{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_40982/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_40982","id":"gutenberg_40982","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/40982","summary":null,"tags":["Category: History - Religious","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Immaculate Conception","Jesus Christ -- Divinity"],"text":"Produced by David Widger\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE MIRACULOUS CONCEPTION:\n\nOR, THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST\n\nCONSIDERED AS THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION.\n\nLondon:\n\nPRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY R. CARLILE, 54 FLEET STREET.\n\nMIRACULOUS CONCEPTION\n\nThere are two accounts of the miraculous conception, one in the gospel\naccording to St. Matthew, the other in the gospel according to St. Luke.\nIn both these accounts there are several collateral circumstances which\nare here printed from the approved version, but the examination is\nintended to be confined as closely as possible to those parts only which\nrelate to the miraculous conception, and, consequently, to the supposed\ndivinity of Jesus Christ. That the Christian reader may see nakedly, and\nwithout disguise, the grounds of his faith.\n\nThe story in St. Matthew is as follows:--\n\nCHAP. I.\n\n\"18. Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: _when as his mother\nMary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found\nwith child of the Holy Ghost._\n\n\"19. _Then Joseph her husband being a just man, and not willing to make\nher a public example, was minded to put her away privily._\n\n\"20. _But while he thought on these things, behold the angel of the Lord\nappeared unto him in a dream, saying, 'Joseph, thou son of David, fear\nnot to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her\nis of the Holy Ghost._\n\n\"21. 'And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name\nJesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.'\n\n\"99. Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken\nof the Lord by the prophet, saying,\n\n\"93. Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son,\nand they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted, is God\nwith us.\n\n\"94. _Then Joseph being raised from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord\nhad bidden him, and took unto him his wife._\n\n\"25. And knew her not till she had brought forth her first-born son. And\nhe called his name Jesus.\"\n\nThis is all St. Matthew says on the subject.\n\nSt. Luke's account is more circumstantial, it is as follows:--\n\nCHAP. I.\n\n\"5. There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain\npriest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the\ndaughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.\n\n\"6. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the\ncommandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.\n\n\"7. And they had no child, because that Elizabeth was barren, and they\nboth were now well stricken in years.\n\n\"8. And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office\nbefore God in the order of his course,\n\n\"9. According to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn\nincense when he went into the temple of the Lord.\n\n\"10. And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the\ntime of incense.\n\n\"11. And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the\nright side of the altar of incense.\n\n\"19. And when Zacharias saw him he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.\n\n\"13. But the angel said unto him, 'Fear not, Zacharias; for thy prayer\nis heard; and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt\ncall his name John.\n\n\"14. 'And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at\nhis birth.\n\n\"15. 'For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink\nneither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy\nGhost, even from his mother's womb.\n\n\"16. 'And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their\nGod.\n\n\"17. 'And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to\nturn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to\nthe wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.'\n\n\"18. And Zacharias said unto the angel, 'Whereby shall I know this? for\nI am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.'\n\n\"19. And the angel answering said unto him, 'I am Gabriel, that stand\nin the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee\nthese glad tidings.\n\n\"90. 'And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the\nday that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my\nwords, which shall be fulfilled in their season.'\n\n\"21. And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried\nso long in the temple.