THE Monthly Repository. No. CLXXXI.] SIR, JANUARY, 1821. Mr. Cogan's Summary of the Evidences of Christianity. Christianity. It was thought of favourably at the time by persons of whose judgment I had a good opinion. I have since been asked, whether it would not be desirable that I should reprint it. To this I should for several reasons object. The substance of it, however, will be found in the following observations, which, if they appear to you to be useful, you will not, perhaps, think out of place in your Repository. The Christian religion has existed for about 1800 years; and previous to this period it did not exist. It derives its origin from a person called Jesus Christ, who lived in Judea, and was crucified by Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor. A short time after the death of its founder, it was preached in the Roman empire by a few of his followers, and gained increasing credit and establishment, till at length it attained a decided pre-eminence above the Pagan religion and worship which had prevailed there for many ages, and which it finally overthrew. This conversion of the Pagans to Christianity must be considered as one of the most signal revolutions which ever took place upon earth, and is an event of which every philosophical mind must wish to know the real and proper causes. The only history which appears to account for this singular phenomenon is that of the New Testament; and this history consists of a clear and distinct narrative of facts, which, if admitted, will readily explain this extraordinary revolution. Hence arises a claim which this history lays to our attention, and likewise a strong presumption in its favour; as it must be allowed to stand in a very different predicament from a narrative of facts which will account for no existing phenomenon, and of which no monuinent, except the historical testimony, [Vol. XVI. is extant. This presumption is corroborated by the consideration, that, as history, it was the credit that was actually given to the facts in question which caused the gradually-increasing diffusion and establishment of Christianity. * Dr. Priestley, in his Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever, (a work truly inestimable,) has the following paragraph: "With respect to hypotheses, to explain appearances of any kind, the philosophical Christian considers himself as bound to admit that which (according to the received rules of philosophizing or reasoning) is the most probable; so that the question between him and other philosophers is, whether his hypothesis or theirs will best explain the known facts, such as are the present belief of Judaism and Christianity, and also the belief of them in the earliest ages to which they can be traced." With deference to an authority which I so highly respect, I should rather say, that until the New Testament history has been shewn to be unworthy of credit, every hypothesis to explain the origin and progress of Christianity is unnecessary, and consequently undeserving of attention. Let it then be considered by what thing of the early history of Christianity, Let us suppose that we knew nobut merely understood that it commenced at the time at which its origin is dated, that it gradually subverted the idolatry of the Heathen world, and that wherever it came it carried with it a pure system of morality, and inspired a confident assurance of a life to come. Let the Christian Scriptures be put into our hands with proper evidence of their authenticity. Should we not think that we had found the true cause of an extraordinary phenomenon? Or should we think that the volume ought to be rejected because it professed to give the narrative of a divine interposition? 2 methods, and by what alone, the credit of this history can be subverted. First, by proving the testimony in favour of the facts to be defective and equivocal. Secondly, by shewing the facts themselves to be incredible. Thirdly, by demonstrating, that, if the facts had taken place, different consequences must have followed. Fourthly, by proving that the existence and progress of Christianity are to be attributed to causes altogether independent of the truth of the facts recorded in the history under consideration. In order to prove the testimony to be false or deficient, it must be shewn that there is not the same reason to believe the genuineness of the books of the New Testament as of other books of equal antiquity, or that the facts which are recorded in them are of such a nature as to exclude certainty of information, or that the historians had no proper opportunity of ascertaining their reality, or that, from certain rules of decision admitted in other cases, there is reason to conclude that the veracity of these historians may justly be called in question. But if it appear that the gospel-history will abide the test of this inquiry, it must be concluded that no objection can be urged against the testimony, in itself considered. And let it be remarked, that this testimony, which is now supposed to have borne a fair and strict examination, is strongly corroborated by the original presumption in favour of the facts which has already been stated. And that there should be this concurrence of presumption and testimony in favour of a mere imposture, must be considered as very extraordinary and improbable. Thus allowing, what has never been disproved, that the testimony, in itself considered, is not objectionable, the general evidence in favour of Christianity may be stated as follows: The New-Testament history possesses all the requisite marks of