The  firft  is,  That  the  Chriftians,  notwithftanding  their  being  divided
into  feveral  fects  and  parties  prefently  after  our  Saviour's  time,  have,
and  do  ftill,  in  all  places,  every  firft  day  of  the  week,  read  the  books  of
the  New  Teftament  tranflated  into  their  refpecYive  languages  ;  fo  that
it  appears  abfolutely  impofiible  that  any  fpurious  writings  fhould  have
been  flipped  in  amongft  them.
The  fecond  is,  That  as  the  Chriftians  have  had  the  books  of  the  Old
Teftament  amongft  them  in  Greek  thefe  1600  years,  fo  the  Heathens  had
them  in  that  language  ^00  years  before,  being  tranflated  by  order  of  one
of  the  Ptolemy 's  kings  of  Egypt,  whither  a  confiderable  party  of  the  Jews
were  carried,  after  that  Alexander  the  Great  had  conquered  the  greateft:
part  of  Afia,  having  overthrown  the  empire  of  Perfia,  to  which  the  Jews
were  in  fubje£r.ion.
The  third  is,  That  though  the  Jews  had  not  all  the  books  of  the  Old
Teftament  from  the  beginning  of  their  commonwealth,  they  that  fol-
lowed the  party  of  Jeroboam,  and  formed  the  kingdom  of  Ifrael,  having
only  had  the  five  books  of  Mofes  amongft  them  ;  yet,  notwithftanding
their  irreconcilable  hatred  againft  the  houfe  of  David,  they  have  rnoft
reliefioufly  preferved  the  faid  books  from  anno  mundl  5030,  in  which  the
divifions  of  the  two  kingdoms  happened,  even  until  this  day.
The  fourth  and  laft  is,  That  as  the  Jews  every  where,  at  this  day,
read  the  books  of  Mofes  and  of  the  Prophets  each  fabbath-day  (which  is
alfo  obferved  by  the  Samaritans),  and  the  Chriftians  read  them  every
firft  day  of  the  week  ;  fo  the  Jews  have  always  continued  to  read  them
for  a  long  feries  of  ages,  as  efteeming  it  a  great  part  of  the  fanctification.
