(9.) Respecting Tyre (10.) Respecting Sidon (11.) Respecting Egypt (12.) Respecting the Moabites and Ammonites (13.) Respecting the Philistines . (14.) Respecting the Chaldean monarchy (15.) Respecting the Medo-Persian monarchy (16.) Respecting the Greek and Macedonian Empire (17.) Respecting the Roman empire (18.) Respecting the papal power (19.) Respecting the kingdom of the Messiah (20.) Respecting Christ or the Messiah § 8. That he was to be born of a virgin § 9. That he was to be worshipped by wise men § 15. That he should expel the buyers and sellers from the § 16. That he should be a priest § 17. That he should be hated and persecuted § 19. That he should be sold for 30 pieces of silver 20. That his disciples should forsake him 21. That he should be accused by false witnesses § 22. That he should not plead on his trial § 23. That he should be insulted, buffeted, and spit on § 24. That he should be crucified § 25. That they should offer him gall and vinegar to drink. § 27. That he should be mocked by his enemies 28. That his hands and feet should be pierced § 29. That his side should be pierced, and that a bone of him § 30. That he should be patient under his sufferings § 31. That he should die with malefactors. § 32. That there should be an earthquake and darkness at his death § 33. That he should be buried with the rich § 34. That he should rise again from the dead 35. That he should ascend into heaven, &c. $36. That his betrayer should die suddenly and miserably § 1. That they should be exceedingly multiplied § 2. That their land should enjoy its sabbaths while they 3. That the Babylonish captivity should last seventy years §4. That their king, Zedekiah, should be taken captive to § 5. That they should never after be guilty of idolatry § 6. That they should be conquered by the Romans § 8. That they should be left few in number. § 9. That they should be scattered into all nations, and be treated with the greatest cruelty § 10. That they should be sold as slaves § 11. That their children should be forcibly taken from them 12. That they should be compelled to worship idols § 13. That they should become a proverb and byword § 14. That they should be preserved a distinct people (22.) Prophecies of our Saviour respecting the destruction of § 1. The signs by which it was to be preceded (i.) The first sign, the appearance of false Christs (vii.) The seventh sign, the preaching of the Gospel through- § 2. The circumstances of the destruction of Jerusalem (i.) The surrounding of it by Roman armies, &c. The prophecy contained in the little book The prophesying of the two witnesses in sackcloth The state of the church in the wilderness, and the reformation from, and fall of popery ($ 7.) The pouring out of the seven vials of the wrath of § 2. Summary of the remaining prophecies, and conclusion 9. The inspiration of the Scriptures shewn from the extraordinary success of Christianity 10. And finally, from the inward testimony afforded by their effec- 27 30 ON THE GENUINENESS, UNCORRUPTED PRESERVATION, AUTHENTICITY, AND INSPIRATION OF THE SACRED SCRIPTURES. THE Sacred Volume, which we term THE BIBLE, (O BIBAO,) or THE BOOK, by way of eminence, consists of two grand parts, the Old Testament and the New Testament; containing conjointly a vast variety of very different compositions, historical, poetical, and judicial, moral, preceptive, and prophetical, written at various times by different persons, and afterwards collected into a volume. CHAPTER I. On the Genuineness of the Sacred Scriptures. THAT these books are genuine, that is, were written by those persons whose names they bear, we have the most satisfactory evidence; and have no more reason to doubt, than that the histories which we have under the names of HERODOTUS, XENOPHON, or TACITUS, were written by those authors. For, 1. The books of the Old Testament have always been received as genuine by the Jews, and those of the New Testament by Christians, from the earliest period to the present time; and, in addition to the earlier books being B cited or alluded to by subsequent sacred writers, we have ample evidence afforded of the genuineness of the Old Testament by Jewish Translators and Writers, and of that of the New, by a regular succession of Christian Writers, who quote or allude to a number of passages as we now read them, from the times of the Apostles to the present hour; nor was their genuineness ever impugned by the most determined and acute Jewish or heathen adversaries, or heretics. 2. The language and style of writing, both in the Old and New Testaments, prove them to have been composed at the time and by the persons to whom they are ascribed. Their diversity of style proves them to have been the work of various authors; and competent Hebrew scholars have shewn, that the difference of character and style of the language of the Old Testament, as well as the introduction of certain foreign words, can only be accounted for by the supposition that they were composed at different and distant periods, and by the authors to whom they are attributed; while the Greek, in which the New Testament is written, which is intermixed with many Hebrew, Chaldee, Syriac, and Latin words and idioms, accords only with the time, situation, country, and circumstances, of the persons to whom it is ascribed. 3. The moral impossibility of their being forgeries is an additional evidence of their genuineness; for, it is impossible to establish forged writings as genuine in any place where there are persons strongly inclined, and well qualified, to detect the fraud. Now, if the books of the Old Testament be forgeries, they must have been invented either by Gentiles, Jews, or Christians. But they could not have been invented by the Gentiles, because they were alike ignorant of the history and sacred rites of the Hebrews, who most unquestionably would never have given their approbation to writings invented by them, nor yet to any fabrications of |
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