And where there is a Possibility of Fraud, it is Nonsense, and mere Credulity to talk of a real, certain and stupendous Miracle, especially where the Juggler and pretended Worker of Miracles has been detected in some of his other Tricks. All that I have to say here to this Matter, is, that if _Jesus_ had a Mind to raise the Son of this Widow, in Testimony of his divine Power, he should have suffer"d him to have been buried two or three Weeks first; otherwise, if the Mystery don"t account for _Jesus_"s stopping the Bearers of the Corpse upon the Road, here is too much Room for suspicion of Cheat in the Letter of the Story.
_Lazarus_"s Case seems to be the less exceptionable of the three. He had been buried _four Days_, and supposed to be putrified in the Opinion of his Sister _Mary_, and of modern Christians: And if so, his Resuscitation was a most grand and indisputable Miracle. And I could have wish"d, if I had not loved the _Mystery_ rather than the _Letter_, that no Cavil and Exception could have been made to it.
Whether _Lazarus_, who was _Jesus_"s Friend and beloved Disciple, would not come into Measures with his Lord, for the Defence of his Honour, and Propagation of his Fame, _Infidels_, who take Christianity for an Imposture, will not question: And whether he would not consent to be interr"d alive, in a hollow Cave, where there was only a Stone laid at the Mouth of it, as long as a Man could fast, none of them will doubt. Four Days was almost too long for a Man to fast without danger of Health; but if those _four Days_ are number"d according to the Arithmetick of Jesus"s _three Days_ in his Grave, they are reducible to two Days and three Nights, which Time, if no Victuals were secretly convey"d with him, a Man might fast in _Lazarus_"s Cave.
As to the _stinking_ of _Lazarus_"s Carca.s.s: that, _Infidels_ will say, was but the a.s.sertion of his Sister beforehand, like a Prologue to a Farce. None of the Spectators at his Resurrection say one Word of his stinking. And as to the Weepings and Lamentations of _Jesus_ and of _Lazarus_"s Sisters, they will say that was all Sham and Counterfeit, the better to carry on the Juggle of a feign"d Resurrection. And what"s worst of all, they will say, that tho"
_Jesus_ did call _Lazarus_ forth with a _loud Voice_, as if he had been as deaf as a dead Man; yet his _Face was bound about with a Napkin_, so that the Spectators could not discern what was of the Essence of the Miracle, the Change of his Countenance from a dead to a live one, which is a plain Sign, that it was all Fraud and Imposture.
G.o.d forbid, that I should have the same sense with _Infidels_, of this Matter; but to be just to their Suggestions and Imaginations here, I must needs say, there are some other unhappy Circ.u.mstances, presently to be consider"d, in this Story, which, if they are not emblematical, make it the most notorious Cheat and Imposture that ever was put upon Mankind. In the mean Time, from what is here argued, it is plain, that _Lazarus_ was not so long dead and buried, as that there is no Room to doubt of the Miracle of his Resurrection.
