Six Discourses on the Miracles of our Saviour Part 1

Six Discourses on the Miracles of our Saviour.

by Thomas Woolston.

TO THE

Right Reverend Father in G.o.d

~_EDMUND_~,

Lord BISHOP of _London_.

MY LORD,

Upon no other View do I make a Dedication of this Discourse to your _Lords.h.i.+p_, then to submit it to your acute Judgment, expecting soon to hear of your Approbation or Dislike of it. If it so happen, that you highly approve of it, I beg of you to be sparing of your Commendations, least I should be puff'd up with them.

In my _Moderator_, some Expressions dropt from my Pen about the Miracles of our Saviour, which, for want of Ill.u.s.tration then, gave your _Lords.h.i.+p_ some Offence, and brought upon me more Trouble: But, having now fully and clearly explain'd my self out of the Fathers, I hope you'll be reconciled to me; and as you are a Lover of Truth, will, against Interest and Prejudice, yield to the Force of it.

Whether your Prosecution of me, for the _Moderator_, was just and reasonable, I'll not dispute here, having already expostulated that Matter with you in several Letters, to which you would not condescend to give me any Answer. For what Reason you was silent, is best known to your self. But, in my own Vindication, I hope, I may publish without Offence, that your taking me for an _Infidel_, was such a Mistake as I thought no _Scholar_ could have made; and the Injury done to my Reputation and low Fortunes, by the Prosecution, so considerable, that the least I expected from your _Lords.h.i.+p_, was a courteous Excuse, if not an ample Compensation, for it.

As to the Expediency of prosecuting _Infidels_ for their Writings (in whose Cause I am the farthest of any Man from being engaged) I will here say nothing. The Argument, _pro_ and _con_, has already, by one or other, been copiously handled. And I don't know but I might be, with your _Lords.h.i.+p_, on the persecuting side of the Question; but that it looks as if a Man was distrustful of the Truth of Christianity, and conscious of his own Inability to defend it; or he would leave that _good Cause_ to G.o.d himself and the Sword of the Spirit, without calling upon the _Civil Magistrate_ for his Aid and a.s.sistance.

That scurvy _Writer_ of the _Scheme of literal Prophecy_, &c. which your _Lords.h.i.+p_ must have heard of, would insinuate, that they are only atheistical Priests, who, for fear of their Interests in the Church, set Persecutions on foot: But after your _Lords.h.i.+p_ has publish'd a strenuous Defence of Christianity to the Purpose of our present Controversy, I'll have no such Suspicions of you.

Your _Lords.h.i.+p_'s persecuting (or, if you will, prosecuting) Humour, is reputedly all pure Zeal for G.o.d's Glory; and, with all my Heart, let it be so accounted, whether it be according to Knowledge or not.

Against Popery and Infidelity you are all Ardency! Who does not commend you? Who can question the Sincerity of the Zeal of a Protestant _Bishop_, and of a Protestant _Clergy_, when they persecute the Enemies of their Church, that considers their own Steadiness to Principles against Interest, under all Changes, since the Reformation; and their Abhorrence of Extortion upon the People, for the Duties of their Function, in and about this City. Such Honesty and Constancy in their Profession, is a Proof of the Integrity of their Hearts, or I know not where to find one.

But that your _Lords.h.i.+p_'s Zeal for Religion is very remarkable and successful, I could prove by many Instances; one is, _that_ of your routing a turbulent Sect of _Peripateticks_ out of St. _Paul_'s Cathedral; and if you could as effectually clear _Christ_'s Church of _Infidels_, what a glorious Bishop would you be!

And what Pity is it, that _Infidels_ likewise are not to be quell'd with your Threats and Terrors! which (without the Weapons of sharp Reasonings, and thumping Arguments, that others are for the Use of) would transmit your Fame to Posterity, for a notable Champion for Christianity, as certainly as, that your judicious Prosecution of the _Moderator_ for Infidelity is here remember'd by,

[Sidenote: London, _April_ 17, 1727.]

_My_ ~LORD~, _The Admirer of Your Zeal Wisdom and Conduct, Thomas Woolston_.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

A DISCOURSE ON THE MIRACLES OF OUR _SAVIOUR_, &c.

If ever there was an useful Controversy started, or revived in this Age of the Church, it is _this_ about the _Messiahs.h.i.+p_ of the holy Jesus, which the _Discourse of the Grounds_, &c. has of late rais'd. I believe this Controversy will end in the absolute Demonstration of Jesus's _Messiahs.h.i.+p_ from Prophecy, which is the only way to prove him to be the _Messiah_, that great Prophet expected by the _Jews_, and promised under the Old Testament. And tho' this way of Proof from Prophecy seems to labour under many Difficulties at present; and tho'

some _Writers_ against the _Grounds_, being distressed with those Difficulties, are for seeking Refuge in the Miracles of our Saviour; yet we must persist in it, till what I have no doubt of, his _Messiahs.h.i.+p_ shall be clearly made out by it.

