) he
commands
the Priest to
bring the Ark neer him; and (ver.
bring the Ark neer him; and (ver.
Hobbes - Leviathan
40.
13.
) foretold to Pharaohs Butler, concerning his being
restored to his office: for there by His Word Was Come, is meant, the
thing it self was come to passe. So also (1 King. 18. 36. ) Elijah saith
to God, "I have done all these thy Words," in stead of "I have done all
these things at thy Word," or commandement: and (Jer. 17. 15. ) "Where is
the Word of the Lord," is put for, "Where is the Evill he threatened:"
And (Ezek. 12. 28. ) "There shall none of my Words be prolonged any
more:" by "Words" are understood those Things, which God promised to his
people. And in the New Testament (Mat. 24. 35. ) "heaven and earth shal
pass away, but my Words shall not pass away;" that is, there is nothing
that I have promised or foretold, that shall not come to passe. And in
this sense it is, that St. John the Evangelist, and, I think, St. John
onely calleth our Saviour himself as in the flesh "the Word of God
(as Joh. 1. 14. ) the Word was made Flesh;" that is to say, the Word, or
Promise that Christ should come into the world, "who in the beginning
was with God;" that is to say, it was in the purpose of God the Father,
to send God the Son into the world, to enlighten men in the way of
Eternall life, but it was not till then put in execution, and actually
incarnate; So that our Saviour is there called "the Word," not because
he was the promise, but the thing promised. They that taking occasion
from this place, doe commonly call him the Verbe of God, do but render
the text more obscure. They might as well term him the Nown of God:
for as by Nown, so also by Verbe, men understand nothing but a part
of speech, a voice, a sound, that neither affirms, nor denies, nor
commands, nor promiseth, nor is any substance corporeall, or spirituall;
and therefore it cannot be said to bee either God, or Man; whereas our
Saviour is both. And this Word which St. John in his Gospel saith was
with God, is (in his 1 Epistle, verse 1. ) called "the Word of Life;" and
(verse 2. ) "The eternall life, which was with the Father:" so that he
can be in no other sense called the Word, then in that, wherein he is
called Eternall life; that is, "he that hath procured us Eternall life,"
by his comming in the flesh. So also (Apocalypse 19. 13. ) the Apostle
speaking of Christ, clothed in a garment dipt in bloud, saith; his name
is "the Word of God;" which is to be understood, as if he had said his
name had been, "He that was come according to the purpose of God from
the beginning, and according to his Word and promises delivered by the
Prophets. " So that there is nothing here of the Incarnation of a Word,
but of the Incarnation of God the Son, therefore called the Word,
because his Incarnation was the Performance of the Promise; In like
manner as the Holy Ghost is called The Promise. (Acts 1. 4. Luke 24. 49. )
Thirdly, For The Words Of Reason And Equity
There are also places of the Scripture, where, by the Word of God, is
signified such Words as are consonant to reason, and equity, though
spoken sometimes neither by prophet, nor by a holy man. For Pharaoh
Necho was an Idolator; yet his Words to the good King Josiah, in which
he advised him by Messengers, not to oppose him in his march against
Carchemish, are said to have proceeded from the mouth of God; and that
Josiah not hearkning to them, was slain in the battle; as is to be read
2 Chron. 35. vers. 21,22,23. It is true, that as the same History is
related in the first book of Esdras, not Pharaoh, but Jeremiah spake
these words to Josiah, from the mouth of the Lord. But wee are to
give credit to the Canonicall Scripture, whatsoever be written in the
Apocrypha.
The Word of God, is then also to be taken for the Dictates of reason,
and equity, when the same is said in the Scriptures to bee written in
mans heart; as Psalm 36. 31. Jerem. 31. 33. Deut. 30. 11, 14. and many other
like places.
Divers Acceptions Of The Word Prophet
The name of PROPHET, signifieth in Scripture sometimes Prolocutor; that
is, he that speaketh from God to Man, or from man to God: And sometimes
Praedictor, or a foreteller of things to come; And sometimes one that
speaketh incoherently, as men that are distracted. It is most frequently
used in the sense of speaking from God to the People. So Moses, Samuel,
Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and others were Prophets. And in this sense
the High Priest was a Prophet, for he only went into the Sanctum
Sanctorum, to enquire of God; and was to declare his answer to the
people. And therefore when Caiphas said, it was expedient that one man
should die for the people, St. John saith (chap. 11. 51. ) that "He spake
not this of himselfe, but being High Priest that year, he prophesied
that one man should dye for the nation. " Also they that in Christian
Congregations taught the people, (1 Cor. 14. 3. ) are said to Prophecy. In
the like sense it is, that God saith to Moses (Exod. 4. 16. ) concerning
Aaron, "He shall be thy Spokes-man to the People; and he shall be to
thee a mouth, and thou shalt be to him in stead of God;" that which here
is Spokesman, is (chap. 7. 1. ) interpreted Prophet; "See (saith God)
I have made thee a God to Pharaoh, and Aaron thy Brother shall be thy
Prophet. " In the sense of speaking from man to God, Abraham is called
a Prophet (Genes. 20. 7. ) where God in a Dream speaketh to Abimelech
in this manner, "Now therefore restore the man his wife, for he is a
Prophet, and shall pray for thee;" whereby may be also gathered,
that the name of Prophet may be given, not unproperly to them that
in Christian Churches, have a Calling to say publique prayers for the
Congregation. In the same sense, the Prophets that came down from the
High place (or Hill of God) with a Psaltery, and a Tabret, and a Pipe,
and a Harp (1 Sam. 10. 5,6. ) and (vers. 10. ) Saul amongst them, are said
to Prophecy, in that they praised God, in that manner publiquely. In the
like sense, is Miriam (Exod. 15. 20. ) called a Prophetesse. So is it
also to be taken (1 Cor. 11. 4,5. ) where St. Paul saith, "Every man that
prayeth or prophecyeth with his head covered, &c. and every woman that
prayeth or prophecyeth with her head uncovered: For Prophecy in that
place, signifieth no more, but praising God in Psalmes, and Holy Songs;
which women might doe in the Church, though it were not lawfull for them
to speak to the Congregation. And in this signification it is, that the
Poets of the Heathen, that composed Hymnes and other sorts of Poems in
the honor of their Gods, were called Vates (Prophets) as is well enough
known by all that are versed in the Books of the Gentiles, and as
is evident (Tit. 1. 12. ) where St. Paul saith of the Cretians, that a
Prophet of their owne said, they were Liars; not that St. Paul held
their Poets for Prophets, but acknowledgeth that the word Prophet was
commonly used to signifie them that celebrated the honour of God in
Verse
Praediction Of Future Contingents, Not Alwaies Prophecy
When by Prophecy is meant Praediction, or foretelling of future
Contingents; not only they were Prophets, who were Gods Spokesmen, and
foretold those things to others, which God had foretold to them; but
also all those Imposters, that pretend by the helpe of familiar spirits,
or by superstitious divination of events past, from false causes, to
foretell the like events in time to come: of which (as I have declared
already in the 12. chapter of this Discourse) there be many kinds, who
gain in the opinion of the common sort of men, a greater reputation
of Prophecy, by one casuall event that may bee but wrested to their
purpose, than can be lost again by never so many failings. Prophecy is
not an art, nor (when it is taken for Praediction) a constant Vocation;
but an extraordinary, and temporary Employment from God, most often of
Good men, but sometimes also of the Wicked. The woman of Endor, who
is said to have had a familiar spirit, and thereby to have raised a
Phantasme of Samuel, and foretold Saul his death, was not therefore a
Prophetesse; for neither had she any science, whereby she could raise
such a Phantasme; nor does it appear that God commanded the raising of
it; but onely guided that Imposture to be a means of Sauls terror and
discouragement; and by consequent, of the discomfiture, by which he
fell. And for Incoherent Speech, it was amongst the Gentiles taken for
one sort of Prophecy, because the Prophets of their Oracles, intoxicated
with a spirit, or vapour from the cave of the Pythian Oracle at Delphi,
were for the time really mad, and spake like mad-men; of whose loose
words a sense might be made to fit any event, in such sort, as all
bodies are said to be made of Materia prima. In the Scripture I find
it also so taken (1 Sam. 18. 10. ) in these words, "And the Evill spirit
came upon Saul, and he Prophecyed in the midst of the house. "
The Manner How God Hath Spoken To The Prophets
And although there be so many significations in Scripture of the word
Prophet; yet is that the most frequent, in which it is taken for him,
to whom God speaketh immediately, that which the Prophet is to say from
him, to some other man, or to the people. And hereupon a question may
be asked, in what manner God speaketh to such a Prophet. Can it (may some
say) be properly said, that God hath voice and language, when it cannot
be properly said, he hath a tongue, or other organs, as a man? The
Prophet David argueth thus, "Shall he that made the eye, not see? or he
that made the ear, not hear? " But this may be spoken, not (as usually) to
signifie Gods nature, but to signifie our intention to honor him. For
to See, and Hear, are Honorable Attributes, and may be given to God, to
declare (as far as our capacity can conceive) his Almighty power. But
if it were to be taken in the strict, and proper sense, one might argue
from his making of all parts of mans body, that he had also the same use
of them which we have; which would be many of them so uncomely, as it
would be the greatest contumely in the world to ascribe them to him.
Therefore we are to interpret Gods speaking to men immediately, for that
way (whatsoever it be), by which God makes them understand his will: And
the wayes whereby he doth this, are many; and to be sought onely in the
Holy Scripture: where though many times it be said, that God spake to
this, and that person, without declaring in what manner; yet there be
again many places, that deliver also the signes by which they were
to acknowledge his presence, and commandement; and by these may be
understood, how he spake to many of the rest.
To The Extraordinary Prophets Of The Old Testament He Spake
By Dreams, Or Visions
In what manner God spake to Adam, and Eve, and Cain, and Noah, is not
expressed; nor how he spake to Abraham, till such time as he came out of
his own countrey to Sichem in the land of Canaan; and then (Gen. 12. 7. )
God is said to have Appeared to him. So there is one way, whereby God
made his presence manifest; that is, by an Apparition, or Vision. And
again, (Gen. 15. 1. ) The Word of the Lord came to Abraham in a Vision;
that is to say, somewhat, as a sign of Gods presence, appeared as Gods
Messenger, to speak to him. Again, the Lord appeared to Abraham (Gen.