credibility. It contains the narrative of facts, the belief of which prevailed and extended itself in defiance of prejudice and opposition, and finally produced the most signal and important consequences; consequences which are experienced at the present hour. But in opposition to this historical and presumptive evidence, it may be In The alleged, that the facts recorded in the deviation from the general course of nature. With respect, then, to the improbability of miracles, it may be observed, that it is an improbability of which we are incompetent judges, and which may, therefore, be surmounted by a certain force of testimony. And we find, in fact, that the highest degree of supposed improbability, arising merely from a want of experience, is perpetually overcome by such evidence as is supposed to possess the proper recommendations to enforce belief, And it is further to be observed, that an improbability arising from the want of analogy, may be more or less credible according to the magnitude of the phenomena which are to be explained by the admission of it. A miracle which, if believed, accounts for no existing phenomenon, and a miracle, or set of miracles, which will explain a great and important effect for which a sufficient cause is wanting, must be allowed to be very differently circumstanced in point of credibility; and it might be added, that a less degree of positive testimony will suffice to confirm the latter than what would be necessary to establish the former. Let me now ask, whether what appears to be an authentic record of miracles may not be admitted as containing the cause of a most extraordinary phenomenon, of which history offers no other explanation? As a further presumption in favour of miracles, it may be observed, that there are only two religions existing upon earth which profess to be established on miracles that were public and notorious; namely, the Jewish and the Christian; and there appertain to both these religions circumstances which are best explained upon the supposition that they are really divine. The Jews, it is acknowledged, were inferior to other nations in every species of polite literature and in general science. And yet, though surrounded by idolaters, they maintained, as a community, the Unity of God, and entertained more exalted views of the Divine perfections than even the wisest philosophers of the most polished nations. The Christian religion is confessedly the most pure and philosophical that ever appeared upon earth; containing principles most highly beneficial to the general interests of mankind, and presenting a standard of morality to which no objection can be made. And it may safely be observed, that these extraordinary facts are best accounted for by admitting the miracles of the Old and New Testament, and that they are striking confirmations of their truth. But before I quit the subject of miracles, I ought to notice the objection of Mr. Hume, that no testimony can justify the belief of a miracle, since the falsehood of human testimony can never be more miraculous than the truth of the fact which it professes to establish. But the fallacy of this objection will be apparent if we consider that the falsehood of testimony in certain circumstances would be impossible, without a violation of the order of nature. But such a violation of this order, a violation which could be referred to no cause, and could answer no beneficial end, would be far more inexplicable, and therefore far more incredible than a set of miracles which are expressly attributed to God as their author, and from which a great and important effect has followed. E. COGAN. [To be concluded in the next Number.] SIR, THE Lewes, December 5, 1820. biography of the great, the wise and good, has been uniformly received by every class of readers with lively interest and avidity; and, if the value of any additional testimony to the worth of departed excellence may be estimated by the veneration which that excellence has justly excited, the following private one in favour of the piety and resignation of the great and good Dr. Franklin will, I presume, be not unacceptable to the perusers of your valuable Miscellany. J. JOHNSTON. "To Mr. Viny, Blackfriars' Road, "Philadelphia, May 5, 1790. "MY DEAR SIR, "Though I am almost exhausted with writing letters, I will not let this opportunity pass without one for my friends at Blackfriars. "As bad news flies swift, if it is important, I suppose my letter will not be the first information you will have of Dr. Franklin's death. Yes, we have lost that valued, that venerable, kind friend, whose knowledge enlightened our minds, and whose philanthropy warmed our hearts. But we have the consolation to think, that if a life well spent in acts of universal benevolence to mankind, a grateful acknowledgment of Divine favour, a patient submission under severe chastisement, and an humble trust in Almighty mercy, can insure the happiness of a future state, our present loss is his gain. I was the faithful witness of the closing scene, which he sustained with that calm fortitude which characterized him through life. No repining, no peevish expression ever escaped him, during a confinement of two years, in which, I believe, if every moment of ease could be added together, the sum would not amount to two whole months. When the pain was not too violent to be amused, he employed himself with his books, his pen, or in conversation with his friend; and upon every occasion displayed the clearness of his intellects and the cheerfulness of his temper. Even when the intervals from pain were