The Man sick of the Palsy had _four Bearers_. And who are they mystically in this Case? Why, the Fathers[265] understand by them the _four Evangelists_, on whose Faith and Doctrine Mankind is to be carry"d unto Christ; for no Soul can be brought unto him, for the Sanation of his Sins and Errors, but by these _four_.
But to the top of the House is Mankind, thus paralytically diseased, to be carry"d by the four Evangelists, his Bearers. And what then is this House and its Top? The House of _Jesus_ is the intellectual Edifice of the World, otherwise call"d Wisdom"s House; of the beautiful Buildings of which the Scriptures prophetically treat: therefore to the _sublime Sense_ of the Scriptures, call"d the Top[266] of the House, is Man to be taken: He is not to abide in the _low and literal Sense_[267] of them, where People _press_ and strive in vain to come to _Jesus_: But if he is taken to the Sublimity of the Scriptures and there _open_[268] _the House_ of Wisdom, he will presently be admitted to the Presence and Knowledge of _Jesus_.
Venerable _Bede_, who is altogether a Transcriber of the Fathers, for which Reason I cite him among the Fathers, says[269], that by the _Tiles_ of the House spoken of in St. _Luke_, is meant the _Letter_ of the Scriptures, which is to be laid open for the manifestation of Christ and of divine Mysteries to the healing of Man"s spiritual Palsy, the unsteadiness and dissoluteness of his Morals and Principles.
So much, in short, then to the mystical Interpretation of the Story of this Miracle. The literal Sense of it is so enc.u.mber"d with romantick Circ.u.mstances, as are enough to turn a Man"s Heart against Christianity it self: But in the Mystery there will be a most stupendous Miracle, which will be not only an Argument of _Jesus_"s divine Power, but of his _Messiahship_, as certainly as his House of Wisdom, of which the Scriptures write, is open"d to the Manifestation of his Presence, and to the Cure of Mankind of his paralytical Disease, call"d an instability of Faith and Principles.
And thus have I, in this _Discourse_, taken into Examination three more of _Jesus_"s Miracles; which I submit to the Judgment of my Readers, whether the literal Story of them does not consist of Absurdities, Improbabilities and Incredibilities according to the Proposition before us; and whether there is not a necessity, for the Honour of _Jesus_, to turn them into prophetical and parabolical Narratives of what will be mysteriously and more wonderfully done by him.
My next _Discourse_, if my mind hold, shall treat on the three Stories of _Jesus_"s raising of the dead, _viz._ of the Widow of _Naim_"s Son, of _Jairus_"s Daughter, and of _Lazarus_; after which I will give the literal History of Christ"s Resurrection, that sandy Foundation of the Church, a Review; and so conclude my Discourses on the Miracles of our Saviour.
To run thro" all the Miracles of _Jesus_, and handle them in the manner I have done the foregoing, would be a long and tedious Work. But if our _Divines_ shall think, I have selected only those Miracles, which are obnoxious to Cavil and Ridicule; and have omitted others, that literally are a more unexceptionable Testimony of _Jesus_"s divine Power, and Authority; I will, for their Satisfaction take more of them to Task, and give the Letter of their Stories, the like ludicrous treatment. If I mistake not, the Miracles already spoken to, together with those of _Jesus_"s raising of the dead, and of his own Resurrection, are the most famous and remarkable of any others: And according to the Observation I have made on the rest, they are no less but rather more liable to Ridicule and Exception. But if any are of a contrary Opinion, and will let me know, which in their Judgment are more unexceptionable Miracles, I will vouchsafe them an Examination. I am sure there is not one Miracle, which the Fathers of the Church did not turn into Allegory; and if we don"t at this Day make mystical Operations of them, they will none of them according to the Letter, stand their Ground, nor abide the Test of a critical Inquiry into them.
I don"t expect, that this _Discourse_ will be any more pleasing and acceptable to the _Clergy_, who are _Ministers_ of the _Letter_ of _Jesus_"s Miracles, as well as of the Prophecies of him, than any of my former: But their Displeasure in the Case will give me no Disturbance, nor am I concern"d about any Resentment, they can make of it. If they are offended at these _Discourses_, they should as they came forth, have written solid Confutations of them, and so have prevented my Publication of any more of this kind: But instead of serious and potent Reasonings against me, I have met with little else but oral Railings, Exclamations, Defamations, and attempts for Prosecution; which have been so far from terrifying me, that they give me a secret Pleasure, and animate me to proceed in the Undertaking in hand.
I did not much question but the _Bishop_ of St. _Davids_, whom I look"d upon as a Person of Ingenuity and Learning, would, before this Time, have publish"d somewhat in Confutation of one or other of my former _Discourses_. Whether he was not obliged to it, or to make me some publick Reparation of the Injury done to my Reputation, by his slanderous Sermon, I appeal now to the worshipful _Societys_ for Reformation of Manners; to whom, and to other Civil Magistrates, I hope his Sermon, without Reason, will be a Caution, that no Pulpit-Invective move them to prosecute or think the worse of any Author.
Liberty of thinking, writing and judging for our selves in Religion is a natural, a Christian, and a protestant _Right_: It is a _Right_ that the Magistrates as well as the Subjects are interested in, and are to see to the Conservation of, or their Understandings as well as their Purses will be ridden and oppress"d by an ignorant and tyrannical Priesthood. I urge not this for my own security against Prosecution for Infidelity and Blasphemy, declaring that if the _Bishops_ of _London_, St. _Davids_, or _Arch-Deacon Stubbs_, who are zealous for Persecution, will but engage me on the Stage of Controversy, and make good their Accusations against me, I will submit to the worst Punishment, that can be inflicted on the worst Offender.
