most abufive Blafphemy! If Philologus, you are very hard to believe any Thing in Scripture-Hiftory; and yer every malicious Lie, though ever fo filly, out of Julian or Celfus, can go down with you.. You think, you are wondrous happy in your Comparifon, between the Birth of Chrift, and that of fome of the old Heroes; but there is a very wide Difference in all the Circumftances of thefe, if what you fay, as to the Birth of thofe Perfons, be true. But it is not to be. allowed you, that all thofe famous Men in early Times, who attributed their Original to a Deity, were of a fpurious Birth. For the Reafon why they claimed fuch a Parentage was, not to hide the Shame of their Mother, (as you would have it) but to give themselves a greater Character to their Subjects or Enemies, and to make People fall in more readily with their ambitious Defigns, as is clear in the Expeditions of Bacchus and Hercules. And, after them, other Princes, who had a Mind to make an extraordinary Figure among their Neighbours, pretended to the like divine Birth, though their Mothers were ever fo chaft; as is evident, in the Hiftory of Alexander the Great. But what fignify thefe oid idle poetical Sto ries, to a plain Matter of Fact in a learned and knowing Age of the World? The Stories of Hercules, and Bacchus, Aneas, &c. are all affigned to dark Ages, very little of the Hiftory of which is known'; and thofe Things, in the Mythological Account of thofe Times, which we fuppofe to be true, may, for ought we know, be only the Figments of poetical Brains; and the Poets might coin those celebrated Amours of the Gods, only as fine Stories, to entertain their Readers, without any Foundation' at all in Hiftory for it. But the Hiftory of Chrift's Birth is laid in a Time, when Things might be better examined, and fuch fham Stories could not be made to pafs the World. The Reigns of Cecrops, or Agamemnon, were proper Times to deify Strumpets, and to take any Father out of Heaven, which a Man pleafed; but no Body could be fo filly, as to go about to practife thefe Tricks, under the Empire of Auguftus. Belides, it was D'd 2 upon not 404 The Blaf Julian con futed. not a Fashion, among the Jews, to pretend to this celeftial Pedigree; all this fimple Ufage was owing to the Pothytheifm, or Idolatry, of the Gentiles, and their grofs Notions of the divine Nature. Any one might very well pretend to be Son to a God, when 'twas generally thought, that Gods got Children like Men: And a Man might reasonably fuppofe, he might cover the Infamy of an illegitimate Birth, by Fathering himself upon a God, when the very Theology of their Religion informed Men, how frequently their Gods lay with their Worshiper's Wives. But the Jews had fuch juft and rational Ideas of God Almighty, and fo very true Notions of his Goodness and Purity, that it could enter into no Man's Head, who was educated in their Principles, to borrow the Name of God Almighty, to be an Umbrage to such Wickedness ; nay, fuch, a Pretence would have been abhorred, and abominated, by all that Nation, as foon as they fhould have heard of it. The Reason, why these ancient Heroes arrogated to themselves a divine Original, was, to gain a remarkable Honour and Glory to themselves, which was the Idol of their Affections; but our blessed Saviour deany fpifed all thofe Things, He forbad Men to fay or do Thing, which might redound to his Fame, and made his whole Life a moft wonderful Example of Mortification and Humility. Therefore this odious Comparison of Chrift, with these proud afpiring Heathens, is altogether as impertinent, as it is malicious and blafphemous. As for that diabolical Story of Panthera, which Celfus phemy of tells; it is only a Jumble of fome Truth, with a great Celfus and Deal of malicious Falfehood, which was heretofore the ufual Heathen Way of contriving their Calumnies, against the Chriftians. Thus they had a filly Story of the Afs's Head in Tacitus, or had heard fomething of our Saviour's riding upon an Afs; and this gave Occafion for them, to coin their scandalous Story of the Chriftians worshiping the Image of Chrift, with an Afs's Head and Feet, under the Name of Ononychites. They had fome imperfect Notion, of the myftical Eating of Chrift's Body and Blood, in the Sacrament; upon which they forged that wicked wicked Calumny of the Thyeftea Dapes, and their eating young Children, at their Meetings. And fo their having got in their Heads fomething of the Name of Panther, or Panthera, gave Occafion to the Blafphemy which you just now related. It is most manifeft from ancient Writers, that Panther was a Sir-name in the Family of Jefus Chrift. Epiphanius fays exprefsly *, That Jofeph was the Son of Jacob, Sir-named Panther, and that both Father and Son were called Panther. And Damafcen, treating of the Genealogy of Chrift, fpeaks thus: From the Line of Nathan, the Son of David, Levi begat Melchi and Panther, and Panther begat him, who was fir-named Bar-Panther, and Bar-Panther begat Joachim, who begat the holy Mother of ·God t. Whence these two Authors had thefe Genealogies, cannot be afcertained, but 'tis probable they had them from the Books of the Jews. For they oftentimes very feriously, and