known to those who ought to know what they have been kept in
ignorance of.

Many of my readers have, no doubt, frequently puzzled themselves
over these words of Paul's, Eph. v. 30:--"For we are members of
his (Christ's) body, of his flesh, and of his bones. Because of this,
a man shall leave his father, and mother, and shall cleave to his
wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This mystery is great,
but I speak concerning Christ and the Church." This passage
exemplifies the connexion between Christ and the Church, by that
which subsists between a man and his wife; and this Paul calls "a
great mystery;" and it no doubt must be a very mysterious passage
to all those who are unacquainted with the cabbalistic notion to
which it alludes, and refers. To illustrate the passage, and to prove
that Paul raised his Cabbalism with his religion, I shall set down
here the note of Dr. Whitby, the Christian Commentator, upon the
text of Paul.

"The learned Dr. Allix saith, The first match between Adam and
Eve, was a type of that between Christ and his Church; and in this,
saith he, the Apostle follows the Jewish notions. The Jews say, the
mystery of Adam, is the mystery of the Messiah, who is the
Bridegroom of the Church. These two persons, therefore, confirm
the observation of Munster, that the creation of the woman from
the rib of the man, was made by the Jews to signify the marriage of
the celestial man who is blessed, or of the Messiah, with the
Church; whence the Apostle applies the very words which Adam
said concerning Eve his spouse, to the Church, who is the spouse
of Christ; saying, "for we are members of his body, of his flesh,
and of his bones." For the explanation of these words, take what
follows:--"The profoundest of the Jewish Divines, whom they
now call Cabbalists, having such a notion as this among them, that
sensible things are but an imitation of things above, conceived
from thence, that there was an original pattern of love and union,
which is between a man and his wife in this world. This being
expressed by the kindness of Tipheret and Malchut, which are the
names they give to the invisible Bridegroom and Bride in the upper
world. And this Tiphiret, or the celestial Adam, is so called in
opposition to the terrestrial Adam; as Malchut also (i. e., the
kingdom) they call by the name of Chinnereth Israel the
Congregation of Israel, who is, they say, united to the celestial
Adam as Eve was to the terrestrial." So that in sum, they seem to
say the same that Paul doth, when he tells us, that "marriage is a
great mystery, but he speaks concerning Christ and his Church."
For the marriage of Tipheret and Malchuth, is the marriage of
Christ, "the Lord from Heaven," ("the first man was of the Earth
earthly, the second man is the Lord from Heaven," says Paul I Cor.
xv.,) with his spouse the Church, which is the conjunction of Adam
and Eve, and of all other men and women descended from them.
Origen also seems to have had some notion of the relation of this
passage to Adam and Eve, when he speaks thus:--"If any man
deride us for using the example of Adam and Eve in these words,
'and Adam knew his wife,' when we treat of the knowledge of
God, let him consider these words--'This is a great mystery.'"
Tertullian frequently alludes to the same thing, saying--"This is a
great sacrament, carnally in Adam, spiritually in Christ, because of
the spiritual marriage between Christ and the Church."

Thus far Dr. Whitby, and the intelligent reader, who is acquainted
with the dogmas and philosophy of Indostan, will not fail to see
through this cloud, of words the origin of this analogy of Paul. The
fact is, that in India and in Egypt, the Divine creative power which
produced all things and energizes in everything, was symbolized
by the Phallus; and to this day, in Hindostan, the operation of
Diety upon matter is symbolized by images of the same; and in the
darkest recesses of their Temples, which none but the initiated
were permitted to enter: the Phallus of stone is the solitary idol,
before which the illuminated bowed. This symbol, though
shameful and abominable, is yet looked upon in India with the
profoundest veneration, and is not with them the occasion of
shame or reproach. It is, however, a blasphemous abomination; and
the marriage between Christ and the Church ought not to have
been thus illustrated by Paul, who reproached the heathen
mysteries as "works of darkness," which mysteries, in fact,
consisted principally in exhibiting these symbols, and similar
abominations.

