Evidences of Christianity by William Paley

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If we dispose our ideas in a different order, the matter stands
thus:--Whilst the transaction was recent, and the original witnesses
were at hand to relate it; and whilst the apostles were busied in
preaching and travelling, in collecting disciples, in forming and
regulating societies of converts, in supporting themselves against
opposition; whilst they exercised their ministry under the harassings of
frequent persecutions, and in a state of almost continual alarm, it is
not probable that, in this engaged, anxious, and unsettled condition of
life, they would think immediately of writing histories for the
information of the public or of posterity.* But it is very probable,
that emergencies might draw from some of them occasional letters upon
the subject of their mission, to converts, or to societies of
converts, with which they were connected; or that they might address
written discourses and exhortations to the disciples of the institution
at large, which would be received and read with a respect proportioned
to the character of the writer. Accounts in the mean time would get
abroad of the extraordinary things that had been passing, written with
different degrees of information and correctness. The extension of the
Christian society, which could no longer be instructed: by a personal
intercourse with the apostles, and the possible circulation of imperfect
or erroneous narratives, would soon teach some amongst them the
expediency of sending forth authentic memoirs of the life and doctrine
of their Master. When accounts appeared authorised by the name, and
credit, and situation of the writers, recommended or recognised by the
apostles and first preachers of the religion, or found to coincide with
what the apostles and first preachers of the religion had taught, other
accounts would fall into disuse and neglect; whilst these, maintaining
their reputation (as, if genuine and well founded, they would do) under
the test of time, inquiry, and contradiction, might be expected to make
their way into the hands of Christians of all countries of the world.

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* This thought occurred to Eusebius: "Nor were the apostles of Christ
greatly concerned about the writing of books, being engaged in a more
excellent ministry which is above all human power." Eccles. Hist. 1.
iii. c. 24.--The same consideration accounts also for the paucity of
Christian writings in the first century of its aera.
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This seems the natural progress of the business; and with this the
records in our possession, and the evidence concerning them correspond.
We have remaining, in the first place, many letters of the kind above
described, which have been preserved with a care and fidelity answering
to the respect with which we may suppose that such letters would be
received. But as these letters were not written to prove the truth of
the Christian religion, in the sense in which we regard that question;
nor to convey information of facts, of which those to whom the letters
were written had been previously informed; we are not to look in them
for anything more than incidental allusions to the Christian history. We
are able, however, to gather from these documents various particular
attestations which have been already enumerated; and this is a species
of written evidence, as far as it goes, in the highest degree
satisfactory, and in point of time perhaps the first. But for our more
circumstantial information, we have, in the next place, five direct
histories, bearing the names of persons acquainted, by their situation,
with the truth of what they relate, and three of them purporting, in the
very body of the narrative, to be written by such persons; of which
books we know, that some were in the hands of those who were
contemporaries of the apostles, and that, in the age immediately
posterior to that, they were in the hands, we may say, of every one, and
received by Christians with so much respect and deference, as to be
constantly quoted and referred to by them, without any doubt of the
truth of their accounts. They were treated as such histories, proceeding
from such authorities, might expect to be treated. In the preface to one
of our histories, we have intimations left us of the existence of some
ancient accounts which are now lost. There is nothing in this
circumstance that can surprise us. It was to be expected, from the
magnitude and novelty of the occasion, that such accounts would swarm.
When better accounts came forth, these died away. Our present histories
superseded others. They soon acquired a character and established a
reputation which does not appear to have belonged to any other: that, at
least, can be proved concerning them which cannot be proved concerning
any other.

But to return to the point which led to these reflections. By
considering our records in either of the two views in which we have
represented them, we shall perceive that we possess a connection of
proofs, and not a naked or solitary testimony; and that the written
evidence is of such a kind, and comes to us in such a state, as the
natural order and progress of things, in the infancy of the institution,
might be expected to produce.