Now whether these Arguments against these three Miracles, drawn from the Shortness of the Time, in which these Persons lay for dead, have any Force in them, let our _Divines_ consider. If nothing of all this is in their Opinion affecting of the Credit of the Miracles; yet they must allow, that _Jesus_, if he could raise the dead, might have made Choice of other Instances of Persons, more unquestionably dead, who had lain longer in their Graves, and were in a visible State of Putrefaction. And if this grand Miracle of raising the dead was to be wrought by _Jesus_ for the Manifestation of his Glory, and in Testimony of his Authority; he should have exercised his Power on some such Persons, nominated by the Magistrates of this or that City, who with the People should be present at the miraculous Operation, beholding the putrified Bodies, (without a Napkin before their Faces) and how they were suddenly enliven"d and invigorated with new Flesh, after the Similitude of their pristine Form, when in Health and full Strength. Because that _Jesus_ rais"d not some such Persons to Life, I must take the Stories of the three Miracles before us to be but typical of more mysterious Works; or believe them for the Arguments above to be downright Cheats and Fables. And what is enough to induce a modern _Divine_ to this Opinion. Is
5. The Consideration, that none of these rais"d Persons did or could, after the Return of their Souls to their Bodies, tell any Tales of their separate Existence otherwise the Evangelists had not been silent in this main Point, which is of the Essence of Christianity. Are not our _Divines_ here reduced to an unhappy _Dilemma_, either to deny the separate Existence of the Soul, or the precedent Deaths of these rais"d Persons? As Christians, We profess to believe both, which seemingly are incompatiable; or the Evangelists had made such a Relation, as their return"d Souls had given of the other World. Was any Person, in this Age, to be rais"d to Life, that had been any time dead; the first Thing that his Friends and Acquaintance would enquire of him, would be to know, where his Soul had been; in what Company; and how it had fared with him; and Historians would certainly record his Narrative. The same Curiosity could not but possess People of old, when these Miracles were wrought; and if the rais"d Persons had told any Stories of their separate Existance, the Evangelists no less unquestionally would have reported them, in as much as such a Report would have been, not only a Confirmation of that Doctrine; which is of the Essence of our Religion; but an absolute Confutation of the _Sadducees_ and _Sceptists_ of that Age, and of the _Materialists_ of this. But this their Silence in this Case is of bad Consequence, either to the Doctrine of the Soul"s Existence in Separation from the Body, or to these Miracles themselves, since we must hereupon almost necessarily hold, that these rais"d Persons were not at all dead, or that their Souls dy"d with them.
The Author of a Sermon, ascrib"d to St. _Augustin_ tells us[291] that _Lazarus_ after his Resurrection made a large Report of _h.e.l.l_, where he had been: But as this is a mere Fiction of that Author, without the least Authority from Scripture; so I presume it will be accounted a _Blunder_ in him, to suppose the Soul of _Lazarus_, the Friend and beloved of _Jesus_, was in h.e.l.l. The Soul of _Jesus_ indeed, for Reasons best known to himself, upon his Death, descended into h.e.l.l, when some think he should rather have gone, with the penitent Thief, into Paradise. But the Thoughts, that any of _Jesus_"s Friends should go to h.e.l.l, I suppose will not be born with; or what will become of the Preachers of this Age, who would be accounted Men or that Denomination. And if _Lazarus_"s Soul had been in Paradise, it was hardly a good Work in _Jesus_ to recall it, for thirty Years afterwards, to the Miseries and Troubles of this wicked World. I wish therefore our _Divines_ could determine, where _Lazarus_"s Soul was for the four Days of his Burial; because I can"t possibly conceive any thing else, than that he was not really dead, or that his Soul dy"d with him, or went to a bad place, otherwise after his Resurrection he had never absconded for fear of the _Jews_, as if he was unwilling to die again, and return to the Place from whence he came.
But however it was with the Souls of these rais"d Persons before their Re-union to their Bodies, here is another Difficulty and Objection against these Miracles; and how will our _Divines_ get over it?
Perhaps they may say, that tho" these rais"d Persons were before really dead; yet their Souls were not as yet gone to their Places prepared of G.o.d for them, but continued hovering about their Bodies, like the Flame about the Snuff of a Candle, with desires
----_iterumq; reverti Corpora_----
to be again rejoin"d to them. And withall my Heart let this Answer pa.s.s, if our _Divines_ and _Infidels_ can so agree upon it. As for my own Opinion, it is this, that these Miracles of _Jesus_ are Parables, and that it was beside the Purpose of the Parable, and of the _Evangelists_ to say any thing of the Place and State of the Soul upon its Separation from the Body; otherwise the Letter of their Stories is manifestly obnoxious to the Objection above, or the Deaths of these pretended rais"d Persons, upon Christian Principles, are questionable. But
6. And lastly, Let us consider the intrinsick Absurdities and Incredibilities of the several Stories of these three Miracles. And such Absurdities shall we find in them, that, if they had been intended as Testimonies of _Jesus_"s divine Power, had never been inserted in their Narratives.
As to _Jairus_"s Daughter, and her Resurrection from the dead, St.
