eat every Creature that is cloven-footed, and that cheweth the Cud. And what does he mean by this? He that receiveth Meat, knovveth him that feeds him, and is fatisfied with it,andreems to rejoice; Which is iery well faid, if we confider the Command. What therefore is the Meaning of it? Why, converfe with thofe who fear their Mafter; with thofe who meditate in theirHearts upon the Word they have received; with thofe, who fpeak of, and keep the Judgments of their Mailer; with thofe who know that Meditation ** is a pleafant Work, and be- '* longs to thofe who throughly *' confider their Matter's Word. " But what means cloven- '* footed; That a Man fhould *' walk uprightly in thisWorld, ** in Expedation of another ** Life. See what excellent '* Laws are eftablifhed by Mo- ** fes *' Clemens commends this of Barnabas J in his Vth Strome. You may find alfo many Things partly like, and partly the fame with thefe, in P/;';7o"sBook of Agriculture; and in the Book entitled, ^he Wickedlay Snares for the Righ' teous } which are too long to be tranfcribed. The like is to be feen in Eufehius^ out of Arificeus, Book VIII. ch. 9.
(a) But it tvas la^wful for Str anger Sy &C.J Holy Men, but not circumcifed, which you find mentioned, Le-vit. and in the Talmud, chap, of the King, and of the Council j and in Maimonides*& Book of Idolatry.
[b] That in the Times of the Meffiah, &c.] Thus R. Samuel in Mechor Chaim. The Talmud entitled Isida^ fays, the Law was to continue but till the Times of the Meffiah. We may moreover obferve, that lome Hebrenjo Teachers, amongll whom is Bechai, were of Sed. g, 10. the ChrijUan Religion, 229 the Prohibition of Meats could ceafe, and that Swines Flefh (hould be as clean as that of an Ox. And certainly, fince God defigncd to gather a People to himfelf out of all Nations, it was more reafonable, that he fliould make Liberty and not Bondage, in fuch things, common to all. Now follows an Examination of Feftival Days.
Sect. X. And of Bays.
These were all inflituted in Memory of tlie Benefit they had received from God, when they were delivered from the Egyptian Bondage, and brought into the Promifed Land. Now the Prophet Jeremiah fays. Chap. XVI, and XXIII. that the Time would come when new and m.uch greater Benefits fhould fo eclipfe theMemory of thatBenefit, that there would fcarce be any Mention made of it. And moreover, what we now faid of Sacrifices, is as true of Feftivals •, the People began to put their Trufl in them, fo far \ that if they rightly obfervbd them, it was no great Matter how they ofirnded in other Refpe6ls. Wherefore in Ifaiah^ Chap. I. God fays, that he hated their New Moons and Feaft-Days, they were fuch a Burden to him, that he was not able to bear them. Concerning the Sabbath, it ufes particularly to be objedled, that it is an univerfal and perpetual Precept, not given to one People only, but in the Beginning of the World, to Adam the Father of them ail. To which Q^ 3 I anfwer, of Opinion; that theLaws con- leaft difpute about the Signif:* cerning forbidden Meats, were cation of many of the Names peculiar to the Land of CflK^a;/, of thofe Animals; which we nor was any one obliged to cannot think God would have obferve them, out of theBounds permitted, if the Obligation to thereof. And befide, the Je^vs obferve that Law, were to have themfelves are ignorant, or at continued till this Time, 230 Of tke Truth gyf Boolq V,.
I anfwer, agreeably to the Opinions of the moft learned Hebrews, that this Precept concerning the Sabbath is two-fold: (a) A Precept of Remembrance, Exodus XX. 8. and {b) Precept of Qbfervation, Exodus XXXI. 31. The Precept of Remembrance is fulfilled, in a religious Memory of the Creation of the World; the Precept of Obfervation, confifls in an exa6l Abftinence from all manner of Labour. The firft Precept was given from the Beginning, and without doubt (c) the pious Men before the Law obeyed it, as Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Ifaac, Jacob; the latter of whom, tho' we have a Relation of many of their Travels, (d) yet there is no Sign of their flopping their Journey on the Account of the Sabbath •, which Thing we frequently meet with, after their coming out of Egypt. For after the People were brought out of Egypt, and had fafely pafled through the Red Sea, they kept the firil Day, a Sabbath of Reft, and fung an Hymn to God, upon that Account; and from this Time, that exa6l Reft of the Sabbath was commanded, the firft Mention of which is in the gathering of Manna, Exod, XXXV. 2. Levit. XXili, ^.''Atldirj this Senfe, theReafon alleged, Deut.N, •f^(A.)^lA Precept of Hemem' certain Veneration for the Se- Irance &c.] I'D?. venth Day, was derived to the \h) A Precept of Ohfer'vation^ Greeks, as Cltrnem obferves.
