SECTION IV.

The Opposition made to the Gospel.

If opposition was made to the introduction of a pagan system, the sword decided the dispute. Mohammed pretended a commission to silence opposers in the same way. But how diffe

rent is the spirit of the gospel! "The weapons of our warfare are not carnal." "Behold," says Christ to his apostles, "I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves." The artillery of opposition to the gospel was planted in every quarter. There was opposition from the prejudices of the people attached to the religion of their fathers; and their attachment was bigoted and fierce in proportion to their ignorance and blindness. There was opposition from the philosopher and the learned; Christianity paid no more respect to the speculations of the literati than to the superstition of the multitude; no wonder that their pride was wounded, and they were roused to revenge the contempt cast upon them. There was opposition from the priests, and all who officiated in the temples, and fattened on the sacrifices. Not only their wealth and influence, but their very existence was at stake. How effectually they could stir up the people to vengeance against innovators, the experience of every age produces abundant testimony. There was still more formidable opposition from the rulers of the world. It was not merely an alliance between church and state under the reign of paganism, but to speak more properly, an incorporation of religion into the civil constitution; and in the Roman empire especially, the chief magistrates bore the most distinguished offices of religion. The emperor had the title of Pontifex Maximus, and those who were next to him in power sustained the sacerdotal offices next in dignity. What an alarm may those men be supposed to feel at the entrance of a system which, if successful, would strip them of all their dignity and influence in matters of religion; and which might likewise, in their apprehensions, endanger the public peace and the stability of their civil authority-and how tenacious of every grain of power rulers have always been, the history of all ages clearly demonstrates. Or, if they did not themselves suspect danger, the other classes, concealing, under the pretext of zeal for the ruler's safety and the country's peace, the fears they felt for the loss of their dignities and emoluments, would not be slow

to call for the interference of the arm of authority, to put a stop to the designs of such dangerous men.

Nor was there less opposition from the Jews than from the Gentiles. Christianity, by placing all nations on a level, struck a blow at the root of the pride of every Jew. His superior privilege in being one of God's peculiar people was instantly lost. So keen an abhorrence had they of this, that when Paul, in the course of a speech, mentioned that Christ had sent him to preach to the Gentiles, they cried out, "Away with such a fellow from the earth, for it is not fit that he should live."Acts xxii. 22. They had heard him for a considerable time in silence; but when he spoke of the Gentiles being admitted to equal privileges with the Jews they could bear it no longer, but eagerly sought to imbrue their hands in the blood of the impious blasphemer. Such was the spirit of what would be called the populace among the Jews. To a smaller portion of honesty the Pharisees united equal opposition, and superior hatred. If Christianity should prevail, they must fall from the pinnacle of veneration into the abyss of contempt. And is there any thing which they will oppose with greater violence and fervour than the pride of superior knowledge, and of the sanctimonious observance of every rite? The priests had kindred feelings with those among the heathens; the magistrates too were forward of themselves to oppose from the causes already assigned; or they were in a manner forced to it, in order to please the people.

All these kinds of opposition were in addition to that grand radical prejudice which reigns in every depraved heart; namely, the dislike of a religion which commands to sacrifice pride at the foot of the cross of Jesus; and which enjoins perfect purity in heart and life, and the destruction of every sinful thought, and word, and deed.

That this is not speculative reasoning, the treatment of Christ and his apostles, and of inferior teachers, will clearly prove. Reproach, loss of goods, banishment, imprisonment, and death, were their reward from the Jews. The Gentiles betrayed a similar spirit; and the preachers of Christianity were treated by them with equal dislike and equal severity. Success here will be remarkable indeed.

SECTION V.

The Sacrifices which those must make who embrace the Gospel.

It is not easy for those who live where Christianity is the prevailing religion of a country, and where the civil institutions are not contrary to its dictates, to form a just idea of what every convert in the age of the apostles was obliged to endure, and of the sacrifices he was constrained to make. Paganism had so blended its religious rites with the business and recreations of life, that a conscientious Christian was reduced to very considerable difficulties, as well as to very painful privations. To say nothing of the theatre, the games, the shows, the triumphal processions, in all of which heathen ceremonies were mingled (and to abstain from these would be reckoned no small sacrifice by multitudes), idolatrous superstitions insinuated themselves into their family arrangements, and were introduced into their hospitable entertainments, and acts of civility to their friends. This must have been exceedingly painful to the converts to the gospel, and must have almost excluded them from social intercourse, and the enjoyment of the comforts of relationship and consanguinity.