And the way in Prophesy that I would take for the Proof of _Jesus_'s _Messiahs.h.i.+p_, should be by an allegorical Interpretation, and Application of the Law and the Prophets to him; the very same way, that all the Fathers of the Church have gone in; and the very same way, in which all the ancient _Jews_ say their _Messiah_ was to fulfil the Law and the Prophets: But this way does not please our ecclesiastical _Writers_ in this Controversy, neither will they at present give any Ear to it.

The Way in Prophecy that they are for taking, is by a literal Interpretation and Application of some Prophecies of the Old Testament to our _Jesus_, but they are hitherto unsuccessful in this Way. The Authors of the _Grounds_ and of the _Scheme_, grievously perplex them with their Objections against this way of Proof, so far as, being sensible, I say, of almost insuperable Difficulties in it, they are flying apace to the Miracles of our Saviour, as to their sole and grand Refuge.

But to show that there's no Sanctuary for them in the Miracles of our Saviour, I write this Discourse: And this I do, not for the Service of Infidelity, which has no Place in my Heart, but for the Honour of the Holy _Jesus_, and to reduce the _Clergy_ to the good old way of interpreting Prophecies, which the Church has unhappily apostatis'd from, and which, upon the Testimony of the Fathers, will, one Day, be the Conversion of _Jews_ and _Gentiles_.

For this Opinion, that there is no Sanctuary in the Miracles of our Saviour, I chanc'd to say in the _Moderator_,[1] _That Jesus's Miracles, as they are now-a-days understood, make nothing for his Authority and Messiahs.h.i.+p_. And again,[2] _That I believe, upon good Authority, some of the Miracles of Jesus, as recorded by the Evangelists, were never wrought, but are only related as prophetical and parabolical Narratives of what will be mysteriously and more wonderfully done by him_: Which Expressions gave Offence to some of our _Clergy_, and brought upon me their Indignation and Displeasure.

I see no Reason to depart from the said Expressions, or so much as to palliate and soften them, much less to retract them; but in Maintenance of my Opinion, to the Honour of our _Messiah_, and the Defence of Christianity, I write this Treatise on Jesus's Miracles, and take this Method following.

I. I will show, that the Miracles of healing all manner of bodily Diseases, which _Jesus_ was justly famed for, are none of the proper Miracles of the _Messiah_, neither are they so much as a good Proof of his Divine Authority to found a Religion.

II. That the literal History of many of the Miracles of Jesus, as recorded by the Evangelists, does imply Absurdities, Improbabilities, and Incredibilities, consequently they, either in whole or in part, were never wrought, as they are commonly believed now-a-days, but are only related as prophetical and parabolical Narratives of what would be mysteriously and more wonderfully done by him.

III. I shall consider what Jesus means, when he appeals to his Miracles as to a Testimony and Witness of his Divine Authority, and show, that he could not properly and ultimately refer to those he then wrought in the _Flesh_, but to those mystical ones, which he would do in the _Spirit_; of which those wrought in the Flesh are but mere Types and Shadows.

In treating on these Heads, I shall not confine my self only to Reason, but also to the express Authority of the Fathers, those holy, venerable, and learned Preachers of the Gospel in the first Ages of the Church, who took our Religion from the Hands of the Apostles, and of apostolical Men, who dy'd, some of them, and suffer'd for the Doctrine they taught; who professedly and confessedly were endu'd with divine and extraordinary Gifts of the Spirit; who consequently can't be supposed to be Corrupters of Christianity, or Teachers of false Notions about the Miracles of our Saviour, or so much as mistaken about the apostolical and evangelical Sense and Nature of them. I know not how it comes to pa.s.s, but I am a profound Admirer, and an almost implicit Believer of the Authority of the Fathers, whom I look upon as vast Philosophers, very great Scholars, and most orthodox Divines.

Whatever they concurrently a.s.sert, I firmly believe. And tho' they are, for the most part, mysterious Writers out of the Reach of the Capacities of many, who slight them; yet I, who have had the Honour and Happiness of much of their Acquaintance, fancy my self well apprised of their Meanings. If at any time I read a Pa.s.sage in them which I don't presently apprehend, I salute it with Veneration for all that, till my Understanding is opened to receive the Sense of it. If I meet with but a single Opinion in any one of them, I pay my Respects to it; but where there is an Harmony and Agreement of Opinion amongst them, it is with me, and ought to be with all Christians, of such Weight, as to bear down all Prejudice, Opposition, and Contradiction before it; or the Authority of no Man, whether ancient or modern, is to have any Regard paid to it; and of what ill Consequence to Religion such an utter Rejection of Authority will be, I need not say.