&c.] Tr2i:,». Thus Mofes Ge- See what is faid in relation to runderjls, and Ifaac Jratnai thi^, Book I.
diftingulfli. (Obfer'uation and [d] Yet there h no Sign, &c.]
Remembrance fignify the fame Tliat the pious Men of thofe Thing in Mofes, as to this Times did in this Senfe a-aC- Matter, as we have fhown on Ceirits-ai, that is, obferve the Deut. V. I. however the Sabbath, is denied hy Juflin^ Thing here treated of, is true, in his Dialogue with fryphon, Li Clerc.) and by Tertullian in two Places [c] 7he pious Men before tie againft the Jeivs. Law, &c.] From whom a Seft. 10. the Chrijiian "Religion, 231 2t. For the Law of the Sabbath, is the Deliverance out o{ Egypt. And further, this Law had regard to Servants againfb the Severity of thofe Mailers, who allowed them no Refpite from their Labours, as you find it in the forecited Places. It is true indeed, {a) that Strangers v/ere obliged by this Law, and that for this Reafon, that there might be an univerfal Refl of all the People. But that this Law of perfedt Refl, was not given to other People, appears from hence, that in many Places it is called a Sign, and a particular Covenant between God and the Ifraelites^ Exodus XX.XI. 13, 16. And further; that thofe Things which were inftituted in Memory of the coming out of Egypt, are not fuch as ought never to ceafe, we have before fhown, from the Promife of much greater Benefits. To which may be added, that if the Law concerning Reft on the Sabbath, had been given from the Beginning, and in fuch a Manner as never to be abolifhed; certainly that Law would have prevailed over all other Laws; the contrary to which we novv^ find. For it is tvU dent, (^) that Children vjcre rightly circumcifed on the Sabbath- Day; and while the Temple flood, (c) the Sacrifices were flain on the Sabbath-Day, as well as on other Days. The Hebrew Teachers themfelves fhow, that this Law is changeable; when they fay that Work may juflly be done on the Sabbath, at the Command of a Prophet, which they prove by the Example of the taking of Jericho on the the {a) Strangers nvere obliged b^ circurncifed, &c.] Thus Xh'i this La^, &c ] Not thofe H-?^7vw Proverb, The Sabbath others, who out of Judaea ob- gives nvay to Circumcifion. See ferved the Precepts given to John VJI. 22.
the Pofterity of 'Noah. This is {c) The Sacrifices nverefiain, the Opinion of the //^^r^wy. &c.] A^a'w^. XXVIU. 9.
232 ^^^-^fthe.^rutbof Book Vr the Sabbath-Day by the Command of Jojhua. And that in the Time of the Mefuah, the Difference of Days fhould be takeji away; feme of them fhow very well, from that Place of Ifaiab LXVl. 23. where it is foretold, that there fhould be a conti^ nuai Worfhip of God from Sabbath to Sabbath, from. New Moon to New Moon..bqloD Sect. XL ^nd Circumcifton of the Flejh.
We come now to Circumcifion, which is indeed anciemer than Mofes^ as being commanded to Abraham and his Pofterity; but this very Precept was the Beginning of the Covenant declared by Mofes, Thus we find God faid to Abraham^ Genef.s XVII. / will give unto thee^ and to thy Seed after thee^ the hand wherein thou art a Stranger^ even the Land of Canaan^ for an everlafting Foffeffion \ therefore keep my Covenant^ thou and thy Seed for ever •, this is the Covenant betwixt me and thee and thy Seed^ every Male fhall be circmncifed. But we have before feen •, that there was to fucceed a new Covenant, iti the room of this Covenant, fuch as fhould be common to all People •, for which Reafon the NecefTity of a Mark of Diftindlion muft ceafe. And this is further evident; that there was fome myftical and higher Signification, contained under this Precept of Circumcifion; as appears from the Prophets, when they command {a) the Heart to be circumr cifed, to which all the Precepts of Chrifl tend. So likewife the Prcmifes added to Circumcifion, muft of NecefTity relate to fomething further; Namely, that of an Earthly Pofifeflion, {b) to the Revelation of an everlafting PofTefiion; which was never cifed, &c. ] Deut. X. 1 6. XXX. Heb. IV.
