guilty of Falfhood or Contradiction. And if thefe Books contradict one another, as it is evident they do in many Inftances, it is plain GOD cou'd not be the Author of Both; and, by confequence, if the Scripture be true, the Alcoran muft of neceffity be falfe. To Inftance but in one particular, the Alcoran fays, in the Chapter of Women, GOD hath no Son; the Scripture, in Matt. 3. 17. GOD faid, of Jefus, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleafed; And Heb. 4. 14. it exprefly calls that Jefus, the Son of GOD; and fo in many other things: Now, it is impoffible that both these should be true, or, by confequence, that that fhould be true which fays both are fo. But if this were granted, there is ftill another Objection against this Religion, and that is, that the Rewards therein promis'd will not avail to make me happy, tho' I fhou'd be paratker of them. For all the Promifes made to us in this Paradife, are but meer fenfible Pleasures; as that we fhall have all manner of Herbs, and Fruits, and Drinks, and Women with exceeding great and black Eyes, as in the Chapter of the Merciful, and of Judgment, and elsewhere; and fuch Pleafures as thefe, tho' they may indeed affect my Body, yet they cannot be the happiness of my Soul. Indeed I know

not

not how this Book fhould promife any higher Happiness than that of the Body, because it fhews no means of attaining to it; it fhews no way how my Sins may be pardon'd, and fo my Soul made happy. It faith, I confefs, that GOD is Gracious and Merciful, and therefore will pardon them; but my Reafon tells me, that as GOD is Gracious and Merciful, and therefore will pardon Sin; fo is He alfo Juft and Righteous, and therefore muft punifh it; and how these two can ftand together is not manifefted in the Alcoran, and therefore I dare not truft my Soul with it.

Thus,upon diligent fearch, have I found the two Religions that are moft generally profeffed to have little or nothing of Religi on in them. I fhall therefore, in the next płace, take a view of that Religion which hath the feweft Followers, and that is the Jewish. A Religion not effablish'd by any Humane Laws, nor, indeed, generally profefs'd in any Nation, but only by a Company of defpicable People, fcatter'd up and down the World; which, as the Prophet expreffes it, are become a Proverb of reproach, and a by-word among all nations whither they are driven. The Principles of this Religion are contain'd in a Book, written in the Hebrew Tongue, which they call the Toraks, or Law,

com

compofed of feveral Precepts, Promifes, and Threatnings; together with Hiftories of things paft, and Prophefies of things to come: This Book, they fay, was written by Men infpir'd by GOD himself, and therefore they avouch it not to be of an Humane Invention, but meerly of Divine Inftitution. This Book alfo I have diligently read and examin'd into, and must ingenuously confefs, that at the very firft glance methought I read Divinity in it, and cou'd not but conclude, from the majesty of its Stile, the Purity of its Precepts, the harmony of its Parts, the certainty of its Promifes, and the excellency of its Rewards, that it cou'd be deriv'd from no other Author but GOD himself. It is here only that I find my Maker worfhip'd under the proper Notion of a Deity, as he is Jehovah; and that in the right manner, for we are here commanded to love and ferve him with all our hearts, with all our fouls, our might and mind, Deut. 6. 5. cap. 1o. 12. which is indeed the Perfection of all true Worship whatfoever. And as GOD is here worshipped aright, fo is the Happiness which is here entail'd upon this true Worship, the higheft that it is poflible a Creature fhould be made capable of, being nothing less than the enjoyment of him we worship, so as

to

to have him to be a GOD to us, and ourfelves to be a People to him, Jer.31.33.

But that which I look upon ftill as the fureft Character of the true Religion, is its holding forth the way how I, being a Sinner, can be invefted with this Happinefs; or how GOD can fhew his Juftice in punishing Sin in itself, and yet be fo Merciful, as to pardon and remit it to me, and fo receive me to his Favour which the Religions I view'd before did not fo much as pretend to, nor offer at all at. And this is what this Book of the Law does likewife difcover to me, by fhewing, that GOD Almighty wou'd not vifit our Sins upon ourselves, but upon another Perfon; that he wou'd appoint and ordain one to be our Sponfor or Mediator; who, by his infinite Merit, fhou'd bear and attone for our Iniquities, and fo Thew his Love and Mercy in justifying and acquitting us from our Sins, at the fame time that he manifefts his Juftice in inflicting the Punishment of them upon this Perfon in our ftead. A Method fo deep and mysterious, that if GOD himfelf had not reveal'd it, I am confident no Mortal Man cou'd ever have discover'd or thought of it.

Neither are there any Doubts and Scruples concerning this great Mystery, but

what this Book does clearly answer and refolve, as will appear more plainly from a diftinct Confideration of the feveral Objections that are urg'd against it.

As Ift, That it does not feem agreeable either to Reafon or Scripture, that one Man fhou'd bear the Sins of another, becaufe every Man has enough to do to bear bis own burthen; and fince fin is committed against an Infinite God, and therefore deferves Infinite Punishment, how can any Finite Creature bear this Infinite Punishment, efpecially it being due to fo many Thousands of People as there are in the

World?

But this Book fufficiently unties this Knot for me, by fhewing me, that it is not a meer Man, but GÖD himself that wou'd bear these my Sins, even He whose Name is 3, The Lord our Righteoufness, Jer. 23. 6. where the effential Name of the Moft High GOD, which cannot poflibly be given to any but to him who is the Being of all Beings, is here given to Him who fhou'd thus bear my fins, and juftify my Perfon, whence David alfo calleth him Lord, Pfal. 110. 1. Ifaiah calleth him, The mighty God, Ifai. 9. 6. Yea, and the Lord of Hofts himself, with his own Mouth, calls him his Fellow, Zech. 13. 7.

Object.