_Hilary_[292] hints, that there was no such Person as _Jairus_ whose Name was fict.i.tious, and coin"d with a spiritual Signification for the Use of the Parable; and he gives this Reason, and a good Reason it is, why he thought so, because it is elsewhere[293] intimated in the Gospel, that none of the Rulers of the Synagogues confessedly believed on _Jesus_. Is not here then a stumbling-Block at the Threshold of the Letter of this Story? But why did _Jesus_ say, this Girl was but in a Sleep? If he was going to work a Miracle in her Resuscitation, he should not have call"d Death, _Sleep_; but if others had been of a contrary Opinion, he should first have convinced them of the Certainty of her Death, before he did the great Work on her. And why did he charge the Parents of the Girl not to speak of the Miracle? If he meant it as Testimony of his divine Power, he should rather have exhorted them, in justice to himself to publish it, and make it well known. And why, as St. _Ambrose_[294] puts the Question, did he turn the People out of the House, before he would raise her? The more Witnesses are present at a Miracle, the better it is attested, and the more readily believed by others; and who should be present at the Miracle rather than those who were incredulous of _Jesus_"s divine Power? Are not all these Circ.u.mstances, so many _Absurdities_, which, if they are not to be accounted for in the _Mystery_, are so far destructive of the _Letter_, as that it is Nonsense and Folly in our _Divines_ to talk of a Miracle here, against _Jesus_"s express Word and Prohibition to the contrary.
As to the Story of the Widow of _Naim_"s Son, excepting what is before observed of the shortness of the Time, in which he lay dead, and of the Unfitness of his Person to be rais"d before an Husband and Father of a Family, to the Comfort of his Wife and Children, (which are enough to overthrow the Credulity of the Miracle) I have here no more Fault to find in the Letter of it.
But the long Story of _Lazarus_ is so brimful of Absurdities, that, if the Letter alone is to be regarded; St. _John_, who was then above a hundred, when he wrote it, had lived beyond his Reason and Senses, or he could not have committed them.
I have not Room here to make Remarks on all these Absurdities, which would be the Work of a Volume; but shall single out three or four of them at present, reserving the rest for another Opportunity, when the whole Story of this Miracle will appear to be such a Contexture of Folly and Fraud in its Contrivance, Execution, and Relation, as is not to be equall"d in all Romantick History; and our _Divines_ will find themselves so distress"d upon the Dissection and Display of it, as that they must of Necessity allow this Story to be but a Parable; or, what"s most grievous to think on, give up their Religion upon it.
_First_ then, observe that _Jesus_ is said to have _wept_ and _groan"d_ for the Death of _Lazarus_: But why so, says[295] St.
_Basil_? Was not this an _Absurdity_ to weep at all for the Death of him, whom he could, and was about to recover to Life again? Another Man may as reasonably grieve for the Absence of his Friend, whose Company and Presence he can retrieve in an Instant, as that _Jesus_ should shed Tears for _Lazarus_ in this Case. If _Jesus_ could not or would not raise him from the dead, he ought not, as a Philosopher, who knows Man is born to die, to betray so much Weakness as to weep for him. Patience and Resignation unto G.o.d upon the Death of our dearest Friends and Relations is what all Philosophers have rightly taught; and _Jesus_, one would think, should have been the most Heroical Example of these Graces; and how came he to fail of it here? A Stoical Apathy had better became him than such childish and effeminate Grief, which not only makes him a mean and poor-spirited Mortal; but is a gross _Absurdity_ and _Incredibility_ upon Consideration of his Will and Power to fetch _Lazarus_ to Life again. If there be not, according to the Fathers, Mystery in these Tears of _Jesus_, they are a foolish and unnatural Prelude to a Farce, he was acting in the pretended Resuscitation of _Lazarus_.
Some antient Catholicks, not being apprised of the Mystery, were so offended at these Words, _Jesus wept_, that, as _Epiphanius_[296]
says, they expung"d them out of their Bibles; and I wonder, they have not, before now, disturb"d the Faith of Ministers of the Letter, to the utter Rejection of the Miracle.
