tice; efpecially as feveral things have lately been urged in defence of demoniacal poffeffions, by a perfon juftly celebrated both for his genius and erudition", b Dr. Warburton, bishop of Gloucester, Serm. vol. iii. p. 213. His lordship's zeal for the common explication of the New Teftament demoniacs, is the more remarkable, as in the firft volume of his Sermons, p. 204, he paffes a very fevere cenfure on the doctrine of poffeffions, calling it, "THE SUPERSTITIOUS IMPIETY of demoniacal poffeffions." It muft certainly then be worth our while to inquire, upon what grounds this able writer fhould now affert the real poffesfion of the gofpel demoniacs, when he had before branded the general doctrine of demoniacal poffeffion as fuperftitious and impious. His defence is mafterly; but it is defective, if not in argument, at leaft in candour towards thofe who differ from him in opinion, though his own, as it fhould feem, was once the fame with theirs. He fets out with the following mifreprefentation of them: Of this fuperftitious fancy, viz. poffeffion by the devil (they tell us) Jefus and his difciples took advantage, in order to impress religious horror on their followers. Such grofs abuse, intended to create unjust prejudice in his readers against those who oppose his doctrine, doth as little honour to his lordwhich B 2 which could not be taken notice of by those learned writers. If I should happen to contribute any thing, be it ever so little, towards fupplying their defects, or correcting their mistakes, or giving a satisfactory folution of the difficulties they have not removed, I fhall not regret my labour, or think that it requires any apology. Indeed, the difcuffion of this subject was neceffary to complete the defign of a former publication. Of all the objections against the miraeles of Scripture, there are none that unbelievers urge with greater triumph, than that drawn from the common explication of the gofpel-demoniacs. Now, fhip, as fervice to the caufe he undertook to defend. Thus Mr. Rouffeau (in his Troisième Lettre écrite de la Montagne) exclaims upon the sub- ' ject: Il y en a dans l'Evangile qu'il n'eft pas même poffible de prendre au pied de la lettre fans renoncer au bon fens. Tels font, par exemple, ceux des poffédés.-Jéfus demande à un grouppe de demons comment il s'appelle. Quoi ! Les dé though though we are not to give up any of the genuine doctrines of revelation, merely on account of groundless prejudices conceived against them; yet certainly we hould be very cautious not to create mons ont des noms ? Les anges ont des noms ? Les purs efprits ont des noms ? Sans doute pour s'entre-appeller entre eux, ou pour entendre quand Dieu les appelle? Mais qui leur a donné ces noms? En quelle langue en font les mots ? Quelles font les bouches qui prononcent ces mots, les oreilles que leurs fons frappent? Ce nom c'est Legion; car ils font plufieurs, ce qu'apparament Jéfus ne favoit pas. Ces anges, ces intelligences fublimes dans le mal comme dans le bien, ces etres célestes qui ont pu fe révolter contre Dieu, qui ofent combattre fes décrets éternels fe logent en tas dans le corps d'un homme, forcés d'abandonner ce malheureux, ils demandent de fe jetter dans une troupeau de cochons, ils l'obtiennent; ces cochons fe précipitent dans la mer: & ce font là les auguftes preuves de la miffion du Rédempteur du genre humain, les preuves qui doivent l'attefter à tous les peuples de tous les âges, & dont nul ne fauroit douter, fous peine de damnation! Jufte Dieu ! La tête tourne; on ne fait où l'on est. See also Lucian's Philopfend. p. 337. Oper. tom. ii. ed. Amftel. juft prejudices against revelation, by our mifrepresentations of ita. With respect to Chriftians, I fee no reason why they should be alarmed at an attempt to fhew, that the New Teftament doth not countenance the doctrine of real poffeffions. Can it overturn any article of their faith, that they themselves could wish to be true? May it not free them from many groundless terrors, and give them more honourable ideas of the divine government? May it not fhew the evidence of Chriftianity to great advantage, as well as refcue it from the fcorn of unbelievers? Let us therefore endeavour to lay afide our prejudices, and judge according to the evidence that is fet before us. The power of prejudice to blind the understanding, every one hath obferved in others; and it must be owing to great in a Videndum eft ut in iftis fobriè fapiamus ex Dei verbo, ne pro veritate aniles fabulas fubftituamus. Beza on Luke viii. 31. attention, attention, if we have not felt it in ourfelves. Have we never, upon cool recollection, feen the force of those very arguments, which, when first proposed, appeared to be weak or inconclufive? It may, perhaps, foften the prejudices of fome perfons against the opinion maintained in the following fheets, to confider that several very ancient and eminent writers have occafionally delivered fenti ments conformable to it; or, at leaft, fuch as are equally diftant from the literal sense of scripture. At the fame * In proof of this affertion, I will transcribe a few paffages from the learned Semlerus, in his Commentatio de Dæmoniacis, (Halæ Magdeburg. p.26.1769.) which was put into my hands, after these papers were prepared for the prefs, by an ingenious friend who had perused them. Auguftinus de Genefi ad Litter. xii. 17. forte revera phreneticus erat, fed propter ifta dæmonium pati putabatur. Nempe fine piaculo & fcelere hoc Auguftinus fcribere potuit, quum in ifto opere non populum refpiciat, fed intelligentibus operam dare velit. Rem eandem eloquitur alicubi Theodoretus, in Pfal. xci. 6. time, B 4 |