Thirdly: The genuineness of the historical books of the New Testament is
undoubtedly a point of importance, because the strength of their
evidence is augmented by our knowledge of the situation of their
authors, their relation to the subject, and the part which they
sustained in the transaction; and the testimonies which we are able to
produce compose a firm ground of persuasion, that the Gospels were
written by the persons whose names they bear. Nevertheless, I must be
allowed to state, that to the argument which I am endeavouring to
maintain, this point is not essential; I mean, so essential as that the
fate of the argument depends upon it. The question before us is, whether
the Gospels exhibit the story which the apostles and first emissaries of
the religion published, and for which they acted and suffered in the
manner in which, for some miraculous story or other, they did act and
suffer. Now let us suppose that we possess no other information
concerning these books than that they were written by early disciples of
Christianity; that they were known and read during the time, or near the
time, of the original apostles of the religion; that by Christians whom
the apostles instructed, by societies of Christians which the apostles
founded, these books were received, (by which term "received" I mean
that they were believed to contain authentic accounts of the
transactions upon which the religion rested, and accounts which were
accordingly used, repeated, and relied upon,) this reception would be a
valid proof that these books, whoever were the authors of them, must
have accorded with what the apostles taught. A reception by the first
race of Christians, is evidence that they agreed with what the first
teachers of the religion delivered. In particular, if they had not
agreed with what the apostles themselves preached, how could they have
gained credit in churches and societies which the apostles
established?

Now the fact of their early existence, and not only of their existence,
but their reputation, is made out by some ancient testimonies which do
not happen to specify the names of the writers: add to which, what hath
been already hinted, that two out of the four Gospels contain averments
in the body of the history, which, though they do not disclose the
names, fix the time and situation of the authors, viz., that one was
written by an eye-witness of the sufferings of Christ, the other by a
contemporary of the apostles. In the Gospel of St. John (xix. 35),
describing the crucifixion, with the particular circumstance of piercing
Christ's side with a spear, the historian adds, as for himself, "and he
that saw it bare record, and his record is true, and he knoweth that he
saith true, that ye might believe." Again (xxi. 24), after relating a
conversation which passed between Peter and "the disciple," as it is
there expressed, "whom Jesus loved," it is added, "this is the disciple
which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things." This
testimony, let it be remarked, is not the less worthy of regard, because
it is, in one view, imperfect. The name is not mentioned; which, if a
fraudulent purpose had been intended, would have been done. The third of
our present Gospels purports to have been written by the person who
wrote the Acts of the Apostles; in which latter history, or rather
latter part of the same history, the author, by using in various places
the first person plural, declares himself to have been a contemporary of
all, and a companion of one, of the original preachers of the religion.

CHAPTER IX.

There is satisfactory evidence that many, professing to be original
witnesses of the Christian miracles, passed their lives in labours,
dangers, and sufferings, voluntarily undergone in attestation of the
accounts which they delivered, and solely in consequence of their belief
of those accounts; and that they also submitted, from the same motives,
to new rules of conduct.

OF THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE SCRIPTURES.

Not forgetting, therefore, what credit is due to the evangelical
history, supposing even any one of the four Gospels to be genuine; what
credit is due to the Gospels, even supposing nothing to be known
concerning them but that they were written by early disciples of the
religion, and received with deference by early Christian churches; more
especially not forgetting what credit is due to the New Testament in its
capacity of cumulative evidence; we now proceed to state the proper and
distinct proofs, which show not only the general value of these records,
but their specific authority, and the high probability there is that
they actually came from the persons whose names they bear.

