credit. Mahomet maintained the Inspiration of Moses, and revered the sanctity of the Jewish laws; and when we consider the avowed enmity and professed contempt of the pretended prophet of Arabia for both Jews and Christians, it cannot be imagined that any thing short of his conviction of the impossibility of lessening the general esteem, in which these books were held, in a country which had kept up a constant intercourse with the Israelites from the earliest times, could have drawn from him that concession in favour of the foundation of their faith. To this testimony from profane authors we may add the positive assertions of the sacred writers both of the Old and New Testament. Moses frequently (c) speaks of himself as directed by God to write the commands which he received from him, and to record the events which occurred during his ministry; and at the end of Deuteronomy he expressly says, "And Moses wrote this Law, and delivered it unto the priests, the sons of Levi, which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and unto all the elders of Israel (d)" and afterwards, in the same chapter, he says still more fully; And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the (c) Ex. c. 17. v. 14. c. 24. v. 4. Numb.c. 33. v. 2. (d) Deut. c. 31. v. 9. the words of this Law in a book, until they were finished, that Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying, Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee (e)." In many subsequent books of the Old Testament, the Pentateuch is repeatedly quoted, and referred to under the name of "The Law," and "The Book of Moses;" and in particular we are told "that Joshua read all the words of the Law, the blessings and cursings, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law. There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the congregation of Israel (ƒ)." From which passage it is evident, that the Book of the Law, or Pentateuch, existed in the time of Joshua, the successor of Moses. In the New Testament also the writing of the Law, or Pentateuch, is expressly ascribed to Moses: " "Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, we have found him of whom (e) Deut. c. 31. v. 24. &c. No person who had forged the Pentateuch, or even written it in a subsequent age from existing materials, would have inserted these passages, which must have excited inquiry, and have caused the fraud to be detected. (f) Joshua, c. 8. v. 34 and 35. whom Moses in the Law, and the Prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph (g)." In a variety of passages in the Gospels, Acts, and Epistles, Moses is evidently considered as the author of the Pentateuch (h), and every one of the five books is quoted as written by him (i). And it is material to remark, as of itself a sufficient proof of the Inspiration of the Pentateuch, that Christ called the words of Exodus and Deuteronomy the words of God himself: "God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and thy mother; and he that curseth father or mother, let him die the death (k)." And upon another occasion Christ confirmed the divine authority of every part of the Pentateuch; "Think not that I am come to destroy the Law and the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil: for verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, (g) John, c. I. v. 45, (h) Luke, c. 24. v. 27. C. 15. V. 21. 2 Cor. c. 3. v. 15. (i) Matt. c. 19. v. 7. Luke, c. 20. v. 28 and 37. c. 8. v. 5. one John, c. 5. v. 46. Acts, Heb. c. 7. v. 14. Mark, c. 12. v. 19 and 26. Rom. c. 10. v. 5. Heb. v. 4. with Exod. c. 20. (k) Compare Matt. c. 15. v. 12. and Deut. c. 5. v. 16. In the parallel passage of St. Mark, c. 7. v. 10. these precepts are called the words of Moses. one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Law, till all be fulfilled (1)." It may be observed, that we have the strongest possible negative testimony to the truth of the Mosaic history. The laborious Whiston asserts, and in support of his assertion appeals to a similar declaration of the learned Grotius, "That there do not appear in the genuine records of mankind, belonging to antient times, any testimonies that contradict those produced from the Old Testament; and that it may be confidently affirmed, there are no such to be found (m)." We are not, however, confined to negative testimony; for it would be easy to bring forward nearly demonstrative evidence to prove the positive agreement of antiquity with the narrative of the sacred historian; but I can only briefly mention some of the leading facts, concerning which the most ancient histories and earliest traditions very remarkably coincide with the Pentateuch, and refer to other authors for farther confirmation of this important point. The departure of a shepherd people out of Egypt, who were not originally Egyptians, but who, after being compelled to work in the quarries for some time, left it under (1) Matt. c. 5. v. 17 and 18. (m) Grot. lib. 3. sect. 13, 14 and 16. Whiston, Joseph, Index, 1. under the direction of Osarsiph or Moyses (which latter word signifies, in the Egyptian language, a person preserved out of the water) (m) and were pursued over the sandy desert as far as the bounds of Syria, was particularly mentioned by Manetho, Chæremon, Lysimachus, and others. Manetho (n), who wrote his history from the antient Egyptian records, in speaking of the Jews, said also, "It was reported that the priest, who ordained the polity and the laws of this people, who afterwards settled in Judæa, was by birth of Heliopolis; but that those laws were made, not in compliance with, but in opposition to, the customs of the Egyptians (o)." Charemon, who likewise wrote an Egyptian history, mentioned Moses as a scribe, and as an Egyptian priest. The account which Lysimachus gave was very extraordinary; he said, "that a people, infected with the leprosy, left Egypt by the advice of one Moyses, who charged them to have no kind regards for any man, but to overthrow all the altars and temples of the gods they should meet with, and travel till they came to a place fit for habitation; which they accordingly did; and following him across the desert, settled (m) Jos. Ant. lib. 2. cap. 9. sect. 6. |