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II. Such particulars are most of these which follow, and which are all attested by fome one or other of those heathen Authors, who lived in or near the age of our Saviour and his difciples. That Auguftus Cæfar had ordered the whole empire to be cenfed or taxed, which brought our Saviour's reputed parents to Bethlehem: This is mentioned by feveral Roman hiftorians, as Tacitus, Suetonius, and Dion. That a great light, or a new star appeared in the eaft, which directed the wife men to our Saviour: This is recorded by Chalcidius. That Herod, the King of Paleftine, fo often mentioned in the Roman history, made a great flaughter of innocent children, being fo jealous of his fucceffor, that he put to death his own fons on that account: This character of him is given by feveral hiftorians, and this cruel fact mentioned by Macrobius, a heathen. Author, who tells it as a known thing, without any mark or doubt upon it. That our Saviour had been in Egypt: This Celfus, though he raises a monftrous ftory upon it, is fo far from denying, that he tells us our Saviour learned the arts of magic in that country. That Pontius Pilate was Governor of Judæa, that our Sa

viour was brought in judgment before him, and by him condemned and crucified: This is recorded by Tacitus. That many miraculous cures and works out of the ordinary courfe of nature were wrought by him: This is confeffed by Julian the Apoftate, Porphyry, and Hierocles, all of them not only Pagans, but profeffed enemies and perfecutors of Chriftianity. That our Saviour foretold feveral things which came to pass according to his predictions: This was attefted by Phlegon in his annals, as we are affured by the learned Origen against Celfus. That at the time when our Saviour died, there was a miraculous darkness and a great earthquake: This is recorded by the fame Phlegon the Trallian, who was likewife a Pagan and Freeman to Adrian the Emperor. We may here obferve, that a native of Trallium, which was not fituate at fo great a distance from Palestine,might very probably be informed of fuch remarkable events as had paffed among the Jews in the age immediately preceding his own times, fince feveral of his countrymen with whom he had converfed, might have received a confused report of our Saviour before his crucifixion, and probably lived within the Shake of the earthquake,

and

and the Shadow of the eclipfe, which are recorded by this Author. That Chrift was worshipped as a God ainong the Chriftians; that they would rather fuffer death than blafpheme him; that they received a facrament, and by it entered into a vow of abftaining from fin and wickedness, conformable to the advice given by St. Paul; that they had private assemblies of worship, and ufed to join together in Hymns: This is the account which Pliny the younger gives of Christianity in his days, about feventy years after the death of Chrift, and which agrees in all its circumftances with the accounts we have in holy writ, of the firft ftate of Chriftianity after the crucifixion of our Bleffed Saviour. That St. Peter, whofe miracles are many of them re-. corded in holy writ, did many wonderful. works, is owned by Julian the apoftate, who therefore reprefents him as a great Magician, and one who had in his poffeffion a book of magical fecrets left him by our Saviour. That the devils or evil Spirits were fubject to them, we may learn. from Porphyry, who objects to Chriftianity, that fince Jefus had begun to be worshipped, Efculapius and the rest of the gods did no more converfe with men.

Nay,

Nay, Celfus himself affirms the fame thing in effect, when he fays, that the power which feemed to refide in Chriftians, proceeded from the use of certain names, and the invocation of certain dæmons. Origen reinarks on this paffage, that the Author doubtlefs hints at thofe Chriftians who put to flight evil fpirits, and healed those who were poffeffed with them; a fact which had been often seen, and which he himself had seen, as he declares in another part of his discourse against Celfus. But at the fame time he affures us, that this miraculous power was exerted by the use of no other name but that of Jefus, to which were added feveral paffages in his hiftory, but nothing like any invocation to Dæmons..

III. Celfus was fo hard fet with the report of our Saviour's miracles, and the confident atteftations concerning him, that though he often intimates he did not believe them to be true, yet knowing he might be filenced in fuch an Anfwer, provides himself with another retreat, when beaten out of this; namely, that our Saviour was a magician. Thus he compares the feeding of fo many thoufands at two different times with a few

loaves and fishes, to the magical feafts of those Egyptian impoftors, who would prefent their fpectators with vifionary entertainments that had in them neither fubftance nor reality: which, by the way, is to fuppofe, that a hungry and fainting multitude were filled by an apparition, or ftrengthned and refreshed with fhadows. He knew very well that there were fo many witneffes and actors, if I may call them fuch, in these two miracles, that it was impoffible to refute fuch multitudes, who had doubtlefs fuf-ficiently fpread the fame of them, and was therefore in this place forced to refort to the other folution, that it wasdone by magic. It was not enough to fay that a miracle which appeared to fo many thousand eye-witneffes was a forgery of Chrift's difciples, and therefore fuppo-fing them to be eye-witneffes, he endeavours to fhew how they might be deceived.

IV. The unconverted heathens, who were preffed by the many authorities that confirmed our Saviour's miracles, as well as the unbelieving Jews, who had actually feen them, were driven to account for them after the fame manner: For, to

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