But, it may be asked, what is the meaning of the other clause of the
verse--what could Paul mean by the strong language, "We are
members of his body? of his flesh, and of his bones?" Why, my
reader, he meant, that Christians were really part of the body of
Christ and if you desire to know How he imagined this union to be
effected, I request you to see the 10th ch. of the 1st Epistle to the
Corinthians, where at the 16th verse he thus writes to them:--"The
cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation of the blood
of Christ? The loaf (according to the Greek original) which we
break, is it not a participation of the body of Christ? for, Because
the loaf is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake
of that one loaf." Again, ch. xi. 19, "For he that eateth, and
drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not
distinguishing (or discovering) the Lord's body;" and in ch. xii.
27, he says to them, "Ye are the body of Christ, and his members
severally." (See the original of these passages in Griesbach's
Greek Testament.) Thus you see, reader, that Paul considered
Christians "as members of his (Christ's) body, of his flesh, and of
his bones," because they partook of one loaf, which was the body
of Christ. The Papists are in the right, and have been much
slandered by the Protestants, for the doctrine of Transubstantiation,
or at least the Real Presence, is as plainly taught in the New
Testament, as the doctrine of the Atonement. You have seen what
Paul believed upon this subject, and I shall corroborate the sense I
put upon his words, by the words of Jesus, his master, and by
quotations from the earliest Fathers.

Jesus says, John vi.--"I am the living bread which came down
from Heaven; if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever,
and the bread which I will give is my flesh, which I will give for
the life of the world." The Jews, therefore, contended among
themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
Jesus, therefore, said unto them, "Verily, verily, I say unto you,
unless ye eat the flesh of the son of man, and drink his blood, ye
have not life in you. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my
blood, hath everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
For my flesh is verily food, and my blood is verily drink. He that
eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in
him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father,
(here is an oath) so he likewise that eateth me shall live by me."

This strange doctrine was the faith of the Primitive Christians, as is
well known to the learned Protestants, though they do not like to
say so to their "weaker brethren."

Ignatius says, "There is one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
one cup in the unity of his blood;" and of certain heretics he says,
"they confess not the Eucharist to be the flesh of our Saviour Jesus
Christ."

Justin Martyr, in his Apology, asserts that the consecrated bread
"is, some how or other, the flesh of Christ."

In the dispute with Latimer about Transubstantiation, it is
acknowledged by the most candid writers, that the Roman
Catholics had much the advantage. It must have been so, where
quotations from the Fathers were allowed as arguments. For what
answer can be made to the following extracts?--" What a miracle
is this! He who sits above with the Father, at the same instant, is
handled by the hands of men." [Chrysostom.] Again, from the
same, "That which is in the cup, is the same which flowed from
the side of Christ." Again, "Because we abhor the eating of raw
flesh; therefore, it appeareth bread, though it be flesh."
[Theophylact.] Or to this?--"Christ was carried in his own hands,
when he said 'this is my body.'" [Austin,] Or to this?--"We are
taught, that when this nourishing food is consecrated, it becomes
the body and blood of our Saviour." [Justin Martyr.] Or, lastly, to
this? [from Ambrose]--" It is bread before consecration, but after
that ceremony, it becomes the flesh of Christ."

Another doctrine which Paul derived from the Oriental Philosophy,
and Which makes a great figure in his writings, is the notion, that
moral corruption originates in the influxes of the body upon the
mind.

"It was one of the principal tenets of the Oriental Philosophy, that
all evil resulted from matter, and its first founder appears to have
argued in the following manner:--"There are many evils in the
world, and men seem impelled of a natural instinct to the practice
of those things which reason condemns. But that eternal mind,
from which all spirits derive their existence, must be inaccessible
to all kinds of evil, and also of a most perfect and beneficent
nature; therefore, the origin of these evils with which the world
abounds, must be sought somewhere else, than in the Deity. It
cannot abide in him who is all perfection, and, therefore, it must be
without him. Now, there is nothing without or beyond the Deity but
matter; therefore, matter is the centre and source of all evil, of all
vice."

One of the consequences they drew from this hypothesis was, that
since All evil resulted from matter, the depravity of mankind arose
from the pollution derived to the human soul, from its connexion
with the material body which it inhabits; and, therefore, the only
means by which the mind could purify itself from the defilement,
and liberate itself from the bondage imposed upon it by the body,
was to emaciate and humble the body by frequent fasting, and to
invigorate the mind to overcome and subdue it by retirement and
contemplation.

The New Testament, though it does not recognise this principle of
the Oriental Philosophy, "that evil originates from matter," yet
coincides with it in strenuously asserting that the corruption of the
human mind is derived from its connexion with the human body.

