1)4 HOltiE fAULlJNii:. 



independent, that is, manifestly written without any partici- 

 pation of intelligence, an agreement between them, even in 

 few and slight circumstances — especially if from the different 

 nature and design of the writings, few points only of agree- 

 ment, and those incidental, could be expected to occui— 

 would add a sensible weight to the authority o^ both 'zi 

 every part of their contents. 



The same rule is applicable to history, with at least at' 

 much reason as any other species of evidence. 



III. But although the references to various particulars 

 m the epistle, compared with the direct account of the same 

 particulars in the history, afford a considerable proof of the 

 truth not only of these particulars, but of the narrative which 

 contains them, yet they do not show, it will be said, that 

 the epistle was written by St. Paul ; for admitting what 

 seems to have been proved, that the writer, whoever he was, 

 had no recourse to the Acts of the Apostles ; yet many of 

 the facts referred to, such as St. Paul's miraculous conver- 

 sion, his change from a virulent persecutor to an indefati- 

 gable preacher, his labors among the Gentiles, and his zeal 

 for the liberties of the Gentile church, were so notorious as 

 to occur readily to the mind of any Christian who should 

 choose to personate his character and counterfeit his name ; 

 it was only to write what every body knew. Now, I think 

 that this supposition — namely, that the epistle was com- 

 posed upon general information and the general publicity of 

 the facts alluded to, and that the author did no more than 

 weave into his work what the common fame of the Christian 

 church had reported to his ears — is repelled by the particular- 

 ity of the recitals and references. This particularity is ob- 

 servable in the following instances ; in perusing which, I de- 

 sire the reader to reflect, whether they exliibit the language 

 of a man who had nothing but general reputation to proceed 

 upon, or of a man actually speaking of himself and of his own 

 history, and consequently of things concerning which he pos 

 Bessed a clear, int/mate, and circumstantial knowledge. 