\n\n\"22. And when he came out, he could not speak unto them; and they\nperceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: for he beckoned unto\nthem, and remained speechless.\n\n\"23. And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration\nwere accomplished, he departed to his own house.\n\n\"24. And after those days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and hid herself\nfive months, saying,\n\n\"25. 'Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on\nme, to take away my reproach among men.'\n\n\"26. _And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto\na city of Galilee, named Nazareth,_\n\n\"27. _To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house\nof David; and the virgin's name was Mary._\n\n\"28. _And the angel came in unto her, and said, 'Hail, thou that art\nhighly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.'_\n\n\"29. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in\nher mind what manner of salutation this should be.\n\n\"30. And the angel said unto her, 'Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found\nfavour with God.\n\n\"31. 'And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a\nson, and shalt call his name Jesus.\n\n\"39.'He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and\nthe Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:\n\n\"33. 'And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his\nkingdom there shall be no end.'\n\n\"34. Then said Mary unto the angel, 'How shall this be, seeing I know\nnot a man?'\n\n\"35. And the angel answered and said unto her, 'The Holy Ghost shall\ncome upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee:\ntherefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be\ncalled the Son of God.\n\n\"36. 'And, behold, thy cousin Elizabeth, she hath also conceived a son\nin her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called\nbarren.\n\n\"37. 'For with God nothing shall be impossible.'\n\n\"38. And Mary said, 'Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me\naccording to thy word.' And the angel departed from her.\n\n\"39. And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill-country with\nhaste, into a city of Juda.\n\n\"40. And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elizabeth.\n\n\"41. And it came to pass, that, when Elizabeth heard the salutation of\nMary, the babe leaped in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy\nGhost.\n\n\"42. And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, 'Blessed art thou\namong women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.'\n\n\"43. 'And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come\nto me?'\n\n\"44. 'For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine\nears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.'\n\n\"45. 'And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance\nof those things which were told her from the Lord.'\n\n\"46. _And Mary said, 'My soul doth magnify the Lord.'_\n\n\"47. '_And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.'_\n\n\"48. '_For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for,\nbehold, from henceforth all generations shall-call me blessed.'_\n\n\"49. '_For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy, it\nhis name.'_\n\n\"50. '_And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to\ngeneration._\n\n\"51. \"_He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud\nin the imagination of their hearts._\n\n\"52. '_He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of\nlow degree.'_\n\n\"53. '_He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath\nsent empty away.'_\n\n\"54. '_He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his\nmercy.'_\n\n\"55. '_As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for\never.'_\n\n\"56. '_And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her\nown house._\"\n\nThe whole of the foregoing matter, as well that taken from Matthew as\nthat from Luke, is rejected by the Unitarians as spurious. This sect,\nwhich is every day increasing, contains, and has long contained, many\nvery learned men; and these men have for the use of the sect made a new\ntranslation of the Testament, which is published under the title of \"The\nNew Testament, in an improved Version,\" &c.\n\nIn a long note, appended to the 16th verse of the 1st chapter of St.\nMatthew, reasons are given for rejecting the story of the miraculous\nconception. Among other things it observes, \"The account of the\nmiraculous conception of Jesus was probably the fiction of some early\nGentile convert, who hoped, by elevating the founder, to abate the\npopular prejudices against the sect. See upon this subject, Dr.\nPriestley's History of Early Opinions, Vol. IV. Book iii. c. 99; Pope\non the Miraculous Conception; Dr. Williams's Free Enquiry; Dr. Bell's\nArguments for the Authenticity of the Narratives of Matthew and Luke,\nand Dr. Williams's Remarks; Dr. Campbell's and Dr. Newcombe's Notes upon\nthe Text; Mr. Evanson's Dissonance, chap. i. sect. 3. chap. iii. sect.