_Secondly_, Observe that _John_ says, it was with _a loud Voice_, that _Jesus_ call"d _Lazarus_ forth out of his Cave. And why, I pray, a louder Voice than ordinary? Was dead _Lazarus_ deafer than _Jairus_"s Daughter, or the Widow"s Son? Or was his Soul at so great a Distance from his Body, as he could not hear a still and low Voice? Some such silly Reason as _this_ must be given for this _loud Voice_ here; but how absurd it is according to the Letter, Infidels will judge, till Christians can a.s.sign a better. The dead can hear the Whisper of the Almighty, if Power go along with it, as soon as the Sound of a Trumpet. St. _John_ then should not have written of a _loud Voice_, unless he meant to adapt his Story to the Capacities and Conceptions of the Vulgar, who have no Apprehensions of G.o.d"s Power, out of sensible and human Representations of it.
_Thirdly_, Because that a Miracle should be well guarded against all Suspicion of Fraud, I was thinking to make it an _Absurdity_, that the Napkin, before _Jesus_ rais"d _Lazarus_, was not taken from his Face, that the Spectators might behold his mortified Looks, and the miraculous Change of his Countenance from Death unto Life. What _Infidels_ think of this Circ.u.mstance I know not: I hope it is not with them a Token of Fraud and Imposture; tho" I must needs say, that if the Fathers did not let me in to the Mystery of the Napkin about _Lazarus_"s Face when _Jesus_ call"d him forth, I should not my self like it.
_Fourthly_, and lastly, Observe, St. _John_ says, v. 45. that _many of the Jews, who had seen the Things that Jesus did_ here; _believed on him_; and _some of them_, v. 46. who did not believe, _went their Ways to the Pharisees and told them what Things Jesus had done_ in this pretended Miracle, and how the Business was transacted: Whereupon the Chief Priests and Pharisees were so far incens"d as v. 53. _from that Day forth they took Council together to put him to Death_; and Ch.
xii. 10. _consulted, that they might put_ Lazarus _also to Death_.
Jesus _therefore_ (and his Disciples and _Lazarus_ fled for it, for they) v. 54. _walk"d no more openly among the Jews_, but _went thence into a Country near to the Wilderness_ (a convenient hiding Place) _and there continued with his Disciples_; otherwise in all Probability they had been all sacrificed.
I dare not argue upon these Circ.u.mstances, neither would I, for the Honour of _Jesus_ have mention"d them; but that my old Friend, the Jewish _Rabbi_, who help"d me to the Satirical Invective against _Jesus_"s Miracle of _turning Water into Wine_, has hence form"d an Objection against _Lazarus_"s Resurrection, and sent me a _Letter_ upon it, desiring me to publish it, and exhort the _Clergy_ to answer it; otherwise he would clandestinely hand it about to the Prejudice of our Religion: Whereupon I, rather than Christianity should so suffer, do here publish it, and it is as follows.
"_Sr._ When we last discours"d on _Jesus_"s Miracles, I promised to send you my Thoughts on _Lazarus_"s Resurrection, which I look upon as a notorious Imposture, and for the Proof of it, need go no farther, than to the Circ.u.mstances of its Story, which your _Evangelist_ has related.
"If there had been an indisputable Miracle wrought in _Lazarus_"s Resurrection; why were the _Chief-Priests_ and _Pharisees_ so incens"d upon it, as _to take Council to put both Jesus_ and _Lazarus_ to _Death for it_? Where was the Provocation? I can conceive none. Tho" the _Jews_ were ever so canker"d with Malice and Hatred to _Jesus_ before; yet such a most stupendous Miracle was enough to stop their Mouths, and turn their Hearts: Or if their Prejudices against _Jesus_ were insuperable, and they hated him but the more for the Number and Greatness of his Miracles; yet why is poor _Lazarus_, inoffensive _Lazarus_, upon whom this good and great Work was wrought, an Object of their Hatred too? Your _Divines_ are to give a credible and probable Account of this Matter, such a one as will comport with Reason and Sense; or we shall conclude, that it was _Fraud_, detected in this pretended Miracle, which justly provok"d the Indignation of our Ancestors.
"To say, what is all you can say, that it was downright Inhumanity, Barbarity and Brutality in the _Jews_ to hate _Lazarus_ as well as _Jesus_, will not do here. Tho" this may pa.s.s with many Christians, who are ready to swallow, without chewing, any evil Reports of our Nation; yet it can"t go down with reasonable and unprejudic"d Men, who must have other Conceptions of human Nature in all Ages and Nations, than to think it possible, that a Man, in _Lazarus_"s Case, can be hated and persecuted for having had such a good and wonderful Work done on him. And why then was he hated and persecuted? I say, for this, and no other Reason, than because he was a Confederate with _Jesus_ in the wicked Imposture, he was putting upon Mankind.
