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hip of one God? Where, by the Way, this is only a fimple Miftake of the Author, to fay Arathe for the AStarte, or Aftaroth, of the Sidonians. Here is again Abraham miftaken for the Father, who was the Grand-Father of Ifrael. Here are Ifrael's ten Sons fet down for his Twelve; his little Estate mistaken for an Empire, and the twelve Tribes for ten Kingdoms. Here is Jofeph taken for Jacob's youngest Son, who was his eldeft by another. Venter; and Mofes paffes for Jofeph's Son, who lived three or four hundred Years after him. Here is the Name of Jews faid to be impofed by Jacob, which was not known till the Time of the Captivity, a thousand Years afterwards. Here are the Plagues which Mofes inflicted upon Egypt, altered for the Scabbinefs of the Jews, as if thofe heavy Judgments came only by Infection; and the fpoiling of the Egyptians of their Bracelets, Ear-rings, &c. turned into the running away with their Sacra. Here is the Hiftory of the Manna and Quails confounded with the Inftitution of the Sabbath; and their Injunction of not communicating with the Nations, attributed to the foolish Fable about their Itch, or Leprofie. And befides, here is again Aaron, Mofes's Brother, mistaken into his Son, and turned from a Jewish into an Egyptian Priest: Here is the fame Aaron made King of the Jews, who was never otherways than Prieft; and that faid to be the Original of the Cuftom of the Jews having their Kings their Priefts, when never any fuch Custom obtained among them; but only the Author has blundred the Hiftory of the Maccabees Government into this Fable. So that, Phi lologus, I would have your Gentlemen for Shame leave of, to abuse the Jewish Nation with falfe Stories out of Heathen Hiftorians, that knew fo very little of their Country, and are guilty of fo many Mistakes about it, For in this fhort Account of Justin, you see there are almost as many Miftakes as Words; whether they are wilful and malicious, or no, I fhall not determine; but I am fure the Account we find in Scripture, to all reasonable Men, must be ten Times lefs liable to Exception.

Phil. Thefe

Phil. These are but fmall Things, Credentius, for us to make many Words about; but I am afraid, your Infpiration-Men are guilty of a very great fundamental Error, in taking that for fome fupernatural Revelation of God, which is only natural Reafon. For I cannot be brought to think, that the Prophets or other Writers of the Bible, which are faid to be infpired, had the Mind of God revealed to them, any other Way, than by the common natural Way of Reasoning and Knowledge. For natural Knowledge is but the Revelation of God, wherein God reveals to our Minds the Natures of Things, which · were unknown to us before; fo that God may be as well faid to fpeak to us by our Reafon, as by the Scriptures; and natural Knowledge may be allowed to be divine, as proceeding from God, as well as they. And I doubt not, but that it was the Hebrew Way of using the Word God, that has betrayed both Jews and Chriftians into the Fancy of Infpiration and Revelation, in the modern Sense; when formerly nothing but pure natural Knowledge was meant by it. For the Hebrews had always a very religious and devout Way of Talking, and attributed almost all natural Actions to God. If they had gotten Money by their Industry, they would fay it was given them by God: If they had a good Thought, they would fay, God put it into their Hearts, and the like. So a great many other Things were faid to be divine, or to come from God, which were only natural, not wonderful, or extraordinary. Thus the Mountains of God is only another Name for great Mountains; the Sleep of God for a deep Sleep; and the Sons of God, Gen. vi. are but great Sons or Giants. Now it would be a mad Way of Interpretation, to fay all thefe Things were infpired, because they have God's Name added to them. Therefore why fhould we fuppofe, that those Men, who are called Prophets in Scripture, had any divine and fupernatural Revelation, only because they are called the Men of God, or are faid to have the Spirit of God? For this is only an ufual Hyperbole to denote that they were extraordinary Men, Men of found Reafoning and notable.

Parts,

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Parts, and exquifitely gifted to move and perfuade the People. And this is no more than what the Greeks and Latins mean by Divine or Godlike (i. e.) extraordinary: Only because the Hebrews made ufe of Genitives instead of Adjectives, they called him the Man of God, whom the Heathens would have called a divine or extraordinary Man. So when the Prophets are faid to have the Spirit of God, what need I pray of coining an Infpiration or Revelation of divine Truth, to explain this by? For the Spirit of God has fo many Senfes, and those fo very diverfe in Scripture, that I think it is not fair to clap that particular Senfe only upon it, which it may but bare poffi bly fignify. Sometimes it fignifies only the Wind, as Ifa. xl. 7. The Ruach, or Spirit of the Lord blew upon him; that is, a very dry and fatal Wind. Sometimes it fignifies the Soul, as Job xlvii. 3. The Ruach, the Spirit, er Breath of God, is in my Noftrils. Sometimes it fignifies Life, as Ezech. xxxvii. 14. I will give my Spirit to you, and you fhall live: That is, I will recover you, and give you Life or Spirit again. Other Times it fignifies Mercy, as Mich. ii. 7. Is the Ruach, the Spirit, (i. e.) the Mercy of God freightned? And the Word Spirit it felf fingly is noted to fignify a Temper of Mind, as, Caleb was of another Spirit, (i. e.) a better Temper than the murmuring Jews, Numb. xiv. 24. And in other Places of Scripture the Spirit of Jealoufy, the Spirit of Meeknefs, the Spirit of Holinefs, &c. all which fignify Tempers and Difpofitions of Mind.