\nS.; Jones's Developement of Events, Vol. I. p. 365,\" &c.\n\nIn a note to the 1st chapter of Luke, the Improved Version has six\narticles, containing reasons for rejecting both that and the succeeding\nchapter. The six articles are summed up by the following observation:\n\"And there are many other circumstances in the story which wear an\nimprobable and fabulous aspect.\"\n\n\"It has,\" they continue, \"been objected, that so large and gross an\ninterpolation could not have escaped detection, and would never have\nbeen so early and so generally received. In reply to this objection it\nis observed, that the interpolation was not admitted into the Hebrew 1\ncopies of Matthew's Gospel, nor into Marcion's 2 copies of Luke.\n\n     1 The language in which Matthew is supposed to have written.\n\n     2 Marcion was the leader of a sect in the second century.\n\nThat it is notorious that forged writings, under the names of the\napostles, were in circulation almost from the apostolic age. See 2\nThessalonians, chap. ii. ver. 2. That the orthodox charge the heretics\nwith corrupting the text; and that the heretics recriminate upon the\northodox. Also, that it was much easier to introduce interpolation when\ncopies were few and scarce, than since they have been multiplied by\nmeans of the press. And, finally, that the interpolation in question\nwould, to the generality of Christians, be extremely gratifying, as it\nwould lessen the odium attached to Christianity from its founder being\na crucified Jew, and would elevate him to the dignity of the heroes and\ndemi-gods of the heathen mythology.\"\n\nThe Unitarians, reject all that is related of the birth of Christ, as\nspurious and interpolated, and of course consider him as the son of\nJoseph and Mary, begotten in the ordinary way; and they give references\nto many scholars and inquisitive men, in whose works the curious reader\nwill find a number of learned arguments against the stories of Matthew\nand Luke being received, and to these he is referred. What follows is\na short examination of the two stories on the principles of what is\nusually called common sense, in the way in which an ordinary man would\ninvestigate a tale in which he was interested in knowing the truth.\n\nWe will begin with Matthew, because he is admitted to have been the\noldest writer.\n\nVer. 18. \"Before they came together.\" It was necessary to premise this,\nbecause their \"coming together\" was in no way disreputable according to\nthe custom of the Jews of that time. It was usual, when both the parties\nwere of mature age, for them to come together as soon as they were\nespoused; if the woman became great with child, they were then married,\nif otherwise, the espousement continued for a year, when the parties\nwere usually married; but it sometimes happened that they separated by\nconsent. Not having children being considered a curse.\n\nVer. 19. \"Joseph was minded to put her away _privily_.\" In the former\nverse it is said, \"she was found with child of the Holy Ghost\", here, it\nseems, it was not suspected to be \"of the Holy Ghost,\" but by a man, and\nthat too as a fraud upon Joseph, who was minded in consequence to put\nher away. It follows, also, that Mary was unconscious that it was \"of\nthe Holy Ghost\" she was breeding, or we must suppose she would not have\nfailed to have told Joseph of so very important a circumstance; it is,\nhowever, abundantly plain, she told him nothing about it.\n\n\"She was found with child.\" How found? her own confession. No such\nthing; had that been the case, it would certainly have been mentioned;\nand the angel which, in the next verse, came on purpose to announce it,\nwould, instead of announcing it, have come only to have confirmed her\naccount of her being with child, without having known man, and to say\nhow it happened. But, no; the angel comes not for any such purpose, but\nto prevent her being put away when it had been discovered that she was\nbreeding. By what was she found to be with child. By her appearance? No;\nin that case, \"putting her away privily\" would have been absurd? By her\nfriends? No; \"putting her away privily\" would in that case have been\nequally absurd. It could then have been known to no one but her husband\nJoseph, who finding himself imposed upon, was willing to hide his\nshame by getting rid of her in the quietest way he could. But all this\nhappened \"before they came together;\" this assertion was made for the\nopen-mouthed, wide-throated, credulous, ignorant people, to whom this\nGospel was addressed, and for their successors, \"who strain at a gnat,\nand swallow a camel.