"But supposing, what is never to be granted, that the _Jews_ of old were so inhuman, brutish, and barbarous as to hate and persecute _Lazarus_ as well as _Jesus_ for this Miracle; yet why did _Jesus_ and his Disciples, with _Lazarus_, run away and abscond upon it?
for they v. 54. _walk"d no more openly among the_ Jews, _but went thence into a Country near to the Wilderness, and there_ Jesus _continued with his Disciples_. Is not here a plain Sign of Guilt and of Fraud? Men, that have G.o.d"s Cause, Truth and Power on their Side, never want Courage and Resolution to stand to it. And however your Christian _Priests_ may palliate the cowardly and timerous Conduct of _Jesus_ and his Confederates in this Case; yet with me, it"s like Demonstration, that there was a discover"d Cheat in the Miracle, or they would undauntedly have faced their Enemies, without Fears And Apprehensions of Danger from them.
"Our Ancestors then, who unquestionably detected the Fraud, were in the right on"t to prosecute with Severity, the whole Party concern"d in it: And if they had aveng"d the Wickedness of it upon _Lazarus_ as well as they did upon _Jesus_, I should have commended them for it. Whether such a monstrous Imposture, as was this pretended Miracle, happily discover"d does not call aloud for Vengeance and most exemplary Punishment; and whether any Nation of the World would suffer the like with Impunity, let any Man judge.
"For all the Reports of your Gospels, it is unnatural to hate a miraculous Healer of Diseases; and there must be somewhat supprest about the Inveteracy of the _Jews_ to _Jesus_, or his healing Power, if it was so great as is imagined, must have reconciled them to him: But that they should hate not only _Jesus_ for raising the dead, but the Person rais"d by him, is improbable, incredible, and impossible.
"If Historians can parallel this Story of the Malignity of the _Jews_ towards _Jesus_ and _Lazarus_ upon such a real Miracle, with any Thing equally barbarous and inhuman, in any other Sect or Nation; we will acknowledge the Truth of it against our ancient Nation: Or if such Inhumanity, abstractedly consider"d, be at all agreeable to the Conceptions any one can form of Human Nature in the most uncivilis"d and brutish People, we will allow our Ancestors, in this Case, to have been that People.
"Was such a real and indisputable Miracle, as this of _Lazarus_ is supposed, to be wrought at this day in Confirmation of Christianity, I dare say, it would bring all us _Jews_, to a Man, into the Belief of it: And I don"t think it possible, for any People to be so begotten, bya.s.s"d, and prejudiced, as not to be wrought on by it. Or if they would not part with their Interests and Prejudices upon it, they would have more Wit and Temper, than to break forth into a Rage against all or any of the Persons concern"d in it. And, for my Life, I can entertain no worse Thoughts of our old Nation.
"Supposing G.o.d should send an Amba.s.sador at this day, who, to convince Christians of the Mischiefs and Inconvenience of an _Hireling Priesthood_, should work such a Miracle as was this of _Lazarus_"s Resurrection, in the Presence of a mult.i.tude of Spectators; how would your _Bishops_ and _Clergy_ behave themselves upon it? Why, they would be as mute as Fishes; or if they did fret and grieve inwardly for the Loss of their Interests; yet they would have more Prudence (ask them else,) than to show their Anger openly, and persecute both _Agent_ and _Patient_ for it. Wherefore then are they so censorious and uncharitable as to preach and believe another Notion and Doctrine of our Ancestors?
"But if a false Prophet, for the subversion of an _Hireling Priesthood_, should, in spite to the _Clergy_, counterfeit such a Miracle, and be detected in the Operation; how then would Priests and People, Magistrates and Subjects behave upon it? Why, they would be full of Indignation, and _from that day forth would take Council to put_ the Impostor and his Confederate to Death, of which they would be most deserving; and if they did not abscond and fly for it, like _Jesu_ and his Disciples _to a Wilderness in the Country_ to hide themselves, the Rage of the Populace would hardly wait the Leisure of Justice to dispatch and make terrible Examples of them. Was not this exactly the Case of _Jesus_"s Imposture in the Resurrection of _Lazarus_; and of the Punishment he was threaten"d with, and afterwards most justly underwent for it?