18. 1. ) by an apparition of three Angels; and to Abimelech (Gen. 20. 3. )
in a dream: To Lot (Gen. 19. 1. ) by an apparition of Two Angels: And
to Hagar (Gen. 21. 17. ) by the apparition of one Angel: And to Abraham
again (Gen. 22. 11. ) by the apparition of a voice from heaven: And (Gen.
26. 24. ) to Isaac in the night; (that is, in his sleep, or by dream):
And to Jacob (Gen. 18. 12. ) in a dream; that is to say (as are the words
of the text) "Jacob dreamed that he saw a ladder, &c. " And (Gen. 32. 1. )
in a Vision of Angels: And to Moses (Exod. 3. 2. ) in the apparition of a
flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: And after the time of Moses,
(where the manner how God spake immediately to man in the Old Testament,
is expressed) hee spake alwaies by a Vision, or by a Dream; as to
Gideon, Samuel, Eliah, Elisha, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and the rest of the
Prophets; and often in the New Testament, as to Joseph, to St. Peter, to
St. Paul, and to St. John the Evangelist in the Apocalypse.
Onely to Moses hee spake in a more extraordinary manner in Mount Sinai,
and in the Tabernacle; and to the High Priest in the Tabernacle, and in
the Sanctum Sanctorum of the Temple. But Moses, and after him the
High Priests were Prophets of a more eminent place, and degree in
Gods favour; And God himself in express words declareth, that to other
Prophets hee spake in Dreams and Visions, but to his servant Moses, in
such manner as a man speaketh to his friend. The words are these (Numb.
12. 6,7,8. ) "If there be a Prophet among you, I the Lord will make my
self known to him in a Vision, and will speak unto him in a Dream. My
servant Moses is not so, who is faithfull in all my house; with him I
will speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, not in dark speeches; and
the similitude of the Lord shall he behold. " And (Exod. 33. 11. ) "The
Lord spake to Moses face to face, as a man speaketh to his friend. "
And yet this speaking of God to Moses, was by mediation of an Angel, or
Angels, as appears expressely, Acts 7. ver. 35. and 53. and Gal. 3. 19.
and was therefore a Vision, though a more cleer Vision than was given to
other Prophets. And conformable hereunto, where God saith (Deut. 13. 1. )
"If there arise amongst you a Prophet, or Dreamer of Dreams," the later
word is but the interpretation of the former. And (Joel 2. 28. ) "Your
sons and your daughters shall Prophecy; your old men shall dream Dreams,
and your young men shall see Visions:" where again, the word Prophecy is
expounded by Dream, and Vision. And in the same manner it was, that God
spake to Solomon, promising him Wisdome, Riches, and Honor; for the text
saith, (1 Kings 3. 15. ) "And Solomon awoak, and behold it was a Dream:"
So that generally the Prophets extraordinary in the old Testament took
notice of the Word of God no otherwise, than from their Dreams, or
Visions, that is to say, from the imaginations which they had in their
sleep, or in an Extasie; which imaginations in every true Prophet were
supernaturall; but in false Prophets were either naturall, or feigned.
The same Prophets were neverthelesse said to speak by the Spirit; as
(Zach. 7. 12. ) where the Prophet speaking of the Jewes, saith, "They
made their hearths hard as Adamant, lest they should hear the law, and
the words which the Lord of Hosts hath sent in his Spirit by the former
Prophets. " By which it is manifest, that speaking by the Spirit, or
Inspiration, was not a particular manner of Gods speaking, different
from Vision, when they that were said to speak by the Spirit, were
extraordinary Prophets, such as for every new message, were to have a
particular Commission, or (which is all one) a new Dream, or Vision.
To Prophets Of Perpetuall Calling, And Supreme, God Spake In The
Old Testament From The Mercy Seat, In A Manner Not Expressed In The
Scripture. Of Prophets, that were so by a perpetuall Calling in the Old
Testament, some were Supreme, and some Subordinate: Supreme were first
Moses; and after him the High Priest, every one for his time, as long
as the Priesthood was Royall; and after the people of the Jews, had
rejected God, that he should no more reign over them, those Kings which
submitted themselves to Gods government, were also his chief Prophets;
and the High Priests office became Ministeriall. And when God was to be
consulted, they put on the holy vestments, and enquired of the Lord,
as the King commanded them, and were deprived of their office, when
the King thought fit. For King Saul (1 Sam. 13. 9. ) commanded the burnt
offering to be brought, and (1 Sam. 14. 18.
) he commands the Priest to
bring the Ark neer him; and (ver. 19. ) again to let it alone, because he
saw an advantage upon his enemies. And in the same chapter Saul asketh
counsell of God. In like manner King David, after his being anointed,
though before he had possession of the Kingdome, is said to "enquire
of the Lord" (1 Sam. 23. 2. ) whether he should fight against the
Philistines at Keilah; and (verse 10. ) David commandeth the Priest to
bring him the Ephod, to enquire whether he should stay in Keilah,
or not. And King Solomon (1 Kings 2. 27. ) took the Priesthood from
Abiathar, and gave it (verse 35. ) to Zadoc. Therefore Moses, and
the High Priests, and the pious Kings, who enquired of God on all
extraordinary occasions, how they were to carry themselves, or what
event they were to have, were all Soveraign Prophets. But in what manner
God spake unto them, is not manifest. To say that when Moses went up to
God in Mount Sinai, it was a Dream, or Vision, such as other Prophets
had, is contrary to that distinction which God made between Moses, and
other Prophets, Numb. 12. 6,7,8. To say God spake or appeared as he
is in his own nature, is to deny his Infinitenesse, Invisibility,
Incomprehensibility. To say he spake by Inspiration, or Infusion of the
Holy Spirit, as the Holy Spirit signifieth the Deity, is to make Moses
equall with Christ, in whom onely the Godhead (as St. Paul speaketh Col.
2. 9. ) dwelleth bodily. And lastly, to say he spake by the Holy Spirit,
as it signifieth the graces, or gifts of the Holy Spirit, is to
attribute nothing to him supernaturall. For God disposeth men to Piety,
Justice, Mercy, Truth, Faith, and all manner of Vertue, both Morall,
and Intellectuall, by doctrine, example, and by severall occasions,
naturall, and ordinary.
And as these ways cannot be applyed to God, in his speaking to Moses, at
Mount Sinai; so also, they cannot be applyed to him, in his speaking
to the High Priests, from the Mercy-Seat. Therefore in what manner God
spake to those Soveraign Prophets of the Old Testament, whose office
it was to enquire of him, is not intelligible. In the time of the New
Testament, there was no Soveraign Prophet, but our Saviour; who was both
God that spake, and the Prophet to whom he spake.
To Prophets Of Perpetuall Calling, But Subordinate, God Spake By The
Spirit. To subordinate Prophets of perpetuall Calling, I find not any
place that proveth God spake to them supernaturally; but onely in
such manner, as naturally he inclineth men to Piety, to Beleef, to
Righteousnesse, and to other vertues all other Christian Men. Which
way, though it consist in Constitution, Instruction, Education, and the
occasions and invitements men have to Christian vertues; yet it is truly
attributed to the operation of the Spirit of God, or Holy Spirit
(which we in our language call the Holy Ghost): For there is no good
inclination, that is not of the operation of God. But these operations
are not alwaies supernaturall. When therefore a Prophet is said to speak
in the Spirit, or by the Spirit of God, we are to understand no more,
but that he speaks according to Gods will, declared by the supreme
Prophet. For the most common acceptation of the word Spirit, is in the
signification of a mans intention, mind, or disposition.
In the time of Moses, there were seventy men besides himself, that
Prophecyed in the Campe of the Israelites. In what manner God spake to
them, is declared in the 11 of Numbers, verse 25. "The Lord came down in
a cloud, and spake unto Moses, and took of the Spirit that was upon him,
and gave it to the seventy Elders. And it came to passe, when the Spirit
rested upon them, they Prophecyed, and did not cease," By which it is
manifest, first, that their Prophecying to the people, was subservient,
and subordinate to the Prophecying of Moses; for that God took of the
Spirit of Moses, to put upon them; so that they Prophecyed as Moses
would have them: otherwise they had not been suffered to Prophecy at
all. For there was (verse 27. ) a complaint made against them to Moses;
and Joshua would have Moses to have forbidden them; which he did not,
but said to Joshua, Bee not jealous in my behalf. Secondly, that
the Spirit of God in that place, signifieth nothing but the Mind and
Disposition to obey, and assist Moses in the administration of the
Government. For if it were meant they had the substantial Spirit of God;
that is, the Divine nature, inspired into them, then they had it in no
lesse manner than Christ himself, in whom onely the Spirit of God dwelt
bodily. It is meant therefore of the Gift and Grace of God, that guided
them to co-operate with Moses; from whom their Spirit was derived. And
it appeareth (verse 16. ) that, they were such as Moses himself should
appoint for Elders and Officers of the People: For the words are,
"Gather unto me seventy men, whom thou knowest to be Elders and
Officers of the people:" where, "thou knowest," is the same with "thou
appointest," or "hast appointed to be such. " For we are told
before (Exod. 18. ) that Moses following the counsell of Jethro his
Father-in-law, did appoint Judges, and Officers over the people, such as
feared God; and of these, were those Seventy, whom God by putting upon
them Moses spirit, inclined to aid Moses in the Administration of the
Kingdome: and in this sense the Spirit of God is said (1 Sam. 16. 13,
14. ) presently upon the anointing of David, to have come upon David, and
left Saul; God giving his graces to him he chose to govern his people,
and taking them away from him, he rejected. So that by the Spirit is
meant Inclination to Gods service; and not any supernaturall Revelation.
God Sometimes Also Spake By Lots
God spake also many times by the event of Lots; which were ordered by
such as he had put in Authority over his people. So wee read that God
manifested by the Lots which Saul caused to be drawn (1 Sam. 14. 43. )
the fault that Jonathan had committed, in eating a honey-comb, contrary
to the oath taken by the people. And (Josh. 18. 10. ) God divided the
land of Canaan amongst the Israelite, by the "lots that Joshua did cast
before the Lord in Shiloh. " In the same manner it seemeth to be, that
God discovered (Joshua 7. 16. , &c. ) the crime of Achan. And these are the
wayes whereby God declared his Will in the Old Testament.