There are, however, a few preliminary reflections, by which we may draw
up with more regularity to the propositions upon which the close and
particular discussion of the subject depends. Of which nature are the
following:

I. We are able to produce a great number of ancient manuscripts, found
in many different countries, and in countries widely distant from each
other, all of them anterior to the art of printing, some Certainly seven
or eight hundred years old, and some which have been preserved probably
above a thousand years.* We have also many ancient versions of these
books, and some of them into languages which are not at present, nor for
many ages have been, spoken in any part of the world. The existence of
these manuscripts and versions proves that the Scriptures were not the
production of any modern contrivance. It does away also the uncertainty
which hangs over such publications as the works, real or pretended, of
Ossian and Rowley, in which the editors are challenged to produce their
manuscripts and to show where they obtained their copies. The number of
manuscripts, far exceeding those of any other book, and their wide
dispersion, afford an argument, in some measure to the senses, that the
Scriptures anciently, in like manner as at this day, were more read and
sought after than any other books, and that also in many different
countries. The greatest part of spurious Christian writings are utterly
lost, the rest preserved by some single manuscript. There is weight also
in Dr. Bentley's observation, that the New Testament has suffered less
injury by the errors of transcribers than the works of any profane
author of the same size and antiquity; that is, there never was any
writing, in the preservation and purity of which the world was so
interested or so careful.

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* The Alexandrian manuscript, now in the British Museum, was written
probably in the fourth or fifth century.
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II. An argument of great weight with those who are judges of the proofs
upon which it is founded, and capable, through their testimony, of being
addressed to every understanding, is that which arises from the style
and language of the New Testament. It is just such a language as might
be expected from the apostles, from persons of their age and in their
situation, and from no other persons. It is the style neither of classic
authors, nor of the ancient Christian fathers, but Greek coming from men
of Hebrew origin; abounding, that is, with Hebraic and Syriac idioms,
such as would naturally be found in the writings of men who used a
language spoken indeed where they lived, but not the common dialect of
the country. This happy peculiarity is a strong proof of the genuineness
of these writings: for who should forge them? The Christian fathers were
for the most part totally ignorant of Hebrew, and therefore were not
likely to insert Hebraisms and Syriasms into their writings. The few who
had a knowledge of the Hebrew, as Justin Martyr, Origen, and Epiphanius,
wrote in a language which hears no resemblance to that of the New
Testament. The Nazarenes, who understood Hebrew, used chiefly, perhaps
almost entirely, the Gospel of Saint Matthew, and therefore cannot be
suspected of forging the rest of the sacred writings. The argument, at
any rate, proves the antiquity of these books; that they belonged to the
age of the apostles; that they could be composed, indeed, in no other.*

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* See this argument stated more at large in Michaelis's Introduction,
(Marsh's translation,) vol. i. c. ii. sect. 10, from which these
observations are taken.
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III. Why should we question the genuineness of these books? Is it for
that they contain accounts of supernatural events? I apprehend that
this, at the bottom, is the real, though secret, cause of our hesitation
about them: for had the writings inscribed with the names of Matthew and
John related nothing but ordinary history, there would have been no
more doubt whether these writings were theirs than there is concerning
the acknowledged works of Josephus or Philo; that is, there would have
been no doubt at all. Now it ought to be considered that this reason,
however it may apply to the credit which is given to a writer's judgment
or veracity, affects the question of genuineness very indirectly. The
works of Bede exhibit many wonderful relations: but who, for that
reason, doubts that they were written by Bede? The same of a multitude
of other authors. To which may be added that we ask no more for our
books than what we allow to other books in some sort similar to ours: we
do not deny the genuineness of the Koran; we admit that the history of
Apollonius Tyanaeus, purporting to be written by Philostratus, was
really written by Philostratus.

IV. If it had been an easy thing in the early times of the institution
to have forged Christian writings, and to have obtained currency and
reception to the forgeries, we should have had many appearing in the
name of Christ himself. No writings would have been received with so
much avidity and respect as these: consequently none afforded so great a
temptation to forgery. Yet have we heard but of one attempt of this
sort, deserving of the smallest notice, that in a piece of a very few
lines, and so far from succeeding, I mean, from obtaining acceptance and
reputation, or an acceptance an reputation in anywise similar to that
which can be proved to have attended the books of the New Testament,
that it is not so much as mentioned by any writer of the first three
centuries. The learned reader need not be informed that I mean the
epistle of Christ to Abgarus, king of Edessa, found at present in the
work of Eusebius,* as a piece acknowledged by him, though not without
considerable doubt whether the whole passage be not an interpolation, as
it is most certain, that, after the publication of Eusebius's work, this
epistle was universally rejected.+