To prove this proposition, I shall show that Paul calls all crimes the
works of the flesh." "Now, the works of the flesh are manifest,
(says he, Gal. v. 19,) which are these: adultery, fornication,
uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions,
rivalries, wrath, disputes, divisions, heresies, envyings, murders,
drunkenness, revellings, and such like." He also describes the
conflict between the flesh and the spirit, or mind, in these terms:--
"For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good, for
to will is present with me, but to perform that which is good, I find
not, but the evil which I would not, that I do. For I delight in the
law of God according to the inner man, but I see another law in my
members warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me
into captivity to the law of my sin in my members. O wretched
man that I am! who will deliver me from the body of this death?"
(or this body of death.) And he goes on to observe, "That I, the
same man, with my mind serve the law of God, but with my flesh
the law of sin."--Rom. vii. "For the flesh desireth against (or in
opposition to) the spirit, and the spirit against "the flesh, and these
are contrary the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things
that ye would."

"Those that are Christ's (says Paul, Gal. v. 24) have crucified the
flesh, with its passions and desires." And they are commanded
(Rom. vi. 12 and viii. 13) "to mortify," or, according to the
original, "put to death or "kill their members;" and Paul himself
uses language upon this subject exceeding strong. He represents (1
Cor. ix. 27) his mind and body as engaged in combat, and says, "I
buffet my body, and subject it." The word here translated "
subject," in the original, means "to carry into servitude," and is a
term taken from the language of the olympic games where the
boxers dragged off the arena, their conquered, disabled, and
helpless antagonists like slaves, in which humbled condition the
Apostle represents his body to be with respect to his mind.

From this notion of the sinfulness of "the flesh," we are enabled to
apprehend Paul's reasonings about the sufferings of Jesus "in the
flesh." "Since the children are partakers of flesh and blood, Christ
himself also in like manner partook of them"--Heb. ii. 14. "For
(says Paul) what the law could not do in that it was weak through
the flesh, God hath done, who by having sent his own son in the
likeness of sinful flesh, and on account of sin, hath condemned sin
in the flesh."--Rom. viii. 3. "But now, through Christ Jesus, ye
who formerly were far off, are brought near by the blood of Christ.
For he is our Peace who hath made both one, and hath broken
down the middle wall of partition between us, having abolished by
his flesh the cause of enmity."--Ephes. ii. 16. "You that were
formerly aliens, and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet he
hath now reconciled by his fleshly body, through his death."--Col.
i. 20.

Though these notions are sufficiently strange, yet they are not so
very remarkable as the one I am about to consider. It is a singular,
and a demonstrable fact, that the fundamental scheme of
Christianity was derived from the religion of the ancient Persians,
The whole of the New Testament scheme is built upon the
hypothesis, that there is a powerful and malignant being, called the
Devil and Satan, the chief of unknown myriads of other evil spirits;
that he is, by the sufferance of God, the Prince of this world, and is
the Author of sin, woe and death; the Tempter, the Tormentor of
men, and the Tyrant of the Earth; that the Son of God, to deliver
mankind from the vassalage of this monster, descended from
heaven, and purchased their ransom of the Tyrant, at the price of
his blood; for observe, my reader, that the idea of the death of
Jesus being an atonement to God for the sins of men, is a modern
notion; for the Primitive Christians, all of them, considered the
death of Jesus as a ransom paid to the Devil, as may be proved
from Origen and other Fathers. That the New Testament represents
this character as the sovereign of this world, may be proved by the
following passages:--"All this power will I give thee, and the
glory of them, (said the Tempter to Jesus, when he showed him all
the kingdoms of the earth,) for it is delivered unto me, and to
whomsoever I will, I give it." Luke iv., Jesus calls him "the Prince
of this world;" John xii., and elsewhere. In his commission to Paul,
he calls embracing his religion, "turning from darkness unto light,
and from the power of Satan to God."--. Acts xxvi. 18.
Accordingly we find, that to become a Christian was considered as
being freed from the tyranny of Satan. "God hath given life to
you, (says Paul) who were dead in offences, and sins; in which ye
formerly walked, according to the course (or constitution) of this
world, according to the Prince of the Power of the air."--
Ephesians ii., 1. And again:--"If our gospel be covered, (or hid)
it is covered among those that are lost, among those unbelievers,
whose minds the God of this world hath blinded, to the end that the
glorious gospel of Christ should not enlighten them."--2 Cor. iv.
4. John says in his Epistle, that "the whole world lieth in the
power of the wicked one;" and Jesus in the gospels compares him
to "a strong man armed, keeping his goods;" and himself to one
stronger than he, who strippeth him of the arms in which he
trusted, and spoileth his goods. "For this purpose was the Son of
God manifested, that he might destroy the works of the Devil."--1
John iii. 8. And it is said, "that he came to send forth the captive
into liberty, and to heal those who were oppressed of the Devil."
Men are also said to have been "taken captive of the Devil, to
fulfil his will."--2 Timothy ii. 26. And we find that the Christians
attributed all their sufferings to the opposition of this Being. "Put
on (says Paul) the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to
stand against the wiles of the Devil. For we struggle not against
flesh and blood only; but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against wicked
spirits in high places."--Ephesians vi. 12. Christians are also said
to be delivered by God from the power of darkness, and to be
translated into the kingdom of his dear son. That is, as Christians
were considered as being the subjects of Jesus, and the rest of the
world as being of the kingdom of Satan, when a man became a
Christian he was translated from the kingdom of one, to the
kingdom of the other. Jesus accused the Devil as being the author
of all evil, as a liar, and the father of lies, and a murderer of men,
and of women, too, as appears in the Gospel, from the account of
that one, whose back the Devil had bowed down for eighteen
years--Luke xiii. 10--(on what account it does not appear.) In
short, the New Testament represents to him as being the source of
all evil and mischief, and the promoter of it; and the whole world
as being his subjects, and combined with him against all good.