All which ways he used also in the New Testament. To the Virgin Mary, by
a Vision of an Angel: To Joseph in a Dream: again to Paul in the way
to Damascus in a Vision of our Saviour: and to Peter in the Vision of
a sheet let down from heaven, with divers sorts of flesh, of clean and
unclean, beasts; and in prison, by Vision of an Angel: And to all the
Apostles, and Writers of the New Testament, by the graces of his Spirit;
and to the Apostles again (at the choosing of Matthias in the place of
Judas Iscariot) by lot.
Every Man Ought To Examine The Probability Of A Pretended Prophets
Calling
Seeing then all Prophecy supposeth Vision, or Dream, (which two, when
they be naturall, are the same,) or some especiall gift of God, so
rarely observed in mankind, as to be admired where observed; and seeing
as well such gifts, as the most extraordinary Dreams, and Visions, may
proceed from God, not onely by his supernaturall, and immediate, but
also by his naturall operation, and by mediation of second causes;
there is need of Reason and Judgement to discern between naturall, and
supernaturall Gifts, and between naturall, and supernaturall Visions, or
Dreams. And consequently men had need to be very circumspect, and wary,
in obeying the voice of man, that pretending himself to be a Prophet,
requires us to obey God in that way, which he in Gods name telleth us to
be the way to happinesse. For he that pretends to teach men the way of
so great felicity, pretends to govern them; that is to say, to rule, and
reign over them; which is a thing, that all men naturally desire, and
is therefore worthy to be suspected of Ambition and Imposture; and
consequently, ought to be examined, and tryed by every man, before hee
yeeld them obedience; unlesse he have yeelded it them already, in
the institution of a Common-wealth; as when the Prophet is the Civill
Soveraign, or by the Civil Soveraign Authorized. And if this examination
of Prophets, and Spirits, were not allowed to every one of the people,
it had been to no purpose, to set out the marks, by which every man
might be able, to distinguish between those, whom they ought, and those
whom they ought not to follow. Seeing therefore such marks are set out
(Deut. 13. 1,&c. ) to know a Prophet by; and (1 John 4. 1. &C) to know a
Spirit by: and seeing there is so much Prophecying in the Old Testament;
and so much Preaching in the New Testament against Prophets; and so much
greater a number ordinarily of false Prophets, then of true; every
one is to beware of obeying their directions, at their own perill. And
first, that there were many more false than true Prophets, appears by
this, that when Ahab (1 Kings 12. ) consulted four hundred Prophets, they
were all false Imposters, but onely one Michaiah. And a little before
the time of the Captivity, the Prophets were generally lyars. "The
Prophets" (saith the Lord by Jerem. cha. 14. verse 14. ) "prophecy Lies
in my name. I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, nor spake
unto them, they prophecy to you a false Vision, a thing of naught; and
the deceit of their heart. " In so much as God commanded the People by
the mouth of the Prophet Jeremiah (chap. 23. 16. ) not to obey them.
"Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, hearken not unto the words of the
Prophets, that prophecy to you. They make you vain, they speak a Vision
of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord. "
All Prophecy But Of The Soveraign Prophet Is To Be Examined
By Every Subject
Seeing then there was in the time of the Old Testament, such quarrells
amongst the Visionary Prophets, one contesting with another, and asking
When departed the Spirit from me, to go to thee? as between Michaiah,
and the rest of the four hundred; and such giving of the Lye to one
another, (as in Jerem. 14. 14. ) and such controversies in the New
Testament at this day, amongst the Spirituall Prophets: Every man then
was, and now is bound to make use of his Naturall Reason, to apply to
all Prophecy those Rules which God hath given us, to discern the
true from the false. Of which rules, in the Old Testament, one was,
conformable doctrine to that which Moses the Soveraign Prophet had
taught them; and the other the miraculous power of foretelling what God
would bring to passe, as I have already shown out of Deut. 13. 1. &c.
and in the New Testament there was but one onely mark; and that was the
preaching of this Doctrine, That Jesus Is The Christ, that is, the
King of the Jews, promised in the Old Testament. Whosoever denyed that
Article, he was a false Prophet, whatsoever miracles he might seem to
work; and he that taught it was a true Prophet. For St. John (1 Epist,
4. 2, &c) speaking expressely of the means to examine Spirits, whether
they be of God, or not; after he hath told them that there would arise
false Prophets, saith thus, "Hereby know ye the Spirit of God. Every
Spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is of
God;" that is, is approved and allowed as a Prophet of God: not that
he is a godly man, or one of the Elect, for this, that he confesseth,
professeth, or preacheth Jesus to be the Christ; but for that he is a
Prophet avowed. For God sometimes speaketh by Prophets, whose persons he
hath not accepted; as he did by Baalam; and as he foretold Saul of his
death, by the Witch of Endor. Again in the next verse, "Every Spirit
that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the Flesh, is not
of Christ. And this is the Spirit of Antichrist. " So that the rule is
perfect on both sides; that he is a true Prophet, which preacheth the
Messiah already come, in the person of Jesus; and he a false one that
denyeth him come, and looketh for him in some future Imposter, that
shall take upon him that honour falsely, whom the Apostle there properly
calleth Antichrist. Every man therefore ought to consider who is the
Soveraign Prophet; that is to say, who it is, that is Gods Viceregent
on earth; and hath next under God, the Authority of Governing Christian
men; and to observe for a Rule, that Doctrine, which in the name of
God, hee commanded to bee taught; and thereby to examine and try out
the truth of those Doctrines, which pretended Prophets with miracles, or
without, shall at any time advance: and if they find it contrary to that
Rule, to doe as they did, that came to Moses, and complained that there
were some that Prophecyed in the Campe, whose Authority so to doe they
doubted of; and leave to the Soveraign, as they did to Moses to uphold,
or to forbid them, as hee should see cause; and if hee disavow them,
then no more to obey their voice; or if he approve them, then to obey
them, as men to whom God hath given a part of the Spirit of their
Soveraigne. For when Christian men, take not their Christian Soveraign,
for Gods Prophet; they must either take their owne Dreams, for the
prophecy they mean to bee governed by, and the tumour of their own
hearts for the Spirit of God; or they must suffer themselves to bee lead
by some strange Prince; or by some of their fellow subjects, that can
bewitch them, by slander of the government, into rebellion, without
other miracle to confirm their calling, then sometimes an extraordinary
successe, and Impunity; and by this means destroying all laws, both
divine, and humane, reduce all Order, Government, and Society, to the
first Chaos of Violence, and Civill warre.
CHAPTER XXXVII. OF MIRACLES, AND THEIR USE
A Miracle Is A Work That Causeth Admiration
By Miracles are signified the Admirable works of God: & therefore they
are also called Wonders. And because they are for the most part, done,
for a signification of his commandement, in such occasions, as
without them, men are apt to doubt, (following their private naturall
reasoning,) what he hath commanded, and what not, they are commonly in
Holy Scripture, called Signes, in the same sense, as they are called by
the Latines, Ostenta, and Portenta, from shewing, and fore-signifying
that, which the Almighty is about to bring to passe.
And Must Therefore Be Rare, Whereof There Is No Naturall Cause Known
To understand therefore what is a Miracle, we must first understand what
works they are, which men wonder at, and call Admirable. And there be
but two things which make men wonder at any event: The one is, if it
be strange, that is to say, such, as the like of it hath never, or very
rarely been produced: The other is, if when it is produced, we cannot
imagine it to have been done by naturall means, but onely by the
immediate hand of God. But when wee see some possible, naturall cause of
it, how rarely soever the like has been done; or if the like have been
often done, how impossible soever it be to imagine a naturall means
thereof, we no more wonder, nor esteem it for a Miracle.
Therefore, if a Horse, or Cow should speak, it were a Miracle; because
both the thing is strange, & the Naturall cause difficult to imagin: So
also were it, to see a strange deviation of nature, in the production
of some new shape of a living creature. But when a man, or other Animal,
engenders his like, though we know no more how this is done, than the
other; yet because 'tis usuall, it is no Miracle. In like manner, if a
man be metamorphosed into a stone, or into a pillar, it is a Miracle;
because strange: but if a peece of wood be so changed; because we see it
often, it is no Miracle: and yet we know no more, by what operation of
God, the one is brought to passe, than the other.
The first Rainbow that was seen in the world, was a Miracle, because the
first; and consequently strange; and served for a sign from God, placed
in heaven, to assure his people, there should be no more an universall
destruction of the world by Water. But at this day, because they
are frequent, they are not Miracles, neither to them that know their
naturall causes, nor to them who know them not. Again, there be many
rare works produced by the Art of man: yet when we know they are done;
because thereby wee know also the means how they are done, we count them
not for Miracles, because not wrought by the immediate hand of God, but
by mediation of humane Industry.
That Which Seemeth A Miracle To One Man, May Seem Otherwise To Another
Furthermore, seeing Admiration and Wonder, is consequent to the
knowledge and experience, wherewith men are endued, some more, some
lesse; it followeth, that the same thing, may be a Miracle to one, and
not to another. And thence it is, that ignorant, and superstitious men
make great Wonders of those works, which other men, knowing to proceed
from Nature, (which is not the immediate, but the ordinary work of God,)
admire not at all: As when Ecclipses of the Sun and Moon have been taken
for supernaturall works, by the common people; when neverthelesse, there
were others, could from their naturall causes, have foretold the very
hour they should arrive: Or, as when a man, by confederacy, and secret
intelligence, getting knowledge of the private actions of an ignorant,
unwary man, thereby tells him, what he has done in former time; it seems
to him a Miraculous thing; but amongst wise, and cautelous men, such
Miracles as those, cannot easily be done.