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* Hist. Eccl. lib. i. c. 15.
+ Augustin, A.D. 895 (De Consens. Evan. c. 34), had heard that the
Pagans pretended to be possessed of an epistle of Christ to Peter and
Paul; but he had never seen it, and appears to doubt of the existence of
any such piece either genuine or spurious. No other ancient writer
mentions it. He also, and he alone, notices, and that in order to condemn
it, an epistle ascribed to Christ by the Manichees, A.D. 270, and a short
hymn attributed to him by the Priscillianists, A.D. 378 (cont. Faust. Man.
Lib xxviii, c,4). The lateness of the writer who notices these things, the
manner in which he notices them, and above all, the silence of every
preceding writer, render them unworthy on of consideration.
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V. If the ascription of the Gospels to their respective authors had been
arbitrary or conjectural, they would have been ascribed to more eminent
men. This observation holds concerning the first three Gospels, the
reputed authors of which were enabled, by their situation, to obtain
true intelligence, and were likely to deliver an honest account of what
they knew, but were persons not distinguished in the history by
extraordinary marks of notice or commendation. Of the apostles, I hardly
know any one of whom less is said than of Matthew, or of whom the little
that is said is less calculated to magnify his character. Of Mark,
nothing is said in the Gospels; and what is said of any person of that
name in the Acts, and in the epistles, in no part bestows praise or
eminence upon him. The name of Luke is mentioned only in St Paul's
epistles,* and that very transiently. The judgment, therefore, which
assigned these writings to these authors proceeded, it may be presumed,
upon proper knowledge and evidence, and not upon a voluntary choice of
names.

VI. Christian writers and Christian churches appear to have soon arrived
at a very general agreement upon the subject, and that without the
interposition of any public authority. When the diversity of opinion
which prevailed, and prevails among Christians in other points, is
considered, their concurrence in the canon of Scripture is remarkable,
and of great weight, especially as it seems to have been the result of
private and free inquiry. We have no knowledge of any interference of
authority in the question before the council of Laodicea in the year
363. Probably the decree of this council rather declared than regulated
the public judgment, or, more properly speaking, the judgment of some
neighbouring churches; the council itself consisting of no more than
thirty or forty bishops of Lydia and the adjoining countries.+ Nor does
its authority seem to have extended further; for we find numerous
Christian writers, after this time, discussing the question, "What books
were entitled to be received as Scripture," with great freedom, upon
proper grounds of evidence, and without any reference to the decision at
Laodicea.

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* Col. iv. 14. 2Tim. iv. 11. Philem. 24.
+ Lardner, Cred. vol. viii. P.291, et seq.
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These considerations are not to be neglected: but of an argument
concerning the genuineness of ancient writings, the substance,
undoubtedly, and strength, is ancient testimony.

This testimony it is necessary to exhibit somewhat in detail; for when
Christian advocates merely tell us that we have the same reason for
believing the Gospels to be written by the evangelists whose names they
bear as we have for believing the Commentaries to be Caesar's, the
Aeneid Virgil's, or the Orations Cicero's, they content themselves with
an imperfect representation. They state nothing more than what is true,
but they do not state the truth correctly. In the number, variety, and
early date of our testimonies, we far exceed all other ancient books.
For one which the most celebrated work of the most celebrated
Greek or Roman writer can allege, we produce many. But then it is more
requisite in our books than in theirs to separate and distinguish them
from spurious competitors. The result, I am convinced, will be
satisfactory to every fair inquirer: but this circumstance renders an
inquiry necessary.

In a work, however, like the present, there is a difficulty in finding a
place for evidence of this kind. To pursue the details of proof
throughout, would be to transcribe a great part of Dr. Lardner's eleven
octavo volumes: to leave the argument without proofs is to leave it
without effect; for the persuasion produced by this species of evidence
depends upon a view and induction of the particulars which compose it.