\"\n\nIf they had \"not come together,\" all Joseph would have had to do would\nhave been to send her home again to her parents; he would have had no\noccasion to cogitate oh the means of getting rid of her; he would have\ntold her relations, \"My bargain was for sound ware, and I cannot take\nthis 'cracked pitcher,'\" and there the matter would have ended. But it\nwas by their coming together that Joseph found out she was with child;\nhow long they had cohabited does not appear, but it must have been some\ntime, according to the easy, familiar style of the narrative: \"When as\nhis mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together she\nwas found with child.\" Their having been together, and her being with\nchild, were indeed the only reasons why he could not send her home\nagain, as barrenness was a curse, so fruitfulness was a blessing,\nand had Joseph sent her home he would have been reminded that he had\npossessed the person of his espoused, and was in a fair way to be\nblessed. According to the Jewish law and custom, he had no cause for\ncomplaint, and could have received no redress; therefore he \"thought on\nthese things, and was minded to put her away privily.\"\n\nSo far this story is told in a bungling manner, pompously introduced by\na falsehood, that \"she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.\"\n\nVer. 20. \"But while he thought of these things, behold, the angel of the\nLord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, 'Joseph, thou son of David,\nfear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in\nher is of the Holy Ghost.'\" In verse 18, \"she was found to be with child\nof the Holy Ghost,\" and then, and not till then, Joseph was going to put\nher away; plain enough it is, if the words have any meaning, that \"she\nwas found with child,\" but not \"of the Holy Ghost\" if it had been so,\nit could not have been said, \"Then Joseph was minded to put her away,\"\nneither would it have been necessary for \"the angel of the Lord\" to\npester him in his sleep, as he is said to have done.\n\nCavillers may talk themselves blind, learned doctors may preach\nthemselves hoarse, commentators may write \"so many books, that the world\nwould not contain them,\" they will never be able to make any thing more\nof this story than that a poor, ignorant, credulous man, dreamed in his\nsleep that an angel had been talking nonsense to him; this folly might\nhave passed, as no doubt it did pass for reason, some centuries ago,\nwhen almost every body had faith in dreams, but it is an ill compliment\nto the intelligence of the present generation to expect it should be\nequally besotted.\n\nJoseph dreamed that he saw an angel, that the angel told him his wife\nwas with child by God himself, (the Holy Ghost being God), and ver. 24,\n\"Then Joseph being raised from his sleep, did as the angel of the Lord\nhad commanded him, and took unto him his wife.\" But did Joseph dream?\nPerhaps he did; but whether he did or did not, clear enough it is that\nhe, and he alone, could relate that he had dreamed; whether or not he\ndid make such a relation we are not told, but we are left to infer that\nhe did, because somebody, nobody knows who, has written that he did say\nhe had dreamed. But if he had dreamed, and had personally related his\ndream to every one of us, would that be any reason for our believing\nthat God had got his wife with child, and that an angel had been sent to\ntell him so? Talk of blasphemy; in what can this relation be paralleled\nas blasphemous, except indeed by the grossest credulity? A poor,\nignorant man relates a dream, and all the world are called upon not\nonly to believe his relation of that dream, absurd, abominable, and\nridiculous as it is, but to place their everlasting happiness upon the\nabsurd relation, to inculcate a belief for it into their children, to\nwaste their substance in paying people to preach it, and to persecute\nto death those whose minds cannot receive the monstrous doctrine as\nundoubted truth. Moral evidence there is none, there can be none;--there\nis nothing in the story which can be compared and contrasted; there\nis nothing out of it which can elucidate it; it is nothing more than\na pretended relation of a credulous man--_That he, being a sleep, had\ndreamed a dream._:\n\nAccording to the account given by St. Luke, not one word of all this\nstory is true.\n\nSt. Luke. Chap. I.--Here the story is altogether, from the beginning\nto the end, a different one from that told by Matthew. Here there is no\naccount,\n\n1. Of Mary being found with child.\n\n2. Of Joseph's intention to put her away.\n\n3. Of Joseph's dreaming.\n\n4. Of the angel appearing to him.\n\n5. Of his changing his mind, and resolving to keep her.\n\nIt should be observed, that these five items include the whole account\nin Matthew. So, in Luke, not one of the circumstances related are told\nby Matthew. In Matthew, Joseph is made the important personage, while\npoor Mary seems to have been ignorant of all that was passing; in Luke\nshe is made the important personage, and poor Joseph is now as ignorant\nas Mary was according to the former relation.