But how does all this prove that these notions were derived from
the religion of the ancient Persians? I answer by requesting you,
my reader, to peruse, attentively, the following account of the
fundamental principles of the religion of Zoroaster, the prophet of
the Persians.

The doctrine of Zoroaster was, that there was one Supreme Being,
independent, and self-existing from all eternity; that inferior to
him, there were two Angels, one the Angel of Light, who is the
Author and Director of all Good; and the other, the Angel of
Darkness, who is the Author and Director of all Evil; that these
two are in a perpetual struggle with each other; and that where the
Angel of Light prevails, there the most is good; awl where the
Angel of Darkness prevails, there the most is evil. That this
struggle shall continue to the end of the world; that then there shall
be a general resurrection, and a day of judgment, wherein just
retribution shall be rendered to all according to their works; after
which, the Angel of Darkness, and his followers, shall go into a
world of their own, where they shall suffer in darkness, the
punishment of their evil deeds. And the Angel of Light, and his
followers, shall also go into a world of their own, where they shall
receive, in everlasting light, the reward due to their good deeds.

It is impossible but that the reader must see the agreement of the
doctrines of the New Testament with all this; and since it is
undoubted, that these tenets of Zoroaster are far more ancient than
the New Testament, and since, as we have seen, that that book is
much indebted to oriental notions for many of its dogmas, there is
no way of accounting for this coincidence (that I know of), besides
supposing the Devil of the New Testament to be of Persian origin.
It is, however, in my power to make this coincidence still more
striking from the words of Jesus himself, who says, (Matthew xiii.
24), "The kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed
in his field, but while men slept, his enemy (mark the expression)
his enemy came, and sowed tares among the wheat; but when the
blade sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares
also. So the servants of the householder came near, and said unto
him, ' Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? whence,
then, hath it tares?' And he saith unto them, an enemy hath done
this." You know the rest of the parable. The explanation of it is as
follows:--"He who soweth the good seed is the Son of Man, and
the field is the world; and the good seed are the sons of the
kingdom, and the tares are the sons of the Evil One, and the enemy
who sowed them is the Devil." Here you see, as far as it goes, a
precise agreement with the doctrine of Zoroaster; and to complete
the resemblance, you need but to recollect, that at the day of
Judgment, according to the words of Jesus, the wicked go into the
fire prepared for the Devil and his angels; and the righteous go into
life eternal with the Son of God.

But is there not a Satan mentioned in the Old Testament, and is he
not there represented as an evil and malevolent angel? I think not.
This notion probably arises from the habit of interpreting the Old
Testament by the New. The Satan mentioned in the Old Testament,
is represented as God's minister of punishment, and as much his
faithful servant as any of his angels. The prologue to the book of
Job certainly supposes that this angel of punishment, by office,
appeared in the court of Heaven, nay, he is ranked among "the
Sons of God." This Satan is merely the supposed chief of those
ministers of God's will, whose office is to execute his ordered
commands upon the guilty, and who may be sometimes, as in the
case of Job, the minister of probation only, rather than of
punishment; and there is no reason why he should be ashamed of
his office more than the General of an army, or the Judges of the
criminal courts, who, though they are not unfrequently ministers of
punishment are not, therefore, excluded the royal presence; but on
the contrary, their office is considered as honourable;--i. e.,
punishment without malevolence, does not pollute the inflictor.
Consider the story of the destruction of Sodom, Genesis xix.; of
Egypt; Exodus xxii.; of Sennacherib, 1 Kings xxix. 35; also Joshua
v. 13. The term Satan signifies an adversary, and is applied to any
angel sent upon an errand of punishment For example, Numbers
xxii. 23, "The Angel of the Lord stood in the way, for an adversary
(literally, for a Satan) against Balaam, with his sword drawn in his
hand." "Curse ye Meroz, saith the Angel of the Lord," whose
office is to punish. So also Psalms xxxv. 5, "Let the Angel (of
punishment) of the Lord chase them, (i. e., drive them before him
in a military manner; pursue them:) let their way be dark and
slippery, and the Angel of the Lord following them."

