world; and with greater particularity than hath yet been used, I have insisted on the persons of Moses, and the prophets, our Saviour and his Apostles, and in every of them manifested the rational evidences on which they were to be believed, not only by the men of their own age, but by those of succeeding generations. In the third book I have insisted on the matters themselves, which are either supposed by, or revealed in the Scriptures; and have therein not only manifested the certainty of the foundations of all religion, which lie in the being of God and immortality of the soul, but the undoubted truth of those particular accounts concerning the origin of the universe, of evil, and of nations, which were most liable to the Atheist's exceptions, and have therein considered all the pretences of philosophy ancient or modern, which have seemed to contradict any of them; to which (mantissæ loco) I have added the evidence of Scripturehistory in the remainders of it in Heathen mythology, and concluded all with a discourse of the excellency of the Scriptures. Thus having given a brief view of the design and method of the whole, I submit it to every free and unprejudiced judgment. All the favour then I shall request of thee is, to read seriously, and judge impartially; and then I doubt not but thou wilt see as much reason for religion as I do. to excuss out of the hands of their admirers, the several writings on the behalf of religion in general, or Christianity in particular, (especially Mornay, Grotius, Amyraldus, &c.) may easily appear by comparing what is contained in their books and this together. Had I not thought something might be said, if not more fully and rationally, yet more suitably to the present temper of this age, than what is already written by them, thou hadst not been troubled with this Preface, much less with the whole book. But as the tempers and geniuses of ages and times alter, so do the arms and weapons which Atheists employ against religion. The most popular pretences of the Atheists of our age, have been the irreconcileableness of the account of times in Scripture with that of the learned and ancient Heathen nations; the inconsistency of the belief of the Scriptures with the principles of reason; and the account which may be given of the origin of things, from principles of philosophy, without the Scriptures. These three therefore I have particularly set myself against, and directed against each of them a several book. In the first, I have manifested that there is no ground of credibility in the account of ancient times, given by any Heathen nations, different from the Scriptures, which I have with so much care and diligence enquired into, that from thence we may hope to hear no more of men before Adam to salve the authority of the Scriptures by, which yet was intended only as a design to undermine them; but I have not thought the frivolous pretences of the author of that hypothesis worth particular mentioning, supposing it sufficient to give a clear account of things, without particular citation of authors, where it was not of great concernment for understanding the thing itself. In the second book I have undertaken to give a rational account of the grounds, why we are to believe those several persons, who in several ages were employed to reveal the mind of God to the world; and with greater particularity than hath yet been used, I have insisted on the persons of Moses, and the prophets, our Saviour and his Apostles, and in every of them manifested the rational evidences on which they were to be believed, not only by the men of their own age, but by those of succeeding generations. In the third book I have insisted on the matters themselves, which are either supposed by, or revealed in the Scriptures; and have therein not only manifested the certainty of the foundations of all religion, which lie in the being of God and immortality of the soul, but the undoubted truth of those particular accounts concerning the origin of the universe, of evil, and of nations, which were most liable to the Atheist's exceptions, and have therein considered all the pretences of philosophy ancient or modern, which have seemed to contradict any of them; to which (mantissæ loco) I have added the evidence of Scripturehistory in the remainders of it in Heathen mythology, and concluded all with a discourse of the excellency of the Scriptures. Thus having given a brief view of the design and method of the whole, I submit it to every free and unprejudiced judgment. All the favour then I shall request of thee is, to read seriously, and judge impartially; and then I doubt not but thou wilt see as much reason for religion as I do. CONTENTS OF I. II. III. IV. The Knowledge of Truth proved to be the most na- tural Perfection of the rational Soul; V. Yet Error often mis- taken for Truth: the Accounts of it. VI. Want of Diligence in its Search; VII. VIII. The Mixture of Truth and Falsehood: thence comes either rejecting Truth for the Error's Sake, or em- bracing the Error for the Truth's Sake; IX. The first instanced in Heathen Philosophers, XIII. The second in vulgar Heathen. X. XI. XII. of Philosophical Atheism, and the Grounds of it. XIV. The History of Antiquity very obscure. XV. The Ques- tion stated, where the true History of ancient Times is to be found? in Heathen Histories, or only in Scripture? XVI. The Want of Credibility in Heathen Histories asserted and proved by the general Defect for Want of timely Records among Hea- then Nations; the Reason of it shewed from the first Plantations of the World. XVII. The Manner of them discovered. Original of Civil Government. XVIII. Of Hieroglyphics. XIX. The Use of Letters among the Greeks no older than Cad- |