jealousy and hatred of all perfons in power, or eminent for knowledge, to contend with, went about publicly curing all fick perfons, under whatever disease they laboured, even infanity, whenever they prefented themselves; raising several perfons from the dead, and performing various other miracles, of the most astonishing kind; fuch as twice feeding a great multitude with a small quantity of provifions, ftilling a tempeft, and walking on the fea. His divine miffion was alfo attested by voices from heaven, but more especially by his refurrection from the dead, after a public crucifixion, and in fuch other circumstances with refpect to its credibility, that it does not feem poffible to imagine any others which could have fo effectually enfured the belief of it in diftant ages.

So important, however, in the eye of Providence, was the credibility of the gospel history, in all future ages, that the scene of miracles was not clofed with the refurrection and afcenfion of Jefus. The fame fpirit, or power, by which Jefus worked

miracles

miracles was transferred to the apoftles, and other difciples of Jefus, and continued with them, as far as appears, through life, though it probably terminated with that generation. This effufion of the fpirit, as it may be called, was promised by Jefus to his apostles, when he affured them, John xiv. 12, that after he fhould leave them they fhould do even greater things than he had done; and before his afcenfion he directed them to wait in Jerufalem till they should be endued with power from on high. This promife began to be fulfilled on the following Pentecoft, about ten days after his af cenfion.

On the death of Jefus all his difciples were, as might have been expected, from their having no idea of any fuch event, thrown into the greatcft confternation, and difperfed. Believing him to be the Meffiah, they had flattered themfelves that he would, at a proper time, affume what they took to be the proper character of that high office, and appear as a king. But on his death all their hopes were blafted, nor can it be imagined, on any principles confiftent

fiftent with our knowledge of human nature, that they would ever have appeared in public, avowing themfelves to be his difciples, and acting as by authority from him, and continue to do fo through life, in the face of danger and of death, unless they had been fully perfuaded of the truth of his refurrection, and had actually received the powers that had been promised them; and with refpect to neither of them could they have been deceived themfelves. But with this fuppofition, their conduct, and all the following history of the planting of Christianity, is perfectly confiftent. For they acted as men naturally would do in thofe new and peculiar circumstances.

As the history of this period is of infinite importance, it behoves us to give the closest attention to it. Though we are not in the fituation of the firft difciples of Jefus, exposed to perfecution and death for our faith in his miffion, it behoves us, as men pretending to reafon, and especially with refpect to religion (on which fo much of our prefent enjoyment, as well as our future

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future profpects, depends) not to be impofed upon by fables inftead of true history, by tricks of legerdemain instead of real miracles, and by the artifices of man instead of the power of God. I fhall, therefore, bring into review the particulars of the great scene that opened on the world after the death and fuppofed refurrection of Jefus, that we may fee whether the facts correspond with the fuppofition of the reality of that refurrection, or not; taking it for granted that human nature was the fame then that it is now, and that both they who preached Chriftianity, and they to whom it was preached, were men, as

we are.

Had the apoftles been men who knew that Jefus had been a mere impoftor, and had chofen (for any reafon that we cannot well imagine) to carry on the fame imposture and act in his name, rather than in their own; and had they been acquainted with his arts, it is most probable that they would, at least have begun with attempting fomething of the fame kind. But the first extraordinary narrative in their history

is of fomething quite unlike any thing that we find in the hiftory of Jefus, and what nothing they had feen of him, or, could have learned of him, could have led them to conceive; and yet, had it been an impofition, it was the boldest that ever was thought of by the most practifed cheats, and, in their circumftances, the most unlikely to fucceed.

The apoftles, and other difciples of Jefus, were well known to be men in the lowest ranks of life, wholly unlearned, and acquainted with no language befides their own. Of this there never was a question; and yet when they were affembled together on the day of Pentecoft, after a found as from heaven, a rushing mighty wind, and the appearance of flames of fire on the heads of all the company, circumftances which it was impoffible for them to have produced by art, they all began to fpeak diftinctly and intelligibly in various languages, many of which had no affinity to each other; and yet they were perfectly understood by the natives of all those countries who were prefent. The amazement