This I thought fit to premise, concerning the Authority of the Fathers, to abate of the Prejudice beforehand, which some may conceive against the following Discourse about the Miracles of _Jesus_. I don't question, but some may be startled at the foregoing Heads, as if, what is the farthest of any thing from my Heart, the Service of Infidelity was in View; but craving the Temper and Patience of such Readers for a while, and they shall find, that its no other than just Reasoning, clear Truth, and primitive Doctrine about _Jesus_'s Miracles, that I advance: Or if it should so happen, that none besides my self should discern the Reasoning and Truth of the Argument; yet I hope it will not be thought a Crime to revive primitive Doctrine, which none will be able to deny it to be, whether they like it or not. If I err, I err upon Choice with the Fathers, of whose Faith I am. And if any are offended at what follows about the Miracles of _Christ_, let them turn their Displeasure and Indignation against the Fathers, for whose express or implicit Opinions I can be deserving of no Blame.

I am sorry for the Occasion of such a Preface against Offence, which the Apostacy of the Age, and its Unacquaintedness with the Fathers, has made necessary. So I enter upon the particular handling of the Heads foregoing. And,

I. I will show that the Miracles of healing all manner of bodily Diseases, which _Jesus_ was justly famed for, are none of the proper Miracles of the Messiah, nor are they so much as a good Proof of _Jesus_'s divine Authority to found and introduce a Religion into the World.

And to do this, let us consider, first, in general, what was the Opinion of the Fathers about the Writings of the _Evangelists_ in which the Life of _Christ_ is recorded. _Eucherius_ says,[3] _That the Scriptures of the New as well as Old Testament, are to be interpreted in an allegorical Sense_. And this his Opinion, is no other than the common one of the first Ages of the Church, as might be proved by many the like Expressions of other Fathers. As in such Expressions, they do not except the Writings of the _Evangelists_; so they must include the History of _Christ_'s Miracles, which as well as other Parts of the History of his Life, is to be allegoriz'd for the sake of its true Meaning; consequently the literal Story of Christ's Miracles proves nothing.

But let's hear particularly their Opinion of the Actions and Miracles of our Saviour. _Origen_ says, that[4] _Whatsoever Jesus did in the Flesh, was but typical and symbolical of what he would do in the Spirit_; and to our Purpose,[5] that _the several bodily Diseases which he healed, were no other than Figures of the spiritual Infirmities of the Soul, that are to be cured by him_. St. _Hilary_ is of the same Mind with _Origen_, as any one may see by the[6]

Expressions referr'd to, and his Commentary on St. _Matthew_. St.

_Augustin_,[7] and St. _John_[8] of _Jerusalem_, both say, that the Works of _Jesus_ import farther Mysteries; and with them, the rest of the Fathers agree, making the Miracles that _Jesus_ did then, no more than the Shadow of some more powerful and mystical Operations to be done by him, as I could show by more Citations out of them, if it was needful. But from the foregoing Citations out of the Fathers it is plain, in their Opinion, that our modern _Divines_ are in the wrong of it, to lay much Stress on any of the Operations of _Jesus_, which he did in the Flesh, for the Proof of his divine Authority and _Messiahs.h.i.+p_, which is only to be proved by his more mysterious Works, of which those done in the Flesh are but Type and Figure.

But to come closer to the Purpose, let's see how indifferently, I had almost said contemptibly, the Fathers speak of the Miracles of _Jesus_, and particularly of his Power of healing all bodily Diseases, which by modern _Writers_ is so much magnified and extoll'd. St.

_Irenaeus_ says,[9] that if _we consider only the then temporal Use of Jesus's Power of Healing, he did nothing grand and wonderful_; consequently _Irenaeus_ could not hold, that _Jesus_'s Miracles then wrought, were a sufficient Proof of his divine Authority, much less of his _Messiahs.h.i.+p_. _Origen_ says[10] that _tho' many were brought to believe in Jesus upon the Fame of the Miracles which he did once among the_ Jews, _yet_ (what implies the Insufficiency of them for the Conversion of Men) _he intimates that his greater and mystical Works do prove his Authority_. St. _John_ of _Jerusalem_ says[11] that _Jesus's Cures performed upon the Blind_, &c. _were indeed considerable and great, but unless he do daily as mighty Works in his Church, we ought to forbear our Admiration of him._ St. _Augustin_ not only says[12] that _if we examine into Jesus's Miracles by human Reason, we shall find he did nothing great, considering his Almighty Power, and considering his Goodness, what he did was but little_; but he tells us also, that[13] _such Works as Jesus did, might be imputed to, and effected by Magic Art_. And accordingly _Moses_ and our Saviour himself confess, that false Prophets, and false Christ's, will do Miracles; and _Anti-Christ_ himself, according to St. _Paul_, will do them to the Deception of Mankind. Nay, the Fathers[14] say, what I believe, that _Anti-Christ_ will imitate and equal _Jesus_ in all his Miracles which he wrought of old. How then can we distinguish the true Prophet from the false; the true _Christ_ from the _Anti-Christ_ by Miracles? our _Divines_ will find it hard to do it, if what the Fathers say of _Anti-christ_ be found true. Moreover History affords us Instances of Men, such as of _Apollonius Tyanaeus_, _Vespasian_, and of the _Irish Stroaker_, _Greatrex_, who have miraculously cured Diseases to the Admiration of Mankind, as well as our _Jesus_: But if any of them, or any other greater Worker of Miracles than they were, should withall a.s.sume to himself the t.i.tle of a Prophet, and Author of a new Religion, I humbly conceive, we ought not to give heed to him.