"Mankind may be in some Cases very obdurate, and so hard of Belief, as to stand it out against Sense, Reason and Demonstration: But I will not think worse of our Ancestors than of the rest of Mankind; or that they any more than others would have withstood a clear and indisputable Miracle in _Lazarus_"s Resuscitation. Such a manifest Miracle, let it be wrought for what End and Purpose, we can possibly imagine, would strike Men with Awe and Reverence; and none could hate and persecute the Author of the Miracle; least He who could raise the dead, should exert his Power against themselves, and either wound or smite them dead with it. For which Reason, the Resurrection of _Lazarus_, on the certain Knowledge of our Ancestors, was all Fraud, or they would have reverenc"d and adored the Power of him, that did it.
"It may be true, what _John_ says, that _many of the Jews, who had seen the Things that Jesus did, believed on him_, that is, believed that he had wrought here a great Miracle: But who were these? the ignorant and credulous, whom a much less _juggler_ than Mr.
_Fawkes_ could easily impos"d on. But on the other hand, it is certain, according to _Christian Commentators_, that _some of them_ did not believe the Miracle, but _went their ways to the Pharisees and told them what Things Jesus had done_, that is, told them, after what manner the Intrigue was managed; and complain"d of the Fraud in it. How they came to suspect and discover the Fraud, was not _John_"s Business to relate; and for want of other ancient Memorials, we can only guess at it. Perhaps they discern"d some motion in _Lazarus_"s Body, before the Word of Command, to _come forth_, was given; perhaps they discover"d some Fragments of the Food, that for _four days_ in the Cave, he had subsisted on. But however this was, they could not but take Notice of the _Napkin about his Face_ all the while; which _Jesus_, to prevent all suspicion of Cheat, should have first order"d to be taken off, that his mortify"d Countenance might be view"d, before the miraculous Change of it to Life was wrought. This neglect in _Jesus_ (which I wonder _John_ had no more Wit than to hint at) will be a lasting Objection to the Miracle. _Jesus_ was wiser, than not to be aware of the Objection, which he would have obviated, if he durst, by a Removal of the Napkin, to the satisfaction of all Spectators there present. Because this was not done, we _Jews_ now deny, there was any Miracle wrought; and, whether our Unbelief upon this Circ.u.mstance be not well grounded, we appeal to Christian Priests themselves, who must own, that if there was a Miracle here, the Matter was ill conducted by _Jesus_, or foolishly related by his _Evangelist_."
"It is a sad Misfortune, that attends our modern enquiry after Truth, that there are no other Memorials extant of the Life and Miracles of _Jesus_, than what are written by his own Disciples.
Not only old Time has devour"d, but Christians themselves, (which in the Opinion of the impartial makes for us) when they got Power into their Hands, wilfully destroy"d many Writings of our Ancestors, as well as of _Celsus_ and _Porphiry_ and others, which they could not answer; otherwise I doubt not but they would have given us clear Light into a the Imposture of _Lazarus_"s Resurrection: But if _Jesus_, according to his own _Evangelists_, was arraign"d for a _Deceiver_ and _Blasphemer_, in pretending to the Sonship and Power of G.o.d by his Miracles; in all Probability this Piece of Fraud in _Lazarus_ was one Article of the Indictment against him; and what makes it very likely, is that the _Chief Priests_ and _Pharisees_, from the Date of this pretended Miracle, _took Council together to put him to Death_, not clandestinely or tumultuously to murder him, but judicially to punish him with Death, which, if they proved their Indictment by credible and sufficient Witnesses, he was most worthy of.