The End Of Miracles
Again, it belongeth to the nature of a Miracle, that it be wrought for
the procuring of credit to Gods Messengers, Ministers, and Prophets,
that thereby men may know, they are called, sent, and employed by God,
and thereby be the better inclined to obey them. And therefore, though
the creation of the world, and after that the destruction of all living
creatures in the universall deluge, were admirable works; yet because
they were not done to procure credit to any Prophet, or other Minister
of God, they use not to be called Miracles. For how admirable soever any
work be, the Admiration consisteth not in that it could be done, because
men naturally beleeve the Almighty can doe all things, but because he
does it at the Prayer, or Word of a man. But the works of God in Egypt,
by the hand of Moses, were properly Miracles; because they were done
with intention to make the people of Israel beleeve, that Moses came
unto them, not out of any design of his owne interest, but as sent from
God. Therefore after God had commanded him to deliver the Israelites
from the Egyptian bondage, when he said (Exod 4. 1. &c. ) "They will not
beleeve me, but will say, the Lord hath not appeared unto me," God gave
him power, to turn the Rod he had in his hand into a Serpent, and again
to return it into a Rod; and by putting his hand into his bosome, to
make it leprous; and again by pulling it out to make it whole, to make
the Children of Israel beleeve (as it is verse 5. ) that the God of their
Fathers had appeared unto him; And if that were not enough, he gave
him power to turn their waters into bloud. And when hee had done these
Miracles before the people, it is said (verse 41. ) that "they beleeved
him. " Neverthelesse, for fear of Pharaoh, they durst not yet obey him.
Therefore the other works which were done to plague Pharaoh and the
Egyptians, tended all to make the Israelites beleeve in Moses, and were
properly Miracles. In like manner if we consider all the Miracles
done by the hand of Moses, and all the rest of the Prophets, till the
Captivity; and those of our Saviour, and his Apostles afterward; we
shall find, their end was alwaies to beget, or confirm beleefe, that
they came not of their own motion, but were sent by God. Wee may further
observe in Scripture, that the end of Miracles, was to beget beleef,
not universally in all men, elect, and reprobate; but in the elect
only; that is to say, is such as God had determined should become his
Subjects. For those miraculous plagues of Egypt, had not for end, the
conversion of Pharaoh; For God had told Moses before, that he would
harden the heart of Pharaoh, that he should not let the people goe: And
when he let them goe at last, not the Miracles perswaded him, but the
plagues forced him to it. So also of our Saviour, it is written, (Mat.
13. 58. ) that he wrought not many Miracles in his own countrey, because
of their unbeleef; and (in Marke 6. 5. ) in stead of, "he wrought not
many," it is, "he could work none. " It was not because he wanted power;
which to say, were blasphemy against God; nor that the end of Miracles
was not to convert incredulous men to Christ; for the end of all the
Miracles of Moses, of Prophets, of our Saviour, and of his Apostles
was to adde men to the Church; but it was, because the end of their
Miracles, was to adde to the Church (not all men, but) such as should
be saved; that is to say, such as God had elected. Seeing therefore
our Saviour sent from his Father, hee could not use his power in the
conversion of those, whom his Father had rejected. They that expounding
this place of St. Marke, say, that his word, "Hee could not," is put
for, "He would not," do it without example in the Greek tongue, (where
Would Not, is put sometimes for Could Not, in things inanimate, that
have no will; but Could Not, for Would Not, never,) and thereby lay
a stumbling block before weak Christians; as if Christ could doe no
Miracles, but amongst the credulous.
The Definition Of A Miracle
From that which I have here set down, of the nature, and use of a
Miracle, we may define it thus, "A MIRACLE, is a work of God, (besides
his operation by the way of Nature, ordained in the Creation,) done
for the making manifest to his elect, the mission of an extraordinary
Minister for their salvation. "
And from this definition, we may inferre; First, that in all Miracles,
the work done, is not the effect of any vertue in the Prophet; because
it is the effect of the immediate hand of God; that is to say God hath
done it, without using the Prophet therein, as a subordinate cause.
Secondly, that no Devil, Angel, or other created Spirit, can do a
Miracle. For it must either be by vertue of some naturall science, or
by Incantation, that is, vertue of words. For if the Inchanters do it
by their own power independent, there is some power that proceedeth not
from God; which all men deny: and if they doe it by power given them,
then is the work not from the immediate hand of God, but naturall, and
consequently no Miracle.
There be some texts of Scripture, that seem to attribute the power of
working wonders (equall to some of those immediate Miracles, wrought
by God himself,) to certain Arts of Magick, and Incantation. As for
example, when we read that after the Rod of Moses being cast on the
ground became a Serpent, (Exod. 7. 11. ) "the Magicians of Egypt did the
like by their Enchantments;" and that after Moses had turned the waters
of the Egyptian Streams, Rivers, Ponds, and Pooles of water into blood,
(Exod. 7. 22. ) "the Magicians of Egypt did so likewise, with their
Enchantments;" and that after Moses had by the power of God brought
frogs upon the land, (Exod. 8. 7. ) "the Magicians also did so with their
Enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt;" will not a
man be apt to attribute Miracles to Enchantments; that is to say, to the
efficacy of the sound of Words; and think the same very well proved out
of this, and other such places? and yet there is no place of Scripture,
that telleth us what on Enchantment is. If therefore Enchantment be not,
as many think it, a working of strange effects by spells, and words;
but Imposture, and delusion, wrought by ordinary means; and so far
from supernaturall, as the Impostors need not the study so much as of
naturall causes, but the ordinary ignorance, stupidity, and superstition
of mankind, to doe them; those texts that seem to countenance the power
of Magick, Witchcraft, and Enchantment, must needs have another sense,
than at first sight they seem to bear.
That Men Are Apt To Be Deceived By False Miracles
For it is evident enough, that Words have no effect, but on those
that understand them; and then they have no other, but to signifie the
intentions, or passions of them that speak; and thereby produce, hope,
fear, or other passions, or conceptions in the hearer. Therefore when a
Rod seemeth a Serpent, or the Water Bloud, or any other Miracle seemeth
done by Enchantment; if it be not to the edification of Gods people,
not the Rod, nor the Water, nor any other thing is enchanted; that is
to say, wrought upon by the Words, but the Spectator. So that all the
Miracle consisteth in this, that the Enchanter has deceived a man; which
is no Miracle, but a very easie matter to doe.
For such is the ignorance, and aptitude to error generally of all men,
but especially of them that have not much knowledge of naturall causes,
and of the nature, and interests of men; as by innumerable and easie
tricks to be abused. What opinion of miraculous power, before it was
known there was a Science of the course of the Stars, might a man have
gained, that should have told the people, This hour, or day the Sun
should be darkned? A juggler by the handling of his goblets, and other
trinkets, if it were not now ordinarily practised, would be thought
to do his wonders by the power at least of the Devil. A man that hath
practised to speak by drawing in of his breath, (which kind of men in
antient time were called Ventriloqui,) and so make the weaknesse of
his voice seem to proceed, not from the weak impulsion of the organs
of Speech, but from distance of place, is able to make very many men
beleeve it is a voice from Heaven, whatsoever he please to tell them.
And for a crafty man, that hath enquired into the secrets, and familiar
confessions that one man ordinarily maketh to another of his actions and
adventures past, to tell them him again is no hard matter; and yet there
be many, that by such means as that, obtain the reputation of being
Conjurers. But it is too long a businesse, to reckon up the severall
sorts of those men, which the Greeks called Thaumaturgi, that is to say,
workers of things wonderfull; and yet these do all they do, by their
own single dexterity. But if we looke upon the Impostures wrought by
Confederacy, there is nothing how impossible soever to be done, that is
impossible to bee beleeved. For two men conspiring, one to seem lame,
the other to cure him with a charme, will deceive many: but many
conspiring, one to seem lame, another so to cure him, and all the rest
to bear witnesse; will deceive many more.
Cautions Against The Imposture Of Miracles
In this aptitude of mankind, to give too hasty beleefe to pretended
Miracles, there can be no better, nor I think any other caution, than
that which God hath prescribed, first by Moses, (as I have said before
in the precedent chapter,) in the beginning of the 13. and end of the
18. of Deuteronomy; That wee take not any for Prophets, that teach any
other Religion, then that which Gods Lieutenant, (which at that time was
Moses,) hath established; nor any, (though he teach the same Religion,)
whose Praediction we doe not see come to passe. Moses therefore in his
time, and Aaron, and his successors in their times, and the Soveraign
Governour of Gods people, next under God himself, that is to say, the
Head of the Church in all times, are to be consulted, what doctrine
he hath established, before wee give credit to a pretended Miracle, or
Prophet. And when that is done, the thing they pretend to be a Miracle,
we must both see it done, and use all means possible to consider,
whether it be really done; and not onely so, but whether it be such, as
no man can do the like by his naturall power, but that it requires the
immediate hand of God. And in this also we must have recourse to Gods
Lieutenant; to whom in all doubtfull cases, wee have submitted our
private judgments. For Example; if a man pretend, that after certain
words spoken over a peece of bread, that presently God hath made it not
bread, but a God, or a man, or both, and neverthelesse it looketh still
as like bread as ever it did; there is no reason for any man to think
it really done; nor consequently to fear him, till he enquire of God,
by his Vicar, or Lieutenant, whether it be done, or not. If he say not,
then followeth that which Moses saith, (Deut. 18. 22. ) "he hath spoken
it presumptuously, thou shalt not fear him. " If he say 'tis done, then
he is not to contradict it. So also if wee see not, but onely hear tell
of a Miracle, we are to consult the Lawful Church; that is to say, the
lawful Head thereof, how far we are to give credit to the relators of
it. And this is chiefly the case of men, that in these days live under
Christian Soveraigns. For in these times, I do not know one man, that
ever saw any such wondrous work, done by the charm, or at the word,
or prayer of a man, that a man endued but with a mediocrity of reason,
would think supernaturall: and the question is no more, whether what wee
see done, be a Miracle; whether the Miracle we hear, or read of, were
a reall work, and not the Act of a tongue, or pen; but in plain terms,
whether the report be true, or a lye. In which question we are not every
one, to make our own private Reason, or Conscience, but the Publique
Reason, that is, the reason of Gods Supreme Lieutenant, Judge; and
indeed we have made him Judge already, if wee have given him a Soveraign
power, to doe all that is necessary for our peace and defence. A private
man has alwaies the liberty, (because thought is free,) to beleeve,
or not beleeve in his heart, those acts that have been given out for
Miracles, according as he shall see, what benefit can accrew by
mens belief, to those that pretend, or countenance them, and thereby
conjecture, whether they be Miracles, or Lies.