From all which I conclude, that when in Scripture the Prophets are faid to have the Spirit of God; the Meaning is only, that they have great Minds, or Spirits, or extraordinary holy Difpofitions, above the reft of the People. Which Expreffion fignifies no more in Hebrew, than what the Greeks mean when they fay the fame of a brave Poet or Orator, that he has in his Writings or 7, fome Thing divine and admirable, and far above the Rate of common Authors. So that when by these Paffages of Scripture, it will appear, That the Prophets were good folid Writers, and excellent Preachers; why fhould

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go about to fpoil their Character, and make them only enthufiaftical Dreamers? And now, let my Infidelity be as great as you would make it, you fee I am a better Friend to your old Prophets, than you your felf.

Cred. You have given us here a great deal of learned Banter, and it is great Pity that Men should study Scripture fo much, to make fuch ill Ufe of it. But to give an Anfwer to this wild fort of Arguing, which I can hardly perfuade my felf you urge in earneft;

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1. You affert, That natural Knowledge is the Revela- Natural tion of God, and that the Scriptures have not any more Knowledge Reafon to be called fo than that: But this is a great lation. Mistake; for natural Knowledge can't be faid properly to be the Revelation, but only the Gift of God. Indeed whatever we know, we fhould never come to the Knowledge of, unless it had pleafed God's Goodness to endow us with thefe intelligent Faculties; but then no Body fays, that God reveals thefe natural Truths to us, but only he gives us the Faculties of difcerning them. Nay, let us be as Platonical as we please, and affert that all the Notions of the Soul, are but fo many Intuitions of the Deity, and our viewing fome of that Infinity of Truths, which he is pleased to exhibit to us, by communicating himself to us: I fay, altho' we explain natural Knowledge this Way, yet this is far from being the fame, which we generally understand by divine Revelation. For this firft is a general Way of God's communicating himfelf indifferently to all Men; for all Men do indifferently partake of a confiderable Measure of natural Knowledge. But this latter Way of God's revealing himself, which in particular we call Divine Revelation, is a Favour which God has vouchfafed but to a very few of all Mankind, that they might communicate, what was fo revealed to them,, to the reft. By the firft, Men only have a Power of perceiving the Ideas and Impreffions of outward Objects, of compounding and dividing Thoughts, of affirming and denying concerning them, of fitting Premiffes, and deducing Confequences; which every one's own Experience tells him he has by Nature. But the latter is a

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fupernatural Impulfe of the divine Power, which inftills into Men's Minds Thoughts not attainable by human Reafon, or elfe gives them an Authority, as coming from God, which they had not before. And therefore it is an idle Fallacy, to call thofe natural Deductions of Reafon, and common Ideas of Things, by the Name of Revelation; from which they do as widely differ, as Light and Darkness. This is only a ludicrous Artifice which your Sort of Men have got, of making Ufe of religious Terms, when you believe nothing of the Thing, and expofing Religion, by leaving nothing in it but a few empty Names. And befides, they have another End to ferve by it, which is this, That then their Infidelity does not appear fo bare-fac'd when they make Ufe of the old Terms in an Infidel Senfe; for otherways fuch Writers as Hobbs, Spinofa, and the Author of the five Letters, would appear fo horrid to all Ears that had the leaft Spark of Chriftianity left, that Men would be fcar'd from them at the first Reading; and fo all Hopes of making Profelytes for the Devil would be over. But by this bantering and mincing the Matter, Readers are cajoled into Infidelity unawares, and the Authors efcape the Punishment likewife, which would otherwife attend an open and bare-fac'd Blafphemy.

Prophets 2. And it is much fuch another Kind of Argumentanot only tion, when you would have the Prophets, which are extraordi- fometimes in Scripture called the Men of God, to be only Men of good Parts, and very confiderable Men; because forfooth great Things in Scripture are fometimes called by the Name of God. For what tho' the Mountain of God be a great Mountain, and Nimrod a Hunter of God, be a mighty Hunter, may not therefore Mofes, and Ifaiah, and Jeremy, be infpired Prophets? I pray, where lies the Confequence of this? Indeed if they were only in general faid to be Men of God, and had no other Title, or no other Demonftration of their prophetick Spirit, there would be then fomething tolerable in this Argument. But the Name of Man of God, is an Expreffion which is but rarely, but once or twice in Scripture, made Ufe of to fignify

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