\n\nLuke's account is indeed very circumstantial, he says it was the angel\nGabriel who visited Mary, but although he relates the very words\nwhich passed between them, it does not appear that Mary knew she was\nconversing with an angel; he did not announce himself as an angel, nor\nis there one word in the dialogue between them which can fairly be said\nto indicate any such understanding on the part of Mary: she does not\nappear to have been at all surprised at the visit, private and abrupt as\nit was. \"_She was troubled at his saying_,\" not at his presence, \"_and\ncast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be;_\" at this\nsalutation she might, to be sure, be somewhat confounded, although she\nimmediately afterwards submitted herself so humbly to her guest. \"_All\nthese things she kept in her heart,_\" for it does not appear that she\ncommunicated any of them to her husband; to him she never opened her\nlips on the subject; no angel visited him, sleeping or waking, to tell\nhim of it; nothing is said about his \"_knowing her not till she had\nbrought forth her first-born_\" they lived together in the ordinary way of\npoor people, as man and wife, until she was brought to bed in a stable,\nJoseph all the time considering the child as his.\n\nLuke's story, stripped of its verbiage, is this:--The angel Gabriel was\nsent by God to Mary, who was espoused to Joseph. The angel addresses her\nvery familiarly--she becomes alarmed, and the angel tells her she shall\n\"conceive in her womb, and bring forth a son, and shall call his name\nJesus.\" Mary, in her simplicity, asks how that can be, \"seeing I know\nnot a man.\" The angel replies,--\"The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee,\nand the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee.\" And Mary says,\n\"Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word.\"\nMary then went to her cousin Elizabeth, who lived at a distance \"in the\nhill-country, where she staid about three months,\" and then she came\nhome again. Afterwards Joseph and Mary go to Bethlehem to be taxed,\n(enrolled); here Mary is delivered in a stable, there being no room in\nthe inn.\n\nA Mr. Le Clerc, a very learned, that is, a very bookish man, made what\nhe called a harmony of the Evangelists; he puts the relation of Luke\nfirst, and supposes all that he relates, happened to Mary, before Joseph\nand she got together: and that she concealed from him all that had\npassed between her and the angel Gabriel, and between her and Elizabeth;\nand that Joseph being left in utter ignorance of all that had passed,\nresolved to put her away. To prevent this, says the learned Doctor, an\nangel appeared to him in a dream (what does appearing in a dream mean,\nsimply in his imagination) and told him the story as related by Matthew.\nThe learned Doctor says: \"Joseph being awaked from his dream, perceived\nit had been sent by God, as well because Mary, upon his enquiry, related\nto him what had happened to her just after the same manner as the angel\nhad told him in his sleep.\"\n\nTo what miserable shifts is folly driven to support superstition; what\nmiserable pretexts does roguery have recourse to, to propagate and\nuphold imposition! Not one word is there to warrant this pretended\nconference with Mary, which the learned Doctor has so circumstantially\nrelated. That Joseph was ignorant of the intercourse Mary had had\nwith the angel, could not be concealed from the reader, who believed\nMatthew's relation, according to which Mary had said nothing to Joseph\nof the communication and commerce she had had with the angel, neither\nis there the least reason from that account to suppose that Matthew knew\nany thing of the decently told story of Elizabeth, or of Mary's going\nand remaining three months with her; but, according to Luke, she hurried\noff in her exultation of being with child, and there they communed\ntogether in a state of the highest enthusiasm. Elizabeth, being filled\nwith the Holy Ghost, and the babe leaping for joy in her womb, spake out\nin a loud voice,--and Mary followed in the same manner, and in the same\nstrain. But notwithstanding this, notwithstanding the exultation between\nthe women, Joseph was not to be let into the secret; all the rapturous\nfeelings of Mary were now subdued; she not only suppressed her joy which\nseemed unbounded, but she kept the whole matter a profound secret, even\nat a risk of being turned out of doors as a strumpet, and an angel\nis obliged to be sent from God to Joseph in a dream, to prevent the\ncatastrophe; the deception is approved by God, who sends the \"angel from\nheaven\" to reconcile Joseph to his wife's perfidy.\n\nAccording to Matthew, a certain man had a dream. According to Luke,\nan angel called privately on a young woman, who, in consequence of\nthe visit, was with child. And this is all there is to establish the\ndivinity of Jesus Christ.