"As it is plain from the Story in _John_, that there was a Dispute among the By-standers at _Lazarus_"s Resurrection, whether it was a real Miracle or not; so it is the Opinion of us _Jews_, which is of the Nature of a Tradition, that the _Chief-Priests_ and civil Magistrates of _Bethany_, for the better Determination of the Dispute and quieting of the Minds of the People, requir"d that _Jesus_ should re-act the Miracle upon another Person, there lately dead and buried. But _Jesus_ declining this Test of his Power, the whole Mult.i.tude of Believers as well as of Unbelievers before, question"d the Resurrection of _Lazarus_; and were highly incens"d against both him and _Jesus_ for the Deceit in it. And this was _one_ Reason among others of that vehement and Universal Outcry and Demand, at _Jesus_"s Tryal, for his Crucifixion. I"ll not answer for the Certainty of this Tradition or Opinion, but as the Expedient was obvious, so it has the Face of Truth and Credibility; and for the Proof of it, I need only appeal to Christian _Priests_ and _Magistrates_; whether, under a Dispute of a Miracle of that Consequence, they would not require, for full Satisfaction, it should be acted over again; and, if the _Juggler_ refused, whether there would not be a general Clamour of People of all Ranks for his _Execution_.
"_Matthew_, _Mark_ and _Luke_, who knew as much of this Sham-Miracle as _John_, had not the Confidence to report it; because, when they wrote, many Eye-Witnesses of the Fraud were alive to disprove and contradict them; therefore they confined their Narratives to _Jesus_"s less juggling Tricks, that had pa.s.s"d more current: But after the _Jewish_ State was dissolved, their judicial Records were destroy"d, and every Body dead that could confute him, _John_ ventures abroad the Story of this Miracle; and if the good Providence of G.o.d had not infatuated him, in the Insertion of the Circ.u.mstances here observed, it might have pa.s.s"d through all Generations to come, as well as it has done for many past, for a grand Miracle.
"Thus, _Sir_, have you a few of my Thoughts on the pretended Miracle of _Lazarus_"s Resurrection. I have more to bestow on it, but that I would not be tedious. There"s no need to argue against the other two Resurrection-Stories. You know _omne majus includit minus_, and if the greatest of the three Miracles be an Imposture, the two less ones of Consequence are Artifice and Fraud. And rather than the Miracle of _Lazarus_ shall stand its Ground, I"ll have t"other Bout at it from some other Circ.u.mstances; the Consideration of which will make it as foolish and wicked an Imposture, as ever was contrived and transacted in the World; such a _wicked Imposture_ of most pernicious Consequence to the Welfare of the Publick, that it is no Wonder, the People, by an unanimous Voice, call"d for the Releas.e.m.e.nt of _Barabbas_, a Robber and Murderer, before _Jesus_. I don"t suppose these Arguments against this Miracle will be convincing of your Christian _Clergy_, who are hired to the Belief of it. But however, a _Bishop_ of many _thousands_ a Year to believe, can"t in Conscience deny, that the Arguments above are a sufficient Justification of our _Jewish_ Disbelief of it.
"If you, Sir, should write a Discourse gainst the Letter of the Story of _Jesus_"s Resurrection, I beg of you to accept of a few of my Conceptions on that Head, which, I promise you, shall be out of the common Road of thinking. Your _Divines_ think they have exhausted that Subject, and absolutely confuted all Objections that can be made against it, but are much mistaken. Sometimes we _Jews_ dip into their Writings on this Head, and always smile with Indignation at their foolish Invectives against the Blindness of the Eyes, and Hardness of the Hearts of our Ancestors. If they would but favour us with a Liberty to write for our selves, a reasonable Liberty, which in this Philosophical Age we don"t despair of, especially under so wise just and good a Civil Administration, as this Nation is happily bless"d with, we would cut them out some more Work, which they are not aware of. In the mean Time I am your a.s.sured Friend,"
_N.N._
So ends the Letter of my Friend, the _Jewish Rabbi_, which consists of _calm_ and _sedate_ Reasoning, or I would not have publish"d it; for I am resolv"d he shall no more impose upon me with his ludicrous and bantering Stuff, like his Satirical Invective against _Jesus_"s Miracle of _turning Water into Wine_, so offensive to our G.o.dly _Bishops_. And because it consists of _calm_ and _sedate_ Reasoning, which _Bishop Smalbroke_ allows of, I hope his _Lordship_ will take it into Consideration, and write an Answer to it, which I, without the Help of the Mystery, can"t do.