The method which I propose to myself is, first, to place before the
reader, in one view, the propositions which comprise the several heads
of our testimony, and afterwards to repeat the same propositions in so
many distinct sections, with the necessary authorities subjoined to
each.*

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* The reader, when he has the propositions before him, will observe that
the argument, if he should omit the sections, proceeds connectedly from
this point.
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The following, then, are the allegations upon the subject which are
capable of being established by proof:--

I. That the historical books of the New Testament, meaning thereby the
four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, are quoted, or alluded to, by
a series of Christian writers, beginning with those who were
contemporary with the apostles, or who immediately followed them, and
proceeding in close and regular succession from their time to the present.

II. That when they are quoted, or alluded to, they are quoted or alluded
to with peculiar respect, as books 'sui generis'; as possessing an
authority which belonged to no other books, and as conclusive in all
questions and controversies amongst Christians.

III. That they were, in very early times, collected into a distinct
volume.

IV. That they were distinguished by appropriate names and titles of
respect.

V. That they were publicly read and expounded in the religious
assemblies of the early Christians.

VI. That commentaries were written upon them, harmonies formed out of
them, different copies carefully collated, and versions of them made
into different languages.

VII. That they were received by Christians of different sects, by many
heretics as well as Catholics, and usually appealed to by both sides in
the controversies which arose in those days.

VIII. That the four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, thirteen Epistles
of Saint Paul, the first epistle of John, and the first of-Peter, were
received without doubt by those who doubted concerning the other books
which are included in our present canon.

IX. That the Gospels were attacked by the early adversaries of
Christianity, as books containing the accounts upon which the religion
was founded.

X. That formal catalogues of authentic Scriptures were published; in all
which our present sacred histories were included.

XI. That these propositions cannot be affirmed of any other books
claiming to be books of Scripture; by which are meant those books which
are commonly called apocryphal books of the New Testament.

SECTION I.

The historical books of the New Testament, meaning thereby the four
Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, are quoted, or alluded to, by a
series of Christian writers, beginning with those who were contemporary
with the apostles, or who immediately followed them, and proceeding in
close and regular succession from their time to the present.

The medium of proof stated in this proposition is, of all others, the
most unquestionable, the least liable to any practices of fraud, and is
not diminished by the lapse of ages. Bishop Burnet, in the History of
his Own Times, inserts various extracts from Lord Clarendon's History.
One such insertion is a proof that Lord Clarendon's History was extant
at the time when Bishop Burnet wrote, that it had been read by Bishop
Burnet, that it was received by Bishop Burnet as a work of Lord
Clarendon, and also regarded by him as an authentic account of the
transactions which it relates; and it will be a proof of these points a
thousand years hence, or as long as the books exist. Quintilian having
quoted as Cicero's, (Quint, lib. xl. c. l.) that well known trait of
dissembled vanity:--"Si quid est in me ingenii, Judices, quod sentio
quam sit exiguum;"--the quotation would be strong evidence, were there
any doubt, that the oration, which opens with this address, actually
came from Cicero's pen. These instances, however simple, may serve to
point out to a reader who is little accustomed to such researches the
nature and value of the argument.

The testimonies which we have to bring forward under this proposition
are the following:--

I. There is extant an epistle ascribed to Barnabas,* the companion of
Paul. It is quoted as the epistle of Barnabas, by Clement of Alexandria,
A.D. CXCIV; by Origen, A.D. CCXXX. It is mentioned by Eusebius, A.D.
CCCXV, and by Jerome, A.D. CCCXCII, as an ancient work in their time,
bearing the name of Barnabas, and as well known and read amongst
Christians, though not accounted a part of Scripture. It purports to
have been written soon after the destruction of Jerusalem, during the
calamities which followed that disaster; and it bears the character of
the age to which it professes to belong.

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