Besides, the authors of the books of the New Testament were convinced long before the publication of them, that the gospel was to be preached to the Gentiles as well as the Jews, to both of whom, therefore, they reasoned allegorically in their books, as Peter and others did in their sermons, though with greater success on Gentiles than on Jews; and as Paul did before Felix, when he said he took his heresy, or Christianity, from the law, and the prophets.  Acts xxiv., as also he did before Agrippa.  It would, therefore, seem strange, that books written to all the world by men equally concerned to convert Gentiles as well as Jews, and that discourses made expressly to Gentiles as well as to Jews, should be designed to be pertinent only to Jews, much less to a very few Jews!  Indeed, I am ashamed at being thus long engaged in showing what must be self evident; and did I not fear being further tedious to my readers, I would undertake to bring together passages from the New Testament, where the meaning and intention of the writers is obvious, in such abundance, as would immediately and entirely put the hypothesis of our opponents out of countenance.

These quotations from the.  Old Testament are certainly urged, and spoken of as direct proofs, as absolute proofs in themselves, and not as mere proofs ad hominem to the Jews; for if these prophecies are only urged by the apostles as proofs to the Jews, and intended only as proofs founded on the mistaken meanings of the Old Testament of some Jews of their time, what sense is there in appealing upon all occasions to the prophets, and recommending the reading and search of the Old Testament for the trial and proof of what was preached? for that was to proceed on weakness itself, knowing it to be so.  Certainly nothing, but a real persuasion, that the prophecies of the Old Testament were really fulfilled in Jesus, could make them every where inculcate and appeal to the fulfilling of prophecy.  In order to support their hypothesis, Christians have been forced to seek evidence to prove, that the phrase—­“this was done that it might be fulfilled,” so frequent in the New Testament, meant no such thing, but was only a habit the Jews had got of introducing by such phrases a handsome quotation, or allusion, from the Old Testament.  But this evasion must be given up, upon two accounts. 1.  Because most of the European biblical critics of the present day (the learned annotator on Michaelis’ Introduction to the New Testament, Dr. Marsh, among others) frankly acknowledge it not to be tenable; and 2.  Because it can be proved not to be so from the New Testament itself.  For example, when John represents (Jo. xix. 28,) Jesus upon the cross saying, “’I thirst’ that the scripture might be fulfilled,” doth he not plainly represent Jesus as fulfilling a prophecy which foretold that the Messiah should thirst, or say, “I thirst,” upon the cross?  Nay, does he not suppose him to say so, in order to fulfil, or that he might fulfil, a prophecy?