restored to his office: for there by His Word Was Come, is meant, the
thing it self was come to passe. So also (1 King. 18. 36. ) Elijah saith
to God, "I have done all these thy Words," in stead of "I have done all
these things at thy Word," or commandement: and (Jer. 17. 15. ) "Where is
the Word of the Lord," is put for, "Where is the Evill he threatened:"
And (Ezek. 12. 28. ) "There shall none of my Words be prolonged any
more:" by "Words" are understood those Things, which God promised to his
people. And in the New Testament (Mat. 24. 35. ) "heaven and earth shal
pass away, but my Words shall not pass away;" that is, there is nothing
that I have promised or foretold, that shall not come to passe. And in
this sense it is, that St. John the Evangelist, and, I think, St. John
onely calleth our Saviour himself as in the flesh "the Word of God
(as Joh. 1. 14. ) the Word was made Flesh;" that is to say, the Word, or
Promise that Christ should come into the world, "who in the beginning
was with God;" that is to say, it was in the purpose of God the Father,
to send God the Son into the world, to enlighten men in the way of
Eternall life, but it was not till then put in execution, and actually
incarnate; So that our Saviour is there called "the Word," not because
he was the promise, but the thing promised. They that taking occasion
from this place, doe commonly call him the Verbe of God, do but render
the text more obscure. They might as well term him the Nown of God:
for as by Nown, so also by Verbe, men understand nothing but a part
of speech, a voice, a sound, that neither affirms, nor denies, nor
commands, nor promiseth, nor is any substance corporeall, or spirituall;
and therefore it cannot be said to bee either God, or Man; whereas our
Saviour is both. And this Word which St. John in his Gospel saith was
with God, is (in his 1 Epistle, verse 1. ) called "the Word of Life;" and
(verse 2. ) "The eternall life, which was with the Father:" so that he
can be in no other sense called the Word, then in that, wherein he is
called Eternall life; that is, "he that hath procured us Eternall life,"
by his comming in the flesh. So also (Apocalypse 19. 13. ) the Apostle
speaking of Christ, clothed in a garment dipt in bloud, saith; his name
is "the Word of God;" which is to be understood, as if he had said his
name had been, "He that was come according to the purpose of God from
the beginning, and according to his Word and promises delivered by the
Prophets. " So that there is nothing here of the Incarnation of a Word,
but of the Incarnation of God the Son, therefore called the Word,
because his Incarnation was the Performance of the Promise; In like
manner as the Holy Ghost is called The Promise. (Acts 1. 4. Luke 24. 49. )
Thirdly, For The Words Of Reason And Equity
There are also places of the Scripture, where, by the Word of God, is
signified such Words as are consonant to reason, and equity, though
spoken sometimes neither by prophet, nor by a holy man. For Pharaoh
Necho was an Idolator; yet his Words to the good King Josiah, in which
he advised him by Messengers, not to oppose him in his march against
Carchemish, are said to have proceeded from the mouth of God; and that
Josiah not hearkning to them, was slain in the battle; as is to be read
2 Chron. 35. vers. 21,22,23. It is true, that as the same History is
related in the first book of Esdras, not Pharaoh, but Jeremiah spake
these words to Josiah, from the mouth of the Lord. But wee are to
give credit to the Canonicall Scripture, whatsoever be written in the
Apocrypha.
The Word of God, is then also to be taken for the Dictates of reason,
and equity, when the same is said in the Scriptures to bee written in
mans heart; as Psalm 36. 31. Jerem. 31. 33. Deut. 30. 11, 14. and many other
like places.
Divers Acceptions Of The Word Prophet
The name of PROPHET, signifieth in Scripture sometimes Prolocutor; that
is, he that speaketh from God to Man, or from man to God: And sometimes
Praedictor, or a foreteller of things to come; And sometimes one that
speaketh incoherently, as men that are distracted. It is most frequently
used in the sense of speaking from God to the People. So Moses, Samuel,
Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and others were Prophets. And in this sense
the High Priest was a Prophet, for he only went into the Sanctum
Sanctorum, to enquire of God; and was to declare his answer to the
people. And therefore when Caiphas said, it was expedient that one man
should die for the people, St. John saith (chap. 11. 51. ) that "He spake
not this of himselfe, but being High Priest that year, he prophesied
that one man should dye for the nation. " Also they that in Christian
Congregations taught the people, (1 Cor. 14. 3. ) are said to Prophecy. In
the like sense it is, that God saith to Moses (Exod. 4. 16. ) concerning
Aaron, "He shall be thy Spokes-man to the People; and he shall be to
thee a mouth, and thou shalt be to him in stead of God;" that which here
is Spokesman, is (chap. 7. 1. ) interpreted Prophet; "See (saith God)
I have made thee a God to Pharaoh, and Aaron thy Brother shall be thy
Prophet. " In the sense of speaking from man to God, Abraham is called
a Prophet (Genes. 20. 7. ) where God in a Dream speaketh to Abimelech
in this manner, "Now therefore restore the man his wife, for he is a
Prophet, and shall pray for thee;" whereby may be also gathered,
that the name of Prophet may be given, not unproperly to them that
in Christian Churches, have a Calling to say publique prayers for the
Congregation. In the same sense, the Prophets that came down from the
High place (or Hill of God) with a Psaltery, and a Tabret, and a Pipe,
and a Harp (1 Sam. 10. 5,6. ) and (vers. 10. ) Saul amongst them, are said
to Prophecy, in that they praised God, in that manner publiquely. In the
like sense, is Miriam (Exod. 15. 20. ) called a Prophetesse. So is it
also to be taken (1 Cor. 11. 4,5. ) where St. Paul saith, "Every man that
prayeth or prophecyeth with his head covered, &c. and every woman that
prayeth or prophecyeth with her head uncovered: For Prophecy in that
place, signifieth no more, but praising God in Psalmes, and Holy Songs;
which women might doe in the Church, though it were not lawfull for them
to speak to the Congregation. And in this signification it is, that the
Poets of the Heathen, that composed Hymnes and other sorts of Poems in
the honor of their Gods, were called Vates (Prophets) as is well enough
known by all that are versed in the Books of the Gentiles, and as
is evident (Tit. 1. 12. ) where St. Paul saith of the Cretians, that a
Prophet of their owne said, they were Liars; not that St. Paul held
their Poets for Prophets, but acknowledgeth that the word Prophet was
commonly used to signifie them that celebrated the honour of God in
Verse
Praediction Of Future Contingents, Not Alwaies Prophecy
When by Prophecy is meant Praediction, or foretelling of future
Contingents; not only they were Prophets, who were Gods Spokesmen, and
foretold those things to others, which God had foretold to them; but
also all those Imposters, that pretend by the helpe of familiar spirits,
or by superstitious divination of events past, from false causes, to
foretell the like events in time to come: of which (as I have declared
already in the 12. chapter of this Discourse) there be many kinds, who
gain in the opinion of the common sort of men, a greater reputation
of Prophecy, by one casuall event that may bee but wrested to their
purpose, than can be lost again by never so many failings. Prophecy is
not an art, nor (when it is taken for Praediction) a constant Vocation;
but an extraordinary, and temporary Employment from God, most often of
Good men, but sometimes also of the Wicked. The woman of Endor, who
is said to have had a familiar spirit, and thereby to have raised a
Phantasme of Samuel, and foretold Saul his death, was not therefore a
Prophetesse; for neither had she any science, whereby she could raise
such a Phantasme; nor does it appear that God commanded the raising of
it; but onely guided that Imposture to be a means of Sauls terror and
discouragement; and by consequent, of the discomfiture, by which he
fell. And for Incoherent Speech, it was amongst the Gentiles taken for
one sort of Prophecy, because the Prophets of their Oracles, intoxicated
with a spirit, or vapour from the cave of the Pythian Oracle at Delphi,
were for the time really mad, and spake like mad-men; of whose loose
words a sense might be made to fit any event, in such sort, as all
bodies are said to be made of Materia prima. In the Scripture I find
it also so taken (1 Sam. 18. 10. ) in these words, "And the Evill spirit
came upon Saul, and he Prophecyed in the midst of the house. "
The Manner How God Hath Spoken To The Prophets
And although there be so many significations in Scripture of the word
Prophet; yet is that the most frequent, in which it is taken for him,
to whom God speaketh immediately, that which the Prophet is to say from
him, to some other man, or to the people. And hereupon a question may
be asked, in what manner God speaketh to such a Prophet. Can it (may some
say) be properly said, that God hath voice and language, when it cannot
be properly said, he hath a tongue, or other organs, as a man? The
Prophet David argueth thus, "Shall he that made the eye, not see? or he
that made the ear, not hear? " But this may be spoken, not (as usually) to
signifie Gods nature, but to signifie our intention to honor him. For
to See, and Hear, are Honorable Attributes, and may be given to God, to
declare (as far as our capacity can conceive) his Almighty power. But
if it were to be taken in the strict, and proper sense, one might argue
from his making of all parts of mans body, that he had also the same use
of them which we have; which would be many of them so uncomely, as it
would be the greatest contumely in the world to ascribe them to him.
Therefore we are to interpret Gods speaking to men immediately, for that
way (whatsoever it be), by which God makes them understand his will: And
the wayes whereby he doth this, are many; and to be sought onely in the
Holy Scripture: where though many times it be said, that God spake to
this, and that person, without declaring in what manner; yet there be
again many places, that deliver also the signes by which they were
to acknowledge his presence, and commandement; and by these may be
understood, how he spake to many of the rest.
To The Extraordinary Prophets Of The Old Testament He Spake
By Dreams, Or Visions
In what manner God spake to Adam, and Eve, and Cain, and Noah, is not
expressed; nor how he spake to Abraham, till such time as he came out of
his own countrey to Sichem in the land of Canaan; and then (Gen. 12. 7. )
God is said to have Appeared to him. So there is one way, whereby God
made his presence manifest; that is, by an Apparition, or Vision. And
again, (Gen. 15. 1. ) The Word of the Lord came to Abraham in a Vision;
that is to say, somewhat, as a sign of Gods presence, appeared as Gods
Messenger, to speak to him. Again, the Lord appeared to Abraham (Gen.
