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verning concern, yea, the ever growing and increasing folicitude of the author, and of all others into whofe hands this treatise may fall! And I will add, of all, likewife, who hold the fame common rule of faith and manners, whatever variety of opinions or diverfity of fentiments there may be among us about the fense of fome paffages hereof, amidst honest and fincere endeavours to understand the fame, from which different apprehenfion we may conscientiously argue on oppofite fides of this or that queftion! Amen.

CONCERNING Mr. Voltaire's remarks upon the filence of cotemporary writers about the maffacre of the infants, the star, the miracles of Chrift, the darknefs and other prodigies at his death, which are recorded by the evangelists.

M

R. VOLTAIRE, in his Philofophical Dictionary, article Chriftianity, whence alfo fome other paffages were brought under examination in the preceding treatise, hath thrown out exceptions at fome length against the truth of St. Matthew's narrative, about the flaughter of the children in Bethlehem, and the appearance of the ftar at Chrift's birth, and against the credibility of the accounts given both by him and the other evangelifts, concerning the miracles which Chrift performed, and the extraordinary events which happened at the time of his paffion, from the omiffion of these facts by contemporary writers. I propofe, therefore, here to add, fome obfervations on that part of his book, as it strikes fo deep, and the confideration of it did not fall within the compass of the plan I had laid down. The whole, however, of what Mr. Voltaire hath faid upon this fubject, though somewhat prolix, must first be produced, left by abridging it, I should give any handle to the reader to complain, or even fufpect, that I had

diminished the strength and force of his argument. It stands then at length thus.

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In vain have fome of the learned expreffed their wonder, that in the hiftorian Jofephus, they meet with no trace of Jefus Chrift, the little paffage relating to him in his hiftory being now univerfally given up as interpolated. Yet Jofephus's father must have been an eye-witnefs of Jefus's miracles. This hiftorian was of the prieftly lineage, ' and being related to queen Mariamne, Herod's wife, is minutely particular on all that prince's proceedings, yet wholly filent as to the life and death of Chrift. Though neither concealing nor palliating 'Herod's cruelties, not a word does he fay about 'his ordering the children to be maffacred on an information that a king of the Jews was juft born. According to the Greek calendar the number of ' children put to death on that occafion amounted to fourteen thousand.

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• Of all the cruelties ever committed by all the

⚫ tyrants that ever lived, this was the most horrible;

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a like inftance is not to be found in hiftory.

Yet the best writer the Jews ever had, the only one of any account with the Romans and Greeks, makes no manner of mention of a tranfaction fo very extraordinary, and so very dreadful. He fays fo not a word of the new ftar which had appeared in the eaft at our Saviour's nativity; and a phaenomenon so fingular could not escape the knowlege ⚫ of fuch an accurate historian as Jofephus: he is likewife filent as to the darkness, which, at noon-day, ' covered the whole earth for the space of three hours, ⚫ whilft the Saviour was on the crofs; the opening

of the tombs at that awful time, and the number ' of the juft, who rose from the dead.

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It is no lefs a matter of wonder to the learned that these prodigies are not taken notice of by any Roman hiftorian, though they happened in the reign of Tiberius, under the very eyes of a Roman governor and garrifon, who naturally would have fent the emperor and fenate a circumftantial account of the moft miraculous event ever heard of. Rome 'itfelf muft for three hours have been involved in 'thick darkness, and surely such a prodigy would have been noted in the annals of Rome, and those ⚫ of all other nations. But God, I suppose, would ⚫ not allow that fuch divine things fhould be com⚫mitted to writing by prophane hands.' *

But though I have copied this very exceptionable paffage in all its length at once, it will be neceffary to examine separately the different cavils which it

contains.

Of the omiffion of the flaughter of the infants by other hiftorians.

First then, let us consider his objection to the maffacre of the babes in Bethlehem and its coasts, which lies against Matthew alone, because he only hath related this cruel fact. The fum of it, as the reader must observe, is, that Jofephus, who could not be ignorant of the tranfaction by Herod, and who does not appear difpofed either to conceal or alleviate his barbarities, says not a word about it, though, in re

* See pp. 96-98.

fpect of horror, it had no parallel in the annals of the world, forafmuch as the number of innocent children then put to death by his order, was no less, according to the Greek calendar, than * 14,000. To which he might have added, after Collins, in his Scheme of Literal † Prophecy, Neither is it taken ' notice of by any other historian, Greek or Roman.' But how unreasonable is it to improve this filence to deftroy or weaken the credit of the evangelift, concerning this matter!

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As to the omiffion of the flaughter of the infants by heathen hiftorians, who wrote the affairs of the Roman empire about the time when it happened, it may be eafily accounted for. They might not be inftructed about this maffacre, which was limited to a fmall diftrict, in a country at a great distance from the feat of government, and of very inconfiderable fize in comparison of that wide and extensive scene of which they treated; or, if they were inftructed about it, they might not think it of

*I am not fure but he fhould have faid their number, according to this calendar, amounted to 144,000. At least, a capuchin once called them fo many; and when a proteftant, who happened to be with him in his convent on the feaft of Innocents, i. e. the feast celebrated in commemoration of them as martyrs, Dec. 28. begged his authority for it, reprefenting that Bethlehem and its territory could not furnish fuch a multitude under two years of age, he replied, He

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was certain of it from the Scripture read that morning: nor could

there be any numeral error or mistake, for the perfons flain in each tribe ⚫ were condefcended on, of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand, of the tribe of Reuben twelve thoufand, &c. as in Revel, vii. 5-9. and thefe added produce that fum.'

Pages 16. 17.

an expression that could not have been used by the capuchonabsund phrase, unknown except in scorland.

it is a vulgar

I

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