In the mean time I will go on with my Undertaking, to the advancement of Truth, and demonstration of the _Messiahship_ of the Holy _Jesus_, to whom be Glory for ever, _Amen_.
~_FINIS._~
FOOTNOTES:
[205] John. ix.
[206] Quid Lutum i linere opporet? hoc potius eaec.u.m reddere, quis unquam hoc pacto curatus est? _In Loc. Johan._
[207] Quam ob causam dicet aliquis, c.u.m omnia solo Verbo praestare possit, nulloque negotio, Lutum quidem sputo macerat? _In Loc. Johan._
[208] Sed Rationem quandam mysticam habet Vis Rei istius de sputo.
_Ibid._
[209] Ei autem qui caecus fuerat a Nativitate, jam non per sermonem sed per operationem praest.i.tit visum; non vane, neque prout evenit, hoc faciens, sed ut ostenderet manum Dei, eam quae ab initio plasmavit Hominem, _&c._ Contra Haeres. L. v. c. 15.
[210] _See his Sermons before the Societys for Reformation._ p. 12.
[211] Ipse Salvator noster apertissime ostendit, quod ejus Miracula Aliquid significent, dum ea faciendo, aliquid agit, quod Ratione carere videatur. Nisi enim aliquid significaret, quid necessarium fuit, in hujus caeci Illuminatione, ut Lutum faceret, quo oculos ejus liniret, cui solum dicere sufficiens erat. Quaeramus igitur significationem, & videamus quid caecus iste significet. _In Homil.
quarta post quartam Dominicam._
[212] Similitudo erat & Typus futurorum unumquodque quod fiebat in Corpore. Veluti nescio quis a Nativitate caecus Visum recuperavit. Vere autem caecus iste erat a Nativitate Gentilium Populus, cui Salvator reddidit Visum, Saliva sua ungens oculos ejus & mittens ad _Siloam_, quod interpretatur missus, mittebat quippe illos quos spiritu unxit ad Apostolos. _In Isai._ c. vi.
[213] Genus humanum est iste caecus. _In Loc. Johan._
[214] Caecus humanum Genus significatur. _In Com. Johan._
[215] Caecus iste a Nativitate, Genus humanum esse videtur a primo homine.----Haec enim caecitas non Corporis sed Animae est. _In Loc. supra laudat._
[216] Per caec.u.m naturaliter non videntem & illuminatum significat Genus humanum. _In Loc. Johan._
[217] Vere autem caecus iste erat a Nativitate Gentilium Populus. _In Isai._ c. vi.
[218] Caeci hujus Curationem in figuram & typus vocationis Gentium accepimus. _In Loc. Johan._
[219] Intellige hoc Miraculum spiritualiter. Nam caecus quidem erat omnis h.o.m.o a Nativitate, id est, ab Initio Mundi. _In Loc. Johan._
[220] In Sabbato est figura ultimi Temporis. _St. Cyril in Loc. Johan._
[221] Caecitas est Infidelitas. _In Loc._
[222] Caecus qui dest.i.tuitur divino Lumine. _De Adorat._ p. 414.
[223] Caecus qui sedet in tenebris omnis Ignorantiae, & non potuit videre Conditorem Mundi. _In Loc. Johan._
[224] Literam Legis sequentes, in Errores, Superst.i.tiones & Infidelitatem incurrunt. _In Matt. Tract._ xxvi.
[225] Caecus iste est caecus in Litera, & hoc statu Sanari non potest.
_In Marc._ c. viii.
[226] Caeci qui imperiti Scripturarum. _In Loc. Johan._
[227] Lutum vero factum de Saliva oris Domini, ac positum super oculos caeci, significat hic, quod naturae deerat, opere suo implere Figulum.
_In Loc. Johan._
[228] Saliva sua ungens Oculos caeci & mittens ad _Siloam_ quod interpretatur _Missus_, mittebat quippe illos, quos spiritu unxit. &c.
_In Isa. c._ vi.
[229] Saliva est perfecta Doctrina. _In Marc._ c. viii.
[230] Ei autem qui caecus fuerat a Nativitate, jam non per sermonem sed per operationem praest.i.tit Visum; non vane neque prout evenit hoc faciens, sed ut ostenderet manum Dei, eam quae ab Initio plasmavit hominem. Quapropter expuit in Terram, & fecit Lutum, & superlinivit illud Oculis, ostendens antiquam Plasmationem, quemadmodum facta est, & manum Dei manifestans his qui intelligere possunt, per quam e Limo plasmatus est h.o.m.o. _Cont. Haereses. L._ v. _c._ 15.
[231] John ii.
[232] _See his Speech in Convocation, printed in the_ Post-Boy _of_ March _the 30th_.
[233] Rursus hoc in loco calumniantur nonnulli hunc ebriosorum fuisse Conventum, _&c._ _In Loc. Johan._
[234]
Pueri aut Saltatores volutabantur, in his autem Tibiae, Lyraeque Vocem habebant. Mulieres autem Cantum accipientes, volvebantur per medias Quaecunque optimatum erant uxores atque filiae.
Illi vero ad Saltationem & desiderabilem Cantum Conversi delectabantur, &c.
In _Homero-Centon._
[235] _Vindication of the Christian Religion._ p. 82.
[236] Luke ii. 48.