without any Reflection, call our Saviour Ben-Panther, meaning no more than the Son of JoJeph by it. For there is a Story in the Talmud of Jerusalem, of a Son of Rabbi fofe, who being poisoned, was cured by the Name of Jefus Ben-Pantheira. And there is a like Story in the Midrash upon the Book Ecclefiaftes of one Damah, the Son of Rabbi Eleazar, who being bit with a Serpent, his Father would not let him be cured by one Jacob a Chriftian, by the Name of Jefus Ben-Pantheira. And the Sanedrin, a Talmudical Book, allows, that Pandera was the Husband of Mary. From all which it is very plain, that Panther, or Pandeira, was the Sir-name of Jofeph, as it had been before of feveral of his Predeceffors. Now the Heathens finding, that the fuppofed Father of Chrift, in Scripture, was called Jofeph; and they finding in the Jewish Books another Name of Pandeira, who was faid to be Chrift's Father too; they were willing presently, to take up with the most malicious Reconciliation of this Difference, and fo to make * Epiph. Hær. 78. + Damaf. de Fid. Orthod. lib. 4. cap. 15. Dd 3 Fofeph Jofeph the fuppofed Father, and one Pandeira the true, though the adulterous one. And now you fee, that this blafphemous Reflection, which you Infidels glory fo much in, has no other Ground but Malice and Blunder. Befides, it is a very filly Imputation, which no one, that confiders Things, can believe. How can any one think that Jofeph could be impofed upon, in a Matter of that Nature? He had Apprehenfion enough, 'tis plain, to refent it at firft; and, unless he had been very well fatisfied of the Truth of that Child's Original, he would never have put the Bufinefs up at laft. Adultery, after Matrimonial Contract, was no lefs than Death by the Jewish Law, and therefore how can we fuppofe, that Jofeph fhould not only fuffer her to live, after having committed fuch a Crime, but that he fhould take to Wife fuch an impure Creature. This is impoffible to be thought by any one, who understands what an Abhorrence the Jews -had to this Crime. If this malicious Reflection was true, how came the Mother of Chrift to live, in any tolerable Reputation amongst her Kindred? Or how was it fafe for fuch a Delinquent to converfe, as he did, among the Scribes and Pharifees, and other zealous Perfons for the Jewish Law? If Jefus Chrift had come of fuch an impure Birth, he would never have been fuffered to have entred the Temple, whereas he frequently prayed and taught there; it being contrary to the Mofaick Law, for fuch an one to come into the Congregation, Deut. xxiii. 2. If there had been any Ground for this Imputation, he had by his Preaching down the Doctrines of the Pharifees, provoked Enemies enough to have upbraided him with it; and if they had fufpccted any Thing of this Kind, they would never have fpared him. Indeed they object to him the Meannefs of his Extract, and call him Jofeph the Carpenter's Son; but they would have made ufe of a -harder Reflection, if there had been any Pretence for your Suggeftion. Therefore I requeft of you, Philologus, no more to make ufe of this Objection; which, you fee, carries fo much Wickednefs and Sillinefs with it. Phil. But by your Leave, Good Sir, for my Life, I cannot fee any Thing, in the Actions of that Perfon you bear this great Efteem for, that is any Ways confidera ble; but only, by the Prejudice of Education, you see every Thing, as through a Magnifying-glafs, and, when you have given the Paffages of his Life an imaginary Greatnefs, you then ftand ftaring, and admiring, at the Idol of your own Brain. The moft, which he did, was Curing a few lame and blind Folks; and fo does many a Mountebank, now-a-days, without being Deified for it*, We have had in the World many more confiderable Men, which People never made fuch a Buftle with. What Comparison is there between the great Romulus, or Numa, and him? The one laid the Foundation of the greatest Monarchy in the World, by the Force of his Arms, and the other eftablished it, by the best and wifeft Laws. Thefe were great and noble Genius's, and their brave Actions were worthy to be admired by all Futurity. But what worthy of Admiration can you fee in one, who was remarkable for nothing but Curing of fome few fick People, and Preaching about, to the Rabble, a little plain Morality. than Ro Cred. This Argument is grounded, Philologus, upon Chrift more fo weak a Bottom, that it is not anfwerable to your Cha- Glorious racter, and your ufual Vein of Reafoning to make ufe and rest of it. For this carries with it all the Jewish Fondness in mulus,c. their Expectation of a temporal Meffias, who must needs have him to be fome fine gearish Thing, who was to come into the World, only to make a Blaze in it. You defpife our Saviour, because he appeared in mean Circumftances, and did not make fo great a Figure as Romulus or Numa. What an Argument is here! And how are Men often impofed upon, by falfe Notions of worldly Greatness! Pray, Sir, confider that God Almighty fent our Saviour into the World to do Good, and not to please People's Fancies. The Station in which he appear'd, was altogether as glorious in God's Sight, as that of the moft pom Julian apud Cvrill. Ed. Spanh. p. 191. pous |