2 Samuel xxiv. 16:--"The Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel--the
angel (of punishment) stretched forth his hand and smote the
people."--1 Chronicles xxi. 16:--"David saw the angel (of
punishment) having a drawn sword in his hand."

This notion is referred to, in the Apocryphal History of Susannah,
verse 69. "The Angel of the Lord waiteth with his sword that he
may cut thee in two."

Thus we see, that the term Satan is in the Old Testament applied to
any Angel of the Lord sent upon an errand of punishment. And the
term itself is so far from being reproachful (for David is said, 1
Samuel xxix. 4, to have been "a Satan to the Philistines,") that I
am not sure, that if I had by me a Hebrew concordance, but I could
point out places, where God himself is represented as saying, that
he would be an adversary or a Satan to bad men and wicked
nations. And though there is in the Old Testament a particular
angel styled, by way of eminence, "The Satan," it is so far from
being evident that he is an evil being, that I would undertake to
give good reasons to prove that this distinguished angel is the real
prototype, from whence the impostor Mahomet took the idea of his
"Azrael," the "Angel of Death;" who, in the Koran, is certainly
represented as being as much the faithful servant of God, as any of
the Angelic Hosts.

In fine, the doctrine of the Old Testament upon this matter may be
thus expressed:--"These be spirits created for vengeance, which
in their fury lay on sore strokes; in the time of destruction, they
pour out their force, sad appease the wrath of him that made them.
They shall rejoice in his (God's) commandment, and they shall be
ready upon earth, when need is: and when their time is come, they
shall not transgress his word." Ecclesiasticus xxxix. 28.



CHAPTER XIV.

A CONSIDERATION OF THE "GIFT OF TONGUES," AND
OTHER MIRACULOUS GIFTS ASCRIBED O THE PRIMITIVE
CHRISTIANS; AND WHETHER RECORDED MIRACLES ARE
INFALLIBLE PROOFS OF THE DIVINE AUTHORITY OF
DOCTRINES SAID TO HAVE BEEN CONFIRMED BY THEM.

Paul, in his 1st Epistle to the Corinthians, speaks to them as
possessing several spiritual gifts, conferred on them by his
ministration; such as the gift of prophecy, discerning of spirits, and
speaking in unknown tongues. He gives them directions about the
proper use of their gifts, and speaks to them as absolutely
possessing those gifts, with the utmost confidence. Dr. Paley, in his
Defence of Christianity, lays great stress upon the manner in which
Paul addresses the Corinthians upon these miraculous powers; and
he considers it as an absolute proof of the truth of Christianity--
because, he says, it is not conceivable that Paul could have had the
boldness and presumption to speak to these men concerning the
use and abuse of these gifts, if they really had them not.

I am ready to confess, that this argument of Dr. Paley puzzled me;
for though I was satisfied that Paul had imposed upon their
credulity many irrelevant passages from the Scriptures as proofs of
Christianity, yet I could not imagine that he could presume so
much upon their stupidity, as to give them directions about the
management of their miraculous powers, which being matters of
fact known to themselves, therefore, if false, I conceived must
place Paul in their minds in the light of a banterer, when he told
them of gifts, which their own consciousness, I thought, must
make them sensible they had not. I say I was puzzled with this
argument, until I happened to meet with some extracts from
Brown's "History of the Shakers," which convinced me at once,
from the obvious likeness between these Shakers and the primitive
Christians, that Paul might have written to the Corinthians "
concerning their spiritual gifts," with perfect impunity.

This Brown had been a Shaker himself, and while with them, he
was as great a believer in his own and their gifts, as the Corinthians
could be; and since it must be obvious, that the gifts of these
Shakers are mere self-delusions, there is, then, in our own times an
example of the gifts of the primitive Christians, which enables us
to comprehend their nature and character perfectly well.

