2. If this foundation be not divine and solid it ought I conceive to be undermined, and abandoned. For willfully, and knowingly to suffer confiding men to be duped, or allured into building their hopes and consolation upon a delusion, is in my opinion to maltreat, and to despise them. And to suffer them to be imposed upon is both unbrotherly and dishonest. And to advocate, or to insinuate a defense of an unsound foundation upon the principle of pious frauds, viz. because it is supposed by its defenders to be useful, you will no doubt agree with me is both absurd, and immoral. For in the long run truth is more useful than error, "nothing (says Lord Bacon) is so pernicious as deified error." And it must not be supposed, or insinuated, that the good God has made it necessary, that the morals, comfort, and consolation of his rational creatures should be founded on, or be supported by a mistake and a delusion; for it would be virtually to deny his Providence. In fine, Christianity come to us as from God, and says to us, "He that believeth shall be saved, and he that believeth not, shall be damned." Therefore, he that receives such extraordinary claims without examination, is "in my opinion, a wittol; and he who suffers himself to be compelled to swallow such pretensions without the severest scrutiny, according to my notions of things, has no claims to be considered as a man of common sense.
Before I close my letter, it occurs to me to observe, that you appear to me to have misconceived the state of the case, in representing in your sermons, that if you give up Christianity you will have no religion left. Christianity, if I understand it, is properly contained and taught in the New Testament alone. I am not aware, my dear sir, that if you were to give up the New Testament you would be without a religion, or even what you acknowledge as divine revelation. It appears to me, that a Christian might, if he chose, give up the New Testament and place himself on the footing of the devout Gentiles mentioned in the Acts, who worshipped the one God, and kept the moral law of the Old Testament. You will recollect, that I have not attempted to affect the authority of the Old Testament which you acknowledge to contain a Divine revelation. I never shall because, I would never quarrel with any thing merely for the sake of disputing. Whether the Old Testament contains a revelation from God, or not, its moral precepts are, as far as I know unexceptionable; there is not, I believe, any thing extravagant or impracticable in them, they are such as promote the good order of society. Its religion in fact is merely Theism garnished, and guarded by a splendid ritual, and gorgeous ceremonies; the belief of it can produce no oppression and wretchedness to any portion of mankind, and for these reasons I for one will never attempt to weaken its credit, whatever may be my own opinion with regard to its supernatural claims.
In fact, to speak correctly, the Old Testament is at this moment the sole true canon of Scripture, acknowledged as such by genuine Christianity; it was the only canon which was acknowledged by Christ, and his immediate Apostles. The books of the New Testament are all occasional books, and not a code or system of religion; nor were they all collected into one body, nor declared by any even human authority to be all canonical till several hundred years after Jesus Christ. They are books written by Christians, and contain proofs of Christianity alleged from the Old Testament, but contain Christianity itself no otherwise, it appears to me, than as explaining, illustrating, and confirming Christianity supposed to be taught in the Old Testament. They are mostly, where they inculcate doctrines, Commentaries on the Old Testament deriving from thence, and giving what the writers imagined to be contained in and hidden under the letter of it. And upon the same principle that the books of the New Testament were received as canonical, so was the Pastor of Hermas, the Book of Enoch, and others, just as highly venerated by the early Christians. But they did not at first, as I apprehend their expressions, rank them with the Old Testament, which was called "the Scriptures," by way of excellence. The Old Testament was in fact supposed by the writers of the New, to contain Christianity under the bark of the letter; and they represent Christianity as having been preached to the ancient Jews under the figure of types, and allegories. See Gal. iii. 8. Heb. xi. and the first Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, ch. x. In a word, the Apostles professed to "say none ether things than those which the prophets and Moses did say." Acts xxvi. 22,
Jesus and his Apostles do frequently, and emphatically style the books of the Old Testament "The Scriptures," and refer men to them as their rule, and canon. And Paul says, Acts xxiv. 14, "After the [Christian] way, which ye call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers; believing all things that are written in the law, and the prophets." But it does not appear, that any new books were declared by them to have that character. Nor was there any new canon of Scripture, or any collection of books as Scripture made whether of Gospels or Epistles during the lives of the Apostles; as is well known to you.—And if neither Jesus nor his apostles declared any other books to be canonical besides those of the Old Testament, I would ask the Christian who did? Or who had a right and authority to declare or make any books canonical? If Christianity required a new canon, or new digest of laws, it should seem that it ought to have been done by Jesus and his apostles, and not left to be executed by any after them: especially not left to be settled long after their deaths by weak, enthusiastic, ignorant, silly and factious men, such as the fathers, who were so badly informed of the genuine writings of the founders of their religion, that they were, when they came to collect and make a new canon, greatly divided: about the genuineness of all books bearing the names of the apostles, and contended with one another bitterly about their authority; and after all decree to be genuine some which are palpably forgeries.
But the truth is, that the present New Testament Canon, was collected and established by the Gentile Christians. The Jewish Christians received none of them, but acknowledged nothing for Scripture but the books of the Old Testament which was the sole Canon left them by the twelve apostles. Their Gospel and Acts, if my memory does not deceive me, they regarded as histories only. They were merely a small body of Jews who thought that Jesus was the Messiah of the Old Testament. This article was the only one which made them Heretical: In all other respects they were as other Jews after the way which their countrymen called heresy, so worshipped they the God of their Fathers at the National Temple; believing and preaching "no other things than what [they imagined] Moses and the Prophets did say."
I have made this statement and representation, sir, on two accounts.
1. In order to repel the shocking and groundless imputation which I understand that some pains have been taken to fix upon me, I do not mean by you, sir, for you know the contrary that the object of my late publication was to aim at destroying all religion, and the annihilation of the publick worship of God, a charge which I reject with horror, and also with bitter indignation, that it should ever have been attributed to me. God forbid! that the publick worship and stated reverence which all ought to pay to the Great and Tremendous Being from whom we receive life and its every blessing; and to whose Providence we are subject; and by whose goodness we are sustained, should ever be caused to be neglected, or forgotten, by any man, or by the subvertion of any opinions whatever. The propriety of the publick worship of God stands independent and without need of support from the peculiar doctrines of any sect. And the idea that this great duty would be superceded by the dismission of the New Testament is so utterly groundless and absurd: that to make it appear so, any man has only to recollect that the public worship of the Supreme existed before the New Testament was written or thought of; and to look round the world and see millions of men worshipping God in houses of prayer, who know nothing about the New Testament except by report. I regard, sir, the imputation I have spoken of, as either a gross mistake of the simple, or a cunning and deliberate calumny of the crafty. I have made this statement and representation to show, that it does not follow, that in giving up the New Testament Christians will be deprived of all religion. For in retaining the Old Testament they would adopt nothing new, and would retain nothing but what they now acknowledge as containing a divine revelation; and in giving up the New Testament they would not, as I think has been shown, give up a jot of what had ever any right to the name of Scripture.
Whether however, people give up both, or retain one, or both, is their concern. I have stated what I have merely to show, that in giving up the New Testament they would not necessarily give up more than a part of their bibles, or any part of their bible, except that whose authenticity cannot be proved; nor any more of their faith, than that part of it which for almost eighteen hundred years has produced interminable disputes among themselves and misfortunes, and causeless reproach to others.
"With great regard, and the most respectful esteem, I subscribe myself,
Reverend Sir, Your obliged and humble servant