18. 1. ) by an apparition of three Angels; and to Abimelech (Gen. 20. 3. )
in a dream: To Lot (Gen. 19. 1. ) by an apparition of Two Angels: And
to Hagar (Gen. 21. 17. ) by the apparition of one Angel: And to Abraham
again (Gen. 22. 11. ) by the apparition of a voice from heaven: And (Gen.
26. 24. ) to Isaac in the night; (that is, in his sleep, or by dream):
And to Jacob (Gen. 18. 12. ) in a dream; that is to say (as are the words
of the text) "Jacob dreamed that he saw a ladder, &c. " And (Gen. 32. 1. )
in a Vision of Angels: And to Moses (Exod. 3. 2. ) in the apparition of a
flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: And after the time of Moses,
(where the manner how God spake immediately to man in the Old Testament,
is expressed) hee spake alwaies by a Vision, or by a Dream; as to
Gideon, Samuel, Eliah, Elisha, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and the rest of the
Prophets; and often in the New Testament, as to Joseph, to St. Peter, to
St. Paul, and to St. John the Evangelist in the Apocalypse.
Onely to Moses hee spake in a more extraordinary manner in Mount Sinai,
and in the Tabernacle; and to the High Priest in the Tabernacle, and in
the Sanctum Sanctorum of the Temple. But Moses, and after him the
High Priests were Prophets of a more eminent place, and degree in
Gods favour; And God himself in express words declareth, that to other
Prophets hee spake in Dreams and Visions, but to his servant Moses, in
such manner as a man speaketh to his friend. The words are these (Numb.
12. 6,7,8. ) "If there be a Prophet among you, I the Lord will make my
self known to him in a Vision, and will speak unto him in a Dream. My
servant Moses is not so, who is faithfull in all my house; with him I
will speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, not in dark speeches; and
the similitude of the Lord shall he behold. " And (Exod. 33. 11. ) "The
Lord spake to Moses face to face, as a man speaketh to his friend. "
And yet this speaking of God to Moses, was by mediation of an Angel, or
Angels, as appears expressely, Acts 7. ver. 35. and 53. and Gal. 3. 19.
and was therefore a Vision, though a more cleer Vision than was given to
other Prophets. And conformable hereunto, where God saith (Deut. 13. 1. )
"If there arise amongst you a Prophet, or Dreamer of Dreams," the later
word is but the interpretation of the former. And (Joel 2. 28. ) "Your
sons and your daughters shall Prophecy; your old men shall dream Dreams,
and your young men shall see Visions:" where again, the word Prophecy is
expounded by Dream, and Vision. And in the same manner it was, that God
spake to Solomon, promising him Wisdome, Riches, and Honor; for the text
saith, (1 Kings 3. 15. ) "And Solomon awoak, and behold it was a Dream:"
So that generally the Prophets extraordinary in the old Testament took
notice of the Word of God no otherwise, than from their Dreams, or
Visions, that is to say, from the imaginations which they had in their
sleep, or in an Extasie; which imaginations in every true Prophet were
supernaturall; but in false Prophets were either naturall, or feigned.
The same Prophets were neverthelesse said to speak by the Spirit; as
(Zach. 7. 12. ) where the Prophet speaking of the Jewes, saith, "They
made their hearths hard as Adamant, lest they should hear the law, and
the words which the Lord of Hosts hath sent in his Spirit by the former
Prophets. " By which it is manifest, that speaking by the Spirit, or
Inspiration, was not a particular manner of Gods speaking, different
from Vision, when they that were said to speak by the Spirit, were
extraordinary Prophets, such as for every new message, were to have a
particular Commission, or (which is all one) a new Dream, or Vision.
To Prophets Of Perpetuall Calling, And Supreme, God Spake In The
Old Testament From The Mercy Seat, In A Manner Not Expressed In The
Scripture. Of Prophets, that were so by a perpetuall Calling in the Old
Testament, some were Supreme, and some Subordinate: Supreme were first
Moses; and after him the High Priest, every one for his time, as long
as the Priesthood was Royall; and after the people of the Jews, had
rejected God, that he should no more reign over them, those Kings which
submitted themselves to Gods government, were also his chief Prophets;
and the High Priests office became Ministeriall. And when God was to be
consulted, they put on the holy vestments, and enquired of the Lord,
as the King commanded them, and were deprived of their office, when
the King thought fit. For King Saul (1 Sam. 13. 9. ) commanded the burnt
offering to be brought, and (1 Sam. 14. 18.
) he commands the Priest to
bring the Ark neer him; and (ver. 19. ) again to let it alone, because he
saw an advantage upon his enemies. And in the same chapter Saul asketh
counsell of God. In like manner King David, after his being anointed,
though before he had possession of the Kingdome, is said to "enquire
of the Lord" (1 Sam. 23. 2. ) whether he should fight against the
Philistines at Keilah; and (verse 10. ) David commandeth the Priest to
bring him the Ephod, to enquire whether he should stay in Keilah,
or not. And King Solomon (1 Kings 2. 27. ) took the Priesthood from
Abiathar, and gave it (verse 35. ) to Zadoc. Therefore Moses, and
the High Priests, and the pious Kings, who enquired of God on all
extraordinary occasions, how they were to carry themselves, or what
event they were to have, were all Soveraign Prophets. But in what manner
God spake unto them, is not manifest. To say that when Moses went up to
God in Mount Sinai, it was a Dream, or Vision, such as other Prophets
had, is contrary to that distinction which God made between Moses, and
other Prophets, Numb. 12. 6,7,8. To say God spake or appeared as he
is in his own nature, is to deny his Infinitenesse, Invisibility,
Incomprehensibility. To say he spake by Inspiration, or Infusion of the
Holy Spirit, as the Holy Spirit signifieth the Deity, is to make Moses
equall with Christ, in whom onely the Godhead (as St. Paul speaketh Col.
2. 9. ) dwelleth bodily. And lastly, to say he spake by the Holy Spirit,
as it signifieth the graces, or gifts of the Holy Spirit, is to
attribute nothing to him supernaturall. For God disposeth men to Piety,
Justice, Mercy, Truth, Faith, and all manner of Vertue, both Morall,
and Intellectuall, by doctrine, example, and by severall occasions,
naturall, and ordinary.
And as these ways cannot be applyed to God, in his speaking to Moses, at
Mount Sinai; so also, they cannot be applyed to him, in his speaking
to the High Priests, from the Mercy-Seat. Therefore in what manner God
spake to those Soveraign Prophets of the Old Testament, whose office
it was to enquire of him, is not intelligible. In the time of the New
Testament, there was no Soveraign Prophet, but our Saviour; who was both
God that spake, and the Prophet to whom he spake.
To Prophets Of Perpetuall Calling, But Subordinate, God Spake By The
Spirit. To subordinate Prophets of perpetuall Calling, I find not any
place that proveth God spake to them supernaturally; but onely in
such manner, as naturally he inclineth men to Piety, to Beleef, to
Righteousnesse, and to other vertues all other Christian Men. Which
way, though it consist in Constitution, Instruction, Education, and the
occasions and invitements men have to Christian vertues; yet it is truly
attributed to the operation of the Spirit of God, or Holy Spirit
(which we in our language call the Holy Ghost): For there is no good
inclination, that is not of the operation of God. But these operations
are not alwaies supernaturall. When therefore a Prophet is said to speak
in the Spirit, or by the Spirit of God, we are to understand no more,
but that he speaks according to Gods will, declared by the supreme
Prophet. For the most common acceptation of the word Spirit, is in the
signification of a mans intention, mind, or disposition.
In the time of Moses, there were seventy men besides himself, that
Prophecyed in the Campe of the Israelites. In what manner God spake to
them, is declared in the 11 of Numbers, verse 25. "The Lord came down in
a cloud, and spake unto Moses, and took of the Spirit that was upon him,
and gave it to the seventy Elders. And it came to passe, when the Spirit
rested upon them, they Prophecyed, and did not cease," By which it is
manifest, first, that their Prophecying to the people, was subservient,
and subordinate to the Prophecying of Moses; for that God took of the
Spirit of Moses, to put upon them; so that they Prophecyed as Moses
would have them: otherwise they had not been suffered to Prophecy at
all. For there was (verse 27. ) a complaint made against them to Moses;
and Joshua would have Moses to have forbidden them; which he did not,
but said to Joshua, Bee not jealous in my behalf. Secondly, that
the Spirit of God in that place, signifieth nothing but the Mind and
Disposition to obey, and assist Moses in the administration of the
Government. For if it were meant they had the substantial Spirit of God;
that is, the Divine nature, inspired into them, then they had it in no
lesse manner than Christ himself, in whom onely the Spirit of God dwelt
bodily. It is meant therefore of the Gift and Grace of God, that guided
them to co-operate with Moses; from whom their Spirit was derived. And
it appeareth (verse 16. ) that, they were such as Moses himself should
appoint for Elders and Officers of the People: For the words are,
"Gather unto me seventy men, whom thou knowest to be Elders and
Officers of the people:" where, "thou knowest," is the same with "thou
appointest," or "hast appointed to be such. " For we are told
before (Exod. 18. ) that Moses following the counsell of Jethro his
Father-in-law, did appoint Judges, and Officers over the people, such as
feared God; and of these, were those Seventy, whom God by putting upon
them Moses spirit, inclined to aid Moses in the Administration of the
Kingdome: and in this sense the Spirit of God is said (1 Sam. 16. 13,
14. ) presently upon the anointing of David, to have come upon David, and
left Saul; God giving his graces to him he chose to govern his people,
and taking them away from him, he rejected. So that by the Spirit is
meant Inclination to Gods service; and not any supernaturall Revelation.
God Sometimes Also Spake By Lots
God spake also many times by the event of Lots; which were ordered by
such as he had put in Authority over his people. So wee read that God
manifested by the Lots which Saul caused to be drawn (1 Sam. 14. 43. )
the fault that Jonathan had committed, in eating a honey-comb, contrary
to the oath taken by the people. And (Josh. 18. 10. ) God divided the
land of Canaan amongst the Israelite, by the "lots that Joshua did cast
before the Lord in Shiloh. " In the same manner it seemeth to be, that
God discovered (Joshua 7. 16. , &c. ) the crime of Achan. And these are the
wayes whereby God declared his Will in the Old Testament.