"Many of them," (the Shakers) says Mr. Brown, "professed to have
visions, and to see numbers of spirits, as plain as they saw their
brethren and sisters, and to look into the invisible world, and to
converse with many of the departed spirits, who had lived in the
different ages of the world, and to learn and to see their different
states in the world of spirits. Some they saw, they said, were
happy, and others miserable. Several declared, that they often were
in dark nights surrounded with a light, sometimes in their rooms,
but more often when walking the road, so strong, that they could
see to pick up a pin, which light would continue a considerable
time, and enlighten them on their way. Many had gifts to speak
languages, and many miracles were said to be wrought, and
strange signs and great wonders shown, by the believers.

And these poor creatures believed, and at this day do believe, all
this. They are not, you will observe, artful impostors, for the
Shakers are, certainly, a harmless and a moral people, and yet they
confidently asserted (and continue to assert), that they had these
miraculous powers of "discerning spirits, speaking with tongues,
and doing great signs and wonders" Nevertheless, it must be
evident, that these powers were conferred upon them only by their
enthusiasm and heated imaginations.

I have heard of the Shakers before, and have been informed, that
those in New England are so convinced of their miraculous
capabilities, that they have been known, in order to save their
neighbours the trouble of applying to the tinman, charitably to
offer to join the gaping seams of their worn-out tin coffee-pots, and
other vessels, "without the carnal aid of solder," merely by a
touch of their wonder-working fingers.

Mr. Brown, in describing their mode of conduct, in their religious
assemblies, unwittingly gives a striking exposition of the 1st
Epistle to the Corinthians. He describes "the brethren and sisters"
praying, singing, dancing, and preaching in known and unknown
tongues, and sticking out their arms, and extatically following their
noses round the church.

He says, respecting such as speak in unknown tongues, "they have
a strong faith in this gift, and think a person greatly favoured who
has the gift of tongues; and at certain times, when the mind is
overloaded with a fiery, strong zeal, it must have vent some way or
other; their faith, or belief, at the time being in this, gift, and a will
strikes the mind according to their faith, and then such break out in
a fiery, energetic manner, and speak they know not what, as I have
done several times. Part of what I spake at one time was--

"Liero devo jerankemango, ad sileambano, durem subramo,
deviranto diacerimango, jasse vah pe cri evanigalio; de vom grom
seb crinom, os vare cremo domo."

"When a person runs on in this manner for any length of time, I
now thought it probable that he would strike into different
languages, and give some words in each their right pronounciation,
as I have heard some men of learning, who were present, say a few
words, were Hebrew, three or four Greek, and a few Latin."

In another place he gives an account of his maiden speech in an
unknown tongue; and it is easy to conjecture how he came by his
gift, by attending to what passed before he broke out. Here it is:--
"We danced for near an hour, several turned round like tops, and,
to crown all, I had a gift to speak in some other language; but the
greatest misfortune was, that neither I, nor any other, understood
what I said."

My reader will not be surprized after this, at hearing them say, that
the spectators of "these signs and wonders," instead of being
properly affected, considered the performers as "out of their wits."

Let us, now, compare this account with what Paul says upon
similar subjects, in the 14th chapter of the 1st Epistle to the
Corinthians. He advises them, in exercising their gifts, to a discreet
use of them, as follows:--"He who speaketh in an unknown
tongue, speaketh not to men, but to God, for no man understandeth
him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries." Again: "For if
the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to
battle? So, likewise, unless ye utter by the tongue words to be
understood, how shall it be known what is spoken, for ye will
speak to the air?" And as others did not understand the
Corinthians speaking in unknown tongues, so it seems, too, that the
Corinthians themselves were in the same unfortunate predicament
with the Shakers, in not knowing the meaning of what they
themselves said on these occasions. This is clear from this
argument of Paul:--"Wherefore, let him that speaketh in an
unknown tongue, pray that he may interpret." Why, pray that he
may interpret, if he understood himself? Does a man who speaks
with understanding a foreign language, need to pray that he may be
enabled to interpret what he says in his mother tongue? Surely
every man who understands himself, can naturally do this? After
more to the same purpose, Paul wisely concludes his argument by
declaring, "that he would rather speak in the church five words
with understanding, (i. e., knowing what he said) that he might
instruct others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown
tongue." And he fortifies his reasoning by this sensible remark, "If,
therefore, the whole church come together into one place, and all
speak in unknown tongues, and those that are unlearned, or
unbelievers, come in, will they not say, that ye are mad?" as the
spectators said of the Shakers.