so short that his words were frequently interrupted, I have known him hold a discourse in a sublime strain of piety. I say this to you because I know it will give you pleasure; for what but piety, which includes charity, can we carry into a future state of happiness? Whether there be tongues, they shall fail, whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away;' but love to God and to his creatures, which is cer tainly what the apostle meant by charity, never faileth.' "I never shall forget one day that I passed with our friend last summer. I found him in bed in great agony, but when that agony abated a little, I asked if I should read to him; he said, Yes; and the first book I met with was Johnson's Lives of the Poets. I read the life of Watts, who was a favourite author with Dr. F.; and, instead of lulling him to sleep, it roused him to a display of the powers of his memory and his reason: he repeated several of Watts's Lyric Poems, and descanted upon their sublimity in a strain worthy of them and of their pious author. It is natural for us to wish that an attention to some ceremonies had accompanied that religion of the heart which I am convinced Dr. F. always possessed; but let us who feel the benefit of them continue to practise them, without thinking lightly of that piety which could support pain without a murmur, and meet death without ter ror. "I will not apologize for filling my paper with this subject, I could not find one more interesting. The public transactions of his life, and the honours paid to his memory, you will hear by other means. "Old Things" in Spain. "MARY HEWSON." THINGS FOI think of the horrid devastations which have been ca HINGS go on most calamitously in Spain, Mr. Editor! My heart mitted by those "radical rascals"-those "sour, unsparing jacobins," the Spanish Cortes. What "beautiful specimens" of the fervent piety of their ancestors scattered to the wind! What bellas reliquias! What exquisite fragments of devotion! I have been gathering a few together out of the wreck. For Christian charity's sake help me to preserve them. Some of the episcopal gems, especially, are of the purest water-rather rubies than diamonds trulybut perfect in their way. However, I shall not waste my treasures on you till I ascertain that you duly appreciate them. Ad rem. QU. REV. Scraps of a Pastoral Letter published in 1816, entitled, Remedio fumigatorio, igneo, fulminante estrémo (estrémo de ordenada caridad) que el Obispo de Santander movido por reales ordenes copiadas en el escrito procuraba á los que pueden hallarse en su obispado, (en confianza de la electrica Cristiana fraternidad difundida por todos los otros obispados del reino,) a los que hay en España enfermos, pestiferos, moribundos, victimas de la infernal filosofía, volteri-napoleonina. A fumigating remedy, an igneous, detonating extreme (the extreme of wellordered charity) which the Bishop of Santander, in consequence of the royal orders herein referred to, directs to all the inhabitants of his diocese, (confiding in the electrical Christian fraternity spread over all the other bishoprics of the kingdom,) to those in Spain who may be diseased, infected with the plague, moribund, victims of the infernal, volterinapoleonic philosophy. Does not that make a pretty introitus, Mr. Editor? Now for a specimen of the gentle spirit with which our Christian overseer addresses the wandering sheep of his flock: Hasta quando negros mas que oscuros, Catilinas Españoles, hasta quando viles, infames, soeces, escarabajos del infierno, diablos mas que endiablados, concives conterraneos nuestros hasta quando abusareis de nuestro sufrimento? Ye who are rather black than obscure, ye Spanish Catalines,-ye vile, ye infamous, ye dirty ones, ye beetles of hell, ye devils rather than devilized, engendered in our native soil-how long, how long will ye abuse our forbearance? This is a "forbearance" truly edifying, Mr. Editor. Rogamos á los señores maestros de primeras y segundas letras ó á los de leer, escribir y latinidad, asimismo á los padres de familia si la tienen menuda niños y niñas que quando no lean de verbo ad verbum ó del principio al fin esta nuestra pastoral ante sus discipulos y familiares, por lo menos los instruyan sucintamente en su sustantia y les exhorten á que andando por los caminos aunque sean despoblados y estando en sus trabajos entonen como Dios les diere á entender siquiera los remates de las clausulas maldicientes que aqui irán escritas y sino estas no sé si coplas ó prosas, porque serian lo que salga y son estas cosas tres: 1a. A todo aquel que persiga Maldicion tras maldicion. Amen. 2a. Los que muerto ó tal quieran Y para que luego, luego 3. Y si alguno cacarea Conviene ser nuestra España And we require all schoolmasters of the first and second classes, and those who teach reading, writing and Latin, and all fathers of young families, whether boys or girls, that if they do not read to their scholars and to their household this our pastoral epistle de verbo ad verbum, or from the beginning to the end, that at least they instruct them succinctly in its contents and substance; and exhort them, that when they walk out, even in unpeopled roads, and while engaged in their daily labours, that they accustom themselves to utter what God shall give them to understand of the following damnatory verses, at all events the concluding clauses I hardly know whether to call them couplets or prose; but they are three, as here written-p. 47: This is enough for once, according to the advice of the Castellian proverb : Os dexaré con miel en los labios. |