If the foresaid _Letter_ be offensive to our _Clergy_, who don"t judge it meet that the _Jews_ should take this Liberty to write against the Miracles of our Saviour, and in Vindication of their own disbelief of Christianity, I beg of them, for the Love of _Jesus_, not to let their Displeasure be visibly seen; because the _Jews_ will then laugh in their Sleeves, and perhaps openly insult and triumph upon it: But if they will privately acquaint me with their Displeasure at it, I"ll promise them to hold no more Correspondence with such _Jewish Rabbies_; neither will I ever hereafter publish any other Objections against _Christ_"s Religion and Miracles, than what come from the _Hotentots_ and _Pawawers_: and then it will be strange, if our dignified _Clergy_, of most grave and demure Looks, can"t solidly confute the worst, that such ignorant and illiterate People can urge against them.
And thus have I done with my Objections against the Letter of these three Miracles. If our _Divines_ shall think there is little or nothing of Force in them; then an Answer, which I should be glad to see, may the more easily be made to them. As for my part, without being conceited of the Acuteness and Strength of any of the Objections, I think it impossible satisfactorily to reply to them, without having Recourse to the Opinions of the Fathers, that these three Miracles, whether they were ever litterally transacted or not, are now but emblematical Representations of mysterious and more wonderful Operations to be perform"d by _Jesus_.
To the Fathers then let us go for their mystical Interpretation of these Miracles. St. _Augustin_, in his Introduction to a Sermon on the Widow of _Naim_"s Son, says[297] thus, "There are some so silly as to stand amazed at the corporal Miracles of _Jesus_, and have no Consideration of his greater and spiritual Miracles, signified by them: but others who are wiser can hear of the Things that _Jesus_ did on Men"s Bodys, without being astonish"d at them, chusing rather to contemplate with Admiration his more wonderful Works on Men"s Souls; after the similitude of bodily Miracles. And these are the Christians that conform their Studies to the Will of our Lord; who would have his corporal Miracles, spiritually interpreted: For He wrought not Miracles in the Flesh, for the sake of such Miracles abstractedly consider"d; but that, if they were surprising to some Mens Senses, they should be more astonishing to the Understanding of others, who apprehend the spiritual Meaning of them. And they who by Contemplation can attain to the mystical Signification of _Jesus_"s Miracles, are the best Scholars and most learn"d Disciples in his Church and School.
And, (_speaking of the Absurdity of Jesus"s cursing the Figtree according to the Letter_) presently after says, that this he observ"d, that he might persuade his Hearers to think, that our Lord _Jesus_ therefore wrought Miracles, that he might signify somewhat by them, which he would have his Disciples to learn and consider of. Come now, _says he_, and let us see what we are mistically and spiritually to understand by the Stories of the three Persons rais"d from the dead."
There are two Ways, that the Fathers took in the moral and mystical Interpretation of these Miracles: One was from the Number _three_, and their Difference in Magnitude. According to which they said with St.
_Augustin_[298] that these three sorts of dead Persons, so rais"d to Life, are Figures of three sorts of Sinners, whom _Jesus_ raiseth from the death of Sin to the Life of Righteousness. They who have conceiv"d Sin in their Hearts, and have not brought it forth into Act; are figured by _Jairus_"s Daughter, who lay dead in the House of her Father, and was not taken forth to her Burial. Others, who after Cogitation and Consent, pa.s.s into actual Sin are figured by the Young Man, carried towards his Grave. But those Sinners, who are habituated and long accustom"d to Sin, are like _Lazarus_ bury"d, and in a stinking Condition under the Corruption of it; whom _Jesus_, for all that, with the _loud Voice_ of the Praedication of his Gospel, will call forth out of the Death and Grave of their Sins to a new Life. So does St. _Augustin_ make these three dead Persons and their Resurrections, Emblems of the said three Sorts of Sinners, who are dead in Trespa.s.ses and Sins, and by the Power of _Jesus_ quicken"d to a Life of Righteousness. And to this Opinion of St. _Augustin_, do St.
_Ambrose_, _Eusebius Gallica.n.u.s_, and Venerable _Bede_ agree. And according to this Notion of these Miracles they descend to a particular Explication of the several Parts of their Stories. As to give you two or three Instances.