He advises them, therefore, to conduct their assemblies with less
uproar than formerly, and exhorts them as follows:--"How is it,
then, brethren, when you come together, hath each of you a psalm,
hath he a doctrine, hath he an unknown tongue, hath he a
revelation? Let all things be done to edifying. Now, if any man
speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at most by three,
and that in succession, and let one interpret; but if there be no
interpreter, let such keep silence in the church, and let him speak to
himself and to God. And let two or three prophets speak, and let
the others discern. But if any thing be revealed to another who
sitteth by, let the first keep silence. For ye may all prophecy, one
by one, that all may learn, and all may be exhorted."

I presume it will be needless to point out more particularly, the
perfect correspondence between "the spiritual gifts" of the
Corinthians, and those of the Shakers. And I would ask the
venerable Paley, if it were now possible, whether an apostolical
epistle of Ann Lee, William Lee, or Whitaker, (the spiritual
mother and. fathers of the Shakers,) addressed to them, and
seriously giving directions about the use of "their gifts of working
miracles, and speaking with tongues," would be sufficient to prove
that they really had those gifts? And, moreover, (to make the cases
more analogous) suppose that the Shakers from this time become
the dominant sect throughout the religious world, and kept the
upper hand during a series of a thousand or two thousand years,
taking especial care to collect and burn up every writing of their
enemies and opposers. How should we, (supposing ourselves all
the while invisible spectators of the thing), how should we pity our
posterity, who, at the end of that period, should be gravely told by
the learned and mitred advocates of Shakerism, that the miracles of
the founders, and first followers of their religion were certainly
true, for that they were honest and good men, with no motive to
deceive, and had addressed letters to their first converts, wherein
they make express mention of their possessing these gifts; and give
in the simplest and most unassuming manner, directions for using
them. Suppose, then, that our posterity, having been deprived by
the prudential care of the old fathers of the then established church,
of the means of detecting the fallacy which we possess; suppose
that they should believe all this, and devoutly praise God every day
for confirming the doctrines of his servants Lee and Whitaker, "
with signs following"--how should we pity their delusion, and.
what should we think of the unlucky authors of it.

From all this, I think my reader must be sensible how extremely
fallacious are all proofs of doctrines, pretended to be from God,
derived from Miracles said to have been wrought in proof of their
Divine authority.

Miracles are related to have been performed in support of all
religions without exception; even the followers of Mahomet,
though he did not claim the power of working miracles, have said
that he did. And they will tell you, that in proof of his mission, he,
in the presence of hundreds, divided the moon with his finger, and
put half of it in his pocket!*

Speaking of the gift of healing diseases, which the Primitive
Christians claimed. Dr. Middleton, in his Free Inquiry, observes--
"But be that as it will the pretence of curing diseases, by a
miraculous power, was so suc-cessfully maintained in the heathen
world by fraud, and craft, that when it came to be challenged by
the Christians, it was not capable of exciting any attention to it
among those who themselves pretended to the same power; which,
although the certain effect of imposture, was yet managed with so
much art, that the Christians could neither deny nor detect it; but
insisted always that it was performed by demons, or evil spirits,
deluding mankind to their ruin; and from the supposed reality of
the fact, they inferred the reasonableness of believing what was
more credibly affirmed by the Christians, to be performed by the
power of the true God. "We do not deny says Athenagoras, "that,
in different places, cities, and countries, there are some
extraordinary works performed in the name of idols, from which
some have received benefit, others harm." And then he goes on to
prove that they were not performed by God, but by demons.
Doctor Middleton then proceeds, (p. 77.) "whatever proof, then,
the primitive Church had among themselves, yet it could have but
little effect towards making proselytes among those who pretended
to the same gift; possessed more largely, and exerted more openly,
than in the private assemblies of the Christians. For in the Temple
of Esculapius, all kinds of diseases were believed to be publicly
cured by the pretended help of that deity: in proof of which, there
were erected in each temple columns, or tables of brass, and
marble, on which a distinct narrative of each particular cure was
inscribed." He also observes that--"Pausanias writes, ' that in the
temple at Epidauras there were many columns anciently of this
kind, and six of them remaining in his time inscribed with the
names of men and women cured by the god, with "an account of
their several cases, and the method of their cure; and that there was
an old pillar besides, which stood apart, dedicated to the memory
of Hippolytus, who had been raised from the dead!' Strabo, also,
another grave writer, informs us, that these temples were
constantly filled with the sick, imploring the help of the god: and
that they had tables hanging around them, in which all the
miraculous cures were described." Dr. Middleton then proceeds
thus--"There is a remarkable fragment of one of these tables still
extant, and exhibited by Gruter, in his collection, as it was found in
the ruins of Esculapius' Temple, in the island of the Tyber, at
Rome, which gives an account of two blind men restored to sight,
by Esculapius, in the open view, and with loud declamations of the
people, acknowledging the manifest power of the god!!" Upon
which he remarks, that "the learned Montfaucon makes this
reflection, ' that in this, are seen either the wiles of the Devil, or
the tricks of Pagan priests, suborning men to counterfeit diseases,
and miraculous cures.'" He then proceeds, (p.79)--"Now, though
nothing can support the belief, or credit of miracles more
authentically than public monuments erected in proof, and memory
of them at the time they were performed, yet, in defiance of that
authority, it is certain all these Heathen miracles were pure
forgeries, contrived to delude the multitude; and, in truth, this
particular claim of curing diseases miraculously, affords great
room for such a delusion, and a wide field for the exercise of
craft."

