CONTENTS OF VOLUME SECOND. BOOK IV. SECT. III.-The high antiquity of Egypt proved from scripture:-And from the . SECT. VI. —Proves that Moses was skilled in all the learning of Egypt, and the Israelites violently inclined to all their superstitions. That the ritual law was institated partly in opposition to those superstitions, and partly in compliance to the people's prejudices.-That neither that ritual nor Moses's learning is any objection to the divinity of his mission-but a high confirmation of it. In which Herman Witsius's arguments to the contrary are examined and confuted; and the famous prophecy in the twentieth chapter of Ezekiel explained and vindicated against the absurd interpretation of the rabbins and Dr Shuckford, NOTES on the Fourth Book, BOOK V. THE SATURE OF THE JEWISH THEOCRACY EXPLAINED: AND THE DOCTRINE of a Fu- SECT. L-Little light to be got from the systems of Christian writers, or the ob- . SHOT. IV. The consequences of a theocracy considered.-Shown that it must be administered by an extraordinary providence, equally dispensing temporal rewards and punishments, both to the community and to particulars.-That scripture gives this representation of God's government.—And that there are many favourable circumstances in the character of the Jewish people, to induce an impartial examiner to believe that representation to be true, L 280 300 SECT. V.-Shows, that as temporal rewards and punishments were the proper sanc- SECT. VI.-Proves the same point from the books of the New Testament.-What 348 CONTAINS AN EXAMINATION OF ALL THE TEXTS BROUGHT FROM THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS TO PROVE A FUTURE STATE OF REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS DID MAKE SECT. I.-States the question,-shows the adversaries of this work to have much mistaken it. And that the true state of the question alone is a sufficient answer to SECT. II-Enters on an examination of the texts brought from the Old Testament; -first from the book of Job-which is proved to be an allegoric poem, written on the return from the captivity, and representing the circumstances of the people of that time. The famous words, I know that my Redeemer liveth,' &c., shown to signify, in their literal sense, the hopes of a temporal deliverance only, SECT. III.-Contains an examination of the rest of the texts urged from the Old SECT. IV.-Contains an examination of the texts produced from the New Testa- ment, in which the nature of the apostolic reasonings against the errors of Jewish SECT. V.-The agreement of the proposition of no future state in the Mosaic dispen- sation, with the Seventh Article of the church of England evinced.-That the old fathers looked for more than transitory promises, illustrated in the famous case of Abraham,-where it is proved that the command to offer Isaac was merely an in- formation, in a representative action instead of words, of the redemption of man- kind by the great sacrifice of Christ.-Shown how this interpretation overturns all the infidel objections against the truth of this part of Abraham's history, SECT. VI. To support the foregoing interpretation, the original, nature, and use of typical rites and secondary senses in prophecies are inquired into,-In the course of which inquiry, the principles of Mr Collins's book concerning the grounds and reasons of the Christian religion are examined and confuted,-and likewise the reasoning of Dr Sykes against all double senses of prophecies in his book, entitled, The Principles and Connexion of Natural and Revealed Religion, &e.-The use and importance of these questions to the subject of the Divine Legation explained. The conclusion of the argument,—with a recapitulation of it, 555 THE DIVINE LEGATION OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. BOOK IV. CONTINUED.-SECT. III. THE first proposition is, that the Egyptian learning, celebrated in scripture, and the Egyptian superstition there condemned, were the very learning and superstition represented by the Greek writers as the honour and opprobrium of that kingdom. To prove this, I shall in the first place show, both by external and internal evidence, the just pretensions which Egypt had to a superior antiquity: and then examine the new hypothesis of Sir ISAAC NEWTON against that antiquity. It is confessed on all hands, that the Greek writers concur in representing Egypt as one of the most ancient and powerful monarchies in the world. In support of what they deliver, we may observe, that they have given a very particular account of the civil and religious customs in use from the most early times of memory: customs of such a kind, as show the followers of them to have been most polite and powerful.— Thus stands the Grecian evidence. But to this it may be replied, that the Greeks are, in all respects, incompetent witnesses, and carry with them such imperfections as are sufficient to discredit any evidence; being, indeed, very ignorant, and very prejudiced. As this made them liable to imposition: so, falling, as we shall see, into ill hands, they actually were imposed on. Their ignorance may be fairly collected from their age; and from the authors of their intelligence. They all lived long after the times in question; and, though they received indeed their information from Egypt itself; yet, for the most part, it was not till after the entire destruction of that ancient empire, and when it was now become a province, in succession, to Asiatic and European conquerors: when their ancient and public records were destroyed; and their very learning and genius changed to a conformity with their Grecian masters: who would needs, at this time of day, seek wisdom from Egypt, which could but furnish them with their own; though, because they would have it so, disguised under the stately obscurity of an Eastern cover.* See Div. Leg. hook iii. sect. 4. VOL. II. Nor were their prejudices less notorious. They thought themselves Autocthones, the original inhabitants of the earth, and indebted to none for their advantages. But when knowledge and acquaintance with foreign nations had convinced them of their mistake; and that, so far from owing nothing to others, they owed almost every thing to Egypt; their writers, still true to their natural vanity, now gave the post of honour to these, which they could no longer keep to themselves; and complimented their new instructors with the most extravagant antiquity. What the Greeks conceived out of vain-glory, the Egyptians cherished-to promote a trade. This country was long the mart of knowledge for the eastern and western world: and as nothing so much recommends this kind of commodity as its age, they set it off by forged records, which extended their history to a most unreasonable length of time: accounts of these have been conveyed to us by ancient authors, and fully confuted by the modern. Thus stands the objection to the Grecian evidence. And, though I have no business to determine in this question, as the use I make of the Greek authority is not at all affected by it; yet I must needs confess that, were there no writings of higher antiquity to confirm the Grecian, their testimony would be very doubtful: but, could writings of much higher antiquity be found to contradict it, they would deserve to have no credit at all. Whatever therefore they say of the high antiquity of Egypt, unsupported by the reason of the thing, or the testimony of holy scripture, shall never be employed in this inquiry: but whatever reason and scripture seem to contradict, whether it serve the one or other purpose, I shall always totally reject. The unanimous agreement of the Greek writers in representing Egypt as the most ancient and best policied empire in the world, is, as we say, generally known and acknowledged. I. Let us see then, in the first place, what REASON says on this matter. There is, if I be not much mistaken, one circumstance in the situation of Egypt, which seems to assert its claim to a priority amongst the civilized nations; and consequently to its eldership in arts and arms. There is no soil on the face of the globe so fertile, but what, in a little time, becomes naturally effete by pasturage and tillage. This, in the early ages of the world, forced the unsettled tribes of men to be perpetually shifting their abode. For the world lying all before them, they saw a speedier and easier relief in removing to fresh ground, than in turning their thoughts to the recovery of the fertility of that already spent by occupation: for it is necessity alone to which we are indebted for all the artificial methods of supplying our wants. Now the plain of Egypt having its fertility annually restored by the periodic overflowings of the Nile, they, whom chance or choice had once directed to sit down upon its banks, had never after an occasion to * See note E, at the end of this book. |