\n\nIt cannot be called evidence, for by whom it was given, whether by the\nman himself, or the woman herself, nobody knows; to whom it was given,\nif it was given, nobody knows; when it was given, nobody knows; where it\nwas given, nobody knows; and the learned are even disputing to this very\ntime about the language in which the stories were originally written,\nand by whom they were written. And yet not literally to believe either\nor both of these worse than \"old wives' tales,\" is to subject a man to\npersecution; not to affect to believe that which, when stripped of the\nabsurd reverence which has been cast round it, no man ever did or ever\ncan believe, is to be imputed to him as a reproach of so horrible a\nnature, that, thousands, who treat it as it deserves in their own\nminds, dare not avow their disbelief; not to commit the immoral act of\nself-delusion and debasement is imputed as a crime, and men are shunned\nbecause they are moral.\n\nThe sanctity thrown around this sad nonsense; the cry of blasphemy which\nhas been raised against any one who ventured to examine it, the\nhorror felt by fanatics, which vented itself in persecutions the most\ndiversified, deterred people from trusting to reason, and made them\neven forget that it was by reason alone they are ever able to choose one\nreligion in preference to another. Every religious sect allows, that you\nmay use your reason to distinguish between what they hold out to you,\nand what you yourself believe; you may, and you ought, they tell you, to\nexercise your reason so far as to give their doctrines the preference;\nand having thus exercised your reason, and having by its aid abandoned\nyour former notions, and adopted theirs; having become \"a child of\ngrace,\" and turned to the right way, there shall be \"more joy in heaven\nat your conversion than over ninety and nine just persons, who\" having\nalways belonged to the sect, \"needed no conversion.\" All sects proclaim\nthis joy, at the same moment, as each makes converts from the others;\nwith all of them reason to choose your faith is the great the good,\nbut having exercised it so far, there you must stop, reason must be\ninstantly extinguished; on no account must you trust to such a \"blind\nguide;\" reason, which but just before was all but omnipotent, is now\n\"fallible\"--\"_poor fallible reason_,\" all is now _\"faith\"_ examine any\none of their dogmas, you are a \"backslider;\" doubt any one of their\nabsurd relations, you are a \"blasphemer;\" and thus it is that ignorance\nand persecution brutalizes and degrades mankind. Had the stories\nof Joseph and Mary been preached to us from the sacred books of the\nPersians, how would every good Christian have been scandalized! \"What,\"\nhe would have exclaimed, \"what horrid blasphemy! first to pretend that\nGod himself (the Holy Ghost being God) had commerce with a woman, by\nwhich she became with child, and who all the time she was breeding lived\nwith a man, lived with him, too, by command of 'an angel sent from\nGod,' lived with him as his wife in such a way that no one seems to have\nsuspected the child was not his own, and after the birth of God, (God\nthe Son being God) in the ordinary way of all mankind, and still living\nwith him, and having other children by him. 1 First God has her, then\nJoseph has her; These are abominable stories, indeed. Call out blasphemy\nat yourselves, ye fanatical persecutors of other men's opinions. Shame,\npity, contempt, are the passions those terrible tales excite for you,\ncompassion for those who are so unfortunate as to become your victims.\"\n\n     1 Matt. chap. xiii. ver. 55, 56. \"Is not this the son of the\n     carpenter? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren,\n     James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas, and are not all his\n     sisters with us?\"\n\nThanks, however, are due to the intelligence of the age which could\nendure this monstrous perversion of the human understanding no longer,\nwhich has abolished the Law that made it criminal to deny \"that Jesus\nChrist is God,\" and left us at liberty freely to express our opinions on\nthis absurd dogma. 1\n\n     1 By stat. 9 and 10 William 111. c. 32. \"Any person or\n     persons, having been educated in or having at any time made\n     profession of the Christian religion within this realm,\n     shall by writing, printing, teaching, or advised speaking,\n     deny any one or the persons in the Holy Trinity to be God,\n     or shall; assert or maintain there are more Gods than one,\"\n     shall be liable to certain penalties.\n\n     By stat. 53 George III. c. 160. it is enacted, that the Act\n     passed in the 9 and 10 William III. \"so far as the same\n     relates to persons denying as therein-mentioned, respecting\n     the Holy Trinity, be, and the same are hereby repealed.\"","title":"The Miraculous Conception: Or, The Divinity of Jesus Christ Considered as the Foundation of the Christian Religion","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":5115}