Besides, they were looked on with aversion by all. Some regarded them as atheists and enemies of their gods; and they were branded as haters, as well as hated, of the human race. Society lost its charms to them; they saw nothing but frowns, or what was more bitter, the smile of ridicule or contempt. They were often cast off by their friends and relations; they were looked upon as the offscouring of all things; they were loaded with the most opprobrious names which hatred could invent; and they had to endure, in silence, the jeers of the rude multitude, as they passed along.

The effects of these sentiments followed Christians into the scenes of business, and proved very serious disadvantages in their worldly affairs. Their most bigoted heathen neighbours would have no dealings with those who abhorred their gods. Sometimes the furious mob, or a rapacious magistrate, spoiled them of their goods. As if unworthy to enjoy the common blessings of society, sometimes they were cast into prison along with the most abandoned criminals; sometimes they were banished from their country, and all that was dear to them; sometimes the most eminent for piety and zeal, and indeed all

who adhered to their profession, were put to death; and in their death every species of cruelty was employed; and when any public calamity befell the Roman empire, "The Christians are the cause,' was the pagan cry; and they must expiate the offence by the loss of all things, and by the most excruciating tortures.

Such were the prospects of every man who embraced the gospel, when it was first preached; and every day's experience strongly confirmed the mournful fact. Those who at that time became converts to paganism met with neither injury nor reproach. Mohammed's proselytes were on the road to honour and pleasure, in a present life. The gospel, it is true, had its rewards, but they were such as eye could not see, nor earthly passion feel; they were after death. With such sacrifices in view, who could be expected to embrace the Christian faith?

SECTION VI.

The Success of the Gospel and the number of its Converts.

WHEN I take a close and attentive view of all these things, I do not see, that, according to mere human ideas, Christianity could possibly have any success among either Jews or Gentiles. Such a system, introduced by such men, in a way so little alluring, having such formidable opposition to encounter, and demanding such sacrifices from every convert-what progress can it be supposed to make? A stranger to the records of the Christian church would say, none. But what was its fate? Three thousand men joined the society of believers, on the very day that the banners of the cross were first raised. Every succeeding one added new subjects to Christ's spiritual kingdom. Myriads in Jerusalem bowed the knee of adoration to the crucified Jesus. Multitudes believed in Samaria, at Lydda, at Joppa, at Cesarea. From Judea the Apostles travel to the Gentiles. There are societies of Christians formed at Antioch, at Ephesus, at Corinth, at Athens, and at Rome. Every year produces considerable accessions to the number of believers. The victorious march of the gospel is not stopped by the death of the apostles; it spreads wider and wider amidst the fiercest opposition. Under persecutions, at which human nature shudders, it maintains its ground; and it grows after them with increasing vigour and strength. At last, after near three centuries of contest, its enemies are over

come; it is invited to sit down on the throne of the Cæsars; and its glorious energies, without help from man, are apparent to all.

What shall we say to these things? That the testimony of the apostles must have been convincing, and accompanied with miraculous powers, as well as with the inward energy of the Holy Ghost? He who denies this, and yet grants (for deny he cannot) the success of the gospel, the success of a religion which was in direct opposition to the sentiments, dispositions, and conduct of all the world; a success rapid, continuing, and increasing-believes the most astonishing miracle that was ever performed. But the sober and patient inquirer, who candidly weighs every part, must acknowledge that this book has claims to veracity and divinity which are not easily overthrown; and that the success of the gospel, all things considered, is one of the most remarkable events which the moral world has ever presented to view.

Can comparison explain the phenomenon, and remove our astonishment? Comparison still heightens our wonder, and gives additional force to the argument. I will not compare Mohammed, and the caliphs his successors, with the apostles preaching the gospel; for it would be to compare the effects of brute force with the pure operations of judgment and rea

son.*

The philosophers of Greece and Rome were placed in situations nearest to those of the apostles. Arguments were their weapons; they employed no force; but their circumstances were more advantageous. They were admired and venerated,

• The beginning of Mohammed's career bore some resemblance to the manner of the apostles of Christ. He sought to make converts by persuasion only. But had he always adhered to this mode, it is more than probable that his religion would have never been heard of beyond the limits of his native city. During the first three years of his mission, he attached but fourteen proselytes to his cause. Seven years' labour scarcely united to him more than a hundred followers. For the space of ten years, his progress was slow and silent within the walls of Mecca. Such was Mohammed's success in circumstances the most favourable to his efforts; for he was of a noble family; he was protected and patronized by some of the first men of the city, who were also related to him by blood; he possessed the most insinuating address; and conducted his measures with consummate skill. There was likewise no established religion supporting a corporation of men, whose interest it was to oppose his progress. When he had found that persuasion would not accomplish his purpose, in the thirteenth year of his mission, he professed to have received divine authority for employing the sword as an instrument of conversion; and from that time the number of his converts increased in proportion to his valour and his success.