Six Discourses on the Miracles of Our Saviour, and Defences of His Discourses. Thomas Woolston

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СКАЧАТЬ unstopp'd; then shall the lame Man leap as the Hart, and the Tongue of the Dumb sing; and say that these Prophecies were accurately fulfill'd by our Jesus in the several specifical Cures of Blindness, Deafness, Lameness, and Dumbness, which he often perform'd upon one or other; and, inasmuch as our Saviour seems to appeal to such Prophecies, do conclude this his Accomplishment of them, to be no less than a Demonstration, that he was the true Messiah, that great Prophet, who was to come into the World. To which I answer,

      First, That the Accomplishment of Prophecies that can neither be given forth by human Foresight, nor fulfill'd in a Counterfeit, are good Proofs of Jesus's Messiahship: But then, what shall we say if others besides Jesus should do the like Cures and Miracles? It is said of Anti-christ, and I believe it, that he will not only do all the Miracles that Jesus did, but will appeal to the like Prophecies too. How then we are to distinguish the true Christ from the false Christ by Miracles and Prophecies in this Case, is the Question, which I leave with our Divines to consider of an Answer to, against the Time that it is proved that Anti-christ does all those Miracles, which Jesus in the Flesh wrought. But

      Secondly, The foresaid Prophecies and others mentioned in Isaiah, neither were, nor could be Prophecies of the miraculous Cures of bodily Diseases which Jesus then did. And this may be made appear, not only from the Context of those Prophecies which received then no Accomplishment from Jesus, who ought to have fulfill'd one Part of the Prophecy as well as the other, or is not to be taken for the Fulfiller of either; but from the Opinion of both Jews and Fathers, who adjourn the Accomplishment of those Prophecies to Christ's spiritual Advent. But

      Thirdly, The Prophet Isaiah, in the Place above cited, speaks not of bodily Blindness, &c. which the Messiah is to heal, but of the spiritual Distempers of the Soul, metaphorically so called; as may be easily proved, not only from the Prophecies themselves, but from the old Jews, who were allegorical Interpreters of those Distempers, and from the antient Fathers,[17] who so understood them. Consequently our Jesus's healing of those bodily Diseases, was no proper Accomplishment of those Prophecies. It is true our Saviour, Matt. xi. 4, 5. seems to appeal to those Prophecies, and to make his Cure of corporal Distempers an Accomplishment of them: But he means not in the literal Sense, that our Divines take him in, as I shall show hereafter, when I come to consider what Jesus means, by appealing to his Works and Miracles, as bearing Witness of him.

      Our Divines then may admire and adore Jesus as much as they please for his Miracles of healing bodily Distempers; but I am for the spiritual Messiah that cures those Distempers of the Soul, that metaphorically pass under the Names of Blindness, Lameness, Deafness, &c. And the Cure of these spiritual Diseases, is the proper and miraculous Work of the true Messiah; for the sake of which, says[18] St. Augustin, Jesus condescended to do those little Miracles of healing bodily Distempers, which were but the Type and Shadow of his more stupendous Miracles of curing spiritual Diseases. The Cure of spiritual Infirmities is a God-like[19] Work, above the Imitation of Man or of Anti-christ, infinitely more miraculous than the healing any bodily Distempers can be.

      Whether our Jesus be at this Day such a spiritual Messiah, I leave to our Divines to consider, with those spiritual Distempers of the Church, that seem to want his miraculous Hand and Touch. The Fathers of the Church said, that Jesus was in part such a spiritual Messiah in their time, and argued[20] his Messiahship, not from bodily Cures, but from his most miraculous Cures of the Diseases of the Soul: But there was another and future Time, in which he would be such a spiritual and glorious Messiah to the greatest Perfection. In the mean while, no healing of corporal Distempers can prove Jesus to be the Messiah, nor any other of his miraculous Works recorded in the Evangelists: So far from it, that

      II. I shall prove that the literal Story of many of Jesus's Miracles, as they are recorded in the Evangelists, and commonly believed by Christians, does imply Improbabilities and Incredibilities, and the grossest Absurdities, very dishonourable to the Name of Christ; consequently, they, in whole, or in part, were never wrought, but are only related as prophetical and parabolical Narratives of what would be mysteriously and more wonderfully done by him.

      The reading of this Head will, I doubt not, strike with Horror some of our squeamish Divines, who, notwithstanding they will sacrifice almost any Principles to their Interest, will not bear that our literal evangelical History of such renown'd Miracles should be thus called in Question, and contemptuously spoken of. What does this Author mean, will some say, thus to do Service to Atheism and Infidelity? Away with him! Our Indignation is moved against him! No Censure and Punishment can be too severe for such Impiety, Profaneness, and Blasphemy, as is aim'd at, and imply'd in this Proposition.

      To calm therefore the Spirits, and abate the Prejudices of such Accusers, I must proceed with the greater Caution and with Reason and Authority well fortify myself before and behind, or I shall feel the Weight of the Displeasure of our Divines, who are prepossess'd of the Belief of the literal Story of all Jesus's Miracles.

      Before then I enter upon the particular Examination of any of his Miracles, I will premise two or three general Assertions of the Fathers about them. And first Origen[21] says, that in the historical Part of the Scriptures, There are some Things inserted as History, which were never transacted, and which it was impossible should be transacted; and other Things, again, that might possibly be done, but were not. This he asserts of the Writings of the Evangelists, as well as of the Old Testament, and gives many Instances to this Purpose. St. Hilary[22] says, There are many historical Passages of the New Testament, that if they are taken literally, are contrary to Sense and Reason, and therefore there is a Necessity of a mystical Interpretation. And St. Augustin[23] says, that there are hidden Mysteries in the Works and Miracles of our Saviour, which if we incautiously and literally interpret, we shall run into Errors, and make grievous Blunders. Of the same Mind are the rest of the Fathers, as might be proved by express or implicit Citations; but, studying Brevity, I think the three Testimonies above, enough to cool the Rage, and assuage the Prejudices of my Adversaries against the Proposition before us, which I now come to a particular Consideration of; that is, to shew that the Story of many of Jesus's Miracles is literally absurd, improbable, and incredible. And

      1. To speak to that Miracle of Jesus's driving the Buyers and Sellers out of the Temple, which all the[24] four Evangelists make mention of.

      I have read in some modern Author whose Name does not occur to my Memory, that this was, in his Opinion, the most stupendous Miracle that Jesus wrought. And, in truth, it was a most astonishing one, if literally true, and Jesus must appear more than a Man, he must put on an awful and most majestick Countenance to effect it. It is hard to conceive, how any one in the Form of a Man, and of a despised one too, (and we don't read that Jesus chang'd his human Shape) with a Whip in his Hand, could execute such a Work upon a great Multitude of People, who were none of his Disciples, nor had any regard for him. Supposing he could, by his divine Power, infuse a panick Fear into the People; yet what was the Reason that he was so eaten up with Zeal against the Profanation of that House, which he himself came to destroy, and which he permitted, I may say commanded, to be filthily polluted not long after. But not to form by my self an Invective against the Letter of this Story, let's hear what the Fathers say to it,

      Origen makes the whole but a[25] Parable. His allegorical Expositions of it, are frequent, and one time or other he gives us the mystical Meaning of every Part of it. By the Temple, he understands the Church: By the Sellers in the Temple, he means such Preachers who make Merchandize of the Gospel, whom the Spirit of Christ, some time or other, would rid his Church of. He is so far from believing any thing of the Letter of this Story, that he has form'd a[26] large Argument against it: The Substance of which is, that if Jesus had attempted any such СКАЧАТЬ