All which ways he used also in the New Testament. To the Virgin Mary, by
a Vision of an Angel: To Joseph in a Dream: again to Paul in the way
to Damascus in a Vision of our Saviour: and to Peter in the Vision of
a sheet let down from heaven, with divers sorts of flesh, of clean and
unclean, beasts; and in prison, by Vision of an Angel: And to all the
Apostles, and Writers of the New Testament, by the graces of his Spirit;
and to the Apostles again (at the choosing of Matthias in the place of
Judas Iscariot) by lot.
Every Man Ought To Examine The Probability Of A Pretended Prophets
Calling
Seeing then all Prophecy supposeth Vision, or Dream, (which two, when
they be naturall, are the same,) or some especiall gift of God, so
rarely observed in mankind, as to be admired where observed; and seeing
as well such gifts, as the most extraordinary Dreams, and Visions, may
proceed from God, not onely by his supernaturall, and immediate, but
also by his naturall operation, and by mediation of second causes;
there is need of Reason and Judgement to discern between naturall, and
supernaturall Gifts, and between naturall, and supernaturall Visions, or
Dreams. And consequently men had need to be very circumspect, and wary,
in obeying the voice of man, that pretending himself to be a Prophet,
requires us to obey God in that way, which he in Gods name telleth us to
be the way to happinesse. For he that pretends to teach men the way of
so great felicity, pretends to govern them; that is to say, to rule, and
reign over them; which is a thing, that all men naturally desire, and
is therefore worthy to be suspected of Ambition and Imposture; and
consequently, ought to be examined, and tryed by every man, before hee
yeeld them obedience; unlesse he have yeelded it them already, in
the institution of a Common-wealth; as when the Prophet is the Civill
Soveraign, or by the Civil Soveraign Authorized. And if this examination
of Prophets, and Spirits, were not allowed to every one of the people,
it had been to no purpose, to set out the marks, by which every man
might be able, to distinguish between those, whom they ought, and those
whom they ought not to follow. Seeing therefore such marks are set out
(Deut. 13. 1,&c. ) to know a Prophet by; and (1 John 4. 1. &C) to know a
Spirit by: and seeing there is so much Prophecying in the Old Testament;
and so much Preaching in the New Testament against Prophets; and so much
greater a number ordinarily of false Prophets, then of true; every
one is to beware of obeying their directions, at their own perill. And
first, that there were many more false than true Prophets, appears by
this, that when Ahab (1 Kings 12. ) consulted four hundred Prophets, they
were all false Imposters, but onely one Michaiah. And a little before
the time of the Captivity, the Prophets were generally lyars. "The
Prophets" (saith the Lord by Jerem. cha. 14. verse 14. ) "prophecy Lies
in my name. I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, nor spake
unto them, they prophecy to you a false Vision, a thing of naught; and
the deceit of their heart. " In so much as God commanded the People by
the mouth of the Prophet Jeremiah (chap. 23. 16. ) not to obey them.
"Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, hearken not unto the words of the
Prophets, that prophecy to you. They make you vain, they speak a Vision
of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord. "
All Prophecy But Of The Soveraign Prophet Is To Be Examined
By Every Subject
Seeing then there was in the time of the Old Testament, such quarrells
amongst the Visionary Prophets, one contesting with another, and asking
When departed the Spirit from me, to go to thee? as between Michaiah,
and the rest of the four hundred; and such giving of the Lye to one
another, (as in Jerem. 14. 14. ) and such controversies in the New
Testament at this day, amongst the Spirituall Prophets: Every man then
was, and now is bound to make use of his Naturall Reason, to apply to
all Prophecy those Rules which God hath given us, to discern the
true from the false. Of which rules, in the Old Testament, one was,
conformable doctrine to that which Moses the Soveraign Prophet had
taught them; and the other the miraculous power of foretelling what God
would bring to passe, as I have already shown out of Deut. 13. 1. &c.
and in the New Testament there was but one onely mark; and that was the
preaching of this Doctrine, That Jesus Is The Christ, that is, the
King of the Jews, promised in the Old Testament. Whosoever denyed that
Article, he was a false Prophet, whatsoever miracles he might seem to
work; and he that taught it was a true Prophet. For St. John (1 Epist,
4. 2, &c) speaking expressely of the means to examine Spirits, whether
they be of God, or not; after he hath told them that there would arise
false Prophets, saith thus, "Hereby know ye the Spirit of God. Every
Spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is of
God;" that is, is approved and allowed as a Prophet of God: not that
he is a godly man, or one of the Elect, for this, that he confesseth,
professeth, or preacheth Jesus to be the Christ; but for that he is a
Prophet avowed. For God sometimes speaketh by Prophets, whose persons he
hath not accepted; as he did by Baalam; and as he foretold Saul of his
death, by the Witch of Endor. Again in the next verse, "Every Spirit
that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the Flesh, is not
of Christ. And this is the Spirit of Antichrist. " So that the rule is
perfect on both sides; that he is a true Prophet, which preacheth the
Messiah already come, in the person of Jesus; and he a false one that
denyeth him come, and looketh for him in some future Imposter, that
shall take upon him that honour falsely, whom the Apostle there properly
calleth Antichrist. Every man therefore ought to consider who is the
Soveraign Prophet; that is to say, who it is, that is Gods Viceregent
on earth; and hath next under God, the Authority of Governing Christian
men; and to observe for a Rule, that Doctrine, which in the name of
God, hee commanded to bee taught; and thereby to examine and try out
the truth of those Doctrines, which pretended Prophets with miracles, or
without, shall at any time advance: and if they find it contrary to that
Rule, to doe as they did, that came to Moses, and complained that there
were some that Prophecyed in the Campe, whose Authority so to doe they
doubted of; and leave to the Soveraign, as they did to Moses to uphold,
or to forbid them, as hee should see cause; and if hee disavow them,
then no more to obey their voice; or if he approve them, then to obey
them, as men to whom God hath given a part of the Spirit of their
Soveraigne. For when Christian men, take not their Christian Soveraign,
for Gods Prophet; they must either take their owne Dreams, for the
prophecy they mean to bee governed by, and the tumour of their own
hearts for the Spirit of God; or they must suffer themselves to bee lead
by some strange Prince; or by some of their fellow subjects, that can
bewitch them, by slander of the government, into rebellion, without
other miracle to confirm their calling, then sometimes an extraordinary
successe, and Impunity; and by this means destroying all laws, both
divine, and humane, reduce all Order, Government, and Society, to the
first Chaos of Violence, and Civill warre.
CHAPTER XXXVII. OF MIRACLES, AND THEIR USE
A Miracle Is A Work That Causeth Admiration
By Miracles are signified the Admirable works of God: & therefore they
are also called Wonders. And because they are for the most part, done,
for a signification of his commandement, in such occasions, as
without them, men are apt to doubt, (following their private naturall
reasoning,) what he hath commanded, and what not, they are commonly in
Holy Scripture, called Signes, in the same sense, as they are called by
the Latines, Ostenta, and Portenta, from shewing, and fore-signifying
that, which the Almighty is about to bring to passe.
And Must Therefore Be Rare, Whereof There Is No Naturall Cause Known
To understand therefore what is a Miracle, we must first understand what
works they are, which men wonder at, and call Admirable. And there be
but two things which make men wonder at any event: The one is, if it
be strange, that is to say, such, as the like of it hath never, or very
rarely been produced: The other is, if when it is produced, we cannot
imagine it to have been done by naturall means, but onely by the
immediate hand of God. But when wee see some possible, naturall cause of
it, how rarely soever the like has been done; or if the like have been
often done, how impossible soever it be to imagine a naturall means
thereof, we no more wonder, nor esteem it for a Miracle.
Therefore, if a Horse, or Cow should speak, it were a Miracle; because
both the thing is strange, & the Naturall cause difficult to imagin: So
also were it, to see a strange deviation of nature, in the production
of some new shape of a living creature. But when a man, or other Animal,
engenders his like, though we know no more how this is done, than the
other; yet because 'tis usuall, it is no Miracle. In like manner, if a
man be metamorphosed into a stone, or into a pillar, it is a Miracle;
because strange: but if a peece of wood be so changed; because we see it
often, it is no Miracle: and yet we know no more, by what operation of
God, the one is brought to passe, than the other.
The first Rainbow that was seen in the world, was a Miracle, because the
first; and consequently strange; and served for a sign from God, placed
in heaven, to assure his people, there should be no more an universall
destruction of the world by Water. But at this day, because they
are frequent, they are not Miracles, neither to them that know their
naturall causes, nor to them who know them not. Again, there be many
rare works produced by the Art of man: yet when we know they are done;
because thereby wee know also the means how they are done, we count them
not for Miracles, because not wrought by the immediate hand of God, but
by mediation of humane Industry.
That Which Seemeth A Miracle To One Man, May Seem Otherwise To Another
Furthermore, seeing Admiration and Wonder, is consequent to the
knowledge and experience, wherewith men are endued, some more, some
lesse; it followeth, that the same thing, may be a Miracle to one, and
not to another. And thence it is, that ignorant, and superstitious men
make great Wonders of those works, which other men, knowing to proceed
from Nature, (which is not the immediate, but the ordinary work of God,)
admire not at all: As when Ecclipses of the Sun and Moon have been taken
for supernaturall works, by the common people; when neverthelesse, there
were others, could from their naturall causes, have foretold the very
hour they should arrive: Or, as when a man, by confederacy, and secret
intelligence, getting knowledge of the private actions of an ignorant,
unwary man, thereby tells him, what he has done in former time; it seems
to him a Miraculous thing; but amongst wise, and cautelous men, such
Miracles as those, cannot easily be done.