I need not observe, that by far the greater part of the miracles
recorded in the New Testament, are casting out devils, and healing
diseases, powers claimed by the heathens as well as these
Christians: and these miracles, (undoubtedly false) are as well, if
not far better authenticated than those of the New Testament: for
books may be forged, but public monuments of brass and marble
are not so capable of being so: and these are always con-sidered
as better evidence for facts than books. What then will the
Christian say to this? for since these miracles, recorded on brass
and marble, inscribed with the narratives of them almost
immediately after the occurrence of them, are unquestionably Lies;
what can he pretend to say of those recorded in books certainly
written many years after the events they record, and, as will be
proved hereafter, more than suspected to be apocryphal?
And what would become of truth? and who would be able to
distinguish truth from falsehood, in matters of religion, if attested
miracles, such as these, are sufficient to establish the divine
authority of doctrines said to be confirmed by them? Miracles are
as numerous, and better authenticated on the part of Jupiter,
Apollo, and Esculapius, than on the part of Christianity. They are
strong on the part of Popery against Protestantism: for the Roman
Catholic Churches in Europe are full of monumental records of
miracles wrought by the Virgin Mary and the Saints, in favour of
their worshippers. Nay, there never were miracles better proved, as
far as human testimony could prove them, than the famous miracle
mentioned by Gibbon in his History of the Roman Empire, where
he relates the story of the Arian Vandals cutting out the tongues of
a great number of orthodox Athanasians, who, strange to tell,
preached as much to the purpose, in favour of the Trinity, without
their tongues, as they did with them! Never was there a miracle
better authenticated by testimony than this. It is mentioned
by all the Christian writers of that age. It is mentioned
by two contemporary Roman historians, one of whom lived in
Constantinople, and who says he looked into the mouths of some
of these confessors, who had in fact their tongues cut out entirely
by the roots; and it is recorded in the archives of the Eastern
Empire.

Is not this testimony enough; and yet, is it sufficient to prove the
doctrine of the Trinity? Is it adequate to prove, that "the ancient of
days" became a little child; was born of a woman, suckled,
*******, &c., &c.; and that "He who liveth for ever and ever,"
was whipped, was hanged, and died upon the cross, and was buried?
Can this miracle, well attested as it is, prove for truths, such
strange, such shocking things as these?

The miracles of the Abbe Paris, too, are proved to be true, as far as
testimony can prove any thing of the kind. For they happened
within a hundred years, were seen by many, and were sworn to
before the magistrates; by some of the most respectable inhabitants
of the city of Paris. How can men, who pretend to believe the
miracles of the New Testament upon such meagre evidence as they
have in their favour, consistently reject the miracles of the Abbe
Paris? attested by evidence recent, respectable, and so strong, that
to this day, the juggle, and the means by which so many
respectable people were imposed upon, have never yet been
thoroughly developed, and explained.



CHAPTER XV.

APPLICATION OF THE TWO TESTS, SAID, IN
DEUTERONOMY, TO HAVE BEEN GIVEN BY GOD, AS
DISCRIMINATING A TRUE PROPHET FROM A FALSE ONE,
TO THE CHARACTER AND ACTIONS OF JESUS.

In the 18th chapter of Deuteronomy God says,--"The Prophet
which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not
commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other
gods, even that Prophet shall die. And if thou say in thine heart,
how shall we know (or distinguish,) the word which the Lord hath
not spoken?" Here is the criterion. "When a Prophet speaketh in
the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass; that
is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken. That Prophet hath
spoken presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him."

Again, Deuteronomy 13, "If there arise among you a Prophet, or a
dreamer of dreams, and give you a sign or a wonder (i. e. a