Neither is there the least Reason that we should; for the Power of doing Miracles is no certain, nor rational Seal of the Commission and Authority of a divine Lawgiver. St. _Paul_ says[15] there is a _Diversity of the Gifts of the Spirit, for to one is given by the Spirit, the Word of Wisdom; to another the Word of Knowledge; to another the Gift of Healing; to another the working of Miracles; to another Prophecy; to another discerning of Spirits; to another divers Kinds of Tongues; to another the Interpretation of Tongues._ These Gifts may be given apart and separately. One of them may be conferr'd on this Man, and another of them on his Neighbour. There is no Necessity that any two or more of these Gifts should meet in one Man.

To argue then, that a Man, who has one of these Gifts, must have the other; that is, that he must needs have the Gift of Wisdom, or of Prophecy, or of discerning of Spirits, or of divers Kinds of Tongues, because he has the Gift of Healing and of working Miracles, is very inconclusive, and false Reasoning: And yet this is the Reasoning of our modern Writers who would prove _Jesus_'s Authority, to found a Religion, from his Miracles. I don't question but _Jesus_ had all the foresaid Gifts and Powers of the Spirit in a most superlative Degree; but then it is unreasonably inferr'd, for all that, that a Man, because he of Certainty has some of them, must of consequence have the other. St. _Augustin_[16] cautions us against being deceived into a good Opinion of a Man's Wisdom, because of his Power to do Miracles.

And I think accordingly, that we may as well say, that the strongest Man is the wisest; or that a good Physician must needs be a good Casuist; or that the best Mathematician is the ablest Statesman, as that _Jesus_, because he was a Worker of Miracles, such as his are, and a Healer of all manner of Diseases, ought to be received as the Guide of our Consciencies, the Director of our Understandings, the Ruler of our Hearts, and the Author of a Religion.

What then will the Writers against the _Grounds_ do to prove _Jesus_'s Authority and _Messiahs.h.i.+p_ from his Miracles? Or how by his Miracles will they be able to distinguish him from an Impostor, a false Prophet, and the _Anti-christ_? Why, they will say perhaps,

1. That besides Greatness of Power, there was nothing but Goodness, Kindness, and Love to Mankind shewn in _Jesus_'s Miracles. As to the Miracles of false Prophets and Impostors, if they be, many of them, of a kind and benevolent Aspect, yet the _Devil_'s Foot, if we look well to it, will discover it self in some ludicrous and mischievous Pranks: But _Jesus_'s Miracles were all of a beneficent Nature; He went about doing good, healing all manner of Diseases among the People, and did no Wrong to any one; which is a good Argument, they say, of his divine Authority, or G.o.d would not have suffer'd, nor the _Devil_ have work'd such a Testimony in behalf of it. On this Head our _Divines_ are copious and rhetorical, and many notable and florid Harangues have they made on it. But

In answer to them, they don't seem to have their Memories at Hand, when they declaim at this rate. The Fathers, upon whose Authority I write, will tell such Orators, that _Jesus_, if his Miracles are to be understood in the literal Sense, did not only as foolish Things as any Impostor could do, but very injurious ones to Mankind. I shall not here instance in the seemingly foolish and injurious Things which _Jesus_ did for Miracles, intending under the next Head to speak to some of them: But they are such, if literally true, as our _Divines_ do believe, as are enough to turn our Stomachs against such a Prophet; and enough to make us take him for a _Conjuror_, a _Sorcerer_, and a _Wizard_, rather than the _Messiah_ and Prophet of the most High G.o.d. But

2. To prove the _Messiahs.h.i.+p_ of the Holy _Jesus_ from his Miracles, our _Divines_ urge the Prophecies of the Old Testament, such as that of _Isaiah_, _C._ x.x.xv. _V._ 5, 6. _Then the Eyes of the Blind shall be opened, and the Ears of the Deaf shall be 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 _Messiahs.h.i.+p_: 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.