The End Of Miracles
Again, it belongeth to the nature of a Miracle, that it be wrought for
the procuring of credit to Gods Messengers, Ministers, and Prophets,
that thereby men may know, they are called, sent, and employed by God,
and thereby be the better inclined to obey them. And therefore, though
the creation of the world, and after that the destruction of all living
creatures in the universall deluge, were admirable works; yet because
they were not done to procure credit to any Prophet, or other Minister
of God, they use not to be called Miracles. For how admirable soever any
work be, the Admiration consisteth not in that it could be done, because
men naturally beleeve the Almighty can doe all things, but because he
does it at the Prayer, or Word of a man. But the works of God in Egypt,
by the hand of Moses, were properly Miracles; because they were done
with intention to make the people of Israel beleeve, that Moses came
unto them, not out of any design of his owne interest, but as sent from
God. Therefore after God had commanded him to deliver the Israelites
from the Egyptian bondage, when he said (Exod 4. 1. &c. ) "They will not
beleeve me, but will say, the Lord hath not appeared unto me," God gave
him power, to turn the Rod he had in his hand into a Serpent, and again
to return it into a Rod; and by putting his hand into his bosome, to
make it leprous; and again by pulling it out to make it whole, to make
the Children of Israel beleeve (as it is verse 5. ) that the God of their
Fathers had appeared unto him; And if that were not enough, he gave
him power to turn their waters into bloud. And when hee had done these
Miracles before the people, it is said (verse 41. ) that "they beleeved
him. " Neverthelesse, for fear of Pharaoh, they durst not yet obey him.
Therefore the other works which were done to plague Pharaoh and the
Egyptians, tended all to make the Israelites beleeve in Moses, and were
properly Miracles. In like manner if we consider all the Miracles
done by the hand of Moses, and all the rest of the Prophets, till the
Captivity; and those of our Saviour, and his Apostles afterward; we
shall find, their end was alwaies to beget, or confirm beleefe, that
they came not of their own motion, but were sent by God. Wee may further
observe in Scripture, that the end of Miracles, was to beget beleef,
not universally in all men, elect, and reprobate; but in the elect
only; that is to say, is such as God had determined should become his
Subjects. For those miraculous plagues of Egypt, had not for end, the
conversion of Pharaoh; For God had told Moses before, that he would
harden the heart of Pharaoh, that he should not let the people goe: And
when he let them goe at last, not the Miracles perswaded him, but the
plagues forced him to it. So also of our Saviour, it is written, (Mat.
13. 58. ) that he wrought not many Miracles in his own countrey, because
of their unbeleef; and (in Marke 6. 5. ) in stead of, "he wrought not
many," it is, "he could work none. " It was not because he wanted power;
which to say, were blasphemy against God; nor that the end of Miracles
was not to convert incredulous men to Christ; for the end of all the
Miracles of Moses, of Prophets, of our Saviour, and of his Apostles
was to adde men to the Church; but it was, because the end of their
Miracles, was to adde to the Church (not all men, but) such as should
be saved; that is to say, such as God had elected. Seeing therefore
our Saviour sent from his Father, hee could not use his power in the
conversion of those, whom his Father had rejected. They that expounding
this place of St. Marke, say, that his word, "Hee could not," is put
for, "He would not," do it without example in the Greek tongue, (where
Would Not, is put sometimes for Could Not, in things inanimate, that
have no will; but Could Not, for Would Not, never,) and thereby lay
a stumbling block before weak Christians; as if Christ could doe no
Miracles, but amongst the credulous.
The Definition Of A Miracle
From that which I have here set down, of the nature, and use of a
Miracle, we may define it thus, "A MIRACLE, is a work of God, (besides
his operation by the way of Nature, ordained in the Creation,) done
for the making manifest to his elect, the mission of an extraordinary
Minister for their salvation. "
And from this definition, we may inferre; First, that in all Miracles,
the work done, is not the effect of any vertue in the Prophet; because
it is the effect of the immediate hand of God; that is to say God hath
done it, without using the Prophet therein, as a subordinate cause.
Secondly, that no Devil, Angel, or other created Spirit, can do a
Miracle. For it must either be by vertue of some naturall science, or
by Incantation, that is, vertue of words. For if the Inchanters do it
by their own power independent, there is some power that proceedeth not
from God; which all men deny: and if they doe it by power given them,
then is the work not from the immediate hand of God, but naturall, and
consequently no Miracle.
There be some texts of Scripture, that seem to attribute the power of
working wonders (equall to some of those immediate Miracles, wrought
by God himself,) to certain Arts of Magick, and Incantation. As for
example, when we read that after the Rod of Moses being cast on the
ground became a Serpent, (Exod. 7. 11. ) "the Magicians of Egypt did the
like by their Enchantments;" and that after Moses had turned the waters
of the Egyptian Streams, Rivers, Ponds, and Pooles of water into blood,
(Exod. 7. 22. ) "the Magicians of Egypt did so likewise, with their
Enchantments;" and that after Moses had by the power of God brought
frogs upon the land, (Exod. 8. 7. ) "the Magicians also did so with their
Enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt;" will not a
man be apt to attribute Miracles to Enchantments; that is to say, to the
efficacy of the sound of Words; and think the same very well proved out
of this, and other such places? and yet there is no place of Scripture,
that telleth us what on Enchantment is. If therefore Enchantment be not,
as many think it, a working of strange effects by spells, and words;
but Imposture, and delusion, wrought by ordinary means; and so far
from supernaturall, as the Impostors need not the study so much as of
naturall causes, but the ordinary ignorance, stupidity, and superstition
of mankind, to doe them; those texts that seem to countenance the power
of Magick, Witchcraft, and Enchantment, must needs have another sense,
than at first sight they seem to bear.
That Men Are Apt To Be Deceived By False Miracles
For it is evident enough, that Words have no effect, but on those
that understand them; and then they have no other, but to signifie the
intentions, or passions of them that speak; and thereby produce, hope,
fear, or other passions, or conceptions in the hearer. Therefore when a
Rod seemeth a Serpent, or the Water Bloud, or any other Miracle seemeth
done by Enchantment; if it be not to the edification of Gods people,
not the Rod, nor the Water, nor any other thing is enchanted; that is
to say, wrought upon by the Words, but the Spectator. So that all the
Miracle consisteth in this, that the Enchanter has deceived a man; which
is no Miracle, but a very easie matter to doe.
For such is the ignorance, and aptitude to error generally of all men,
but especially of them that have not much knowledge of naturall causes,
and of the nature, and interests of men; as by innumerable and easie
tricks to be abused. What opinion of miraculous power, before it was
known there was a Science of the course of the Stars, might a man have
gained, that should have told the people, This hour, or day the Sun
should be darkned? A juggler by the handling of his goblets, and other
trinkets, if it were not now ordinarily practised, would be thought
to do his wonders by the power at least of the Devil. A man that hath
practised to speak by drawing in of his breath, (which kind of men in
antient time were called Ventriloqui,) and so make the weaknesse of
his voice seem to proceed, not from the weak impulsion of the organs
of Speech, but from distance of place, is able to make very many men
beleeve it is a voice from Heaven, whatsoever he please to tell them.
And for a crafty man, that hath enquired into the secrets, and familiar
confessions that one man ordinarily maketh to another of his actions and
adventures past, to tell them him again is no hard matter; and yet there
be many, that by such means as that, obtain the reputation of being
Conjurers. But it is too long a businesse, to reckon up the severall
sorts of those men, which the Greeks called Thaumaturgi, that is to say,
workers of things wonderfull; and yet these do all they do, by their
own single dexterity. But if we looke upon the Impostures wrought by
Confederacy, there is nothing how impossible soever to be done, that is
impossible to bee beleeved. For two men conspiring, one to seem lame,
the other to cure him with a charme, will deceive many: but many
conspiring, one to seem lame, another so to cure him, and all the rest
to bear witnesse; will deceive many more.
Cautions Against The Imposture Of Miracles
In this aptitude of mankind, to give too hasty beleefe to pretended
Miracles, there can be no better, nor I think any other caution, than
that which God hath prescribed, first by Moses, (as I have said before
in the precedent chapter,) in the beginning of the 13. and end of the
18. of Deuteronomy; That wee take not any for Prophets, that teach any
other Religion, then that which Gods Lieutenant, (which at that time was
Moses,) hath established; nor any, (though he teach the same Religion,)
whose Praediction we doe not see come to passe. Moses therefore in his
time, and Aaron, and his successors in their times, and the Soveraign
Governour of Gods people, next under God himself, that is to say, the
Head of the Church in all times, are to be consulted, what doctrine
he hath established, before wee give credit to a pretended Miracle, or
Prophet. And when that is done, the thing they pretend to be a Miracle,
we must both see it done, and use all means possible to consider,
whether it be really done; and not onely so, but whether it be such, as
no man can do the like by his naturall power, but that it requires the
immediate hand of God. And in this also we must have recourse to Gods
Lieutenant; to whom in all doubtfull cases, wee have submitted our
private judgments. For Example; if a man pretend, that after certain
words spoken over a peece of bread, that presently God hath made it not
bread, but a God, or a man, or both, and neverthelesse it looketh still
as like bread as ever it did; there is no reason for any man to think
it really done; nor consequently to fear him, till he enquire of God,
by his Vicar, or Lieutenant, whether it be done, or not. If he say not,
then followeth that which Moses saith, (Deut. 18. 22. ) "he hath spoken
it presumptuously, thou shalt not fear him. " If he say 'tis done, then
he is not to contradict it. So also if wee see not, but onely hear tell
of a Miracle, we are to consult the Lawful Church; that is to say, the
lawful Head thereof, how far we are to give credit to the relators of
it. And this is chiefly the case of men, that in these days live under
Christian Soveraigns. For in these times, I do not know one man, that
ever saw any such wondrous work, done by the charm, or at the word,
or prayer of a man, that a man endued but with a mediocrity of reason,
would think supernaturall: and the question is no more, whether what wee
see done, be a Miracle; whether the Miracle we hear, or read of, were
a reall work, and not the Act of a tongue, or pen; but in plain terms,
whether the report be true, or a lye. In which question we are not every
one, to make our own private Reason, or Conscience, but the Publique
Reason, that is, the reason of Gods Supreme Lieutenant, Judge; and
indeed we have made him Judge already, if wee have given him a Soveraign
power, to doe all that is necessary for our peace and defence. A private
man has alwaies the liberty, (because thought is free,) to beleeve,
or not beleeve in his heart, those acts that have been given out for
Miracles, according as he shall see, what benefit can accrew by
mens belief, to those that pretend, or countenance them, and thereby
conjecture, whether they be Miracles, or Lies.
