[97] Is. xlix. 6.
[98] Mark xvi. 15.
[99] The reader may see many of them collected, and the general argument from them well inforced, by Mr. Bullock, in his Vindication, Part II.
[100] As in the case of Mahometanism, for instance.
[101] What the Philosopher Celsus thought of such a project, we learn from a curious passage in Origen. It being usual with the Christians of that time, as of every other, to pray for the conversion of the whole world to the Christian faith, the philosopher laughs at the extravagance of this petition. He observes upon it, ὅτι ὁ τοῦτο οἰόμενος οἶδεν οὐδέν. The words are not easily translated. But the meaning of them is, That he regarded an universal agreement in one mode of religious belief, as a perfect chimæra: and the turn of the words is so contrived, as to express the utmost contempt of those, who, in their supreme ignorance of mankind, could entertain so senseless an idea. Contr. Celsum, l. viii. sub. fin.
[102] Matth. xxiii. 15.
[103] Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers—but this shall be my covenant that I will make with the house of Israel, after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my Law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, &c. Jer. xxxi. 31-33. See also Jer. iii. 16.
[104] For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered nor come into mind. Is. lxv. 17.
[105] The Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all Kings, thy glory: And thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name. Is. lxii. 2.
[106] Is. lx. 22.