Se<5t. 1I5I2. the Chrijl 1(171 ReRgi on. 233 never made more manifeft, than by Jefus; {a) and that of making Abraham a Father of many Nations j till that Time, when not only Ibme few People, biiC innumerable of them, fprcad all over the World, fhould imitate that memorable Faith of Abraham towards God •, which never yet came to pafs, bun by the Gofpel. Now it is no Wonder, that when the Work is iinifhed, the Shadow of the Work that was defigned, fhould be taken away, (b) And that God's Mercy was not confined to this Sign, is from hence manifeft; that not only thofe who lived before Abraham, but even Abraham himklf, was acceptable to God before he was circumcifed: And Circumcifion was omitted by the Hebrews (c) all the while they journeyed through theDefarts ofArabia^ without being reproved of God for it.
Sect. XII. And yet the Apojlles of Jefus, eafily allowed of thofe Things, There was certainly very good Reafon, why the Hebrews fliould return their hearty Thanks, to Jefus and his AmbalTadors; in that he freed them from that heavy Burden of Rites, and fecured their Liberty to them; {d) by Miracles and Gifts, no way ,7'^" J inferior ' [a] And that of making P^ht^- " perfe£ls Rigliteournefs; but XVII. 5. Rom. IV. II, 13, ** Pofterity might continue di- 16,17. Luke XIX. g. Gal. «• ftinguiihable. For God laid in. 7. ** to Abraham, let erery Male {b) And that God's Mercy y " of you be circumcifed, and &c.] Juftin in his Dialogue ** circumcife the Flefh of your with Trypho fays, ** Circumci- '* Forefkin, and it Ihal! be for *' fion was given for a Sign, ** a ijign of a Covenant betwixt •' and not for a Work of Righ- ** you and me."
•• teoufnefs." And Iren^us, {c) All the nvhile they jour^ Book IV. ch. 30. ♦' We learn neyed. Sec ] JoJ^. V. 5, 6.
"from Scripture, that Cir- [d] By Miracles and Gifts n9 ** cumcifion is not that which way inferior, &c.] R. l^e'vi Men 234 Qf ^^^' Truth cf Book V.
inferior to thofe of Mofes. But yet they who firil delivered thisDodrine, did not require this of them, that they Ihould acknowledge fuch their Happinefs •, but if they would perform the Precepts of Jefus, which were full of all Virtue, they eafily allowed them, in indifferent Things, {a) to follow what Courfe of Life they would; {b) provided they did not impofe the Obfervation of it, as necelTary upon Strangers, to whom the Ritual Law was never given ', which one Thing fufficiently fhows, that the Jews very unjuftly reje6l the Dodirine of 7^/^^j, under Pretence of the Ritual Law. Having anfwered this Objedion, which is almofb the only one commonly oppofed to the Miracles oVJefus^ we come now to other Arguments fuited to convince the Jews, Sect. XII I. A Proof againft the Jews, taken from their own Confefjicn of the extraordinary Promife ^ cf the Mejfiah, Both they and we are agreed, that in the Predi6cions of the Prophets, there is a Promife; that amongft the many Perfons who fhould make known to the Jews^ from Heaven, very great Advantages; there fhould be One, far exceeding the reft, whom they called the Mefliah; which though a common Name, did more eminently agree to this Perfon only. We affert, that he came long fmce; they exped that he is yet to come. It remains therefore that we put an End to the Controverfy, from thofe Books, the Ben Gerfon faid, that the Mi- XVI. 3. XXI. 24. Rom.yAY.
racles of the Mefiiah, ought to i. i Cor. IX. 17. Gal. V. 6.
be greater than thofe 0^ Mofes ^ Colof. III. 2. which is moft evident in the (l?) Pronjided they did not im" Dead reftored to Life. pfe, &c.] Jds XV. Gal. I- {a) To folloiv nxjhat Courfe 3, 6, 1 5. IV. lO. VI. 12. o/Life they ivouldf &c.] ASl's Se£l. 13,14. the Chrijllan Religion. 235 the Authority of which is equally acknowledged by both.
Sect. XIV. That he Is already come^ appears from the 'Time foretold.